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Under the Banner of Heaven: Fact vs Fiction

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Under the Banner of Heaven movie posterFriends,

Today a new television series has been released titled Under the Banner of Heaven. It is based on a best-selling book by that same name, published in 2003, written by Jon Krakauer.

The book, and now the television series, talks about the 1984 horrific murders of Brenda Lafferty, and her 15-month-old daughter Erica, by Dan and Ron Lafferty in American Fork Utah. The theme of Jon Krakauer’s book is that Dan and Ron’s religious upbringing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the underlying cause for what they did. Krakauer, an atheist, believes that since bad things are sometimes done in the name of religion, religion breeds violence.

This series will likely lead to questions from your friends and family members. We’ve created a page of resources. Here are a few things to be aware of: [Read more…] about Under the Banner of Heaven: Fact vs Fiction

“Was that a revelation?” General Conference and Agents of the Divine

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for FAIR Newsletter 7 2022

by Steve Densley

Over time, I have come to look forward to General Conference more and more. It seems that now, more than ever, we need the wisdom and guidance that comes from those who have been set apart by God to instruct us.

Of course, I do not always hear what I want to hear. I am often challenged by the words of our leaders and can feel that I will need to stretch, sometimes with some pain, to accomplish what is expected. So I understand when I hear people wonder aloud, “Was that a revelation?” as if to say, “Do I really need to do that?” Or, “Is that really true?” [Read more…] about “Was that a revelation?” General Conference and Agents of the Divine

Answers to a Few Questions for Black History Month

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for FAIR Newsletter – Black History Month Edition 4 2022

I am a white male. Well, I really have more of a ruddy complexion that looks red most of the time, but that still counts as “white.” I have found no one in my family history who owned slaves. One family line came from Scotland after the Civil war, and the other family line was simply too poor to be participating in anything like that. So why am I writing about black history? The Church is often criticized for having a “racist past” because of the priesthood ban, plus I think that we currently participate in a lot of unconscious racism and dismissive behavior that doesn’t help welcome our brothers and sisters into the Church.

So, let’s step away from the political rhetoric, tightly held positions, and defensiveness just for a moment. Let’s agree that black lives matter (of course they do – we aren’t talking about the political group), and we aren’t going to talk about Critical Race Theory (CRT) in this article. Let’s breathe deeply and step into this. [Read more…] about Answers to a Few Questions for Black History Month

Inspiration, Intellect, and Rethinking Revelation

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by Michael R. Ash

for FAIR Newsletter 2021 1211

Inspiration and Intellect are two sides of the same coin in how Latter-day Saints believe that God communicates with His children. We know that the Spirit testifies to eternal truths, but we often forget (or neglect) the role that intellect plays in uncovering truth. The late Apostle Hugh B. Brown said, “revelation does not come only through the prophet of God nor only directly from heaven in visions or dreams. Revelation may come in the laboratory, out of the test tube, out of the thinking mind and the inquiring soul, out of search and research and prayer and inspiration.”[i] Likewise, the Lord instructed the Saints to “seek learning… by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118). This counsel was repeated several more times in modern revelations (see D&C 11:22, 90:15, 93:53; and 109: 7, 14), and the admonition led Joseph to establish the “School of the Prophets” (D&C 88:127).

The dual-nature or dual-sources for discovering truth presents some challenges, however. The first challenge is that neither source—neither inspiration nor intellect—can provide infallible and inerrant data.

The Challenge of Inspiration [Read more…] about Inspiration, Intellect, and Rethinking Revelation

“How to respond to a loved one” – German version for FAIR Newsletter 2021 0220

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by René A. Krywult

Nach meinem Vortrag bei der FairMormon Konferenz 2019 haben mich viele Hörer das Gleiche gefragt: “Wie soll ich damit umgehen, wenn jemand, den ich lieb habe, von Antimormonismus beeinträchtigt ist und sich von der Kirche abwendet?”

Man kann den Fragestellern ansehen, wie sie die Entfremdung ihrer Freunde und Familie verletzt.

Es hat mich stutzig gemacht, zu sehen, wie die unterschiedlichen Meinungen zur COVID-19 Pandemie und die dazugehörigen Interaktionen ganz ähnlich waren, und wie viel Schmerz daraus kommt.

Auch politische Wahlen, wie zum Beispiel die US Präsidentenwahl, haben das Potential, Verwandte und Freunde gegeneinander aufzubringen. Manche drücken ihre Meinung sehr laut aus, und ihre persönlichen Beziehungen werden in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. [Read more…] about “How to respond to a loved one” – German version for FAIR Newsletter 2021 0220

I Own My Testimony!

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by John Lynch

I own my testimony!

I wasn’t raised in the Church. I had no family heritage, no traditions or expectations within the framework of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that pressured me or gave me reason to favor faith in the Church’s claims of restored priesthood authority, restored and revealed scripture, new revelations, restored and new covenants, and ongoing guidance from heaven. To the contrary, I was raised in a family environment where faith in God was largely absent and a secular view was what surrounded me.

I came to believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints specifically because the principles taught in the scriptures, revelations, and covenants, and exemplified in the priesthood resonated so fully and completely with conclusions I had already reached about God, that I could not argue against it. My faith came because, as I applied the associated teachings, practices, and principles to my life by making and keeping covenants, my life changed! I had a different outlook, a different set of desires, a new vision of my purpose, a new joy, a commitment to be my best, and a desire to bind myself to the Father who gave all this to me. [Read more…] about I Own My Testimony!

Interpreter Conference

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by Jeffrey Bradshaw

Beginning in the 1970s, a few scholars, most notably Hugh W. Nibley, began to point to evidence relating to the ancient context of the Book of Moses. However, over-enthusiastic scholars (admittedly, at times, including myself) have not always been careful in their research and sometimes have gone farther in their claims than the evidence warrants. As a result, some of the early enthusiasm for comparative studies has waned and, paralleling the course of biblical studies, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme where comparisons of scripture to the ancient world became less common.

Now the pendulum is swinging back the other way. We hope that the presentations at the conference will reflect the still increasing maturity of the field, relying on more well-defined methodologies designed to better assure the reliability of their results — avoiding the extremes of both parallelomania and parallelophobia. In addition to more well-defined methodologies, recent research has also benefitted from new discoveries and better understandings of the manuscripts and other material remains of the cultures and religious traditions of the ancient Near East.

The conference is based on the premise that significant patterns of resemblance to ancient manuscripts not available during the lifetime of Joseph Smith and of unexpected conformance to conditions imposed by an archaic setting are potential indicators of antiquity that are best explained when the essential element of divine revelation is acknowledged. [Read more…] about Interpreter Conference