Polygamy, Really?
Really? God sent an angel with a sword to Joseph Smith to tell him about polygamy(1)? Is that what we are going with? Are we all ok with that? If God is in the business of sending angels down, wouldn't it be nice if he sent Joseph a message that was more useful than...
Why Progressive Mormons Are Wrong..and, Oh Yeah, So Are The Conservative Ones
I think we are all aware of the arguments between the more traditional believing Mormons and those that have more liberal leaning views. It goes something like this: Conservative: God is immutable The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's Church...
Why SOME Single Saints Stay Single
*Have you ever read a List Blog and thought to yourself, "This doesn't relate to me at all"? The reason for this is that while List Blogs can be helpful/funny/true/or insightful, they can never encompass an entire group or population of people. So it is with...
Have We Done Any Good? Let’s Do Some Together.
My Understanding Increased Starting November 2001 to Late October 2003, I lived in Cambodia and you guessed it--I was serving my LDS mission there. Unlike many stories on the bloggernacle (or the blabbernacle for podcasts) I had an exceptionally positive mission...
A Mormon View of Charity vs. Justice
Elder Holland's October 2014 General Conference address titled "Are We Not All Beggars?" was a masterpiece. In it, Elder Holland exhorted Mormons to serve and help others, even if those others seem to "deserve" their plight.[1] His sermon was a Christlike reminder...
29: Steve Peck The Author
Come meet Steve Peck. He is a Professor of Biology at BYU teaching courses in bioethics and researching evolutionary biology from several different dimensions. In addition to his academic work Steve writes. He writes a lot. The works that we discuss with Steve in this...
The Doctrine of Celibacy
When Mormons speak of the Law of Chastity, they often define it as remaining celibate until marriage. In actuality, it would be more properly defined as remaining abstinent until marriage. Today, the words abstinent and celibate are frequently used interchangeably,...
When Religion Creates Dragons
Last February I wrote my first piece for Rational Faiths called When it Comes to Equality, Which Side of History Are You On? I have been very proud of my writing for Rational Faiths as a whole, but there's something about that piece that makes it my favorite; the...
Becoming whole
“psychopaths lack a measurable empathy response in their brains on brain scans. Does this mean they aren’t liable for their crimes? Did their brains make them do it? ” – Jeremy Timothy ponders the benefits and cost of collapsing the mind into its biology.
28: Meet The Mormons – A Rational Faiths Review
If you have been participating in the Bloggernacle, or even in many wards and stakes in the United States, you have probably heard of the Church’s new film “Meet the Mormons,” which was released in the theaters on 10/10/2014. Due to the controversy surrounding the...
Sin Next to Murder
“But if you’re a Mormon, and believe what is often taught by Mormon
leaders, you [believe]… premarital sex is the sin next to murder.”
Bradley Henderson breaks down why this is wrong and needs to go the
way of Adam God Doctrine.
Tales from the Dark Side
Evil spirits are real. They move among us. Sometimes they are far away. Sometimes they are closer than we would care to have them. The following are stories of encounters with evil spirits. They are true. I know. Because they happened to me. And to mine. It’s Close to...
The Rise of Modern Mormonism
I volunteered to give the presentation on Mormons, it sounded like a good idea at the time, for my New Religious Movements class. My presentation pulls form the work of Rodney Stark. At the time of his work, he asserted that the LDS Church is the fastest growing...
27: An Interview with Nancy Phippen Browne – Help Thou Mine Unbelief
I really enjoy apologetics, particularily because I find the exploration of complex and difficult topics related to our faith to be fascinating. In this interview we speak with Nancy Phippen Browne who has written an apologetic work on a number of topics which is...
Mormons, Meet Your Fellow Mormons* – A Movie Review
MORMONS, MEET YOUR FELLOW MORMONS - A MOVIE REVIEW by Michael Barker I saw the much-hyped movie (of course this is a tongue-in-cheek comment, because it's only hyped-up by Mormons), Meet the Mormons, with my twelve year old daughter. Based upon speaking with...
Scripture as Totem: Religion and the Importance of the Text
It is easily recognized that throughout the history of religious traditions texts have served an important role in the continued conceptualization and endurance of the individual faith traditions.[1] In the history of studies on religion, monographs, essays, articles,...
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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