Easy to be Entreated

I just created a personalized search engine powered by Google that finds original sources and scholarly articles online about Mormonism. Includes both apologetic and critical information. Check it out: Scholarly Mormon Resources http://google.com/coop/cse?cx=014509711727122143429%3Agjfubl0yhfq If you like it, spread the word. You can put it on your website or blog page.

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -- William Shakespeare (Hamlet) Before I begin, I want to make it clear what I am not saying. I am not saying morality or good and bad do not exist. I am saying that they only exist as subjective constructs. I am not suggesting that if no objective morality exists, that we should then allow anyone to do what they want. The question of “what do we do now?” is separate from “does objective morality exist?” I am only treating the latter question in this post. I do have a moral system that in many ways is likely to be very similar to yours. What does objective mean? Objective means having actual existence or reality; uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices; or based on observable phenomena. It is contrasted with the adjective subjective. Subjective means proceeding from or taking place in a person's mind rather than the external world; or particular to a given person; personal. What is morality? Morality...

I had long heard the idea that Joseph Smith got his ideas about the Celestial Kingdom and differing degrees from Swedenborg, but had never gotten around to looking at the actual writings of Swedenborg to compare for myself their similarities. In case anyone does not know, by Joseph Smith's own statements, he was familiar with Swedenborg. Said Smith to Edward Hunter, "Emanuel Swedenborg had a view of the world to come, but for daily food he perished". Anyway, I found an online copy of Swedenborg's book "Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell" (http://swedenborg.newearth.org/hh/hh00toc.html ). Using the table of contents you will be able to quickly identify the relevant chapters. You'll also be able to read about "the veil", "spirit prison", and "celestial marriage". Swedenborg's complexity of language is a little difficult to get through, but anyone who has been a Mormon will be able to see the "Mormon doctrines" shine...

I believe what I formerly called the "Spirit" is actually several different discrete emotions as natural as every other human emotion. Those emotions are produced when certain cognitive requirements are met. For example, anger is an emotion with negative valence produced when the person is highly aroused, has its amygdala stimulated, believes it is in control of the situation, and perceives deprivation of what it believes is rightfully due to them. The different emotions that are labeled "the Spirit" by Mormons include: elevation, transcendence, awe, peace, compassion, confidence, etc. At varying times, these emotions can be paired with the following physical sensations: warmth in the chest, tingling along the spine, sense of being filled to overflowing, sense of depth and "realness". Now, many different experiences can illicit these experiences. When I watch LOTR: Return of the King, I cry, feel filled to overflowing, awe at the beauty that the King can b...

*Correction: the article in its original format is still online. You can find it here: http://www.utlm.org/other/robertritnerpapyriarticle.pdf I wanted a friend to read the following article that used to be in the public domain, so I reposted it here. The format is a little off because it is converted from a pdf file. For images, see: http://www.xmission.com/~research/breathing/index.htm “THE BREATHING PERMIT OF HÔR” AMONG THE JOSEPH SMITH PAPYRI* ROBERT K. RITNER, The University of Chicago I. Introduction A minor, if protracted, chapter in the history of American Egyptology concerns a Mormon scripture known as “The Book of Abraham,” which purports to be an authentic narrative history translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. from an Egyptian papyrus acquired by the Mormon prophet in 1835.1 Now a canonical element of The Pearl of Great Price, Smith’s “translation” had been published in serialized excerpts during 1842, well before Jean- François Champollion’s correct decipherment was generally k...

I have taken the following quiz many times, but I wanted to put my results on my blog so that I'd know where to find them. Here are my results from http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html (In real life I am a Unitarian Universalist, an atheist, and I subscribe to many humanistic ideals): 1. Secular Humanism (100%) 2. Unitarian Universalism (92%) 3. Nontheist (80%) 4. Liberal Quakers (71%) 5. Theravada Buddhism (66%) 6. Neo-Pagan (60%) So, according to the quiz, I am right where I should be.

Recently, I was told by someone that atheists are incapable of experiencing all the intricacies of love because a large portion of love is spiritual. Also, since we do not believe we exist eternally or in an eternal god, therefore, we cannot believe in eternal love, and without a belief in eternal love, our love is inferior. Then I was told that I was lying when I said that I have experienced deep and abiding love as a religious person and also now as an atheist and that they are qualitatively and quantitatively the same. Now, there are many different types of love: brotherly love, compassion for those that hurt, romantic love for a partner, a parent's love for a child, etc. And the experience of these loves can illicit a wide array of emotions: a feeling of safety, a yearning in the heart, a melting of the heart, a passion to want to be swallowed up in each other, an obsession in thought of the other, a sense of caring and concern, heartbreak and sorrow when you are apart, wanting...