Easy to be Entreated

There are several lines of evidence that challenge the validity of the Book of Abraham as an inspired translation of ancient papyrus written by the hand of Abraham. Historians point out anachronisms in the text itself. Linguists show that words and names that should have been Egyptian have Hebrew origins instead. The Egyptian characters in the facsimiles are translated incorrectly. The scenes and objects in the facsimiles are interpreted incorrectly and show a complete ignorance of Egyptian culture and religion. The facsimiles were restored incorrectly. A real translation of the rediscovered papyri has no resemblance to the translation Joseph rendered. Unique concepts such as "intelligences" appear to be plagiarized from Thomas Dick. Rediscovered source papyri are actually common funeral texts and date from Roman times not Abraham's time. Joseph's Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar shows no understanding of the Egyptian language. The translation papers show which charact...

First an intro: Sister Mary Lisa recently posted parts of her patriarchal blessing on her blog. I have decided to do the same. I used to believe in this document so much. I believed that God was personally telling me how much he loved me and how highly he thought of me and what he had in store for me and the mission he sent me to earth to accomplish. I even made my PB into Section 139 of my Doctrine and Covenants and divided it into verses and inserted cross references to other scriptures. It really is beautiful and inspiring and I think patriarchal blessings in general are good for raising people's self-esteem. But, that good does not make up for what I believe to be the misdirection it gives believers. Believers make very important life decisions based on this blessing, which would be great if it actually came from God, but since in all likelihood it is nothing more than the words of an old man inspired by nothing more than his own thoughts and experiences, it can be quite danger...

In the Mormon Church I still hear many people testify that they "know" God lives or that they "know" Jesus is the Savior, etc. Some Mormons and other Christians also claim that God has "proven" his existence to them or that they know God exists because they have a personal relationship with him. Other Christians instead wisely say that they "believe" God exists or have faith that God exists. There is a large distinction between knowing and not knowing, yet believing. It is my position that one cannot "know" that God exists and anyone who believes they know are likely forgetting or ignoring the assumptions and subjective interpretations that they are making about their experiences. Now, these people who claim to know will often confess that they cannot prove God's existence to you, but that you must go to God to get your own proof as they have done. They often believe that we atheists have never had the kind of experiences they have ...

Last Sunday, during our UU services, we sang a hymn I had never heard of before entitled, "We are a Gentle, Angry People". The words are written by Holly Near and are as follows: We are a gentle, angry people We are a gentle angry people, X 2 and we are singing, singing for our lives We are a justice seeking people, X 2 and we are singing, singing for our lives We are young and old together, X 2 and we are singing, singing for our lives We are a land of many colors, X 2 and we are singing, singing for our lives We are gay and straight together X 2 And we are singing, singing for our lives We are a gentle, loving people X 2 And we are singing, singing for our lives I have thought a lot about this hymn during this week. There are some Mormons, even some liberal NOM's, that seem to look negatively on those in the DAMU that post while angry. I think a lot about anger, forebearance, and offense-taking. I can understand that people sometimes lose control of them...