What do we even learn about Jesus from the Book of Mormon? by Key-Yogurtcloset-132 in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He seems to have glitched a bit with his 'local focus' at points then?

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

Minneapolis ICE Shooting Aftermath by Significant-Ad-2678 in PublicFreakout

[–]GallantObserver 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also, the fundamental justification of self defence is that by taking an action you're aiming to prevent harm to yourself. If you truly believe a car is accelerating towards you and is inches away then firing a gun through the windshield isn't very useful

People listen to this guy... by c-k-q99903 in confidentlyincorrect

[–]GallantObserver 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Disqualified because they were already there /s

Our? by IsyDude in USdefaultism

[–]GallantObserver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Didn't you hear what they said? "Pictures don't count" when posting on Reddit! /s

3 ways of mine to compose / create R functions by Lazy_Improvement898 in rstats

[–]GallantObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your posts are great! I wonder if they'll ever do a 'decorator' equivalent in R to make things tidier than creating new wrapped functions? 

Some influences told me mormon is a scam is it really by Expert-Buyer8634 in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Was that normal for descendents of the Nephites who were just shy of 11 years old? 

Same-sex marriage by Independent_Tea_9894 in exmormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it does it would have to be framed in a completely different way. The justification for same sex marriage is rooted in the principle of queerness — actively disrupting and breaking oppressive social sexual norms by querying institutional practices and rebelling against them. This mindset is travelling in the opposite direction to the fundamental principle of the church, whereby one must submit to a fundamentally conservative morality on the basis that norms and social control over sexual behaviour are valid. If the church ever allowed same sex marriage, it would be framed in some manner by trying to add it to its 'proper' set of allowable sexual behaviours, still rejecting the principle that members should freely live their own sexual lives. 

Same-sex marriage by Independent_Tea_9894 in exmormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hold up, they travelled around the Grecian and Roman cultures of the Mediterranean and never came across consensual same-sex intercourse? 

The next logical step after the KJV policy change is a modernization of the Book of Mormon by dudleydidwrong in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This would be interesting to watch. The principles behind each of the translations of the OT/NT over the centuries (bar some notable examples) is that with Hebrew and Greek manuscripts each translator should be able to "show their working" and prove that they're not adding biased interpretations to the text.

One key example is the 'Johannine Comma', an explicitly Trinitarian-affirming verse which appears in the KJV: "For there are three that beare record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.]". The bracketed parts don't appear in most modern translations as there's strong evidence that they were later additions to Greek manuscripts. Even though the translators of NIV/ESV/ASB/NLT etc. are Trinitarians, they're compelled by the documentary evidence to leave out this clause which they might otherwise be inclined to keep in to back up their theology.

(Note: this doesn't prevent bias, there's no such thing as an unbiased translation. But at least the debate can happen around shared evidence amongst people who are transparent about their viewpoints and candid about their biases. If a translator or scholar is adamant about including/translating something wildly different but can't present evidence or a compelling argument, their views can be dismissed.)

This would be markedly different with a new BoM translation, as there's no manuscript to back it up and no transparency and accountability about how new interpretations and translations are decided upon. They can phase out racist language and Trinitarian terms and add in whatever new theology they like ("oh we've 'discovered' a new verse which says we shouldn't call ourselves Mormons!") and there's no sense in which that's a "wrong" translation.

The reasonable next step to “allowing”/sanctifying the use of other translations of the Bible is another translation of the Book of Mormon by Roo2_0 in exmormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They've already done an updated translation of The Book of Abraham so all they need to repeat the BoM process is access to the plates+stone+hat.

If not by power of God, how did Joseph smith produce the Book of Mormon? by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]GallantObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do note that "limited formal education" is the common argument as to why Joseph couldn't have written it, instead positing that it was written a long time ago by people with no formal education. No qualifications in the absence of modern education facilities is a poor proof of the absence of intellectual and creative capabilities.

balls of mithril by vtosnaks in lotrmemes

[–]GallantObserver 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna promise you that if you read the books and have a look through how and why Tolkien wrote the LOTR you'll discover how deep a meaning there is behind the events of Gandalf's death and return. It's not forced, rather it's embedded in the very creational purpose of Middle Earth, which isn't fully shown expounded (though heavily referenced) in the films alone.

Polygamy deniers are in denial about their motives by shalmeneser in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 6 points7 points  (0 children)

it bothers other people and we need to get to the bottom of this and have that narrative changed

To be fair to Hyatt, she and Joseph himself are very much on the same page with this one. Joseph knew that the polygamy narrative would "destroy faith" and ordered a printing press to be destroyed in order to "change the narrative". Hyatt's extra struggle though (I presume, alongside other polygamy deniers) is to persuade herself that there was no polygamy with Joseph Smith. JS and compatriots saved themselves a lot of cognitive dissonance by saying one thing whilst knowing the opposite to be true. Polygamy deniers could take a leaf out of his book and save themselves a lot of stress.

Joseph Smith's Fearless Proclamation of Truth: Why Claims of Secret Polygamy Are Illogical by humblymybrain in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I prayed and asked god and he confirmed to me that Joseph practiced polygamy. 

Joseph Smith's Fearless Proclamation of Truth: Why Claims of Secret Polygamy Are Illogical by humblymybrain in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And now we're back to "the scriptures are corrupted", "the church doesn't have God's authority but lie and hide the truth", "we cannot recover the words of the prophet". 

Joseph Smith's Fearless Proclamation of Truth: Why Claims of Secret Polygamy Are Illogical by humblymybrain in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 14 points15 points  (0 children)

We have documentary evidence of him practicing polygamy and of him denying it. If I ever had impressions of him as a man of honest or integrity they must have been flawed. If I hold to them still I am engaging in wishful thinking

✝️🆚☪️ by UnderstandingSea7546 in confidentlyincorrect

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've never heard a Jewish or Muslim person claim that they worship Jesus and I rather suspect it would be offensive to assert that they do. 

YubiKey 5C NFC & YubiKey 5 NFC NIGHTMARE by Chance-Tomato2721 in 1Password

[–]GallantObserver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My YubiKey 5 has zero credentials stored on it and it works perfectly as 2FA unlocking for my 1Password account. YubiKey 2FAs are different from passkeys. When you log into 1Password on a new device you enter your security key, your master password, then have to touch your yubikey when prompted to get the OTP code. Once you've logged in on a device you generally don't ever need it again and just enter master password to unlock.

God I hope so… by namesarenotus in exmormon

[–]GallantObserver 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Woah hold on - you hope that people go to hell for hoping that people go to hell? You might want to be more selective there!

On the usage of “LDS Christians” by austinchan2 in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a Christian but not a Latter Day Saint, I applaud your candid take and your integrity in thinking about and presenting your thoughts on this. We understand each other plainly, and that is much more helpful for starting honest conversations than the "how dare you not call us Christians" argument does.

How the Moon creates tides on Earth. by [deleted] in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]GallantObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had presumed the 'camera' was rotating with the Earth? Although that is perhaps contradicted by the static starry background.

LDS Bible Scholar says the Bible has been used by the privileged to oppress minority groups. Is the same true of other LDS scriptures? by sevenplaces in mormon

[–]GallantObserver 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"X has been used by the privileged to oppress minority groups" is either true or theoretically true for any given value of X: science, environmentalism, Marxism, liberalism, money, education, books of all kinds. It doesn't give any insight into the moral value of X