FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

Anti-Mormon critics

Aversion Therapy at BYU

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FAIR, a volunteer organization that provides information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has prepared a thorough explainer regarding aversion therapy, Brigham Young University (BYU), and President Dallin H. Oaks.

President Oaks was president of BYU from 1971 to 1980. During that time, psychology graduate student Max McBride conducted research on aversion therapy, or the use of weak electric shocks to the arm to decrease unwanted homosexual attraction. McBride’s research was overseen by BYU professor Eugene Thorne. Thorne also used aversion therapy as part of his private psychology practice. Both used nearly identical methods, and McBride’s research was intended to finesse the techniques used by Thorne and other mainstream psychologists.

Some church critics have made unsupported claims about the research and about President Oaks.  The accompanying explainer provides thorough documentation showing why those claims are misleading and irresponsible.

Read more here

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 52

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Part 52: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section H]

by Sarah Allen

 

This post officially marks the one-year mark for this series (on Reddit, Part 1 was split into two parts). I honestly never thought this would take so long, or that anyone would still be interested. I thought that maybe five people at most would read them, and they’d peter out after a month or two due to lack of interest. Instead, you’ve all been very kind and encouraging, and I wanted to thank you all for that. The other Reddit mods, especially, have been incredibly supportive despite the influx of trolls it’s brought to the sub. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 52

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 51

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Part 51: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section G]

by Sarah Allen

 

In this entry, I’d like to get through as much of the next few pages of the CES Letter as possible, so that we can wrap up the Witnesses section soon and move on to the next topic. There are a lot of different accusations to go through, many of which we’ve already covered, so I’m just going to dive right in.

The Letter picks up, again in big, red, capital letters: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 51

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 50

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Part 50: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section F]

by Sarah Allen

 

We’re continuing the saga of James Strang today, addressing Jeremy’s various concerns and comments. If you read the prior post, you know that this is a crazy story and Strang was a rather colorful character. Jeremy Runnells, of course, does not go into any of that history or the clear signs of deception, and only focuses on the few similarities between Strang and Joseph Smith—namely, that he claimed to translate some plates by the power of God and that he had some witnesses for those plates. We’ll go through those similarities and the differences in more detail as we go through Jeremy’s questions/comments.

Jeremy begins: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 50

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 49

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Part 49: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section E]

by Sarah Allen

 

In this post, we’ll be talking about the absolutely insane story of James J. Strang. He faked his own death, claimed to have been appointed Joseph’s successor by a letter he produced, claimed ordination to the role by an angel, formed a breakaway sect of the Church referred to as the Strangites which many of the Book of Mormon witnesses as well as members of Joseph Smith’s family temporarily joined after his death, claimed to find and translate a set of plates of his own supposedly taken from the Book of Laban, became a State Representative, claimed there was a sea monster in Lake Michigan, crowned himself the earthly king of the Kingdom of God while residing on Beaver Island, Michigan, fired a canon at his detractors, cozied up to John C. Bennett, and led an infamous band of Mormon pirates before he was murdered by a group of his own former followers. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 49

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 48

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Part 48: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section D]

 

by Sarah Allen

 

The claim that the Book of Mormon witnesses didn’t actually see the plates except through “spiritual eyes,” which critics take to mean “imagination,” is one of the more common claims against them that you’ll see. Jeremy’s hardly the first to make this accusation, and it has been answered many, many times over the years. Once you see how flimsy these quotes are, and how dishonest the CES Letter is in packaging them, you’re going to realize that this bit only works if you don’t investigate it at all. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 48

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 47

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Part 47: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section C]

By Sarah Allen

 

Last week, the bulk of my’s commentary was on Martin Harris. Today, it’ll be about David Whitmer, with a little bit about Oliver Cowdery. After that, it segues into the same criticism about “spiritual eyes” that many of you have heard repeatedly over the years, and then on to James Strang and other issues. I don’t know how much we’ll get through today, but we’ll at least finish up the questions on the three witnesses.

Strangely enough, Jeremy doesn’t go into any detail or questions about the other eight witnesses or the unofficial witnesses at all. I don’t know why, except that they may be harder to explain away than the three witnesses who saw an angel and heard the voice of the Lord. For the eight witnesses in particular, their experience was a tangible one without any spiritual or supernatural significance. Before we’re done with the Witnesses section of the CES Letter, I think I’d like to talk about some of those other witnesses, since they tend to get glossed over not just by Jeremy, but by a lot of other people as well. As a people, we’re less familiar with them than we are with the three witnesses. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 47

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 46

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Part 46: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section B]

By Sarah Allen

 

Today and next week, we’ll be talking about the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Martin Harris bears the brunt of it, which will likely take this entire post, with less about David Whitmer and hardly anything about Oliver Cowdery. Apparently, Jeremy couldn’t find much else to attack Oliver for, beyond the divining rod we discussed last week. He goes on at length about Martin Harris, though, so I’m just going to jump right in without a longer introduction.

We are told that the witnesses never disavowed their testimonies, but we have not come to know these men or investigated what else they said about their experiences.

For once, he’s partially right. They never disavowed their testimonies. As a history geek, though, I have to disagree with the second statement. Jeremy may not know much about these men or investigated what else they said, but some of us certainly have. We have a wealth of information about them at our fingertips. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 46

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 45

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Part 45: CES Letter Witnesses Questions [Section A]

By Sarah Allen

 

When I sat down to gather my sources and figure out how I wanted to open this section of questions/concerns, the topic I kept circling back to was that of unanswered Gospel questions. We all have them. I have plenty of them myself. In that regard, none of us are very different from Jeremy or anyone else who has ever asked these and other questions. Having Gospel questions and the search for answers to those questions is how the restoration of the Gospel came about in the first place. It’s how each of us was able to gain and maintain a testimony. And it’s why Oliver Cowdery was given the revelation I’m going to address later in this post.

But, depending on how we go about it, that search for answers to those questions can lead us down several different paths. We’ve talked at length throughout this series about how to get answers to your questions: pray, study, experiment upon the word, and lean on God to direct your efforts. And if you ask in faith, nothing wavering, the Holy Ghost will manifest to you the truth of all things. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 45

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 44

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Part 44: CES Letter Priesthood Restoration Questions [Section B]

By Sarah Allen

 

In today’s post, we’ll be talking about the fact that Joseph updated many of the revelations between the aborted publication attempt of the Book of Commandments in 1833 and the publication of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. Jeremy’s main focus, which comprises his questions 3–5, is about Section 27, which I referenced briefly last week. It’s a lot of ground to cover, particularly if I want to try to include question #6 which is the last question in this section. Rather than write a more lengthy introduction, I’m just going to pick up where we left off.

Question/point #3 is a long one, comprising an entire page and a half of the CES Letter. It begins: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 44