Trinitarian

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. - First Article of Faith, LDS

This statement has caused a lot of controversy and none at the same time. It is really what sets us apart from the Christian community as a whole. Yet most Christians I've asked on the subject believe the same thing. Lemme break it down.

In Catholicism the incredibly confusing Nicean Creed contradicts itself up one side and down the other to reach a consensus about who God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are. The official interpretation of that document is that God has no form, is everywhere, is one being with 3 parts and eternal. That is the official Catholic stance.

In recent years I have heard a new word from the Protestant community: Triune. It is an appropriate term to define what the Catholics believe, which is that God, Jesus & HG are the same being. The reason for this distinction is that the word Trinity means a group of three. Triune means one thing with three distinct parts.

The Mormon Church believes in the Trinity, three distinct beings with one purpose. I do not find this surprising because if you worked with the same two people for hundreds of years (let alone millions) you might be in synch, knowing the will of the others and doing what they would need to be done. Hence also being one in purpose, mind and body.

Many people who read this might say "that's what I believe" and they wouldn't be alone. I have found that whether you're a Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical or other Christian you are inclined to believe in the Trinitarian God over the Triune God because it is easier to comprehend three beings that are one in unity. I also find the one triune being with three incarnations to be confusing as well. This is where Joseph Smith came in.

Joseph was similarly confused about this and religion alltogether. While inquiring in prayer he was visited by the Trinity who cleared up any confusion and confirmed what you all were thinking: that God and Jesus are two different people. They came at the right time to reestablish Christ's Church on the Earth. Any earlier and it would have been snuffed out being called heretics. Any later and it would have met the same fate. This time of the Second Great Awakening provided the opportune moment to restore what was lost with the Apostles.

So to reiterate what Joseph Smith said in the First Article of Faith. The LDS church believes in God and in Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Three distinct beings with one purpose. God being the Father of Jesus Christ and testifying of him just as Christ testifies of his father. The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth which is they are one in mind, body, and purpose, but not substance. I agree for many more reasons than I have stated here.

Be Trinitarian.

The Articles of Faith

Back in the beginnings of the Mormon faith there was a lot of buzz about what we actually believed. There were some good rumors, but mostly bad. In 1842 John Wentworth then editor of the Chicago Democrat wanted to know what the LDS church believed in. Instead of going to the man on the street, a baptist minister or a reporter down the hall he did something which would be considered unorthodox in today's journalism: He asked the leader of the Church, Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith was also of a mind to let anyone know who asked what we believe. He was cool like that. In writing his response he created probably the clearest list of what we actually believe. It compares well with the beliefs of other churches and doesn't split hairs. So complete and concise was this definititon that the church leaders have included them in the standard set of LDS scriptures.

Enough fanfare, here's the Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Over the next several months I will be expounding on the information held in these Articles. I hope to further inform and enlighten those interested in what we believe. You can also see LDS beliefs at their website.

Be concise.

Vaccinating Against Ignorance

One of Lisa's friends recently posted a video advocating a new cure for Autism:

So the basic gist is a couple really wanted a baby. They got a healthy baby. The doctor gave the baby evil vaccines that caused autism. The mother did research and found a homeopathic doctor. He cured the baby. He is now asking for your donations to help spread the word.

Clear Enough

I have a few problems with this video. The first being how parents stated in the video that they didn't see any symptoms until 2 months after the vaccinations. It takes less than two weeks for a vaccination to clear a person's system. If there was any damage to be done, it would have happened in those two weeks and would have shown up in that time. Even stretching out the time scale to a month still leaves another month without symptoms. My guess is that the child was going to develop autism with or without the vaccines.

But the studies...

You are right. There have been studies that say they show a correlation, but none have provided solid evidence (Weak Study Example, Article on MMR & the CDC). I do understand how someone could come to this conclusion. Statistics show as number of vaccines have increased the number of autism cases have increased. Also children receive a lot of vaccinations before the age of 5. Nearly all autism cases are diagnosed before age 5 and probably within a few months of a vaccination shot. So it is easy to see how a logical causation theory might evolve. However, the number of wireless devices, tickle me Elmos and complaints about Corporate America have increased during that same time. Children also go to McDonald's, grandparent's houses and have their diapers changed around the time of vaccines. Who's to say none of these are the cause?

OK, what else?

Glad you asked (I might've gone on ranting about the vaccines cause autism thing, I mean don't get me started on Jenny McCarthy. My friend Matt ranted about the vaccines are bad thing, I'm ranting, anyways). She found a book on Homeopathy and thought it looked promising. Really? Is this the same Homeopathy I've heard about? Here's a very good explanation of what Homeopathy is:

I can boil the whole industry down to one word "placebo." Placebos only work when the person they are given to thinks that they should work. Five year olds are not aware of psychological disorders, let alone having one. Also if it is in fact autism then the problem is caused a chemical imbalance or a genetic disorder. Either way it slows the development of certain parts of the brain causing a problem that cannot be fixed by a diluted solution or any other medication. That would be like trying to fix someone cut off at the knees with a pill. Unless you have a leg growing pill, that would be handy.

So, it worked.

Did it? Or did it work like a placebo on the parents? The child improved (which is totally awesome). I don't think it was the Homeopathic Acupuncturist (which is, by the way, not a doctor). If you take the Homeopathic remedy for a headache and you get better it doesn't mean it was the "Headache Medicine." On the box of homeo-aspirin it says it might take up to 12 hours to take effect. The average headache is gone within 12 hours.

But, the Testimonials.

They're just that, testimonials. I can say anything I want about a product. I can even create circumstances where people will believe and repeat what I say about the product. It does not, however change the fact that it is wrong and does not work. Learn for yourself if the information is true. An informed person is a safe person. Unless you've intercepted top secret Mafia/FBI/KGB/LDS/CIA/MSN/TLA papers, then you're in big trouble.

Be sensible.

The LDS Church Supports Gay Rights

On Tuesday (Nov 11^th, 2009) the Salt Lake City Council passed ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and educational institutions. Being that these ordinances involve equal treatment of gay and trans gendered individuals it is easy to assume that the LDS Church opposed them.

False

Yes, not only did the church not oppose them it actually gave it's support on the issues. You heard me right. The same church that supported a ban on gay marriage supported anti-discrimination laws for the same community.

Weird

That would be one word folks would use. Some groups used other words:

• Affirmation: "...applauds the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for endorsing the employment and housing non-discrimination act...It is commendable that the LDS Church is taking a step toward living up to its own teachings"
• Equality Utah: "This is a great step"
• Bishop Robinson (Gay Episcopal Priest): "And I think this may be the first gentle melting of what has been a pretty solid opposition on their part, and I really congratulate them for that."

Comin' Round

All this is fine and well. It doesn't surprise me a bit. Where I start running into a snag is when I hear statements like "the Mormon Church was at least at the very beginning of rethinking their stance," "it's nice to see them finally coming around," and my favorite "Proposition 8 was a big black eye for the church and now they are trying improve their image." This shows that most people don't know very much about the LDS Church.

The decision to support these ordinances fits right in with all our other doctrines. The late Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley has always counseled against hate and discrimination. In letters read in General Church meetings the leadership advocated to love our opposition. Even our own Articles of Faith state that people should be able to live according to their own conscience.

And the political stuff?

We have the unique opportunity in this country to not only vote our conscience, but to help persuade others to do the same. The LDS Church still does oppose gay marriage, as it always has. It still supports being civil with our brothers and sisters, as it always has. As for saving face, they don't care, they have never cared about what the rest of the world thinks about them. The LDS Church has never changed their doctrine to look good or to gain more members. They will, from time to time, become indignant or annoyed at other people's thoughts, but who doesn't. Such is the state of men.

Be aware.

Shredded Logic

I made a post in my other blog that was more consumer oriented, but I thought it had some skeptical elements as well. Go and read Consumer Lesson #5.

Be discriminating.

This Friday

I've never been one to memorialise anything. Other people's pain to me is just that, other people's pain. So, 8 years ago, when a tragedy happened thousands of miles away I reacted the same way I always do. I noted the tradgedy and went on with my day. The problem was the rest of my world couldn't seem to let this one go.

The terrorist attack that hit the United States on the 11^th of September 2001 seemed to linger on, and on, and on, and on. I really couldn't appreciate the true tradgedy of the disaster. Especially when other disasters were happening around the world. January 2001, 20,000 people died in India as a result of and earthquake, torrential rains and mudslides Venezuela 1999 killed 15,000, the North Korean famine from 1995-1998 killed an estimated 1,500,000 and no one was broadcasting it on TV on some channel 24 hours a day.

Now that the infamy has had sufficient chance to fade I am able to think about it without wincing. It was terrible, it was trajic and it was done to civilians. How weak. Worst of all, it was in the name of religion. How sad.

Here is a video placed on the LDS website commemorating the event happening this week (Spanish):

Hopefully we learned what we needed to from this experience. Some things are important (family, friends, our fellow men, etc.) and some are not (hate, ignorance, bigotry, etc.). If we're lucky, we can tell the difference.

Be peaceful.

Mormon Skeptics: Guest Post / Blog

I've had a few requests for information on Guest posts so I thought it would be a good idea to put guidelines for people to follow if they would like to create a guest post for this blog.

First I should state the purpose of this blog: To be skeptical from a Mormon viewpoint. Just because a person is religious does not mean they cannot apply critical thinking to everyday situations. So I try to find things either significant to religion, science or critical thinking in general and write about those things. Unlike a lot of skeptical blogs this one is not about tearing other people down though it might seem that way sometimes (see: Rant). It's all about clarity and information, so positive spins are appreciated.

I will review all articles before posting them. I might change the title or links to increase they're relevancy (SEO is my day job). I will add an image if you do not provide one. Feel free to submit information to guestposts ,at, mormonskeptic.com. Give me a couple of days to get back to you since I don't check my home email nearly as often as my work email.

Update 01/15/2012: I will be adding a link rel="me" pointing to your author page for guest posts. If you put a link back to the post or blog on your author site your picture will appear in Google for searches that include your post.

Be hospitable.