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FairMormon Front Page News Review Podcast #2

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Welcome to FairMormon’s Front Page News Review for the third week of January, 2015.  Here we provide context and analysis of the past week’s media coverage of Mormons and the LDS church. Front Page News Review is  hosted Nick Galieti and manager of the FairMormon Front Page news service, Cassandra Hedelius.

We hope this will be an edifying and entertaining experience. What we present is not to be understood as being the official position of FairMormon or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We speak for ourselves, and sometimes not even then.

This week’s top news stories:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/mormon-runs-site-faith-questions-faces-church-ouster-28253817

The Coming Crackdown on Mormon Liberals 

http://www.worldreligionnews.com/issues/mormon-marriages-between-mixed-sexual-orientations-are-more-likely-to-end-in-divorce

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/19/china-savvy-tea-partyer-leads-house-panel-on-asia/

To Vote for FairMormon in the Podcast Awards follow these instructions:

Visit www.podcastawards.com, and finding the “Religion Inspiration” category. Enter “Mormon Fair-Cast” under podcast name and blog.fairmormon.org as the url.

Keeping the Faith 14: Leaving and Returning–Lessons Learned pt. 1

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10680104_10101730586812129_1130540584652822496_oRich Milllar loved the Church as a teenager. He served a successful mission to Russia. After returning, he was fully committed to the Church and served as an elders quorum president. But he began to slowly lose his faith until, eventually, he decided the Church was not true and God did not exist. Find out why he left, why he decided to return, and what lessons he learned in his journey away from the Church and back into it.

Rich shared much of his story in a Facebook post that can be found here. He was later featured on a Mormon Channel video that can be found here, and a Deseret News article that can be found here.

The opinions expressed in this podcast and in the referenced books, presentations, podcasts and articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or of FairMormon.

Fair Issues 78: What is the correct Book of Mormon geography?

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MAIn this episode brother Ash investigates real world distances in determining the proper Book of Mormon geographic models.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

The views and opinions expressed in the podcast may not reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that of FairMormon

 

Faith and Reason 34: Angels and Books

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From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

The claim that an angel delivered a sacred record to Joseph Smith has elicited the scorn of critics and the incredulity of most of the modern world. While such an event may seem odd to modern sensibilities, like a glove it fits the world of the ancient Near East.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

New Podcast! – Front Page News Review

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FairMormon Front Page News Review is a weekly show where host Nick Galieti, and Cassandra Hedelius offer commentary and perspective on the top stories of the previous week’s news about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or issues surrounding its culture and membership. We address these news stories to answer critical opinions, or simply discuss the implications these stories might have in the ongoing public discourse.

It is our hope to provide a weekly update and links to these stories. Over time the show will evolve and improve based on your feedback, so please, speak your mind, let us know what we are doing well, and what needs to change. Subscribe to our podcast in iTunes under the name “Mormon FAIR-cast” OR on the Stitcher Smart Phone App.

What we present is not to be understood as being the official position of FairMormon or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We speak for ourselves, and sometimes not even then.

Articles referenced in this week’s episode:

http://www.newsweek.com/h-mitt-romney-considering-third-presidential-run-report-298322

RiseUp Podcast – Having conversations about the history of Blacks and the LDS Church

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Race issues in the LDS Church can be difficult to understand and even more difficult to talk about. The church released an official statement regarding some history on this subject, but there are those who still have questions. Russell Stevenson has dedicated a good portion of his adult life to studying this history, and has written on this subject. He offers three suggestions on how to approach and discuss this controversial subject—namely the history of Black’s in the Mormon Church.

To purchase a copy of Russell Stevenson’s latest book: For the Cause of Righteousness — click here.

To purchase a copy of Russell Stevenson’s previous book, Black Mormon: The Story of Elijah Ables — click here.

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Fair Issues 77: What is the correct geography for the Book of Mormon?

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MAIn this podcast Michael Ash relates the possible models for the Book of Mormon geography.  The strongest models are those which 1) are supported by the strongest evidences, 2) do the best accounting for all the data and 3) have the fewest anomalies.  Some people might be tempted to think that a good model shouldn’t have any anomalies, but the philosophy of science has shown that no paradigm is completely free of anomalies.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

The views and opinions expressed in the podcast may not reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that of FairMormon

 

Why Do They Leave? III

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[This entry originally appeared at Forn Spǫll Fira and is reposted here with the author’s permission.]

Thus far, in my examination of the data from the NSYR I have looked at some of the scattered clues in the NSYR analysis. (The first post is here, the second post ishere.) The NSYR actually devoted an entire book to the subject of youth losing their religion and their way, called Lost in Transition. I have already noted that intellectual reasons play a smaller role in youth losing their faith than behaviors or events. I am here interested in only those intellectual reasons that the NSYR found for people losing their faith. This post will look at reasons assembled in the first chapter of Lost in Transition for why youth of all religions become secular. [Read more…] about Why Do They Leave? III

Faith and Reason 33: Ancient Shipbuilding

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From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supportingthe Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

As the Lehites travelled to southern Arabia they would have passed several seaports where ships could be observed. Only recently have historians become aware that centuries before Lehi’s day, Oman [on Arabia’s southern coast] was the forefront of Arab sea exploration and trade, building ships that operated to Africa, India and China.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.