FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

Apologetics

By Study and Faith – Episode 9: Cognitive Dissonance

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

For today’s introduction, I’d like to share a story from my own faith journey with you.  In High School, I found myself in a dispute with a classmate who consistently challenged my faith.  He didn’t believe in God, and he was very argumentative and combative regarding why he was right.  I found myself thrown into a loop…it had been the first time I was forced to really consider my faith.  I had deeply spiritual experiences, but those didn’t seem to answer his questions.  I felt like I was on the defense, like my head was on fire.  Everything I had ever believed in seemed to flip upside-down.  I began poring over everything I had learned, trying desperately to find out what I could trust, and clinging to whatever truth I could find.  In psychology, this is referred to as “Cognitive Dissonance,” and it’s something that critical thinkers need to be aware of in order to be successful. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 9: Cognitive Dissonance

By Study and Faith – Episode 8: Misinformation and Propaganda

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

Imagine for yourself for a moment that you’re face-to-face with a critic of the church who states “The church is lying to you about its history” or “the church is trying to cover up its past.”  When you ask them what they mean, they explain how the church has suppressed the details behind how a seer stone was used throughout the translation of the Book of Mormon.  They continue “It’s only until the advent of the internet where the church has been forced to be honest.”  What this critic does not know is that this claim is, for the most part, misinformation.  The unfortunate reality is that misinformation can be spread as simply as the example above, and it can have some devastating consequences. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 8: Misinformation and Propaganda

By Study and Faith – Episode 7: Confidence and Bias

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

Imagine for yourself, for a moment, that a critic of the church stumbles across some quotes about the Adam-God theory.  “Brigham Young taught this, and seeing as he was a prophet, this must be what Mormons believe!” they reason to themselves.  They post these quotes on social media, proclaiming that “Mormons believe that Adam was God the Father!  Your leaders taught it, it’s what you profess to believe!”  However, what this critic did not know is that as early as 1897, we have records of church leaders stating that Brigham “no doubt expressed his personal opinion or views upon the subject,” supporting the idea that members of the church are under no obligation to support the notion that Adam was God the Father (1).  The critic doesn’t retreat from their position though, doubling down on how members of the church believe it.  At the end of the day, their bias led them to an incorrect conclusion about what members of the church believe. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 7: Confidence and Bias

Asking Big Questions: How Can I Recognize the Spirit?

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By Maddie Christensen

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

In today’s tumultuous world it can be difficult to make decisions and know what is right. As Latter-day Saints, we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us. Through the Holy Ghost, we can know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:5).

Wilford Woodruff was a great example of recognizing spiritual promptings and acting on them. He once shared:

While on my way east I put my carriage into the yard of one of the brethren in Indiana, and Brother Orson Hyde set his wagon by the side of mine, and not more than two feet from it.

Dominicus Carter, of Provo, and my wife and four children were with me. My wife, one child and I went to bed in the carriage, the rest sleeping in the house.

I had been in bed but a short time when a voice said to me: “Get up, and move your carriage.” It was not thunder, lightning or an earthquake, but the still, small voice of the Spirit of God the Holy Ghost.

I told my wife I must get up and move my carriage. She asked: “What for?” I told her I did not know, only the Spirit told me to do it.

CONTINUED HERE

Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 23: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [D]

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This post will be the last in the section about race and the Priesthood restriction. I apologize for not getting this up sooner. My offline life has been a little crazy this summer, and I just didn’t have the time to do this post justice until today. It’s an important topic, and I wanted to make sure I was able to treat it with the respect it deserves.

The bulk of the conversation this week is about the idea that the prophets can never lead the Church astray:

[Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 23: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [D]

By Study and Faith – Episode 6: Cognitive Biases

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

Someone I know, who is a very vocal LGBTQ+ advocate, once got into an argument with me about concepts behind gender.  I did everything I could to understand where they were coming from, seeing as this is a complex topic with differing perspectives.  However, they were trying to convince me (among other things) that gender is a social construct.  Having studied the issue, I pushed against their ideas, arguing that gender is more complicated than that and it certainly isn’t a mere social construct.  However, despite my best efforts, my research and perspectives fell on deaf ears.  Instead, my friend seemed to cling to the ideas of the people she agreed with.  I’ll be sure to go over LGBTQ+ perspectives another day.  However, my purpose in telling this story is to show an example of what researchers and psychologists call cognitive bias, which we’ll discuss today. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 6: Cognitive Biases

What happened at the FAIR Conference this year?

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This year’s conference was well-attended with the venue full to capacity and many more participating via online streaming. Topics were wide-ranging, such as portrayals of the Church in the media, DNA and the Book of Mormon, abuse in the church, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the accuracy of the Journal of Discourses, and the necessity of horror in the gospel. One reviewer on a recent Interpreter radio show said, “I’ve attended this for a number of years and this was probably one of the best conferences… [the talks] just got – if anything – better as the conference went on.” [Read more…] about What happened at the FAIR Conference this year?

By Study and Faith – Episode 5: Epistemology

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

In my life, I’ve found that everyone has a specific philosophy that they live by, whether they realize it or not.  Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to the philosophical branch of epistemology.  Epistemology, while sounding complicated and boring to some, is just the fancy way of saying “the study of knowledge.” Consider the following: [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 5: Epistemology

Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 22: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [C]

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I was hoping to get this done before the FAIR Conference this past week, but life got in the way so I’m a little late. It was absolutely lovely to meet so many of you in person! I finally got the chance to meet so many friends I’ve only ever met online before, and that was a real treat for me. I also picked up some new books, including one I’ve cited essays from on multiple occasions, so that makes me happy.

There were some fantastic presentations that I will 100% be citing in the future, and I learned a lot, which is always fun for me. Those of us sitting in the back right corner completely geeked out over a few of the presentations, and I can’t wait for the full transcripts and notes to be available. A friend called it “Nerdfest 2023” and he wasn’t wrong, but it was a great time.

[Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 22: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [C]

By Study and Faith – Episode 4: Logical Fallacies

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

In the last article, I took some time to describe some of the basics of logic, and how to form good arguments.  However, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that not all arguments are created equal.  For example, when it comes to deductive reasoning, the premises need to support the conclusions in order to be valid.  When they don’t, the argument is called “fallacious”, that is, it’s based on poor reasoning.  While there is some variety in how someone defines the term “fallacy,” and a massive history behind its usage (1), it’s generally understood that fallacious arguments are simply bad arguments due to either a faulty premise or a lack of important information (2).  We’ll get into how that is in a moment, but it almost goes without saying that critical thinkers need the ability to discern the difference between valid and fallacious reasoning.  Without being able to parse through the validity of good and bad arguments, critical thinkers are unable to arrive at appropriate conclusions. Consequently, they’re unable to analyze information accurately, and thus cannot maximize their problem-solving efforts.  There’s not a ton of background information I need to provide that I haven’t already provided in my previous article, so we’re going to do things a little differently today.  For this article, I’m going to list common fallacies and give examples of them in relation to historical and theological topics relating to Latter-day Saints.  Let’s get into it. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 4: Logical Fallacies