Want to hear all the extra content that was cut from the Mormon video? Want to know what went into making it? Drop by during my Director's Commentary on Twitch - twitch.tv/knowingbetteryt Sunday January 3, 2021 at 3pm Pacific.
Would you please make these videos without the music droning in the background? It doesn't help your content. After just a couple minutes I want that music to stop. I'm so bummed because I want to keep listening to your essay / story but the music just drives me away. 😟
I was a boy scout. Religion sounds a lot like what fraternities do. I'm a naturalist. I did not have a father, and I made it my mission in life to nurture a child *and* provide for it. It's not the end of the world and we can still stop killing all the fish in the ocean if we want to. My father abandoned us when I was 4 months old. I had all kinds of issues, I was named Christopher and I believed once that I saw ghosts in a church playing a pipe organ and stuff like that. I am a supporter of the theory of evolution and a biologist. Nature gives me reverence beyond the mortal veil because in the end nature is what decides, controlled by a divine entity or otherwise. As a scientist I accept that there are truths we will never discover and I accept religious people. I am grateful for this video. Thank you. I added you when you made the 4K resolution video.
Very big details left out here, and I can’t help but think a lot of this was intentional (you even acknowledged the preferred name of the church and refused to use it. As a Black man, I can’t tell you how familiar this seems). Specifically with regard to “curses” involving skin color, the number of Saints actually killed through mob violence - which was ignored when pled directly to the POTUS by Joseph Smith Jr, failing to mention the BSA’s grapple with child abuse allegations and their ending their faith-based merit programs during the same time period, and failure to note that Brigham Young’s opinion (nor any prophet’s opinion) does not constitute doctrine - the Blacks and the Priesthood history in the church is correctly cited when it end, but there is no doctrinal documentation as to when it began. Just a few (not all) of my thoughts as a Black, LDS, Progressive RM that is perhaps a bit more familiar with the history and doctrine of my own religion than the average Joe (Mormon). I’d be happy to discuss with anyone who has questions and will try to catch your Twitch tomorrow.
Can we just take moment to appreciate the fact that all of the "regular guy" scenes were filmed first, and then he shaved his beard before filming the missionary scenes? That's dedication!
Granted, if the end of the world is supposed to be the return of your deity to create heaven on earth it vaguely makes sense for it to be disappointing
@@aquamarinerose5405 for a semi serious answer (as one of those people waiting for the world to end) the apocalypse just means getting revenge on the evil of this world and making a new one where the entity that created you will keep you happy and you will suffer no more.
Wow, I grew up LDS (before becoming an atheist) and most of this information is new to me. I had no idea about the succession crisis or the distinction between LDS and Mormons. I also appreciate that this is mostly presented in an educational way and not necessarily a take-down of Mormons. Great video!
Yeah, his has the best tone I've yet encountered. He's snarky sure, but respectful at the same time. I honestly don't know how he does it😅 Love his work!
My family separated when polygamy ended, some stayed with the main LDS and others FLDS. His information is good however, he doesn't mention Joseph Smith told Emma the leadership of the church would pass down to his son. Emma stayed in Nauvoo after Joseph died, and raised her son to be the prophet of the RLDS (Reorganized LDS, which changed their legal name several years ago). The RLDS church still own the original Nauvoo temple.
I was Mormon for 35 years, went on a mission, married in the temple, the whole deal. This is by far the most accurate explanation of Mormonism by an outsider I’ve ever seen. Well done!
Yes You die, go to heaven, Netflix and chill with your bride(s), have lots of children with super powers, and then make an appearance on earth after the second coming of Christ. So, it's something like Afterlife meets Actraiser...if that makes any sense.
She was in on the con, there is no way someone so close to Joseph would not see the fraud for what it was. It also makes one wonder why she waited several months before she joined her husbands church.
@@dr33776 To me it sounds like she knew it was a lie but didn't want to participate. She didn't out it, maybe she didn't care enough stop it, maybe love or a sense of loyalty to her husband, or maybe she was afraid of him. But either way, though, Joseph Smith saying "God said he'd destroy you if you don't go along with this" is obvious code for "if you don't go along with it I will murder you and make it look like an accident," and she called his bluff.
I'm not sure that even really happened but I am sure that Brigham Young hated Emma, probably because she wouldn't be one of his wives. It is cool either way. I feel like it might have been made up at that time to discredit Emma though. But who knows. 😂
@@VMohdude- actually that is still what he means. Jesús is the Spanish pronunciation, just like Joshua is an anglicized pronunciation of the Jewish translation of Jesus: Yeshua. Yeah just like the Muslims and Muhammad, Christians have been naming their children after Jesus for centuries.
@@francomuscellini1744 The United States of America is a country commonly called America. This is similar to the fact that there is no country called 'Argentina' there is however, the Argentine Republic
@@francomuscellini1744 the Republic of Argentina did take the name of the land that was there and named their sovereign government after the land. America is named the US of A. America was named after Amerigo, Italian cartographer who believed the land Columbus sailed to was a seperatr continent from the rest of the known world at the time. So the settlers named it the United States of America. What were we supposed to name it? Lol
I wanted a book of Mormon but didn't wanna pay for one so I signed up for one and one of the elders who brought it to me was literally named Elder Elder. I had to force myself not to laugh
@@samin8ter That's hilarious! I'd describe him but he looked so stereotypically Mormon Missionary (was p tall I guess) that I'd be describing half of Utah. (He was actually very polite about me being up front that I wasn't interested in conversion but wanted to better understand them and their beliefs.)
As an ex-mo, one of the things that originally made me start to question my faith was the fact that “god never changes, but the church does.” Like what?? There are just so many contradictions and I’m honestly really glad that I’m not a part of it anymore.
Yep. That's an issue one very often has to put up with. Someone saying that things need to be "modernized". They were designed modern from the start, they need not change according to our whims and fashions.
For me as an exmormon it was requiring a man to get me to heaven. During before school seminary I read my way out of the church being true. I felt the New Testament contradiction was too much to get past. Christ died to save my soul not that knuckle head stepfather I was sealed to. I left in 1978 when I was 18 which was also a time of turmoil over the change of doctrine allowing blacks to hold the priesthood. For me that was an example that the church must not be true. If God had put his correct church back on earth in these”latter days”. He wouldn’t have got that wrong 30 years before the civil war. A true and loving god would have given a correct doctrine to help save the lost of life that came 3 decades later, with the civil war. Brigham Young had to be a false prophet. Also at that time leading up to the 1978 change were many racist members that were quite loud and angry about considering this change allowing black men full membership into the priesthood. The transition wasn’t as painless as the church would have you believe. Many angry men went full fundamentalists Mormon instead of agreeing. The fundamentals never accepted the change, You won’t find black FLDS they do not recruit them.
@@tjacobw This is an opinion piece, not education - it's not even education on the criticisms of the Mormon church. Skepticism, like the Justice Left, lacks the ability to discern its own opinions from fact. It's why he honestly thanks his own Discord denizens for ratifying its purported "fairness and accuracy." If a Trumpkin came out with a video supposedly "proving" that China elected Biden and thanked his own fans for making sure the presentation was "fair and balanced," we'd rightly laugh until the cows come home. That nobody is doing the same here is itself testament to the fact that both movements have long lost their way. Seriously, please consider leaving these movements behind. You don't even have to give up the ideals they proclaim - just leave the movements and search for truth entirely on your own. If you already did such a search and claim to have ended up coming to rest here, I beg you to reconsider. It has its own rigidity, its own exceptionalism, and its own blind spots, one of them being this very sentence (how's that for recursion?). I was in it for fifteen years, and that time is time I can never, ever get back. And if you wish to reply, no, I'm not LDS.
the two-three witnesses rule is also a good excuse to push sexual abuse/assault/harassment allegations under the rug and many cults have a similar doctrine
I guess God never foresaw that people one day would have video cameras or even more unforseeable - portable mobile phones with each one being a video camera. What kind of Prophets are they when they can't foresee the future?
@@Decision_Justicethe way I see it, as a catholic, is that the bible was passed down for the people of there time, with Christ's lessons being for the people of his time
@@brian5128 He did a good job. Its one of the better attempts ive seen as well. Im not saying he got everything wrong. It's an hour long video with alot of information. Theres quite a bit thats twisted or slanted. Half truths, cultural ideas or teachings presented as canon that have never been in our official canon, etc. Theres enough wrong that we shouldn't be encouraging people to trust this video as an authority on what we believe.
@señor pepper Not really. I safely assume you're referencing the recently highlighted family massacre showcased on the news? I do not have any statistical data in front of me but I feel comfortable saying murdering one's entire immediate nuclear family then yourself is a pretty rare & phenomenal occurrence (amongst Mormons or _ANY_ practiced religions of the day). Yeah, I'd say those situations are outliers.
Former Mormon here, born, raised, baptized, and temple married. This is great. Unbiased as well as unapologetic. Very informative without feeling like an attack.
I saw some mormon girls on a mission in Belfast once. They were super nice but they were extremely pushy about their faith while asking about my beliefs within seconds of meeting which at the time I felt was extremely rude and invasive. That was until I actually went to the U.S and lived there for 4 years when I realised thats just how devoutly religious Americans act in general
@@Shythalia no need to apologise. I met a lot of mormons after a while in the U.S and a lot of them were extremely nice and not pushy whatsoever. It was only the missionaries I had an issue with. The worst religious experiences I had there was always with southern baptists. It felt like their whole faith was based on division and having a problem with anyone who lived their lives differently in any kind of way. In comparison, Mormons were dead on, at least they didn't scoff at me for being an atheist or coming from a Catholic background
@@matchuBBG yeah oh and luckily the Baptist church don't recognize the "southern Baptist church" as Baptist there mainly seen as what they are a religious hate group
@@cosmosisrose not really. We have them but our divisive problems is amd always have been over national identity mate. The only religious angle is that Catholics represent the Irish republic and Protestants represent Britain. Trust me bror our churches are ghost towns these days because we're all too busy going out and getting fucked up on Sundays or just not playing the god game anymore
He has a loooot of other issues going on that contributed to the fallout, including molestation in the boy scouts which would naturally sour one's opinion on the subject. (I'm not a fan of the program and am glad to see it go. Not a fan of the MLM girl scouts, either, for that matter.) Seems like a cool guy, though.
I just wanna say that, as an atheist, mormon afterlife actually makes way more sense for a loving god, assuming that the "outer darkness" is legitimately just being stuck out in the darkness with the other evil bastards
And considering LDS scriptures uses words like "intelligences" to describe premortal life and spirits? Or that the biblical creation myth is rather closely aligned with modern models of dark/light, land/sea, fishes of the sea > birds of the air (dinosaurs) > cattle and all the creeping things on the earth > humans and such? Or that in the Book of Mormon, Alma 32, the entire premise of that IS the scientific method? Paraphrased, "If you question something, test it out. Plant the seed and let it grow. If it's a good seed keep it, if it's a bad seed discard it. That is how you will know the truth in all things, by their fruits ye shall know them." The faith is based on personal responsibility and accountability, questioning every aspect of the faith and forming your own personal testimony through lived experience, not blindly following leadership but trusting them and/or standing up if prompted by the Holy Spirit, and so many more aspects that a topical look at standard Mormon culture with it's funeral potatoes and casseroles ignores. I have failed to come across any other religion in my studies that actively tells and expects it's practitioners to question their own leadership and come to their own conclusions. Sure Mormonism has some arbitrary rules, like don't date until 16 or no premarital, out of wedlock sexual activity, but under the context of God as a loving parent to all humans and expecting His children to have the best shot in life? It makes logical sense that a God who understands that would set basic expectations for his children to follow, in the best interest of everyone involved. It's all about perspective and logic, which is lacking in so many other religious practices.
No. The afterlife sucks! You don’t actually get to rest in peace. You get to play missionary for God as a dead spirit, and convert other dead spirits who weren’t Mormon in spirit prison. This is part of the afterlife before the second coming of Christ. They’re becoming your own god and creating planets and shit doesn’t happen until after that. And from what I remember, that’s not gonna be a lot of humanity getting to become those gods. so glad I left that awful church! At this point, I have more of a testimony that this church isn’t true, and I could never go back to it.
I met Mormon mission guys in Moscow, Russia. The outside program is super strange. They are like: hi, it sucks that Jesus was born and lived in the country far away from yours and you don't feel special for him. But what if he lived in another country far away from you, would you feel better with Jesus now?
I saw them a few times in Prague, they have a big and nice embassy there near Hradčanská. They are nice because they do free english classes for kids but I am not sure that they have much success in a country where when you are any kind of religious person the people see you as super weird...
@@TheoEvian I only spent a semester in the Czech Republic (Ostrava in particular) but I got the impression you guys are pretty into Catholicism, at least to my Eastern-orthodox brain.
@@retardedfishfrogs1 Well, Ostrava is one of the parts where catholicism still exists as a viable community, but 90% of Czechs are basically atheists or do not really care about religion.
Everyone talking about the "binders full of women" quote, but there are a number of other Mitt Romney references in this video, such as "Corporations are people, my friend."
I recall many fellow Christians not voting for Mitt Romney as president because they didn't want the country to be run by a cult leader. Fortunately these are mostly the same friends who also didn't want to vote for Trump, for different, yet painfully similar reasons.
As an ex-Mo, you were incredibly gracious, accurate, and fair while still pointing out some bullshit. This is the only one of MANY Mormon analysis videos I genuinely think I could share with my still-believing family and they wouldn't have much issue with it- and it might even make them self-analyze! This was the first video I've ever seen of yours but I will now be watching more. Thank you, thank you for your intellectual integrity!
@@SQUELCH-zj7il The whole point of the video is "mormons are aware of all of these criticisms, and have rationalizations/justifications that may not be persuasive to a non-Mormon but are not total crap" so it shouldn't be that surprising.
TH-cam in 2025: _here is a six hour video on the origins of toilet paper usage in America and how it's tied to colonialism and probably the Kellogg family_
Fun fact: several LDS prophets taught that Jesus was conceived by God having literal physical sex with Mary. Modern members would probably deny it though; the LDS church is well-practiced in gaslighting its members about old teachings.
I have a memory (I'm 72, so it may be inaccurate 😎) that the revelation that allows black priests came after a black LDS man who was a boy scout volunteer wanted a certain promotion which LDS rules limited to priests. So he sued. His chances of destroying the LDS/BSA union if he won was suddenly followed by the revelation. I read an article at the time about Pacific Islanders being amused by the LDS racial hierarchy. 6he Church arbitrarily decided that the people on Island A were black, while the folks on Island B were not. But the people on these islands knew they were closely related.
Sounds like the church, if it had persisted in gripping onto that DOCTRINE, would have faced another saga comparable to the one that led to the 1890 Manifesto. The church pragmatically decided to take the easy, shortcut route this time.
A lie. No lawsuit was even in the mix. What was the case name? What court was it brought in? How was it resolved? If you can't provide this information (and I know you can't), shut up.
@@JohnDLee-im4loGo to Wikipedia, in the Black People and Temple and Priesthood policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The references of 102, 41, 125 at the "1970s White LDS oppositio to ban" section talk about this lawsuit of Black Boy Scouts being banned of acting as patrols leadres.
As a former Mormon who still loves a lot of people in the church: I really appreciate how you point out the flaws without being disrespectful. Even tho some could argue it is warranted 🤦🏼♀️ It’s just nice to hear a pretty objective discussion and my only bone to pick is I’ve literally never heard a Mormon call the BoM “the golden Bible” 😂
Growing up Mormon, I heard people say "the golden bible", but usually only used in jest when mocking anti-mormons who used to mock the BOM. I'm also exmo too now :)
I'm also a former Mormon. Although I'd never bring it up around my Mormon relatives and acquaintances, I'm fond of Mark Twain's B of M description. "Chloroform in print."
Ditto. I've left the church and grew up in Utah, and the term "Golden Bible" was never used by members. If anything, it was actually a dog whistle to let members know that the speaker wasn't a member, and was likely (at least in their eyes) anti-Mormon.
The boy scout connection is interesting. I am an eagle scout and I can attest to the huge involvement of the LDS church, however in my experience our local scout council always encouraged religious freedom. Reverence could be towards anything, even just having respect for nature, the earth, your family and humankind. We even had a few Hindi and Punjabi kids in my troop and a lot of kids without practicing religions. Religion wasn't really a thing in my experience and it was more about developing leadership, communication skills, team building, and overcoming adversity. That being said I grew up in California and I could see others having a very different experience.
Wonderful post! May I add? Just want to say I was a boy scout and my father Scout Leader encouraged me to attain Eagle. I too can say I loved the absolute ecumenical outreach I felt in the west side of Chicago with our troop, and even the northern reaches of Wisconsin as a scout spending time with diverse number of different troops of **ALL OF greater Chicagoland** at a single summer camp - the span of the highlight of every summer between me and my brothers. It has to be said that the.. religious aspect... of Scouts was always there but... besides the point! It was always nice that everyone's religion was mentioned, like in the background, like everyone had a religion or came from one. But ecumenically the religious aspect of Scouts was taught from the movement's beginning as respectful of ALL religions, be it Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Islam, or Buddhist, or animist. I meant, it was OPEN. Scouts made it OK to be OK with everyone because we were all SCOUTS. There's something about recognizing foreign Scouts in your uniform. I tell you, my Dad wouldn't have become a part of it in the 70's and I wouldn't have learned what I learned as a kid because of it in the 80's if the Scouts wasn't a damn good organization that deserves our support
I am an eagle scout and within my troop there was a fairly active LDS and Jewish community leading to us getting to experience Jewish ceremonies sometimes during times of prayer or reverence, it was really cool.
Eagle Scout’s mom, here. My son was a scout during the aught years to 2010s, when admission of gay members or leaders was outlawed, and the “reverence” requirement was clearly described in the handbook (I don’t have it now, but it was something akin to being unable to be the best person you could be without a belief in God, and that any religion with a belief in God was okay). Our local troop and council didn’t stress those things, so we didn’t have an issue with it. However, we did notice that in the old “Boys Life” magazines (now “Scout Life”), there was special corner that always had a Judeo-Christian Old or New Testament story, but nothing else. For one of his merit badges, my son wrote the editor to ask why they never have stories from other religious texts. He never got a response. I wonder if the new “Scout Life” magazine does - for educational purposes, if for nothing else.
@@dino0228 Scout here; they don't. Recently they've been on a path against anti-inclusivity material in the Scouts, one of which removed the references to a scout needing to be religious, and all Bible-specific references. There are still a lot of medals and badges for religion, but it is more of a formality than anything.
Sixtee_ That’s good to hear. My kid was in Cub Scouts just before the decision to allow girls and trans kids and my whole family was pushed out of Scouts because we’re atheist. In my area it’s evangelicals that controlled most things Scout-related and the leader was rather angry that my husband didn’t start each meeting with a prayer, that my kid didn’t say “Amen” when she held a prayer (even though he sat quietly, head bowed, hands in lap), and the final straw was when she pushed to require the boys to attend church 2-3 Sundays a month. There was a specific church she wanted them to attend at least one of those Sundays. We weren’t the only parents deeply unhappy with this, but we were the only ones encouraging the unhappy parents to speak up and voice their concerns. The leader got angry that we were ruining her plan to “win more souls for Jesus” and started spreading rumors about us to the other evangelical members. There were enough of them that they basically shunned us and froze us out. I didn’t care so much for me, but those parents told their kids that my son is “evil” and “possessed by Satan” simply because his parents are atheists. It broke my heart having my 8-year-old come to me crying asking what he did wrong and why none of his friends will talk to him. He asked if I could teach him how to “pretend to be a Christian so they’ll like me again.” It’s been 4 or so years, but I’ll never forgive the adults that did that to my child nor the organization that encouraged and bred that kind of behavior. So if they’ve changed, I’m very glad.
This is the part of religion that I get and don't get at the sametime. I get that ending the world would mean that a lot of people would well acend to heaven, but is it stated in the Bible that the only reason it would happen is because mankind f*ed up by becoming aholes and by wanting the world to end not sound off but is also slightly Heretical.
I was friends with a Navaho medicine-woman (last of her bloodline that wished to practice) who was Mormon. We spoke a lot about how hard it was to be Mormon when the LDS church actively discriminated against her people and preached that she was a Navaho because her ancestors were evil. The dichotomy between those beliefs and her Navaho beliefs of the power and guidance of her ancestors was extremely interesting and difficult for her to reconcile. Side note she was tough as nails and we biked 4,000 miles together across America while she had a broken tailbone.
Oh shit. I am native new mexican and native american (not together in that order, no relation) That is kind of cool. For me, as someone who is agnostic but giving beliefs a second chance, I would simply say it was a different time. I study history for fun, if I had to take the actions of humans from the past and bring it to the present, obviously it is going to be easy to critique. But in truth, humans are kind of just cruel to one another regardless of belief. It is the same for natives, I am aztec and we infamously loved to sacrifice people for the gods. It is the same for every religion and even non religion. If I thought religion would eliminate evil, I would be like Dawkins and a new atheist. But I am not. Humans are evil (and good). End of story. On a side note, most Navajo are generally more of a mix of religion. Most in name are christian with their own beliefs tied into it. I would argue it is very common for most natives to be part of an abrahamic religion with heavy folk influences. So I would say reconciling this is not as hard as you might think. Especially since unless you are a religious fundamentalist, most beliefs are pretty personal so people will have trouble reconciling some things over others. It is part of the territory of spirituality and ‘religion’.
There's an even deeper dive that is fascinating...the channel MythVision has a series on the Mormon "Council of Fifty" that Joseph Smith created to make him President of the U.S. and turn the U.S. into a Theocracy (there were no term limits for a President in those days) with himself as King. His Motto was "Joseph Smith or the Sword."
Hey, former CStist here. Family was never formal members of the church because of health reasons with one of my parents, but we went for years and years and the comment that replied to yours basically sums up my experience with the faith. I'm curious to know how your experience has differed here.
There’s a Christian scientist meeting place down the street from the neighborhood my townhouse is in. It’s basically a single family home with a sign out front and a library. My wife says her dad would take her and her brother and sister to one back on the 90s. She said because he was a chemist and worked for Glaxo Smith Kline and knew full well that objective science is real, he had to reconcile it with his Christian beliefs. I respect that, because he is no long affiliated with any church after he left one back in the early 2000s because my wife wasn’t baptized and the church wanted to force him to get her baptized. He said no thanks and severed ties with them.
@@brantisonfire that is so interesting. We had a similar place in my neighbourhood growing up (less a library and more a residency for the sick/ elderly to be treated through prayer, etc.) It's funny you say he was a chemist because the amount of scientists, doctors and other health professionals who attended service was not insignificant. I personally never remember hearing any stress placed on baptism. I was a kid when this was all happening however so maybe there is a lot I never heard about. As Christians go, they were more open-minded than what we're used to. The dogmatic part was a. their need for members to disavow medication, b. over time subtle correcting of speech if you said something they would consider "incorrect" and c. not finding out right away when a member had died because of their beliefs.
As a former/inactive member of the church I REALLY appreciated this take. It was fairly critical without turning into one of those videos that just spews hate. Thanks for this. I really liked your manner of providing two perspectives on several touchy topics. :)
While there were many things right about this video, there were many other things that were wrong. For example, the belief that prophets are infallible. Current mormons do not believe many things that Brigham Young said, that were not doctrine (especially with regards to race). Joseph Smith did not hold Young's views to race, as he baptized and conferred the priesthood to several black men. This is just one of many inaccuracies. It felt like a decent retelling, but there were some obvious potshots and misleading context.
@@kevinwilde3814 KB mentioned existing black priest when Young started the ban (38:39). Which is enough to infer your second "inaccuracy" (really, a reasonable omission). His mormon character also expressed their opinion on segregation (43:59), and I can't find any instance of KB claiming that mormons believe the prophet is infallible. What missing context do you have that shows that parts of the video are misleading?
@@kevinwilde3814 Does the membership hold what President Nelson teaches over-the-pulpit as doctrine and revelation as infallible? I'd say most do. Can the prophet ever lead the Church astray? No. Former prophets with problematic doctrine is chalked up to fallibility and being a "product of their time". But the current, living prophet, when acting as a "prophet"?
Has there been a Knowing Better episode about schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder? That seems like an obvious topic given all the alter-egos.
I watched this when it came out, back when I was fully in. I thought it was too critical and unfair. Now that I'm on the outside looking in, I see that you held back a lot and could have been far more critical and still be completely accurate.
@@kylecook7187Broadbent's was my Uncle John and Aunt Alyce's store. I know their kids ran the store after they passed and closed the doors several years back. Longest family owned mercantile in the state.
“So you’re supposed to have an account-a-billa-buddy?” I bout’ fucking died at that part. Even the god-squad wants to know where your battle buddy is, haha.
I'll have to google it. But I'm pretty sure it was a (retaliation against a) Mormon settlement on Klendathu that sets off the events that brings Johnny Rico into the Mobile Infantry. Edit: It was Port Joe Smith on planet Dantana... But it was Mormon as I remembered. :P
Including Joseph Smith himself, who hated the idea, and never had sex with any of his other "wives." It was more a means to help provide for widows and other women who couldn't provide for themselves, as well as help with their spiritual progression. Not how we would typically think of a marriage.
@@KnuttyEntertainment it's not like we need to marry widows or disenfranchised women in order to help them... Christians have been doing charitable work for such women for literally millenia while remaining monogamous.
For hating it, he certainly embraced it, even before the sealing power was restored. Emma was wife #25 (24 women sealed to JS before his first wife). Me thinks you need to read up on the doctrine and practice. Also, are you proposing that JS broke the commandment as described in D&C 132 by not doing this for the purpose of creating children?
Uhhh... what? Joseph married Emma in 1827, at age 21. For context, he hadn't even received the golden plates yet. So there was no book of mormon yet, no church yet, and certainly no doctrine and covenants yet. But sure, Joseph already had 24 wives by age 21. And Joseph did have children... with Emma! You have to be trolling here.
This was the video that gave me the kick in the ass I needed to actually question what I was taught growing up a mormon. Today, I just submitted my letter of resignation!! EDIT: AS OF TODAY, APRIL 11TH, I AM OFFICIALLY OUT
Thanks for this. I used to be a Mormon. I first watched this when I was reconsidering my belief in Mormonism around 6 months ago, and it was one of the many videos that helped me question and process my faith.
It's good that you left Mormonism, cause i's a lie. You should still believe in Jesus though, he's true. Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:25-27 (predicts the year Jesus would come) Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 22- A few of the many prophecies that predicted Jesus hundreds of years in advance. If you believe in him, you'll have eternal life- and it's free. You don't need to earn it yourself, like the Mormons teach.
@@gage2787 This is the truth. This is what the whole bible confirms. God gave us free will to choose. We chose rebellion, and we still do. And God can't let us go unpunished, but he offers salvation, if you choose, by believing Jesus bled on that tree, while taking every sin of the world onto his completely sinless body. You can't just wait til judgement day to make a decision, you never know when you will die. Someone dies every 1.92 seconds. And 10% of deaths are sudden and unexpected. Repent(turn, or change from) your sins, and believe in the Lord. Then do good works because you appreciate the love given to you, not because you expect something in return.
Black people are just people and are just as susceptible as anyone else. Like sovereign citizens, I have met quite a few black ones and as a black man I find that crazy.
There are plenty of married couples that decide to serve missions together. They are generally of retirement age. Missionaries that are not married work together with one or more companions of the same sex , but that does not mean that the men and women don't talk to each other or work together.. When I served a mission I was in the same congregation as my missionary friends that were women for about half of my mission.
*Omg I just realized something!!* I watched about half of this video when I first found this channel. I thought it was confusing and I couldn't keep track of what he was talking about. After checking out most of K.B.'s other videos (and meeting these other characters), I now think this one this so well done! I love that he strings them all together so well!
Jesus: I'm literally a transcendent being whose true form burns angels who look at it. Karen: Wait isn't that Yahweh Jesus: I am Yahweh... and for that you get hell.
In the beginning year of 1776, GAWD almighty created Murica and it was great but then, Satan sent the British to invade Murica cuz he was jealous that Murica was so great. Then GAWD sent Jesus to save Murica and preach the right to own guns. Evrywun was so jealous of Murica that Satan sent Barack HUSSEIN Obama Bin Laden to curse Murica with Islam and Communism and Godlessness. Then GAWD almighty sent Trump down from the heavens to make Murica great again and he'll kick out the Mexicans just like Jesus would. The religion of American exceptionalism.
You have hymns (national anthem, battle hymn of the republic) , prayers you say to a sacred icon (pledge of allegiance, flag), catechisms (muh freedom). And you get violently defensive if someone criticises or messes with any of the above.
@@ASS_ault Nah, just a European. I find the extent to which americans like to preach the merits of their way of life extremely stark - especially when backed up by its continuing decline.
16:39 man i damn near started having flashbacks when you started going over the articles of faith lmfao. i was born and raised in the Church, and i had those things memorized as a kid. it was a bit disconcerting seeing how much of them i could still recite word for word along with you 😅 edit: 46:53 also it may not be official doctrine, but anecdotally there was absolutely some folk belief that garments could facilitate bodily miracles. my dad was in a serious logging accident and my mom swore up and down that the only reason he didn't bleed out was because of his garments. edit x2: lol @ the tapir plush at 53:16. nice little nod to the more hardcore mormon apologetics debunking that you (very refreshingly imho) refrained from
As someone who grew up in Utah, and had a religious extended family but never really went to church myself, this whole video really clears a lot of stuff up
Another inaccuracy of this video in a list too long to take the time to type. Im a member and it was never presented as the "law of witnesses" in order to convince me. This video even quotes that the source for this is the bible, so really its not a "mormon" thing, but a bible thing, and the way God operates in the bible. If lds also happen to have 2 or more witnesses to support their claims, its definitely not proof of anything except that they're being consistent with the biblical model and how God presents His word to mankind.
@@juliopenaloza5655 the difference is, the way its shown in the bible is more akin to "dont place to much trust in eyewitnesses if you only have 1" which is sensical, while as he said, their interpretation is more akin to "if 3 people say its true it must be true"
The "Law of witnesses" just refers to the importance of things being shared by more then one source, perspective or opportunity. This was mostly a good video, far better then most on the subject. There are some errors, this being the most important to clarify: the three witnesses are not intended as proof the book of Mormons authenticity. Their intention is to share their experiences. The last chapter of the book of Mormon says people should read the book and ask God if the book is true. This is almost never said about the book of Mormon, but it's the most important thing about it. I have been a member for a long time, and I have never heard of anyone claiming the book was true because of the three witnesses. We may be overly interested in the three witnesses, that may lead to confusion, and I don't fault the youtuber for this conclusion. The video does a great job of telling enough detail about them, in a cleaver and brief way. But, they are not important to the burden of proof. People have to find out for themselves if the book of Mormon is from God or just a well written book. Calling Jesus on you phone for answers only works in the youtube universe. The book of Mormon says you have to study it and ask if it's true with "real intent", so being honest and sincere is needed. I'm not trying to preach, but this is about religious beliefs, and this is what the beliefs are for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in my words. Thanks Knowing better, I feel like you put a lot of effort into being fair.
@Bakuboy's Talk, Thank you for your honest reply. Asking questions is the foundation of learning and there is always more to learn about everything. The book of Mormon says, “..he (Jesus Christ) denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” (2 Nephi, chapter 26, verse 32-33). So about racist, homophobic, sexist and brainwashing accusations. It would be an error to think that what is now known about ourselves is all there is to know. So something could seem evil, but if we are missing information about it, our conclusions however logical may still be in error. I will discuss what you wish. Racism: Africans have always been a equally loved by God, why they had the priesthood then it was removed then was given back, I honestly don't know. In ancient Israel only one tribe could be priests, the Levites, the other eleven could not. I don't know why this was so either. One teaching to understand is the Priesthood is not supposed to be about being cooler then the have-nots, it's about service. It's our weak nature that drives us to make things into a status symbol. Jesus washed the feet of this Apostles, there is much meaning in that. Anyone who serves others will enrich themselves, and bring good in the world. No one needs the priesthood to be acceptable to God, or be equal with others. God only asks that we do that right thing as Jesus taught. So it's a matter of Faith that the Prophets that Knowing Better Channel has talked about are following direction from God. I easily see how it looks bad, it just comes down to faith. The teachings have always been to treat all people as Jesus would treat them. Next, homophobia, in history people have often thought this subject was understood. There is always more to learn about everything, and right now we still don't know everything there is to know about homosexuality. With sex being such an all encompassing part of biology, I don't see how people would choose to be homosexual, rather it's likely something they have little to no control over. We are all born with things that make us different. There are infinite ways of being different. We believe the hard and unfair things of this life are part of a bigger plan, in which we will learn important things one step at a time, so at some point after this life we can live at peace with ourselves, our loved ones and God. What we are like when we are born is part of that plan from God. We likely will not know the reasons why we are the way we are, but as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints we are given teachings to follow and those teaching we believe come from God and will ultimately will bring good to the world and to us. So it comes down to faith like knowing better says. I may also come down to Latter-day saints asking for patience from people of other beliefs, while we follow what we believe God has told us to do regarding homosexuality. You also wanted a response about sexism. The Earth is full of living things, all of them very different, yet all special in some way. It seems to me God's creations strongly have this idea of uniqueness everywhere. Women and Men are equal yet not the same. Being the same is overrated. There is error in thinking we have learned enough instead of being willing to learn more about what the differences are and how they very and how they are truly equal but different. Also what of the possibility that women and men can achievement great things working together because of their uniqueness. If we expect women to be the same as men, we may miss out on what makes them special as they are. The things we value, and take glory in, are often not the things that God values and takes glory in, Isaiah in the bible says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (See Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8). So when others see sexism in this church, I see women always being important in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, infinity important, so much so there is no adequate description that would be enough to communicate it. About sexism, our society would be stronger, happier and more intelligent, if we always took care to not harm, or to disregard women. We should not negatively interfere with them, when they reach their unique potential, it will benefit humanity like never before I believe. Joseph Smith taught that it is in the relationship of women and men, that we will find the enlightenment that we need, to live peaceful and happy in the life to come. Many religions often use the idea of balance between different things, in order for two things to be greater then the sum of their parts. There have been some changes in the past two years, that will help this balance to improve. I have been taught and have been lead by some amazing women in this church. There are positions in the Church that have always only been held by men. If God truly wants it that way, maybe there is something more to learn, and I believe when we have fully learned what that is, we sill not see women as inferior to men. Sexism, or any mistreatment of women will inhibit men from achieving their potential. I keep going back to what knowing better said, it's a question of faith. If you have faith, then you believe that if there is something you don't yet understand, that God will show you when you are ready. I know I'm not talking to specific things people may be upset about, but I'm already making this too long. Your last item, that I'm brainwashed. All people religious or not are a bit brainwashed. It's one reason why life is so confusing. I'm just as limited as everyone else. As a kid I thought I would never be religious as an adult, because religion seems silly. Now I find there are things all over different religions and in science that intrigue me. Truth is all over the place, but it takes lots of work and honesty, to sort through and find the truth and the errors and all the things in between. We are given a promise in the bible that we can have help from God with searching for truth and hopefully identify brainwashing, bias, or arrogance and overcome it as best we can, see Matthew chapter 7, verse 7-11. Our biology makes us want to take something complicated and find a simple meaning to it that will make decisions faster and fit with our other beliefs that are important to us. It's a very efficient way of extending the capability of our brain, but it can sometimes lead us to miss important details. One of the reasons why people through history couldn't get a long is because it was one brainwashed person against another. So the question is, am I brainwashed? I think I'm less brainwashed then others, but that is the odd thing about bias, you don't know you have it, when you do. All people on earth are often bombarded by brainwashing in one form or another. It is in questioning what is around us we will begin to overcome it, if we are honest enough we can find the truth and the errors. I thought I would be an atheist because of all the assumptions in theology, but through many experiences that are personal to me, I became a Christian, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I see no fault in anyone for believing differently, as long as they are honest with themselves. I also believe in evolution, You make a point about brainwashing, we should never hold back the power of our minds, just question things intelligently. The purpose of pleasure is to re-enforce behavior. If we are getting pleasure from things that don't have a good end, then it will create bad habits we may not escape from. This is one reason why God commands people to sometimes do things we don't understand, it's because we do not yet understand ourselves. We must learn how to follow the pleasures of life that are sustainable and good, not artificial or vain and ultimately the dead end ones. Sin is about skipping the stuff God wants us to enjoy for a limited or fake version of it. Prophets that are truly from God will teach us things that will lead us to these higher and natural pleasures that will lead to the right habits, that will enrich us, will get us true freedom instead of being tools for dishonest people, see matthew chapter 7 verse 17. My first comment before this big long one says it all, find out for yourself if it's true. I'm also a trekkie, live long and prosper Bakyboy. I wish you well in all the adventures of life!
"Did you hear the Prophet Joseph Smith was killed?" ~Oh my god, what were his last words? "I forget, but he wasn't wearing underwear at the time. That's all I remembered."
His last words were "oh lord, my god, is there no help for the widow's son". Which is a plea from one mason to another for help. The underwear thing is actually a pretty big deal to Mormons. Basically, they make a promise to God to wear them. So if the leader isn't wearing them....there are questions to be asked haha.
@Lex Bright Raven, if you want to call being attacked by an armed mob and defending the people in your room a gunfight, sure. It qualifies, but implies certain considerations that may not be in play.
@@dakotataylor6605 HIs last words were "Oh Lord, my God-" and he never said anything after that in John Taylor's account. He believed it was supposed to be the Masonic distress cry, but he was shot before finishing the oath.
Super video! I just want to add one thing. While South Park's portrayal of Martin Harris' wife, Lucy, was not completely accurate, it was not completely inaccurate either. While there is no evidence that the destroyed the manuscript, Martin did take it for her to see due to her skepticism, and when it was lost, she definitely taunted her husband: "If this be a divine communication, the same being who revealed it to you can easily replace it." Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet 2nd ed., p.54. So, although there is no direct evidence that she destroyed the manuscript, there is evidence that she certainly had the motivation and opportunity to do so and seemed happy when it happened.
It's kind of a scared word and you're not even supposed to say it that much. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh Day Adventists are just Christian cosplayers.
@@brandondavidson4085 I mean.... that's a pretty enormous 'no true scotsman' fallacy. JW's, Mormons and Adventists are just as 'fervent' in their beliefs as I'm sure you are (and I'd argue likely more so, considering the enormous amounts of proselytizing time, effort, and personal money they spend). There is more than enough to debunk their absurd ideologies without resorting to frankly baseless logical fallacies. Like it or not, they are just as "christian" as literally anyone else. If you're christian, that includes you too. If you want to argue that there is one 'true' form of christianity, well, you'll just have to take it up with Jesus then for leaving the bible so open to interpretation.
@@Kellethorn I didn't say "true" though. Stop trying to find fallacies in everything as if that's how you'll win every argument. I said "good". I can't tell you if someone is a real Christian or not, that's not my job. Only God knows that, but I do know whether or not a person is acting like a good Christian. Following doctrines and rules, caring about others, reading the Bible.
So I'm not the only one who caught that lmao I heard that Araki went to a Christian or Catholic school when he was young, so that probably inspired the whole "jesus knew about america and made a obscure map of it" thing. Well, along the holy corpse thing.
@@Nobushido “We don’t know absolutely everything therefore god” So the earth is 6,000 years old? Have you ever looked up at night? Those little things called “stars” are millions of light years away. So somehow THEY can be that old, but WE totally aren’t. Right. As for “a thing beyond logic”, he’s really not. Mankind can rarely think up something actually better than themselves, hence why most gods have the manners of a spoiled child and the actions of a psychopathic dictator. Who creates and then damns billions of “souls” to hell, as a part of his “master plan” But please do continue to ignore the literal mountains of evidence displaying the contrary, it’s always interesting to see how far people will dig their head into the sand to get away from an uncomfortable idea that conflicts with “mUh BeLiEfS” Btw, walking on water isn’t that hard, done it myself quite a few times :)
Amen Brother, may the world and the legion burn for their inequity turning from the grace and ways defined by the Lord to Joshua! ( Or at least my preferred form of 40 mm grenade launcher.)
My parents do those baptisms a few times a year. I've been out of religions for 20 years, but I did go to The Hill of Kimora Pageant like 10 years ago under the influence of alcohol and some herb and it was awesome, better than when I was a kid forced to go to some weirdo church and exclusively Mormon related activities. San Diego Temple is an amazing building to visit, Toronto very cool too, Detroit Temple is small but still a good place to visit.
My mom forced me to do one a couple months before the pandemic (and before I left the church) It wasn't as fun as you think, but at least the water was warm and the halls were pretty
i’m an exmo and i just have to say that this is by far one of the best explanations of the religion by an outsider that i’ve ever seen. often times this sort of media takes a very condescending stance towards the church (which is totally justified imo) but makes it near useless when trying to educate people who’ve been indoctrinated, they just get defensive. this video introduces just enough doubt and inconsistency to make someone question their faith without feeling like a direct attack, i’m definitely going to send this to my parents.
Others aren’t saying this but I legitimately just want to thank you for just straight up teaching me so much about Mormon theology. I thought I knew Mormonism pretty well but goddamn this was interesting and informative. I’d list out all the things I found interesting but it’s to many to count. Great video, keep up the work, never change!
I don’t know. I felt... condescended to? Like my beliefs weren’t being taken seriously. I mean, he linked the CES letter of all things which as I remember it when it came out, was full of outrage and mockery. I would have felt better if he brought a genuine Mormon on to explain church positions.
@@niteclock7315 Did you listen to what he was saying. He didn't have a member of the church playing the missionary, but he definitely got help from someone who served a mission to write the missionary's part of the script. (If he didn't serve a mission himself.)
As a non-Mormon from Utah, I appreciate this very much. Edit: So THAT’S why Utah has two cities called Lehi and Nephi, they’re stories from the Mormons! Now I’m surprised I didn’t know it beforehand lmao.
24:32 One small correction, the KJV was written in Early Modern English, not Middle English. For a good comparison to highlight the differences, the Wycliffe Bible is one that was actually written in Middle English
@@lizardlegend42 I mean I don't think most of them really believe that shit anyways. They probably just like being part of a community like that. Sounds innocent but mindless propogation of religion will be the downfall of humanity if left uchecked. We should consider it a serious threat.
That’s not surprising. Details of church history is not taught in worship services (not the point of worship service). You could have easily learned all of this on churchofjesuschrist.org.
@@saggybobby3733 Religions help people choose ignorance over seeking the truth, but they don't cause it, just like knives and firearms help people kill other people, but don't cause it. There are deep underlying problems in our psyche, and by attacking the religions, you're choosing the easy answer. Just like the religious people do, I might add.
@@lemmonboy6459 The Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith from Golden Plates. In the musical "The Book of Mormon", they used literal golden plates to represent the original plates. Just watch the musical (bootlegs), you'll understand it better. hahaha
@@zibbydafuqjo4584 ""Binders full of women" was a phrase used by Mitt Romney on October 16, 2012, during the second U.S. presidential debate of 2012. Romney used the phrase in response to a question about pay equity, referring to ring binders with résumés of female job applicants submitted to him as governor of Massachusetts. The phrase was depicted by Romney's detractors and the Obama campaign as demeaning and insensitive toward women and was widely mocked. This prompted the phrase's use for political attacks on Romney's positions on "women's issues", as well as the development of an Internet meme." -Wikipedia
@@btat16 You can't win with shitlibs. If you don't talk about bowing and scraping before their pets you're a monster if you do you're a monster who is also cringe.
@@quesocoatl21 Exactly, people would screech like harpies if you didn't treat women like precious snowflakes. So they literally had binders with profiles of competent women who could serve in his campaign/cabinet. But when he told people that, the woke cult attacked him for... being a white dude? I'm really not sure, either you care about meritocratic systems or you want equity, pick one.
@@quesocoatl21 Well, you can't really win if you refer to your political opponents as "shitlibs" either, you'll have to act a little more mature for people to take you seriously. I've never understood you U.S.-Americans, you only have two political parties and they are practically the same, yet you seem to hate each other a lot more than people from more developed democracies.
@@parker469a if we are gonna get into harem anime... That's its own genre.. but I suppose I can understand the relevance of a single sex character with a harem of the opposite sex. High school dxd is the first one that comes to mind.
Wow, really great video and entertaining AF. I was raised as a very secular Unitarian Universalist in Atlanta. We were taught many other religious traditions and encouraged to go to other’s services with respect. LDS was not something I was exposed to as a young person, but it’s interesting to get to know how it riffs off other traditions. I have also been a stagehand for around 40 years and worked Book of Mormon a number of times. (Thanks for the nods.)Those writers were correct in choosing such a nice sect to satire. (Well now they’re nice) Many others would not have bought tickets, stayed through the whole show and laughed so hard.
“When a church changes doctrine, that doesn’t mean the previous doctrine was wrong, it was correct for that time” lol sounds like the government from George Orwell’s 1984
Dowsers do still exist. I know a couple who were having trouble with the water on their land in Vermont. They heard about this man who was a dowser. They figured, why not give it a try? He came down with two sticks wrapped together at top, not a forked stick. Walked around the area where they were going to build, but he said there wasn’t water. About 100 yards from there, the sticks pointed to the ground numerous times on a level area. He said to build anywhere in the area. They did so and have had well water ever since. The man did not accept payment as he said it would be wrong to take money for an art passed to him by his mother. Did it work? Who knows?
Akshully, the "Pilgrims" weren't kicked out of Europe, they left Europe willingly. Ok, yes, they fled England because the kings there were treating them like shit... but they landed in the Netherlands. The Pilgrim leaders became nervous because nobody was converting to their goofy religion, and they were worried that their children would leave their goofy religion because the Dutch were having fun and not living the austere fundamentalist lifestyle. The Pilgrim leader at the time wrote about it and explicitly said that was the problem. So they fled to what became Massachusetts.
Yeeeeah we gotta stop letting the Puritans have the word "fled." It's not fleeing if you're not in danger but you just pick up and leave because no one's joining your club. 😂
The Netherlands were substantially more hostile to the Puritans than England, so you could argue that the Dutch legitimately kicked them out for being reactionary assholes, but yeah they definitely left England because they couldn't completely run the show.
I loved the Star Wars references in this mini-doc! “Execute Order 44 (palpating hands and voice),” the third trilogy of Star Wars retcon the first (original trilogy), and there’s a third one but I forget.
Recently started binging (and re-binging) your videos. I've thoroughly enjoyed them and found them incredibly informative. One small correction regarding BSA: it was actually because of allowing openly gay adults that LDS broke their contract with BSA, set to expire in 2019. When I was in scouts from 2010-2017 the Order of the Arrow (honor society) lost 1M+ members nationally because of the LDS contract severance. This was the impetus for allowing women into scouts. I know it's a very, very minor, and not terribly relevant to the overall thesis, but I think it's worth clarifying for those who want to read the comments here
Want to hear all the extra content that was cut from the Mormon video? Want to know what went into making it?
Drop by during my Director's Commentary on Twitch - twitch.tv/knowingbetteryt
Sunday January 3, 2021 at 3pm Pacific.
I love that you brought the old CLASSIC intro back!
Would you please make these videos without the music droning in the background? It doesn't help your content. After just a couple minutes I want that music to stop. I'm so bummed because I want to keep listening to your essay / story but the music just drives me away. 😟
I was a boy scout. Religion sounds a lot like what fraternities do. I'm a naturalist. I did not have a father, and I made it my mission in life to nurture a child *and* provide for it. It's not the end of the world and we can still stop killing all the fish in the ocean if we want to. My father abandoned us when I was 4 months old. I had all kinds of issues, I was named Christopher and I believed once that I saw ghosts in a church playing a pipe organ and stuff like that. I am a supporter of the theory of evolution and a biologist. Nature gives me reverence beyond the mortal veil because in the end nature is what decides, controlled by a divine entity or otherwise. As a scientist I accept that there are truths we will never discover and I accept religious people. I am grateful for this video. Thank you. I added you when you made the 4K resolution video.
@@scofah the only thing I even heard were his words
Very big details left out here, and I can’t help but think a lot of this was intentional (you even acknowledged the preferred name of the church and refused to use it. As a Black man, I can’t tell you how familiar this seems).
Specifically with regard to “curses” involving skin color, the number of Saints actually killed through mob violence - which was ignored when pled directly to the POTUS by Joseph Smith Jr, failing to mention the BSA’s grapple with child abuse allegations and their ending their faith-based merit programs during the same time period, and failure to note that Brigham Young’s opinion (nor any prophet’s opinion) does not constitute doctrine - the Blacks and the Priesthood history in the church is correctly cited when it end, but there is no doctrinal documentation as to when it began.
Just a few (not all) of my thoughts as a Black, LDS, Progressive RM that is perhaps a bit more familiar with the history and doctrine of my own religion than the average Joe (Mormon). I’d be happy to discuss with anyone who has questions and will try to catch your Twitch tomorrow.
Can we just take moment to appreciate the fact that all of the "regular guy" scenes were filmed first, and then he shaved his beard before filming the missionary scenes? That's dedication!
Yeah I noticed that, must've been difficult to do
Yeah I noticed this haha
True committal to the plot device right there.
@@fy8798 English teachers be like.
"Beard"
Lol, Mormon’s unlock “creator mode” when they die.
*Mormons
@@LunaBari
*Mormons
That sounds like Scientology nonsense
*creative mode
Buddhists:
*Respawn*
I love that an end-of-the-world prediction being wrong is called a great disappointment.
Nobody wants to pay their debt back lol
Who knew Millennials existed back then too?!
What a lot of people seem to forget is Christians WANT the world to end.
Granted, if the end of the world is supposed to be the return of your deity to create heaven on earth it vaguely makes sense for it to be disappointing
@@aquamarinerose5405 for a semi serious answer (as one of those people waiting for the world to end) the apocalypse just means getting revenge on the evil of this world and making a new one where the entity that created you will keep you happy and you will suffer no more.
Wow, I grew up LDS (before becoming an atheist) and most of this information is new to me. I had no idea about the succession crisis or the distinction between LDS and Mormons. I also appreciate that this is mostly presented in an educational way and not necessarily a take-down of Mormons. Great video!
Yeah, his has the best tone I've yet encountered. He's snarky sure, but respectful at the same time. I honestly don't know how he does it😅
Love his work!
atheists are just as dumb as 'true believers.'
My mormon friend never heard of FLDS.
My family separated when polygamy ended, some stayed with the main LDS and others FLDS. His information is good however, he doesn't mention Joseph Smith told Emma the leadership of the church would pass down to his son. Emma stayed in Nauvoo after Joseph died, and raised her son to be the prophet of the RLDS (Reorganized LDS, which changed their legal name several years ago). The RLDS church still own the original Nauvoo temple.
I'm also an atheist.
Damn I feel bad for Adam and Eve if they had to go to Jackson County after they got banished.
Hey I’m from there and it’s not so...
No I can’t argue, this ain’t Eden.
😀😁😜😂🤑
yall should see cocoa florida, strange amount of mormons down here
@@Rexini_Kobalt Of course it’s Florida. Lmaooo
@@draxthewarlocktitan5217 Hahaha
I was Mormon for 35 years, went on a mission, married in the temple, the whole deal. This is by far the most accurate explanation of Mormonism by an outsider I’ve ever seen. Well done!
Thanks for the last 35 years of freedom from your confusion and weakness.
@@johnlee1352 What
I’m 51 and am still an active member and I agree. Pretty accurate and respectful.
Well done?
@Chels W Divorced now?
Mormon: dies
*Set own game mode to Creative Mode*
Olle no se vurlem >:v
So, according to the Mormons, we are living in Minecraft?
Yes
You die, go to heaven, Netflix and chill with your bride(s), have lots of children with super powers, and then make an appearance on earth after the second coming of Christ.
So, it's something like Afterlife meets Actraiser...if that makes any sense.
Yeah my family became mormons because it sounded awesome.
Third native spanish speaker in this thread here.
Props to Joseph Smith's wife who, when told God would destroy her if she wasn't okay with polygamy, said she wasn't okay with polygamy
She was in on the con, there is no way someone so close to Joseph would not see the fraud for what it was. It also makes one wonder why she waited several months before she joined her husbands church.
@@dr33776 To me it sounds like she knew it was a lie but didn't want to participate. She didn't out it, maybe she didn't care enough stop it, maybe love or a sense of loyalty to her husband, or maybe she was afraid of him. But either way, though, Joseph Smith saying "God said he'd destroy you if you don't go along with this" is obvious code for "if you don't go along with it I will murder you and make it look like an accident," and she called his bluff.
she was destroyed... many years later at the old age of 74.
🤣👍
I'm not sure that even really happened but I am sure that Brigham Young hated Emma, probably because she wouldn't be one of his wives. It is cool either way. I feel like it might have been made up at that time to discredit Emma though. But who knows. 😂
I met Jesus once, Hispanic dude. Nice guy.
You mean Jesús?
@@VMohdude- actually that is still what he means. Jesús is the Spanish pronunciation, just like Joshua is an anglicized pronunciation of the Jewish translation of Jesus: Yeshua. Yeah just like the Muslims and Muhammad, Christians have been naming their children after Jesus for centuries.
jajajajaja!
@DANIEL BIN OMAR - how was I complaining about Muhammad?
@@jamesbeyer I think he was joking
"We should all know the American creation myth" that's a strong opener.
No it isn't, or at least it shouldn't be.
Hi! I'm an american! I am argeninian. Becouse America it's a continent. There is no country called América. So yeah, it was a bold assumption
@@francomuscellini1744 The United States of America is a country commonly called America. This is similar to the fact that there is no country called 'Argentina' there is however, the Argentine Republic
@@supportedlivingnetwork2481 yeah, but we didn't take the name of something that was already present. That's why we don't need to mark the diference
@@francomuscellini1744 the Republic of Argentina did take the name of the land that was there and named their sovereign government after the land. America is named the US of A. America was named after Amerigo, Italian cartographer who believed the land Columbus sailed to was a seperatr continent from the rest of the known world at the time. So the settlers named it the United States of America. What were we supposed to name it? Lol
I wanted a book of Mormon but didn't wanna pay for one so I signed up for one and one of the elders who brought it to me was literally named Elder Elder. I had to force myself not to laugh
reminds me of professer professer
Dude was probably my next door neighbor when I lived in Utah... Small world 😂
@@samin8ter That's hilarious! I'd describe him but he looked so stereotypically Mormon Missionary (was p tall I guess) that I'd be describing half of Utah. (He was actually very polite about me being up front that I wasn't interested in conversion but wanted to better understand them and their beliefs.)
@@samin8ter growing up in Bountiful seems like I knew sveral
If the dude's name was Elder Elder, he was aware of the joke and probably found it kind of funny too.
As an ex-mo, one of the things that originally made me start to question my faith was the fact that “god never changes, but the church does.” Like what?? There are just so many contradictions and I’m honestly really glad that I’m not a part of it anymore.
The inconsistency is pretty consistent.
Yep. That's an issue one very often has to put up with. Someone saying that things need to be "modernized". They were designed modern from the start, they need not change according to our whims and fashions.
@BigMonkey125 TF are you talking about? Mormonism isn't "modern." Don't be ridiculous. You sound brainwashed AF
For me as an exmormon it was requiring a man to get me to heaven. During before school seminary I read my way out of the church being true. I felt the New Testament contradiction was too much to get past. Christ died to save my soul not that knuckle head stepfather I was sealed to. I left in 1978 when I was 18 which was also a time of turmoil over the change of doctrine allowing blacks to hold the priesthood. For me that was an example that the church must not be true. If God had put his correct church back on earth in these”latter days”. He wouldn’t have got that wrong 30 years before the civil war. A true and loving god would have given a correct doctrine to help save the lost of life that came 3 decades later, with the civil war. Brigham Young had to be a false prophet. Also at that time leading up to the 1978 change were many racist members that were quite loud and angry about considering this change allowing black men full membership into the priesthood. The transition wasn’t as painless as the church would have you believe. Many angry men went full fundamentalists Mormon instead of agreeing. The fundamentals never accepted the change, You won’t find black FLDS they do not recruit them.
To me that kinda sounds like 'god is still a massive racist but we need to hide that now' which doesn't make the church better imo
This is simultaneously the most respectful and most irreverent take on the LDS I've ever seen. That's quite the achievement I writing and research.
Hence why this is the best centrist channel on TH-cam
Why is it irrelevant though? All he is doing is educating people about a certain subject. It's not based off of current events why is it irrelevant?
@@tjacobw irreverent isn't irrelevant, i made that mistake too! irreverent (i think) means satirical, kind of joking.
@@cocoabeanzwantstopuzzle Oohhhhh, thanks, nevermind about my comment then
@@tjacobw This is an opinion piece, not education - it's not even education on the criticisms of the Mormon church. Skepticism, like the Justice Left, lacks the ability to discern its own opinions from fact. It's why he honestly thanks his own Discord denizens for ratifying its purported "fairness and accuracy." If a Trumpkin came out with a video supposedly "proving" that China elected Biden and thanked his own fans for making sure the presentation was "fair and balanced," we'd rightly laugh until the cows come home. That nobody is doing the same here is itself testament to the fact that both movements have long lost their way.
Seriously, please consider leaving these movements behind. You don't even have to give up the ideals they proclaim - just leave the movements and search for truth entirely on your own. If you already did such a search and claim to have ended up coming to rest here, I beg you to reconsider. It has its own rigidity, its own exceptionalism, and its own blind spots, one of them being this very sentence (how's that for recursion?). I was in it for fifteen years, and that time is time I can never, ever get back.
And if you wish to reply, no, I'm not LDS.
I love the idea that Jesus is just sort of standing in a white void, waiting for someone to ask him something
lol, i love that
A bit like in Dante.
He basically is Janet from "The good Place''
Basically Google
Isn't that just FMA?
This guy is so good at debating himself, I almost forgot he´s debating himself
SAME
He is a master debator
I was sad when the nice mormon man went away and the other guy came back, then I remembered it was the same guy...
Wow same
the two-three witnesses rule is also a good excuse to push sexual abuse/assault/harassment allegations under the rug and many cults have a similar doctrine
*cough cough* Jehovah's Witnesses *cough cough*
I guess God never foresaw that people one day would have video cameras or even more unforseeable - portable mobile phones with each one being a video camera. What kind of Prophets are they when they can't foresee the future?
Have an ex JW friend CSA survivor who found that out the hard way. The JWs knocking on my door *REALLY* don't like it when I ask them about it.
@@Decision_Justicethe way I see it, as a catholic, is that the bible was passed down for the people of there time, with Christ's lessons being for the people of his time
" everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls" Cersei Lannister
“I’m really committed to this plot device”
“What?”
Idk why that made me laugh so hard
A Turtle is also really committed to that plot device
im so glad someone else thought that was funny af too lol
totally agree, if you have watched enough of his videos, it is kinda 4th wall breaking... loved it
That's everyone.
@@TurtleChad1 exurb1a ?
Scrolling through the comments, I see that this video has been widely endorsed by both Mormons and ex-Mormons alike. A rare feat 😌
Thats what happens when you try to be respectful to the ideology even if you don't care for it personally
More educated members would ask you to please not take this as an authority on our beliefs. Theres alot thats twisted or wrong here.
@@juliopenaloza5655 meh he does a pretty good job of explaining both points of the argument this is coming from a faithful member
@@brian5128 He did a good job. Its one of the better attempts ive seen as well. Im not saying he got everything wrong. It's an hour long video with alot of information. Theres quite a bit thats twisted or slanted. Half truths, cultural ideas or teachings presented as canon that have never been in our official canon, etc. Theres enough wrong that we shouldn't be encouraging people to trust this video as an authority on what we believe.
@@juliopenaloza5655 Could you give a few examples of things he got especially wrong? I'm not Mormon, I'm just curious.
Honestly, as a non active "member" you could've gone a lot darker but, yes spot on for most. Love your videos.
@Brendalicia Turn's Musings damn, I dont need gritty detail, but can you give even a little more context to what you experienced?
@Brendalicia Turn's Musings Mordor is a bit different than the rest of Mormonism lmao.
Does the darker version involve murderous mormons?
@señor pepper Not really. I safely assume you're referencing the recently highlighted family massacre showcased on the news? I do not have any statistical data in front of me but I feel comfortable saying murdering one's entire immediate nuclear family then yourself is a pretty rare & phenomenal occurrence (amongst Mormons or _ANY_ practiced religions of the day). Yeah, I'd say those situations are outliers.
@@MrEnjoivolcom1 i wonder if the psychologists views about it on that one SVU episode was correct. Sounds researched.
Former Mormon here, born, raised, baptized, and temple married. This is great. Unbiased as well as unapologetic. Very informative without feeling like an attack.
Thanks for leaving so we didn't have to throw you out.
@@Cocoisagordonsetter No satire. That is my name...why do you suspect satire?
@@johnlee1352 Keep quiet Mormon Boy. Get lost troll.
@@johnlee1352because it fits you perfectly LMAO
@@jebalitabb8228 huh?
I saw some mormon girls on a mission in Belfast once. They were super nice but they were extremely pushy about their faith while asking about my beliefs within seconds of meeting which at the time I felt was extremely rude and invasive. That was until I actually went to the U.S and lived there for 4 years when I realised thats just how devoutly religious Americans act in general
On behalf of the Mormons, sorry about that.
@@Shythalia no need to apologise. I met a lot of mormons after a while in the U.S and a lot of them were extremely nice and not pushy whatsoever. It was only the missionaries I had an issue with. The worst religious experiences I had there was always with southern baptists. It felt like their whole faith was based on division and having a problem with anyone who lived their lives differently in any kind of way. In comparison, Mormons were dead on, at least they didn't scoff at me for being an atheist or coming from a Catholic background
@@matchuBBG yeah oh and luckily the Baptist church don't recognize the "southern Baptist church" as Baptist there mainly seen as what they are a religious hate group
well. Christian zealots are pushy about their faiths in Belfast all the time, to be fair
@@cosmosisrose not really. We have them but our divisive problems is amd always have been over national identity mate. The only religious angle is that Catholics represent the Irish republic and Protestants represent Britain. Trust me bror our churches are ghost towns these days because we're all too busy going out and getting fucked up on Sundays or just not playing the god game anymore
"There are literally binders full of women" Nice callback, very nice callback
What’s the reference?
@@jacksonbowen3576 A quote that got Mitt Romney in hot water back in 2012
That’s some of the small details you don’t need but just let you see the effort in these videos
There’re also binders with men in them
@@JackRackam Remember when THAT's what would spell trouble for a candidate?
Ironically, the Jesus actor he had in this video was born a mormon and left the church.
Now that is commitment to a bit!
That explains a lot of the tone of the video overall.
You are go for JC.
He has a loooot of other issues going on that contributed to the fallout, including molestation in the boy scouts which would naturally sour one's opinion on the subject. (I'm not a fan of the program and am glad to see it go. Not a fan of the MLM girl scouts, either, for that matter.) Seems like a cool guy, though.
Just Derp also ironically white, as Jesus was a Middle Eastern.
I just wanna say that, as an atheist, mormon afterlife actually makes way more sense for a loving god, assuming that the "outer darkness" is legitimately just being stuck out in the darkness with the other evil bastards
And considering LDS scriptures uses words like "intelligences" to describe premortal life and spirits? Or that the biblical creation myth is rather closely aligned with modern models of dark/light, land/sea, fishes of the sea > birds of the air (dinosaurs) > cattle and all the creeping things on the earth > humans and such? Or that in the Book of Mormon, Alma 32, the entire premise of that IS the scientific method? Paraphrased, "If you question something, test it out. Plant the seed and let it grow. If it's a good seed keep it, if it's a bad seed discard it. That is how you will know the truth in all things, by their fruits ye shall know them." The faith is based on personal responsibility and accountability, questioning every aspect of the faith and forming your own personal testimony through lived experience, not blindly following leadership but trusting them and/or standing up if prompted by the Holy Spirit, and so many more aspects that a topical look at standard Mormon culture with it's funeral potatoes and casseroles ignores. I have failed to come across any other religion in my studies that actively tells and expects it's practitioners to question their own leadership and come to their own conclusions. Sure Mormonism has some arbitrary rules, like don't date until 16 or no premarital, out of wedlock sexual activity, but under the context of God as a loving parent to all humans and expecting His children to have the best shot in life? It makes logical sense that a God who understands that would set basic expectations for his children to follow, in the best interest of everyone involved. It's all about perspective and logic, which is lacking in so many other religious practices.
That was actually one of the reasons I converted to the LDS church when I was 19.
I'm an atheist now though lololol
Except when you read the Mormon scripture where it tells women they need to live polygamy or be destroyed….so warm and fuzzy.
@@s.a.6082 I was just talking about the afterlife, I'm not a mormon now lmao
No. The afterlife sucks! You don’t actually get to rest in peace. You get to play missionary for God as a dead spirit, and convert other dead spirits who weren’t Mormon in spirit prison. This is part of the afterlife before the second coming of Christ. They’re becoming your own god and creating planets and shit doesn’t happen until after that. And from what I remember, that’s not gonna be a lot of humanity getting to become those gods. so glad I left that awful church! At this point, I have more of a testimony that this church isn’t true, and I could never go back to it.
I met Mormon mission guys in Moscow, Russia. The outside program is super strange. They are like: hi, it sucks that Jesus was born and lived in the country far away from yours and you don't feel special for him. But what if he lived in another country far away from you, would you feel better with Jesus now?
I saw them a few times in Prague, they have a big and nice embassy there near Hradčanská. They are nice because they do free english classes for kids but I am not sure that they have much success in a country where when you are any kind of religious person the people see you as super weird...
Did you?
@@TheoEvian I only spent a semester in the Czech Republic (Ostrava in particular) but I got the impression you guys are pretty into Catholicism, at least to my Eastern-orthodox brain.
@@retardedfishfrogs1 Well, Ostrava is one of the parts where catholicism still exists as a viable community, but 90% of Czechs are basically atheists or do not really care about religion.
@@TheoEvian Ok hot girls and 90% atheist. Why aren't I there?
Everyone talking about the "binders full of women" quote, but there are a number of other Mitt Romney references in this video, such as "Corporations are people, my friend."
romney was good for one thing and one thing only, hilarious quotes.
I recall many fellow Christians not voting for Mitt Romney as president because they didn't want the country to be run by a cult leader. Fortunately these are mostly the same friends who also didn't want to vote for Trump, for different, yet painfully similar reasons.
@@SomeTH-camTraveler This comment gives me some hope for Americans.
Sincerely, uhh, an American.
As an ex-Mo, you were incredibly gracious, accurate, and fair while still pointing out some bullshit. This is the only one of MANY Mormon analysis videos I genuinely think I could share with my still-believing family and they wouldn't have much issue with it- and it might even make them self-analyze! This was the first video I've ever seen of yours but I will now be watching more. Thank you, thank you for your intellectual integrity!
Wow you are beautifull
I'm ex-Mo too, also my first time on this channel, and I agree with everything you said.
@@niedersacksen Creep. Also, u should join the church again, many Aryan bulls to pick from the vine
As a still believeing Mormon, I'd have to agree with you. This was fair from an outsiders perspective and a pretty neutral attitude.
Another Ex-Mo here.
I'm a member, and I found this coverage to be both highly accurate and highly unbiased. And funny. Top shelf quality, KB, keep up the good work!
I'm surprised that this video didn't make you reflect on your membership
Hows that shelf of yours holding up, Sean?
@@SQUELCH-zj7il The whole point of the video is "mormons are aware of all of these criticisms, and have rationalizations/justifications that may not be persuasive to a non-Mormon but are not total crap" so it shouldn't be that surprising.
Did you see the MormonNewsRoundup from 26 Nov 2023. The first part is hilarious!
Me When the video started: 54 minutes? Should have made it a two-parter
Me when the video ended: 54 Minutes? That flew by!
i went to hit like at the end, but forgot i had already done that 10 secs in.
Same I like videos fast and was about to like again lol.
Imagine if he did a collab with Dan Carlin (Hardcore History)
TH-cam in 2025: _here is a six hour video on the origins of toilet paper usage in America and how it's tied to colonialism and probably the Kellogg family_
“I’m human too! Well, halfway.”
[angry catholic noises]
[confused Orthodox noises]
saint nicholas of myra is warming up his slappin' hand
Fun fact: several LDS prophets taught that Jesus was conceived by God having literal physical sex with Mary. Modern members would probably deny it though; the LDS church is well-practiced in gaslighting its members about old teachings.
@@heavystalin2419 [ Curious Uninitiated Noises ]
[confused agnostic noises]
I like how he got Jesus to also read the verses.
That's the power of new 3 in 1.
I have a memory (I'm 72, so it may be inaccurate 😎) that the revelation that allows black priests came after a black LDS man who was a boy scout volunteer wanted a certain promotion which LDS rules limited to priests.
So he sued. His chances of destroying the LDS/BSA union if he won was suddenly followed by the revelation.
I read an article at the time about Pacific Islanders being amused by the LDS racial hierarchy. 6he Church arbitrarily decided that the people on Island A were black, while the folks on Island B were not.
But the people on these islands knew they were closely related.
Sounds like the church, if it had persisted in gripping onto that DOCTRINE, would have faced another saga comparable to the one that led to the 1890 Manifesto. The church pragmatically decided to take the easy, shortcut route this time.
Damn that's crazy
A lie. No lawsuit was even in the mix. What was the case name? What court was it brought in? How was it resolved? If you can't provide this information (and I know you can't), shut up.
You rule, I hope life going well, random 72 year old.
@@JohnDLee-im4loGo to Wikipedia, in the Black People and Temple and Priesthood policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The references of 102, 41, 125 at the "1970s White LDS oppositio to ban" section talk about this lawsuit of Black Boy Scouts being banned of acting as patrols leadres.
As a former Mormon who still loves a lot of people in the church: I really appreciate how you point out the flaws without being disrespectful. Even tho some could argue it is warranted 🤦🏼♀️ It’s just nice to hear a pretty objective discussion and my only bone to pick is I’ve literally never heard a Mormon call the BoM “the golden Bible” 😂
Growing up Mormon, I heard people say "the golden bible", but usually only used in jest when mocking anti-mormons who used to mock the BOM. I'm also exmo too now :)
I'm also a former Mormon. Although I'd never bring it up around my Mormon relatives and acquaintances, I'm fond of Mark Twain's B of M description. "Chloroform in print."
@UCZ-YwC7cObWdxiFtaxkiyJA entering the MTC soon! Good luck with your call!
I grew up Mormon IN Utah, and have also never heard that phrase (golden bible), not even once.
Ditto. I've left the church and grew up in Utah, and the term "Golden Bible" was never used by members. If anything, it was actually a dog whistle to let members know that the speaker wasn't a member, and was likely (at least in their eyes) anti-Mormon.
The boy scout connection is interesting. I am an eagle scout and I can attest to the huge involvement of the LDS church, however in my experience our local scout council always encouraged religious freedom. Reverence could be towards anything, even just having respect for nature, the earth, your family and humankind. We even had a few Hindi and Punjabi kids in my troop and a lot of kids without practicing religions. Religion wasn't really a thing in my experience and it was more about developing leadership, communication skills, team building, and overcoming adversity. That being said I grew up in California and I could see others having a very different experience.
Wonderful post! May I add? Just want to say I was a boy scout and my father Scout Leader encouraged me to attain Eagle. I too can say I loved the absolute ecumenical outreach I felt in the west side of Chicago with our troop, and even the northern reaches of Wisconsin as a scout spending time with diverse number of different troops of **ALL OF greater Chicagoland** at a single summer camp - the span of the highlight of every summer between me and my brothers. It has to be said that the.. religious aspect... of Scouts was always there but... besides the point! It was always nice that everyone's religion was mentioned, like in the background, like everyone had a religion or came from one. But ecumenically the religious aspect of Scouts was taught from the movement's beginning as respectful of ALL religions, be it Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Islam, or Buddhist, or animist. I meant, it was OPEN. Scouts made it OK to be OK with everyone because we were all SCOUTS. There's something about recognizing foreign Scouts in your uniform. I tell you, my Dad wouldn't have become a part of it in the 70's and I wouldn't have learned what I learned as a kid because of it in the 80's if the Scouts wasn't a damn good organization that deserves our support
I am an eagle scout and within my troop there was a fairly active LDS and Jewish community leading to us getting to experience Jewish ceremonies sometimes during times of prayer or reverence, it was really cool.
Eagle Scout’s mom, here. My son was a scout during the aught years to 2010s, when admission of gay members or leaders was outlawed, and the “reverence” requirement was clearly described in the handbook (I don’t have it now, but it was something akin to being unable to be the best person you could be without a belief in God, and that any religion with a belief in God was okay). Our local troop and council didn’t stress those things, so we didn’t have an issue with it. However, we did notice that in the old “Boys Life” magazines (now “Scout Life”), there was special corner that always had a Judeo-Christian Old or New Testament story, but nothing else. For one of his merit badges, my son wrote the editor to ask why they never have stories from other religious texts. He never got a response. I wonder if the new “Scout Life” magazine does - for educational purposes, if for nothing else.
@@dino0228 Scout here; they don't. Recently they've been on a path against anti-inclusivity material in the Scouts, one of which removed the references to a scout needing to be religious, and all Bible-specific references. There are still a lot of medals and badges for religion, but it is more of a formality than anything.
Sixtee_ That’s good to hear.
My kid was in Cub Scouts just before the decision to allow girls and trans kids and my whole family was pushed out of Scouts because we’re atheist.
In my area it’s evangelicals that controlled most things Scout-related and the leader was rather angry that my husband didn’t start each meeting with a prayer, that my kid didn’t say “Amen” when she held a prayer (even though he sat quietly, head bowed, hands in lap), and the final straw was when she pushed to require the boys to attend church 2-3 Sundays a month.
There was a specific church she wanted them to attend at least one of those Sundays.
We weren’t the only parents deeply unhappy with this, but we were the only ones encouraging the unhappy parents to speak up and voice their concerns.
The leader got angry that we were ruining her plan to “win more souls for Jesus” and started spreading rumors about us to the other evangelical members. There were enough of them that they basically shunned us and froze us out.
I didn’t care so much for me, but those parents told their kids that my son is “evil” and “possessed by Satan” simply because his parents are atheists.
It broke my heart having my 8-year-old come to me crying asking what he did wrong and why none of his friends will talk to him. He asked if I could teach him how to “pretend to be a Christian so they’ll like me again.”
It’s been 4 or so years, but I’ll never forgive the adults that did that to my child nor the organization that encouraged and bred that kind of behavior.
So if they’ve changed, I’m very glad.
The funny thing is that the guy who plays Jesus used to be a Mormon
And then lost the right to visit his kids in a bitter custody battle. The Mormons are fucking assholes
Jesus used to be a jew, not a Mormon. Smh.
Wait he's not actually Jesus?
FYI his literal legal name is Jesus Christ
@@yulikitten Excommunication isn’t exclusive to Mormons.
"We are only counting bapti- *Living* baptized members"
"they were disappointed the world didn't end" so that's why you released it today....
still here yo
He'll have to wait 50 years for that to happen heheh
@Aaron J yawn, to appease who, exactly?
And what is trying to be PROVEN to Satan here, anyway, who was irrational enough to attempt futile revolt.
@Aaron J He's a deeply creepy man (and probably somewhat amoral), but Satan is just as fictitious as Rusty's divine authority as a prophet.
This is the part of religion that I get and don't get at the sametime.
I get that ending the world would mean that a lot of people would well acend to heaven, but is it stated in the Bible that the only reason it would happen is because mankind f*ed up by becoming aholes and by wanting the world to end not sound off but is also slightly Heretical.
I was friends with a Navaho medicine-woman (last of her bloodline that wished to practice) who was Mormon. We spoke a lot about how hard it was to be Mormon when the LDS church actively discriminated against her people and preached that she was a Navaho because her ancestors were evil. The dichotomy between those beliefs and her Navaho beliefs of the power and guidance of her ancestors was extremely interesting and difficult for her to reconcile. Side note she was tough as nails and we biked 4,000 miles together across America while she had a broken tailbone.
Navajo
@@robertforster4275 navaho is an accepted english spelling. the navajo people refer to themselves as 'diné' anyway.
@@easterntrees are you British?
@@robertforster4275 I am not, although that is where that spelling is most commonly used, if that's why you asked.
Oh shit. I am native new mexican and native american (not together in that order, no relation)
That is kind of cool. For me, as someone who is agnostic but giving beliefs a second chance, I would simply say it was a different time.
I study history for fun, if I had to take the actions of humans from the past and bring it to the present, obviously it is going to be easy to critique. But in truth, humans are kind of just cruel to one another regardless of belief. It is the same for natives, I am aztec and we infamously loved to sacrifice people for the gods. It is the same for every religion and even non religion.
If I thought religion would eliminate evil, I would be like Dawkins and a new atheist. But I am not.
Humans are evil (and good). End of story.
On a side note, most Navajo are generally more of a mix of religion. Most in name are christian with their own beliefs tied into it. I would argue it is very common for most natives to be part of an abrahamic religion with heavy folk influences. So I would say reconciling this is not as hard as you might think. Especially since unless you are a religious fundamentalist, most beliefs are pretty personal so people will have trouble reconciling some things over others. It is part of the territory of spirituality and ‘religion’.
Even though I was born into this, I consider most of this knowledge obscure and I'm impressed with the amount of detail you put into this.
Totally makes me wonder if he is an ex-mo.
He always does. Most impressive
@@quemaspana nah, he's done deep dives into many groups he was never involved with.
There's an even deeper dive that is fascinating...the channel MythVision has a series on the Mormon "Council of Fifty" that Joseph Smith created to make him President of the U.S. and turn the U.S. into a Theocracy (there were no term limits for a President in those days) with himself as King. His Motto was "Joseph Smith or the Sword."
You mentioned the Free Masons, should do a video on them! They have a big presence in my town and I'd be interested to know more about them
Can I ask what town that is? I didn’t know they still had influence
Oh my god. Please do Christian Scientists, please. As an ex-CSist, I can promise you it's much wackier than Mormonism.
All I know about them is that they believe in the power of faith to heal. Instead of medicine . Is there more to them then that?
@@germanmarine6582 ohhhh boy you're gonna be in for a treat if he makes that video :D
Hey, former CStist here. Family was never formal members of the church because of health reasons with one of my parents, but we went for years and years and the comment that replied to yours basically sums up my experience with the faith. I'm curious to know how your experience has differed here.
There’s a Christian scientist meeting place down the street from the neighborhood my townhouse is in. It’s basically a single family home with a sign out front and a library.
My wife says her dad would take her and her brother and sister to one back on the 90s. She said because he was a chemist and worked for Glaxo Smith Kline and knew full well that objective science is real, he had to reconcile it with his Christian beliefs.
I respect that, because he is no long affiliated with any church after he left one back in the early 2000s because my wife wasn’t baptized and the church wanted to force him to get her baptized. He said no thanks and severed ties with them.
@@brantisonfire that is so interesting. We had a similar place in my neighbourhood growing up (less a library and more a residency for the sick/ elderly to be treated through prayer, etc.)
It's funny you say he was a chemist because the amount of scientists, doctors and other health professionals who attended service was not insignificant.
I personally never remember hearing any stress placed on baptism. I was a kid when this was all happening however so maybe there is a lot I never heard about.
As Christians go, they were more open-minded than what we're used to. The dogmatic part was a. their need for members to disavow medication, b. over time subtle correcting of speech if you said something they would consider "incorrect" and c. not finding out right away when a member had died because of their beliefs.
As a former/inactive member of the church I REALLY appreciated this take. It was fairly critical without turning into one of those videos that just spews hate. Thanks for this. I really liked your manner of providing two perspectives on several touchy topics. :)
While there were many things right about this video, there were many other things that were wrong. For example, the belief that prophets are infallible. Current mormons do not believe many things that Brigham Young said, that were not doctrine (especially with regards to race).
Joseph Smith did not hold Young's views to race, as he baptized and conferred the priesthood to several black men.
This is just one of many inaccuracies. It felt like a decent retelling, but there were some obvious potshots and misleading context.
@@kevinwilde3814 KB mentioned existing black priest when Young started the ban (38:39). Which is enough to infer your second "inaccuracy" (really, a reasonable omission). His mormon character also expressed their opinion on segregation (43:59), and I can't find any instance of KB claiming that mormons believe the prophet is infallible.
What missing context do you have that shows that parts of the video are misleading?
@@kevinwilde3814 Does the membership hold what President Nelson teaches over-the-pulpit as doctrine and revelation as infallible? I'd say most do. Can the prophet ever lead the Church astray? No. Former prophets with problematic doctrine is chalked up to fallibility and being a "product of their time". But the current, living prophet, when acting as a "prophet"?
I'm also an ex-Mormon (my name is Hyrum), and yet it does piss me off when people get things wrong or get excessively angry at the average Mormon
This video is basically KB's cry for help to escape his alter-egos and personalities.
I think it's getting crowded in there.
there was a severe lack of Scumbag knowing better.
I think it was the alter-egos crying for help.
I think KB should watch some Ryan George videos, then he'll know better.
I love when he does these cuts they are so funny and take alot of time
Has there been a Knowing Better episode about schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder? That seems like an obvious topic given all the alter-egos.
I watched this when it came out, back when I was fully in. I thought it was too critical and unfair. Now that I'm on the outside looking in, I see that you held back a lot and could have been far more critical and still be completely accurate.
“They were disappointed that the world didn’t end?” *Changes the subject*
I mean, I would be...
Just kidding, I still am.
I remember growing up in small town California where like half the population was Mormon. Now I know why I had several classmates named Brigham
California even has locations called Mormon Island
I grew up in a town named Lehi, UT
I met so many Brigham's
@@kylecook7187Broadbent's was my Uncle John and Aunt Alyce's store. I know their kids ran the store after they passed and closed the doors several years back. Longest family owned mercantile in the state.
“So you’re supposed to have an account-a-billa-buddy?”
I bout’ fucking died at that part. Even the god-squad wants to know where your battle buddy is, haha.
LOL, I went through basic like 20 years ago, and thinking about having to have a battle buddy is really funny looking back. 😂
It's good to go with a buddy - door to door witnessing, most people are nice, some people are mean, some people just don't open the door.
Your presentations are excellent. I like that you 😅lace your work with subtle humor.
KB: "This should only take a few minutes."
me: *looks at how long the video is, raises eyebrow*
I just looked😳
Edit: It was worth the watch
*"Service guarantees a celestial afterlife"* god I love your consistant Starship Troopers fandom
I was listening while doing housework and had to go back to see what uniform he was wearing.
I'll have to google it. But I'm pretty sure it was a (retaliation against a) Mormon settlement on Klendathu that sets off the events that brings Johnny Rico into the Mobile Infantry.
Edit:
It was Port Joe Smith on planet Dantana... But it was Mormon as I remembered. :P
@@jmalmsten Yeah it was actually. Shit maybe you stumbled onto the greatest mormon conspiracy of all.
44:41 For reference.
This is anti Mormonism because the hat was white
"I want Multiple Wives"
"You cant Have Multiple Wives I am your Wife"
"God Says I can"
A lot of early Mormon men stood against this.
Most of them.
If took an angel and a mans wife to tell him to do it.
And all wives had to consent
Including Joseph Smith himself, who hated the idea, and never had sex with any of his other "wives." It was more a means to help provide for widows and other women who couldn't provide for themselves, as well as help with their spiritual progression. Not how we would typically think of a marriage.
@@KnuttyEntertainment it's not like we need to marry widows or disenfranchised women in order to help them... Christians have been doing charitable work for such women for literally millenia while remaining monogamous.
For hating it, he certainly embraced it, even before the sealing power was restored. Emma was wife #25 (24 women sealed to JS before his first wife).
Me thinks you need to read up on the doctrine and practice.
Also, are you proposing that JS broke the commandment as described in D&C 132 by not doing this for the purpose of creating children?
Uhhh... what? Joseph married Emma in 1827, at age 21. For context, he hadn't even received the golden plates yet. So there was no book of mormon yet, no church yet, and certainly no doctrine and covenants yet. But sure, Joseph already had 24 wives by age 21. And Joseph did have children... with Emma! You have to be trolling here.
This was the video that gave me the kick in the ass I needed to actually question what I was taught growing up a mormon.
Today, I just submitted my letter of resignation!!
EDIT: AS OF TODAY, APRIL 11TH, I AM OFFICIALLY OUT
Nobody saw this but I did and wanted to say congrats and good luck, hope you're doing well!
Welcome to life on the other side !
congratulations!!
Amazing! Congratulations 🎉. I wish you the best ❤️
"I'm human too, halfway"
*The Council of Chalcedon has entered the chat*
*sad Nicene Creed noises*
@h
Sry for bad english
When werr u wen Arian ded
I was at market, arguing price of bred when phone ring
“Arian is kil”
“no”
_Arianism has forever existed in this chat and has also just entered it_
best comment
Hey nice Tux icon!
Thanks for this. I used to be a Mormon. I first watched this when I was reconsidering my belief in Mormonism around 6 months ago, and it was one of the many videos that helped me question and process my faith.
Welcome to what's next! Read any Carl Sagan?
Been there. Good luck to you
It's good that you left Mormonism, cause i's a lie.
You should still believe in Jesus though, he's true.
Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:25-27 (predicts the year Jesus would come) Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 22-
A few of the many prophecies that predicted Jesus hundreds of years in advance.
If you believe in him, you'll have eternal life- and it's free.
You don't need to earn it yourself, like the Mormons teach.
@@gage2787 This is the truth. This is what the whole bible confirms. God gave us free will to choose. We chose rebellion, and we still do. And God can't let us go unpunished, but he offers salvation, if you choose, by believing Jesus bled on that tree, while taking every sin of the world onto his completely sinless body. You can't just wait til judgement day to make a decision, you never know when you will die. Someone dies every 1.92 seconds. And 10% of deaths are sudden and unexpected. Repent(turn, or change from) your sins, and believe in the Lord. Then do good works because you appreciate the love given to you, not because you expect something in return.
@@gage2787 No, he's not 'still true'. He's also a Lie as we all know.
“Men and women don’t do missionary... work together.” Mhmm.
You're right, I only do missionary with men
@@alliesakat i approve of your mission
Yes they do, as older married couples
Because they prefer more hardcore stuff.
@@alliesakat you have the approval of the flying spaghetti mindter
It blows my mind how some Black people willingly choose to participate in this religion
It blows my mind that anyone does
Black people are just people and are just as susceptible as anyone else. Like sovereign citizens, I have met quite a few black ones and as a black man I find that crazy.
So men and women can’t do missionary together, but man and man can. Got it
There are plenty of married couples that decide to serve missions together. They are generally of retirement age. Missionaries that are not married work together with one or more companions of the same sex , but that does not mean that the men and women don't talk to each other or work together.. When I served a mission I was in the same congregation as my missionary friends that were women for about half of my mission.
You cheeky little devil! Lol!
PHRAISING
@@alexanderunguez9633 r/woosh
@@hypersans6209 lol, I looked back and realized that the comment wasn't in broken english.
“Law of witnesses”.....the ancient form of “Pics or it didn’t happen”.
Aka "alternative facts"
So you're telling me that if I reach exaltation, I can finally create my catgirl planet?
Remember to be benevolent and forgive them as they struggle to attain purrfection.
Why not a zorak planet too?
Can I make a Jesus catgirl with Catgirl Mary?
That explains Nekopara.
Wanting to make a catgirl planet dequalifies you from the celestial kingdom, unfortunately
*Omg I just realized something!!*
I watched about half of this video when I first found this channel. I thought it was confusing and I couldn't keep track of what he was talking about. After checking out most of K.B.'s other videos (and meeting these other characters), I now think this one this so well done! I love that he strings them all together so well!
--If you're Jesus of Nazareth, why are you white?
--OMG, Karen, you just can't ask the Christ why they're white!
😂😂😂
Jesus: I'm literally a transcendent being whose true form burns angels who look at it.
Karen: Wait isn't that Yahweh
Jesus: I am Yahweh... and for that you get hell.
Respect 👍🏼. I like the LDS. My LDS freinds have good sense of humor. Good people
The invisible, unknowable, Creator of the Cosmos is a white Christian male.
Who knew?
@@JamesRichardWiley I mean an all powerful being probably has a plethora of different forms it could take at any time.
Just noticed the *golden plate* on the shelf in the background 😂
Implying that American Exceptionalism isn't in itself already a quasi-religious belief.
In the beginning year of 1776, GAWD almighty created Murica and it was great but then, Satan sent the British to invade Murica cuz he was jealous that Murica was so great.
Then GAWD sent Jesus to save Murica and preach the right to own guns. Evrywun was so jealous of Murica that Satan sent Barack HUSSEIN Obama Bin Laden to curse Murica with Islam and Communism and Godlessness.
Then GAWD almighty sent Trump down from the heavens to make Murica great again and he'll kick out the Mexicans just like Jesus would.
The religion of American exceptionalism.
You have hymns (national anthem, battle hymn of the republic) , prayers you say to a sacred icon (pledge of allegiance, flag), catechisms (muh freedom). And you get violently defensive if someone criticises or messes with any of the above.
@@ASS_ault Nah, just a European. I find the extent to which americans like to preach the merits of their way of life extremely stark - especially when backed up by its continuing decline.
@@Donnerbalken28 I would say Europe is in decline with its declining population.
@@Didntwanttomakeauser as does nearly every nation.
16:39
man i damn near started having flashbacks when you started going over the articles of faith lmfao. i was born and raised in the Church, and i had those things memorized as a kid.
it was a bit disconcerting seeing how much of them i could still recite word for word along with you 😅
edit: 46:53
also it may not be official doctrine, but anecdotally there was absolutely some folk belief that garments could facilitate bodily miracles. my dad was in a serious logging accident and my mom swore up and down that the only reason he didn't bleed out was because of his garments.
edit x2: lol @ the tapir plush at 53:16. nice little nod to the more hardcore mormon apologetics debunking that you (very refreshingly imho) refrained from
As someone who grew up in Utah, and had a religious extended family but never really went to church myself, this whole video really clears a lot of stuff up
“Law of witnesses” is just the saying “source: trust us bro”
Another inaccuracy of this video in a list too long to take the time to type. Im a member and it was never presented as the "law of witnesses" in order to convince me. This video even quotes that the source for this is the bible, so really its not a "mormon" thing, but a bible thing, and the way God operates in the bible. If lds also happen to have 2 or more witnesses to support their claims, its definitely not proof of anything except that they're being consistent with the biblical model and how God presents His word to mankind.
@@juliopenaloza5655 the difference is, the way its shown in the bible is more akin to "dont place to much trust in eyewitnesses if you only have 1" which is sensical, while as he said, their interpretation is more akin to "if 3 people say its true it must be true"
The "Law of witnesses" just refers to the importance of things being shared by more then one source, perspective or opportunity. This was mostly a good video, far better then most on the subject. There are some errors, this being the most important to clarify: the three witnesses are not intended as proof the book of Mormons authenticity. Their intention is to share their experiences. The last chapter of the book of Mormon says people should read the book and ask God if the book is true. This is almost never said about the book of Mormon, but it's the most important thing about it. I have been a member for a long time, and I have never heard of anyone claiming the book was true because of the three witnesses. We may be overly interested in the three witnesses, that may lead to confusion, and I don't fault the youtuber for this conclusion. The video does a great job of telling enough detail about them, in a cleaver and brief way. But, they are not important to the burden of proof. People have to find out for themselves if the book of Mormon is from God or just a well written book. Calling Jesus on you phone for answers only works in the youtube universe. The book of Mormon says you have to study it and ask if it's true with "real intent", so being honest and sincere is needed. I'm not trying to preach, but this is about religious beliefs, and this is what the beliefs are for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in my words. Thanks Knowing better, I feel like you put a lot of effort into being fair.
@@mrnameless7637 ah... My brainwashed child, say something to explain racism, homophobia and sexism to me please.
@Bakuboy's Talk, Thank you for your honest reply. Asking questions is the foundation of learning and there is always more to learn about everything. The book of Mormon says, “..he (Jesus Christ) denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” (2 Nephi, chapter 26, verse 32-33). So about racist, homophobic, sexist and brainwashing accusations. It would be an error to think that what is now known about ourselves is all there is to know. So something could seem evil, but if we are missing information about it, our conclusions however logical may still be in error.
I will discuss what you wish. Racism: Africans have always been a equally loved by God, why they had the priesthood then it was removed then was given back, I honestly don't know. In ancient Israel only one tribe could be priests, the Levites, the other eleven could not. I don't know why this was so either. One teaching to understand is the Priesthood is not supposed to be about being cooler then the have-nots, it's about service. It's our weak nature that drives us to make things into a status symbol. Jesus washed the feet of this Apostles, there is much meaning in that. Anyone who serves others will enrich themselves, and bring good in the world. No one needs the priesthood to be acceptable to God, or be equal with others. God only asks that we do that right thing as Jesus taught. So it's a matter of Faith that the Prophets that Knowing Better Channel has talked about are following direction from God. I easily see how it looks bad, it just comes down to faith. The teachings have always been to treat all people as Jesus would treat them.
Next, homophobia, in history people have often thought this subject was understood. There is always more to learn about everything, and right now we still don't know everything there is to know about homosexuality. With sex being such an all encompassing part of biology, I don't see how people would choose to be homosexual, rather it's likely something they have little to no control over. We are all born with things that make us different. There are infinite ways of being different. We believe the hard and unfair things of this life are part of a bigger plan, in which we will learn important things one step at a time, so at some point after this life we can live at peace with ourselves, our loved ones and God. What we are like when we are born is part of that plan from God. We likely will not know the reasons why we are the way we are, but as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints we are given teachings to follow and those teaching we believe come from God and will ultimately will bring good to the world and to us. So it comes down to faith like knowing better says. I may also come down to Latter-day saints asking for patience from people of other beliefs, while we follow what we believe God has told us to do regarding homosexuality.
You also wanted a response about sexism. The Earth is full of living things, all of them very different, yet all special in some way. It seems to me God's creations strongly have this idea of uniqueness everywhere. Women and Men are equal yet not the same. Being the same is overrated. There is error in thinking we have learned enough instead of being willing to learn more about what the differences are and how they very and how they are truly equal but different. Also what of the possibility that women and men can achievement great things working together because of their uniqueness. If we expect women to be the same as men, we may miss out on what makes them special as they are. The things we value, and take glory in, are often not the things that God values and takes glory in, Isaiah in the bible says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (See Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8). So when others see sexism in this church, I see women always being important in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, infinity important, so much so there is no adequate description that would be enough to communicate it. About sexism, our society would be stronger, happier and more intelligent, if we always took care to not harm, or to disregard women. We should not negatively interfere with them, when they reach their unique potential, it will benefit humanity like never before I believe. Joseph Smith taught that it is in the relationship of women and men, that we will find the enlightenment that we need, to live peaceful and happy in the life to come. Many religions often use the idea of balance between different things, in order for two things to be greater then the sum of their parts. There have been some changes in the past two years, that will help this balance to improve. I have been taught and have been lead by some amazing women in this church. There are positions in the Church that have always only been held by men. If God truly wants it that way, maybe there is something more to learn, and I believe when we have fully learned what that is, we sill not see women as inferior to men.
Sexism, or any mistreatment of women will inhibit men from achieving their potential. I keep going back to what knowing better said, it's a question of faith. If you have faith, then you believe that if there is something you don't yet understand, that God will show you when you are ready. I know I'm not talking to specific things people may be upset about, but I'm already making this too long.
Your last item, that I'm brainwashed. All people religious or not are a bit brainwashed. It's one reason why life is so confusing. I'm just as limited as everyone else. As a kid I thought I would never be religious as an adult, because religion seems silly. Now I find there are things all over different religions and in science that intrigue me. Truth is all over the place, but it takes lots of work and honesty, to sort through and find the truth and the errors and all the things in between. We are given a promise in the bible that we can have help from God with searching for truth and hopefully identify brainwashing, bias, or arrogance and overcome it as best we can, see Matthew chapter 7, verse 7-11. Our biology makes us want to take something complicated and find a simple meaning to it that will make decisions faster and fit with our other beliefs that are important to us. It's a very efficient way of extending the capability of our brain, but it can sometimes lead us to miss important details. One of the reasons why people through history couldn't get a long is because it was one brainwashed person against another. So the question is, am I brainwashed? I think I'm less brainwashed then others, but that is the odd thing about bias, you don't know you have it, when you do. All people on earth are often bombarded by brainwashing in one form or another. It is in questioning what is around us we will begin to overcome it, if we are honest enough we can find the truth and the errors. I thought I would be an atheist because of all the assumptions in theology, but through many experiences that are personal to me, I became a Christian, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I see no fault in anyone for believing differently, as long as they are honest with themselves. I also believe in evolution, You make a point about brainwashing, we should never hold back the power of our minds, just question things intelligently. The purpose of pleasure is to re-enforce behavior. If we are getting pleasure from things that don't have a good end, then it will create bad habits we may not escape from. This is one reason why God commands people to sometimes do things we don't understand, it's because we do not yet understand ourselves. We must learn how to follow the pleasures of life that are sustainable and good, not artificial or vain and ultimately the dead end ones. Sin is about skipping the stuff God wants us to enjoy for a limited or fake version of it. Prophets that are truly from God will teach us things that will lead us to these higher and natural pleasures that will lead to the right habits, that will enrich us, will get us true freedom instead of being tools for dishonest people, see matthew chapter 7 verse 17. My first comment before this big long one says it all, find out for yourself if it's true. I'm also a trekkie, live long and prosper Bakyboy. I wish you well in all the adventures of life!
"Did you hear the Prophet Joseph Smith was killed?"
~Oh my god, what were his last words?
"I forget, but he wasn't wearing underwear at the time. That's all I remembered."
His last words were "oh lord, my god, is there no help for the widow's son". Which is a plea from one mason to another for help.
The underwear thing is actually a pretty big deal to Mormons. Basically, they make a promise to God to wear them. So if the leader isn't wearing them....there are questions to be asked haha.
This life is clearly a dream. It makes no sense.
@Lex Bright Raven Based
@Lex Bright Raven, if you want to call being attacked by an armed mob and defending the people in your room a gunfight, sure.
It qualifies, but implies certain considerations that may not be in play.
@@dakotataylor6605 HIs last words were "Oh Lord, my God-" and he never said anything after that in John Taylor's account. He believed it was supposed to be the Masonic distress cry, but he was shot before finishing the oath.
Super video! I just want to add one thing. While South Park's portrayal of Martin Harris' wife, Lucy, was not completely accurate, it was not completely inaccurate either. While there is no evidence that the destroyed the manuscript, Martin did take it for her to see due to her skepticism, and when it was lost, she definitely taunted her husband: "If this be a divine communication, the same being who revealed it to you can easily replace it." Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet 2nd ed., p.54. So, although there is no direct evidence that she destroyed the manuscript, there is evidence that she certainly had the motivation and opportunity to do so and seemed happy when it happened.
as an ex JW, hearing the word “Jehovah” triggered my fight or flight lmao
Me too! I cringed so hard my little brother was concerned...
It's kind of a scared word and you're not even supposed to say it that much. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh Day Adventists are just Christian cosplayers.
@@brandondavidson4085 “Christian cosplayers” is so fitting omg 😂😂
@@brandondavidson4085 I mean.... that's a pretty enormous 'no true scotsman' fallacy.
JW's, Mormons and Adventists are just as 'fervent' in their beliefs as I'm sure you are (and I'd argue likely more so, considering the enormous amounts of proselytizing time, effort, and personal money they spend).
There is more than enough to debunk their absurd ideologies without resorting to frankly baseless logical fallacies.
Like it or not, they are just as "christian" as literally anyone else. If you're christian, that includes you too.
If you want to argue that there is one 'true' form of christianity, well, you'll just have to take it up with Jesus then for leaving the bible so open to interpretation.
@@Kellethorn I didn't say "true" though. Stop trying to find fallacies in everything as if that's how you'll win every argument. I said "good". I can't tell you if someone is a real Christian or not, that's not my job. Only God knows that, but I do know whether or not a person is acting like a good Christian. Following doctrines and rules, caring about others, reading the Bible.
The only story I need about Jesus in America is called "Steel Ball Run".
s p i n
So I'm not the only one who caught that lmao
I heard that Araki went to a Christian or Catholic school when he was young, so that probably inspired the whole "jesus knew about america and made a obscure map of it" thing. Well, along the holy corpse thing.
*Is ThAT a JoJo ReFeReNcE ???*
Jojoke. There is no escape
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
This shall be fun. I expect the comments to be very informative and respectful.
BONER tehe :)
**pops popcorn **
@Ronoc Akim because it is youtube, the worst comments can be found here
I'm just waiting to hear about what happened in Ohio.
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum
This video was what started my journey to leaving the mormon church, thank you so much for making it
Utah raised Mormon but am atheist here. You cleared up things that I needed help with.
They're meticulous with the cherry picking of information.
god is a thing beyond logic... thus atheism
Cherry picking is the lifeblood of evangelicals too. Different roots but the same journey. I feel you, homie.
@@Nobushido God is a thing beyond logic. Thus theism is a waste of your time.
@@Nobushido dude leave
@@Nobushido “We don’t know absolutely everything therefore god”
So the earth is 6,000 years old?
Have you ever looked up at night?
Those little things called “stars” are millions of light years away. So somehow THEY can be that old, but WE totally aren’t. Right.
As for “a thing beyond logic”, he’s really not. Mankind can rarely think up something actually better than themselves, hence why most gods have the manners of a spoiled child and the actions of a psychopathic dictator. Who creates and then damns billions of “souls” to hell, as a part of his “master plan”
But please do continue to ignore the literal mountains of evidence displaying the contrary, it’s always interesting to see how far people will dig their head into the sand to get away from an uncomfortable idea that conflicts with “mUh BeLiEfS”
Btw, walking on water isn’t that hard, done it myself quite a few times :)
"Let's talk about the LGBTQ Community!"
"oh no"
yeah, I was waiting for that XD
@Luís Andrade The lack of truth in that comment is alarming
@Luís Andrade I in fact do exist! I am right here!
@Luís Andrade Well, I know that I am not a heterosexual, and I interreact daily with other non-heterosexuals
@Luís Andrade oh no, I'm dispersing
@@blurrycryptid ah, but is that really the truth or is it just your opinion XD
"speaking of the lgbt community!" "oh no" perfectly replicates what any mormon does whenever you say that
the only Mormon I believe is a man named Joshua Graham, known as the Burned Man in the Mojave
Amen Brother, may the world and the legion burn for their inequity turning from the grace and ways defined by the Lord to Joshua! ( Or at least my preferred form of 40 mm grenade launcher.)
Ayyyyyyeee🤝🤝🤝🤝
We can't expect god to do all the work
I SURVIVED BECAUSE THE FIRE INSIDE ME BURNED BRIGHTER THAN THE FIRE AROUND ME
We can't expect god to do all the work
Great video!
Real social studies channel!
Good times
Going around LYING about what Mormons believe.
Who are these people that always misrepresent?
@@richardholmes7199 idk man it seemed pretty accurate fellow mormon here
"Way back in the day we did baptisms for the dead." *mental flashback to Mormon friends excited about doing baptisms for the dead in 2010*
*Me that did one this month*
I was forced to do that like a month ago haha they still do that
Ik I was confused too, but he does acknowledge like a minute later than baptisms for the dead are still done, lol, it was just weird phrasing.
My parents do those baptisms a few times a year. I've been out of religions for 20 years, but I did go to The Hill of Kimora Pageant like 10 years ago under the influence of alcohol and some herb and it was awesome, better than when I was a kid forced to go to some weirdo church and exclusively Mormon related activities. San Diego Temple is an amazing building to visit, Toronto very cool too, Detroit Temple is small but still a good place to visit.
My mom forced me to do one a couple months before the pandemic (and before I left the church)
It wasn't as fun as you think, but at least the water was warm and the halls were pretty
i’m an exmo and i just have to say that this is by far one of the best explanations of the religion by an outsider that i’ve ever seen. often times this sort of media takes a very condescending stance towards the church (which is totally justified imo) but makes it near useless when trying to educate people who’ve been indoctrinated, they just get defensive. this video introduces just enough doubt and inconsistency to make someone question their faith without feeling like a direct attack, i’m definitely going to send this to my parents.
Thanks for leaving so we didn't have to throw you out.
Others aren’t saying this but I legitimately just want to thank you for just straight up teaching me so much about Mormon theology. I thought I knew Mormonism pretty well but goddamn this was interesting and informative. I’d list out all the things I found interesting but it’s to many to count. Great video, keep up the work, never change!
ah chief he barely scratched the surface. if you want a religion that will keep you interested for the rest of your life, this is it!
I'm LDS, and I really respect that you both properly explained many beliefs, while also acknowledging the critics perspective. Very refreshing :)
I'm not LDS, but have studied the religion and I also concluded this video was overall much more fair than most popular descriptions of the LDS faith.
I used to be LDS even if I am registered still. I found it to be very neutral. Glad it was.
Good times to be had, all around
I don’t know. I felt... condescended to? Like my beliefs weren’t being taken seriously. I mean, he linked the CES letter of all things which as I remember it when it came out, was full of outrage and mockery. I would have felt better if he brought a genuine Mormon on to explain church positions.
@@niteclock7315 Did you listen to what he was saying. He didn't have a member of the church playing the missionary, but he definitely got help from someone who served a mission to write the missionary's part of the script. (If he didn't serve a mission himself.)
As a non-Mormon from Utah, I appreciate this very much.
Edit: So THAT’S why Utah has two cities called Lehi and Nephi, they’re stories from the Mormons! Now I’m surprised I didn’t know it beforehand lmao.
Did you really grow up here and never learn that 😕
Its hard to keep up with all that unless you are in tourism.
There's also Kolob, but that's a long story...
get off the internet! quick! sin is afoot!
Yep! Brigham is also named after a church guy (Brigham Young).
24:32 One small correction, the KJV was written in Early Modern English, not Middle English. For a good comparison to highlight the differences, the Wycliffe Bible is one that was actually written in Middle English
I'm 7 minutes in and hes already taught me more about the church's history than the church did in 16 years
As he says multiple times, a lot rides on faith, in this as in any other church.
@@MusicBlik yeah, faith to not look into the origins of their structures lol
@@lizardlegend42 I mean I don't think most of them really believe that shit anyways. They probably just like being part of a community like that. Sounds innocent but mindless propogation of religion will be the downfall of humanity if left uchecked. We should consider it a serious threat.
That’s not surprising. Details of church history is not taught in worship services (not the point of worship service). You could have easily learned all of this on churchofjesuschrist.org.
@@saggybobby3733 Religions help people choose ignorance over seeking the truth, but they don't cause it, just like knives and firearms help people kill other people, but don't cause it. There are deep underlying problems in our psyche, and by attacking the religions, you're choosing the easy answer. Just like the religious people do, I might add.
Right-side of screen, in the background: a golden plate
Missed, that. I love it!
I was staring at that plate through half the video and didn't even put that together.
On top of the shelf is a plush tapir..
Please explain ;-;
@@lemmonboy6459 The Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith from Golden Plates. In the musical "The Book of Mormon", they used literal golden plates to represent the original plates.
Just watch the musical (bootlegs), you'll understand it better. hahaha
“There are literally binders full of women” ah, I see Knowing Better is keeping up with his Mitt Romney lore
Care to explain?
@@zibbydafuqjo4584 ""Binders full of women" was a phrase used by Mitt Romney on October 16, 2012, during the second U.S. presidential debate of 2012. Romney used the phrase in response to a question about pay equity, referring to ring binders with résumés of female job applicants submitted to him as governor of Massachusetts. The phrase was depicted by Romney's detractors and the Obama campaign as demeaning and insensitive toward women and was widely mocked. This prompted the phrase's use for political attacks on Romney's positions on "women's issues", as well as the development of an Internet meme." -Wikipedia
@@btat16 You can't win with shitlibs. If you don't talk about bowing and scraping before their pets you're a monster if you do you're a monster who is also cringe.
@@quesocoatl21 Exactly, people would screech like harpies if you didn't treat women like precious snowflakes. So they literally had binders with profiles of competent women who could serve in his campaign/cabinet. But when he told people that, the woke cult attacked him for... being a white dude? I'm really not sure, either you care about meritocratic systems or you want equity, pick one.
@@quesocoatl21 Well, you can't really win if you refer to your political opponents as "shitlibs" either, you'll have to act a little more mature for people to take you seriously. I've never understood you U.S.-Americans, you only have two political parties and they are practically the same, yet you seem to hate each other a lot more than people from more developed democracies.
50:07 The hotel chain is Marriott for anyone wondering
I'm so impressed by your commitment to listing all of your sources. It's a lost art on TH-cam, but you're obviously an exceptional creator.
God I hate myself for missing the first season of the Mormon anime.
Mormon anime?
Being LDS myself, that would be awesome.
@@madmanmark08 Love Hina is a harem anime.
@@parker469a if we are gonna get into harem anime... That's its own genre.. but I suppose I can understand the relevance of a single sex character with a harem of the opposite sex.
High school dxd is the first one that comes to mind.
" _You could make a religion out of this_ "
- History of the World and everything i guess
Funny about that even atheisim at one point had a Church well more specifically a Church by the Jacobins during the French revolution.
China broke again
Now they're whole again
It's the Cambrian explosion!
The sun is a deadly laser!
Best thing TH-cam brought the world was Bill Wurtz
Wow, really great video and entertaining AF. I was raised as a very secular Unitarian Universalist in Atlanta. We were taught many other religious traditions and encouraged to go to other’s services with respect. LDS was not something I was exposed to as a young person, but it’s interesting to get to know how it riffs off other traditions. I have also been a stagehand for around 40 years and worked Book of Mormon a number of times. (Thanks for the nods.)Those writers were correct in choosing such a nice sect to satire. (Well now they’re nice) Many others would not have bought tickets, stayed through the whole show and laughed so hard.
52:16
Fukuyama wants to know your location
It's hbomberguy
Hey shouldn't you be working on next year's christmas video?
All hail the leftist prince of Gothan
Fukuyama: Liberal democracy is the political zenith!!
Huntington: Fukuyama, my boy...
Fukuyama: ...sorry teacher
Aquaman meme guy
What do you call an LDS on LSD?
A high priest
Ha.
lol, i’ve got to use that someday
Yuk yuk yuk
taking that one with me for life because that time I dropped acid was the final nail in the coffin for my own lds disillusionment
I'm thinking a lethal combination of PCP and DMT.
“When a church changes doctrine, that doesn’t mean the previous doctrine was wrong, it was correct for that time” lol sounds like the government from George Orwell’s 1984
I feel like 1984 would be more denying the church ever held that doctrine in the first place.
@Edward Lee Miller Yep, even by acknowledging anything changed it's not like 1984, since in 1984 you couldn't even address that anything had changed
To be fair that's also the explanation given by the catholic church for all old/new testament differencies
That's most places/ organizations. Products of their time is not a new thing.
@Edward Lee Miller the difference is that those governments can admit they were wrong. Well, sometimes. Looking at you Japan.
Dowsers do still exist. I know a couple who were having trouble with the water on their land in Vermont. They heard about this man who was a dowser. They figured, why not give it a try? He came down with two sticks wrapped together at top, not a forked stick. Walked around the area where they were going to build, but he said there wasn’t water. About 100 yards from there, the sticks pointed to the ground numerous times on a level area. He said to build anywhere in the area. They did so and have had well water ever since. The man did not accept payment as he said it would be wrong to take money for an art passed to him by his mother.
Did it work? Who knows?
Mormonism gives me "You aren't making Christianity better, you're making rock worse." vibes
Even a Turtle can agree
@@TurtleChad1 I see you everywhere I love this
Christianity sucks without any help or hindrance from mormons
What does that mean
@@TurtleChad1 Holy fuck! it's a Turtle!
Akshully, the "Pilgrims" weren't kicked out of Europe, they left Europe willingly. Ok, yes, they fled England because the kings there were treating them like shit... but they landed in the Netherlands. The Pilgrim leaders became nervous because nobody was converting to their goofy religion, and they were worried that their children would leave their goofy religion because the Dutch were having fun and not living the austere fundamentalist lifestyle. The Pilgrim leader at the time wrote about it and explicitly said that was the problem. So they fled to what became Massachusetts.
Prove it.
where did you get that from??
Yeeeeah we gotta stop letting the Puritans have the word "fled."
It's not fleeing if you're not in danger but you just pick up and leave because no one's joining your club. 😂
That's why he called it a "Myth".
The Netherlands were substantially more hostile to the Puritans than England, so you could argue that the Dutch legitimately kicked them out for being reactionary assholes, but yeah they definitely left England because they couldn't completely run the show.
“And much like a trilogy, [the Book of Mormon] retcons a lot of stuff from the first two books.”
Perfect. Just perfect.
Eh because the bible is interpreted in so many ways its hard to find a good examples of this (which is why he doesn't share one in the video).
I loved the Star Wars references in this mini-doc! “Execute Order 44 (palpating hands and voice),” the third trilogy of Star Wars retcon the first (original trilogy), and there’s a third one but I forget.
@@EsotericAOC hard to find? The BoM literally contains over twenty chapters that do nothing but quote Isaiah.
@@Aphercotropes That charge has debunked.
@@ruijua The other one is the comparison to legends
Recently started binging (and re-binging) your videos. I've thoroughly enjoyed them and found them incredibly informative.
One small correction regarding BSA: it was actually because of allowing openly gay adults that LDS broke their contract with BSA, set to expire in 2019. When I was in scouts from 2010-2017 the Order of the Arrow (honor society) lost 1M+ members nationally because of the LDS contract severance. This was the impetus for allowing women into scouts.
I know it's a very, very minor, and not terribly relevant to the overall thesis, but I think it's worth clarifying for those who want to read the comments here
Boy scouts allowing homosexuals and women, they really want to take away masculinity.