Tag Archives: church

The LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) or religious institutions generally.

I’ll Pray for You — Hate mail

Visitors sometimes ask why wasmormon.org exists, or why former members don’t just move on. Fair questions deserve straight answers. Occasionally, though, the mail isn’t a question—it’s a script: pity, prophecy, and the old line that people who leave should leave the Church alone. We recently received that kind of message and had an insightful exchange. Below is the full …

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MLK Chapel of Morehouse College Honors Founder of Racist Church

The historically black Morehouse College campus in Atlanta, Georgia, includes an International Chapel that bears the name of the school’s most renowned alumnus, Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2023, the Chapel added a portrait of the then-president of the LDS Church, Russell M. Nelson. More recently, the chapel also added a portrait of church founder …

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Prophet Sermons Are Mormon Scripture – Except When They’re Not – See Adam-God, Blood Atonement and Racism

Latter-day Saints are often taught that prophetic authority is the foundation of continuing revelation—that God speaks through living prophets, and that their words carry divine weight. Few church leaders embraced that idea more boldly than Brigham Young. Unlike modern leaders who carefully qualify their statements, Young made an unambiguous claim about his own authority and …

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”Now in terms of how do our covenants help us if someone is wandering? ... Church leaders have talked about a pull — a bit of a spiritual tug, if you will. Orson F. Whitney referred to it as “the divine tentacles of providence.” It is not the case that the faithfulness of parents can save a wayward child, but the faithfulness of the parents in honoring covenants exerts a bit of a spiritual tug. Now I don’t know how that works, but it’s a part of the covenant connection.” - David A. Bednar, LDS Apostle, October 31, 2025 | wasmormon.org
”Now in terms of how do our covenants help us if someone is wandering? ... Church leaders have talked about a pull — a bit of a spiritual tug, if you will. Orson F. Whitney referred to it as “the divine tentacles of providence.” It is not the case that the faithfulness of parents can save a wayward child, but the faithfulness of the parents in honoring covenants exerts a bit of a spiritual tug. Now I don’t know how that works, but it’s a part of the covenant connection.” - David A. Bednar, LDS Apostle, October 31, 2025
”Now in terms of how do our covenants help us if someone is wandering? ... Church leaders have talked about a pull — a bit of a spiritual tug, if you will. Orson F. Whitney referred to it as “the divine tentacles of providence.” It is not the case that the faithfulness of parents can save a wayward child, but the faithfulness of the parents in honoring covenants exerts a bit of a spiritual tug. Now I don’t know how that works, but it’s a part of the covenant connection.” - David A. Bednar, LDS Apostle, October 31, 2025 | wasmormon.org
”Now in terms of how do our covenants help us if someone is wandering? ... Church leaders have talked about a pull — a bit of a spiritual tug, if you will. Orson F. Whitney referred to it as “the divine tentacles of providence.” It is not the case that the faithfulness of parents can save a wayward child, but the faithfulness of the parents in honoring covenants exerts a bit of a spiritual tug. Now I don’t know how that works, but it’s a part of the covenant connection.” - David A. Bednar, LDS Apostle, October 31, 2025
“Dissenters within the Church and opponents outside the Church brought about the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith. Their deaths added a powerful seal to their testimonies of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. A study of the life and martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith will help students consider the many blessings the Lord has given them through the ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith, through whom He restored His gospel in the latter days... Joseph Smith laid the foundation for God’s work in this gospel dispensation. The Prophet Joseph Smith was innocent at the time of his death, and he had faithfully fulfilled the mission given to him by God.” - Foundations of the Restoration Teacher Manual, Lesson 22: The Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith | wasmormon.org
“Dissenters within the Church and opponents outside the Church brought about the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith. Their deaths added a powerful seal to their testimonies of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. A study of the life and martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith will help students consider the many blessings the Lord has given them through the ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith, through whom He restored His gospel in the latter days... Joseph Smith laid the foundation for God’s work in this gospel dispensation. The Prophet Joseph Smith was innocent at the time of his death, and he had faithfully fulfilled the mission given to him by God.” - Foundations of the Restoration Teacher Manual, Lesson 22: The Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith
“As Church members we will not grow spiritually if we let artificial intelligence write our sacrament talks or do our seminary homework. AI cannot replace our individual effort and spiritual preparation as we prepare lessons, prayers or blessings.” - Gerrit W. Gong, LDS Apostle, BYU Education Week Devotional, August 19, 2025 | wasmormon.org
“As Church members we will not grow spiritually if we let artificial intelligence write our sacrament talks or do our seminary homework. AI cannot replace our individual effort and spiritual preparation as we prepare lessons, prayers or blessings.” - Gerrit W. Gong, LDS Apostle, BYU Education Week Devotional, August 19, 2025
“To come to know Joseph Smith [we must] be loyal to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We cannot know the Savior or Joseph Smith without being one hundred percent loyal to this Church, and to the priesthood keys held by the prophets who now preside over it.” - Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member, BYU Idaho, 2015 | wasmormon.org
“To come to know Joseph Smith [we must] be loyal to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We cannot know the Savior or Joseph Smith without being one hundred percent loyal to this Church, and to the priesthood keys held by the prophets who now preside over it.” - Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member, BYU Idaho, 2015
“Beware of the many voices—whether out of the Church or inside it—that humanize Joseph Smith by calling into question any aspect of his character. These voices come from those who ‘lift up the heel against [the Lord’s] anointed, and cry that [he has] sinned when [he has] not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but [has] done that… which I commanded [him].’ As the Lord warned, they ‘cry transgression… because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience themselves.’” - Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member, BYU Idaho, 2015 | wasmormon.org
“Beware of the many voices—whether out of the Church or inside it—that humanize Joseph Smith by calling into question any aspect of his character. These voices come from those who ‘lift up the heel against [the Lord’s] anointed, and cry that [he has] sinned when [he has] not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but [has] done that… which I commanded [him].’ As the Lord warned, they ‘cry transgression… because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience themselves.’” - Jayson Kunzler, Business Management Faculty Member, BYU Idaho, 2015

Millions Shall Worship Brother Joseph Again But Don’t Google Us

In his BYU–Idaho devotional Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again, Jayson Kunzler urges students to reject any information—inside or outside the Church—that might “humanize” Joseph Smith or acknowledge his flaws. He warns that those who study inconvenient history “serve the wrong master” and risk their eternal standing. He insists that members can only truly know …

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A Loving God?

When deconstructing religious beliefs, examining whether the God we’ve been taught to worship and admire is indeed as loving as we think is on the table for many. Christianity teaches that “God is Love,” but examining scriptural narratives reveals inconsistencies in this portrayal, especially concerning God’s actions as a parental figure. Here are several examples …

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Martha Brotherton: Pressured by Church Leaders to Become a Plural Wife

In July 1842, the Sangamo Journal published the affidavit of Martha H. Brotherton, a young English convert who had only recently arrived in Nauvoo with her family. In it, she recounts a disturbing encounter where she was pressured by church leaders Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Joseph Smith himself to become Young’s plural wife. …

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Religion and Tribes

The LDS Church is Just Another Man-Made Religion One of the hardest truths to face when stepping back from Mormonism is this: The LDS Church is just a man-made religion, no more divinely authoritative than any other. That sentence alone might feel heavy, especially for a “true believing Mormon” (TBM). It cuts directly against the …

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Deseret News on Polygamy

The Audacity The recent Deseret News opinion piece condemning polygamy and polyamory as a “direct threat to kids” and insisting that “monogamy ought to remain our social ideal” is dripping with irony. For a newspaper owned by the LDS Church to rail against the supposed dangers of polygamy—without mentioning their own history as America’s largest …

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“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” - Joseph Smith, May 26, 1844, History of the Church, Vol 6:408-409 | wasmormon.org
“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” - Joseph Smith, May 26, 1844, History of the Church, Vol 6:408-409
“We declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband... We have given the above rule of marriage as the only one practiced in this church, to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett's "secret wife system" is a matter of his own manufacture... We know of no other rule or system of marriage than the one published from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we give this certificate to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett’s “secret wife system” is a creature of his own make as we know of no such society in this place nor never did.” - Joseph Smith, October 1, 1842. At the time, he had at least 13 wives. Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, No. 21, October 1, 1842, On Marriage | wasmormon.org
“We declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband... We have given the above rule of marriage as the only one practiced in this church, to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett's "secret wife system" is a matter of his own manufacture... We know of no other rule or system of marriage than the one published from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and we give this certificate to show that Dr. J. C. Bennett’s “secret wife system” is a creature of his own make as we know of no such society in this place nor never did.” - Joseph Smith, October 1, 1842. At the time, he had at least 13 wives. Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, No. 21, October 1, 1842, On Marriage
“Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” - Joseph Smith, September 1, 1842. At the time, he had at least 13 wives. Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, No. 21, September 1, 1842, Notice | wasmormon.org
“Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” - Joseph Smith, September 1, 1842. At the time, he had at least 13 wives. Times and Seasons, Vol. 3, No. 21, September 1, 1842, Notice