Issues

Posted on by truthregardless

In 2011 I began an intense investigation of the truth claims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church) which led me to investigate even further the truth claims of Christianity, the history of God, the Psychology of Belief, and Science.  I was 38 years old at the time, and had lived my whole life up to that point believing 100% what I had been taught all my life.  I was born into the church, served a mission, married my high school sweetheart in the temple, and served in various different callings and positions throughout my adult life, including – Elders Quorum President (2x), counselor, secretary, Young Men’s President, Ward Mission Leader, Scouting, and lastly Executive Secretary to the Bishop.

I struggled with the information I was finding.  It was an internal battle.  It was sad and depressing.  There was so much information that was just contradictory to what I had thought I had known, what I had believed.  What was so damaging is the fact that this information wasn’t from invalid or unverifiable sources.  It wasn’t lies, or things that had been exaggerated or invented.  It wasn’t anti-mormon rhetoric.  My whole world came crashing in on me.  Finally, after months of internal struggle, I admitted to myself that, for me, the truth claims of the church in relation to the actual history of the church were not reconcilable.  As hard as that was, and as sad as that was, it just isn’t.  I had come to believe that the church is not the true church.

As part of my process in all of this I started to compile a bullet point list, basically, of the issues I have with the truth claims of the church and with what I was finding.  For the most part the list doesn’t include references, just the topics.  Most of the information with references to the sources can be found on mormonthink.com or on lds.org through their recently published essays.  Mormonstories.org also is an invaluable resource full of great podcasts about various topics of interest regarding mormonisms truth claims with interviews with scholars, psychologists, apologists, authors, teachers, etc. along with resources to help one navigate a crisis of faith.  While most of my issues I list below have been addressed by apologists of the church, the explanations and answers that are provided fall flat, to me, and are simply justifications or spin of the issues and unsatisfactory answers.  Again, that is my opinion.

Below are my issues in no particular order:

Joseph Smith

  • He was a Treasure Seeker – used Peep Stones to find treasure for profit – same peep stones to translate the BOM
  • He had a strong belief in the supernatural, i.e. peep stones, divining rods, magic, the occult, etc., that strongly influenced his life and theology
  • Smith Family involved in magic, treasure seeking, etc.
  • Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, etc, all believed the same
  • Most historians, Mormon and non, accept the fact that JS was the village “magician”.
  • JS found a peep stone in a well, which led to another peep stone, and then another. These are rocks that “illuminate” when in the dark.  Sometimes holes are drilled into them to look through, and you stare into it until you see visions.  He said everyone has a peep stone, you just have to find it.
  • Involved with and lied about Polygamy/Polyandry (Huge issue, just in and of itself)
  • Lying/Manipulative – often lied to Emma and others to cover up different things and deceive and get his way.
  • Kirkland Bank – Deception with the bank, faked that they had gold and land to support it, and that he had received revelation to support it and its success to assure investors. Many lost a lot of money, which led to great apostasy (amongst other things) in Kirkland.
  • The D&C revelations he received for others often seem self-serving, manipulative of others, and full of fear mongering.
  • Had an extremely vivid imagination
  • Retrofitted revelations, changed original revelations published in Book of Commandments, sometimes even reversing them, to fit his progressing and changing theology.
  • Changing doctrine of the God-Head. At first believed in 1 God (even after 1st Vision) then changed to believe in 3 distinct beings, and changed BOM and other revelations to support there being 3 instead of 1.  If he saw both God and Jesus in first vision, why would he teach and believe that God and Jesus were 1 instead of separate individuals?
  • Arrested many times for “glass looking” and “money digging”. Brought to trial and even convicted in 1826 for the activity (6 years after first vision).
  • Several charges for inappropriate behavior with women.

Polygamy/Polyandry

  • JS was married to at least 34 women (proven), up to 80+ suspected
    • 11 of them were married to other living men (polyandry). Some husbands faithful members and away on missions when wives married JS.
    • 7 were teenage girls
  • Nauvoo Expositor- Truths about polygamy and the propositioning of women and girls by JS and others exposed by the Laws (faithful members upset because JS propositioned the wife) in the expositor led to destruction of the printing press, the owner’s barn, and ultimately JS murder. First hand accounts of what is happening in Nauvoo with Polygamy
  • Marriage propositions included promises of eternal life, and that the family’s salvation or even Joseph’s salvation depended on it. Used coercion and promises of eternal life for the woman/girl and their family if obliged.
  • JS and early church leaders practiced in secret. JS denied practicing it up until the day he died, sometimes telling bold lies in public conference or meetings denying it.
  • Practiced either behind the back of, or secretly from Emma.
  • Coercion by threats of death by an angel, or loss of salvation to anyone that knew about it and didn’t go along with it or that threatened to expose it.
  • D&C 132 – Disagrees with other revelation previously in the D&C that prohibited polygamy and was later removed from the D&C. In fact, D&C 132 doesn’t even agree with how polygamy was being practiced by JS or others even.
  • Threatening to Emma – If she didn’t accept it, the Lord would destroy her (D&C 132)
  • Practiced contrary to repeated public denials
  • Practiced differently than the “revelation” he had written
  • Practiced even before the “revelation” was given. Revelation on Polygamy came later, after already being practiced by JS.
  • Fanny Alger/JS caught in the act by Emma, Oliver Cowdery said it was a filthy, nasty affair
  • Honesty?
  • JS claims an angel with a flaming sword commanded him to practice it, yet the angel wasn’t specific on how to practice it? Just go marry anyone you can?  Why don’t angels with flaming swords come to make sure other prophets are practicing other commandments from God?  The Lord delights in the chastity of women?
  • Taught it was required for exaltation, then after declaration taught that it wasn’t, and you would be excommunicated if you did. One day good, next day bad.
  • Practiced even after it was declared not to by church leaders in Manifesto.
  • Still practiced today via temples, and believed to be an “eternal” principle practiced in heaven
  • LDS.org essay admits or touches on many of these things. Good progress, considering the church has excommunicated or disciplined many scholars in the past for exposing these things.

Book of Mormon

  • Lehi’s Dream – Lucy Smith’s journal tells of Joseph Sr. sharing this dream with the family when JS was a child. Also is JS Senior’s journal.
  • Bible in BOM (The original BOM text has the same errors as 1769 KJV edition that was prevalent in JS day)
  • Anachronisms (Domesticated animals, wheat, silk, steel, wheels and chariots, glass, etc) items that didn’t exist during the time of the BOM people
  • DNA evidence does not support
  • Nephi quoting and reading Isaiah from the Brass Plates when some parts of Isaiah not even written yet.
  • Scientific community does not support it as a historical document, at all.
  • Archaeological Evidence does not support – See Michael Coe Podcast
  • Lack of linguistic support/evidence
  • Huge populations sited in BOM not supported by any kind of realistic population growth rate.
  • No Christian New World societies
  • Hill Cumorah Battle – Where is the evidence of the tens of 1000’s of people slain? Swords?  Bones?  Breastplates?  Any evidence of a great battle there?
  • Geography and Names – Same as surrounding area during JS times (or similar) see Holley’s Map
  • Similarities/parallels with other books and articles of those times (View of the Hebrews, The Late War, Spaulding, Etc) See BH Roberts Studies of the BOM, written by himself, a general authority at the time, to the brethren to find answers to these problematic parallels and similarities.  The response, nothing.
  • Changes to the BOM over time, not just punctuation changes but doctrinal.
  • Racism in BOM consistent with views of JS day.
  • Doctrine of BOM – Fulness of the Gospel? There are really no new doctrines in the BOM that distinguish us from any other Christian group.  All doctrine exclusive to the LDS comes later in the D&C as JS develops his theology.
  • Sources for the BOM are questionable. Can be shown to have come from several sources available to him during his day and age.
  • Historicity- No historical evidence that supports it.
  • Errors – If this is translated as we were taught, that JS said the word or sentence and the scribe then repeated it back and wrote it down to ensure that no errors were made, there shouldn’t be any errors. Grammatical or doctrinal.  Especially if it was translated with a stone in a hat where everything was just revealed to him instead of actually translating from plates.
  • The passages in the BOM that are the same as the KJV of the bible are not consistent with the JS translation of the Bible of the same verses. If JS produced a translated bible to correct errors to it, shouldn’t the original translation of the BOM have agreed with his translated bible?
  • Ammon cutting off arms of attackers – not plausible or feasible.
  • Lehi and family supposedly practicing the law of Moses. No references to Passover, feast of tabernacles, sabbatical years, jubilees, thank offerings, unleavened bread, purification, circumcision, unclean animals, etc.
  • Lehi leaving Jerusalem to get to Red Sea in 3 days – 170 miles on foot over rugged terrain with their possessions? 60 miles a day?
  • Jaredite “submarines”
  • Over 300 quotes in the BOM that came from Prophets and apostles who lived after 600 BC. How did Lehi/Nephi/BOM prophets know about them?
  • Even without DNA, there is substantial evidence that the American Indians are not of Hebrew decent – language, skeletal structure, customs, stone-age technology, etc.
  • Limited Geography theory by apologists flies in the face of early Prophets/apostles and the BOM itself – 2 Nephi 1:8
  • Parallels with other Bible stories (Alma the Younger and Paul)

BOM Translation/Golden Plates

  • Translated by Seer Stone Placed in a Hat. Why did God go through all the trouble of having the plates written and preserved, only for them to not be used in the “translation”?
  • Plates not even present in most cases during the translation
  • Fear Mongering again – If Emma even tried to look at them she will be struck dead.
  • JS Running with the Plates and fighting off men?  This story is not logical or feasible.
  • The Time for Translation and Sources used is contradictory
  • JS tried to sell the copyright upon completion, saying it was revealed to him through the peep stone to do so. Then when they traveled to Canada to sell the copyright, as revealed through JS, they could not sell it and came back empty handed.  JS then said some revelations are from God and some are from the Devil to cover up his false revelation.
  • Witnesses Testimony is questionable. Martin Harris stated, during the Kirkland apostasy and crisis, that he and the others only saw the plates with their “spiritual eyes.”
  • Early accounts from JS state he was led to the plates by the Seer Stone, not Moroni.
  • Possible valid sources for the creation of the BOM – View of the Hebrews, The Late War, Book of Napoleon, the Golden Pot, New Testament (with the same errors as the current version of his day), Methodist Theology, local culture and experiences, George Washington stories and news reports, automatic writing, etc.
  • The Gold plates are magically taken back to heaven after translation but other physical evidence such as the mummies that came with the BoA papyrus are allowed to be turned into a sideshow where Emma charged 25 cents to see them.
  • Early accounts published state that the Angel “Nephi” not “Moroni” came to Joseph
    • JS was even editor or the publication
  • Originally, JS said the plates were to be translated by his first born son when he would be only 3 years old.
  • Anthon Transcipt problems
    • Anthon repeatedly denied and stated he did not verify characters ever. Even published it in a paper to defend his name. (New York Observer)
    • Prophesy of Isaiah used by JS to convince MH taken out of context (Isaiah is symbolic of the people of Jerusalem becoming as a sealed book).
    • When writing the BOM, changed the wording of the verse in the BOM to better fit the circumstances to prove to Harris he fulfilled prophesy. The original verse, as shown in Dead Sea Scrolls, does not foretell the BOM as JS purports.
    • Anthon could not have pronounced any translation as correct
    • Characters examined today are viewed by scholars as gibberish
    • Deformed English theory accounts for 67% of the “Caractors” document
    • “Caractors” document also strongly related to secret or magical alphabets of the occult in those days.

Book of Abraham

  • Traveling salesman came into town displaying Egyptian mummies. JS examines the mummies and coincidentally finds that the scrolls contained with the mummy contain the writings of Father Abraham!
  • Egyptologists have examined and translated the original papyrus and found it to be common funerary text.
  • All non-LDS Egyptologists agree it is not a translation of the record and is fabricated. They strongly dis-agree with the LDS Apologists reasoning for the Book of Abraham and translation.
  • Not from Abraham, not even from that time frame
  • Non-LDS apologists examined all the “translated” alphabet from the papyrus that JS did and agree it is made up and gibberish
  • BOA has a Newtonian View of Universe (Popular in JS day)
  • 86% is from KJV Genesis
  • Anachronisms exist in the text, such as Abraham’s age (if indeed Abraham even existed at all), the mention of Chaldeans, use of the word Pharoah, Potiphar, depiction of human sacrifice as an Egyptian ritual, etc.
  • Sun gets light from Kolob, etc.
  • With new scriptures released in 2012, the BOA header was changed from “A translation” to an “inspired” translation. Covering their tracks for the fact that it’s not a direct translation but a means for inspiration like the apologists argue.  The BOA header states that it was written by Abraham’s “own hand upon papyrus”.
  • JS used to charge others to come and see the papyri on display. They would also publish their current translations of the text in the subscription newspaper at the time for monetary gain.
  • JS claimed the papyri were written by the hands of the greatest patriarchs of the world’s three biggest religions, making them by far the oldest (and only) first hand accounts of such documents, and easily would make them the most valuable writings on Earth. If the church really believed the Papyrus were what JS claimed, they would treat them as the world’s greatest holy relics, and the rest of the world would accept them and hold them just as valuable. Abraham is the father of many religions! Instead, they never talk about them and pretend they don’t exist.
  • BOA introduced the first and only scriptural basis for denying blacks the priesthood.
  • “Firmament” was a thing around the earth that held stuff in the sky, like a canvas. No such thing, and from the Hebrew map of the universe.
  • LDS.org essay admits it is not a translation of the papyrus.

1st Vision Accounts

  • At Least 4 Versions, each different
  • No record of any versions until 12 years after it occurred
  • Each account builds upon the other
  • 1st account JS sees Jesus, then Angels, then Angelic Beings, then Father and Son
  • Not seeing Father and Son until the 4th account
  • Church Members not even aware of 1st Vision until 22 Years Later!
  • Final version occurred during the greatest time of need in the church for JS to prove authority. Many were leaving due to other events (polygamy, Martin Harris stating he only saw plates with spiritual eyes, etc).
  • Again, if JS had seen the Father and the Son as 2 distinct beings, his early theology would have indicated this – which it doesn’t.  Only later are the references in the BOM and D&C changed to indicate 2 separate beings.

Kinderhook Plates

  • Plates brought to Joseph by locals to translate, he said they were authentic and that he could translate them, and they later proved to be fabricated
  • Joseph began translation, said they were from a descendant of Ham, through Pharaoh.
  • Published in paper the copies of the plates and his translations
  • Encouraged people to subscribe to paper to keep up with the coming translations
  • Church defended them until 1980, when they were proven to be a hoax and fraudulent

Priesthood

  • Nobody had heard about the restoration of Aaronic Priesthood until 5 years after the fact.
  • Various versions of authority received for baptism and how.
  • D&C revelations changed after 1835 to include appearances of Peter, James, John, and John the Baptist. Again at the critical time in church history when everything was crumbling around JS and he needed to prove authority.
  • Restoration of Aaronic/Melchezedik Priesthood not recorded in the Book of Commandments. More than 400 words added to original revelation on priesthood.
  • Women used to give blessings by the laying on of hands. Church stopped it after JS death.  Why was it allowed then and not now?

Testimony of 3 Witnesses

  • Common beliefs – Magical Worldview – Folk Magic, divining rods, visions, peep stones, treasure hunting, etc
  • Journal and other accounts of witnesses stating they saw them with “spriritual” eyes, not as we see
  • The 3 Witnesses testimony was a prepared statement for them to sign. Not their own words.  Apprehension at first to sign it.
  • The 8 Witness testimony was a prepared statement that was already signed for them Original Signed document – All names signed by the same person – handwriting the same
  • Great downfall in church when at a meeting discussing JS and the BOM and other truth claims Martin Harris declared that he never physically saw the plates, but saw them with his spiritual eyes. He declared none of the witnesses physically saw them.  Many left the church, including members of the first presidency.
  • Strang professed to be successor after JS death, produced a book from metal plates, had 11 Witnesses that never denied their testimonies, and followed by 3 Whitmers, Martin Harris, Hiram Page, William Smith, and Lucy Smith (from 1846-47)

Temple

  • Copied from Masonry
  • Mason ceremony developed in 13th to 17th Centuries, Not the Old Testament or Solomon’s Temple times
  • The Masonry practiced in Nauvoo cannot be traced back past the 18th century
  • Temple Ceremony Changes – penalties removed over time (such as covenanting that you would suffer death if you told of the temple), pantomiming the cutting of throats or disemboweling of organs if you told off the temple secrets barely removed in 1990, masonic elements slowly removed, pastor no longer with Satan, etc.
  • Contradictory teachings to what is taught in church (rituals, recited prayers, God not knowing at all times what we are doing, angles without bodies cannot shake hands)
  • Secrecy/Sacred – Go to temple for first time totally unprepared for what is there, tremendous pressure to believe and follow through with it.
  • Milk before Meat theory
  • There were penalties/death oaths associated with the names and tokens received prior to 1990.
  • Fear Mongering/Control
  • Need for masonic symbols, handshakes, tokens to enter into God’s presence? Seems very ritualistic. Why are we required to have secret tokens and signs to get into heaven when anyone can pilfer them off the internet? Surely God could have figured out a way that accounted for the information age.
  • Nauvoo Temple built with a floor for dancing, and that is how they glorified God by “dancing” through the night. Very Protestant.
  • Continued changes to the ceremony and particularly the initiatory even recently.  Why is the ceremony that was revealed by God being changed?
  • Many changes to the ceremony since it was “revealed”. Why changes if it was originally revealed by God?

Racism

  • The church’s teachings of Blacks and their origin stem from racism
  • BOM teaches that dark skin is a curse from God, and that the righteous are “white and delightsome”
  • Priesthood ban – lifted during a time that the church was facing the threat of losing its tax-free status, Stanford and other universities threatening to boycott BYU athletics, and the civil rights trends against racism. Christ’s true church should have been leading this charge, not conforming to it.
  • Spencer W Kimball stated that “The day of the Lamanites in nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome… The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the homes on the reservation…There was the doctor in a Utah city who for two years had had an Indian boy in his home who stated that he was some shades lighter than the younger brother just coming into the program from the reservation. These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness.”
  • First Blacks get priesthood, then they are denied. Church teaches that blacks were less valiant people in pre-existence, that’s why they were punished. – Church now disavows this, but letter from First Presidency in 60s to bishoprics says this. (I looked it up and found it – original) They claim all racism started with BY and they “don’t know why” – JS has MANY quotes supporting slavery (just look online) – Church is pretending JS was not racist, when his quotes, and publications are obviously racist (as was everyone back then) – Back then it wasn’t called racism. LDS Church now “disavows” all these teachings. Shouldn’t God have revealed to his prophets that racism is wrong?  Are we to believe that this is really how God felt?  And if so, why did he change his mind if doctrine is unchanging and the same forever?
  • Blacks were sealed as eternal servants, not Kings and Queens.
  • Inter-Racial marriage policies – Reflect the current stance of SSM. “Mixing Seed” with black people = death and will “always be so” / Moses 7:22
  • Cain = Bigfoot
  • Brigham Young was extremely racist

Joseph Smith “Translation” of the Bible

  • Why don’t we use or have the complete translation? It was completed prior to JS death
  • Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the translations of the New Testament and disprove the JS translations of the Bible
  • BOM translations different that the JS translations of the same New Testament verses.

Celestial Kingdom Doctrine

  • Emannuel Swedenborg wrote “Heaven and Hell” in 18th century (before JS, and well known) and taught:
    • 3 degrees of heaven, celestial being the highest.
    • 3 levels within the celestial glory, highest for marriage for eternity.
    • Witnessed a marriage in heaven and the husband was wearing the priesthood robes of Aaron.
    • Must be married to enter highest kingdom
    • Spirit world
    • Likens the 3 kingdoms to the Sun, moon, and stars
    • God was once man

Changing Doctrine and Issues Since Joseph Smith

  • Adam/God Theory – Brigham Young taught that God is Adam that was on this Earth, and that this was revealed to him by the Lord.
  • Blood Atonement (BY). Some sins are so bad that the atonement doesn’t apply, only the spilling of their blood.
  • Inter-Racial marriage an extreme sin (BY)
  • Murder of unfaithful spouse justified (BY)
  • Inhabitants on the Moon and Sun (BY)
  • Rocks decay, Gold and Silver Grow the same as hair (BY)
  • Curse of Cain passed on through Ham’s wife so devil should have a representation on the earth (John Taylor)
  • 1898 Wilford Woodruff prophesied that many in the congregation would stand in the flesh when Jesus Christ visits the Zion of God.
  • 1888 Wilford Woodruff also stated at the Manti Temple dedication that “We will not end the practice of plural marriage until the second coming”
  • Mountain Meadows Massacre
  • Doctrine of Tithing – used to be tithed on surplus only, still in the revelation that way. Changed over time to be based on all income.  Vague as to whether gross or net. Salvation held hostage by tithing and paying to church.
  • Hofmann Forgeries
  • Bruce R McKonkie and Mormon Doctrine. Church won’t publish it or stand by it now.
  • Other predictions not being realized or coming true
  • Men can become like God. Hinckley stated he doesn’t know that we teach it, or emphasize it. Church Essay states that no we don’t really teach or believe that, or get our own planets
  • Word of Wisdom copied from the temperance movements during Smith’s day.
  • Word of Wisdom and cultural changes since “revelation”
    • Revelation States it’s not a commandment
    • Wine Ok if it is home-made
    • Mild Barley Drinks OK (Beer)
      • Several accounts of JS drinking Beer after the revelation
      • Brigham Young built a distillery in Utah and sold Beer and Alcohol
    • Hot Drinks vague, and caused problems in the beginning with illnesses and disease which would have been prevented by boiling their water
    • Eat meats sparingly
    • Church body picks and chooses which part of the WoW they want to observe.

Problems with Current Church

  • Billion Dollar Mall (City Creek) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XJISDsMLoOo
  • Lying for the Lord
  • Church’s involvement in Prop 8 – See Documentary “8 – The Mormon Proposition”
  • Stance on Same Sex Marriage and Gays
  • “November Policy” that kids of LGBT parents in a relationship cannot be baptized until adults and then must denounce their parents to do so.
  • Fear Mongering
  • Threatened with excommunication if speaking about the actual truths of the church history and not agreeing with the Church’s version of history.
  • Church not being Honest and Open about History and Issues
  • Indoctrination (Starts in Nursery)
  • Financial Transparency, or lack of
  • Controlling
  • Time Commitment to be a “faithful” member.
  • Too much concentration on the “Church” as the source of our salvation, not Christ
  • Does not bring unity to families of mixed faiths
  • Mormon Culture not consistent with teachings and doctrine
  • You can pray for answers, but make sure the answers are consistent with our teachings or you didn’t get the right answer.
  • Bishops are expected to give so much of time, and expected to be spiritual, marriage, temporal, psychological, financial counselors to everyone with little or no qualifications.
  • Heartsell – Bonneville Communications basically copyrighted the way it gets people to “feel the spirit” about their products and published on their website how they do it.
  • Mormon myths and legends vs Fact and Truth.
  • Revelations for our day and problems we face? Where are they?  Where have they been?
  • Pretty generic in any mention of revelation or prediction, if any mention at all.
  • Prophets can’t lead you astray, because they told you that they can’t.
  • Correlation of the Church – Control of information

– Don’t address or give any information on website for anything earlier than 1970, unless it was quoted by someone later than 1970.

– Had to develop a way to correlate information, even when there is countering doctrine having been taught for years from the prophets and apostles (I.e. Orson Pratt and Brigham Young, Adam-God, Polygamy, etc).  Had to be selective of which doctrine they would hold true, either ignore one and hold the other, or address both and add to confusion.

– Huge problem of cover-ups, and distrust after correlation.  Selective information only released, while problematic information not taught or addressed (polygamy for example in the JS or BY Manuals for Priesthood/RS, or BOM translation not addressed, etc.)

– 19th century Mormonism completely different than 21st century Mormonism.  Pretty much irreconcilable.

  • LDS Youth teachings continually objectify women. Teaches youth if you dress “immodestly” you are immoral. Teaches that outside represents inside. EXACT opposite teaching of Christ
  • Fruits of Mormonism When Mormons do good, it is proof church and religion is good. When Mormons do bad, “Oh they were acting as a man, or on their own. We aren’t all like that.”
  • The “anti-masturbation” pamphlet they STILL give out today teaches that someone who is gay needs to be taught a lesson, “somebody had to do it” (references to physically assaulting a gay missionary companion). Also teaches that certain kinds of horseplay will turn you gay, as well as masturbation. Also teaches that gay people chose to be gay because they are under the influence of evil.
  • Hinckley interviews on TV and contradicting doctrine or being dishonest.

Testimony

  • Just Believe, don’t question
  • Gain a testimony by bearing it. If you say something enough you start to believe it.
  • Based on feelings you have, not truth and logic. Ignore everything else but feelings.
  • Faith in spite of Science, Facts, and History
  • Tremendous pressure to believe
  • Psychology of Belief
  • Don’t Doubt. Doubt is sin

Science Vs Religion

  • Evidences for Dinosaurs, age of the earth, evolution, etc.
  • Noah’s Ark
  • Jonah and the Whale
  • Jaredites
  • Tower of Babel
  • Adam and Eve as first humans
  • Darkness or stopping the sun
  • No Death before the fall
  • Age of the Earth
  • The Exodus
  • Long life spans
  • Stars borrowing light from greater stars

Mark Hofmann Forgeries

  • In April, 1980, Mark Hofmann started finding old Mormon documents. At first the documents confirmed LDS history, but soon his “finds” were making Joseph Smith appear to be a fraud and occultist. Hofmann was selling the most embarrassing documents directly (face-to-face) to President Gordon B. Hinckley; then acting President of the Church (all other members of the First Presidency were ill).
  • Hinckley paid Mark Hofmann hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to Hofmann, then hid the documents in the First Presidency’s Vault; only admitting (sometimes) that the Church had the document after it was “leaked” to the Media. After Hinckley would buy a document (one of Hofmann’s forgeries which made Joseph Smith or Brigham Young look bad), Hinckley would file the document in the First Presidency’s Vault. Hofmann then “leaked” photocopies of the documents to the Press, and blamed Church archivists for the leaks. Incredible as it now seems, Hinckley believed Hofmann! At that time only one Mormon (Darrick Evenson) came forward to proclaim Mark Hofmann a “fraud” and his documents “forgeries”. Evenson was dismissed as a “conspiracy nut”; his letters to President Hinckley intercepted and filed-away by LDS Church Security.
  • In 1987 Hofmann confessed to forging hundreds of documents and to murdering two innocent people as a way to cover it up and lead police away from him. When it was all over the New York Times reported that “the Church routinely acquires and suppresses history documents in order to deceive its members and the public.” (Feb. 11, 1987). The story is told in The Mormon Murders and A Gathering of Saints; both books still in most U.S. libraries.

God, Christ – Inconsistencies and Illogical Fallacies

  • Answer Prayers to help find wallet, won’t answer millions of starving people in other countries, or prevent selling innocent children into human trafficking or sex slavery?
  • Conflicting evidence everywhere
  • Conflicting doctrines and teachings
  • Delivering messages through men who contradict themselves and each other (within the Church and other religions too)
  • Guessing game between speaking as man or speaking as prophets
  • Rely on feelings, when feelings can vary between divine revelation and personal feelings
  • Faith – Believe on things we cannot see, but only if it agrees with our belief.
  • Evidences for creation vs evolution
  • Other people in other religions “feel” the same feelings of truth in their religions as the LDS do, and just as strongly that they are correct.
  • the “God” caveat Always – God can do anything. Also, Got what you want, God answered prayer.  Didn’t get what you want, God answered prayer, just differently than you wanted.  Didn’t get what you wanted, God is testing you.  Etc, Etc.
  • Free Agency? Where?  Choose wisely or be damned for eternity.  No biggie.
  • Old Testament God Vs New Testament God. Totally different attitude and character.
  • Origins of Christianity. Parallels with Paganism.
  • Development of New Testament
  • History of the New Testament and Christ
  • History and origins of the Devil
  • If I am capable of forgiving my children just about any offense without demanding the gruesome death of the most obedient one…even if they are not repentant at all…why is not the most loving being in the universe capable of the same?
  • If Satan is so smart, why can’t he figure out that he would totally win (frustrate God’s plan of happiness) if he just refuses to play his role. Without temptation, there would be no test for us, and, consequently, no growth.
  • Why is it suggested that when we die we will automatically understand feelings like hating polygamy because we are just human and those are human emotions, and yet God says numerous times that he’s a “jealous” god and doesn’t want us to have any other god’s before him. So, isn’t jealousy a human emotion? And if it is a human emotion why is OK for God to have human emotions but the rest of us will just “understand” them after we die?
  • God can create a body for Adam and Eve from nothing, but yet for Christ he has to sleep with Mary to create his body?
  • So many harmful, evil, hurtful, and malicious atrocities committed throughout history in the name of religion and Christianity.
  • Etc, etc.

Old Testament

  • Creation of the earth, Adam and Eve as first humans, etc. scientifically disproven. Archeological evidence of intelligent, religious and artistic people living at least 25,000 years ago.   DNA and population mapping of the human race indicate at least 150,000 years of human presence on earth. Anthropologists have geographically traced human ancestry to Africa.
  • No historical evidence or proof of Moses and the Exodus. No record in the Egyptian records either of the Exodus and the plagues or death of so many 1st  No record of the destruction.  Remember, this was to Pharoah, the king at the time, and the Egyptians kept great records.
  • No geological evidence of the Flood or Noah. The story or Noah’s ark is improbable.  Just the amount of water alone it would take to flood the whole earth is impossible with the water we have on the earth (inside and out)
  • Evidence that Abraham existed is sketchy
  • God in the Old Testament = Mean, hateful, jealous, etc.
    • 4 Kings 2:23-24 – God sends bears to kill 42 children that are mocking Eliseus for being bald.
    • Genesis 19:26 – After killing all the men, women and children in Sodom and Gomorrah, God turns Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt for looking back as they left
    • Leviticus 21:17-24 – Basically God hates handicap people.
    • Exodus 4:24-26 – God is stopped from killing Moses because his wife cuts off their son’s foreskin and touches Moses’ feet with it.
    • Throughout Old Testament – God commits genocide a lot, murdering thousands of people he is upset with, such as drowning everyone, helping and commanding his people to kill everyone in Jericho, Heshbon, Bashan, Egypt, the Canaanites, the Amalekites, etc. Men, women, and children, and sometimes even the animals.
    • Telling Abraham to kill Isaac as a test of faith.
    • Genesis 38: 1-10 – God kills Onan because he’s upset that Onan didn’t procreate with his dead brother’s wife.
    • Numbers 16: 1-49 – God kills 14,700 people for complaining about God killing them.
    • Job – Takes all he has from Job, family, properity, etc, as a test and inflicts him with all kinds of diseases. After Job passes the test he gets a new family and everything.  Really?  Kill my family as a test and then give me a different one?  What about the one I had and loved?
  • Other violence in the Old Testament apparently sanctioned by God
    • Stoning, slavery, women inequality, executions, discrimination, rape, incest
    • Genesis 19 – Angels came to Sodom and were with Lot. Men came and wanted the angels to have sex with them.  Lot would not permit it, but sent out his virgin daughters for the men to do with as they pleased.

New Testament

  • Historicity – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the only eye witness accounts of Jesus in the New Testament, were written well after Christ lived (starting at about 100 years), and were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The sources are anonymous.
  • Development of Christianity and a following of Jesus happened slowly through time well after Christ after the writings telling of Jesus began to circulate.
  • The 4 Gospels are often contradictory
    • Only Matthew and Luke speak of Virgin Birth
    • Joseph’s Genealogy
    • Place of Jesus’ birth
    • The Date of His birth
    • Prophecies in Matthew referred to of Jesus’ birth are not really referring to Jesus in their original context
    • Last supper and when it took place
    • How Judas died
  • Why didn’t John the Baptist become a follower of Jesus?
  • The gospels were written one after the other, and seem to build on each other for credulity and trying to out-do each other
  • Christianity forced upon the people by the Roman Government as a way to regulate the masses.
  • No historical evidence of Jesus
  • Stories of Jesus contain many parallels to other religious figures and stories prior to that time, such as the Virgin Birth, born on Dec. 25th or the Winter Solstice, Crucifixion and then resurrected 3 days later, etc.
    • Religious figures with similarities – Horus, Buddha, Mithra, Krishna, Osiris, Odysseus, Romulus, Dionysus, Heracles, Glycon, Etc.
  • While Christ’s teachings are good in the New Testament, there still exists things like discrimination, persecution, women inequality, fear mongering, genocide, etc.
  • New Testament compiled hundreds of years later based upon a council (Council of Nicaea) that decided which, of all the writings of the time, would be included and which would be thrown out to create one religion, out of the several being practiced at the time, to be observed by all. Several Christian gospels not included, such as the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary, other Gospels telling of Christ’s childhood, etc.

Psychology of Belief

  • Mormonism is based on extreme Mind Control. Destructive mind control is a social process that encourages obedience, dependence, and conformity, while suppressing autonomy and independence.  It displaces a person’s authentic identity and replaces it with an alternate identity.
  • Destructive Mind Control: Fostering a new identity, Threatening prophecies, secret meetings, exclusivity, shrines reserved for the elite, deception, manipulation and psychological blackmail, dependency, incentives to spend more time with the group, confessions and privacy infringement, extraction of as much money as possible, hyper-vigilance, the demand for purity. All relate to Mormonism.
  • Other destructive Mind Control tactics: Doctrine over person, loading the language, group pressures, obedience to authority, information censorship, controlling a person’s spiritual life, gaining control over a person’s thinking, creating fear in members (defectors are shunned), providing models that demonstrate “correct” behavior, closed system of logic, major time commitments, intense indoctrination in the teen years, etc.
  • Cognitive Human Biases –
    • Groupthink Bias – tendency to lend credence to the predominant opinion held by the group
    • Authority Bias – tendency to place credence in those in positions of authority.
    • Saying is Believing Bias – As you pronounce your belief or opinion, you become less likely to find fault with or change your position.
    • Confirmation Bias – The tendency to retain the initial idea or method and reject subsequent ideas or methods.
    • Commitment Bias – Humans tend to hold dear that in which they have made heavy investments.
    • Dominant Thought Bias –Humans tend to evolve into that which they think about the most.
    • Reciprocity Bias – The human tendency to feel indebted when given a gift.
  • Fowler’s Stages of Faith
  • Memory is construed and even built around cognitive biases. The memory may not be accurate based on the bias you hold.
  • The Brain and how it works – we form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional, and psychological reasons in the context of environments created by family, friends, colleagues, culture, and society. After forming them we then defend, justify, and rationalize them with intellectual reasons, cogent arguements, and rational explanations.  Beliefs come first, explanations follow.
  • Critical Thinking – Totally discouraged in Mormonism. Critical Thinking is the process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.  It is based on clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.  6 Critical Questions:
    • Who said it? – Someone you know? Someone famous? Someone in authority? Should it matter who said it?
    • What did they say? – Did they give facts or opinions? Did they give all the facts? Did they leave something out?
    • Where did they say it? Was it in public or private? Did other people have a chance to talk about the other side?
    • When did they say it? Before, after, or during an important event?
    • Why did they say it? Did they explain their opinions? Were they trying to make someone look good or bad?
    • How did they say it? Were they happy, sad, angry, or didn’t care? Did they write it or speak it? Could you understand it?
  • Recognizing Logical Fallacies – A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. Strong arguments are void of logical fallacies, while weak ones tend to use them to appear stronger.  Logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought, and they’re often very sneakily used by politicians, the media, apologists, etc. to fool people.  They include: Strawman, Slippery Slope, False Cause, Special Pleading, Loaded Question, Appeal to Emotion, The Fallacy Fallacy, Tu Quoque, Personal Incredulity, Burden of Proof, Ambiguity, The Gambler’s Fallacy, Black or White, Bandwagon, Begging the Question, Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Nature, Composition/Division, Anecdotal, No True Scotsman, The Texas Sharpshooter, Genetic, Middle Ground