Free Republic

SALT LAKE CITY- A Mormon man who gained notoriety over the past decade for running a website that offers doubting Latter-day Saints a forum to chat has been kicked out of the religion. John Dehlin announced the decision from regional church leaders Tuesday. He becomes the second high-profile church member to be excommunicated in the past year in what Mormon scholars consider to be the Utah-based faith's way of keeping dissenters in line. Regional church leaders in North Logan told Dehlin in a letter that they made a unanimous decision to excommunicate him for apostasy. The church defines apostasy as...

SALT LAKE CITY — The founder of the Mormon Stories podcasts announced Tuesday that he has been excommunicated from the LDS Church for apostasy. John Dehlin, who had criticized senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spread what his local church leader called "false concepts" about the faith, made the announcement in a press release Tuesday morning and on the KUER radio program, "RadioWest." North Logan Utah Stake President Bryan King convened a church disciplinary council for Dehlin on Sunday night after eight months of correspondence and meetings with Dehlin. King delivered a letter to...

Worldwide Church Activity Rates Inactive 7-8M Active 4-5M Salt Lake Tribune, Merrill Bateman SNIP Brigham Young - Journal of Discourses "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind…the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race — that they should be the 'servant of servants;' and they will...

...The Why We Stay presentation was very interesting as well. Rhonda Calister, John Dehlin...spoke about the reasons “Why We Stay” in the Church...John considers himself “still a believer in something” though he says that with some asterisks. He doesn’t like the Old Testament God, he . He also felt that a version of reform Mormonism is happening within the church, not outside of it. ...John gave another great presentation. He has recently spoken with a member of the Quorum of Twelve, and said that this person said that even in his position, it is hard to make a difference inside...

Staying is not for everyone... In spite of 32 years of church education, I didn't ever learn... * "Peepstone in hat" treasure digging and translation of Book of Mormon * Credibility issues w/the 3 and 8 witnesses * Multiple lst vision stories...the changing narrative of founding stories * Book of Mormon historicity issues * Book of Abraham papyrus issues * Joseph Smith having 30+ wives, 8+...married to other men at the time they were sealed to Joseph * Post-manifesto polygamy, and polygamy as a requirement for exaltation * ...depth of the Temple/Masonry connections * ...basics of Mountain Meadows (though lots...