Considering that :...the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” " (bold face added) and that according to President Benson, "“The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion... A
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Listen up doubters. Book of Mormon prophecy fulfilled right before your very eyes. Moroni, son of Mormon, prophesied of the conditions of the world to be found in these latter-days, when the Book of Mormon was to come forth (Mormon 8: 26-41). One of the things that he foresaw is that (32) "there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be
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There is an analogy, often employed by defenders of the Latter-day Saint faith, when trying to divert attention away from critics of the faith. (…and to be clear, I have used the names Ford and Chevrolet randomly, for the purposes of the analogy—not as any reflection on the cars or companies in any real sense) It is some variation of the following: If you were considering buying a F
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What follows stands alone as an essay At some point there will be a part 2. But for now. enjoy part 1. ]: 'If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' Priest: 'No, not if you did not know.' : 'Then why did you tell me?' Annie Dillard You don’t need salvation Part 1. Ransomware It seems that in Mormonism (and to a lesser degree in the broader ca
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That was my first thought too Elder. I reviewed the post to see if there was anything that could be mistaken for promotion (or apologetics), but there was nothing I could see. SRB
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Hey mods, Did my post about spiritual ransom ware violate a board rule of some sort? It seems to have disappeared quite quickly, before anybody even commented. SRB
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Thanks for sharing this.
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There is no assumption of objective morality.
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In light of recent events, I want to put this out there again. I am quite convinced that the moral theory espoused by the LDS faith may actually increase the risk sexual improprieties, including violent and illegal actions. https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2020/09/lds-sexual-impropriety-and.html
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In which I try to argue that LDS moral theory and social environment actually increases the risks sexual improprieties. Please enjoy, comment, and if so inclined, please share. https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2020/09/lds-sexual-impropriety-and.html
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Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2020/05/nephis-alleged-courage.html Nephi’s Alleged “Courage” I would like to start by suggesting that if a voice in your head tells you to kill somebody, you ought to ignore that voice. If that voice tells that you ought to chop the head off of a person that is so drunk as to be unconscious, even if the unconscious drunk has
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Also published here (with references and footnotes): https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-curious-date-of-nephite-apostasy.html (first draft) In what might be quite the coincidence, the apostasy amongst the people of the Book of Mormon (BoM), specifically the Nephite people, happened in the same year as the formulation of the Nicene Creed. Before we discuss reasons as to why
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Background: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-lds-proselytizing-mission-as-hazing.html If ones adult identity is culturally determined, and if it is the case that the culture that provides the scaffolding within which adult identity is constructed depends almost entirely on the dictates of the Church, what happens to that adult identity if/when the RM loses his or her faith? E
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Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2019/10/dear-elder-oaks.html Dear Elder Oaks, You seem to be operating under the misapprehension that you think that you believe that “The…meaning of ‘gender…’ as used in church statements and publications…is biological sex at birth.” Let me help you with that, brother. Elder Oaks, you are a substance dualist.
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I have been giving it some thought recently, if you are interested: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2019/08/on-non-infinity-of-lds-conception-of-god.html
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nobody read it?
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n/t
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The Bible says that the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh (i.e. the wife of Joseph of Egypt) was an Egyptian woman, daughter of an Egyptian priest. (Gen 41:45). According to the Book of Abraham, no one with Egyptian blood could hold the priesthood. (Abr 1:21-22, 27). If you received a Patriarchal Blessing, you were probably told that you were of the Tribe of Ephraim. But any Mormon who is of
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The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Missionary Age Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-dunning-kruger-effect-and.html Comments welcome and appreciated. “the trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt" --Bertrand Russell While watching Wimbeldon a couple of years ago I thought to myself "that does
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Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2019/04/leave-it-alone-no-just-no.html The blog version contains hyperlinks, footnotes, and references. The perennial refrain of the faithful LDS when confronted with criticism from those disenfranchised from the Church: You can leave the Church, but you can’t leave it alone. We see it at least a few times a week on social med
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Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2019/03/put-paid-to-lie-equal-treatment-of-lds.html *the version in the blog contains references, footnotes, hyperlinks. Please enjoy, comment, and if you are so inclined, please share. (Rather than accept the terminology widely accepted by gay persons themselves, the LDS Church typically uses its own term to describe LGB persons, “S
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Also published here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2019/03/speaking-as-man-is-not-good-defense.html the blog version includes footnotes, references When a General Authority of the LDS Church is discovered to have taught something that in retrospect turns out to be nonsense, one possible apologetic tactic is to suggest that he was “speaking as a man” and not as a prophet (apostle, e
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Very astute comments. Thank you.
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Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate your comments. I don’t have much to say regarding your comments, except to point out that the reduction in my piece is not linked at all to an eliminative materialism. And while much of want to say has to do with morality, I made a point to differentiate morality from the question of sin. And one final thing, it’s to pick a subject to g
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Thanks for the kind words Tevai.
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I have written a post that is too long to post here. There seems to be a 5000 or so word limit on this board, and the essay is about 15000 words long. I posted a link to it here once before, but I have since made some large revisions. I try to make the case that even if God exists, even if morality is real, there is still no such thing as sin. Please enjoy. https://unexaminedfaith.blogspo
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Also posted here: https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2018/08/almas-theory-of-knowledge.html Once the decision was made to serve the mission, I took my preparation terribly seriously. I completed 4 years of seminary, read the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and inspired by President Benson’s counsel regarding its centrality to the LDS faith, I particularly stud
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I tried to post the entire text here, but it was too long. so the rest is at https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/2018/08/zeuss-thunderbolt-euthyphros-dilemma.html The following is the first couple of sentences to try to catch your interest. Sin is to morality as Zeus’s thunderbolt is to weather. That is, Zeus’s thunderbolts do not exist and therefore contribute nothing to our unde
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Some years ago, the kids and I were returning from a Def Leppard concert in a nearby city. It was late at night and the kids were fast asleep. I still had two hours of driving ahead of me when we were surprised by quite the snowstorm. As the visibility on the road deteriorated, I was reminded of a story I had read years earlier. The story had appeared in an LDS publication, probably The En
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Thomas S Monson’s legacy just might be that he is the first president/profit of the church about whom it is never said he was as they say “speaking as a man.” Sadly it will not be because of his inspired addresses, it will be because for his entire tenure as the president of the church, you never said a single thing of substance. Nothing but triplets a passive verbs, stories of widows, an
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