Mormon Stories Podcast

Jim Bennett is the author of "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter." He is also the son of the late Utah U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. In Part 5 of a multi-part series with Jim, I bring to Jim listener/viewer questions, along with several questions/observations of my own, into a passionate, 4 hour final conversation. If you were frustrated that I gave Jim "a pass" in the previous episodes, you may be more satisfied with this episode.

Jim Bennett is the author of "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter."  He is also the son of the late Utah U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. In Part 4 of a multi-part series with Jim, we discuss in-depth his approach to maintaining belief in the Mormon church AFTER exposure to all of the historical and social problems currently vexing the LDS church, as highlighted in Jeremy Runnell's groundbreaking book "CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts." Today's episode covers: Women and the church and the Ordain Women movement. The Mormon church's approach to "Law of Chastity" issues including pornography, masturbation, and one-on-one "worthiness interviews." The Mormon church's handling and mishandling of sexual abuse cases. The Mormon church's treatment (including excommunication) of activists and critics. A closing discussion of the faith crisis "epidemic" within the modern LDS church, and Jim's opinions about the best way to handle the situation. To thank Jim for his participation so far in this series, please email him at: jim@canonizer.com.

Jim Bennett is the author of "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter."  He is also the son of the late Utah U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. In Part 2 of a multi-part series with Jim, we discuss in-depth his approach to maintaining belief in the Mormon church AFTER exposure to all of the historical and social problems currently vexing the LDS church, as highlighted in Jeremy Runnell's groundbreaking book "CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts." Today's episode covers: Joseph Smith's polygamy. Racism in the Book of Mormon. The LDS Church priesthood and temple ban on members of African descent. The LDS Church's teachings regarding LGBTQ members and same-sex marriage. What is the role/need for Mormon prophets? Also, please do not miss my dear friend Bill Reel's super in-depth interview with Jim if you happened to miss it.

Jim Bennett is the author of "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter."  He is also the son of the late Utah U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. In Part 2 of a multi-part series with Jim, we discuss in-depth his approach to maintaining belief in the Mormon church AFTER exposure to all of the historical and social problems currently vexing the LDS church, as highlighted in Jeremy Runnell's groundbreaking book "CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts." Today's episode covers: The Book of Mormon The Witnesses to the Book of Mormon The Book of Abraham The Kinderhook Plates The First Vision And much, much more! Also, please do not miss my dear friend Bill Reel's super in-depth interview with Jim if you happened to miss it.

Jim Bennett is the author of "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter."  He is also the son of the late Utah U.S. Senator Bob Bennett. In Part 1 of a multi-part series with Jim, we discuss in-depth his approach to maintaining belief in the Mormon church AFTER exposure to to all of the historical and social problems currently vexing the LDS church, as highlighted in Jeremy Runnell's groundbreaking book "CES Letter: My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts. Today's episode covers: How/why to continue believing in God after a Mormon crisis of faith. How/why to continue believing in Jesus after a Mormon crisis of faith. What it means to Jim to be a fallible Mormon prophet. How Jim views the claim that the Mormon church is the "one true church." Jim's condemnation of FAIRMormon's recent YouTube videos attacking Jeremy Runnells and me.

Are you looking for a story of hope and love to end this gosh-forsaken year? Here you go. WordPerfect co-founder and philanthropist Bruce Bastian (interviewed here and here) never expected to find love again after his mixed-orientation Mormon marriage dissolved. Then he met Clint Ford. This is an epic love story for the ages, folks. So hopeful. So inspiring. I hope you enjoy!!!! And I hope that this story makes you as happy as it made me.

Ten years ago I interviewed WordPerfect co-founder and philanthropist Bruce Bastian, wherein we discussed his life growing up as gay Mormon boy in Idaho, his years at WordPerfect, his journey "coming out" as a gay Mormon father in the 1990s, and his early efforts to support LGBTQ rights. Since this first interview, Bruce became even more active in fighting for LGBTQ equality in the United States, continuing his involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and supporting LGBTQ equality in Utah - all of which meaningfully contributed to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015. Recently I sat down again with Bruce to record a history of these past 10 years from his perspective.  I hope you enjoy!

Today, Anthony Miller, Jana Spangler and Brittney Hartley join us to discuss the topic of navigating and enjoying Christmas after a Mormon faith crisis.

Zelph on the Shelf is one of the most successful YouTube channels in history dedicated to exploring Mormonism in thoughtful and entertaining ways.   Five years ago I sat down with Samantha Shelley and Tanner Gilliland to discuss their loss of faith as "Mormon Millennials." That episode was extremely well-received at the time, and was highly influential in the journey of tens of thousands of Mormons, including Tyler Glenn (lead singer of Neon Trees). Today's episode with Tanner and Samantha will be in two parts: Part 1: Samantha and Tanner discuss the evolution and impact of Zelph on the Shelf over the past 5 years. Part 2 (My favorite part): Samantha and Tanner discuss how they have healed and grown over the past 5 years in many of the domains most salient to transitioning Mormons, including: creativity, community, identity, mental health, spirituality, sexuality, finding meaning/purpose in their lives, and in thoughts about death and the afterlife. Part 3: We end this interview by discussing Tanner and Samantha's perspective on the recent Mormon apologetic content released by FAIRMormon, featuring controversial apologist Kwaku El. I found Samantha and Tanner to be incredibly thoughtful and wise, and am confident that you will thoroughly enjoy this episode.

Recently, the Mormon apologetic organization FAIRMormon has released several aggressive new videos via their YouTube Channel starring the actors Kwaku El, Cardon Ellis, and Brad Witbeck. These videos are intended to appeal to younger Latter-day saints, but also launch aggressive attacks against me (John Dehlin) and Jeremy Runnells (author of the CES Letter). The historical accuracy/honesty of these videos has also been called into question by many. Today we interview Anthony D. Miller - a wise and thoughtful post-Mormon - about these latest events. Some of the topics we hope to cover are listed below. We would also welcome your questions/comments. Topics for today: Motivations behind Mormon apologetics. Differences between Mormon apologetics and critical scholarship Contrast traditional apologetics and more progressive, nuanced apologetics Examples of people who have shifted from apologetics towards critical scholarship, and their explanations as to “the why.” Examples of people who engage with critical scholarship, but operate within Mormonism with a mostly a metaphorical paradigm with an apologetic bent. Contrast how GenZ, Millennials, GenX, and Baby Boomers engage with information. How GenZ at times experiences fragility, catastrophizing, call-out culture, and perception of violence in speech, and how these things affect engagement with apologetics and scholarship. (Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Coddling of the American Mind). Current spectrum of apologetics Approaches and methods for distribution Firesides and conferences Radical Orthodoxy proclamation, Deznat, etc. Adaptations to respond to social media, YouTube, TikTok What we might expect going forward Will this approach work? Will it backfire? Is it ethical?