Healing vs. Destructive Empathy

Is empathy always a good thing?

Can it be used improperly?

What are some differences between empathy that leads to the well being of another person, versus empathy that facilitates their downward spiral?

These topics are covered in this presentation; slides below:

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Accusation: The Epistemology of Hell

What is accusation, and why do we see it in scripture about the War in Heaven?

What is the aim of accusation?

How does accusation impact our intuitions and our powers of reason?

How have we seen accusation employed in tyrannical movements?

Slides available for viewing and download:

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Faith Crisis: Presentation and Resources

What is faith crisis?

What are some possible responses to the experience?

What are some healthy ways of reframing faith crisis?

Is a positive outcome possible?

What are some helpful resources for people in faith crisis?

In this presentation, we cover these questions and more. And if you would like personal help working through faith crisis, we’re happy to link you with people who can help! Just send a note using the feedback form.

Slides available for viewing and download:

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Critical Thinking: a Primer for Latter-day Saints

Is critical thinking destructive to faith?

How can we fortify our own thinking skills and learn to spot errors in common criticisms of our faith?

This presentation offers a simple primer on critical thinking; slides are available for viewing and download here:

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Latter-day Saint Epistemology

None of the following statements make something untrue. 

“Cannot be confirmed to my satisfaction”

“Does not reflect my personal experience”

“Does not reflect the experience of people around me”

“Does not meet my personal standard for validity”

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Presentation on Belonging

Why do we sometimes feel like we don’t belong?

Who is responsible for belonging?

What are things that individuals and institutions do that decrease people’s sense of belonging?

What are reasonable expectations for ourselves and others?

These are discussion points in our presentation on belonging, based on Ben Pacini’s briefing to BYU-I faculty. Slides, discussion, and resources below.

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Changing the Church

Does the church need to change?

Yes. the church has changed a lot over the years, and will continue to evolve into the future.

But what specifically needs to change, and why? And what are good and not-so-good ways for members to think about change in the church? What do we as human beings bring to the equation?

Below are the presentation, our discussion of the slides, and some of the resources cited in the presentation.

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