Radio Free Mormon

In this week’s edition, RFM and Bill sit down with Dan McClellan, former scripture translation supervisor for the LDS Church. Dan received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in ancient Near Eastern studies, where he focused on Biblical Hebrew and minored in Classical Greek. He completed a master of studies in Jewish studies at… Read More »Biblical Scholarship with Dan McClellan: Mormonism LIVE: 124

In November of 2021, I flew to Salt Lake City to debate the Midnight Mormons. The entire debate lasted almost three hours! I have worked hard over two days breaking it down into a Highlights Reel that is just over an hour. I want to thank everybody who came to the debate and I think… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 278: Mormonism Debate–Highlights Reel!

Mormonism has the power to disappoint in many ways, even after I thought I had left it far behind. One of the most significant disappointments for me is being betrayed by church leaders I trusted implicitly, only to find they were not telling me the truth. What happens when you find out your ability to… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 277: Disappointing Mormonism

Years ago Jonathan Streeter wrote a blog post titled “Fix your faith crisis with this one weird trick!” that was deeply influential on Bill. So tonight we bring Streeter into the studio to discuss Wood Tools vs Steel Tools and tom recognize when wood tools are being used. RESOURCES: https://thoughtsonthingsandstuff.com/

In honor of the Easter Season, RFM examines evidence that Jesus actually did exist! This is one you won’t want to miss!

This General Conference had lots of interesting twists and turns that have now had time to ruminate in the minds of RFM and Bill Reel. And this weeks episode involves a dive into the Mormon phenomena known as the April 2023 General Conference of the LDS Church. RESOURCES OF TALKS DISCUSSED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYdM8WyYM – Elder Ahmad… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 122: GenCon CXCIII

This session contains what is sure to be the most controversial talk in this entire General Conference. The talk was given by Elder Ahmed Corbitt, and has produced the new Mormon Bumper Sticker Slogan, “CHOOSE THE CHURCH OVER YOUR CHILDREN!” I am so not making this up! Listen at your peril!

The Sunday Morning Session may well be the Church’s response to the SEC fiasco! Listen and find out why!

General Conference has never been this much fun!!!

General Conference has never been this much fun!!!

Joseph Smith’s First Vision ushered in the restoration of the Gospel. It had Heavenly Father and His Son coming through the Heavens to visit the young boy in the spring of 1820. This vision leads to the founding of Mormonism. But what is not as well known is that in the late 1700’s and early… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 121: Joseph Smith’s First Vision in Context: A Comparative Analysis

RFM tries his hand at a one-man Mystery Science Theater 3000 take on the new Temple Endowment video now playing at an LDS Temple near you! Kibitzing on the backrow of an endowment session has never been this much fun!

Tonight RFM and Bill take a look at how both Top Church Leadership and local leaders extend pressure for dissenting voices to be silent. The episode will include individual stories along with the general instruction by top leaders to diminish dissenting voices and at times to altogether silence them. RESOURCES: Oaks “Its Wrong to Criticize… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 120: Silencing Dissent – Mormon Style

RFM has received the the video and audio from his second information request and report back regarding what was turned over by law enforcement. Once again we learn new details that both add clarity and complexity to this case. BONUS AUDIO: We inserted the cut up audio clips of all three witnesses that we had… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 119: Cordon Homicide – Epilogue

Many are going through great lengths to justify the massive hoards of wealth the Church has accumulated on the backs of its believers, even going as far as to use scripture. But do these scriptures REALLY justify the accumulation of wealth as the Church and its members would have you believe?

RFM reads Judge Coral Sanchez’s 13-page order denying Jenn Kamp’s Petition for an Anti-Stalking Order against John Dehlin.

Here is the half-hour presentation I gave at Thrive in St. George, Utah, on February 26, 2023! I had a fantastic time meeting friends old and new! Thanks to all the people involved in making Thrive a wonderful reality for so many of us!

In this week’s episode we discuss the recent news of the Temple Changes and just how far the original Endowment has been altered. And the Second half of the show will involve the recent legal settlement with the LDS Church and it’s Ensign Peak Advisors and culminating with RFM’s lightbulb moment sensing that the Landscape… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 117: Changes To The Temple & The Ethics of Ensign Peak Advisors

What if the liability of the LDS Church has changed this week by the very acts it admitted this week?  What a novel and deeply true idea.  Imagine the church losing a class action sort of legal action. It’s one of those rare moments to affect more than normal where an added segment of people… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 268: RFM Has Lightbulb Moment About A New Lawsuit Idea

On June 27th 1844, Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, was martyred at Carthage Jail by a mob. Or at least that is how the generally accepted story goes. In the last 8 months, Justin Griffin (Director & Producer) and Steve Sorensen (Film Maker), have shared their research that maybe things are not what we have… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 116: Who Really Killed Joseph Smith?

RFM, John Dehlin, Nemo and Mike from LDS Discussions team up to discuss the age-old tradition of backdating prophecies, and how Joseph Smith appears to have made use of this same technique. Bottom Line–It’s easier to predict the future when it is actually in the past!

On this week’s episode we sit down with Brent Bokovoy, Writer and Director of the upcoming film “Ronald’s Little Factory”, and we discuss all the twists and turns in Mormon Cinema including your favorites, along with movies you have likely forgotten, as well as one’s you never heard of. We finish out the episode discussing… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 115: Mormon Cinema

Included here is the complaint OSF filedhttps://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/OSF-Complaint-filed-copy.pdf & Jenn Kamp’s Complaint Filedhttps://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Jenn-Kamp-Lawsuit-Against-John-Dehlin-and-OSF-REDACTED-A.pdf

RFM and Bill review the recent set of Documents and other items sent by Florida Law Enforcement in RFM as part of a Freedom of Information Request.  It is best to watch this on YouTube where the documents can be observed. ***TRIGGER WARNING***This episode will contain details of an alleged Homicide of a child. Please… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 114: The Derek Cordon Homicide Investigation

Former Open Stories Foundation employee Jenn Kamp has gone public recently about the lawsuit she has filed against John Dehlin and the OSF. Now John Dehlin and OSF have filed a countersuit against Jenn Kamp. Included here is the complaint OSF filedhttps://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/OSF-Complaint-filed-copy.pdf & Jenn Kamp’s Complaint Filedhttps://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Jenn-Kamp-Lawsuit-Against-John-Dehlin-and-OSF-REDACTED-A.pdf

The Salt Lake Tribune recently published a book review on the book “Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints” published by the Maxwell Institute. Both the book and the Tribune article make note that what Latter-day Saints believed about early Christianity and the Great Apostasy may not only “overly simplistic, if not (a) completely false… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 113: What Ever Happened To The Great Apostasy?

A new apologetic technique has arisen in recent years of trying to prove the Book of Mormon true by proving all naturalistic theories false. RFM analyzes this methodology and shows it to be fundamentally flawed in a number of ways. Brian Hales, the current proponent of this apologetic, isn’t going to like this episode!

Recently Bill did a solo episode away from Mormonism LIVE walking members into the historical analysis of the initial Doctrine of tithing as 10% of one’s Surplus or Interest to help believers sense they had an option backed by historical documentation that allowed them to save themselves Thousands of Dollars a year while remaining faithful.… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 112: Tithing – What’s In A Word

Radio Free Mormon and his faithful sidekick, The Backyard Professor, complete their dismemberment of Elder Bednar’s recent two-part talk titled, “That Ye May Believe.” Nothing about Elder Bednar has ever been this much fun!

The running narrative within Mormonism is that Joseph Smith was an uneducated backwoods farm boy and that his lack of sophistication leaves the the Restoration as a miracle that no country bumpkin could have pulled off. But what happens when, with critical thinking skills, we take a look at the the Education he did have… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 111: Joseph Smith’s Secret Education – The Dartmouth Connection

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to revisit the letter he wrote April 16, 1963 while imprisoned in the city jail of Birmingham, Alabama, as a result of the nonviolent actions Dr. King spearheaded to bring national attention to the injustices of the segregationist South. Not only is this letter a… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 263: Letter from Birmingham Jail

Bill & RFM take a look at the Life of Francis Gladden Bishop, another Latter-day Saint who claimed to be the rightful heir to Joseph Smith after the martyrdom as part of the Mormon Succession Crisis. RESOURCES:https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/license-for-gladden-bishop-14-april-1840-extract/1 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/145852385/francis-gladden-bishop https://atom3.lib.byu.edu/mormonbib/11107/. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/francis-gladden-bishop-1809 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladden_Bishop, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/subjects/francis-gladden-bishop https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/bc-jsp/content/jsp/images/1168/1168_ms155_3_05_001_med.jpg https://archive.org/details/addresstosonsdau01bish https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/215, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/bc-jsp/content/jsp/images/1168/1168_ms155_3_05_001_med.jpg https://smile.amazon.com/Ensign-Shepherd-Remembrance-Classic-Reprint/dp/1333273819/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VOHXKME6OJK6&keywords=%22francis+gladden+bishop%22&qid=1672953250&sprefix=francis+gladden+bishop+%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-1 https://smile.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AFrancis+Gladden+Bishop&s=relevancerank&text=Francis+Gladden+Bishop&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-from-francis-gladden-bishop-26-september-1843/1 https://mormonpolygamydocuments.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JS0428.pdf

RFM is joined once again by fellow attorney Kolby Reddish for the concluding installment of their investigation of how Mormonism fares when compared with the rules governing admissibility of evidence in a court of law. This is one you don’t want to miss!

Bill and RFM take a deep look at how sex and sexuality were presented within the LDS Church over the last 200 years. What was taboo and sin and to what degree did Leaders impose what could and could not go on the Bedroom. RAPE & VIRTUE A.) BOM teaching – Moroni 9:9 ORAL SEX… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 109: The LDS “Mormon” Church’s Teachings on Sex

RFM and Bill take a deeper look at the “Book of Mormon” and compare what we know about it with what we know about other books to see if it is as un unique as believers claim it to be and we even get Mormon Scholar, Brian Hales opinion on the matter. This past week… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 108: Is The Book of Mormon Unique?

Sheri Dew recently gave a Devotional Talk titled “Prophets Can See Around Corners” at BYU Hawaii on Nov 1st 2022. Bill and RFM take a deep look into this talk to see if what sort of apologetic tricks and absurd claims Sheri Dew makes this time around. Make some hot chocolate, grab a slice of… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 107: Sheri Dew You Know – A Not So Christmas Special

Christians traditionally believe Jesus was the Son of David, or in other words, a literal descendant of King David. But did the earliest Christians share this belief? Join RFM as he takes a deep dive into the New Testament texts that surprisingly suggest the earliest Christians may have believed that Jesus was NOT descended from… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 261: Jesus! Who’s Your Daddy?

This week we explore DezNat or a loosely connected group of folks who claim to be Deseret Nationals. We explore their violent rhetoric and their problematic ideology and we even have a former DezNat follower to help us add context to this story. #DezNat  RESOURCES: Wiki DezNat – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DezNat DezNat Twitter – https://twitter.com/DeseretNation DezNat Exposed… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 106: DezNat Exposed

RFM and fellow attorney Kolby Reddish continue their discussion of what Mormonism looks like when viewed through the Rules of Evidence applicable in courts of law!

Since 1830 Mormonism has, as likely a part of it’s persecution complex, used violent rhetoric and has taught its members to use violent means. That rhetoric either leads to further violence or at least creates safer spaces for violence to occur. Today we look into Mormonism Past and Present to expose a history wide pattern… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 105: When Mormon Leaders Encourage Violence

I am joined by fellow attorney Kolby Reddish to discuss the Rules of Evidence that apply in courts of law and see how the LDS Church would fare if compelled to abide by those same rules! Spoiler Alert! It doesn’t end up well for the LDS Church!

What happens when a Member of the LDS Church stands opposed in a sustaining vote of Church leaders, follows the process the Church has laid out around “common consent”, and shows conclusively that current LDS Prophets, Seers, and Revelators have lied to the members. Well, you are about to find out, because Nemo does just… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 104: Captain Nemo VS The LDS Church

As a follow-up to episode 101 on the Third Convention, Thomas Murphy joins us to add clarity and context to all the ground we covered and to add details that make this story even more interesting.   RESOURCES: The First Part – Video Version – https://youtu.be/Gmjk3Kht0S8 Slide Show used by Prof Murphy in this episode –… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 103: Thomas Murphy on the Third Convention

Elder David Bednar recently completed a landmark address in two parts, seeking to defend the LDS Church against its critics. RFM is joined by the Backyard Professor in breaking down the first part of Elder Bednar’s talk titled, “That Ye May Believe.” After deconstructing Elder Bednar’s talk, a better title might be, “That Ye May… Read More »Radio Free Mormon: 258: The Unreasonable Elder Bednar, Part 1

What is the greatest problem in the LDS Church? That question is at the heart of this week’s episode. Jim Bennett is our guest this week on Mormonism LIVE, as we explore this question and some of the territory surrounding it.

Apostasy is something the LDS Church show serious concern over. And why shouldn’t they knowing James Strang, Lorin C. Wooley, Denver Snuffer, Julie Rowe all have led Splinter Factions of one sort or another that have had influence over segments of Latter-day Saints. The idea that a few voices or even a single voice can… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 101: The Third Convention

RFM has a free-for-all with the gang at Mormon News Roundup! Keeping up with Mormonism in the news has never been so much fun!

To celebrate our 100th episode, we invite all of you to join us as we take a look back at the past 99 episodes and share which have been most meaningful and which are our favorites and we will be taking calls from you our listeners and letting you share with us which ones meant… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 100: 100th Episode Super Show

Is it possible a prophet of God would steal someone else’s miracle story for themselves? Check out this podcast for a famous miracle story of Wilford Woodruff where he may have just done that very thing!

On this week’s episode we take a deeper look at the 1826 trial in Bainbridge, NY. We examine what led to the trial, what witnesses claimed, what we know about the trial proceedings, how Smith and Stowell got introduced to each other, and a few other interesting facts along the way that make this such… Read More »Mormonism LIVE: 099: The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith The Glass Looker