[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e're thrilled this week to be joined by our friend, Devin Thorpe, progenitor and proprietor of Your Mark on the World. Devin's mission is, simply (and easily, right?) to make the world a better place. But how? That's his jam.

Even though the Church has been not exactly forthcoming with details of the new youth program, it has at least announced the theme for the year, which is based on 1 Nephi 3:7 ("I will go and do the things the Lord commands"). On the surface, this seems like a perfectly fine theme, encouraging youth to act on faith in difficult situations, just as Nephi did. But Devin is concerned that it could also lead others to engage in irrational, even violent, behavior, all in the name of God's commands.

Robert Kirby of the Salt Lake Tribune is officially the paper's humor columnist (and we've spent plenty of time tearing down some of his iffier articles), but this week he makes a more grounded argument: that attacking someone's religion is the same as attacking their personal traits. It's not a mere criticism of a faith, but becomes a criticism of the individual.

In an op ed at Religion News Service, a Utah writer discusses at length his belief in the veracity of the Book of Mormon and the divine mission of Joseph Smith, but then stresses that he does not believe in the Church, nor is he advocating for the mission of the Church. Can one be a post-Church Mormon?

A University of Washington student, who clearly has an editor that doesn't even know how to spell "Christ" - decided to visit an LDS congregation. She writes a column covering her visits to different religious services. She came away with an understanding that Mormons are very tight knit and hospitable.

In other non-believer visits, a humanist decided to hit up the Hill Cumorah Pageant, currently in its penultimate season.

You know how the Book of Mormon mentions horses and then academics argue that the Spanish introduced horses into the Americas, thus creating another in many purported logical, archaeological, and anthropological inconsistencies? Well, researchers specializing in Native American history have discovered evidence of horses in the pre-Colombian era, and those pesky, fake-news academics should take notice!

QuitMormon.com aims to allow departing members of the Church have an easier time submitting a legal memo to the Church to have their records removed. The problem, however, is that the Church requires such forms to be notarized, and it asked QuitMormon to provide that or its submissions will be rendered moot. All of this has curiously transpired a few weeks after we discussed an article on The Verge that explored QuitMormon at length.

http://thisweekinmormons.com/2019/08/come-follow-me-resources-make-your-personal-study-even-easier/