Travis

For my part, I’ll echo what others have said: I want people to stop lying, minimizing, and gaslighting. My goal is not to “weaken the church.” My goal is for the church, and the culture around it, to stop inflicting the kind of psychological and spiritual harm that so many former members describe. When former members consistently report feeling inadequate, ashamed, hyper-perfectionistic, or spiritually broken while they were inside the system, that should be treated as evidence of a problem, not as evidence that they simply “wanted to sin” or “never understood the gospel.” I want the church to stop hoarding money and start meaningfully giving back to the communities it claims to serve. That is something I want from other wealthy churches too. I want the church to stop using the language of “repentance” as a shield for predators, especially in situations where there may not be a legal obligation to report but there is very obviously a moral obligation to protect the vulnerable. That is what I want as an ex-Mormon. I want less suffering. I want fewer people leaving the church feeling like they are broken beyond repair. I want fewer kids growing up believing God is disappointed in them. I want fewer abuse victims being asked to preserve the reputation of the institution that failed them. I want fewer people mistaking shame for holiness and The Still Small Voice™ . I do not need the church to collapse in order for my pain or other people’s pain to matter. I need the church and its defenders to stop pretending that the pain was imaginary, deserved, or spiritually useful. If those changes made the church healthier, safer, and more honest, I would consider that a good thing. If the church becomes weaker because it stops gaslighting people, hiding money, protecting predators, and manufacturing shame, then the problem was what the church required in order to remain strong.

@samdgrant_ Oh, most people on the left fundamentally do not understand the reasons behind young men shifting to the right. It’s a blind spot that is killing them tbh!

@auntietravis Mostly how she paints conservatism and the motivations for why young men are conservative. I’d have to watch the video again to get specifics.

The most recent Alyssa Grenfell video “The Far Right Mormon Influencer Pipeline” is unsurprisingly lazy. Alyssa clearly demonstrates a simplistic view of conservatism.

Delicious fruit from priesthood holders, folks. By their fruits ye shall know them. Tremendous saying. Very true. And what is wanted here? Respect. Simple respect. We will go down, we will look into the matter, we will return and report, and I have to say, the report is not good. It is not well! Not sufficient for our needs! No health in the navel, no marrow in the bones, and no strength in the sinews whatsoever! Just a man discovering you can buy anything in this world with money, but not class. Very sad.

@RigdonNancy3 @LargeInStature_ Thats why men don't give a fuck about you either dumb ass bitch. See no respect for you. GFYS

A nude bodysuit over your garments. That's wild ngl. I would have never thought to do something like that in a million years. I steered clear of the conversion up until now. I saw the photos. I was like, how can she possibly call that garment-friendly. Seems sus. Like those Jewish people who have all the tricks for getting around their commandments.

In traditional Christian understanding, it generally means permanent, secure, and unbroken communion with God. It is not terribly redefined by Mormonism (though their worldview adds all the celestial business to it and they probably picture it differently from traditional Christians).

What does the scriptural phrase “to go no more out” mean?

@JenIsProLife @EliMcCann Wow, you sound super pleasant. I’m sure you have a very fulfilling life and that you don’t spend very much time unhappy on the internet.

@EliMcCann Are you a man? And why do you have a husband? That makes no sense.

My husband made me take new headshots for my upcoming book because I've been using the same one for like seven years. I hate pictures of myself. Please just tell me which one of these to use for the back of the book.

You can make the most obvious villain, the most on the nose monster, a clear and present example of the worst kind of human being who is just a collection of fatal character flaws, and the new right will identify with him and get angry when he dies a villain’s death

To be clear: if a synagogue had been attacked and Jews murdered and then a top ally to Biden said the synagogue was ‘evil’ and all the Jews should be deported, and then got a birthday card two days later from Biden praising her, it would be the biggest story/scandal in America.

Boomers after using their last vote before dying to hand our entire government over to Israel.

Políticos homófobos cuando ven pene:

@RavnReborn @RykerJackson97 It’s not even persecution, and that’s the most annoying part of the damn thing to me.

@RykerJackson97 The fact that zero apologists or faithful Mormons will contest this fact is a tacit admission of guilt. All they have is “Satan hates this temple!” and “muh religious freedom!” Persecution is not proof of your truth claims. Do better.

This is ludicrous. Keep in mind, we’ve already changed the name of the temple, lowered the steeple by 55 feet, and reduced the total square footage from 44,000 square feet to 30,000, all at the request of the city. nbcdfw.com/news/local/fai…

@BobbyTables42 @tythebrainiac @visegrad24 Meanwhile, we quite literally have the freedom of religion enshrined as a legal right. If you don’t want Islamic Centers in the US, you might as well dismantle every other form of religious education too.

You’re painting with a broad and inaccurate brush. Lebanon is one of the countries, Egypt another. Jordan has a Catholic network of schools. Iraq has Christian churches and schools. Syria too. Indonesia. Malaysia. Morocco. Pakistan. Bangladesh. Bosnia. Not every Muslim majority nation is Iran or Afghanistan.

Deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego: Police are treating it as a hate crime. A security guard was killed. Two suspects, aged 17 and 19, were found dead in a vehicle near the mosque. All students and staff at the attached school are safe. The FBI and ATF are assisting in the investigation. President Trump has been briefed.

@tythebrainiac @visegrad24 There are several Muslim majority countries that have Christian schools lmao what are you talking about?

@visegrad24 Why is there an islamic center in San Diego? Would an islamic country permit Christian Centers in their countries?

I’m not reading all that but I continue to sincerely hope for your wellbeing and improvement of your mental health. I also exhort you to stop using LLMs because they appear to encourage disordered thoughts in some people (and I see signs of that in your erratic behavior. All the best to you and yours!

Stacker forgets that I already left the Lord’s Church. I already walked that road. I already discovered that no man does it as well as the Lord. No man. Without exception. That is why I came back. Not because every problem in the historical record suddenly vanished. No. History itself is fractured. That much is certain. And I say this not as some armchair expert pretending to be intelligent online, but as an actual credentialed historian. Professional historians widely agree that the historical record is incomplete, biased, selective, politically shaped, and constantly revised. That is not controversial. Recorded history is not pure truth preserved untouched through time. It is fragments of truth filtered through imperfect men, institutions, agendas, memory, corruption, and power. Of course, I didn’t know this at the time. I wasn’t a historian yet. So why did I come back, when I once believed the Church was false and the historical record had “clearly” proven it? Because the Lord Himself condescended into my darkness and pulled me out of it. Whether that experience was fully literal, fully spiritual, or something in between, I cannot perfectly say. “Whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth” (2 Corinthians 12:2–3). All I know is this: When I awoke the next morning, lying on my back and staring upward into heaven, I knew I had been wrong. I could not yet explain why. I did not suddenly possess answers to every historical question. I simply knew — with terrifying clarity — that the Lord wanted me back. And what kind of fool ignores that? Stacker wants to call it a drug-induced delusion. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But whatever it was, my mind was clear, my heart knew what needed to be done, and I returned. And here is the part people never seem to understand: My witness did NOT come immediately. For many months I served the Lord with full commitment while still internally wrestling with whether it was all true. I lived the Gospel before I fully knew. Then eventually, the witness came. Not while intoxicated. Not during emotional frenzy. Not during blind ignorance. But months later, sober-minded, while genuinely seeking truth; on my knees, beside my bed, not able to fully comprehend what was happening. But it was glorious. And I cannot say more. And once that witness came, every former doubt collapsed beneath it. Since then, the Lord has led me through law school, through my MEd, and into the professional study of history itself — disciplines that sharpened my ability to evaluate primary sources, identify unreliable witnesses, recognize institutional bias, and separate evidence from assumption. Ironically, men like Stacker believe they are “following evidence,” while often beginning with the conclusion and filtering everything through it afterward. Today we possess more tools for discovering truth than at any point in human history. Vast archives. Digitized records. AI-assisted analysis. Linguistic reconstruction. Archaeology advancing yearly. And slowly, piece by piece, the picture becomes clearer. I testify that Jesus Christ lives. I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His Church. And I testify that spiritual witnesses from God are more reliable than the shifting conclusions of men. The evidence will continue emerging. It already is. Bit by bit, year by year, the world inches closer to truths it once mocked. And one day, the honest in heart will realize that God was telling the truth the entire time. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

“But 6 million Jews were killed” A Palestinian man: “Did I kill them?” “I never hurt a fly in my life” This video really breaks my heart. The man paid the price of Europe’s hatred of the Jews.

@Hillbillyflyer @waldenpod “By their fruits…the Catholic Church is evil.” Source? Catholic charities are amongst the largest in the world. Catholic Charities USA, a single Catholic organization (one of too many to name), gives some $3.9 billion per year, dwarfing the LDS ~1.4 billion in recent history.

We do not. Most morrmons grew up with the obvious interpretation that the Catholic church was the great and abominable church of Satan. It took about 20 years of 1st Presidency messaging to change theat believe in the lds church body. Many still hold it. By their fruits... the Catholic church is evil. Catholics are awsome people stuck between their church and the world. Orthodoxy is foreign to most lds generally. We fear what is new on the horizon and lash out. Its just the new front, and Orthodoxy is also encountering Mormonism for the first time.

Mormons seem to have a major soft spot for Catholicism but not Orthodoxy. Why is that? Honestly asking

I think Mormons have significantly less experience with Orthodoxy in real life and the number of evangelicals LARPing as Orthodox have left a bad taste in the mouths of many. I’m a fan of all the Orthodox people I know. I have a cousin who converted from Mormonism to Orthodoxy after she met her now husband.

Kirk has a puzzling account. While I think interfaith communication and relationships are necessary, I know of no other Catholics who write (with AI or not) so many flattering things about a church that happens to be one of the only churches that deviates so far from Christian principles that their baptisms are inadequate in the RCC’s eyes.

@nicoraytruth Now I’m getting Matt Tesifies vibes from you. x.com/pioneerpapertr…

Mormons seek Truth Joseph Smith: "One of the grand fundamental principles of 'Mormonism' is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may." (History of the Church, 5:499) "We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true 'Mormons'." (History of the Church, 5:517) Brigham Young: "It is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists, or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church... to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, to mechanism of every kind, to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and bring it to Zion." (Journal of Discourses, 7:283–284) John Taylor: "If there is any truth in heaven, earth, or hell, I want to embrace it; I care not what shape it comes in to me, who brings it, or who believes in it; whether it is popular or unpopular, truth, eternal truth, I wish to float in and enjoy." (Journal of Discourses, 1:152) Orson F. Whitney: "God is using more than one people for the accomplishment of His great and marvelous work. The Latter-day Saints cannot do it all. It is too vast, too arduous for any one people. We have partners in the great work—men and women who, though not of our faith, are nevertheless working for the same great end—the vindication of God and the elevation of man." (General Conference Report, April 1928) George Albert Smith: "We have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess. We have come not to find fault with you nor to criticize you. We have not come here to berate you because of things you have not done; but we have come here as your brethren ... and to say to you: 'Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good.'" (Sharing the Gospel with Others, 1948) Gordon B. Hinckley: "Let me say that we appreciate the truth in all churches and the good which they do. We say to the people, in effect, you bring with you all the good that you have, and then let us see if we can add to it." (Address in Nairobi, Kenya, February 1998) Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "We seek for truth wherever we might find it... We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Let us be seekers of truth, not merely out of curiosity, but out of a deep desire to know and love God and our fellowmen." ("What Is Truth?", Church Educational System Devotional, 2013) B.H. Roberts: "I believe 'Mormonism' affords opportunity... for thoughtful disciples who will not be content with merely repeating some of its truths, but will develop its truths; and enlarge it by that development... The disciples of 'Mormonism,' growing discontented with the necessarily inadequate statement of its dogma, will take them up, develop them, broaden them, and make them more comprehensively profound." (The Improvement Era, 1906) The Articles of Faith 1:13 (Scripture) "...If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

Apologetics inherently require an element of “flexibility” with truth. The apologist has to lawyer the truth into representing the fiction. Ideological dishonesty is a bit harder to explain as dishonesty because like…they don’t think it’s dishonest most of the time. And if they do, it is dishonesty with the intention of leading back to their interpretation of reality. Breaking down your own perception of reality is psychologically painful and avoiding this pain is part of being a human being, most of the time.

@auntietravis In every context, but particularly for ideological or apologetic reasons.

Why do Christians lie so much?