Radio Free Mormon

Tonight I am joined by my good friend Scott, the host of Rameumpton Ruminations, to review the Hulu series, “Under the Banner of Heaven.” RFM and RR–Putting the fun back into fundamentalism!

Bill & RFM take a look at Mormonism’s Holy Garments. We look at the history, doctrine, and disavowed theories and spiritual speculation around them. Are they a magical spiritual protection? Were they allowed to have their design changed? Must they be worn all day every day? What super secret sacred details will Bill and RFM… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 079: Mormonism’s History of The Holy Garments

RFM sits down with John Dehlin of Mormon Stories to discuss how RFM graduated from Mormonism after spending forty-years as a member.

RFM & Bill take a look at Affinity Fraud in Utah and that which seems to have a root in taking advantage of unhealthy boundaries of trust within Mormonism. Affinity Fraud is a type of investment fraud in which a con artist targets members of an identifiable group based on things such as race, age,… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 078: Mormon Affinity Fraud

In July of 2000, on the sixteenth anniversary of the double-murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty, Utah radio host Tom Barberi arranged an interview with Dan Lafferty who was, and continues to be, serving a life-sentence in prison. Dan Lafferty relates in horrific detail the events leading up to the murders, as well as the… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 244: The Dan Lafferty Interview

Bill and RFM review a handful of clips from LDS Apologist, Jared Halverson. The discussion revolves around the games apologists play. These often include creating a framework and solutions to problems that to the believer seem tenable but when closely examined often hinge on fallacies or irrational thinking. The Apologist sees creating plausibility as a… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 077: Jared Halverson & The Games Apologists Play

RFM gets interviewed by Steven Pynnaker of Mormon Book Reviews. Steve is an Evangelical Christian and a scholar of all things Mormon, to boot! Both Steve and RFM touch on a number of interesting subjects in this two-hour interview.

Mormon Scholar Dan Vogel comes on the show once more to discuss last week’s episode of Mormonism LIVE as well as to discuss other new insights surrounding the Book of Abraham that seem to close the door on the “Missing Scroll Theory” and the Catalyst Theory”.

I am often asked the question, “Why is it that some Mormons will avoid negative information about the LDS Church at all costs, while other Mormons will research the negative information regardless of where it may lead?” This is the very issue dealt with in “Under the Banner of Heaven” as well as in the… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 242: “Under the Banner of Heaven” and Greek Tragedy

Bill and RFM tell the story of the Kinderhook Plates episode in Mormon history in Mormonism Live fashion. From original Documents to Conspiracy Theories to a honest transparent conversation around the facts.  We discuss the history, the tests done to attempt to discern their dating and method of inscription, the Church’s commentary around them, and… Read More »Mormonism Live: 075: Fugate’s Kinderhook Fugazi

RFM gives a live presentation in American Fork, Utah. The subject is how Mormonism went from being a highly unorthodox religious sect to a worldwide religion with its own established orthodoxy. Through this understanding we can gain insight on how this affects our personal relationship with Mormonism, whether past, present or future.

RFM and Bill sit down with Sandra Tanner, a well known writer and researcher, on the critical side of Mormonism. We sit down with Sandra to discuss her impact within Mormonism and to touch on a few stories that viewers may find interesting.

In this week’s episode, Bill and RFM take a look at instances in Mormon History where LDS Leadership seem to be giving a stamp of approval to Leaders and Members to be dishonest, to lie, and to deceive. Once we understand the instruction and permissions given to be dishonest we can going forward see their… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 073: Lying For The Lord

We sit down with American anthropologist and Author, Thomas Murphy to discuss the Book of Mormon within the context of Native American History. We explore the legends and history of the indigenous people to see if there are connections there that help us examine the historicity of the Book of Mormon and the claims of… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 072: Neophytes & Lamanites In The Book of Mormon

Did the original Christians expect Jesus to be crucified for the sins of the world? Or did they expect something else? Something very different? And if so, how did Jesus become the Savior worshipped by Christians today? These and other fascinating questions are explored in depth by RFM in this episode.

Bill and RFM dive into the apocryphal book of Judith and point out the many similarities between that apocryphal story and the Book of Mormon’s story about Nephi and his encounter and eventual beheading of Laban. RESOURCES: debunking-cesletter.com/book-of-mormon-1/view-of-the-hebrews-joseph-smith-sr-dream/ http://jur.byu.edu/?p=21296 https://rsc.byu.edu/doctrine-covenants-revelations-context/joseph-smith-emanuel-swedenborg-section-76-importance-bible https://i.redd.it/uckai9n1qyn81.jpg https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-91-the-apocrypha?lang=eng https://www.ksl.com/article/11790001/joseph-smith-family-bible-goes-on-sale https://i.redd.it/71fpzs9h69x01.png http://wordtree.org/thelatewar/ https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Did_Joseph_Smith_create_the_story_of_Nephi_and_Laban_by_plagiarizing_concepts_and_phrases_from_the_story_of_Judith_and_Holofernes_in_the_Apocrypha%3F https://ebible.org/pdf/eng-kjv/eng-kjv_JDT.pdf

I went to the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference April 9th. So many of you wanted to know why I went and what happened, I decided to do a podcast about it!

RFM is back to his old tricks, breaking down and analyzing General Conference as only he can!

RFM and Bill sit down once again with Dan Vogel and Brent Metcalfe to examine the problems with the Book of Abraham as a translation of an ancient document in a sacred text for Mormonism generally and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints specifically. Dan and Brent share their scholarship and help us… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 070: Critical Scholarship and Book of Abraham Historicity

Bill Reel and RFM will dive into Mormon Gaslighting. They will discuss the psychology of gaslighting, discuss its origin, and then delve into a handful of examples among the hundreds that could be explored and conclude discussing the harm that comes to the one being gaslit. RESOURCES: https://mormonismlive.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Gaslighting-Examples.pdf Movie Gaslight – https://youtu.be/UYmtzaHwCKo?t=828 Elder Ballard not… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 069: Gaslighting From Mormon Leadership

Tonight I do a deep dive on how the LDS Church has misled its members to believe that top church leaders are not paid. Then we go into the January 2017 leak that blew the lid off this myth to the tune of six-figure base salaries for General Authorities. The amazing thing is that, in… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 237: The Mormon Myth that Wouldn’t Die-UNPAID MINISTRY!

RFM and Bill Reel sit down with special guests to discuss what The LDS Church looks like in Africa and how its membership upon this continent is affected uniquely.

I was recently asked to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Mormon Reddit. Lots of great questions were asked and I did my best to answer in the limited amount of time I had! This episode is the audio version of the AMA, and includes some answers to questions that came in after the… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 236: Ask Me Anything!!!

TikToker under name “nuancehoe”. In our conversation we delve into Prophets, Evolution, the argument against there being free will, and if time we hope to delve into dogma as debated by Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u45SP7Xv_oU

RFM and Bill sit down with David Bokovoy and with a title like that, who knows where the conversation might go………… David Bokovoy holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East and an MA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies both from Brandeis University. He received his BA from Brigham Young University,… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 066: David Bokovoy – Sex, Eden and The Family

This is an episode of Rameumptom Ruminations where Radio Free Mormon is interviewed. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a track record of promoting lawyers among the ranks of the general authorities. In this very special episode, Scott brings in our resident ex-Mormon lawyer Radio Free Mormon into the Rameumptom Studio to… Read More »RAMEUMPTOM RUMINATIONS: 040: A LAWYER’S DUTY TO TRUTH WITH RADIO FREE MORMON

RFM talks about his background in law from over thirty-years of practice, and applies those principles to the LDS Church. By the end, we start to get a good idea why it is the LDS Church seems to like to call lawyers to positions of leadership–especially over the Church Historian’s Office!

What happens when rather than get in close to the sticky issues of Mormonism you step back? In fact step back so far as to see the 30,000 foot view and look at what Mormonism has standing in the way of its truth claims. And how such speaks to just how reasonable and rational it… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 065: Mormonism & The 30,000 Foot View

I was recently interviewed by the host of Priesthood Dispatches, a new podcast from one of my friends across the pond! I had a great time doing this interview and I hope you will enjoy listening to it!

Mormonism LIVE: 064: The Role of Women In The Church RFM and Bill dive into the issue of Women in the Church and their role. What does the Church want women to think and believe and what does the system of Mormonism actually tell Women about their place within the Church? We have a guest… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 064: The Role of Women In The Church

RFM deconstructs the Brad Wilcox Fireside as no one else can! Strap on your seatbelts! It’s going to be a bumpy night!

The earliest account of the First Vision poses some conflict within Mormon Truth Claims about what Joseph Smith experienced and what was invented about the Founding event in Mormonism. If there is no First Vision, there is significant reason to believe the rest of Mormonism is on shaky ground. So how do apologists deal with… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 063: First Vision Apologetics

RFM has saved the best for last in this third and final installment of his landmark series on Magic and Mormonism. Turns out all those hours of practicing magic as a kid weren’t a complete waste of time after all!

BYU has a history of manipulating & pressuring its educators into consistently stopping short of teaching modern best accepted ideas and research. While it claims to be a university that values education what it really does it limit the critical thinking skills and works to prevent its students from having access to the best information.… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 062: BYU’s Fight Against Modernity Past & Present

Radio Free Mormon continues his exploration of how an understanding of basic principles of stage magic helps illuminate various aspects of early Church history!

RFM and Bill Reel sit down with Dan Vogel and Brent Metcalfe on this week’s episode of Mormonism LIVE ! And you aren’t going to believe the stories these two have.

RFM uses his background in stage magic to illuminate different aspects of Mormonism and Church History!

Tonight’s episode delves into the recent addition to Mormonism LIVE, Maven. Maven recently joined RFM and Bill Reel as the show manager. She does all the dirty work and increases the shows production value and from time to time she adds a powerful informed female voice to the show. Up until now she has remained… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 060: The Unmasking of Maven

This is the audio of the presentation I gave in St. George at the invitation of the Southern Utah Post-Mormon Support Group on January 9, 2022. It goes not only into a paper I had published in BYU-Studies, but also into how that paper developed over the course of about two decades, and the two… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 229: St. George Presentation 2022!

RFM analyzes an often overlooked theme in “A Christmas Carol” where Dickens plays with the idea of time. Then we turn to the LDS temple endowment where something similar occurs! It is a fun ride and a good time is guaranteed to all!

Mormonism LIVE: 058: Mormon Apologist Skullduggery – The Mystery of the Second Watson Letter Playing off of last week’s “Two Hills Cumorah” episode we investigate the claim of a “2nd Watson letter”. What we find is not only more apologist obfuscations but perhaps one of the biggest underhanded maneuvers LDS apologists have ever pulled off.

RFM and Bill Reel tackle the two Hills Cumorah theory. The explain how Cumorah fits within our scriptures, show us how it was understood and taught all through early Church history and when in the modern times it changed and how that course adjustment has the Church approaching it today. To the believers who always… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 057: The Two Hills Cumorah Theory

RFM and Bill sit down with a former BYU Professor to discuss the experience of losing your faith while working for the Lord’s University. RESOURCES: https://www.louisakillian.com/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpUN29orJmM www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg36L1989Ss&t mylifebygogogoff.com/2020/08/how-a-new-instagram-page-is-exposing-apostate-byu-professors.html

Bill Reel and RFM take a look at the Historical Jesus and hit on the main points that Biblical criticism brings into focus and once they are done, your Christmases may never be the same. Jesus son of Mary – Illegitimate birth. Mark infers. The early church theologian Origen (d. 251 CE) has a polemical… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 055: Christmas & The Historical Jesus

RFM & Bill Reel explore Missions and how an LDS Mission can contain some strange experiences and difficulty. They accomplish this by sitting down with with someone who had just that sort of Mission.

I was recently honored to be asked to give a presentation before the Mormonism and Western Esotericism Group. My address on the subject of Ancient Hebrew Numerology in the Book of Mormon was warmly received, and we had a wonderful time talking about it and related subjects during the second half of the evening. I… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 227: Mormonism and Western Esotericism

Mormonism LIVE: 053: One Year Anniversary RFM and Bill Reel kick of the second year of Mormonism LIVE with a look back of the past 52 weeks since Mormonism Live’s inception. We look at the favorite episodes of both us and the viewers. We look back at any funny moments, and wonder where the next… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 053: One Year Anniversary

Wednesday Nov. 24th, RFM and Bill sat down with Denver Snuffer and discuss his life and the happenings around the Christian fellowships of “the Remnants” movement. Denver Snuffer is an author of Restorationist devotional books, a lecturer, a speculative theologian, and a revelator to fellowships of the remnants movement, a spiritual movement in schism with… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 051: Denver Snuffer

Preparing on a short week with our focus on Thrive & the Midnight Mormon’s Debate with RFM has us selecting an interesting topic that is light and fun. So Wednesday November 17th RFM and Bill Reel dive into the old folklore surrounding Bigfoot being none other than Cain. The origination story, and how Prophets, Seer’s,… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 050: Bigfoot, Cain, & Prophetic Mormon Mythmaking

RFM and Bill Reel start with a conversation with a relatively recent legal action that completes the Apostolic Coup D’etat and does it with a coup de grâce. After which we discuss the upcoming trip to THRIVE this weekend and the debate on Saturday November 13th between RFM and Midnight Mormons RESOURCES: https://mormonismlive.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Amended-and-Restated-Articles-Filed-4-21-2020.pdf https://mormonismlive.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Amended-Articles-Filed-6-19-19.pdf https://mormonismlive.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Articles-of-Merger-Filed-11-18-2020.pdf… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 049: The Pre-Debate Tailgate Party