Stop the “fake” “mutant” Christian teens!

Hey kids! Did you know that your Christian friend may in fact be a “mutant”? According to some Christian minister-turned-author, today’s teens are only embracing a watered-down Christianity where God is viewed as a “divine therapist” whose chief goal is to boost people’s self-esteem (gasp! ) Obviously, this feel-goodery must be stopped!

Dean drew her conclusions from what she calls one of the most depressing summers of her life. She interviewed teens about their faith after helping conduct research for a controversial study called the National Study of Youth and Religion. [...] The study, which included in-depth interviews with at least 3,300 American teenagers between 13 and 17, found that most American teens who called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith. The study included Christians of all stripes — from Catholics to Protestants of both conservative and liberal denominations. Though three out of four American teenagers claim to be Christian, fewer than half practice their faith, only half deem it important, and most can’t talk coherently about their beliefs, the study found. Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good [...]

[Most] teens who are articulate about their faith [...] come from Mormon and evangelical churches, which tend to do a better job of instilling religious passion in teens, she says.

What ever shall we do to stop this horrifying new generation of “imposter” Christians whose takeaway from church is a nebulous belief in a God that wants them to be nice people and feel better about themselves?

Alas, summer is over

With school starting for many of you on Monday, summer has come to a close. This pie chart effectively sums up my summer experience. Hopefully yours was more active and fulfilling.  :)

I look forward to what SHAFT will accomplish this new academic year. And despite my having graduated and moved to Salt Lake, I still hope to attend some SHAFT events throughout the year.

Obama’s approval ratings by religious demographic

Not surprisingly, Mormons give President Obama the lowest approval ratings, and Muslims give him the highest. What I found newsworthy was that Obama’s ratings among atheists/agnostics was only 63%. I’m not sure how to interpret that statistic.  Does it mean there is significant political diversity among atheists/agnostics, or are we so overwhelmingly liberal that we are disappointed by how moderate Obama has been?

According to a poll conducted at this site, 48% of our readers are liberal, 23% moderate, 16% libertarian, 12% other, and 1% conservative.

Ezra Taft Benson: The peace sign is “the adversary’s signal”

In mining old conference talks for interesting quotes, it quickly became apparent that Ezra Taft Benson was among the most colorful and controversial conference speakers. The Glenn Beck of apostles, he would often rail against perceived communist threats and conspiracies from the conference pulpit. He taught that the civil rights movement was a front for communism and that public schools were established by Marxists for the propagation of atheism. But I recently found my favorite Benson quote:

Have we, as Moroni warned, “polluted the holy church of God?” (Morm. 8:38.) The auxiliaries of the Church are to be a help, not a hindrance, to parents and the priesthood as they strive to lead their families back to God. Do any of us wear or display the broken cross, anti-Christ sign, that is the adversary’s symbol of the so-called “peace movement”? – Ezra Taft Benson, October 1970 General Conference

Continue reading

Mormon sues LDS Church over baptism for the dead injury

From The Onion The Salt Lake Tribune:

A Las Vegas man is suing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for medical expenses after he injured his back in 2007 performing baptisms for the dead.

In a civil suit filed in 3rd District Court on Wednesday, Daniel Dastrup claims he suffered a severe herniated disk in his lumbar spine after performing about 200 baptism on Aug. 25, 2007. The then 25-year-old claims some of the young men and women he completely immersed in water in the name of the dead weighed as much as 250 pounds.

Continue reading

Do extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence?

Most of us would answer, “Of course!” We consider that evidentiary demand a truism. But Christian philosopher and apologist Dr. William Lane Craig disagrees, calling it a “demonstrably false” presupposition.

Something is awry in his argument from analogy, I think. That a particular number was the winning lottery number doesn’t strike me as “extraordinary.” There had to be a winning number—why not that one? Still, Craig’s objection is an interesting one. I’ve also heard him argue that, granting the existence of an omnipotent being, nothing is truly extraordinary.

LDS teachings on sex are contradictory and untenable

This post is loosely a part of my general conference series, but it also makes the case that LDS teachings on sex are contradictory and untenable.

First, consider what Mormon leaders historically taught regarding birth control:

The world teaches birth control. Tragically, many of our sisters subscribe to its pills and practices when they could easily provide earthly tabernacles for more of our Father’s children. … The first commandment given to man was to multiply and replenish the earth with children. That commandment has never been altered, modified, or canceled. The Lord did not say to multiply and replenish the earth if it is convenient, or if you are wealthy, or after you have gotten your schooling, or when there is peace on earth, or until you have four children. – Ezra Taft Benson, April 1969 General Conference

God made sex, but not for entertainment. It was provided for a divinely appointed act of creation in which we, to this extent, become co-creators with him. – Mark E. Peterson, April 1969 General Conference

[I]f anything were done to postpone [the responsibility of motherhood], the Church would become a party to birth control, and the Church will have nothing to do with that evil. – David O. McKay, April 1949 General Conference

Sexual laxity among young people, birth control, and intemperance are its insidious and vicious enemies. – David O. McKay, October 1947 General Conference

Another erosion of the family is unwarranted and selfish birth control. – Spencer W. Kimball, October 1979 General Conference

We hear so much about emancipation, independence, sexual liberation, birth control, abortion, and other insidious propaganda belittling the role of motherhood, all of which is Satan’s way of destroying woman, the home, and the family—the basic unit of society. – N. Eldon Tanner, October 1973 General Conference

The above is just a small sampling of the church’s statements on birth control. You can read many others at these links.

Continue reading