Mormon Discussion Podcast

Today we dissect Elder Holland’s November 10, 2018 address directly to the Maxwell Institute. It seemed very much like a rebuke an an effort to embarrass those at the Maxwell Institute for moving towards objectivity and forthrightness and emphasizing real scholarship over defensive apologetics. It even includes encouragement from Elder Holland to choose faithful renditions over objective sch...

Today we sit down with Troy Marsh and his wife Shari.  Troy is a listener of Mormon Discussion and an active Latter Day Saint who finds trying to reconcile the messiness of Mormonism as a wasted cause.  By no means is he a Orthodox Mormon.  In fact he would openly acknowledge that Mormonism is only one path among a million paths for a viable spirituality.  In other words that Mormonism is not seen...

Today We sit down with Bishop John Shelby Spong.  Jack is a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark (based in Newark, New Jersey). He is a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.  We talk to Bishop Spong about his life, his...

Today we have author and former Mormon Spencer Wright back on the program to dive into the weeds.  Last time we talked with Spencer about his book “How to think” and we explored what it means to be a rational thinker.  ( 309: Spencer Wright – Rational Thought and Bat Shit Crazy ) Today we dive into 5 or so issues directly within Mormonism and explore the the orthodox view of thos...

At the 2018 Sandy Utah Sunstone Symposium I sat in a session about the genetics of Sex and Gender.  The presenter was Crystal Scott,  a is a embryologist.   Crystal got her start at the University of Virginia.  She works in the industry creating high-value babies and teaching genetics at Boise State University.    Today we spend time diving into these complexities and how understanding that Sex an...

It has finally happened.  I received a disciplinary notice from my stake president.  Would those who feel any attachment to this podcast or to me, would you please send positive thoughts into the universe for my family and friends.  I always knew that full honesty and transparency and shining a light on unhealthiness and deception would eventually end with me being severed from my tribe.  But many...

Today we tell a story.  This story involves the Seer Stone used for the translation of the Book of Mormon but a story you likely have never heard.  We set all the messiness of Mormonism aside and instead focus deeply on the Seer Stone itself.  This small rock has a history of its own and that history runs billions of years into the past.  Find out today on Mormon Discussion how Dowsing Rods, Bande...

Today we explore Elder Holland.  First I discuss the personal relationship Elder Holland and I have/had.  The trouble is once the biased lens of Mormonism was shed from my eyes I began to realize something else about Elder Holland which is that he seems to be deceptive and flat out lying on multiple occasions.  And often about small things that seemed to indicate a person who easily decides and ch...

On today’s episode we explore the mechanisms within Mormonism that deter you from speaking your truth.  We talk about the pressure to either soften your rhetoric or be silent all-together.  Once you grasp how pervasive such is, you may want to reconsider falling for it. The post Mormon Discussion: 313: Unhealthy Mechanisms That Deter You From Speaking Out appeared first on Mormon Discussion...

On today’s episode we explore the mechanisms within Mormonism that deter you from speaking your truth.  We talk about the pressure to either soften your rhetoric or be silent all-together.  Once you grasp how pervasive such is, you may want to reconsider falling for it. The post Mechanisms Of Silence And Changed Rhetoric appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel .

Today we get in a metaphorical hot air balloon and rise up to look at the 20,000 foot view of the culture of abuse within Mormonism at the present moment.  We use three issues to demonstrate that the Mormon Church has exercised unrighteous dominion in three areas.  We look at Sam Young’s effort to eliminate One on One interviews and questions of a sexual nature to the youth of the Church to...

So many of the public voices have their sources for inside info.  I like them have mine.  Recently I was made aware of several potential announcements coming out from General Conference about about a week ago.  Today’s Episode dives into the Rumors that are out there, the Inside info I have, and the reasons why these changes would happen.  I am more certain about some of these, less certain...

Today we interview Krista Whipple, managing director of Youth Futures St. George Utah.   Youth Futures provides housing along with tools, resources, and education to both prevent and help Youth Homelessness in Utah and the St. George area specifically.  Mormon Discussion has teamed up with Youth Futures to help them raise money.  Mormon Discussion has donated $100 to the cause and will donate an a...

Today on Mormon Discussion we take a collective look at Joseph Smith Productions via Translation – The Kinderhook plates – The Book of Abraham – The Book of Moses – The Inspired Translation of the Bible – The Book of Mormon Once we see that in every case the production is not what the Church claimed it was, we are left to redefine translation and to make space for les...

Radio Free Mormon and Bill Reel get together for a special Episode discussion on Elder Quentin L. Cook’s Face To Face On Church History .   While Elder Cook and Church Historians Matt Grow and Kate Holbrook attempt to tell the audience that Church history is faith building and that it can withstand scrutiny, a simple look at what they say and more importantly what they don’t say seems...

Today we dissect the Mormon Channel’s video titled “ How to Answer Questions about Church History ” hosted by  Amy Iverson where she interviews Steven Harper on how he as a Church Historian deals with tough issues within Church history. You might expect a Church historian who is on such a program due to his immersion and professional understanding of LDS Church History to use Chu...

Today we dissect the Mormon Channel’s video titled “ How to Answer Questions about Church History ” hosted by  Amy Iverson where she interviews Steven Harper on how he as a Church Historian deals with tough issues within Church history. You might expect a Church historian who is on such a program due to his immersion and professional understanding of LDS Church History to use Chu...

Today We sit down with Spencer Wright , author of “How To Think”, and discuss how Faith and Rational thought are actually opposites.  That as soon as we have to make allowances for less likely answers and solutions or even the moment we say “its possible” we have now begun irrational thinking.  Spencer helps us put words and framing to something we have sensed for a long ti...

One of the coolest issues to dive into is Moroni’s Gold Plates.  This ancient mortal was the last to make engravings and to see them protected until he himself buried them only to as a post mortal being entrust them to the prophet Joseph Smith.  What do we know about these plates and whose testimony can we trust.  Numerous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hand witnesses tell us much about these plates but...

Today with Sit down with Newell Bringhurst, Author of “ Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism” .  We discuss how the Priesthood ban came to be and how the false doctrines around it originated.  We talk about the 1978 removal of the ban and work up to present day discussing the Race & The Priesthood gospel topic essay and the lack of vulnera...

WHAT IS LEFT??????? 1.) The Church has distanced itself from power of the Priesthood every conference talk about a priesthood blessing taking place ends with the person blessed dying We have now shifted to “faith not to be healed” being greater than faith to be healed The supernatural god-magic miracles of of the past have seemingly vanished.  Once we entered an age of verifiable history and...

Bill Reel examines within the pain of a faith transition the development from Sympathy to Empathy.  We look at what each of these look like and how they express themselves within our faith and within our faith transitions. The post 305: Empathy vs Sympathy appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel .

Last night the Church of Jesus Christ held a 40th anniversary of its doctrinal and policy change to allow those of African Descent to receive Priesthood and Saving ordinances in the Temple.  As we all know the Church has been hush hush forever about this change and it context in our past.  And then in 2013 when the Race and Priesthood Essay came out For the first time the Church felt comfortable s...

Today On Mormon Discussion, Bill Reel dives into the idea once you grasp how fallible modern Church leaders are, taking the next step to grasp at just how fallible ancient servants of God were.  Once one wrestles with that the discussion turns to how much trust one should place in God’s servants who are in a lower developmental stage and whose fruits are involve as much error as inspiration....

Mormonism in the past week has learned that inspite of how much members say what they think the Church expects them to say, that members are deep down struggling much more deeply with the issues within its faith.   Today on Mormon Discussion we talk about the recent Race Apology both the satire apology created by Jonathon Streeter as well as the non-existent apology and missed opportunity by the L...