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Apologetics

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 67

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Part 67: CES Letter Conclusion [Section A]

by Sarah Allen

 

After almost a year and a half, this series is drawing to a close.  All we have left here is Jeremy’s conclusion (which is 3 pages long) and then my own concluding thoughts. It’s been a long road, with a lot of reading, studying, and personal growth. I’ve personally learned a lot, and putting aside so much of my free time to study the history of the Church and its primary documents has strengthened my own testimony more than I ever anticipated.

It’s funny; one of the common claims you hear from people who have left the Church is that the more they studied, the more they became convinced it wasn’t true. For me, it’s been the opposite. The more I study the Gospel and its history, the more deep my belief becomes. I’ve said before that you can’t study this stuff on your own, you have to study with the Spirit.

Maybe that’s the difference, maybe not. I can’t read anyone else’s mind. All I can do is speak to my own life, and it tells me that what you get out of an experience mirrors what you put into it. If you’re hoping to find reasons to leave the Church, you’ll find them. If you’re hoping to find reasons to stay, you’ll find those, too. And if you’re looking to grow your testimony while learning more about the Church you belong to, researching all of these questions on your own is a great way to do it. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 67

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 66

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Part 66: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section H]

by Sarah Allen

 

Continuing the trend of things that are actually controversial, Jeremy kicks off this week’s post with the Strengthening the Church Members Committee (SCMC). This is a topic our critics love to run with, though as always, they distort the reality into something bizarre and twisted.

I’d like to go over some of the history and responsibilities of this committee, because, as I’ve said before, when you put the context back into these supposedly controversial things, they become a whole lot less controversial.

The SCMC was formed in approximately 1985 by President Benson, though it has much earlier roots. Its goals, as I’ll show in more detail with statements later, were to give assistance to bishops, branch presidents, and stake presidents who didn’t have the personal knowledge needed to help their members, and to monitor publications by members that taught false doctrine. This was apparently to protect the members from falling victim to those apostate sects who still practice unauthorized polygamy. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 66

Thank Heaven for Apologetics

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Sharon Eubank speaks at the 2014 FAIR Conference
Sharon Eubank speaks at the 2014 FAIR Conference

In 2014, Sharon Eubank was not yet well-known among Latter-day Saints, working as the director of LDS Charities. She spoke at FAIR’s conference on the theme, “This Is A Woman’s Church.” The audience gave her a standing ovation at the end, and no wonder, in light of powerful insights like this:

I recently spoke at the United Nations, and it was interesting because I represented a faith-based organization. Because we are conservative morally, a lot of people thought that our doctrine about women and men was conservative. Far from being restrictive and conservative, my contention is that the Church’s doctrine about the roles of women in the family, and the church, and the community, and the nation, and the temple and how men and women relate to each other and interplay and support each other and work together is the most moderate, and powerful, and enlightening and energizing doctrine that I know about. And if people truly understood it, it would blow their mind. And even being in this church all my life, I’m just scratching the surface of what this doctrine means for me.

In my years of volunteering for FAIR, I’ve relished hearing so many powerful ideas at our conference each summer: Presbyterian theologian Carl Trueman making sense of modern issues with psychology and identity. Brian Hales untangling the details of polygamy and polyandry. Church historians bringing alive the world and stories of past church leaders and members. Valerie Hudson lighting up the temple endowment in a way totally new to me. Church spokesman Michael Otterson explaining the church’s approach to public affairs. Catholic theologian and philosopher Stephen Webb appreciating the materialism of Latter-day Saint doctrine. Elder Kevin Pearson speaking on our duty to defend the Church. Elder Craig C. Christensen on foundations of our faith. [Read more…] about Thank Heaven for Apologetics

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 65

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Part 65: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section G]

by Sarah Allen

 

For the past few weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time on Jeremy trying to make “fetch” happen by straw-manning some arguments in order to drum up controversy over things that were never controversial to begin with. Elder Andersen telling us not to believe everything we read online is not exactly scandalous, you know? But this week is different, because the things we’ll be talking about do actually have some controversy swirling around them already.

While we’re still under the main topic heading of “ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM,” we’re starting a new sub-header: “GOING AFTER MEMBERS WHO PUBLISH OR SHARE THEIR QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, AND DOUBTS.” The first subject under this sub-heading is the infamous September Six. Jeremy begins by citing and quoting the same Wikipedia article I just linked to: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 65

“Bamboozled by the ‘CES Letter'” by Michael R. Ash now available on audiobook!

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We are pleased to announce that Michael R. Ash’s book, Bamboozled by the “CES Letter”, is now available in audiobook format from Audible and iTunes!

We’d especially like to thank Derrick Duncan for volunteering his time and talent to narrate it.

The e-book version is still available from the FAIR Bookstore and Amazon.

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 64

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Part 64: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section F]

by Sarah Allen

Picking up the next portion of the “ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM” topic heading, Jeremy begins with a quote from President Oaks:

Elder Dallin H. Oaks made the following disturbing comment in the PBS documentary, The Mormons:

“It is wrong to criticize the leaders of the Church, even if the criticism is true.” [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 64

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 63

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Part 63: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section E]

by Sarah Allen

 

I love to learn new things. Ever since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed researching a lot of topics from a wide variety of sources. I come by that honestly: my dad is always reading something new, too, and it’s only fiction about 1/3 of the time. Every Christmas, our gift from him is a small stack of 2-3 nonfiction books, a tradition I always look forward to. That’s why this last topic header from the Other Concerns section—the largest of the four—is one that I feel especially passionate about: “ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM.”

The claim is that the Church targets scholars and intellectuals for punishment and excommunication. You often see the charge being made in connection with discussions on the September Six, for example—a group we’ll be discussing in more detail in a week or two. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 63

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 62

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Part 62: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section D]

by Sarah Allen

 

Before we get started, something happened this week that I wanted to address. This particular matter is resolved and I’m not trying to call anyone out, but I wanted to say this in case something similar happens in the future: I know that there is a lot of dishonesty and manipulation in this Letter, and a lot of people have been personally affected in some way by those lies. Feelings are high, I get that. But there is a difference between calling out dishonesty and insulting a fellow child of God. I try very hard not to personally attack Jeremy but rather, his words. If anyone reaches out privately to vent their frustrations with him, I will not allow him to be called names or otherwise insulted in my private messages. He is a child of heavenly parents, like we all are, and he deserves to be treated as such. As frustrating as this Letter can be, Jeremy deserves our prayers, not our condemnation. I do pray for him, and I hope the rest of you will join me in that.

With that said, the CES Letter picks back up with the second topic header of this section, “CHURCH FINANCES.” [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 62

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 61

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Part 61: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section C]

by Sarah Allen

 

Recently, we all had the chance to feast on the words of our prophet and apostles, among other wonderful speakers, as they expounded on the words and teachings of Christ. I had a beautifully moving experience, and I hope the rest of you did as well. It was interesting to see so much focus on temple work. It goes hand-in-hand with other lessons the Brethren have been imparting over the past few years to fortify our foundations and learn how to receive and recognize spiritual guidance. Conference doesn’t have much to do with the discussion topic today, but I appreciated the messages we received. The temple really is at the center of our religion, second only to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We need to rely heavily on both if we’re going to return home to our Father one day.

Today, we’re moving on to topic header #2 in this section, “CHURCH FINANCES.” This is a topic our critics love to run with, using incorrect or at least incomplete information to frame the issue. Unfortunately, Jeremy Runnells is no exception. There are a lot of inaccuracies in the allegations I’m about to cover. He begins with several right off the bat: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 61

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 60

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Part 60: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section B]

by Sarah Allen

 

Today I’d like to finish out the first topic header of this section. For those who don’t remember, this header is titled “CHURCH’S DISHONESTY, CENSORSHIP, AND WHITEWASHING OVER ITS HISTORY.” Last week, we covered the Priesthood restriction again, and this week, we’ll be talking about Zina Huntington, Brigham Young, and Church Historian Steven E. Snow. If we have room after that, we’ll push on to the next topic header, but that’ll probably have to happen next week.

The CES Letter picks up with the following: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 60