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The 2018 FairMormon Conference in Review

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We had another great conference last week (it was our 20th!). This time it ran for 3 days. Some of the topics covered were lesser-known women’s stories in church history, the Gospel Topics Essays, stories of members of the church in India and Africa, the new Saints church history series coming out from the church, grace, the Book of Abraham, homosexuality, horses in the Book of Mormon, and how to help people having a faith crisis. We also had a general authority speak for the first time. Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke about the good that FairMormon and other organizations are doing to help correct misunderstandings about the church, and that more voices are needed in the effort. Awards were given to Scott Gordon, Louis Midgley, and Michael Hickenbotham for their service, and a painting of “Mary Whitmer and Moroni” in honor of Lynne Hilton Wilson was unveiled.

Each day, one presentation was live-streamed free on Facebook, where you can still watch the recordings. You can also watch them here:

  • Jenny Reeder: “Fire In My Bones”: Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org
  • John Gee: Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham
  • Elder Kevin W. Pearson: A Sacred and Imperative Duty

It’s not too late to purchase the streaming and watch the videos of the entire conference. After purchase, they will be available to view on any device with a web browser, as well as on a Roku box. You can buy it here.

We have had several articles published about the conference (this section will be updated as more appear):

Mike Ash, one of our volunteers who is a great photographer, has posted photos from the conference on our Facebook page.

Transcriptions of the presentations will be posted on our website after they are prepared by our volunteers.

The full conference schedule can be reviewed here.

 

Stephen H. Webb, 1961–2016

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Stephen WebbDr. Stephen H. Webb, retired Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wabash College, passed away unexpectedly on March 5, 2016. He was a speaker at the 2015 FairMormon Conference in Provo, Utah, where he delivered his remarks on “Why Mormon Materialism Matters.”

Dr. Webb earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and, since 2007, was a practicing Roman Catholic. In recent years he had become interested in the Latter-day Saint faith, and published two books on Mormonism through Oxford University Press: Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn from the Latter-day Saints (2013) and, with Alonzo L. Gaskill, Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation (2015).

FairMormon volunteers are deeply saddened by his passing, and express our sympathy to his family and loved ones.

You may read Dr. Webb’s obituary and sign the online guest register on the Legacy.com website.

FairMormon’s Content and Update Policy

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FairMormon stands as a witness of Jesus Christ and His restored Church. Our mission is to answer charges leveled against the Church, its leaders, teachings and practices.

We are an all-volunteer organization. We seek volunteers who agree with our mission and want to help. These individuals contribute with a full understanding of our mission, and know their work may be used or modified as needed in order to achieve our mission. They further understand that the purpose of volunteering is to defend the Church and not to pursue a personal agenda.

Because our priority is our mission and not ourselves, much of FairMormon’s content is generated collaboratively and not attributed to individuals. Some blogs, podcasts, and other content do have attributed authors. Because our volunteer resources are limited, not all content in blogs and podcasts can be carefully reviewed in advance. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to edit, refine, or even remove already-published content in order to keep it consistent with our mission.

Many of our volunteers contribute content in other venues, such as on personal blogs, in scholarly publications, and in podcasts. When a current or former FairMormon volunteer publishes views that contradict the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or accuses Church leaders of wrongdoing, malicious intent, and so forth, it may become confusing or harmful to FairMormon’s audience, and contrary to FairMormon’s mission, to maintain that volunteer’s content on our website. Because FairMormon is a trusted entity for many Latter-day Saints and sincere investigators, FairMormon must avoid endorsing external content that opposes our mission and the Church’s values.

FairMormon reserves the right to edit or remove content produced by attributed authors in order to ensure that we maintain integrity in our mission. When content is not attributed, there is generally no change to the content we make available to the public.

Our volunteers are never guaranteed their content will never be removed or edited. We try to make sure our volunteers understand that FairMormon’s mission is a higher priority than any individual’s wishes or feeling of pride in his or her contributions. We at FairMormon are not here for ourselves, but to serve the interests of the Lord and His restored Church. We defend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unapologetically in the hopes that our efforts will help sustain the faith of those who visit our site.

Front Page News Review Podcast #6

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Podcast: Download (36.7MB)

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FairMormon’s Front Page News Review is a show that provides context and analysis of the past week’s media coverage of Mormons and the LDS church. Hosted by Nick Galieti manager of the FairMormon Front Page news service, Cassandra Hedelius.

We hope this will be an edifying and entertaining experience. What we present is not to be understood as being the official position of FairMormon or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We speak for ourselves, and sometimes not even then.

Past weeks Top Stories:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/13/a-great-utah-compromise-on-lgbt-equality-there-s-no-such-thing.html

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/utah-legislature-passes-mormon-backed-lgbt-nondiscrimination-law

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-usa-mormons-excommunication-idUSKBN0M705920150311

http://www.sltrib.com/home/2229999-155/new-mormon-mission-how-to-teach

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/07/258998/water-grab-pits-las-vegas-against.html

Facebook page hit 3,000 likes.

Plug FairMormon Front Page, signup at fairmormon.org

Mormon Fair-Cast: Peoples Choice Podcast voting

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This is a Mormon Fair-Cast news flash announcement. For the fourth year in a row, The Mormon Fair-Cast has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Best Podcast in the Religion Inspiration category.

The People’s Choice Podcast Awards are an annual set of awards given to the best podcasts as voted on by listeners. Each year, millions of votes are cast and thousands of shows are nominated over a 15 day voting period in February. There were about 6,000 shows nominated for awards this year. Four judges in each category took a variety of factors into account in order to narrow the finalists down to 10 in each category. The total number of votes a podcast received accounted for only 40% of the grading, with the quality of the website’s design (15%), quality of sound (15%), quality of delivery and show format (10%), and relevance of content (20%) also being considered. Ten shows were chosen as nominees in each of 22 different categories. Daily voting for the winner starts March 3rd. Which is today and on this auspicious occasion, fans can begin voting every day for their favorite podcast in each category at www.podcastawards.com. Voting will be open every day for 22 days, and FANS CAN VOTE ONCE EACH DAY in every category. Winners will be announced at the Podcast Awards Ceremony, which will be held at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas on April 14th, 2015. To vote, go to the podcastawards.com and find the Mormon Fair-Cast entry. It is listed under the Religion Inspiration category, which is near the bottom of the page on the right. It is the third category up from the bottom. Click on the Mormon Fair-Cast entry. Then scroll down and enter your name and email address. Click on the button that describes you best (Listener, Podcaster, or Both.) For most of you that will be “Listener.” Then click on the submit button on the right. You will then receive a reply from the People’s Choice Podcast group that will asking you to verity your vote just to make sure you are a real person and not just some spam address.

The Mormon Fair-Cast won the award for best religious podcast in 2011 and 2013, but lost in 2012 to the Ardent Atheist podcast. This year, let’s be more ardent than the atheists! Please spread the word by telling your friends. Even if we don’t win the voting, we hope this will raise awareness of the great resources we have. If we do win, it is even better. We face stiff competition this year from a few atheists and ex-Mormon podcasts so your vote is essential to bring the work we do at FairMormon to the forefront. You can post a link with instructions on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. If you use an iPad or Android phone set a reminder in your calendar to vote each day. Each vote counts. If your one of those like me and have a calendar on the frig write in “vote FairMormon today” on every day to the 24th and remind your friends to vote each day, and thank you for your continued support of FairMormon!  We appreciate your time.

Mormon Fair-Cast: Peoples Choice Podcast Awards

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Podcast: Download (8.7MB)

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Neds Used Car Smile ThumbStop what you are doing – right now and do this. We really need you to do this.

We need your help to get nominated again for the People’s Choice Podcast Award. In 2011 and in 2013 we made the list of nominations for our religious podcasts and in 2013 we won best religious podcast. We really appreciate your support on that. In 2012, we were beat out by an atheist group. We would rather that not happen again.

In order for us to be nominated again, we need your help NOW. Time is very short. We need you to nominate us.
We also need you to send this to your Facebook and Twitter. Spread the word! Tell your friends!
Nominate the Mormon Fair-Cast Podcast for the People’s Choice Podcast Award.
Go to this link:
Scroll down to “Religion Inspiration”
Type in the following in the two boxes:
Podcaster Name: Mormon Fair-Cast
Our Podcasts have several hosts and themes. They are as follows:
Nick Galieti is our Podcast manager. He is the host for three podcasts:
Front Page News is a new podcast series Nick does with Cassandra Hedelius. They review the previous week of The LDS Church and members in the press.
The Articles Of Faith is a show where Nick interviews scholars and other notables.
Rise Up Podcasts Nick gears toward the youth.
Julianne Hatton does a podcast series called Faith and Reason.
These are interviews with Mike Ash and his book on evidences of The Book of Mormon.
Ned Scarisbrick does a podcast series titled The 4th Watch. It is based on the story of Jesus meeting his apostles while walking on the water during the 4th watch of night and keeping our focus on the Savior through the storms of life.
Ned Scarisbrick does a second series titled Fair Issues. These podcasts are based on articles that support the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Steven Densley Jr.  podcasts are titled Keeping the Faith. This series which centers on dealing with contemporary issues and criticisms of The Church.
We have other podcasts as well. Perhaps you would like to join us.
Please nominate us, and please listen.
Thank you,

 

Scott Gordon
President
FairMormon

WE APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. THANKS FOR LISTENING.

FairMormon TV now available for Android TV and Roku

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FairMormon TVFairMormon TV is now available on Google Play for Android TV. Watch videos produced by FairMormon and listen to the FairMormon Radio audio stream. (The views expressed are not necessarily those of FairMormon or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

If you have a Roku box, we are waiting for approval to have it added to the channel store, but it is still available as a private channel.

And if you have an Amazon Fire TV, the app is nearly finished for that as well. Click here to sign up to be a beta tester.

“This is a Woman’s Church”

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Sharon Eubank’s presentation, given on August 8 at the 2014 FairMormon Conference, received the rare honor of a standing ovation. The transcript can be viewed here.

You can purchase access to the rest of the conference videos at the FairMormon Bookstore.


Sharon Eubank was born in Redding, California, to Mark and Jean Eubank. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University and served as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Finland Helsinki mission. Her career includes working as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate for 4 years and owning a retail education store in Provo, Utah, for 7 years.

Since 1998, she has been employed by the Church in the Welfare Department. She helped to establish 17 international LDS employment offices Africa and Europe. For five years she directed the humanitarian wheelchair program expanding its scope to 50,000 individual donations each year and implementing World Health Organization training standards.

In 2008 Sharon became regional director of the LDS Charities for the Middle East Africa North area where she oversaw humanitarian work with active country offices in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Morocco. She also served on the Relief Society general board during Sister Julie B. Beck’s administration until April 2012.

Currently, Sharon is the director of LDS Charities, the humanitarian organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Eborn Books Author Presentation: “What Did Joseph Smith Know about LDS Temple Ordinances by 1836?”

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Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Directly after the FairMormon Conference on Friday, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw will be presenting at Eborn Books in Salt Lake City on the topic “What Did Joseph Smith Know about LDS Temple Ordinances by 1836?” The details of the presentation are below.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 7 PM–8:30 PM + Q&A.

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw will be giving a presentation at Eborn Books this coming Friday, August 8, in Salt Lake City. His topic is “What Did Joseph Smith Know about LDS Temple Ordinances by 1836?”

It is increasingly apparent that Joseph Smith’s early revelations and teachings evince a detailed understanding of concepts relating to temple worship. In this presentation, I will summarize precedents for LDS temple ordinances, both in antiquity and in the revelations and teachings of Joseph Smith through 1836. I will focus on three major items: 1. the backbone of narrative and covenants that relate to the liturgy of the LDS temple endowment, as revealed in 1830-1831; 2. prominent priesthood symbols associated with temple-related concepts for which we have evidence going back as far as 1826; and 3. the full sequence of blessings associated with the oath and covenant of the priesthood, given in 1832. In discussing these matters, I will be respectful of the sacred nature of LDS temple ordinances.

Bradshaw is the author of several books including the very popular and well-selling masterpiece IN GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS – Enoch, Noah and the Tower of Babel.

Due to the tremendous amount of wonderful material collected by Brother Bradshaw, the presentation is expected to last an hour and a half, with Q&A afterwards.

Date: 8 August 2014, 7:00 PM
Place: 254 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

About the Author:

Bradshaw and his wife Kathleen are the parents of four children. He is an active member of LDS Church). He was a missionary in France and Belgium from 1975–1977, and has since returned with his family twice to live in France: once from 1993-1994 as part of a Fulbright fellowship and a second time from 2005-2006 as a sabbatical in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. Among other publications on LDS temples and the ancient Near East, he published two highly-acclaimed commentaries on the Book of Moses: In God’s Image and Likeness 1: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Book of Moses, which covers Moses 1-6:12, and In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel, which covers the story recounted in Moses 6:13-8:30. He is a regular contributor to Meridian Magazine and currently maintains a blog entitled “Temple Themes in the Scriptures”. He is a vice president for The Interpreter Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board for the Academy for Temple Studies. Bradshaw has served twice as a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and currently serves as a counselor in the stake presidency of the Pensacola Florida Stake. He is also the author of Temple Themes in the Book of Moses and Temple Themes in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He has also contributed articles in BYU Studies and other publications.

Bret & Cindy Eborn
Eborn Books
254 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101
801-359-0460

Eborn Books in Salt Lake City
Eborn Books in Salt Lake City.

Mormon Fair-cast 244: FairMormon Conference 2014

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33480_1612609000660_2667876_nDanPetersonMartin Tanner who is the host of “Religion Today” on KSL FM 102.7 and AM 1160 interviews Steve Densley who is the executive vice-president of FairMormon and Daniel Peterson, Ph.D. who is a prominent Mormon apologist and professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University about the upcoming FairMormon conference that will be held in Provo Utah on the 7th and 8th of August this year. Tickets can be purchased here.

This broadcast originally aired on the 6th of July 2014.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast may not represent those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that of FairMormon.