Radio Free Mormon

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 want to thank Professor Trevor Luke of Florida State University for his gracious invitation to make this presentation, and all the scholars associated with the MWE for their graciousness in listening to what I had to say, and especially for their fabulous insights into the subject!

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 52 episodes might take us

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 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The movement has a few thousand adherents, many of them members or former members of the LDS Church. He was excommunicated by the LDS Church in 2013 for refusing to cease publication of his 2011 book, Passing the Heavenly Gift which challenges many points of LDS orthodoxy. He subsequently has been identified as a prophet by many, and several of his teachings have been canonized as scripture. RESOURCES: https://denversnuffer.com/ https://medium.com/the-seer-stone/mormonism-has-a-new-religion-and-it-has-a-prophet-named-denver-snuffer-282f5e24df1e https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-holds-special-meeting-to-denounce-false-prophet http://ldspioneerarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/02/architecture-highlights-prayer-circle.html

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, and Revelators have turned a strange story into some sort of pseudo doctrine, How FairMormon really screwed the pooch, and how Mormonism’s and Sasquatch’s narratives intertwine in other strange places you may not have seen coming. RESOURCES: Is Cain Bigfoot? The Truth Behind 5 Mormon Folklore Stories – https://www.ldsliving.com/is-cain-bigfoot-the-truth-behind-5-mormon-folklore-stories/s/64534 Awareness of racism eased Mormon folk tales regarding Cain, Bigfoot https://www.standard.net/lifestyle/2015/oct/18/awareness-of-racism-eased-mormon-folk-tales-regarding-cain-big/ Bigfoot In Mormon lore … is Bigfoot Cain? https://utahstories.com/2019/07/bigfoot-in-mormon-lore-is-bigfoot-cain/ Journal of Mormon History Vol. 33, No. 3, 2007 (pg 74) https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=mormonhistory Question: Does Cain still roam the earth, and does this account for stories about “Bigfoot”? – FAIR https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Does_Cain_still_roam_the_earth,_and_does_this_account_for_stories_about_%22Bigfoot%22%3F Mormon theory of Bigfoot traces monster to Garden of Eden https://www.syracuse.com/strangecny/2008/02/morman_theory_of_bigfoot_trace.html The Mormon Bigfoot Genesis Theory – 10 Zen Monkeys http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2008/02/05/the-mormon-bigfoot-genesis-theory/ When Cain Appeared to Joseph Fielding Smith’s Brother & Talked with an Apostle https://www.ldsliving.com/when-cain-appeared-to-joseph-fielding-smiths-brother-talked-with-an-apostle/s/83424 The Mark of the Curse: Lingering Racism in Mormon Doctrine? https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/45228364.pdf Poems 476–507 – Eliza R. Snow Lexicon https://erslexicon.wordpress.com/poems-476-507/ https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Cain-Bigfoot-Mathew-Bowman.pdf https://archive.org/details/lifeofdavidwpatt00wilsrich/page/44/mode/2up https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/45228364.pdf http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/DPatten.html (nothing about Cain) https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/c7b775e0-ef6c-4ebe-b205-f159d8f4cdd7/0/1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5811ffxhgbph5v/MS_603-David_W_Patten_journal-ORIGINAL.pdf?dl=0 (Nothing about Cain) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51730/p

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 https://mormonismlive.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Officer-Appointment-Resolutions-Filed-7-19-2019.pdf https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0122898D:US https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ut/555534-0145 http://www.mormonism101.com/2015/01/the-corporate-structure-of-mormon-church.html 1. TIME STAMP 0.00 – 0.18 2. TIME STAMP 7.24-9.00 3. TIME STAMP 9.00-9.21 4. TIME STAMP 20.00-21.50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DaOukG1cM&t TIME STAMP 0.00 – 1.31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxaLKprguvo&t​ TIME STAMP 5.27-5.41. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxaLKprguvo&t TIME STAMP 5.27-5.41.  

We sit down with author and Illustrator of the book “The Glass Looker”, Mark Elwood and discuss how he incorporated Joseph Smith’s Treasure Digging into a beautiful animated book. We discuss how he decided what to include and what impact he hopes this book has RESOURCES: How the Project Came Together – https://theglasslooker.com/behind-the-scenes/ Order the Book – https://theglasslooker.com/product/volume1/ Mormon Discussion “168: Seer Stones, Folk Magic, and Alvin’s Hand” – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/2015/09/seer-stones-folk-magic-and-alvins-hand/ Mormonism LIVE !: 016: Peek Stones, Sheep’s Bones, and Gold Thrones all on Miner’s Hill – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4qiP2hZtcA

Radio Free Mormon & Jonathan Streeter (Filling in for Bill Reel) deliver a special Halloween Episode fielding live phone calls where listeners can share their spooky tales.

WARNING: We will be dealing with the sensitive topic of Self Harm. If you have self harm ideation and are triggered by discussion around such, please skip this episode in lieu of another. In Tonight’s Episode Bill Reel and RFM will take a deep historical dive into the topic of Suicide within Mormon Theology and take a look at how the LDS Church has approached this issue giving historical context. What we learn is that LDS Leaders and Mormon Doctrine have had some ups and downs dealing with approaching such in a healthy way with healthy attitudes. Like everything else in Mormonism, this issue too is messy. RESOURCES: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/1988/03/suicide-some-things-we-know-and-some-we-do-not?lang=eng https://www.deseret.com/2018/7/2/20648210/lds-apostle-totally-false-that-suicide-leads-to-permanent-hell https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Suicide https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/suicide?lang=eng https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2015/sep/20/church-teachings-on-suicide-have-changed-through-the-years/ https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-apostle-speaks-about-church-responsibility-in-mormon-lgbt-suicides-for-first-time https://www.mrm.org/suicide-and-mormonism https://www.pewforum.org/2013/11/21/religious-groups-views-on-end-of-life-issues/ https://deseretbook.com/p/suicide-some-things-we-know-do-not-m-russell-ballard-437?variant_id=112173-paperback http://mormonscholar.org/an-old-sectarian-notion-lds-teachings-on-suicide-sin-and-damnation/ https://mormonleaks.io/wiki/documents/6/6b/1958-Mormon_Doctrine-Bruce_R_McConkie.pdf (Agency & Suicides) https://lds365.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Preventing-Suicide-Responding-After-Loss-LDS.pdf https://childfriendlyfaith.org/2019/06/the-homophobic-teachings-of-the-mormon-church-killed-my-son/ https://www.dropbox.com/s/24uta1hgckvtzk0/MStar_19213.pdf?dl=0 (Millenial Star) https://archive.org/details/juvenileinstructor1993/page/352/mode/2up?view=theater&q=juvenile+instructor https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/10/13/22672169/are-latter-day-saint-lgbtq-youths-less-suicidal-a-new-study-asks-the-question-mormon https://dsamh.utah.gov/pdf/sharp/2019/State%20of%20Utah%20Report.pdf https://discussmormonism.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=154136&start=10  https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org National Suicide Prevention Lifeline We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. 1-800-273-8255 Tonight’s Episode will be dealing with the sensitive topic of suicide. If this topic might be triggering or such ideation is present. Please skip this episode and return back for next week’s. While we have consulted best practices National Suicide Prevention Lifeline We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. 1-800-273-8255 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

Radio Free Mormon takes Bill Reel and the rest of us through Shakespeare’s Macbeth in order to connect some dot in Mormonism on two issues. The First is the Apologetic response that if the critic can’t explain how something is done then it must be a miracle and second how Church Leaders always seem ambiguous on the issue of having seen Christ. RESOURCES: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1971/04/the-spirit-beareth-record?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2014/04/the-witness?lang=eng https://youtu.be/g0js6xWv6bc?t=3453 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAt4Od0teNg&t=545s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrMJ2YZD62M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xRO4nPbrxk