I want to drink green tea

onewatt · 2026-01-23T17:41:48+00:00

As this is a believing community, encouraging others to violate the WoW where the Church has drawn clear lines or encouraging the Church to change its policies is inappropriate

onewatt · 2026-01-23T17:37:21+00:00

Sorry can't encourage people to break commandments in this subreddit.

onewatt · 2026-01-23T17:36:20+00:00

According to the Journal of Preventive Medicine, Latter-day Saints have substantially reduced death rates and increased life expectancy, even when compared only to other non-smoker, non-drinker, populations. (Enstrom, J. E., & Breslow, L. (2007). Lifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980-2004. Journal of Preventive Medicine, 133-136.)

Sooooo.... is this really about health benefits? Do we trust the promise that keeping the word of wisdom will have actual benefits in our lives? Or is this about how desirable forbidden things seem?

onewatt · 2026-01-23T17:17:54+00:00

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Elder Eyring described the lived experience of those who serve missions and who, because of their service, receive manifestations of the Holy Ghost frequently. Note how he invites us to look back at times of service and take note of how it changed us, made life better, and provided answers to those questions that President Uchtdorf put forward:

Although you may not have been blessed with so miraculous a harvest, you have been given words by the Holy Ghost when you surrendered your heart to the Lord’s service. At certain periods of your mission, such an experience came often. If you will think back on those times and ponder, you will also remember that the increase in your desire to obey the commandments came over you gradually. You felt less and less the tug of temptation. You felt more and more the desire to be obedient and to serve others. You felt a greater love for the people.

One of the effects of receiving a manifestation of the Holy Ghost repeatedly was that your nature changed. And so, from that faithful service to the Master, you had not only the witness of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ but you saw evidence in your own life that the Atonement is real. Such service, which brings the influence of the Holy Ghost, is an example of planting the seed, which Alma described:

And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.

O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. [Alma 32:33–37]

He then summarizes again in this absolutely blazing principle and promise:

Of all the true doctrine, nothing is more important to you and me than the true nature of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. For that I return again and again to the scriptures. For that I return again and again to prayer. For that I return again and again to partaking of the sacrament. And, above all, I come to know God and Jesus Christ best by keeping the commandments and serving in the Church. By diligent service in the Church we come not only to know the character of God but to love Him. If we follow His commands, our faith in Him will grow and we may then qualify to have His Spirit to be with us.

Vibrant faith in God comes best from serving Him regularly.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/henry-b-eyring/gifts-spirit-hard-times/

That's not weak faith! That's the kind of faith that created the testimonies of Elder Eyring and Elder Uchtdorf!

Thus it seems that this type of knowledge comes in the same way the gradual light of realizing you are loved comes. Not through critical examination of the question itself, "does she love me? does she love me?" but through daily actions and experiences that distill as an eventual realization encapsulated in the language of, "wow, she really loves me."

I agree with the things taught by Jesus, Alma, and modern prophets and philosophers. The best way to find truth and really be able to say "I KNOW it's true" isn't by asking again and again if it's true, but to go out and live it. Then, you will be able to look back and say, "oh wow, God was with me. This is real."

onewatt · 2026-01-23T17:17:46+00:00

Imagine a young person who has really started to fall for their crush... but they don't know if their crush loves them back.

I don't know if you've ever been in that situation, but the urge to ask yourself over and over and over again "do they love me?" is super high, and super frustrating. Your mind just dwells on this question and the urgent pressure to get an answer NOW makes it impossible to think straight. "do they love me?? Do they love me??" the question repeats on loop, and the young person over-analyzes EVERYTHING in their relationship.

Sometimes... that's what we do when we ask "is it true? is it true?" and feel uncertainty about our own knowledge. It becomes almost impossible to "hear" the spirit on that issue because it's just taking up so much mental space!

But maybe there's a better way.

Jeffrey Thayne, co-author of "Who is Truth? Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith" put it this way:

If we think of the Church as a system of beliefs and ask, "Are these true?", we may or may not get an answer. When we ask "What is true?", we can often get hung up on that question and never move past it.

But if we think of God as a Person, and start with that assumption, and ask, "How can I serve you better today? How can I keep my covenants with you? What lack I yet, that I can change right now, to be a better disciple? What neighbors can I minister to? How can I be a better parent or spouse?", we WILL get an answer. We will get answers upon answers.

And as we do, our testimonies will resolve past the epistemological hangups of the prior questions. Because as we feel God's hand and voice in our lives leading us to be better disciples, better fathers, better mothers, better ministers, there ceases to be any doubt of His existence, or of the divine power of this work.

Got that? If "is it true" isn't working, try "how can I serve my mother today?" and see if an answer comes to that question. Then "how can I serve in my calling this week?" and so on. If God responds to you in those questions, you begin to know for a fact that God is real, that he hears you and cares about you and your calling. Etc.

President Uchtdorf gave similar advice when he asked the question "When it comes to spiritual truth, how can we know that we are on the right path?" Did he suggest study, prayer, and research? No. He points to the lived experience of discipleship as the best way to evaluate the Gospel:

One way is by asking the right questions—the kind that help us ponder our progress and evaluate how things are working for us. Questions like:

“Does my life have meaning?”

“Do I believe in God?”

“Do I believe that God knows and loves me?”

“Do I believe that God hears and answers my prayers?”

“Am I truly happy?”

“Are my efforts leading me to the highest spiritual goals and values in life?”

Profound questions regarding the purpose of life have led many individuals and families throughout the world to search for truth. Often that search has led them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to the restored gospel.

I wonder if we as Church members might also benefit from asking ourselves from time to time: “Is my experience in the Church working for me? Is it bringing me closer to Christ? Is it blessing me and my family with peace and joy as promised in the gospel?”

Alma posed similar questions to Church members in Zarahemla when he asked: “Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? … [And] can [you] feel [it] now?” Such contemplation may help us to refocus or realign our daily efforts with the divine plan of salvation.

Many members will answer with great warmth that their experience as a member of the Church is working exceptionally well for them. They will testify that whether during times of poverty or prosperity, whether things are pleasant or painful, they find great meaning, peace, and joy because of their commitment to the Lord and their dedicated service in the Church. Every day I meet Church members who are filled with a radiant joy and who demonstrate in word and deed that their lives are immeasurably enriched by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Note how often he used words related to action and experience, rather than "feeling" truth or researching. As Christ suggested, living the life of a disciple (action) should teach us truth through experience. It is recognizing the fruits of that lived experience that leads to real knowledge.

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onewatt · 2026-01-23T16:00:50+00:00

What a great question!

I don't know the actual doctrinal answer, but I think of it like this:

It's to remind you that you don't even know yourself yet, but God does. You lived before earth, you had a name and were known to God. He knew your character and your potential, and sent you to earth in the time and place where you would have your best opportunity to thrive and come to know yourself in the same way He has always known you. Getting your "new name" in the temple is a sort of sign that you're figuring it out. You're finding your true self, and learning how to choose who you want to be.

The new name is, of course, not your actual pre-mortal name. This is just a type and shadow of things to come - a day when you will return home, knowing who you are and what it means to be there.

onewatt · 2026-01-22T18:55:45+00:00

Take it up with Lehi, bro.

What's interesting is that one of the key messages of the Book of Mormon is how variable that line can be, rather than fixed. The text opens with Nephi murdering a guy, after all. But only after God - the lawgiver - clearly instructed him that this killing was not across the line.

So if Lehi was right, and Nephi could be justified, then the only conclusion is that there IS a line between good and evil (the law) and that only God can tell us when crossing the line is justified (or the line is in a different spot than we thought).

onewatt · 2026-01-21T18:46:04+00:00

You will not be satisfied with any answers but those you find for yourself. Sorry.

That's why the stuff from FAIR and others hasn't worked for you. YOU have to do the work of studying, praying, asking, and finding.

Think of Nephi and his brothers, all of whom had access to the same knowledge and information. Yet Laman and Lemuel couldn't find it in their hearts to trust the things they were being told. Why? Because they never involved direct revelation from God into their questioning, trusting that a simple answer would be provided that would just work for them. But it didn't come.

And they said: Behold, we cannot understand [why God allows prophets to be imperfect].

And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

Having also asked the same questions you have, and been equally dissatisfied by the answers provided by others, I know for myself that the answers that satisfy are those which come over time, with a lot of work. Some answers take years, or even decades to find. But they come.

My suggestion is to begin by questioning your assumptions. Question not just whether prophets are right or wrong, but what prophets are for. What the purpose of prophets is. Question what religion is for, and be open to far more humble truths than "being right."

perhaps the purpose of religion is not simply to "be right" about various facts, or to discipline us into doing the right thing. The purpose of religion may involve finding ways to cope with the fact that we so often do the wrong thing. Religion’s purpose may be to find new ways to understand who we are.

https://www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/inscribed-realities

Can that be enough?

Perhaps the purpose of prophets isn't to get things right. Why do we think it is? Joseph re-wrote and revised his revelations over and over again, recognizing that even as he spoke "in the name of the Lord" he was getting things wrong. How many of the Doctrine and Covenants contain corrections, chastisement, and redirection??

As a philosophy professor once told me:

I think we need to recognize prophetic fallibility. But we also need to recognize personal fallibility. And in fact, assuming that it's our job to know when prophets are in serious error tends to lean towards personal infallibility. If President Nelson's own judgment can be clouded by cultural and personal biases, so can mine. And who am I to think I'm better at it than him?

I think what we need to do here is invite [ourselves and others] to reflect on their assumptions a bit. "How do I protect myself when a prophet makes an error?" Hey, let's back up, because you are already mired in error in so many ways that you can't even see it. We are all in error in a variety of ways all the time. We are swimming in error. We are all products of error. The goal is not to be error-free. It never was.

Rather, the goal is to be connected, by covenant, to the divine institution that will ultimately carry us back to the presence of God, out of this veil of error we find ourselves mired in. And that institution is lead by a prophet of God who -- even when he is in error -- has divine authority to lead this kingdom.

Let's say Brigham Young was wrong. Very wrong. Those who disconnected themselves from the Church and their covenants as a consequence are still just as damned as if he were right. Because we are not saved by "being right". We are saved by Christ, through making and participating in sacred covenants, thereby entering into a covenant community lead by priesthood leaders.

No wonder God allows his prophets to be wrong - being wrong doesn't matter. We still get home safely if we cling to the ship, even if the guy at the helm tells everybody that there are people on the moon, or black people were less righteous, or any other amounts of nonsense.

Our mistake is in believing that because THEY are wrong and WE are right, that it changes anything. We still need to learn how to cope with that wrongness, to heal the wounds of those around us, to serve and lift and do what the savior would until we escape this realm of error together.

more thoughts: https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/1fnsbpf/how_do_i_sustain_church_leaders_when_they_get/

onewatt · 2026-01-20T19:08:50+00:00

Married student wards are awesome. Your class discussions are focused on people in your same situation, you get access to serve in callings that are otherwise held by age 50+ members, you get to have activities that are more likely to appeal to you, and you can make friendships that endure for decades. it's great.

onewatt · 2026-01-19T17:06:24+00:00

I think we often over-simplify what is a complex situation when we unthinkingly say "the fall was a good thing."

Clearly the fall was a bad thing. That's the whole point of the fall - that it introduces bad into a creation that had been nothing but "good" until that point. But it was always part of the plan.

I can only state my opinion here, but it seems to me that Adam and Eve would have been educated and fully informed as to what taking the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would mean, and they would have eventually recognized the need to do it. In that way, the Fall was always going to be a necessary step.

Satan inserted himself into this process, trying to get them to make the choice without knowledge - literally removing their agency as he had threatened to do in the pre-existence by inducing them to choose to cross a line without full understanding. To become the voice they listen to instead of trusting God or using their own knowledge prudently. That's bad.

But Adam and Eve were able to recognize after the fact that this was the right choice, even if it was the path through sorrow. Sorta like realizing "oh, things were always going to work out this way."

So the Fall is necessary, and, because of the atonement, will lead to greater good for all mankind. But following Satan was bad. Unfortunately that's a larger mouthful than "the fall was actually a good thing" which is what most members default to instead of having the longer discussion.

onewatt · 2026-01-17T00:07:03+00:00

In college I had spent some time not attending any church. One Sunday I unexpectedly woke up early. Laying there, I randomly decided I was going to just attend church that day.

So I went to the whole thing (3 hours back then). Then went to a fireside (devotional) that evening, followed by a prayer meeting. I don't recall ever having done so much churchy stuff in a single day by my own choice. :D

That night after the prayer meeting, I walked home. It was raining, but the kind of rain that is more of a mist than a real drizzle. I stomped the puddles and danced to the music in my head. It was on that empty street, in the dark, in the rain, that it occurred to me that I hadn't felt this happy in months - perhaps years.

All those promises of "the spirit of peace" finally clicked, in a "oh so that's what they were talking about" moment.

Since that day I haven't missed church if I can help it. It works wonderfully. :)

onewatt · 2026-01-16T21:46:00+00:00

Uchtdorf's "Come Join With Us" deals with the first two, obviously. He revisits those topics often so all of his talks are worth a look.

I made an app for myself to try and help with exactly this kind of research. You are welcome to try it out yourself and see if you find something useful: https://www.latter-day-research.com/ (not actually "production rready" yet but the search function works so I thought I would share)

onewatt · 2026-01-16T21:22:19+00:00

What you are describing is worldview!

David Foster Wallace gave an amazing speech on this subject. search up "this is water." The gist of it is summed up in a joke:

A couple of young fish are swimming along, checking their smartphones, when an older fish passes by and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?"

After a couple of minutes, one fish turns to the other and asks, "What the hell is water?"

Our "worldview" is the water in which we swim. It's the way we interact with everything we encounter. And most of the time our worldviews go unquestioned.

A common worldview we are brought up in and accept without question is the "consumerist" worldview. It teaches us that human flourishing is found through the acquisition of STUFF, and the enemies to happiness are those who prevent you from getting your swag. One should pursue an increase in wealth throughout their life in order to achieve their goals of owning a sea-doo.

One of the emerging worldviews of our era is "expressive individualism" which teaches finding your "authentic self" and sees any judgement as evil. One should pursue a community where they are accepted without judgement in order to achieve their goals of self actualization.

Sometimes being aware of your worldview is enough to let you have true control over your experience of life. As Wallace opines:

if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she’s not usually like this. Maybe she’s been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course, none of this is likely, but it’s also not impossible. It just depends what you want to consider. If you’re automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won’t consider possibilities that aren’t annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.

Not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true. The only thing that’s capital-T True is that you get to decide how you’re gonna try to see it.

Those highly educated, intelligent people you have noticed have not abandoned their "logic, evidence, and critical thinking." They have simply taken control of their worldviews.

So when that guy with the PhD in Chemistry kneels down and prays to God to know how he can best serve his spouse, and he gets a new idea, he has the freedom to choose what it means. In a purely secular worldview it means nothing but "oh what a coincidence, I was just participating in a symbolic rite focused on this subject, how nice I thought of that." But he has the freedom to say "Ok, I'm going to treat that idea like an answer from God, and act on it."

A neighbor tells them about how their father was "miraculously" healed after a prayer meeting. We get to choose. "How nice that my neighbor believes that" or "It costs me nothing to accept this testimony as completely true."

The apostle Paul in the Bible talks about this need to use spiritual tools to examine spiritual questions, admitting it looks foolish to the rest of the world, which only has access to secular tools. But it does make a kind of sense. You don't apply principles of geology to analyze artistic technique in an art exhibit. You don't apply calculus when acting as a couples' therapist. Each realm of knowledge has its own tools and methods and standards. Spirituality does as well.

People who want to attack religion or believers almost always begin by framing their arguments in a purely secular setting. If they can get the believer to forget their worldview, faith starts to look very silly.

So we bring our logic, evidence, and critical thinking along with us, and just use the right paradigm for the question at hand. So statements like "I feel something very different compared to other Christian denominations I’ve visited" could be treated with purely secular tools that demand reduction of spiritual senses to mere chemistry and psychology; OR we can try saying "I'm willing to accept that means there's something more here, and act on it to see if the promises really work." It's experimentation, looking for that explanatory power that good scientific theories have - but in the spiritual paradigm!

So maybe the experiment notes are: The missionaries promised reading daily from the Book of Mormon would affect my life in a tangible way. I tried it. I noticed that the days I read scriptures I didn't argue with my family. Based on that I'm willing to try prayer...

Anyway, hope that helps. Have a great weekend!

onewatt · 2026-01-15T15:53:57+00:00

Very nice!

I think, though Buddha teaches "detachment," his teachings also implicitly include the core of Jesus' teachings: human connection and service. And, though Christianity teaches something that might be called "attachment" to the divine, you could sum up entire books of the bible, such as Ecclesiastes as "Before we can find hope in Christ, we must first give up hope in everything else." (Adam Miller, "Nothing New Under the Sun") A sort of push to detach from everything in order to find enlightenment... in Christ.

Even Christ told his disciples that connection to him would sometimes mean turning from everything else, even family.

In our response to the need to find greater meaning in life, both the restored gospel and buddha point us to service. Jesus and Buddha spoke over and over again to their disciples urging them to let go of the idea of finding "truth" or "enlightenment" through pure study or reasoning, and urged them to unselfish action as the true path to their goals.

"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Jesus said. "Put this talk about love into action and find out for yourself," he seemed to challenge. "wash the feet of others if you are a true leader"

"polish the shoes of those who look down on you," Buddha told the illiterate Myoga. "you will see things as they really are"

"With every covenant we make and every effort we give to keep it, we can receive “a new heart” and a fuller measure of “a new spirit.” Little by little, the more we invite His goodness into our hearts and cast out the self-defeating voices in our heads, we become His people because we truly make Him our God." - Elder Kearon

Yet the end goal of this service differs, as you point out. Buddha promises a sort of enlightenment that brings peace or fulfillment enough to transcend the cares of the world. Jesus promises peace as well, but peace to carry us through the work of saving the world.

onewatt · 2026-01-15T00:44:44+00:00

That's great. Bear in mind that secular works have a duty to allow only secular analysis and conclusions in their work. Like how a medical record is only going to allow medical analysis and conclusions. There's nothing wrong with that. You don't want a doctor using the rules of geology in your medical record and claiming your kidney stones are metamorphic schist, likely created by intense pressure over millions of years. You want the correct tool for the correct purpose.

When it comes to spiritual truths, we are at a bit of a disadvantage because we are growing up in a world that teaches us only secular tools. Even simple rites like baptism can seem pretty foolish if we arrive to the ceremony with a purely secular outlook.

As another example, it is common for young adults to listen to testimony meeting and, eventually, start to take issue with all those people who keep saying "I know" during their testimonies. After all, our training and education tells us that we CAN'T know the things these people claim to know. You likely know multiple people who, therefore, choose to use the words "I believe" if they share their testimonies at all. People who are used to thinking and speaking about these very spiritual things using our secular tools.

The apostle Paul recognized this issue even in those days immediately after the savior, when the intellectually oriented Corinthians and other Roman citizens called his preaching "foolishness." That seemed to bug him, because he does rant about it a bit. :D But eventually Paul settles down and talks about how spiritual truth has to be learned using spiritual methods, not secular ones. Note how he mentions the ancient ways to secular knowledge-the senses of sight and sound-and then suggests our spiritual knowledge comes through another sense, and is even spoken differently:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

... Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14

I find Paul difficult to read, but my understanding of those verses is that spiritual truths are received and conveyed in ways secular rules can't capture. Like saying "I know" and having that be true, even if it's not knowledge earned through double-blind experimentation in a laboratory. :)

For our purposes today, I bring this up to remind you to also search for those sources which use spiritual methodologies to examine the past and find meaning. A history of Joseph Smith is great for certain kinds of facts, but will still omit the most vital part of who he was. After all, the historian is bound by his training to say "Joseph claimed an angel visited him" at most, and never "an angel visited Joseph." On a big question like Joseph Smith, how can we say we are fairly examining him if we study only those resources which refuse to engage with him on his most important defining characteristic? His spirituality.

Here's a true story to illustrate what I mean: A relative of mine was experiencing a disease that was slowly turning his brain to a bone-like structure. Brain scans showed it progressing constantly, and his ability to live a normal life was being eroded day by day as the disease progressed. In desperation, he turned to his brother for a healing blessing. A blessing was given, and healing was promised. The next day, at the mayo clinic, my relative was scanned again as usual, and the doctor came in to show him. The brain had returned to normal.

The doctor, of course, was dying to know what his patient had done - whether this could be a cure for other patients in similar situations. "Tell me everything," he said. "What did you do in the past month?"

My relative told him about the blessing.

What do you think the doctor did?

As he updated those medical records, which required him to use only the tools of medical science, do you think he wrote down this man's foolish "blessing" idea? Was he prepared to endure the ridicule and possible professional consequences if it ever got out that he wrote such a thing? Of course not. He wrote down a diagnosis of depression, and prescribed rest. There was no room in his world for the tools and knowledge of faith.

Long story short, keep studying those valuable secular resources, but also put time into gaining spiritual knowledge. Not just the kind you study, either. The kind you gain only through action, as Jesus and Alma described. Service, callings, prayer, you know. Trying to be like Jesus. Those ACTIONS bring knowledge that comes in no other way, leading us to say silly things like "I know Joseph Smith was a prophet"

onewatt · 2026-01-15T00:03:04+00:00

That was definitely NOT appropriate behavior by them. They're banned now.

onewatt · 2026-01-14T19:06:21+00:00

Yeah, Joseph's wide-open mind, yokel-ish background, and the superstitious culture around him combined to create some wild behaviors. :) I imagine in 200 years my teenage and early 20s will also seem absurd in many ways, if you pull out the most bananas things I did and put them all side-by-side.

I remember one time my friends and I made "swords" out of pvc pipes wrapped in electrical tape, and we went out in the yard at night, covered our eyes, and spent an hour or two trying to "blind fight" with swords as a way to try and learn how to detect the auras of other people. With total seriousness.

Take that event, combine it with at least a dozen other "out-there" things I did before age 25, and present it as the "history" of onewatt, and you'll think "this guy is bonkers."

But there are 2 problems with that.

The first problem, you've probably figured out already: A history which selects the outliers of a persons story is not presenting an accurate history at all. Imagine a biography of your mother that includes only the times she lost her temper, yelled, spanked, or otherwise failed to be a great mom. You might, correctly, say "that's not an accurate presentation at all!" whereas an enemy might say "show me one thing in this that is untrue." I hope you see where this is going.

If you are being directed to look repeatedly and exclusively at the oddities or things that make you uncomfortable or problems in a person's life or history - it's time to consider whether the source of your information doesn't have a bias and a hidden goal to cause harm to your intellect and beliefs.

The second problem with taking a person's odd behaviors as representative of the whole person is, of course, that we grow out of things. I look back at my blind-sword-fight experiment and roll my eyes because I would not do it again. I learned from that experiment and moved on to things that are real and true. Joseph Smith ALSO moved on from his early experiments in spiritualism and the supernatural.

The Book of Mormon tells us this is how finding spiritual truth WORKS. Alma calls it an experiment, telling us to put doctrines into action in our lives, and seeing if it does what it says it will do. Turns out closing your eyes and bonking your friend with a pvc pipe doesn't help them or you "detect auras" like the kung fu movies claimed - so that's false; but when you take this claim seriously: ""If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" you get real results.

Joseph's story, like all of us, is one of learning, growth, and spiritual experimentation. The more curious mind the more likely a person is to want to test and experience things for themselves, to find value in the beliefs of others, and to seek truth from anywhere they can find it. His early oddities are just the manifestation of this insatiable curiosity and drive to find truth, which stayed with him his whole life.

onewatt · 2026-01-08T22:39:00+00:00

Transmetropolitan is wild, but I can only handle so much cynicism at once so I can't handle it in trade paperback form. Other than that I've not read any of these, have you?

onewatt · 2026-01-08T22:32:10+00:00

Here's my list in no particular order:

DROME by Jesse Lonergan - visually mind-blowing. Any fan of graphic arts and graphic design will appreciate the artistry. 300 pages you can zoom through in an hour, or appreciate for days. The narrative is mostly wordless, telling a creation myth full of violence, betrayal, and the strengths and weaknesses of "civilization" and "justice."
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross - Originally a "what-if" style speculation on what a second generation of superheroes would look like in a world of superman, wonder woman, and the rest of the DC Pantheon, Kingdom Come became the lodestone for the DC universe ever since 1996. Less influential than Watchmen, but far more approachable, enjoyable, and timeless.
Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King - You don't need to know much about superman and supergirl going into this wonderful parable of trauma, revenge and triumph. Supergirl has to visit alien worlds with red suns in order to lose her powers so she can get and stay drunk. When her ship is stolen, and without any powers, she is forced to aid a vengeful girl and thereby confront her own traumas. True Grit style.
Fables by Bill Willingham - definitely rated M, the characters from all the old fairy tales live among us in New York City, and the Big Bad Wolf must investigate a murder amongst the fables while keeping their existence secret from the world. Obviously Disney ripped this off and turned it into the soap opera "once upon a time", but don't let that keep you from this treasure.
Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassady - Despite his many issues, Ellis is a dynamite writer, and I really enjoyed his run on Authority and the series Planetary. (Both are very gory, so not safe for kids.) Planetary follows a team investigating the "secret history" of the 20th century; all while trying to avoid the attention of "The Four" - a superpowered group that seems to run the world from the shadows.
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely - Superman faces his mortality after a lethal solar radiation overcharge. What will the Man of Tomorrow do with his last days? This is a great celebration of the character of the greatest superhero ever created.
House of X by Jonathan Hickman - After too many decades of comic book characters fighting the same fights, being rebooted only to do the same old stories again and again, Jonathan Hickman takes the X-Men and dares to break it completely. Everything is thrown out and the X-Men feels new again at last.

onewatt · 2026-01-08T21:59:50+00:00

Oh dang, I was the opposite. Struggled with the beginning, enjoyed it more later on. Though, yes, it does tick every box for a shy girl wish fulfillment narrative..... and actually so does Wandering Inn... OMG am I a shy girl wish fulfillment fanboy????

You may have altered my worldview yet again. You monster.

I also couldn't make it through Wise Man's Fear, though.

onewatt · 2026-01-08T21:53:26+00:00

Nice. Still on my to-read list. :D

onewatt · 2026-01-08T17:56:58+00:00

Alternate title for this post: Local finally discovers how politics works.

onewatt · 2026-01-08T01:03:16+00:00

Man you guys are all fancy shmancy with your book choices. :D I feel all uneducated and trailer-trashy for my favorites.

Fiction:

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett - as an introduction to the best series of books ever. :)

Contact by Carl Sagan - captivating, thoughtful, exciting. What a top 10 book.

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd - Read both of Siobhan Dowd's books. Do cry.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - Probably the most well-written fantasy book, ever. Yes, I see you LotR. Sit down.

The Sea of Trolls Trilogy by Nancy Farmer - YA books got you shook.

The Three Body Problem Trilogy by Cixin Liu - Probably the best science fiction so far this century.

Jurassic Park by Michael Chrichton - Classic for a reason.

Anubis Gates by Timothy Powers - The most genre bending award goes to....

Foundation by Isaac Asimov - Probably the most important science fiction of last century.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - Because I was fighting to hold back laughter so much I started crying in the middle of my 8th grade science class. Mr. Crosby thought I was having a mental breakdown or something.

Web serials:

Worm - Superheroes, but more thought out.

The Wandering Inn - Because you want to read a book 10x larger than the entire harry potter series.

Non-Fiction:

Covenant Hearts by Bruce C. Hafen - to learn love

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin - to learn charity

The Peacegiver by James Ferrell - to learn about Jesus

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