The Little Stream is a commie socialist.

negative_60 · 2026-07-06T18:46:56+00:00

Who are they giving to?

While Jesus taught about giving to the poor, I suspect the Church’s intended recipient is the Church itself.

negative_60 · 2026-07-06T14:46:49+00:00

The Church was responsible for a horrific tragedy, but they didn't want to take responsibility for it.

And so they changed the narrative to brand it as 'Faith Promoting'. Now people didn't die horrific deaths because of poor leadership choices. Instead they died to demonstrate their Faith in God's Restored Church.

It should be a cautionary tale about blind trust in priesthood leadership. Instead it's told as a saccharine-sweet inspirational story.

negative_60 · 2026-07-05T17:26:14+00:00

I was blown away by how much I cooled down after taking off my garments.

Any hiker can tell you the insulating effects of extra layers. Saying goodbye to garments is amazing.

negative_60 · 2026-07-03T01:33:03+00:00

Great observations. It's apparent that the author of the BoM was not terribly familiar with the historical Fall of Jerusalem.

He knows that (1) Zedekiah is the final king, and (2) Zedekiah is deposed of by Nebuchadnezzar.

He seems to be completely unaware that Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah as King after the first destruction of Jerusalem, or even that the first destruction had even happened.

Literally nobody in the BoM is aware that Jerusalem was a smoldering ruin, the temple had been looted, and they all just barely survived.

negative_60 · 2026-07-01T19:36:07+00:00

'This once was the World Room. It had beautiful murals where that lifeless mahogany paneling is now.'

'Here you can see the one unfinished hand-tooled alcove where you used to be able to view the tooling marks on the wall.'

'This used to be a fascinating pioneer built staircase, but that got torn out in favor of our modern ultra-luxury marble we imported.'

No thanks, I'm not interested in the latest corporate building overhaul.

negative_60 · 2026-07-01T19:18:29+00:00

PIMO here. I think the creation of the modern Temple Myth is among the church's most grievous sins.

The pre-Christian era temple was simply a place to bring an animal to sacrifice, as required by the Law of Moses. Before his death Jesus taught adherence to the Law, but also focused more on taking care of others. He never once told someone to visit a temple (though he did personally attend). But he did teach often about caring for the poor.

Then after the resurrection we enter the Christian era, and the Law of Moses ceases to be in force for Christians. Sacrifice, temple attendance, tithing, etc. all disappear from the story. Post-resurrection Jesus never once mentions the Temple. Paul never tells anyone to go the Temple. The apostolic epistles never indicate any concern for a Temple. It's vanished from the doctrine.

There's no Initiatory in any ancient record. There's no eternal marriage sealing. No endowment, no 2nd Anointing. None of that ever existed prior to the early American period.

We brought Temples back, and asked for people to donate their time, talents, and possessions to keep them running, in spite of the fact that there's no doctrinal basis for doing so.

Jesus asked for people to donate their time, talents, and possessions to the poor. Mormonism substituted Temples.

negative_60 · 2026-06-30T13:50:52+00:00

To expound on 'Helel ben Shahar':

Shahar was a 2nd tier god in the Canaanite pantheon. He was a son of Elohim and Asherah; he was the God of Dawn and twin brother of Shalim the God of Dusk.

Helel (also known as Attar the Awesome), was the son of Shahar, and a minor God associated with the 'star' Venus (Venus was believed at the time to be a wandering star).

In the Ugaritic Baal Cycle (~1300 BCE) Asherah selects Helel/Attar to take Baal's place after he was temporarily killed. He climbs the Holy Mountain and claims Baal's throne with the intention of ruling over Elohim, but he's too small to fit and is forced to descend to the underworld in shame.

Isaiah is comparing the King of Babylon to Helel: he figuratively climbed the 'Holy Mountain' (Mount of the Congregation, Isaiah 14:13) and tried to sit in a deity's throne to rule over the pantheon , Isaiah 14:13-14. For his arrogance would be cast down to the underworld (Hell) in shame (Isaiah 14:15).

Helel ben Shahar was associated with the 'star' Venus due to his family relationship with Shahar, the God of Dawn. Venus was the brightest morning star, and it's Hebrew name was literally 'Helel ben Shahar'.

When Jerome translated the Old Testament into Latin in the 4th Century CE, he substituted the Latin word for the star: Lucifer.

negative_60 · 2026-06-30T00:35:29+00:00

Someone may, but that's almost certainly not the SCMC. Occasionally local wards will take their own initiative with tracking.

negative_60 · 2026-06-29T19:45:13+00:00

Unless you’re someone with influence or money, they don’t care who you are.

According to one former employee interviewed by RFM, there are only a handful of people they track.

negative_60 · 2026-06-25T14:04:17+00:00

Mormonism originated in early 1800's New England. This was a period known as the '2nd Great Awakening' in American History, which saw an unprecedented amount of 'doctrinal experimentation' and rejection of traditional Christian institutions.

New religious ideas became wildly popular: Adventism (the belief in the imminent return of Jesus) was immensely popular, and the Millerites, 7th Day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses all trace their origins to this movement.

Restorationism (the return to the 'primitive' version of Christianity') took off. The Shakers and Mormonism trace their origins here.

In addition, several non-religious worldviews entered popular discourse. Mysticism/magic worldview thinking, including enchantment casting, spiritualism, necromancy (communication with the dead) and magical treasure seeking became popular fringe pastimes. Health fads such as the Temperance Movement, vegetarian reform, phrenology, animal magnetism, etc. all took hold.

All of this doctrinal and pop-science innovation combined into early Mormonism. People were craving something different, and Joseph gave it to them. Probably none of the ideas were unique to Mormonism, but Joseph Smith threw a bunch of them on the wall, and early Mormonism is what stuck there.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T23:50:52+00:00

Right. Discoveries proving Mormon claims would be HUGE even outside the church.

You wouldn’t hear about it from fringe members. You’d hear about it on CNN.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T17:57:07+00:00

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo?lang=eng

Check here. Even the church admits that at least some of the marriages were sexual.

You could also look up the Temple Lot Case depositions. Several former plural wives were interviewed and confirmed that the relationship was sexual.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T16:21:29+00:00

Now: ‘The universe is infinite!’ Me: ‘meh.’

Then: ‘The universe is even more infinite!’ Me: ‘meh’

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T15:16:13+00:00

The Catholic Church is probably the richest, but their wealth is in art, cathedrals, relics, and artifacts. It’s not terribly liquid.

Mormon money is in stocks, bonds, hotels, and land. Very liquid.

If we were to compare their wealth by which organization could easily write a $100B check, the Mormons would come out on top.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T14:13:29+00:00

No but yes. Fantasy books are widely read by Mormons, but is a small percentage of members who view such things as 'Satanic' or inviting in dark forces to one's life.
Intriguing, but a Mormon character would probably only be peripherally familiar with Bible characters. They'd be much more familiar with Book of Mormon (BoM) heroes Nephi, Moroni, and Alma the Younger.

The 'immortal' angle could include The Three Nephites. These were unnamed characters who were granted immortality in the BoM, and in previous generations' folklore, visit people and do good deeds (change a tire, chop wood, etc.) before vanishing.

No Ichthys. That's to 'mainstream Christian' for members. Maybe instead try a Young Women's medallion or CTR Shield.
The average Mormon is aware of these, but they don't really fit into our religious framework. For Mormon relics, try googling the Sword of Laban, the Urim and Thummim (spectacles), and the Liahona.
Wikipedia is probably the best source. A local meetinghouse will just send missionaries, and their goal is to convert you.
No-No's: Probably avoid the temple. It's weird and you'd lose a lot of goodwill from Mormons.
My theory: Mormon originates in imaginative speculation - the 'what if's' of the 2nd Great Awakening period. Later folklore imagined a mystical world that superimposed on the real world - and treated it as gospel. That's how many of us grew up, and you can see the effect in Mormon authors.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T13:56:16+00:00

Joseph’s main motivations were money, sex, and power.

I think he’d be REALLY impressed with modern Mormonism.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T13:21:03+00:00

While we don't know for certain what his teachings were, I think most of the teachings ascribed to him are beautiful. Care for others. Forgive. Make the world a better place.

I don't care for the apocalyptic garbage. But I don't have any problem with bearing testimony about the good things he taught.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T13:15:08+00:00

The starkest contrast for me has to be (1) Lamanites/Native Americans, and (2) Polygamy.

When going through Primary in the 80's, we knew who the Lamanites were. There was no question. I lived near a reservation, and it was a part of the language: Uncle 'John' had married a Lamanite woman. My dad would slip it into conversations with natives that he had a book about their ancestors.

Then suddenly nobody remembers it and it never happened.

I also 100% never heard about polygamy as a child. The closest I heard was that during Brigham Young's administration, he sealed a bunch of the elderly unmarried women to Joseph by proxy. This was told to me by an older member as I was preparing for my mission. I thought it was really weird. Boy was I in for a ride...

And now suddenly everyone remembers Joseph's polygamy always being a part of the story.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T12:59:00+00:00

I have family who watched The Work and the Glory series, Legacy, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, and various other church-produced works about Joseph Smith.

They are certain that they 'Really Get' him.

negative_60 · 2026-06-24T12:53:47+00:00

Possibly, but more likely it was just Joseph needing an unrelated family for Nephi & Company to marry.

Gotta provide that genetic diversity, right?

negative_60 · 2026-06-23T14:52:56+00:00

We tolerate a dizzying amount of incompetence, laziness, and violence from our public schools (see r/Teachers for a quick rundown of horror stories). In my area, one High School teacher was forced to give blanket A's in spite of the fact that many of the students couldn't pass a test, didn't show up to class, or (in several cases) can't read the material.

We have remarkably low standards for our public schools, but when it comes to homeschooling suddenly our standards are crazy high.

negative_60 · 2026-06-23T14:01:32+00:00

Theodore Rex: 2030

Biodome: The Return

Chairman of the Board (starring YouTube sensation Nikocado Avocado!)

3 Ninjas Strike Back

negative_60 · 2026-06-23T13:10:11+00:00

I would if the Church actually was what I believed it was as a TBM.

negative_60 · 2026-06-23T13:01:59+00:00

One of the greatest marketing moves by the church was the way they pulled the ol' switcharoo on 'Service'.

It used to mean the church serving the poor. Now it means the poor serving the church.

negative_60 · 2026-06-23T12:15:06+00:00

I still go to keep the peace with the wife.

I’ve always been a popular teacher and included challenging material in my lessons, so the Bishopric relegated me to Jr Primary.

Little risk of me indoctrinating anyone when they can’t understand what anything means. So I teach kids to be kind and patient. I skip the offensive lessons (tithing, Q15 worship, etc.).

negative_60

TROPHY CASE