Hello Friend, I am writing this letter in an effort to let you know where I stand in life. As an FYI, I have also sent this to a number of friends and family that I thought might warrant this message. I contemplated for a long time on whether I should even write this, or … Continue reading Open Letter to Friends and Family
Since leaving the Mormon church I have been asked, “what would change your mind?” In this post, I will attempt to outline the terms that would need to be met in order for me to reconsider myself a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When contemplating this exercise I think it … Continue reading What Would Change My Mind?
The LDS Church is known for its emphasis on history and record keeping. Since its early days, official leaders and common members of the church recorded countless journals, essays, and first hand accounts of the context surrounding the critical beginnings of the now multi-million member worldwide religion. In its 180+ year existence there have been … Continue reading Saints and Orwell: The Rise of Newspeak and Doublethink
I had a strong desire to write about sexual abuse after listening to Sam Harris’ introduction to one of his episodes. I had been following and participating with the Protect LDS Children movement started by Sam Young. In the recent past, I had a conversation with someone close to me about the Netflix series The … Continue reading Abused by The Church
Stepping away from your lifelong religion is hard. The impetus of this peculiar journey is unique for each that take it. If I were to reverse time to the point when I was reading the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind just before I started down the path of leaving (story in first 4 … Continue reading How to be Authentic in Meaninglessness
A common reaction people give me when I tell them I do not believe in the Mormon church anymore, nor do I believe in God, in the typical sense, is this, “Well then, what is your purpose in life? I don't know what I would do if I didn't believe.” This reaction comes in various … Continue reading Meaning of Life and the Absurd
God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good. In the Christian belief, he created the universe and the earth we live in. He placed Adam and Eve upon it and through their progeny we are here today. Presupposing that this world was created by this omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God, would we expect it to be the … Continue reading The Best of All Possible Worlds and Voltaire
Bart D. Ehrman is a distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Ehrman completed his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees at Princeton Seminary, where his 1985 doctoral dissertation was awarded magna cum laude. An expert on the New Testament and the history of Early Christianity, he has written or edited thirty … Continue reading Misquoting Jesus | From a Mormon Perspective
Do you ever have long form arguments in your head about topics you deem important? I certainly do. Who am I talking to? Why am I do this? How come I seem to win every time? I find myself in this internal dialogue often. It happens on the car ride to work, on a walk … Continue reading Argument in my Head
What is truth? Does utility, goodness, and flourishing equate to truth? What is real? How do we know something? Is there a scale of belief, from orthodox fundamental to ‘nuanced’ but believing that is 'valuable’ to work out? It has been a little over a year since my spiritual awakening. My views of the Mormon … Continue reading Truth, Postmodernism, Neo-Apologists
Sapien Curiosus 