The Branding Iron

Still LDS on paper, but no longer active and believing.

“It ain’t dyin’ I’m talking about, it’s livin’!”

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@Jamo_12 @BuzzzStryker @DiscipleFidei Are you sure about that, Jamo?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@bennyjohnson @txvalues The WNBA has a serious problem at this point. Their liberal administrators must be panicking.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@RitaPanahi Society has lost its collective mind.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@DiscipleFidei Testimony meeting is the illusory truth effect in practice.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@Sniper64286433 Right?! This isn’t what they signed up for!

Oh wait…..

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

It isn’t representative of the faith. It’s representative of a large segment of those who are leaving. And what better way to minister than to listen and seek to understand?

I relate very much to many of the things he says in his book (yes, I’ve read it) but hearing members dismiss it from the outset without even reading it doesn’t feel like ministering to me.

And I find it a little bit ironic (and even hypocritical) that members are so opposed to doing the very thing they want everyone else to do with the BofM, which is read it with an open heart and mind and see what you feel.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@Mormonger Neither are the WofW, the endowment, sealing ordinances, second anointing, the new and everlasting covenant, the oath and covenant of the priesthood, etc.

What is your point?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

One can say the exact same thing about the BofM.

I agree with @Eternal_Saints_ . I can’t understand why members and apologists are so against understanding why people are leaving.

Furthermore, you’re dismissing the personal experiences of those who have left as unreliable because they’re self-reported. Do you do the same to everyone who gets up in testimony meeting each month?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

ncorrect. First-hand is someone who experienced it for themselves, not heard it from others. William Clayton tells it first-hand in his journal. The “hostile” graphic you shared from FAIR even admits his journal entry is a primary source and says it’s accurate.

The fact that the History of the Church was written in the first-person, even though it wasn’t actually Joseph, isn’t the win FAIR thinks it is. Honesty, anyone?

And finally, FAIR is just as biased (if not more) as any second or third-hand critical account that they’ll gladly dismiss. Most of the FAIR arguments claim something is possible, but fail to acknowledge the fact that it isn’t probable. They are the opposite of Occam’s razor.

And what about the 150+ years the church didn’t deny or dismiss the plates as a hoax if they were so obviously fake like you’re claiming?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@nicoraytruth Now everything is “too sacred to share.”

Personally, I think claiming that is just virtue signaling to others that you’re special and part of the club, but without having to bring receipts.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@White_Stone_LDS @The2nd1776 @thatchapfella @grok Did the church believe the kinderhook plates were real until recently?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

I don't know, WIlliam Clayton's journal seems pretty first-hand to me.

William Clayton’s journal, 1 May 1843 (Joseph Smith’s private clerk; he was present at the house, saw the plates, and traced one): “I have seen 6 brass plates which were found in Adams County by some persons who were digging in a mound. They found a skeleton about 6 feet from the surface of the earth which was 9 foot high. … Prest J. has translated a portion and says they contain the history of the person with whom they were found & he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven & earth.”

@grok Did the church believe the kinderhook plates were real until recently?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@FoxsFoxes @cardonellis Cringey activities like this are what kept me away from singles wards back in the day. They seemed to be breeding grounds for this kind of weirdness. I guess some never grew out of it.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@LDSBishop_Vader True! You have a much better chance of getting away with something in San Diego than in your average Mormon neighborhood!

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

Strong work, Bishop! @LDSBishop_Vader

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: Man dressed as Darth Vader appears before San Diego City Council to defend its 550+ Flock cameras — declaring, “This is what the emperor needs.”

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

A core tenet of LDS teaching is that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and since he's always spoken through a prophet, it follows that He would continue to reveal things through a prophet. Hence, the LDS church must be true.

However, there are examples in the bible of multiple prophets at the same time. If He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, wouldn't it make sense that there could/would be more than one prophet on the earth at the same time, and that the LDS president of the church isn't necessarily the only person on earth authorized to receive revelation for the entire church and/or world?

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@MAGAVoice He seems pretty obsessed with penises.

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@DisrespectedThe Those are the kinds of summer adventures kids need more of these days!

[The Branding Iron @StrikeAnother1]

@LargeInStature_ I drove almost the exact same truck. Mine was a '74 and had a gun in the rack rather than a bat. I'd love to have that truck again!