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1: 'Lucifer was one of us...' The so-called 'premortal' world Mormons claim they had as alien spirits on a distant planet, supposedly located near the star they call "Kolob": Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th "prophet" of the Mormon Church: "Before the foundations of this earth were laid, WE were ALL in the presence of the Father as spiritual children. Lucifer was one of us..." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., Religious Truths Defined: A comparison of Religious Faiths with the Restored Gospel, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, p. 67, 1959/1962) 2. Per a Mormon Seminary and Institute teacher in Salt Lake City, the so-called...

In the past six or so years I’ve written countless articles on many subjects regarding Mormonism, but there are a few subjects that continue to show up for another view and additional insight. The subject of this article is my case in point. The first time I wrote on this subject I received many horrible reviews – all by members of the Church. The reviews that were favorable of course were from the Christians. At the request of former Mormons and Christians I was asked to write a sequel so I acquiesced – that was three years ago. Now I’m...

Over five years ago I wrote an article entitled ‘Demonic and Ungodly Names in the Book of Mormon’. Since then I have been asked by numerous people to write more on this particular subject so here it is! Back by popular demand I went through my old notes and found some other names that I think would be of interest to the Mormon and non-Mormon alike. There were more than 50 names of people and/or places that contradict what the Biblical accounts report. Here are just a few of them. ChemishThe name of Chemish so closely resembles the name of...

While studying some points of interest in Masonry, I came across some names within their books that sounded familiar to me. The familiarity became abundantly clear when I opened the Book of Mormon. I began researching some of the names in the Book of Mormon and their meanings. I compared them with the Bible, bible dictionaries and even Webster’s dictionary. I found 57 names of people and places that are demonic or names of false gods and their derivatives, however I have chosen to narrow this down to three names that I thought was most relevant. Someone mentioned to me...

SALT LAKE CITY – A new church essay reveals Mormon church founder Joseph Smith had an underage bride and was married to other men's wives during the early days of the faith when polygamy was practiced. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says most of Smith's wives were adults, but one was a 14-year-old girl who was the daughter of Smith's close friends. Research shows the marriage might not have involved sex.

When: September 18, 2014 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pmWhere: Albrecht Auditorium Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Colleges,925 North Dartmouth Avenue,Claremont,CA 91711 USA Title: “Zombies, Vampires, and the Book of Mormon” Abstract: Zombies and vampires bend the rules of time. Death arrives for them but, even after its arrival, their lives continue. They die but, rather than passing on to the next world, they continue in this one. In this sense, zombies and vampires model an important aspect of Christian life: the Christian’s preemptive abandonment of their own life (their willingness to be crucified with Christ), in order to begin...

...Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books...featuring atypical vampires and werewolf champions are allegories...a re-telling of the Garden of Eden drama—with a Mormon twist. Here, the Fall is a good thing, even the key to salvation and divinization, just as Joseph Smith...the Latter-day Saint prophet, said it was... The key word in...Meyer’s dream is not “vampire”...but “meadow.”...“Mountain Meadows,”...means something much less pastoral and positive and much more visceral and painful to...LDS. ...2003 saw the publication of three books...focused on the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which...Mormon faithful in Southern Utah executed...120 men, women, and children on their way to California from Arkansas. All...

he other day I ate some rather extraordinary Thai food for lunch and, on my way out, grabbed a fortune cookie. I cracked it open and read a silly little proverb meant to inspire, I suppose. I wish it had said “Brisk uphill walk after all-you-can-eat Thai is a bad idea.” Never mind. As I waddled my way home, regretting that last bowl of curry (so delicious…), I thought “This fortune sounds like something Joel Osteen would say.” And then it struck me—there is very little difference between Joel and those fortune cookies (except that the cookies are delicious, of...

A Mormon St. Peter’s in RomeA new Latter-day Saints temple looms large on the Roman horizon, and the Vatican’s prelates, truth to tell, are not too enthusiastic about what they see. ROME, Italy — On the outskirts of Rome along the ancient Catholic pilgrim route known as the Via Francigena and not far from a giant shopping center featuring a massive IKEA and the French do-it-yourself Mecca called Leroy Merlin, cranes are hoisting giant spires onto the top of a Baroque-revival-style church. But unlike most of the religious edifices erected in Catholic Rome, this Roman temple is being built by...

Planned Parenthood abortion business officials in Ohio are looking for volunteers to pray at a pryer event. No, Planned Parenthood is not asking people to pray for an end to abortion in the way pro-life advocates pray at prayer events like 40 Days for Life. Instead the abortion giant is hoping Buckeye State residents will pray for more abortions. plannedparenthood118As this Planned Parenthood announcement indicates, the abortion corporation wants people to join an abortion activist who is calling for prayer in response to the state’s refusal to expand Obamacare, which funds abortion and sends taxapayer dollars to the abortion giant....

Archbishop Coakley sues satanic group to hand over consecrated Host.With one month to go before a satanic group in Oklahoma City a public “black mass,” the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is suing to force the group to hand over a consecrated Host it claims to have. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the District Court of Oklahoma County, claims Satanic leader Adam Daniels and his religious organization, the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu, have "unlawfully taken possession of property belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, specifically a Consecrated Host." Daniels, who has claimed publicly to have the Host, clarified in an interview...

You may remember Andrew Keegan as the teen dad on "7th Heaven," the bad boy Zach in "Camp Nowhere" or the high school heartthrob/jerk in "10 Things I Hate About You." But for many, he's now the leader of a "spiritual movement" in Los Angeles' Venice Beach. Vice reports that the 35-year-old has made a major career transition and is now overseeing the new-age church Full Circle. Though even the members don't seem super certain of the mission statement of the religion, there is a talking parrot named Krishna and a guy named Third Eye who greets you at the...

Not Christians or Shi’ites this time, but the Yazidis, whose numbers reach as high as 600,000 in Iraq — and dropping, especially in Sinjar. The sacking of Sinjar has forced the Yazidis to flee to nearby Mount Sinjar to escape brutal execution. What they face on the mountain is a death just as certain, though, and perhaps as torturous: Stranded on a barren mountaintop, thousands of minority Iraqis are faced with a bleak choice: descend and risk slaughter at the hands of the encircled Sunni extremists or sit tight and risk dying of thirst. Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between...

THE Iraqi and American authorities are rushing to arrange airdrops of food and water to the Yazidis as tens of thousands of followers of the secretive religion flee fundamentalist gunmen who took over the Iraqi town of Sinjar on August 3rd. A Yazidi elder reached by phone said they were trying to climb high enough into the nearby mountains that members of the Islamic State would not follow. ..Yazidis consider themselves a distinct ethnic and religious group from the Kurds with whom they live (and who consider them Kurdish). Their religion, which combines elements of Zoroastrianism with Sufi Islam and...

Okay, so I was challenged below: "Read the Bible! God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people." So....I may get crucified for this but I have started to say it -- most recently (terrified, trembling) to warm welcome in a synagogue in LA: Actually if you read Genesis Exodus and Deuteronomy in Hebrew -- as I do -- you see that God did not "give" Israel to the Jews/Israelites. We as Jews are raised with the creed that "God gave us the land of Israel" in Genesis -- and that ethnically 'we are the chosen people." But actually...

As I’ve thought about the issues of asking questions, faithful agitation, and looking for a much-needed change regarding gender inequality in the Church, I have come to the conclusion that we as a church don’t know all there is to know about God. None of that has to take away from the truthfulness of the Gospel, but the suggestion that the Church is perfect makes the declaration of having a living prophet seem a bit confusing. If there are not things that we are waiting to open our eyes to (which means God is waiting on us to ask him)...

An arraignment hearing has been set for a former BYU-UVU part-time faculty member charged with sexual abuse. Michio Zushi, 55, is set to appear on July 14 on charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child after the victim recently came forward to talk to investigators. According to 4th District Court records, Zushi inappropriately touched her beneath her clothing. The incidents occurred between August 2010 and August 2011, and police arrested Zushi in March. Zushi taught Japanese calligraphy at both BYU and UVU but is no longer employed by either university following his arrest. If he is convicted, the presumptive...

Announcement: 9 November 1871 Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 9 November 1871 by Brigham Young Private Dedication: 1 January 1877 by Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, and Brigham Young Dedication: 6–8 April 1877 by Daniel H. Wells (with Brigham Young presiding) SNIP The St. George Utah Temple is the first temple where endowments for the dead were performed. The Founding Fathers of the United States of America appeared twice to Wilford Woodruff in the St. George Utah Temple asking why their temple work had yet not been performed on their behalves. A striking painting depicting this singular event hangs in the temple...

Archbishop Coakley calls on organizers to change plans.For the second time this year, a public “Black Mass” is being planned—this time in Oklahoma City. According to the Oklahoma City Civic Center website, the event is planned for Sept. 21. Tickets go on sale Wednesday. The website announces: "The Black Mass has been a feared ritual, and now it's being brought into the light! This will be not only enlightening but educational as well. This Black Mass will [be] conducted for the public to attend with certain adaptations to allow for a legal celebration." That includes clothing the "female altar," which...

Lawsuit claims teen girl was repeatedly abused by Mormon missionary in 1985 in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert.PALM SPRINGS – A lawsuit filed Friday against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church bishop and a missionary, claims a woman was repeatedly sexually abused when she was a teenager in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert, and it was covered up. The lawsuit, which was filed in Riverside County Superior Court in Palm Springs, contends that from July to November 1985, Jacqueline Tyler, then 13, was repeatedly abused by a missionary and that after a church bishop learned of...