Devobah

I guess it’s just very sisyphean in this kind of thing. I guess I’ve just spent too much time on the internet. I’m getting reruns. I hate reruns.

John recently appeared on Holy Koolaid to tell his side of the story about the lawsuit. Holy Koolaid has a large audience (perhaps one of the largest audiences) of people who have deconstructed from religion as a whole. I haven’t watched it, but did have time to read through some of the comments. Those few that are faithful are pointing out what’s already been said here; that John is not being sued for using the term “Mormon”, but for using copyrighted images and attempting to look like a Church podcast. Those that are with John focus on the Church being a bully and how the Church is trying to silence him. There is also advertisement for John’s defense fund. Personally, I know too little about these kinds of things to really have a say. As Seeking pointed out a while ago, John plays fast and loose with facts (history of his podcast, why he was excommunicated, etc.) and the Church has curated its history in a way that makes it feel whitewashed in a lot of areas (polygamy, BoM translation, Priesthood restoration, etc.). It’s a lose lose situation in the public eye for the Church. John wins? Antagonists to the Church will have a field day and will likely never let go of it. John will be hailed as a hero. The Church wins? Well they had more money and they have a hit out for John because they've been trying to silence him for years. I just hate this whole ordeal.

A great deal of things. Most of them not having to do with funeral potatoes.

Oh good. Does this mean I don't have to pretend to like funeral potatoes anymore?

My sisters and SIL with little ones aren't ecstatic about it. They were saying that getting their children to nursery and such is already hard enough, but knowing that they will possibly miss Sunday School is a bummer for them. My SIL said, "So it's Sacrament Meeting and then an hour of mingling in the halls." And I couldn't help but laugh. Me being in a YSA, this doesn't mean too much, since my ward actually moves from place to place pretty fast.

I think that one of the things I appreciate that a lot of people don't quite understand is that sanctification is a process, the same with understanding and learning the scriptures and doctrines. We live in a world of instant retrieval of information, food, amongst other things as well. The Lord takes His time with us, and our process is much like caterpillar into a butterfly. Not everything in the scriptures is instant and often requires much thought and study.

Don't robots dream of electric sheep and electric sheep only?

Even just stretching each morning does wonders if you're able to do that. Water is an absolute must and your team is great giving that. It's important to note that things that are generally unhealthy aren't bad, just something that should be eaten less. I love ice cream and cake, but I know that if I ate that every day it would not be a good time. Godspeed on your health journey.

Ah Oakland. How I love you.

Wake Up Dead Man A little more predictable than the first two from the Benoit Blanc mystery movie series that is out there. However I still consider it a very enjoyable movie. It's got its jabs here and there at various people and political types as is the norm, but its commentary on religion is actually very well done, to the point where you find yourself tearing up even if you aren't particularly religious or even atheist. The movie sticks with its style of starting the movie, flashing back to earlier within the movie's events, and then returning you to present day. It dares you to find out the mystery and pay attention, which is what all good mystery movies should do. I'm a big fan of the ways that movies are shot and made. I like listening for sound design and look for fun ways to shoot movies. Dad gave me an appreciation for that one. There are points in the movie where you just can't help but be impressed with how they shot some of the shots. Just pay attention and you'll grow in appreciation. Overall I'd give the movie a 3.8/5 stars.

I think Pyreaux has addressed this. He's been pressed on the AI thing before. The format is nice, and at most that's what's taken, but I don't think "large portions" are generated by it, from what I understand. Sincerely, A teacher who has students use AI much more than anyone should

As someone whose guilty pleasure it is to peruse this board when I’m at church, I can confirm it still is.

I can't find it now (which is frustrating) but there was an early church father who described Christians as atheist, but atheists to other gods of other religions. I just thought that was a bit funny because this is essentially what is being done in the video.

Happy New Year Everyone! So, Inspiring Philosophy's resolution seems to be to come out swinging with a wild video on Latter-day Saints being Atheists. No this isn't anything to do with the statistics of Exmormons turning atheists after they leave the church, but rather that our beliefs about God are actually atheistic in their views. Or, at least, a very specific kind of atheism. Than (the creator of the video's name) introduces the audience to Atheist Axiarchism. He describes it as more nuanced but then provides this personal definition: "But at a surface level, all this theory really says is that there are no gods or god and causal reality has a disposition for seeking value. There is no personal agent behind any of this. The universe itself has some sort of a mechanism by which it seeks to create value." He then compares this with the idea that Latter-day Saints have of eternal law and intelligences. Basically he concludes that we believe that we are no different than God, citing Blake Ostler in a few instances. (It's honestly easier to just watch the video, because the only way that I can think of summarizing it would literally be to just quote what he is saying) He then goes into Creation Ex Nihilo vs Materia, and basically says that since the "Mormon" God didn't create ex nihilo then nothing is dependent on him and is therefore not really a God according to theism (or perfect theism) and commenting on the LDS understanding of theosis. He finishes the video by offering 3 choices for Latter-day Saints: 1. Accept that we are outside theism and are atheistic axiarchists 2. Rethink our theology 3. Become Christian My thoughts on the video is that it's pretty well put together, but misses a few things and promotes Ostler's views as doctrine. His view of theism is also very strange. Theism is just defined as the belief in a god or gods, which all LDS hold to. He counters this in the video by saying that our definition of God is different, and therefore not the correct definition. What are your thoughts on this? I hadn't heard of atheistic axiarchism until today.

Yeah. Books and texts aren’t enough anymore. Videos are more digestible. Even teachers are starting to move closer to using videos as part of their curriculum or homework.

It's never going to change. That's just not going to happen. I've already said it. We're the religion it's "okay" to make fun of and mock. The AD also just released a statement, and if you look on Instagram it's just full of people justifying it or saying it's not bad. "Grow thicker skin, cultist" was one of the things that I saw on that post. Sometimes turning the other cheek sucks, especially when you know the person hitting you wouldn't think twice about hitting you again.

Let’s face it: we are a group on a very short list that you can make fun of without much backlash. Weird history, strange doctrines, and seemingly never in the news for good things (outside of Church Newsroom). We’re the group that loves everybody and seemingly everybody doesn’t like us. I’ve stopped losing sleep over it. It’s just the way things are. People will make their jokes and then make their retractions because it’s not like anyone’s lost a job over it (meaning any anti-LDS chants or comments). If there is a fine it’s not anything big at all in the vast wealth that some of these schools have. Make the statement and then issue an apology. Chant your chant and then pay the fine. It’s still going to happen again because it always has. It is what it is.

Most teachers use a checker for such things. The problem with that is the checkers are very much imperfect. Plus there’s “humanizer” AI to get around that. It really just comes around to knowing your students, how they talk and how they write. Or you can quiz them on their work and have them tell you about it. Some teachers quiz their students on the vocabulary found in the paper. It’s really a hassle. There’s even people on Tik Tok that are in college helping people get around their work using AI. It’s becoming a major problem.

I guess you could call this Non-Fiction. I really enjoy reading “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green. It’s a group of essays written by Green about Earth and giving reviews (from one to five stars) about the various things. It’s geared towards a younger audience, as he is a YA author mostly, and you can definitely tell. But it also celebrates humanity, our world, and all of our wacky creations, missteps, and other things. I revisit this book probably once every year. I’ve even added it to my curriculum that I teach as part of my Sophomore English class. (Students choose essays that they would like to read, annotate, add footnotes, and present on) Students usually enjoy things like this. Something they can choose and even relate to.

After seeing all the comments from people in various comment sections, it’s split in half. People will adore the friendliness and neighborliness of Latter-day Saints, but then be met with (or even say themselves) “but they’re heretics, non-Christian, and unsaved.” It just makes me sick that sympathy and empathy come with an asterisk on this case. No matter how many people decry this action. Like they don’t actually care about it because “well it wasn’t someone on MY team. If it was someone on my team then this whole thing would be completely different.” To the credit of a lot of people (perhaps an equal amount) in those comment sections, some of the comments are basically what Michael calls for above or even say: - “Not the time for this” or “Read the room” - “Is a Christian not a person who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and Redeemer?” - Various other defenses accepting Latter-day Saints as Christians based on their actions. Me personally, after looking around and seeing the responses, I’ve come to a few conclusions: 1) I don’t very much care if someone calls me a Christian or not. If my full sympathy for someone is contingent on their belief system, then I am no better than the Scribes and Pharisees of Christ’s day. 2) When lay Christians can’t even define what makes a Christian, then it’s no wonder why there needed to be a Restoration. The definition changes from person to person. If you say “believe in the Nicene Creed” then you must accept Catholics and Orthodox under that umbrella. And I know plenty of evangelicals who don’t because the Catholics believe other “heresies”. Nobody can really define it. Sorry. I’m getting off topic. I pray that the people effected by this find the peace of Christ, and those who have passed find peace in Christ.

Oh great. That's just great. I see Mark didn't do any other research outside of the fact that the guy was on the records of the Church.

Wait where did Mark Driscoll say that?

I could see the funeral happening relatively quickly this week, since the general authorities are gathered for conference. Will it happen? I don’t know.

Which is a shame. I actually really respected her. I thought she would be the future of her party and inspire some good change.

I’m sorry. I take responsibility for that. I think I’ve spent too much time on the internet lately. President Nelson was a prophet of God and I loved him. I remember one of the very few honest to goodness spiritual confirmations that I had that he was a prophet. That first talk got me to realize that I needed to get myself right spiritually.