The Unexamined Faith

Post-Mormon thoughts on reason, faith, and the LDS Church. The unexamined life, according to Socrates, is not worth living. I think that, similarly, the unexamined faith is not worth believing. FYI, the image is the cover art of from the 1983 album "No Rest for the Wicked" by Canadian rockers Helix.

Thursday, 3 October 2019

Dear Elder Oaks

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Dear Elder Oaks, You seem to be operating under the misapprehension that you think that you believe that “The…meaning of ‘gender…’ as us...
Saturday, 17 August 2019

On the Non-Infinity of the LDS Conception of God

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The “relatively infinite” God of Latter Day Saint (LDS) theology is incommensurate [i] with the infinite God of classical theism (CT)....
Saturday, 20 April 2019

Sin Does Not Exist (in Sunstone)

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I have an article, Sin Does Not Exist  in Sunstone Magazine (188). It is a version of  Zeus’s Thunderbolt, Euthyphro’s Dilemma, and the Eli...
2 comments:
Thursday, 11 April 2019

Leave it Alone? No. Just No.

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The perennial refrain of the faithful LDS when confronted with criticism from those disenfranchised from the Church: You can leave the Ch...
2 comments:
Thursday, 21 March 2019

Put Paid to the Lie: Equal Treatment of LDS LGB's

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(Rather than accept the terminology widely accepted by gay persons themselves, the LDS Church typically uses its own term to describe LG...
2 comments:
Sunday, 10 March 2019

"Speaking as a man" is not a good defense

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When a General Authority of the LDS Church is discovered to have taught something that in retrospect turns out to be nonsense, one possibl...
Sunday, 25 November 2018

The Unexamined Faith. Chapter One.

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I am gradually trying to put together a book that is (i) a critique of the foundational claims of Mormonism, and (ii) an attempt to make a...
Saturday, 8 September 2018

The Church of Milquetoast

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Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Mormonism knows that the LDS Church claims to be led by direct revelation by the good Lord H...
Saturday, 25 August 2018

Alma's Theory of Knowledge

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Once the decision was made to serve the mission, I took my preparation terribly seriously. I completed 4 years of seminary, read the Bible...
2 comments:
Thursday, 2 August 2018

Zeus’s Thunderbolt, Euthyphro’s Dilemma, and the Eliminative Reduction of Sin

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Sin is to morality as Zeus’s thunderbolt is to weather. [i] That is, Zeus’s thunderbolts do not exist and therefore contrib...
Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Snowblind

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Some years ago, the kids and I were returning from a Def Leppard concert in a nearby city. It was late at night and the kids were fast asle...
Wednesday, 13 December 2017

The LDS Proselytizing Mission as Hazing

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Presumably, we have all heard the notion that one of the primary purposes (if not the primary purpose) of the LDS proselytizing mission,...
2 comments:
Thursday, 19 October 2017

Abinadi: The Homer Simpson of the Book of Mormon

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Let me set the scene for you. Poor Homer, looking for a way to boost his self-esteem, wanders into an adult education facility and gets...
1 comment:
Wednesday, 27 September 2017

The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Missionary Age

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“the trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt" --Bertrand Russell While wat...
Monday, 11 September 2017

What does the statement "The (LDS) Church is true" even mean...?

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“The Church is true” is a statement I learned to make as a child; I learned to repeat the phrase mechanically before I had the cognitive whe...
1 comment:
Tuesday, 29 August 2017

An LDS “Epistemology” of Apostasy

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  Our faithful LDS friends and family have tremendous difficulty accepting that there can be any legitimate reason for leaving the Church. I...
3 comments:
Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Satan: MVP of the Plan of Salvation

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The gathered righteous erupt into a reverent silence as the good Lord Himself, even Jesus Christ, takes the podium, shuffles his notes, ta...
Tuesday, 25 July 2017

CTR Rings: The Embodiment of a Misguided Categorical Imperative

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CTR Rings: The Embodiment of a Misguided Categorical Imperative In this piece I intend to critique the LDS concept of CTR (Choose the Righ...
Monday, 7 November 2016

The Parable of the Broken Clock Maker

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The old clock maker loved his clocks as much as any father could possibly love his children. Each was formed in his heart before being ...
Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Laundry List of Issues Regarding Moroni's Promise

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If there is a hub around which LDS epistemology revolves, surely it is to be found in Moroni’s Promise: Moroni 10:3-5: 3 Behold, ...
5 comments:
Tuesday, 6 September 2016

Church Handbook of Instructions: Guidelines for Apologists

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I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands. - C. S. Lewis   Church Ha...
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S. Richard Bellrock
I have studied and/or taught philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences since the early 90's. I have also worked in mental health.
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