Radically Orthodox LDS Perspectives
What do we mean when we use the terms “liberal” and “conservative” in our discussions of faith?
Is the church “too conservative?” What does that mean?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of liberal and conservative tendencies when it comes to faith?
Are there liberal and conservative patterns in apostasy?
In this presentation, we discuss these and other questions.
Continue reading “Liberal and Conservative at Church”Spirituality is part addition, part subtraction.
In the West, we tend to focus on the addition part: doing things, getting things, and achieving things. That is not necessarily bad, but in our focus on addition, we can sometimes inadvertently add things that are not healthy, like perfectionism. We can also fail to account for our Western worldview and how it impacts our spirituality.
Acceptance is letting go of:
An acceptance statement can be phrased as, “My present reality is _______”
Continue reading “The Spiritual Discipline of Living in Reality”Why does there seem to be a steady stream of bad headlines about the church?
Has it always been this way?
How do we process allegations and bad news without losing our minds?
Continue reading “Why I Don’t Panic Over Controversies Involving the Church”David Hume had an experience of deep depression, and he named it “the disease of the learned.” I know from personal experience that depression is caused by a number of different things, and one contributor is our cognitive behavior, our thinking.
Continue reading “Depression and Cognitive Ground Rules”“Why doesn’t the church give tons of money to the poor?”
I’m currently developing an article about fundamentalism, and how its core impulse is to avoid cognitive dissonance no matter what.
Continue reading ““If the Church were following Jesus, it would give all its funds to the poor!””Are miracles part of the Latter-day Saint experience?
What determines how and when miracles miracles take place?
What is the value of miracles?
Are there warnings to accompany the experience of miracles?
These questions are explored in this presentation. Slides below:
Continue reading “On Miracles”What do we mean by the phrase “spiritual experiences?”
Are spiritual experiences self-generated emotional phenomena?
What meaning can we attach to spiritual experiences?
Slides below:
Continue reading “Spiritual Experiences or Frenzied Minds”People look at the Gospels and claim a lot of conflicting things about how Jesus would approach today’s issues.
Why is that? Is there a better way?
Yes, there is.
Presentation slides below:
Continue reading “Imaginary Jesus or The Revealed Christ”Can we be our “authentic selves” at church?
What does it even mean to be our authentic selves?
Slides available below:
Continue reading “On Authenticity”