Lorenzo Snow, the 5th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a dutiful Mormon polygamist. He jumped right into the practice and went (according to some accounts) from single to husband of four wives in just 2 days! The official lists of his marriages show he was married to 9 (at …
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Lorenzo Snow Lorenzo Snow was born April 3, 1814, in Ohio. He joined the church in June of 1836 at 22 years of age. In 1837, he was called on a mission, and while serving he missed the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society. He moved to Far West in the summer of 1838, and …
Dianne’s path reflects a profound shift from unwavering faith to skeptical inquiry. Raised in the Mormon tradition and deeply devoted to its tenets and beliefs, her journey toward disbelief began with a clash between science and religious doctrine. As she grappled with the stark disparities between empirical evidence and faith-based teachings, Dianne embarked on an …
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Brad Wilcox, the Second Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency gave a Fireside address in Alpine, Utah on February 6, 2022. He made quite a fool of himself and his rhetoric about members asking the wrong questions. He ridiculed a normal and valid question and then posed a racist question instead. He also accuses …
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The tumult of a faith deconstruction, especially in the Mormon faith, has been termed as a crisis, it’s often referred to as a faith crisis. There are podcasts focused on this, even books written about it. BYU did a study on the social media impact on a faith crisis which defines how the church views …
Joseph Smith has some interesting points in his history that stand out. Upon reading his mother’s own biography, a few of the same points stand out. Could it be that Joseph’s own story borrows from those of his mother? Could he borrow from both of his parents? We can see that he already integrated his …
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Prior to 1978, LDS church leaders wrestled to understand the priesthood ban. They listened to explanations from Brigham Young and other church presidents who taught about the subject. They continued teaching the same things, and in some cases came up with new explanations. That changed in 1978, when the church flipped a 180 and granted …
Continue reading “McConkie Got It Wrong – Redacted Mormon Doctrine”
The church celebrates its own decision to stop the racially discriminatory practice of banning the priesthood from anyone of African descent in 1978. To show that they are not racist, they wanted to point out that it has now been 40 years since they stopped being racist. There was a big self-congratulatory spectacle planned for …
During the Worldwide Relief Society Devotional and Testimony Meeting on March 17, 2024, President Russell M. Nelson and the Relief Society General Presidency spoke to the members of the Relief Society and Young Women. The event was a 40-minute video production. The remarkable part is the claim J. Anette Dennis, First Counselor in the Relief Society …
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A member of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy, Hugo Montoya, shared a message in the Ensign, the church magazine, in June 2017. He is among the top leadership of the religion. He adds to the Mormon paranoia of doubt. The church demonizes doubt and uses fear to scare members from questioning their authority or …
The Mormon church wants everyone to read the Book of Mormon, but it will do nearly anything to keep anyone from reading their financial books. 60 Minutes Australia did some investigative reporting and alleges that the Mormon church is ripping off hundreds of millions of dollars from the Australian government in tax evasion. In many …
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Veronika’s faith journey from a Mormon to an agnostic secular humanist shows personal evolution and intellectual transformation. Growing up in Utah, she was the first in her immediate family to step away from the LDS Church. Initially embracing the conviction that living the gospel would lead to a happy life, Veronika grappled with the church’s …
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Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt, the then First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency, gave a talk to LDS Chaplains, on October 4, 2022, in which he teaches against activism directed towards the church. He doesn’t want members getting any ideas that they can influence or change things the church does by criticizing, complaining, or …
Continue reading “Church Claims Activism a Tactic of Satan and Gaslights Members”
President Spencer W Kimball, as president of the church gave a speech at BYU about Marriage and Divorce in 1976. This talk is currently referenced frequently, nearly 50 years later, in church lesson manuals and by church leaders. In this talk, he spoke against interracial marriages. He advised against marriages between those from differing economic …
Letter For My Wife is a document aggregating questions and doubts about the Mormon church written by a questioning Mormon to his wife. The letter is meant to discuss the questions and concerns with the church’s truth claims or truth crisis and this man’s testimony. The letter was started as a document in 2009, when …
General Authorities and top leaders of the church are compensated or paid for their work, though technically they claim they are not on salary. The church claims over and over that there is no paid clergy and that the church runs on volunteers. But we can see that they are choosing their words carefully at …
Doubt is frequently cast as the opposite of faith. Doubt is frequently shunned, and sometimes, outright condemned. Mormon leaders today demonize doubt and admonish members to doubt their doubts, to stop rehearsing their doubts with others, researching doubts is not going to provide answers and even that research itself is not the solution to doubt. …
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The church held a special Broadcast for the Utah Area to drum up interest and enlist more senior missionaries in the service of the church. Elder Kevin Pearson, of the Seventy, who is also the Area President of the Utah Area worked to fire up the attendees with a call to serve. He urged all …
Continue reading “One Mission Is Not Enough – Church Urges Seniors for Two”
In the October 1984 General Conference, Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the First Quorum of the Seventy gave a talk that many who saw, heard, or witnessed live thought was an amazing talk that addressed many things that had thus far remained unsaid regarding the relationship between the Mormon church and the Mormon Gospel. The …
Continue reading “Censoring ‘The Gospel and the Church’ Talk”
Nearly every speaker in a testimony meeting says “I know the church is true.” This is a nonsensical statement, but considering the Illusory Truth Effect we can see what the church may be after. We know that repetitions don’t make statements any more true, but psychologically we do tend to believe things we’ve heard repeatedly. …
The church published a video on YouTube and other social media channels making seemingly outrageous and impossible-to-fake claims about the Book of Mormon with the conclusion “How can it not be true?” Here is the content of the video: Imagine writing a book: How can it not be true? This mirrors the famous Hugh Nibley …
Mormonism Is a Religion of Unwritten Rules Mormonism as a religion and a culture relies heavily on unwritten and even unspoken rules. The religion judges members on these rules and judges everyone for adherence to the unwritten rules. There are theological assumptions that are entirely based on some of these rules and the religion has …
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This reading for worship, from the Unitarian Universalize Association, emphasizes the value of doubt as an essential and positive element in the pursuit of truth and knowledge. It contrasts doubt with unquestioning belief, arguing that beliefs immune to questioning can lead to error and incompleteness. Doubt, in this context, is portrayed as the key to …
The church makes a big deal about having no paid clergy. They proclaim that the church is led by a lay ministry of volunteers and no one is compensated for their work or service in the church. Church Led by Volunteer Service The missionaries are taught this fact, and all the missionaries are required to …
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Jeremy Runnells, hailing from a seventh-generation Mormon heritage, achieved all the milestones within the LDS Faith: earning his Eagle Scout rank, serving as a full-time Missionary, and graduating from BYU. His journey took a transformative turn in 2012, in which he dove into a deep exploration of the church’s truth claims. A CES Director asked …
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David A. Bednar, Mormon Apostle, visited the University of Texas and spoke at a devotional for young adults. He shared a story in which a friend he calls “John and Heather” faced a serious health challenge, prompting a discussion about faith and healing. Bednar surprisingly asked when about to give John a blessing, if John …
The Book of Abraham is a sacred text of the church. The church claims it is a translation by Joseph Smith from an ancient Egyptian papyrus he acquired. The book states that it contains “the writings of Abraham,” the biblical patriarch and that they are “written by his own hand, upon papyrus.” The contents are …
Aldous Huxley wrote that “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” This hits home when we think about questioning our beliefs, especially in high-demand religions like the Mormon Church. It’s a reminder that the truth doesn’t vanish just because we turn a blind eye. Deconstructing faith, especially in a church that demands …
The church published a Gospel Living article on its website with a title referring to a memorable “moment in the barn” as one that “she” would never forget. The title is full of intrigue and leads a reader to wonder who this she is, and what this unforgettable moment was. Mary Whitmer in the Barn …
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Lindee converted to Mormonism as a young adult and served a mission. She followed advice of her Bishop and avoided therapy and saw her mental health suffer. After a long time as a single woman, she married, had children, and continued on the Mormon conveyor belt of life. She “spent a lot of time just …
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!["There are statements in our literature by the early brethren which we have interpreted to mean that the Negroes would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say, "You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?" And all I can say to that is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation... [All the views and all the thoughts of the past] don't matter any more... It doesn't make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June of this year." - LDS Apostle, Bruce R. McConkie, BYU Devotional 1978 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/mormon-doctrine-it-doesnt-make-a-particle-of-difference-what-anybody-ever-said-about-blacks.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
![“Accusations of lightening the pockets of the Australian tax office by 400 million dollars. The church's members claim very generous tax benefits, while other religions in Australia go without. It's alleged the Mormon books are actually being cooked in a massive tax dodge. Handed out on doorsteps around the world, [The Book of Mormon] promises to answer all of life's great questions. But we're throwing open a set of books the Mormons would rather nobody reads – their financial books.” - Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/60-Minutes-Australia-cooking-the-book-of-mormon.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
