The Problem with Social Media

Note: This commentary is a part of my “Saints Who Swear” series wherein I challenge attacks from apostates and haters of the LDS Church. I have chosen to use very salty language. I swear, a lot. If swear words offend you in the slightest, please do not read on.

I just spent one week on Twitter arguing with apostates about the LDS Church’s savings account and SEC fine and then arguing over an old version of the temple Initiatory ordinance. The former argument concerned itself with apostate charges that the First Presidency acted both illegally and fraudulently to deceive the federal government and Latter-day Saints for nefarious purposes. The latter argument concerned how apostates who had experienced the temple Initiatory ordinance over 20 years ago felt sexually abused. read more

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The LDS Church makes bad decisions based on fear

Fear-based decision-making leads to bad decisions. Every time. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – my church – just provided back-to-back examples of bad decisions based upon fear.

The first example is its decision to endorse the congressional Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA), thereby endorsing same-sex marriage. Its origin story arose out of fear that the United States Supreme Court might overturn the Obergefell decision that created a constitutional right for same-sex marriage. Justice Clarence Thomas said boo and, out of fear, supporters of same-sex marriage created the RFMA… read more

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Masons, Mormons, and Morons

Note: This commentary is a part of my “Saints Who Swear” series wherein I challenge attacks from apostates and haters of the LDS Church. I have chosen to use very salty language. I swear, a lot. If swear words offend you in the slightest, please do not read on.

Some anonymous person, anonymous like most apostates on social media, runs a website called LDS Discussions. He/she/it has tons of apostate garbage, like it is a full-time job, about how untrue the Gospel of Jesus Christ is through the lens of the LDS Church. A recent post on Twitter led me to this person’s research into how Joseph Smith supposedly crafted the LDS Temple Endowment from Masonic rituals — as if this claim is both new and true. read more

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Ruminations on the LDS Church’s Endorsement of Same-Sex Marriage

These thoughts address two statements by our LDS Church regarding its support for the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) – the December 13, 2022, statement from the signing of the bill and the November 15, 2022, endorsement of the bill in the United States Senate.

Statement language in red.

The December 13, 2002, statement:

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Elder Jack N. Gerard, a General Authority Seventy, and former U.S. Sen. Gordon H. Smith, now an Area Seventy, were in attendance for the signing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement on Tuesday, Dec. 13. read more

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The LDS Church should get out of politics, especially the modern American culture war

The LDS Church opposes same-sex marriage but supports every gay right that leads logically to same-sex marriage. They conspire in Utah with gay activists to finally pass a statewide nondiscrimination bill but, in doing so, assure legal discrimination against the very same gay community by exempting the church from its provisions. They then invent “same-sex attraction” while condemning those who fall under its spell…

Everything the LDS Church has touched politically in this culture war is a tangled mess and has resulted in exactly the opposite of the desired outcome. Time and again, it has tried to serve the Lord without offending the devil. Please, for the sake of us faithful adherents, get out of politics, especially the modern American culture war. Preach sound doctrine, such as found in The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and let us, true believers, in both faith and citizenship, govern ourselves. read more

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How to Acquire Greed in God’s Sacred Name: A Case Study

Inspired by Hugh Nibley’s short essay, How to Write an Anti-Mormon Book, for years I have meant to write a response to a former employer’s screed in favor of greed. This former employer shall remain anonymous, partly out of a bit of contextual respect and partly because anyone who defends greed in public likely would defend it in court. Suffice it to say he was a salesman extraordinaire for get-rich-quick schemes. And my interest in his remarks is because he identified as a faithful Latter-day Saint. read more

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Why “Saints Who Swear”?

Note: This commentary is a part of my “Saints Who Swear” series wherein I challenge attacks from apostates and haters of the LDS Church. I have chosen to use very salty language. I swear, a lot. If swear words offend you in the slightest, please do not read on.

As it happens, this post does not contain swearing. 🙂

I created the page “Saints Who Swear” on my blog site to address critics of my LDS Church. In responding, I use what is known as “swearing,” “cursing,” or “salty language” to communicate my thoughts. But why? Why communicate in such a “crude” manner? read more

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Not Approaching Zion

Every other month, we receive a copy of LDS Living magazine, I suppose because we shop at the Deseret Book store. Each issue is filled with uplifting stories about LDS personalities or LDS who have overcome great hardships with inspiring stories. Notwithstanding those People magazine-type articles, LDS Living is a commercial for the LDS Church. But not just the LDS Church. LDS Living is a commercial for LDS products — you know, food storage, Holy Land tours, comfort foods, religious conferences, event venues, and, of course, products from Deseret Book. And, not oddly but uniquely, addiction treatment centers and fertility clinics advertise on its pages. read more

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Why Church Members Quit: A Reply to the Oh-So-Rational “Root Causes”

Note: This commentary is a part of my “Saints Who Swear” series wherein I challenge attacks from apostates and haters of the LDS Church. I have chosen to use very salty language. I swear, a lot. If swear words offend you in the slightest, please do not read on.

Apostates are compelled to circulate all sorts of bullshit about the LDS Church. Again, they cannot leave it alone. But no piece of bullshit feels more useful to them than when an otherwise faithful member of the LDS Church writes about its shortcomings, especially its historical flaws or its politics. read more

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The Irrelevancy of Lavina Anderson and LDS Intellectuals

Note: This commentary is a part of my “Saints Who Swear” series wherein I challenge attacks from apostates and haters of the LDS Church. I have chosen to use very salty language. I swear, a lot. If swear words offend you in the slightest, please do not read on.

I suppose I’m next going to be told by apostates to comment on another bag of bullshit, the “CES Letter,” but first have been asked to read an ancient commentary from the equally ancient Dialogue journal — its pages seized by apostates ages ago — authored by the pre-ancient Lavinia Anderson who, in the minds of many apostates, represents the best in LDS thinking. read more

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