1581: From TBM to RFM Pt. 2 - How Radio Free Mormon Lost his Faith

Join John and Jenn for Part 2 of our interview with popular Mormon podcaster Radio Free Mormon, wherein he shares the story of how he lost his Mormon faith.

From TBM to RFM Part 1: https://bit.ly/3y4lJi7

Show Notes:

Radio Free Mormon podcast
https://bit.ly/3KtrSHa

Mormonism Live with RFM and Bill Reel
https://bit.ly/3KoXvS8

"A Treasured Testament," by Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, July 1993; one of few early examples of the Church admitting Joseph used a rock in a hat to produce the Book of Mormon
https://bit.ly/3ksEwM0

New Testament Scholar Bart Ehrman on Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/3kpci4L

Discuss Mormonism forum (RFM uses the handle "consiglieri")
https://bit.ly/3F9uKYI

RFM's first interview on Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/3ONkN7p

Cleanthes' "Hymn to Zeus"
https://bit.ly/3LqaOmB

Secular Buddhism podcast
https://bit.ly/3KwY7VE

"Race and the Priesthood," Gospel Topics Essay
https://bit.ly/3MJaqQb

"How About an Apology for the Priesthood Ban?" on Radio Free Mormon
https://bit.ly/3F8ZdpF

Bill Reel on Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/3y4ktvb
https://bit.ly/3s0uBRK
https://bit.ly/3LqaPXH
https://bit.ly/3744FO6
https://bit.ly/3y4lUtN

"John Larsen interviews RFM" on Radio Free Mormon
https://bit.ly/3s3UsbD

"The Adam-God Historical Subterfuge," on Mormon Discussion podcast
https://bit.ly/37N5Hyt

Robert Ritner's interview on Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/3vsTCaq

RFM vs. Midnight Mormons Debate
https://bit.ly/3MIDGqe

The Church is Not True podcast, with Mike Norton
https://bit.ly/37Sjqnv

"Rodney Meldrum Founder of the Heartland Model" on Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/37Zfz82
https://bit.ly/3vDOEbf

Upcoming Events at Mormon Stories
https://bit.ly/3kruSsR

00:00:00 Introduction and opening remarks
00:06:16 Called to repentance for privately questioning Church leadership
00:12:46 "The manual is death": Tries to teach uncorrelated material in Sunday School until another member reports him for it
00:23:12 Teaches his Sunday School class that Joseph Smith used a rock in a hat to produce the Book of Mormon
00:36:42 The correlated curriculum leaves out an entire world of knowledge: "I realized how incestuous Mormon scholarship is"
00:45:35 No one ever really graduates from Primary
00:54:07 While involved in online apologetics, he finds that "anti-Mormon" message boards have a much wider, more intelligent range of discussion
01:01:20 Non-Mormons have spiritual experiences, too, so Mormons have to rely on a double-bind explanation: Either it's Satan, or they're deluded, or they're lying
01:15:57 The X-Factor of Inspiration: Some people think Shakespeare didn't write the work attributed to him because---much like Joseph Smith---it's too sophisticated for his level of education
01:25:58 The perils of scriptural literalism, especially when Mormonism rests entirely on the historical accuracy of the Book of Mormon
01:29:40 "Thanks, Mom, I finally got through it": Spiritual experiences don't change; we have to be ready to receive them
01:35:25 RFM's spiritual experience of Moby Dick
01:40:09 "Praying for a witness that never came": Matthew 16:4 says it's evil to seek a sign...but then Moroni 10:3-5 is "How To Seek A Sign"
01:41:46 "Today's church leaders claim the mantle of Joseph, but they're feeding us air and then telling us we've been spiritually fed, and we all nod our heads when we all know we're actually starving to death."
01:47:15 The "hidden books of Scripture" have been hiding in plain sight---art, literature, and other works of inspiration
01:53:08 Stoicism and the similarities between Cleanthes' "Hymn to Zeus" and the Doctrine and Covenants
01:57:23 A Banquet of Milk: "There's a finite amount of things you can learn in the Church, and that's the mark of a bad teacher"
02:09:38 Blogging about evidence for and against the Book of Mormon led him to Church apologetics---which caused him to discover the anachronisms of the King James New Testament and the Book of Isaiah
02:26:58 The Church tells you to study the Scriptures, but they don't really want you to; they just want you to study the correlated interpretation
02:40:38 The influence of Mormon Stories and John Dehlin's excommunication
03:08:58 The birth of Radio Free Mormon
03:35:16 Avoiding competition and negativity in Mormon podcasting
03:58:37 Remembering Dr. Robert Ritner
04:08:14 Closing remarks

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