Apostasy Unchained: Mormon Reformation Leads Campaign To Post "95 Theses" On The Doors Of LDS Chapels

You've heard of Django Unchained. Now here's an example of Apostasy Unchained. From Digital Journal, we learn that a group of over 260 active and disaffected members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be posting a copy of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of their local churches around the world between the hours of 9:00 P.M. Saturday, February 16th, and 9:00 A.M. Sunday, February 17th, 2013. The project is organized by Mormon Reformation, and their 95 Theses are available HERE. They also have a Facebook page.

Mormon Reformation, which consists mainly of progressive, templeworthy LDS members as well as less active members and some ex-Mormons, says their protest is intended to be a peaceful, non-confrontational, and anonymous way to achieve two objectives; first, to educate the membership of the church on controversial, revised, and hidden aspects of church doctrine, history, and fundamental claims, and second, to influence church leaders to officially address topics that, in their opinion, have been dodged, dismissed, and covered up for too long. They organize their theses into 14 different categories. When you read them, you'll find that this group doesn't merely want reform; they want the LDS Church to cease to be Mormon. They question the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, consider Joseph Smith a charlatan, exalt the Journal of Discourses above the Standard Works, and deny the doctrine of continuing revelation. They want the Church to change its doctrine regarding the Priesthood, women, and homosexuals. Many of their theses smear and defame the LDS Church, condemning it for sins long since expiated; once again, they drag up Mountain Meadows, although there's been adequate memorialization and actual reconciliation. About their only worthwhile "thesis" is a call for the LDS Church to disclose its finances after the manner of other churches; since the LDS Church issues financial statements in the United Kingdom and Canada because their laws require it, this implies it could be done here as well. If nothing else, it would strip the ark-steadiers and anklebiters of one of their propaganda weapons.

Another person has posted a rebuttal to each one of the 95 Theses on this Facebook page.

Mormon Reformation can be best characterized as apostates, and if they go through with these protests, their bishops and stake presidents should convene disciplinary councils with an eye towards possible excommunication. We can tolerate diversity within our ranks, but we cannot tolerate apostasy. These people are wolves in sheep's clothing. It is no surprise that most of them identify as political "progressives"; progressives are the most destructive force in American history, constantly picking open old wounds so that no healing can occur and tearing society apart with endless political worthiness witch hunts. Progressives are a cancer upon the body politic of our country and have a carcinogenic effect upon our Church as well. We cannot afford to be polite and loving to such people; would we be polite and loving to Satan?

Disfellowshipped Gay Mormon Andrew Markle To Launch Origins Website To Enable Gay Mormons To Hook Up For Sex

A disfellowshipped gay member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is launching a new website that not only will allow gay Mormons to link up with other gays and allies, but also to hook up for sex. On January 8th, 2013, WBEZ 91.5 reports that Andrew Markle will be launching the "Origins" website sometime during the second quarter of the 2013 calendar year.

One of the purposes of the website is fine. One of the missions of Origins will be to connect gay Mormons with allies and help them reconcile their religious beliefs with their orientation. This can be quite useful and therapeutic, because sometimes a gay person needs to cry on the shoulder of another gay person in order to deal with the challenges of homosexuality. But it's the other mission that's disturbing -- to give gay Mormons an online social network to meet others like them for marriage or long-term commitment. That means hooking up for sex -- and that's a big NO-NO!

Further eroding Markle's credibility is the fact that he is currently disfellowshipped for getting involved in a relationship, although he still attends services weekly and his fellow ward members behave supportively towards him in accordance with the "love the sinner but not the sin" routine. Markle recognizes that launching this website, with its intended mission, incurs a risk of excommunication, since advocating homosexual relationships by Mormons may be considered grounds for expulsion from the church, depending upon how his stake president decides to interpret his actions. This could happen notwithstanding his obvious loyalty towards the Church in other matters. And it would be a shame if someone who is basically supportive of the Church would get excommunicated over this.

But how could the LDS Church allow a member who wants to openly hook up gay Mormons for sex to remain a member? We didn't allow David Twede to remain a member when he transformed MormonThink into an openly anti-Mormon website, so to be consistent, we would have to excommunicate Markle. We cannot allow apostates to remain enrolled members of the LDS Church.

Markle has a personal website, a Twitter page, and an Instagram page. On December 12th, 2012, he published a post on Doves and Serprents entitled "The Church and Homosexuality" in which plainly states that he expects the LDS Church to support LGBT members with every ounce of its being and it will stop requiring members to seek counseling for their same-sex attractions. Specifically, he also states "I hope that one day, we will all be able to set ourselves in temple and seal our children and our marriages before God". This, of course, will not happen except by a revelation given to the Church through the priesthood chain of command, which starts at the First Presidency, and not through some ordinary Hoosier from Indiana. We don't need some self-endowed "One Mighty And Strong" calling the leadership to repentance, particularly when it is the leadership that is still in harmony with Gospel principles.

Obama Supporter Publishes Anti-Mormon Facebook Page Entitled "Vote No To Mitt Romney And The Mormon Plan For America"

KTVX Channel 4 is reporting on November 5th, 2012 on the existence of an anti-Mormon Facebook page entitled "Vote No To Mitt Romney and the Mormon Plan for America". An examination of the Facebook page, which can be read by anyone, indicates its creator is a supporter of Barack Obama and intends to vote for him on November 6th. There's no indication that the Facebook page is officially affiliated with the Obama campaign, however.

Here's a screenshot of the About page, in case the Facebook site is taken down:

Click image to enlarge

The following two statements indicate the page's creator is an Obama supporter:

-- "So when I post something to support that position a response against Obama is inappropriate and can get you banned".

-- "I also welcome post in support of candidates (Like the President) who are against Romney. I may even post some my self as I will be voting for him".

One of the most vitriolic critics is Karen Bradshaw, who identifies herself as an ex-Mormon. Since she so thoughtfully included her photo with her post, I have just as thoughtfully included it with my screenshots. Here are three posts, the last two which show the depths of her hatred for the Church:

The sequence below is in response to this side-by-side picture of Mitt Romney and Joseph Smith:

So not only does she hate the Church, she thinks Joseph Smith and Mitt Romney are both traitors. She thinks criticism of the president is treason. There's no doubt that she would have been part of the mob at Carthage jail which assassinated Joseph and Hyrum Smith. It illustrates that some ex-Mormons can become so consumed with hatred towards the Church they become, in spirit, delivered unto the buffetings of Satan. Karen Bradshaw is evil incarnate. And these are the type of people who support Barack Obama.

The commentary on that Facebook page is so evil and hideous that KTVX could not restrain themselves, entitling their story "Facebook page spreading lies about LDS Church and Romney". They openly characterize the page as sharing false information about the LDS Church and tying Romney to the misrepresentations. KTVX even posted a hot link to the LDS website so that readers could immediately get the truth. This is impressive, considering that KTVX is not owned by the LDS Church or any of its subsidiaries.

Karen Bradshaw will have reason to regret her statements someday. For her sake, I hope that "someday" occurs while she is still in the flesh -- and has time to repent. Our worst enemies tend to be those who were once Mormons, just like the Nephites' worst enemies among the Lamanites were those who dissented from the Nephites.

Apostate Ex-Mormon Helen Radkey Hoisted Upon Her Own Petard; LDS Church Blocks Her Access To New Family Search Database

Apostate ex-Mormon Helen Radkey has been using the baptism records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to uncover the names of celebrities and Holocaust victims who've received proxy baptisms. She's publicized the information primarily because she has an axe to grind against the Church. After her latest series of revelations, in which she disclosed that Simon Wiesenthal's parents, the father and grandfather of Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank, Daniel Pearl, and Mahatma Gandhi had been baptized posthumously, the Church cracked down and tightened access to their New.FamilySearch.org website while firmly counseling members in a First Presidency letter read to each congregation on March 4th to restrict such activity to their own ancestral lines.

And Radkey is one of those who is now frozen out of the website. Oh, the irony! Radkey admitted on March 7th, 2012 that she has been effectively stopped. Radkey was surreptitiously using the account information of Mormon confidants to access the system.

The Church is playing it close to the vest. Asked if the change was designed to specifically target Radkey, LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy didn't even bother mentioning her name, instead issuing the following statement:

"The church is committed to preventing the misguided practice of submitting the names of Holocaust victims and prominent individuals for proxy baptism. In addition to reiterating its policy to members, the church has implemented a new technological barrier to prevent abuse of the New FamilySearch system. Anyone trying to access names that have been restricted will have their account suspended and be required to contact FamilySearch to establish their family relationship in order to have their access reinstated. Abuse of the system will result in the permanent loss of database access."

The new system is expected to help the Church live up to its agreement with Jewish groups by excluding Holocaust victims from proxy baptisms. Now, those names will trip the new censors, so FamilySearch users can neither input nor search for such names, unless they are family. Interesting that Radkey is upset about her sudden lack of access -- it's as if she wants to catch the Church inputting additional sensitive names in the future. Radkey now claims that her original intent wasn't to uncover the latest spate of Jewish names, but that she was merely doing research on Mitt Romney.

As explained in this December 2009 post, Helen Radkey is a former LDS member who was excommunicated for apostasy. In 1984, she developed a desire to "rescue Mormons from Mormonism" and, at the same time, began obsessing with the Holocaust. Thus began her obsessive-compulsive effort to publicize every posthumous LDS baptism that might offend others' religious sensibilities. But she wasn't motivated by mere principle; in October 2002, she met with Family History Library officials to offer them her research for a price -- $30,000 and a continuing fee of $18 an hour, according to the Jewish magazine Forward -- but the LDS Church declined. She's been on an anti-Mormon crusade ever since.

So although she hates the LDS Church, she had no objections to trying to take its money. Amazing the levels to which people will stoop when motivated by hatred, greed, and revenge.

John Larsen Of Mormon Expression Interviews The Penultimate Anti-Mormon Apostate, Ed Decker

If there is one person on the face of this earth who comes closer to being considered an "antichrist" than anyone else by the LDS community, that person would have to be Ed Decker. A former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Decker apostasized and was excommunicated in 1976, then embarked upon a crusade against the LDS Church. More information on him can be found on Wikipedia. He wrote several books purporting to "expose" Mormonism, the most prominent among them being "The God Makers", and subsequently established an apologetics ministry called "Saints Alive In Jesus". I recall at the time how I personally hated his guts, and being less emotionally mature than I am now, could not have guaranteed that if he and I had met, that it wouldn't have gotten physical.

So when I learned that on October 26th, 2010, John Larsen of Mormon Expression interviewed Ed Decker, it piqued my interest. Decker is still as anti-Mormon as ever, but seems to have mellowed out somewhat. Unfortunately, as of February 28th, 2013, the audio of the interview is no longer available, but the rest of this post is still operative. Now that I've listened to Ed Decker, I no longer hate him personally, although I still vigorously disagree with him. Indeed, it's not just Mormons who have issues with him; Sandra Tanner and Bob Passantino have said that his writings grossly misrepresent Mormonism, and thereby dilute his message and offend Mormons without attracting them to evangelical Christianity. Sandra Tanner, herself a prominent critic of the LDS Church, has noted what she contends are inaccuracies and errors in some of Decker's works. A book entitled "The Truth About The God Makers", written by Gilbert W. Scharffs, rebuts Decker's claims in The God Makers.

But although Ed Decker is clearly an apostate, can he be considered a "son of perdition"? Has he really committed the "unpardonable sin" of denying the Holy Ghost once one has had it? In my previous posts, "LDS Doctrine: The 'Unpardonable Sin', Part I - Just What Is The 'Unpardonable Sin'? Duane Crowther's Perspective", and "LDS Doctrine: The 'Unpardonable Sin', Part II - Who's Capable Of Committing The 'Unpardonable Sin'? Duane Crowther's Perspective", I show how Crowther, using numerous scriptural verses, contends that the unpardonable sin is not a single act, but rather a series of acts that, when all are committed, together constitute the unpardonable sin. Despite Ed Decker's anti-Mormon activity, he still proclaims Jesus Christ as Savior and invites people to come unto Him, so Decker clearly hasn't reached the point of no return. I'd just as soon leave it to the Lord to pass the final judgment.

John Larsen, who edits Mormon Expression, left the LDS Church around seven years ago. However, he maintains an interest in Mormon studies, particularly in Mormon history, culture and doctrine. On Mormon Expression, he tries to straddle the position between defense and criticism of the faith, and look at it from all points of view. Consequently, although he's ex-Mormon, I cannot look upon him as anti-Mormon, because he doesn't crusade against the Church.

Another Example Of Anti-Mormon Hatred: Former LDS Missionary Kevin Kelley Celebrates The Death Of Former Mission President John Langeland

There is a clear-cut difference between skepticism of Mormonism vs. outright anti-Mormon hatred. In a discussion thread on Recovery From Mormonism entitled "My Mission President Died", a former missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints openly celebrates the death of his former mission president. This thread reeks of anti-Mormon hatred.

The former missionary identifies himself as Kevin F. Kelley, who served under Langeland in the Norway Oslo Mission from 1977-79. He describes himself as having been a "good missionary". But here's what he wrote about Langeland:

What a horrible old man. This man, accused me, a missionary in Norway, of being pastel-friendly, because my companion was one. I just wanted to be normal, and because my comp was one that wore the other shoe, it was my fault?

John was a horrible, offensive, mean, nasty person, his wife was no better. A fat, pretentious old bag. He deserved no better.

I sincerely wish he burns a slow death in Hell.

He never became a GA [General Authority], which he wanted. He caused us all to freeze and be sick in Norway. Have you ever been in Norway, in the winter, wearing thin blue suits, no cars, no bikes, walking? As a result of this idiot?

And his wife Edna, what a bat! Fat, thick as shit. But we all had to stand up for this duo, like they were some visiting authority.

The pair of you deserve hell.

I served under you, you bastard. And I wish I had never done so.

The longer you and Edna burn in Hell, the better, you old ogre.

Kevin F. Kelley, former Elder (1977-1979) Norway Oslo Mission

And Kelley actually thinks he was a "good missionary"? Would a "good missionary" write such a defamatory and abusive screed? Would a "good missionary" orgiastically celebrate the death of his former missionary in public. I suggest not; this is merely another indication that many ex-Mormons who become anti-Mormons are indeed delivered unto the buffetings of Satan, if not materially, than most definitely in spirit. Only Satan could motivate someone to publish such garbage.

According to his obituary, John Langeland passed away on July 17th, 2010 after a short battle with cancer. He was born on December 19th, 1918 in Bergen, Norway, and joined the LDS Church on March 3rd, 1940. He served a mission in his homeland during World War II and served faithfully in every calling that came to him, including: Bishop, Stake President, Mission President in Norway, Regional Representative, and Temple President in Sweden. Langeland leaves behind a wife, six children, 33 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. By all accounts, Langeland exemplified the ideals and standards of the LDS Church.

More representative of Elder Langeland's stewardship as a mission president are these tributes posted on the Guestbook accompanying Elder Langeland's obituary by four other missionaries who served under him. Note that the Guestbook is scheduled to expire on November 28th, which means the link may not be available after that date (testimonials after the jump):

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: Nick Humphrey Posts "Profile" On Mormon.Org, But Is Actually An Anti-Mormon Who Outs Himself On Recovery From Mormonism

Nick the "Mormon"

As part of their ongoing efforts to strengthen its member missionary program, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has invited members to post their profiles on Mormon.org. Members discuss why they joined the Church, why they remain active, and how the Church impacts their lives. Obviously, only active members of the Church are encouraged to post such profiles; it is intended to be faith-promoting.

One such person posting a profile identifies himself as Nick. In his profile, Nick identifies himself as a Senior Java and Linux developer, linguist and musician. In response to the question as to why he's a Mormon, Nick writes "I am a mormon because it's the only way to come back to our Heavenly Father! I was 'born into the church'. I don't know what I must have done in the pre-existence to deserve this, but I have been really blessed to be born into a home where the gospel was taught".

Sounds pretty good at first glance, right? Not so fast. I actually learned of the existence of Nick's profile after visiting the Recovery from Mormonism board. You see, Nick is actually Nick Humphrey, and in this thread entitled "Check out my hilarious profile on Mormon.org", Nick is actually coordinating his efforts with the anti-Mormons on RFM. Here's part of what he posted on the RFM thread (after the jump):

LDS Church And Community Of Christ Both Issue Statements Condemning Proposed Koran (Qur'an) Burning By Lunatic Pastor Terry Jones

The two leading restorationist Christian denominations both issued official statements on September 8th, 2010 condemning the intended burning of the Koran by "Pastor" Terry Jones, who in my opinion, can best be described as a lunatic, although according to this CBS News report, his actions are protected by the First Amendment. Unofficial LDS blogs weighing in on this include Faith Promoting Rumor and Mormon Mentality.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement:

“A key tenet of our faith is to accord everyone the freedom to worship as they choose. It is regrettable that anyone would regard the burning of any scriptural text as a legitimate form of protest or disagreement.”

And the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS), which evolved separately from the main body of Mormons who emigrated to Utah, issued this statement:

As a people who experienced religious persecution, we are alarmed by the growing tide of religious fear, intolerance, and violence evident throughout the world. We join our voices with other religious leaders to denounce any religious persecution and specifically anti-Muslim actions, such as Dove World Outreach Center in the USA, which plans to burn the Qur’an on September 11. Such attitudes, behaviors, and actions reflect hatred rather than Christ’s example of love; divide rather than break down walls that separate people; and ignore Christ’s call for his disciples to be peacemakers, ambassadors of reconciliation, and advocates for justice.

We challenge you to speak out against religious intolerance and actions that damage relationships and are contrary to Christ’s example of love and mutual respect. Led by the Holy Spirit, members and friends of Community of Christ must work with God and others to restore peace to creation and create communities of Christ’s peace and justice in our families and congregations and across villages, cities, tribes, and nations.

THE FIRST PRESIDENCY

Terry Jones is the pastor of an outfit calling itself the Dove World Outreach Center. Its primary website is offline, but its Facebook page is still operational. Jones intends to carry out the Koran burning on September 11th from 6 P.M. until 9 P.M. at his church in Gainesville, Florida as a symbolic gesture to show that he considers Islam itself to be "of the devil". On September 8th, Jones reaffirmed his plans despite a national outcry against him, claiming that his intentions also received a lot of support. He added that a retired Green Beret has told him that the troops are behind him.

Jones has authored a book entitled "Islam Is Of The Devil"; a book review is available HERE. WESH Channel 2 also reveals more information about Dove World. Some of the 11,000 square feet of the church are used to house and sell furniture on the auction website eBay; the earnings from eBay go toward the church’s food pantry and to help those in need of clothing and furniture. The church also makes money through an academy at the outreach center. Students are charged $500 per semester and are promised to be trained in loyalty and discipline for all areas of life, according to the academy’s website. Students are cut off from society and must pack and ship items for the Jones’ eBay business without compensation. In addition, the Dove World Outreach Center may be in financial trouble. According to the real estate website AllisonAbles.com, the church is for sale. The selling price was once $2.9 million, but the price has been reduced to $1.1 million for a “quick sale.”

Update September 9th: Pastor Terry Jones has now called off his campaign to burn the Koran. He claims that he gave up the plan in exchange for a deal to move a planned Islamic center and mosque away from New York's Ground Zero, although the imam planning the center quickly denied any such deal.