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Conference report - August 3

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I attended the Fairly Mormon conference in Provo on August 3, 2018. It was worthwhile, for sure. I probably won't have time to post my notes here, but I took a lot of them. Generally, I thought the conference was well organized and managed, although the constant request for donations was a little off-putting for me. I'm not used to that at Church-related events, especially from General Authorities. I will have more detailed comments about the book Saints, though. This was the agenda:  9:00 AM Wade Miller The Presence of Pre-Columbian Horses in America 10:00 AM John Lynch Strengthen Thy Brethren: Bolstering Those in Faith Crisis 11:00 AM Elder Kevin W. Pearson A Sacred and Imperative Duty   1:00 PM Jeff Lindsay “Arise from the Dust”: Digging into a Vital Book of Mormon Theme   2:00 PM Steve Harper Making Saints: A Look into the Writing of the New Church History     3:15 PM Jeff Robinson Thinking Differently About Same-Sex Attraction ...

The Mothers of Invention - a new Cumorah

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N ecessity is the mother of invention. Our friends at Fairly Mormon have a need to prove the prophets wrong, so they have invented a new Hill Cumorah somewhere in southern Mexico. They call this the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory, now known as M2C. Actually, this is just their theory; they don't know where this Mexican Cumorah actually is. They're mostly looking at mountains instead of hills anyway. But their main objective is to prove the prophets wrong by finding a "hill" in Mexico that contains Mormon's depository and was the scene of the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephites.  Today we will show their technique in case you also have a necessity to invent a Hill Cumorah in your favorite part of the world. All you have to do is: 1) ignore what the modern prophets and apostles have said* and 2) apply a flexible interpretation of the Book of Mormon text. _________________ An awesome explanation for how to invent your own Cumorah ...

Fair Mormon vs Fairly Mormon

FairlyMormon is my term for a blog you can read here:  https://www.fairmormon.org/blog . They also have a Journal that is not public called  FAIRMORMON JOURNAL . They send it to subscribers, so it is not as easy to access, but it contains some really helpful comments and references for all things LDS. It's great stuff. But it also contains some less-than-great stuff, as we'll see below. _____ Every member of the Church should be grateful for Scott Gordon, the founder of Fair Mormon, for all the research and work he has done to create a valuable resource for those seeking answers about Church-related issues. I use FairMormon all the time and encourage others to do the same. But that's what makes their editorial position exclusively supporting M2C (the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory) all the more devastating. I call them Fairly Mormon because on most topics, they do an excellent job. But on M2C, they are a classic case of asserting intellectual superiority based on ...

FairMormon conference 2018

People have asked about the 2018 FairMormon conference. I've attended in the past, but this year doesn't appeal to me. If you look at the list of reasons they give for attending, I could accomplish much more by using the entrance fee at Costco to get my own red vines and peppermint patties: Hear from and meet famous scholars. And not-so-famous scholars. Learn how to respond to critics in a kind but informative way. Get a front-row seat to any drama if the conference is crashed by hostile anti-Mormons and the Danites have to be called in. Hear six female scholars speak. There will be Red Vines! And possibly York Peppermint Patties. Dan. Peterson. Is. Speaking. Enjoy an accessible scholarly experience. Get the conference discount in the bookstore and get your books signed by their authors. Come hear what General Authority Seventy Elder Kevin W. Pearson has to say. See if Steven Harper or Brad Wilcox draws the most people. Strengthen your testimony. Red Vines! And ...