MormonTalk

Another episode “from the hip”, as we discuss a variety of (somewhat) recent church news, focusing the bulk of our conversation on the issues tied to Huntsman’s law suit against the church for misrepresenting its use of tithing funds.

In our first “From the Hip” episode, we talk about the church news that we stumbled upon while surfing the web during the April, 2021 church conference. One of the gems we found was Rusty’s Easter Message.

Over the years, a unique culture developed within and around Mormonism and its adherents, from unique foods (like green Jell-o with carrot shavings) to peculiar behaviors and figures of speech. We take some time in this episode to address some of our favorite “Mormonisms”, while simultaneously poking fun at ourselves for having been a part of it.

The leaders of the LDS church – and thus, most of the members – claim their savior is Jesus. However, a little low-effort, surface digging (like Joseph’s treasure hunting) reveals that that sneaky little Joseph Smith secured a bit of glory for himself before he passed on. He just may have a bit more of a “savior” status in the church than you might expect.

We’ve all heard the arguments, usually from evangelical Christian churches, that the Mormon church isn’t “Christian”. As former members, we pressed back heavily on such claims, thinking of them as ridiculous. “After all, look at the fetchin’ NAME OF THE CHURCH! Gosh!”, we’d say, along with other clever quips. But when you dissect it a little, what does it mean for a church to be “Christian”, and does the Mormon church really qualify? Jump into the episode to join us in the shenanigans.

After a VERY long publishing delay (read: COVID-19 experiences and other fun stuff), we’re back at it adding episodes. Here’s another Threesomes segment, this time with Dave’s friend, Cindy. Join us as we talk through Cindy’s journey, which ended with her making the decision to leave the church – all costs included – and discover that there may just be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Before his death, one of the gifts Joseph Smith Jr. left behind is the mysterious role of “patriarch” in the church. Evidently, these men are able to channel god’s personal crystal ball(s) and disseminate his will to recipients under their divinely guided hands, providing details about their pre-mortal life, offering promises and guidance for this life, and peering into the life beyond. Termed a “patriarchal blessing”, these personalized revelations from god become little “liahonas” for the members, and serve to exacerbate feelings of elitism and pride coupled with inadequacy, unworthiness, and confusion.

Borrowing from the movie titled How to Train Your Dragon, in this episode we pay homage to beloved Pavlovian techniques as we discuss the methods used in Mormonism to “train” people to be good, obedient members. Ring that bell!

One of the dreaded labels for a discerning member of the LDS church to wield against a malcontent is the term “anti-Mormon”. But what does that really mean? Is something anti-Mormon because it contradicts the doctrine or history of the church, or does it perhaps have something more to do with one’s level of loyalty to the current leadership?

Over the decades, the church has employed different styles of apologetics in their efforts to “defend” their truth claims. We give the history of apologetics a quick review in this episode, ending with a discussion about how it’s evolved and where we sit today.

This is our (much delayed) response to the second part of Rusty Nel’s effervescent offering. That piece, of course, was his surgeon-sponsored prescription to pray. Do you feel relieved of gaseous build-up?

In case you missed it, Rusty Nel gave an earth-shaking, glorious, revelatory message to the world back in November. In this two-part episode, we address the two core messages of his presentation — gratitude and prayer — and how they’re about as unique and helpful for solving problems at a personal and global level as taking a couple of effervescent lozenges.

We admit the title of this episode is an insensitive play on words, but we address the infamous Branch Davidians sect, led by David Koresh, and some of the similarities between Koresh and Lil’ Joe. A few of the parallels between the Davidian and Mormon cult leaders may surprise you!

Part 2 of our exploration around how the concept of suffering is addressed by LDS church teachings.

The LDS church teaches that suffering is an integral part of our existence on earth and necessary for several reasons, including honing our character, proving our obedience, and strengthening our […]

The LDS church teaches that suffering is an integral part of our existence on earth and necessary for several reasons, including honing our character, proving our obedience, and strengthening our faith. We address this harmful teaching in a two-part conversation.

In the United States, there are five key qualifications that a religious organization has to meet in order to be given tax exempt status. In this episode, we take a […]

In the United States, there are five key qualifications that a religious organization has to meet in order to be given tax exempt status. In this episode, we take a peek at those 5 qualifications and do our best to judge whether or not the LDS church meets the criteria.

The church makes many promises to its members. Of course, no promises are as well-known as the infamous promise from Moroni in the Book of Mormon. Check in as we […]

The church makes many promises to its members. Of course, no promises are as well-known as the infamous promise from Moroni in the Book of Mormon. Check in as we chat about that promise and the philosophy of the church in general about promises based on the behaviors and obedience of its members.

We take a break from our recent string of Threesomes episodes to publish a previously recorded conclusion to our “First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel” theme. We couldn’t wrap […]

We take a break from our recent string of Threesomes episodes to publish a previously recorded conclusion to our "First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel" theme. We couldn't wrap things up without discussing the fourth and final piece of that celestial pie -- the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Join us as we jump into a frivolous-yet-serious discussion about the church's doctrine behind this strange and very important concept!

This is our longest episode to date (don’t get used to it), but it’s worth every minute to indulge in a fantastic conversation with the former LDS parodist, “Weird Alma”. […]

Mitch and Gordon both come back to the MormonTalk stage for a 2nd interview! We get to dig a little deeper with Mitch on the costs of leaving the church, […]

Here we are with another threesome (yes, we have endurance!). This time around, it’s with a personal friend, “Jeff”. There’s a rumor that hidden within this episode somewhere is a […]

Moving on through our discussion of the “first principles and ordinances” of the Mormon faith brings us to the ordinance of baptism. Where did this practice come from, and what […]

Moving on through our discussion of the "first principles and ordinances" of the Mormon faith brings us to the ordinance of baptism. Where did this practice come from, and what does the church teach about it? Is the Mormon church's version of baptism similar to other churches, or are there significant differences? Do you think Dave and Mike can find ways to make fun of the church's teachings around it (i.e. is water a combination of hydrogen and oxygen)?

We were so excited to be able to host Mitch Shira (aka, “genie_man” on TikTok) on the stage for our third Threesome! To add to the already amazing experience, we […]

It may sound like a spell from the Harry Potter movies, but it’s just a fancy way of saying “pathological lying”. We take a side-step for a moment from discussing […]

It may sound like a spell from the Harry Potter movies, but it's just a fancy way of saying "pathological lying". We take a side-step for a moment from discussing the next "principle and ordinance of the gospel" (baptism) to chat a little about how Joe Jr. was a mythomaniac (another word for compulsive liar) and used a combination of the familiar, intriguing, and mysterious to build the foundation of what would later become the Mormon church.

Moving on to discussing the 2nd “principle and ordinance of the gospel”, we address the LDS concept of repentance. Of course, we can’t talk about repentance in Mormonism without including […]

Moving on to discussing the 2nd "principle and ordinance of the gospel", we address the LDS concept of repentance. Of course, we can't talk about repentance in Mormonism without including its cousin, worthiness. The church has used these twin weapons as task master whip and battering ram to shame members and keep them in-line since its inception. Unfortunately, as with many LDS teachings, it results in untold damage to the church's membership.

The 4th Article of Faith in the Mormon church begins, “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…” In […]

The 4th Article of Faith in the Mormon church begins, "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ..." In this episode, we talk about some of the problems and contradictions inherent in the church's teachings about faith, and how faith is ultimately used as a tool to gaslight members and terminate critical thinking.

We all know that the Book of Mormon is full of anachronisms (we poked fun at the story of the Jaredites in a prior episode), but you don’t have to […]

We all know that the Book of Mormon is full of anachronisms (we poked fun at the story of the Jaredites in a prior episode), but you don't have to read that far to discover the shenanigans. In this episode we have some fun talking about some of the stories readers experience in the early pages of the book.

We conclude our 2-part episode on the church’s teachings about how to find “objective reality” in the world. Is the church’s suggestion the best method, or is there a balance […]

We conclude our 2-part episode on the church's teachings about how to find "objective reality" in the world. Is the church's suggestion the best method, or is there a balance to be found between reasoning and emotion?

Our 2nd threesome is with Britany, as she describes her journey out of Mormonism.

It’s official – we’ve had our first threesome! Joe could have faked his experience, but it seemed like satisfaction was had by all, at least to Mike and Dave. Check […]

If you’re old like us, you’ll remember a series of commercials on TV about Parkay margarine. The premise was that it tasted like butter and had the texture of butter, […]

If you're old like us, you'll remember a series of commercials on TV about Parkay margarine. The premise was that it tasted like butter and had the texture of butter, but it was actually something quite different. Likewise, the church claims it has "real butter" with regard to the greatest questions in life, and that those answers can become like an "anchor" to those looking for truth. But is the butter really margarine, and is the anchor really a ball-and-chain?

Starting at a very young age, the Mormon church instills its members with the notion that sex is “carnal”, evil, and filthy. Rather than a natural, normal, healthy phase of […]

Starting at a very young age, the Mormon church instills its members with the notion that sex is "carnal", evil, and filthy. Rather than a natural, normal, healthy phase of human development, sexual exploration and expression - especially outside of marriage - is taught as something to restrain and divorce from one's behavior. From a "level of sin" perspective, only murder and denying the Holy Ghost rank higher. We explore some of the church's teachings in this episode, and how the leaders use guilt and shame around sexuality as control mechanisms. In the best cases this leaves many members guilt-ridden, and in the worst cases it causes irreparable damage and dysfunction. At least the church's founder, Joseph Smith Jr., was an example of sexual morality and fidelity, right?

If there’s one thing Joseph enjoyed doing, it was twisting scriptures! Whether it was expressing the epitome of humility by retroactively adding himself to past prophesies, or just creating scriptures […]

If there's one thing Joseph enjoyed doing, it was twisting scriptures! Whether it was expressing the epitome of humility by retroactively adding himself to past prophesies, or just creating scriptures from nothingness, good ol' Addendum Boy couldn't seem to help himself. His three-year project to replace some of the "plain and precious things" that had been lost from the Bible has become one of the most well-known examples of that pastime. Join us as we chat a little bit about the background and outcomes of the "Joseph Smith Translation" of the Bible.

One of the things the leaders of the LDS church and its members are very proud of proclaiming is that – unlike the rest of the world – their religion […]

One of the things the leaders of the LDS church and its members are very proud of proclaiming is that - unlike the rest of the world - their religion teaches not to "idolize" anything or anyone other than God himself (and perhaps his son, Jesus Christ). Besides the blatant visual or physical evidences to the contrary (such as the golden statues of Moroni on the tops of multi-million dollar temples), is there a deeper, more elusive doctrine or culture that may contradict the claim? Does the church "plant trees of idols" in the hearts and minds of the membership?

The LDS church requires its members to extend significant trust to its leaders. “The Brethren” at the top are sustained as “prophets, seers, and revelators” who literally speak for God. […]

The LDS church requires its members to extend significant trust to its leaders. "The Brethren" at the top are sustained as "prophets, seers, and revelators" who literally speak for God. Local leaders, while not looked upon as prophets, are still trusted as being led by the "spirit", having highly sensitive judgment (aka, "discernment"), and being a safe, trustworthy resource to their flock. Members are encouraged to embrace confirmation bias, and to hold their trust in the leadership and doctrine above any personal concerns or questions they may have about the church's truth claims. Unfortunately, history has shown us that much of the trust the members have placed in the church, its doctrines, and its leaders has been misplaced. In the best case, this misplaced trust creates disappointment. In the worst case, it irreparably harms families, breaks hearts, and destroys dreams.

When the church was very young, Joe and Ollie called 12 apostles, hearkening back to the good ol’ days of Jesus and his traveling band. Ollie told the 12 that […]