The Latter Day Lens

Send us Fan Mail The Thought Provoker:  Shawn: President Nelson and President Oaks both preached clear and direct doctrine about what salvation is and what exaltation is. I am a little surprised at how new this concept was to many. The Scriptures teach it abundantly. Two questions: Question 1: Why do you think this was the primary message from General Conference from the Prophets? Question 2: Why...

Send us Fan Mail Mailbag: One listener wrote: I come from Seattle but I finally moved out of the state after the crime became too much to ignore.  Property crime ranks amongst the highest in the city and its suburbs in the US https://www.safehome.org/resources/crime-statistics-by-state/   If you live there you can almost expect your car to be at risk of burglary and/or theft. My car got broken int...

Send us Fan Mail Matt: The mayor of Dallas recently announced that he is switching parties from Democrat to Republican. In his announcement , he argues that “American cities need Republicans. The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism.“ It is true, Dallas is a success story, most people th...

Send us Fan Mail Mailbag: I wanted to say that I love the podcast that you, Sam, and Shawn have created! Latter Day Lens is what the world needs right now. People need to know that it is okay to disagree. That people can still be friends and love each other, and have differing opinions. Anyway, I love what you guys are doing. We are toe coolest.. aren’t we?  The Thought Provoker: Russell Brand has...

Send us Fan Mail The Thought Provoker: The previous discussion leads into Sam’s topic for the week. Is healthcare a right or a privilege? I found an interesting link in this story that shows that US healthcare system is not the envy of the world. In 2007, the US spent $7,290 per capita on health care but ranks last among seven countries. The Netherlands, which spent $3,837 per capita on health car...

Send us Fan Mail Two interesting thoughts from the mailbag.  One listener writes, “In response to the #exmormon topic… personally if find exmo’s some of the most annoying people to listen to and I’m sorry if that sounds harsh but that’s because ultimately i don’t believe their intentions are genuine. I believe those people are more interested in convincing themselves that the choice they made to l...

Send us Fan Mail We gotta start with Prigozhin. Sam, last week you suggested that he was the biggest threat to Putin, now he is no more . US officials say that a bomb is likely the cause of explosion that downed Wagner leader Prigozhin's plane, His death may help Ukraine in the short-term, but it removes Putin’s greatest internal threat. Besides the United States, who could stop Putin? The Th...

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Send us Fan Mail let’s start with our new segment which I have renamed “The Thought Provoker”. This segment will explore the ideas and concepts that someone has to say. We focus on learning new things and challenging our own viewpoints. After each story, we will decide if someone had an interesting or unique take on something, and whether they were able to persuade others to see things their way. ...

Send us Fan Mail This week we are introducing a new segment called The Argumentative Edge. Each of us will introduce a topic and after we discuss the topic we will determine the winner based on how well the individual provoked new ideas or motivated us to consider a new perspective.   First up, Shawn: The church’s published membership numbers show a boom in growth in the 80s, 90s and early 2000’s...

Send us Fan Mail News: UFO whistleblower tells Congress the US has likely been aware of 'non-human' activity since 1930s. Is there enough evidence to persuade you that extraterrestrials have visited planet earth? Do church teachings help to sort out the mystery of UFOs? One family pocketed $7.6 million by taking cans and bottles from Arizona and recycling them in California. That's...

Send us Fan Mail Jason Aldean made headlines when his music video to “Try That in a Small Town” was pulled from CMT . In a recent concert he said , “What I am is a proud American," he continued. "I'm proud to be from here. I love our country, I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls--- started happening to us. I love our country, I love my family, and I wi...

Send us Fan Mail It seems like Shawn and Sam have been exposed to a lot of anti-union propaganda.  Sam mentioned some better non-union ways that worker interests should be represented. I’m curious to hear more about these  Do you think most people you all taught as missionaries changed their actual beliefs and opinions, or did they just find the church that matched their existing core beliefs? I&a...

Send us Fan Mail Cocaine was recently discovered in the White House. This never happened in the Trump Administration. Is this a big deal? Senator Lindsay Graham has taken quite a beating recently. First he was as anti-Trump as any Republican, then he was Trump’s most loyal defender . After January 6, Graham was again anti-Trump, but later was the first to endorse Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Most pundi...

Send us Fan Mail Another listener pointed us to James Jones comments on ATC. He argues that Paul publicly corrected Peter for his behavior toward Gentiles ( Galatians 2:11-14 ). He also notes that President Uchtdorf acknowledged that mistakes have been made in the past. Ultimately, we have an obligation to engage in activism toward the church if leaders are not following the commandments.  The New...

Send us Fan Mail Parents rights activists have been concerned about some of the materials available to children in public school libraries. Last year, they lobbied for a new law that would allow parents to challenge materials available in libraries and request that items be removed if they are not appropriate for children. Last month, parents in Davis County, Utah, successfully challenged to get t...

Send us Fan Mail A study was recently published that looked at 30 years of data from 1989 to 2019 from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances. They examined how couples divide work, focusing on three different wealthy groups, the Super rich, the just plain rich, and the upper middle class. They found that in 2019, 53% of super rich heterosexual couples had arrangements in which the woman...

Send us Fan Mail There have been a string of gun incidents lately. A Florida woman shot her neighbor through her closed exterior door, an 84 year old man in Kansas killed a black teenager who mistakenly went to the wrong house, and there were at least 20 mass shootings that occurred over Memorial Day weekend. There are many different causes, but one cause is the ubiquity of guns in the US. Califor...

Send us Fan Mail Liz Cheney was recently invited to speak at the graduation of her Alma Mater Colorado College . About half of the graduates turned their chairs away from her as she spoke and some booed her.  We believe that people have an obligation to oppose immoral laws. President Oaks taught in April 2021 , “Being subject to presidents or rulers of course poses no obstacle to our opposing indi...

Send us Fan Mail One listener writes, “So, remembering Sam’s counsel to never complain without offering a solution, I’d love to hear you each come prepared to answer this question: What is the present day cost to living Black people of past slavery and past and present discrimination? Can you estimate a dollar figure? Be sure to consider all the ways generations are connected—inheritance, gifts, e...

Send us Fan Mail A security guard at Walgreens shot and killed a shoplifter last month. The security guard claimed it was self-defense, but security footage seems to suggest otherwise. The DA has declined to press charges because their investigation concluded that Anthony acted in lawful self-defense. Others argue that "stealing a bag of candy does not warrant death." I sense a tension b...

Send us Fan Mail Sticking with education news, The state of Florida has just released its list of banned textbooks for the upcoming school year. On the department of education website , they list some of the objectionable materials that they are excluding from curriculum. As someone with expertise in these areas, I  have a real problem with material they’ve excluded. For example, they made a textb...

Send us Fan Mail Remember that Republican donor? Well, it turns out that he was also paying for one of Justice Thomas’s dependents to attend private school. Some Republicans say that this is no big deal, that this is all a part of an agenda to de-legitimize the courts. Rather than arguing that we should ignore this because Democrat Justices also do it, isn’t it better to demand that everyone on th...

Send us Fan Mail The Federal Reserve has completed its investigation into the collapse of Silicone Valley Bank. They have concluded that failure to properly regulate mid-size banks played a large role in the bank’s failure. “In the case of SVB, supervisors delayed action to gather more evidence even as weaknesses were clear and growing. This meant that supervisors did not force SVB to fix its prob...

Send us Fan Mail Today we are joined by two of our good friends Brian and Alex to continue our discussion about Russia and Ukraine. Introductions. Brian and Alex, feel free to share whatever you want to share about yourselves. I may ask you some questions, but feel free to tell me to be quiet. Current state of affairs in Ukraine. This past winter, it seemed like Russia was going to try to starve t...