Radio Free Mormon

Today we dive deep into the idea that Mormonism grooms compliance. We start by showing it is the baseline of our theology and belief system. We show how it is reinforced by our stories and songs, show all the pervasive ways it shows up in our faith system. And even how the Leaders impose such… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 087: Mormonism Grooms Compliance

Major News in Mormonism happened this week when a photograph surfaced alleging to be the Prophet Joseph Smith. So Bill and RFM dug into the story and followed the trail examining the Photographs, Portraits, Daguerreotypes, and other depictions both known to be Joseph for certain and also alleged to see if we could get to… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 086: Would the Real Joseph Smith Please Stand Up?

RFM and Bill sit down with Ronald Huggins, author of the new book “Lighthouse: Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Despised and Beloved Critics of Mormonism” & Sandra Tanner who is featured in the book to discuss some of the interesting stories that went into the published work. And towards the end of the show we discuss… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 085: Lighthouse – The Story of Tanners

When RFM and Bill Reel joined Mormonism, they heard rumors that Early LDS Leaders had taught that Mary was impregnated by Heavenly Father via a sexual act. But the Church and its apologists insisted that such idea was a misconstrued out of context assumption and with a sleight of hand the problem was gone…. Or… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 084: Did God Have Sex With Mary?

If one is finally at a place where they really want to understand both sides, really want to wrestle with their faith, what are the books that best introduce the believer to the complex history, the fallibility of prophets, and the trauma of Mormon influence? Bill and RFM seek to lay out a list of… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 083: The Best Books for Diving into the Messiness of Mormonism

RFM is joined once again by Scott from Rameumptom Ruminations to review the controversial series about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS Church, “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey“! I had a wonderful time producing this review with Scott and hope you enjoy it, too!

We sit down with Former BYU Professor, and author of the book “This Is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology”, Charley Harrell to dive into several important assumptions Mormonism and its leaders and members impose in order to cleanly define doctrine. But do these really hold up? Can the word Doctrine as used within… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 082: Charley Harrell & Contemplating Mormon Doctrine

Aleesha Franklin, daughter of Ponzi-scheme magnate Gaylen Rust, returns to Mormonism LIVE to share her personal story of how a catastrophic failure of Priesthood Leadership, both local and general, led to her disaffection from the LDS Church

RFM concludes his Biblical analysis of the perennial argument concerning the roles of grace and works in salvation. Mormon apologetics has never been this much fun! This is a recording of an Institute Class taught by RFM at the University of Texas at Austin Institute Building in the spring semester of 1989.

I want to commemorate Fathers’ Day by playing some stories told by my father back in 2009 before his passing in 2011. And it’s not my fault if the majority of his stories seem to center around me. I love you, Dad. I miss you. And I’m glad I got to have you for my… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 248: A Fathers’ Day Special Episode

What happens when a Patriarch gives a blessing with serious ramifications to LDS Church leadership? Quite a bit, as it turns out! Tune in and find out what happens in this amazing but true story of a patriarchal blessing gone amok!

RFM and Bill take a look at Patriarchal Blessings looking at what these are and what they are not and even take a look at multiple Patriarchal Blessings from the same patriarchs attempting to untangle inspiration from the rote and mundane. RFM and Bill take a look at Patriarchal Blessings looking at what these are… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 080: The Patriarchal Blessing Connection

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