Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how factual evidence alone is not enough to convince most people to change their beliefs, no matter how ridiculous those beliefs might be. Now that I step back and look at my life as objectively as I can, I see that many of the things I was taught to be believe as a Mormon were utterly absurd. So I thought it might be funny to write a parody of a rational
Forum: Recovery Board

In all my time as a TBM, it never occurred to me to try to use General Conference as a missionary tool. If I could barely stand to sit throught it, how could a non-member? But if you think about it, that says a lot. GC is supposed to be a chance for people to hear from men who are allegedly the equals of Moses, Paul, Isaiah, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But when I used to watch GC,
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Your nephew's statement is a false choice: there are possible explanations other than the two that he presented. Personally, I believe that JS had significant help from Sidney Rigdon and possibly others. I also find it highly likely that he plagiarized large portions of the BoM. In fact, he may have stolen the entire main story line of an unpublished book written by Solomon Spalding (sometimes
Forum: Recovery Board

Thanks once again for all the support! I have to agree with the general consensus here of using a gradual approach with my wife and not getting mixed up in a doctrinal/factual debate with the bishop. The only reason why I'm going to see the bishop right now is because my wife thinks that the bishop can either give her some advice on how to deal with my apostasy or help me come back to the chu
Forum: Recovery Board

Thanks again to all who have commented so far. Your support is greatly appreciated. At some point, for purposes of closure, I would like to meet with a church authority to give my final adios. But this upcoming (though as yet unscheduled) meeting with the bishop is purely to placate my wife. I would rather not see the bishop just yet, but my wife threatened to go alone until I repeatedly as
Forum: Recovery Board

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I have to admit that you're probably right about not trying to present any evidence to the bishop. I mean, there's no way he's going to accept any of it. Unfortunately, I may not have the keep-quiet option if my wife spills the beans (which seems very likely). So I might just tell the bishop that based on overwhelming historical evidence I no longer believe
Forum: Recovery Board