He Will Place you on His Shoulders and Carry You Home
I was asked to talk in church about on President Uchtdorf's April 2016 talk titled He Will Place you on His Shoulders and Carry You Home. The following is an adaptation of my thoughts. This talk was one of my very favorites of the conference session, and President...
On Excommunication
In the LDS Church, we teach that excommunication encompasses two overlapping actions: removing people from the church community and severing their covenants. I believe that it is entirely appropriate for the Church to engage in the former (even if I don’t always agree...
How to Hold a Mormon Mormon Prom
Is it really true that some Mormon kids put on their own prom entirely to shield boys from seeing the upper third of of the bodies of their dates? If that's actually the case, it's embarrassingly idiotic, not least because statistically that's virtually Amish compared...
History: from Aspiration to Inspiration
The Restoration Completed I have very nearly finished reading every general conference talk given by the first four presidents of the LDS church: Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff. As I'm working through Wilford Woodruff, a trend has stood...
98: Kirby Heyborne
In this interview we get to know Kirby Heyborne, who is both an actor and a musician. He has released several CDs on which he sings and plays the guitar. However, Heyborne first became widely popular in Mormon culture after starring in the film The R.M. (2003). His...
“Chopped into Little Pieces”: Why Some Commonly Accepted Mormon Beliefs About Sex Are Incoherent and Damaging
Jacob Baker looks at the nonsensical and damaging reasoning that make it possible for devastating events like those in the recent Honor Code controversy at BYU to occur.
ASK A GAY MORMON GUY PODCAST SERIES WITH MITCH MAYNE
Over here at Rational Faiths, we are excited the launching of a new podcast series. It will be much like our popular podcast series, "Ask a Mormon Sex Therapist," with Dr. Finlayson-Fife. Mitch Mayne will be the host of the new series, ASK A GAY MORMON GUY, and...
THREE VERSIONS OF TIME: THE ARROW, THE ICE CREAM TRUCK, AND GOD IN BEST BUY
What might the scriptures mean when they use the phrase that God’s course is “one eternal round” (see Alma 37:12; D&C 35:1; D&C 3:2: Alma 7:20; 1 Nephi 10:19)? And, does God know what I will do in the future, and if He does, how am I still free to choose? I...
WHY I NEED PROPHETS
General Conference was over a week ago now. And now I ask myself, "Why do I need prophets?" I need prophets to challenge me. My natural inclinations are more towards a conservative leaning. That is, preserve the way things are and to exclude people by maintaining...
I Loved As I Was Asked.
We shall call him Justin, he has so many names. He came to Earth to show us, each of us has a flame. His extinguished early, sixteen is too young to die. The pain he felt, from beliefs untrue, was the reason why. God made him whole, blessed with many gifts, and asked...
97: General Conference Compressed – Rational Faiths Reviews Spring 2016 Conference
You know what sounds like a great plan for a good time? Sitting in front of the TV/computer for nearly 12 hours watching men in suits and women in colorful dress talk about Mormon stuff. Okay it doesn’t really sound exciting but it is a huge Mormon ritual we do every...
How to Start Helping
In the last few days, I've seen a huge surge in members of the Church wanting to reach out to refugees in any way they can. I'm thrilled about this, as I've been following the middle-eastern refugee crisis since last year, and I would love some company in trying to do...
The End of the World, Plan B – Reviewed
I love AMC's The Walking Dead, Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (the inspiration for Blade Runner). Why do I love these really quite bleak views of what the world could, or perhaps will, eventually become? I'm not...
Bernie and Brigham: Two of a Kind
On Friday, March 18, 2016 I was up at This is the Place Heritage Park in the mountains above Salt Lake City, Utah attending the huge 14,000 person rally to hear Bernie Sanders speak. It was awesome, and a clear contrast to many Utah voters’ positions. Sanders, of...
Should Mormonism Embrace Post-Modern Conceptions of Religious Structure and Authority?
If you haven’t read Diana Butler Bass, you should. Bass has a story that should resonate strongly with many in the Rational Faiths audience. She was raised in an active church-going Methodist family and converted to conservative Evangelical Protestantism in her teens....
The Symbol of the Cross
At the time of year when the symbol of the cross is front-and-center in most Christian worship, Mormon attitudes toward the cross seem to still lean toward either indifference ("meh") or abhorrence ("The mark of the Beast!"). Between those extremes—or apart from...
LGBTQ Mormon Crisis
Two Printable handout for bishops and stake presidents that talks empirically about LGBTQ suicides:
The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide
Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis
The Barker Brothers’ Projects
These videos were created for Latter-day Saint parents and allies to voice their love for their LGBT brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They want to give a message of comfort and support to other parents who are navigating the difficult conflicts that can arise in families around this issue.
“Cogito!” (“I think!”) follows the intellectual adventures of a recovering academic outside the walls of academia.
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