Watch the podcast here.| Arktos
John G. Turner— Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, published the Book of Mormon, which became a scripture alongside the Bible... READ MORE| Yale University Press
[Cross-posted to By Common Consent] | In Medias Res
Ian Angus, The War against the Commons: Dispossession and| In Medias Res
The Catholic apologist Trent Horn is so invested in church authority over scripture, that he finds common cause with Mormons against Protestants! Note that this implies that the mere form hierarchical authority is more important than having apostolic authority behind … Continue reading →| After Thought
My novelette "After the Earthquake a Fire" is now available as a 99¢ ebook. This story tells a fictionalized version of some of my experiences as a Mormon missionary in Idaho after I was ejected from Canada. If you finished...| Sinister Regard
This Deseret News article from Saturday, February 28, 1987, can tell you all about what got me arrested earlier that week, but it can't tell you what it was actually like to be a reluctant 19-year-old Mormon missionary in...| Sinister Regard
Well, maybe not everything. This Salt Lake Tribune article from Saturday, February 28, 1987, may tell you the basics of the central plot elements, but it doesn't tell you what it was actually like to be a reluctant 19-year-old Mormon...| Sinister Regard
An investigation by Truth & Transparency reveals that, in July 2020, the LDS Church owned 1,754,633 acres across the country with a minimum market value of $15.7 billion.| Truth & Transparency
This morning, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reported a total of $38.7 billion of holdings in the U.S. stock market. Truth & Transparency first reported on this topic in May 2018 by| Truth & Transparency
In May 2018 the Mormon Church was connected to 13 LLCs holding assets in the U.S. stock market worth over $32 billion. The public filings for the third quarter of 2019 for 12 of these LLCs show they are now worth a combined total of $34.9 billion.| Truth & Transparency
The following article discusses sexual abuse and child pornography Sometime in 2010 or 2011, Paul Adams went to his Mormon bishop and confessed to not only molesting his young daughter, but also videotaping those sexual encounters and distributing them on the internet. What happened next, or rather what didn’t| Truth & Transparency
In early February 2018, a twenty-year-old man named Benjamin Alyk contacted the Davis County Attorney’s Office in Utah and informed them that he was prepared to confess to having manufactured and distributed child pornography when he was 15 and 16 years old. Alyk met with Brent Baggs, Investigator for| Truth & Transparency
On April 2, 2019, Sterling Van Wagenen, noted film director and producer, was indicted in Utah on a single count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. An arrest warrant was issued on April 4 and Van Wagenen posted bail of $75,000 on April 8. The charge is a| Truth & Transparency
Last Thursday, President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church, took to the stand and rescinded a policy that caused a massive uproar in Mormonism. Leaked with the help of Truth & Transparency co-founder,| Truth & Transparency
A book exploring the life and teachings of Russell M. Nelson, current President of the Mormon Church, underwent a last minute edit before its public release on April 8, 2019. The publisher, Deseret Book, became aware that the book contained a faith promoting story with material inaccuracies.The story was| Truth & Transparency
A document received through an open records request by Truth & Transparency from the Sandy Police Department has revealed that Van Wagenen is currently under investigation for a sex offense. In February, Truth & Transparency released a recording in which Sterling Van Wagenen, a noted executive producer and director of| Truth & Transparency
In 2003, Alonzo Gaskill joined the faculty of the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University’s (BYU) College of Religious Education. Gaskill had just completed eight years working at the Mormon Church’s Institute of Religion, part of the Church Educational System (CES), in Palo Alto,| Truth & Transparency
Days after molesting David, Van Wagenen’s son's friend, Sterling Van Wagenen turned himself into police at the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office. In a transcript obtained by Truth & Transparency, Van Wagenen implies he was encouraged to turn himself in by his therapist in Provo, Utah. The name of| Truth & Transparency
