JustAnotherDad

@BookshelfBeth @NickvanStan @TheMagicFridge @NorahMackenzie @sierragodfrey @adribbleofink My wife and I got engaged 5 days after we met 🤷 13 years and 2 kids later it's still the best decision I ever made (tho I do question her judgement 😂). I agree, staying open and positive was key, and being someone that someone else would want to be with!

No worries, I appreciate the respectful dialogue. And... yea. This world sucks. Child rape, murder, suffering, death, famine, cruelty, everything evil abounds. I know the classical theism arguments for why those things are necessary but it doesn't make sense to me if the ultimate outcome is just God wanting us all to live in heaven again and... I dunno, strum a harp for eternity? Sing His praises forever? Be blissfully happy? Could do that right now, it would seem. LDS theology of pre-mortal existence and exaltation make sense of this in a unique way, giving consent to coming here knowing full well what it would entail, and having the outcome for said suffering be godhood. No other way I can square the problem of evil theological circle.

@TrueHalfCrack @ybobbjr That’s an interesting viewpoint. Once again I won’t push back, but I noticed you said “this nightmare” towards the end. Does this mean you view the current way life works on earth to be a nightmare?

Ultimately the doctrines and theology in Mormonism bring me the most peace, and give me the most hope in mankind They are also the most philosophically sound to me The mission of Jesus makes the most sense to me under the Latter-Day Saint lens. I wholeheartedly believe the canon is open

@vegashotflash @dominicptaranto Still waiting on an answer here. Please, I'm an unintelligent, easily "suggestable" (sic) rube who can't think for myself I just do whatever my bishop tells me to do x.com/i/status/20643…

@dominicptaranto They are a simple people easily suggestable.

I’ve never come across intellectually honest Mormon apologists. Probably because their religion is so insane that the second they become intellectually honest they leave it.

@fieldviewdreams @chadpostolico @dominicptaranto Luke 24:32

@chadpostolico @dominicptaranto The Bible: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Mormons: Did you feel that burning in your bosom?

If first there is nothing, and an omnipotent, unbound God creates all conditions of reality with complete foreknowledge of the end from the beginning, then the standard defenses for the existence of evil completely fall apart. Think about it: God could have just created us all to be like Jesus, possessing free will but eternally loving Him in heaven forever. The standard theistic counters to this argument usually fall into two traps, and both of them fail under classical theism: The "Free Will" Counter: Apologists argue that true love requires a choice, and God cannot force creatures to freely choose Him. The Flaw: This puts severe limits on God's power. If He is truly omnipotent and unbound, He isn't restricted by our human concepts of logical contradictions. More importantly, Christian theology states Jesus was fully human, had free will, and yet never sinned. If a sinless, free nature is possible for Jesus, it was possible for all of us. Choosing to create a flawed nature instead was a deliberate choice by the Creator. The "Greater Good" Counter: They argue that a universe with moral struggles, suffering, and redemption is a more beautiful story than a universe of pre-programmed saints. The Flaw: Under creation ex nihilo (creation out of nothing), God invented the very rules of what makes a story "good." Why must a greater good require the cancer of children or eternal damnation as a prerequisite? To say God had to use suffering to buy a greater good implies there is a cosmic law outside of God that He is forced to obey, which destroys His status as supreme and unbound. This doesn't even get into the absurdity of the Garden of Eden. We are told God put a tree in front of two people who had absolutely no knowledge of good and evil, and then completely freaked out when they ate from it. Because God had 100% mathematical certainty of the fallout before He even created the dirt, the Garden wasn't a test. It was a setup. When an engineer builds a bridge knowing with absolute certainty it will collapse under a specific weight, we don't blame the bridge. We blame the engineer. By the definitions of classical theism, God is the ultimate and proximate cause of every ounce of suffering that exists. If He had the power, knowledge, and freedom to create a heaven on earth from day one and chose this nightmare instead, classical theism essentially posits a malevolent God.

@TrueHalfCrack @ybobbjr Mind if I ask why Ex nihilo creation doesn’t work for a loving God? Once again I am not trying to disagree, I just don’t quite understand the rationale for this one.

@GJMcClintock @Sarahsred7 Look. Inward.

@Sarahsred7 develop a deep hatred an annoyance of Utah Mormons and a strong yearning for going to church in another state but still showing up to the Utah ward on Sunday bc you know its the right thing to do

My husband isn't from Utah, what are somethings we MUST DO this summer to ensure he gets the full Utah experience?

@j13gregor @japan_nobunaga Literally thought the same think 😂 pure poetry

@japan_nobunaga “I had been defeated by a courtesy.” I’m not sure when or how, but I’m going to use that. With permission of course.

USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving. Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free. I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these." "They just come with the table, man." They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner. This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat. I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared. "Did we…?" "Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless." Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined. My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude." Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man. I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy. Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived. I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most. Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.

@TrueBlueBYU1984 @Sarahsred7 @BryceCanyonNPS @ZionNPS This is almost beat for beat what is write lol Would also add Donut Falls hike and camping at Spruces Campground, best place in the state

Visit Park City and ride the ski lifts around, it’s amazing (if you like to mountain bike, it’s fantastic!). Then visit both @BryceCanyonNPS and @ZionNPS they are both unforgettable (do the Angel’s Landing and The Narrows hikes, they’re bucket list hikes). Go visit City Creek and the new Temple Square Visitors Center. Take him to @BamBamsBBQ for the best BBQ in the Intermountain west. Also, eat at Bombay House in Provo, then Red Iguana in SLC. Lastly, take him to Bear Lake, stop in Logan at Herm’s Inn for breakfast , then stop in Logan Canyon on the way up, it’s beautiful!

@Catholic_Bob Christ is King Now where do I get my Christian card?

Have we thought about asking the mormons to say “Christ is King”?

@BradWitbeck @CapturingChrist But but but it was a SWORN AFFIDAVIT don't your understand? You think someone would just lie??

@CapturingChrist Look, it's not rocket science—That didn't happen 👍

Look, it's not rocket science. If someone sacrifices an animal to a demon during the time he's allegedly receiving divine revelation, chances are he's not from God.

@waldenpod Also; "can't be reasoned with" is telling. Mormons can certainly be reasoned with. We just think his reasoning sucks. The fact that he can't see LDS people as rationally concluding things differently than him is the height of arrogance.

“This has made me appreciate the approach that the Church took towards suppressing false sects in the past.” Doesn’t take much to bring out the violent fantasies, does it?

@Cicero11052024 @yuckybroccoli1 @ThoughtfulSaint

@yuckybroccoli1 @ThoughtfulSaint Tyndale would like a word.

Holy Crap… Ethan is not happy about how the debate went. Anyone know how the Catholic Church used to suppress what it considered to be false sects in the past?

@da_pacem @ThoughtfulSaint Wait wait wait It's hearsay when the Catholics are accused of something But absolute, God's honest truth when it's about Joseph Smith? Fascinating

@ThoughtfulSaint Your reaction to this is based on the cartoon caricature. The inquisitions were not a bloodbath. That's historical myth. Also using councils to suppress heresies, nothing wrong with that

@Ontos007 @DirectorialFX @ThoughtfulSaint Certainly enough to get the jist and then go off on how the Popes are all demonic I guess

@DirectorialFX @ThoughtfulSaint It’s roughly 30% of Ethan’s tweet. So, according to Ethan’s tactics, that should be sufficient enough to speak on it, right?

@stevenjay84 @ThoughtfulSaint And the "test of a prophet" is a fantastically dumb argument on its face

@ThoughtfulSaint No one paid attention to his opening statement. He closed with the “test of a prophet,” but only quoted the deadly punishment for false prophets. That’s exactly the kind of rhetoric that fuels violence. Ethan is not well.

@ayeeSybau @ReformedToRome @ThoughtfulSaint And it was on a hostile channel.

@ReformedToRome @ThoughtfulSaint None of us thought it went well for Ethan except for all his supporters and the people who constantly call the Book of Mormon demonic

@atplack @ThoughtfulSaint Maybe. Glad you aren't able to enforce this point by burning people alive anymore tho.

@ThoughtfulSaint The Catholic Church is the Pillar and Foundation of Truth.

@SkylarSkye3 I love that you're finding America to your liking But... you'll be disabused of this particular notion if you spend long enough in the USA lol

My favourite thing about America so far is how relaxed everyone on the roads are. There’s no insane road rage like there is in the UK. Everyone realises mistakes happen while driving and it’s not a huge deal if they do. We need to learn from you guys 😭

@yundagger @ATIF_Podcast You'd think Christians would be nicer and actually follow Jesus more if it was all the same, weird

@ATIF_Podcast Bible teaches that too! Without the heresy and demonic influence

How come no one ever posts THIS South Park clip? #LDX

@Hotchkiz @JackMoCoalition @catholicspaceem 🔥

@catholicspaceem If I claimed you teach infants are inherently evil/deserving of hell, worship Mary above Christ, teach Jesus is made out of crackers, say the Father is a passionless gas/force, and use magic beads to get rid of sin; would I have fairly represented your beliefs?

This made Mormons big mad and there is a Copefest going on in the replies

@thetweeteregg @ybobbjr x.com/i/status/20456…

@TrueHalfCrack @ybobbjr Mind describing the hook ups? It’s fine if you don’t want to discuss because you’ve had the conversation a million times, I won’t push back on anything you say, but I’m curious to hear what the incompatibilities are.