Great opening episode.Particularly enjoyed the puzzle analogy.Now i know what Ron looks like,having read most of his comments on other platforms for some time now.Good luck with your future endeavours in the exmo blogasphere.
Congratulations Nathan for the new project. You were great conducting the interview. And congrats Ron for the participation. You sure made Nathan star with a great guest.
Sometimes you read something and think…”wow, that sounds like me”. Thats what happened when I read what my fairly new Facebook friend Ron Yorgason said. Before I post what he said let me just say this: I do not believe that the following events truly happened….like in the flesh. I’m not talking a dream or a vision, or tripping on mushrooms, or with your “spiritual eyes” but in reality: God and a Jesus appearing to Joseph Smith to tell him all other church are wrong and an abomination meanwhile Joseph forgets to tell anyone for 12 years. Peter, James, John and John the Baptist appearing to Joseph and Oliver to give them the priesthood which is the only way to make things like baptism valid in heaven and only found in this church meanwhile they forget to tell anyone about it for 5-6 years. An angel appearing to Joseph with a sword to essentially force Joseph to take additional teenage wives. (Or the old ones) To be fair, I also don’t believe that people turn into a pillar of salt for “looking back” or talking donkeys, or putting 2 of every animal in a boat so God can drown everybody and start over, or living in the belly of a whale rent free, or any number of other bullshit stories. They may make for a nice object lesson but I don’t believe they truly happened. Here’s what Ron said: “I’m apatheist. I’ve decided to manage my own moral compass regardless of whether or not there’s a god. Since his existence doesn’t impact how I’ll live, I don’t care if he exists. But I’ve learned enough about human nature to realize people have been making up gods to suit their needs and explain what they don’t understand since the beginning of thought. So I’m not too worried about its existence. I determined that the primary purpose of a religion is to establish a specific moral compass that allows people to cooperate, knowing the group follows a specific set of rules. The rules carry weight and must be followed because a god said these rules were divine. Since I've taken control of managing my own moral compass, religion no longer has a useful purpose for guiding me. When I die, if there's a god and he rewards me for being a good and moral person, then great. But I didn't need to follow someone claiming to speak for god to do it. If there's a god and he punishes me because I didn't believe the correct interpretation of a story about him, then he's not a god I'd worship anyway. If there isn't a god, and this life is all we have, I will have lived my best life and made my small piece of the world a little better for having been here, and that's all I need. What I won't ever do again is let someone else decide what my moral compass should be. Anyone with this power inevitably abuses it for their own purposes that do not help me or society.” I will openly admit that I have a bit more contemplation that needs to be done on the matter but…Maybe Ron is right.
@@jessicayates8162 yes! Second cousins, 3 times removed. Gordon comes through one brother and we came through the more famous Brother named Arza Hinckley. Brigham’s teamster
GBH was quite the wily character- repeatedly referring to the possibility the Church is a FRAUD- (HE TOLD US SO!!) “Each of us has to face the matter - either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing.” “..it’s either true or false. If it’s false, we’re engaged in a great fraud. If it’s true, it’s the most important thing in the world.” "Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens." -"The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith," GBH, 10/02 GC
I loved this! Excited to see more! I’d like to see Ron’s page, if someone has the link!
Watching from the UK!
Ron is an incredible source! He's definitely my go to guy for church history!
Great opening episode.Particularly enjoyed the puzzle analogy.Now i know what Ron looks like,having read most of his comments on other platforms for some time now.Good luck with your future endeavours in the exmo blogasphere.
Watching from Durban South Africa.Your first foreign viewer,perhaps?
Nice!
Nathan, welcome to the podcasting world.
Congratulations Nathan for the new project. You were great conducting the interview. And congrats Ron for the participation. You sure made Nathan star with a great guest.
Great job Nathan! Enjoyed every minute of this podcast! Thank you Ron! Felt of your sincerity.🎉
Watching from Portugal 🇵🇹
Thanks Ron for sharing your experience with the church. I could relate so much. Great episode
Awesome Nathan! Really enjoyed your podcast!
Watching from Mérida Yucatán México
Ron the pain is felt, honestly I'm grateful for the dialogue. It's so incredibly important in a people where community is lost.
My Shelf Break was Combo moment of =Emperor has NO CLOTHES + Seeing Behind the Curtain of OZ!! 🙄😕
I wonder if the book he read was The Exhoneration of Joseph and Emma by Ronald Meldon Karren.
Sometimes you read something and think…”wow, that sounds like me”. Thats what happened when I read what my fairly new Facebook friend Ron Yorgason said. Before I post what he said let me just say this:
I do not believe that the following events truly happened….like in the flesh. I’m not talking a dream or a vision, or tripping on mushrooms, or with your “spiritual eyes” but in reality:
God and a Jesus appearing to Joseph Smith to tell him all other church are wrong and an abomination meanwhile Joseph forgets to tell anyone for 12 years.
Peter, James, John and John the Baptist appearing to Joseph and Oliver to give them the priesthood which is the only way to make things like baptism valid in heaven and only found in this church meanwhile they forget to tell anyone about it for 5-6 years.
An angel appearing to Joseph with a sword to essentially force Joseph to take additional teenage wives. (Or the old ones)
To be fair, I also don’t believe that people turn into a pillar of salt for “looking back” or talking donkeys, or putting 2 of every animal in a boat so God can drown everybody and start over, or living in the belly of a whale rent free, or any number of other bullshit stories. They may make for a nice object lesson but I don’t believe they truly happened.
Here’s what Ron said:
“I’m apatheist. I’ve decided to manage my own moral compass regardless of whether or not there’s a god. Since his existence doesn’t impact how I’ll live, I don’t care if he exists. But I’ve learned enough about human nature to realize people have been making up gods to suit their needs and explain what they don’t understand since the beginning of thought. So I’m not too worried about its existence.
I determined that the primary purpose of a religion is to establish a specific moral compass that allows people to cooperate, knowing the group follows a specific set of rules. The rules carry weight and must be followed because a god said these rules were divine.
Since I've taken control of managing my own moral compass, religion no longer has a useful purpose for guiding me. When I die, if there's a god and he rewards me for being a good and moral person, then great. But I didn't need to follow someone claiming to speak for god to do it. If there's a god and he punishes me because I didn't believe the correct interpretation of a story about him, then he's not a god I'd worship anyway. If there isn't a god, and this life is all we have, I will have lived my best life and made my small piece of the world a little better for having been here, and that's all I need.
What I won't ever do again is let someone else decide what my moral compass should be. Anyone with this power inevitably abuses it for their own purposes that do not help me or society.”
I will openly admit that I have a bit more contemplation that needs to be done on the matter but…Maybe Ron is right.
@@Themormonmoron excellent podcast!
Great job! I agree with Ron!
I HAVE to ask, as I am sure you get asked quite often... are you related to Gordon B Hinckley?
@@jessicayates8162 yes! Second cousins, 3 times removed. Gordon comes through one brother and we came through the more famous Brother named Arza Hinckley. Brigham’s teamster
I was about to ask 😅
GBH was quite the wily character- repeatedly referring to the possibility the Church is a FRAUD- (HE TOLD US SO!!)
“Each of us has to face the matter - either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing.”
“..it’s either true or false. If it’s false, we’re engaged in a great fraud. If it’s true, it’s the most important thing in the world.”
"Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens." -"The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith," GBH, 10/02 GC