You get arguments like Lane Williams’s in the MormonTimes this morning. Williams begins by lamenting the fact that atheists occasionally receive media attention: Reporters have provided a great deal of attention to these atheists, stoking the controversy over the existence of God. Even if reporters had no purpose to question…
Author: profxm
Inciting Violence – Glenn Beck and Fox News’s specialty
When I was in graduate school (2001-2007), my department regularly held symposia. Most of the symposia were members of our department or faculty at our university presenting their research. But occasionally we would bring in outside scholars to talk about their research. One of those scholars was Frances Fox Piven,…
Mormon Times says religion can be bad, but not theirs
I couldn’t help but stop by MormonTimes.com for this headline, “Elizabeth Smart case shows best and worst of religion’s influence“. I thought since Brian David Mitchell is a splinter from Mormonism the writers at MormonTimes might suggest something really “out there,” like, maybe, Mormonism can, in fact, be bad for…
How to be homophobes, by Linda and Richard Eyre
Unfortunately, my Google News feed on the word “Mormon” regularly pulls up articles on Mormontimes.com. I rarely read anything on Mormontimes.com; I’m not a fan of propaganda. But I saw one on same-sex marriage and figured I’d take a look. I should have known better… The article, Use Spiritual Message…
Remembering the Lost and De-Emphasized Series – Part 1: Adam-Ondi-Ahman
Since chanson suggested it, I thought I’d get the ball rolling in the new series on “Remembering the Lost and De-Emphasized” esoterica of Mormonism. Rarely do I get stranger looks then when I tell someone unfamiliar with Mormonism that Mormons literally believe that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri….
RE: I left the church because I found out all the history that they never taught.
This post, by Ardis E. Parshall, has gotten some play recently, here at MSP and elsewhere. Since numerous people linked to it, I thought I’d stop by to see what all the fuss was. Basically she talks about her awful mission experience and then concludes that there is nothing that…
Feeling the Spirit
For the first time since I moved into my new home in Florida, Mormon missionaries stopped by. Now, as I have officially resigned, and because I asked the Elders, I’m sure they didn’t swing by my house because I’m still on the rolls. I watched them contact several houses on…
The Packer Effect
We may not be able to prove that language like that expressed by Boyd “homophobe” Packer leads directly to suicides of homosexual Mormons (like this one), but here’s some interesting correlational data that suggests his anti-scientific, ignorant, bigoted views are filtering down to the members, at least those in Utah:…
WWJD vs. WWJSD
Have you ever wondered what the difference would be between “WhatWouldJesus Do” (WWJD) and “What Would Joseph Smith Do” (WWJSD)? If we can assume that the modern LDS Church reflects Joseph Smith’s views, apparently what Joseph Smith would do is tell poor Haitians in Leogane, Haiti that they CAN’T take…
Church Handbook of Instructions – 2010 version available online
Not sure who or why, but you can download a full scan of the Church Handbook of Instructions – 2010 version here: http://martinluther537.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/2010-church-handbook-of-instructions-book-1a.pdf http://martinluther537.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/2010-church-handbook-of-instructions-book-2a.pdf Here’s his summary of what is in them and why he’s doing it: http://martinluther537.wordpress.com/