[Occam's Razor Rash]

 https://read.cesletter.org/ LEGEND: From CES Letter My additions Reliability of Founding / JS Hedging - Setting the Stage "my name will be had for good and evil" ("I should get all of the credit and none of the blame." "I will definitely win unless they cheat.") Lies Crimes Contradictions Forgeries Fabrications Plagiarism TRANSLATION CLAIMS Book of Mormon: Errors and commentary from the  1769 KJV Bible  (which was the Smith family bible) were included in the BOM. The bible passages quoted in the BOM were later corrected in the  JST  of the bible, but not the BOM. DNA evidence  proves that Israelites are NOT "the principal ancestors of the American Indians" Anachronisms : Horses, cattle, oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants, wheels, chariots, wheat, barley, silk, steel, and iron did not exist in pre-Columbian America during Book of Mormon times. The word "scimitar" was not coined until recent times.  No  Archeological Evidence , despite...

  Smithsonian Institution Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon Some Latter-day Saints, in their zeal to give tangible authenticity to the Book of Mormon, have told prospective converts that the Smithsonian Institution has used the Book of Mormon to verify sites in the New World. In response to numerous requests on this subject, the Smithsonian has issued the following paper detailing their position on the matter.  Information from the National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no direct connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book. The physical type of the American Indian is basically Mongoloid, being most closely related to that of the peoples of eastern, central, and northeastern Asia. Archaeological evidence indicates that the a...

  "Why can't you focus on the good things?" is a legitimate question, and there are legitimate answers: The church insists that it's true when it's not. The church actively teaches a number of controversial ideas as if they were God's absolute truth, when they have no authority to do so. The church insists on exact obedience. Members are subjected to regular loyalty tests, such as worthiness interviews, interviews for callings, tithing settlement, personal priesthood interviews, ministering interviews, and so on. The church takes all the time and money they can squeeze out of people. The church has no respect for its members' time or resources. The church's racist teachings and practices toward Black people exacerbated terrible racial injustices in the United States and around the world. Even now, the echos of those toxic teachings continue to do harm. The church's pernicious lies about the heritage of Native Americans have fostered an entirely dif...

The Church of Absentia   ... and they found him not... 1 Kings 19:11-13 Where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?  (In the depths of his anguish in Liberty Jail, the Prophet Joseph Smith cried out: “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (D&C 121:1). Many of us, in moments of personal anguish, feel that God is far from us.) Absence of evidence is evidence of absence (when there should be evidence). Evidence of absence is absence of evidence.  Song of Solomon 3:4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth. I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. It is the absence of God that proves his existence.  Ga$LighT Mini$trie$ Tautology Society (god's hiding place) (the pavillion) blasphemy.org heresy.com Fewarechosen.com Noble and Great Ones Chosen Generation Lose his life shall find it Firs...

  An Atheist Rant Barry Goldberg    ·  Following Philosopher, Writer, Liberal & Atheist with a Useless J.D. 5y [I usually don’t do this, but after being told for the umpteenth time by a nice God-fearing Christian that all I needed to do was read the Bible and open my heart to Jesus to understand the truth and find salvation, etc., etc., etc., I sort of snapped and produced the following rant. I figured it might be worth preserving in case I need it later…] Been there, done that and even got the t-shirt. I’m sure that you are a wonderful and kind human being who only wants the best for people like me, maybe somebody I’d love to have as a neighbor even, but I have devoted a significant chunk of my life to considering the possibility of God’s existence and can say that I truly believe from deep deep from the deepest point of my heart (well, my mind, actually) that the entire concept is utterly ridiculous and without merit. Seriously, you’re talking about something b...

  There are plenty of theists in the world who have no problem whatsoever with the fact that modern science contradicts a literal interpretation of their particular religion’s holy book (especially any creation stories contained therein). They are perfectly willing to accept that some parts of their religion’s holy book are meant to be taken metaphorically and acknowledge that those holy books were never intended to be any sort of science textbook in the first place. Now, I  do  have to wonder just how much of your religion’s foundational document(s) you can dismiss as not literally true before you end up needing to admit that  none  of it is likely literally true, but that’s a post for another day. My point is simply that most theists tend to accept that the creation stories contained in their religion’s holy book are not literally true, and that this post is not about those theists. So if you  are  one of those theists and are reading this, please re...