Bill Reel and RFM take a look at the recent FAIRMormon apologetic conference that took place last August. The amazing thing is that Mormon apologetics isn’t getting better with age. If anything, Mormon apologetics is getting worse. And that’s saying something! It’s like they’re not just trying to fool nonbelievers, anymore. They’re trying to fool each other! But rest assured, no matter the tricks they try, they won’t get much past our intrepid pair, RFM and Bill Reel!

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The post FAIRMormon Conference Dissection! Part 1 appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

What happened to the apostles who helped build early Mormonism—and then walked away? When the original Quorum of the Twelve was organized in 1835, these men were not fringe figures. They preached the gospel, served missions, worked directly with Joseph Smith, participated in the movement’s spiritual experiences, and occupied some of its highest positions of authority. Yet six of those original apostles would eventually leave, be excommunicated, challenge Joseph Smith, or follow a very different version of the Restoration. In this episode of Mormonism LIVE, we tell the stories of Thomas B. Marsh, William E. McLellin, John F. Boynton, Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson, and Joseph Smith’s own brother William Smith. Their stories take us into the Kirtland banking collapse, charges brought against Joseph Smith, the violence of 1838 Missouri, succession disputes, polygamy, prophetic authority, broken trust, and the question some early Mormon leaders eventually faced: Had Joseph Smith himself gone astray? Some came back. Some never did. Some continued believing in the Book of Mormon while rejecting Joseph Smith’s later leadership. And several went on to build successful lives completely outside the LDS Church. The deeper story is that early Mormonism was far less inevitable—and far more complicated—than it can appear when history is told by the people who ultimately won the succession struggle. The six apostles who stayed in the historical spotlight became prophets and heroes. These six largely became cautionary tales, footnotes, or disappeared from the story altogether. It’s time to put them back into the history.

The post The Lost Apostles: Why Half of Mormonism’s Original Twelve Left appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

• Did Mormon Stories intentionally copy the Church’s blue “light-rays” branding?
• Does the Church’s evidence really show trademark confusion?
• Did John Dehlin intentionally choose the name Mormon Stories to create confusion—or does the twenty-year history of the podcast tell a very different story?
• Does the evidence support the LDS Church insisting that the lawsuit was “never about the word Mormon”?
• Did the Church abandon brands such as Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mormon Channel, and Mormon Messages and how does that affect their preserving those trademarks with the USPTO and how might such affect this case?
• Did Church attorneys accurately represent a Mormon Stories guest who supposedly believed the podcast was Church-affiliated?
• Were Mormon Stories’ existing disclaimers really inadequate—and were the Church’s proposed disclaimer requirements as simple as they are now being portrayed?
• Why did David Jordan publicly use BAD MORMON as an example of a name nobody would confuse with the Church when the Church previously opposed Heather Gay’s Bad Mormon trademark on the explicit ground that it would cause confusion?
• And did the Church really avoid asking for damages?

The post John Dehlin Joins Mormonism Live!: LDS Church vs. Mormon Stories — Who’s Telling the Truth? appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.