Facts vs Beliefs – No Limit At All On What Church Is Required To Teach Or Not Teach

The LDS Church Corporation is currently involved in many many lawsuits. One such is a RICO case, where the church is being accused of behavior more similar to an organized crime network, like the mafia, than a religious institution. What is RICO? A RICO case refers to charges brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt …

Email to Sydney Australia Mortdale Stake: Pilot Program – Informed Consent

The members of the Sydney Australia Mortdale Stake received an email informing them the area had been selected for a Pilot Program named Informed Consent. The program announced two objectives: 1) to ensure that converts are fully informed before they commit to baptism, and 2) for all members to have a “short” lesson to make …

“If a court record could be identified, and if it contained a confession by Joseph Smith which revealed him to be a poor, ignorant, deluded, and superstitious person, then it follows that his believers must deny his claimed divine guidance which led them to follow him... How could he be a prophet of God, the leader of the Restored Church, if he had been the superstitious fraud which 'the pages from a book' declared he confessed to be?” - Francis W. Kirkham, LDS Historian A New Witness For Christ in America (1942), Pages 486-487 | wasmormon.org
“If a court record could be identified, and if it contained a confession by Joseph Smith which revealed him to be a poor, ignorant, deluded, and superstitious person, then it follows that his believers must deny his claimed divine guidance which led them to follow him... How could he be a prophet of God, the leader of the Restored Church, if he had been the superstitious fraud which 'the pages from a book' declared he confessed to be?” - Francis W. Kirkham, LDS Historian A New Witness For Christ in America (1942), Pages 486-487
“There's this underpinning belief in Mormonism that even if something is make-believe, does it matter? It's this fantasy that keeps the church going. They don't care about evidence or science. They care about faith and promoting this feeling of goodness and happiness... Members only see the good because the good works for them, but this is a selfish point of view. Even if the doctrine teaches unkind, bad, horrible, racist, sexist, and homophobic things about other people, if it works for me why would I walk away? That's why the heart of Mormonism is very insidious because those who are members turn a blind eye to the people who are damaged by the religion, because if it works for them, where's the problem?” - Alyssa Grenfell, YouTube: ExMormon Reacts to South Park's "All About Mormons" | wasmormon.org
“There's this underpinning belief in Mormonism that even if something is make-believe, does it matter? It's this fantasy that keeps the church going. They don't care about evidence or science. They care about faith and promoting this feeling of goodness and happiness... Members only see the good because the good works for them, but this is a selfish point of view. Even if the doctrine teaches unkind, bad, horrible, racist, sexist, and homophobic things about other people, if it works for me why would I walk away? That's why the heart of Mormonism is very insidious because those who are members turn a blind eye to the people who are damaged by the religion, because if it works for them, where's the problem?” - Alyssa Grenfell, YouTube: ExMormon Reacts to South Park's "All About Mormons"

Cherish Your Doubts

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 …

Would There Be Fewer Mistakes if God Restored His Church Through You?

Elder Kyle McKay, the Executive Director of the Church History Department asks a rhetorical question. He asks during a devotional address (A Sure and Certain Foundation) in which he attempts to bolster testimonies by teaching how to believe. He absolves church leaders of mistakes by basically countering that “you couldn’t do any better.” He suggests …

Elder Oaks Claims Apostolic Duty to Sacrifice Anything That Makes The Church Look Bad

The authors of the fascinating book about Emma Smith, Mormon Enigma were reprimanded for publishing it. They weren’t excommunicated, but they were forbidden to speak in meetings and firesides. Elder Oaks spoke with Linda Newell (one of the authors of Mormon Enigma) as she recounted in her talk at the 1992 Pacific Northwest Sunstone Symposium called “The …