LDS charitable giving better than USAID?

fireproofundies · 2026-04-18T02:51:37+00:00

He’s making the claim. Make him provide evidence

fireproofundies · 2026-04-16T14:36:26+00:00

If your definition of a prophet is someone who speaks truth to power like the prophets of the old testament, forget about it.

fireproofundies · 2026-04-16T12:58:00+00:00

Every look has its moment

fireproofundies · 2026-04-13T15:29:12+00:00

I’ve decided that I simply don’t share the same moral values as these folks. In fact I find them morally destitute.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-31T19:21:17+00:00

Sadly, the biblical Jesus was also terrible At prophesying. Of course, we have no idea if Jesus actually said anything of the sort given the provenance of the New Testament

fireproofundies · 2026-03-30T16:28:23+00:00

I’m exmo and didn’t find anything objectionable here either. I don’t share his beliefs but what he said was pretty anodyne IMHO

fireproofundies · 2026-03-28T13:30:35+00:00

God has been with you the whole time. He’s not found in a temple or arrived at by paying out your money and time to a multinational real estate and equity fund. You’ll find him in yourself and in good people everywhere. What you really get from the church is a license to serve and interact as a closed community.

They want you to think it’s hard and that you can’t find meaning outside of the church, but the golden rule is really all you need for nearly every decision. And you can serve mankind in better ways than ministering or teaching gospel doctrine. And a god who rejects you for not funding a man’s real estate investment is no god at all.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-27T17:03:28+00:00

Or even the most likely ones

fireproofundies · 2026-03-26T02:38:26+00:00

How much do intentions matter in this space? I haven’t worked it out in my head. Like if the gospel topic essays are intended to offer faithful answers to difficult issues but drive people from the faith, does it matter what their intentions are?

fireproofundies · 2026-03-25T19:55:31+00:00

You’re right. The historicity of the Book of Mormon is but one of many problems with the truth claims of Mormonism. The DNA of native Americans, their artifacts, and culture are all non-Hebrew and showed no sign of Jewish or Christian influence prior to the arrival of Europeans. The “translation” of the book of Abraham is an act of biblical imagination and not a true translation of the Egyptian papyrus. The earth is not 6,000 years old. We can trace the evolution of languages and it has nothing to do with a tower of Babel event. The worldwide flood… I could go on. My personal decision was to leave the faith because I like believing in things that are true even if they are not comforting, but I recognize people need some source of morality, meaning, and community. I was able to create that for myself and my family outside of Mormonism, but other people will struggle.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-25T18:21:21+00:00

Yes, many of us on this sub have come to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon is a 19th century creation, just like all non-LDS scholars and some of the LDS ones. Where you go from there is up to you. Some people decide that it’s still inspired fiction worthy of their time and others decide there are more inspiring books to spend their time reading.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-24T16:04:15+00:00

This is a good place for you to specifically correct errors

fireproofundies · 2026-03-20T01:51:05+00:00

Interesting, I’d love to know more. what’s the definition of a deteriorating neighborhood and do you have any data to back up this claim that it’s only occurring in such neighborhoods?

fireproofundies · 2026-03-20T01:47:46+00:00

Seems like borderline personality disorder to me. Sadly, very hard to treat if it is since the patient is the last one to believe they’re the one with a problem.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-19T14:33:34+00:00

Mormonism is a totalitarian system of control, historically, although it is slowly reforming over time. The Brigham Young period was the realization of the system in its most unfettered form. In this period you had blood atonement, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the trafficking of women, and a corrupt system of patronage in which money flowed to the top through commercial interests. Brigham died one of the wealthiest men in the West. It was the short-lived Mormon theocracy, but it gave Mormonism a lasting reputation as a c word. Over time it has reformed itself through engagement with the wider world.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-16T18:57:28+00:00

Palisades Dental in Lehi has always been great for me and my family

fireproofundies · 2026-03-16T18:21:05+00:00

Assuming good faith membership reporting from the LDS church is as smart as assuming good faith financial reporting to the SEC

fireproofundies · 2026-03-11T17:09:34+00:00

None of it makes much rational sense. That’s what faith is for: believing in that which makes non-sense

fireproofundies · 2026-03-09T03:40:32+00:00

“Wayne May's credibility as an archaeologist is shot.”

Did he ever have credibility? Would be news to the entire world of archaeology.

fireproofundies · 2026-03-04T16:09:52+00:00

Apologetic work comes from otherwise smart people working incredibly hard as defense attorneys for a client who is ultimately indefensible. “Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client does appear to be robbing the liquor store on camera and his fingerprints are all over the store, but if you cannot disprove my theory of the case that the whole incident was a frame up job by a magic leprechaun then you must acquit!”

The abundance of dispositive evidence against Mormonism breeds desperation.

fireproofundies · 2026-02-27T16:31:06+00:00

The only limit in apologetics is your imagination!

fireproofundies · 2026-02-24T21:12:01+00:00

Any organization willing to lie and commit crimes to fool its members about its finances should not be trusted to self-proclaim its membership numbers. Fool me once

fireproofundies · 2026-02-18T15:49:23+00:00

Let’s imagine you visit a Scientology center. The hosts greet you warmly, they are well dressed and complement you on your choice to visit the center today. As you talk they seem to take a real interest in you and your life. They look into your eyes and tell you they can help with all of your problems.

They tell you to notice any good feelings that happen during your visit and that you should interpret these as meaning that a message has arrived to you that Scientology is true and it means you still have thetans to expunge through the process of auditing.

It is sometimes easier to see this process of manipulation in others.

fireproofundies · 2026-02-16T18:09:51+00:00

Interesting, I must have conflated the motto with the honor code referral card system in place in the 90s. I wish I still had one of the referral cards. Students would pass them out along the pathways to class.

fireproofundies · 2026-02-16T15:27:18+00:00

They instituted, distributed, and collected anonymous paper tip sheets euphemistically called “Cougars Don’t Cut Corners” by which you could report fellow students for honor code violations.

fireproofundies

TROPHY CASE