Posted by:
The Oncoming Storm - bc
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Date: June 25, 2013 11:49AM
Yep - and you can get a great synopsis here:
http://wivesofjosephsmith.org/Note: the website is accurate, but does take the most negative interpretation of the information where Compton's book is more balanced in the interpretation and actually takes as charitable interpretation as possible while not shying away from the actual facts.
Note personally I'm in process reading 3 books - mostly I've read & online:
Standing for Something - Lyndon Lamborn
- This book is excellent it starts a little slow and meandering and it goes on weird tangents sometimes but overall it is VERY insightful. The chapters on mind control are especially insightful and useful.
In Sacred Loneliness - Todd Compton
- This is an excellent book to confirm that the "rumors" about Joseph Smith and his polygamy and poyandry are really true. It also really brings home that JS was really hurting real people and destroyed a lot of people's lives. However, I think reading wivesofjosephsmith.org accomplishes the same thing with less time investment - Compton's book just provides all the details and research and references if you don't want to take wivesofjosephsmith at face value. Hearing the actual stories is the key.
Religion Explained - Pascal Boyer
- This is my top pick. This book is so insightful and I have learned SO much. But it is like drinking from a fire hose. It is a huge crash course in anthropology and how the brain works.
Done reading:
Why I believed - Ken Daniels
- In the state you are in right now - I highly recommend reading at least the first part of this book - and its free. This one is fascinating because it isn't about Mormonism but about someone leaving his evangelical faith - the parallels are amazing and really helped me work through some of the discomfort of changing beliefs and seeing I was not alone and this is a human issue not just a Mormon issue.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ken_daniels/why.htmlEdited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2013 12:01PM by The Oncoming Storm - bc.