Face in Hat

Heavenly Mother is one of the most interesting Latter-Day Saint doctrines!  We don't know a lot, but what we do know is awesome. Enjoy!

Oh My Father

https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/o-my-father

LDS topics, Mother in Heaven

https://www.lds.org/topics/mother-in-heaven

"A Mother There": A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven, by Author David L. Paulsen, Author Martin Pulido

https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/mother-there-survey-historical-teachings-about-mother-heaven

How to worship our Mother in Heaven (without getting excommunicated) by Kevin L. Barney

https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V41N04_133.pdf

AML conference program

https://bitly.com/aml2019prog

Poems!

Walk in the pink moccasins by Carol Lynn Pearson

https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/137-21-25.pdf

Motherless House by Carol Lynn Pearson

http://www.amotherhere.com/coll/pearson1.php#sthash.CcHmwUg0.dpbs

A hymn for mother’s day in long meter, by Theric Jepson

http://amotherhere.com/coll/jepson.php#sthash.492OBnkp.Cnftw0gn.dpbs

Do we have free will?  Is your neighbor a philosophical zombie?  Are we living in a simulation? Our hosts hit scriptures, sci fi, and neurobiology to discuss agency and determinism in religion and science.

References

https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-4-freedom-to-choose

Arcadia from Tom Stoppard (mentioned in passing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_(play)

JST as an anti-determinist text. Compare https://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ex/10 and http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/contents

The Hard Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hard_Problem

Wiki article on the hard problem of consciousness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness

Joseph Campbell on consciousness https://amzn.to/2XuL9jW

Infinite monkey cage podcast.  Two episodes:

Are We Living in a Simulation? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zb4d8

The Mind v the Brain https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0901bw2

Theric’s story http://bit.ly/thafterlife

Good Time (words: Vasilis Pozios | Pictures: Zakk Saam) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tylerchintanner/all-we-ever-wanted-stories-of-a-better-world

Pascal’s wager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager

What's expected of us, by Ted Chiang: https://www.nature.com/articles/436150a

"Art is that over which beings with perfect knowledge can still have divergent viewpoints." ----D. Michael Martindale https://thmazing.blogspot.com/2011/08/found-quotes.html

Secret or sacred?  Taboo or simply uncomfortable?  Important or trivial? With the temple ceremony changes in the news lately, our hosts discuss why Mormons don’t go into the ceremony specifics, what kinds of venues are appropriate for difficult subjects, and when it’s appropriate to espouse the virtue of silence.  Also, awesome 80’s comics apparently helped change the church?

First Presidency Statement on Temples

https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-worship

Temple firesides in prep for the open house, including topics on Eve, the creation, and the temple experience.

Tweetstorm from @MattathiasW regarding silence and the temple ceremony

https://twitter.com/MattathiasW/status/1081576820057681920

Eric’s tweet requesting examples of some things Latter-day Saints shy away from speaking of

https://twitter.com/thmazing/status/1085779539668566016

Laugh precedes the miracle:: How Calvin Grondahl and Pat Bagley Changed Mormonism, by Lynne Gorton Cropper.  The specific comic referred to in the episode is reproduced in this article.

https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/laughs-precede-the-miracle-how-calvin-grondahl-and-pat-bagley-changed-mormonism/

The virtue of silence, by Scott Alexander. In the episode we cite this article but go in a different direction. It’s worth checking out the original topic.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/06/14/the-virtue-of-silence/

Our hosts look at how money moves through the church and some of the fascinating history behind its finances.

Church’s statement on its finances from 2018:

https://www.lds.org/church/news/read-a-summary-of-the-financial-information-released-by-the-church

Wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

LDS Inc article from By Common Consent:

https://bycommonconsent.com/2016/06/02/lds-inc/

Mentioned by Eric but not really on topic ;)  A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

https://books.google.com/books/about/?id=0fmxDQAAQBAJ

Money as debt website:

http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Playlist with the full documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdMxiaZGboJSgU2raUksCFGSUfWS8eHR8

Aaron and Eric introduce the podcast!  Our hosts discuss critical thinking and its application to LDS miscellany and they describe their Berkeley influences.  Also a magic card comes up, but it feels natural.

Magic card!

http://www.magicspoiler.com/mtg-spoiler/skewer-the-critics

Wikipedia on critical thinking

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Eric’s reviews of the two books mentioned, Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover and The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

https://thmazing.blogspot.com/2018/09/what-weird-expression-this-is.html#081

https://motleyvision.org/2009/10/14/elna-baker-slash-damage-control

In which Aaron and Eric grapple with theodicy, aka the problem of evil given a benevolent God, as presented by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.  After going over some feedback from our pilot episode, we tackle theodicy and how it relates to DNA replication, Euclidean geometry and evolution.

SMBC comic on which the episode is based, by Zach Weinersmith:

Geometry! "It is not possible to prove every statement... nevertheless, we should prove as many statements as possible."

Evolving Faith - Wanderings of a Mormon Biologist, by Steven L. Peck

In which Aaron talks with Eric about Joseph Smith's seer stone.

References:

Seer stone and additional photos from 2015 Ensign article

Main FairMormon article

Brant A Gardner, FairMormon conference, 2009

About FairMormon

Religion of a different color by W. Paul Reeve

Pictures:

Joseph and his hat

Joseph Smith Translating

Emma and Joseph