Basic training for mainstream LDS fundamentalist living: Part I of II

The Manti Tabernacle.

By Chadwick LaVerl Hyde

“With all my heart I believe that the best place to prepare for … eternal life is in the home.”
- LDS President David O. McKay

“The most important of the Lord’s work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes.”
- LDS President Harold B. Lee

Let’s be honest. You’ve heard about polygamy being practiced by former members of the church and you’ve seen the mainstream church leadership decry it as apostasy. Maybe you went to an online chatroom and had a discussion with some older members who knew aunts or uncles that lived in polygamous homes. They spoke lovingly or reverently about those times. Perhaps you met a scholarly apologist at a church university who studied just a little too much of Joseph Smith Jr.’s personal life and private letters, and explained Section 132 in an entirely different way than you’re used to.

All of us have a story.

To every adventure there is a beginning. Every journey starts with the first few steps. Living the fundamentals, or fulness, of the gospel doesn’t have an end. The journey is the goal—it is the crucible that opens exaltation up after the first works of the gospel are solid in your life.

Let’s say those first steps led you to ogdenkraut.com and you clicked the menu and scrolled through the read books online. You possibly started perusing Kraut's 95 Theses, or the Holy Priesthood volumes, Adam-Michael, Rebaptism, or even Jesus Was Married. You realized that Kraut was a learned compiler of fundamentalist or covenant-restorative LDS religion. He’s a fundamentalist version of Bruce R. McKonkie, without any public pretense.

On an off chance, you may have heard of the Collective or “Order” as lived by the Kingston Group, or may have chatted with a few members at the businesses they own in Utah. Or maybe an Apostolic United Brethren member that runs an electrician subcontracting company—you know, the one that wires all the houses in the new subdivision you live in. On a trip through Orem, you may have run into missionaries from Christ's Church (known also as The Branch or Peterson Group). 

Then, six months into your questions and answers, you have devoured the Journal of Discourses, the teachings of Brigham Young, you know all about the revelation given to John Taylor in Centerville, Utah in the fall of 1886 on plural celestial marriage. You have further studied how LDS President Heber J. Grant and a group of brethren sanitized doctrines, ceremonies and even garments to accommodate gentile living standards—for what appears to be socio-political reasons (statehood and civic solidarity). The background for each mainstream LDS is nearly identical. You meet with groups, you chat, ask questions, watch sacraments performed, listen to talks, barbeque together and feel inspired, but then what?

You look around and realize that your entire family is mainstream LDS. Two of your sons (or even brothers) are on missions in South America or Europe. Your stake president is your father-in-law. Every room in your house has a Christus statue, or a piano with the appropriate lace cover, and a picture of a temple and President Russell M. Nelson on it.

You’re stuck. You know Joseph and the brethren lived and died to bring the fulness of the gospel to the earth. You know the ordinances in the gentile LDS church spoken of in 3 Nephi:20-21 have been traduced. You know that only through the practice of plural marriage, and through living all the covenants you bring yourself into celestial harmony and rid yourself and your family of unwanted terrestrial or telestial influences.

You also know that the Kingdom of God is a real and tangible thing. A Council of 50, as it were. You understand completely that the law of consecration is not a suggestion but a law—and must be lived voluntarily. What do you do?

This article hopes to give those in the mainstream who have forayed out into the protective gates of sanctified covenant living—back into Joseph Smith Mormonism or covenant Christian LDS lifestyles. This is known as fundamentalism, a term that is sometimes used warily by adherents of covenant Mormonism. I call it covenant LDS living.

Imagine, you’re a counselor in the Elders quorum and you (along with your wife) have vowed with another sister member in all sacredness unto living the principle—the work. Your families have been rebaptized and reconfirmed by Taylorite key-holding Wooley-Musserites, or others with what they understand are equal priesthood keys. What do you do next? Taking those first steps into fundamental denominations or even venturing out into the patriarchal method of independent fundamentalism can be daunting.

I present to you some suggestions to get you through the first few years of mainstream fundamentalism (living the fulness of the gospel while remaining in the mainstream church). This will give you the time to live the work while adhering to friendships and traditions in the mainstream church.

The time will inevitably come when you will have to part ways, but by and large mainstream fundamentalism can be the primary and the very first method for many returning to the covenant path of our original LDS faith.

• I cannot stress this enough. Read “Family Kingdom” by Samuel Taylor, the son of the mistreated apostle John W. Taylor (who was the son of John Taylor the prophet). This is how church confrontation is avoided.
• Avoid outwardly decrying the apostasy you will inevitably see in the mainstream church. Do not sharpen verbal axes in priesthood or gospel doctrine classes and then fancy yourself a Samuel the Lamanite on a Zarahemlan wall. Love and understand. Peer pressure and the esteem of our fellow man has become huge in mainstream LDS culture. It is a telestial/terrestrial, honor-bound form of our worship and it has its rules and regulations. Instead, pray to see and understand the perspective of the mainstream points. You will see that proselytizing efforts are nearly 90% of the doctrine you will hear. Only the basic principles are taught. Everyone’s behavior is guided to teaching the gentiles appropriate morality and duty. See this as a prophetic necessity. The gospel (not the fulness of it, but merely the gospel of salvation it says) will be taught to the entire world. Everywhere. If the mainstream church has given up celestial law, they certainly have not given up terrestrial social standards. And the mainstreamers are experts at assimilation. This is not to be underappreciated. Nearly all fundamentalists (I believe about 99%) come from the tender embraces of mainstream friendshipping and conversion. You think teaching tithing to gentiles is hard? Try teaching plural celestial marriage, consecration/United Order or progression of priesthood and kingdoms. It is like teaching linear equations to toddlers. The milk and meat metaphor.
• Love the Aaronic order of our faith—even if they have forgotten the gift of the ministering of angels. Further, never mistake your righteous intentions for their daily walk of faith. There are thousands in the mainstream LDS whose lives are better settled and spent than many of ours—who only miss the opportunity for exaltation for the lack of knowledge, not faith. See them as you, without access to knowledge. Granted there are hard nosed, cliquish boors who believe councils and church courts are nothing more than popularity contests; but see them as the exception and you will glide through this phase of your conversion unto the fulness of the gospel with peace.
• Place your prayer circle altar area in the privacy of an upstairs room in your home with curtained windows, far away from the social areas in your house.
• Seat yourself with your first wife and family in sacrament and other meetings. If you have sister wives and families, have them attend other wards on Sunday.
• Avoid fraternizing with mainstream members except for the barest of necessity. Weddings, family reunions, etc.
• Perform sacrament at home before church.
• Perform mainstream duties without your family members.
• If you get drawn into a doctrinal argument, develop an apologist tone. Always timestamp certain doctrines like plural celestial marriage, etc. Argue in the past tense.
• Have separate houses that abut each other and refer to sister wives and children as “friends” to others. The first wife should be comfortable explaining family friendships rather than the husband to mainstream seekers or gentiles. This sets a comfortable tone for even the stodgiest of interrogators.
• See your duty in the mainstream church as maintaining peace. This will make the time you spend there more enjoyable and the transition from mainstream back to full covenant lifestyle far more sweet.

These suggestions are for keeping a low profile in the mainstream church. As children from sister wives come into the family, it will become more and more difficult to keep these arrangements private. 

Remember that mainstream fundamentalism is a transitional practice. At some point another denomination or independent covenant LDS lifestyle will become necessary.

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

An invitation to all...

Replicas of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon.

By Greg Knight

“The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.”
- Proverbs 15:29

Greetings, and welcome to The Fundamentalist Online. This is a blog that seeks to focus on all things relevant and important to fundamentalist Mormons in the 21st century.

We have created this blog as a way for all Mormon Fundamentalist churches, groups and independent believers to share their testimonies, stories, hopes and dreams. It our deepest desire to provide a forum where the written word of believers can go forth unto each other and the multitudes. 

We want to hear from all the voices of fundamentalism. That means churches, the brethren and sisters, subject-matter experts, researchers and individuals. As long as it is faith-promoting material - even if it raises tough questions - we want to publish it!

If you would like to submit a post to The Fundamentalist Online, email fundamentalistmag@gmail.com. 

All submissions should concern testimonies, thoughts or beliefs as they relate to Fundamental Mormonism. We will not edit for content in any way, but we reserve the right to correct spelling, grammar and layout of the post. You may also submit artwork or photography as long as it is not copyrighted by someone other than the author without permission.

The Fundamentalist Online has big plans over the next few years. What begins here as an online forum will, we pray, evolve into a print magazine and website - one that is replete with ways for fundamentalist believers (and investigators!) to connect with one another for the raising of God's kingdom.

All submissions should include a name and contact information so we can reach you and communicate about the articles or photos/artwork that is sent in.

And now beloved brethren, we say unto you that inasmuch as God has said that he would have a tried people, that he would purge them as gold, now we think that this time he has chosen his own crucible wherein we have been tried, and we think if we get through with any degree of safety and shall have kept the faith, that it will be a sign to this generation altogether sufficient to leave them without excuse. And we think also that it will be a trial of our faith equal to that of Abraham, and that the ancients will not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment, as being called to pass through heavier afflictions, that we may hold an even weight in the balances with them.

- Joseph Smith, March 20, 1839

Our highest aspirations as covenant Latter-day Saints...

Jesus Christ Appears in the Kirtland Temple - painting by Walter Rane

 By Chadwick LaVerl Hyde

The gospel of Jesus Christ must lead us to the fulness of the blessings it promises. Without a fullness of the gospel the hope of Christ’s redemption is lost. It renders his atonement to a lesser or not as important state of being. We must want to become like our heavenly father or the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes subverted.

This begs the question. What about the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important to fundamental saints in the last days?

Of all the blessings, of all the doctrines, and of all the virtues we can acquire here on this earth, it must be the progressive nature of God. Meaning 'how' a God exists from eternity to eternity - and how we must do it to be like them.

Our religion, from the very beginning, holds a belief that celestial beings at their very highest expression create (meaning, of course, 'organize') and then seed worlds. They may die temporarily in this endeavor, but that temporary death is swallowed up in the everlasting oath and covenant of their priesthood, meaning the magnifying of the priesthood to the renewing of the flesh.

This is what Adam (Michael) as first man did. How then do we go from this fallen and cursed state of sin-ridden life, with its attendant death and its needful mercy-bound redemptive effort, to reconstitute man? How does man hope to get from the vicious cycle of life-sin-death-remorse-redemption-resurrection to the planned and anticipated celestial life-seed-death-renew flesh cycle that Michael-Adam and the Elohim enjoy?

The religion that proposes to do this is progressive - meaning there are progressive steps, doctrines, covenants, commandments, lifestyles and devotions that bind from eternity to eternity; these are lessons that must be learned, understood, respected, followed, and adhered to. Through this we finally discover and become the nature of man.

This is the grand key to our religion and the purpose of this magazine "The Fundamentalist." We believe that the vast majority of fundamentalist saints adhere to the primal necessary doctrines that establish the habits and character necessary to enjoy the create-live-seed-die-renew flesh cycle that we as celestials must enjoy to have exaltation.

Here are what I believe are the ten most important doctrines, covenants and commandments to increase the basic principles of faith, repentance, baptism and gift of the holy ghost to a level of celestial life necessary to find the true and living God (Michael-Adam) and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent to us to attain this. In ascending order and sequence it is essential that we, as fundamentalists must do and maintain the following, after the basic principals and ordinances of the gospel.

1. THE ADAM-GOD DOCTRINE. Without understanding what it is that we are to become, we cannot understand what a God really is. Adam did not sin. He transgressed an unalterable law. He created a lesser world with the instructive help of his former Adamic father of the Elohim and his former savior referred to as Jehovah and remained upon that created or organized world. Partaking of the fruit and elements of it over time his celestial body was reduced thereby and lost its immortality.

But as Joseph Smith taught, a celestial being can come down and reside in the terrestrial kingdom for a time and yet return to the celestial kingdom - as Adam did.

Adam placed himself in the position to die in order to obey the command to remain with Eve and seed a world - this is the grand opus - the supreme summum bonum (the highest good, especially as the ultimate goal according to which values and priorities are established in an ethical system) of all of our celestial hopes; for all true men must place themselves as Adam at the altar. Without this doctrine our hope of celestial increase (called exaltation) is clouded, confused, befuddled and forgotten - hence destroyed.

The Adam-God Doctrine is the highest hope or expression of our sojourn upon this earth and the redemption of our souls by Jesus Christ from the effects of sin is done with the ideal that we will become as a celestial Adam in worlds to come with our lovely wives. This is our life's eternal mission - to know Adam Michael of the Elohim (the only God with which we have to do) and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The gospel of Jesus Christ fully hopes to turn all righteous men into an Adam and their wives into Eves.

2. THE PROPER ENDOWMENT AND ANOINTING CEREMONIES. The altering of the endowment and the ceremonies in the temple are the hallmark of latter-day apostasy. One cannot unreveal a revelation and then call it a revelation. It is apostasy. As such the temple endowments once clarified and magnified to their ultimate comprehension and expression, once revealed cannot and ought not be reduced to incomprehensible, diluted and watered down versions now currently in fashion among mainstream LDS.

The original endowments with clarifications that explain the fulness of their use and operation are a requirement. They cannot be altered or the rights and blessings fail. Confusion is not holy and it is not countenanced in the abodes of deity. Therefore only the proper and original endowment MUST be used.

3. THE PROPER GARMENT. It goes without saying that to mutilate the garment renders it useless as a protection. To alter the garment from its revealed pattern is mutilation and those that countenance it are advocating apostasy and destruction. The original garment IS the holy garment and any mutilation or alteration destroys it completely. The proper one-piece garment should be worn, for the purposes it was intended to be worn.

4. THE DOCTRINE OF THREE (Progressive) PRIESTHOODS. The Kingdom of God on earth is the exercise of the priesthood of God in accordance with the will of God. Our understanding of priesthood must be the Lord's understanding of it. The lowest of the priesthoods is Levitical. It is what we call the Aaronic priesthood. It is not a corporate structure or a church - per se. It is an association of man and God via ministering spirits given to them by the laying on of hands and those spirits prepare and provide instruction for the duties that are to be performed.

The Aaronic order is used to rid humanity of sin. They are the priests that help gentiles and Israelites coalesce into a faithful body of God. They provide the duties of deacon, teacher, priest, bishop, seventy and apostle. Their duty under heaven is to help the covenant saints (or those that would become covenant saints) to be free of the evil influences of the devil and prepare them for a higher (or more terrestrial and celestial) lifestyle. They combine in effect around the inspiration of a quorum of twelve physical witnesses of Jesus Christ and are led by the greatest of those apostles, known as a prophet (although all men should be able to prophesy over their own stewardships and families).

This is the lowest holy order of our priesthood and religion. The blessing of this lowest priesthood is that it exists in the lineage of the fathers and within it contains the ability to converse and associate with angelic ministers who have authority. It is the perpetual blessing of the earth to have this unrealized potential to restore the higher priesthoods to earth via angelic ministers in the case of apostasy, as did Joseph Smith Jr. The second and higher priesthood to the above-mentioned priesthood is the Patriarchal Priesthood.

This priesthood serves as a steward and guide over the lower Levitical or Aaronic priesthood. It is genetic or descendant based priesthood, meaning that it is given to the eldest son of a certain person, whose obligation it is to guide the Aaronic (Levitical) order on this side of the veil from those who are on the other side of the veil. In this dispensation it belongs to Joseph Smith Sr., and through his eldest faithful living sons on earth with issue. It is a religion of the firstborn and it has all power and dominion over the lower priesthood. It speaks for and to the lower priesthood by its stewards the Smiths. Joseph senior, Hyrum, etc.

This is the second tier of priesthood in the ascension of priests from "Prophet" (or lowest Aaronic/Levitical) to "Priest" (or middle patriarchal) unto the last and final designation of priesthood of "King" or leader (called Melki or Melek anciently - thus Melki-Tzadokmeans "king (or leader) of righteousness" or sometimes referred to as "prince of peace"). Only the Patriarchal Priesthood can lead the priests from the lowest of priesthoods unto the highest. For this is their calling and stewardship - or what is referred to as a "dispensation" in the last days. Can the Lord replace the Smiths with a new lineage? Of course, but in order to do such a thing one would have to see God face to face and live - like Joseph Smith Jr.

Without this Patriarchal Priesthood the Aaronic/Levitical Order becomes broken, corrupt and eventually useless. The LDS church brushed aside this priesthood and dismissed its priests in 1978.The third and final priesthood is the "Melki-Tzadok" or "King of Righteousness" priesthood. It is a benevolent theocratic priesthood and is a city state or a locale as an assemblage. It is the priesthood Enoch had for the City of Enoch. It is the priesthood of  Noah and Shem (who was the Melchizedek of the bible and outlived Abraham).

This priesthood was enjoyed by Joseph Smith Jr. as it is a priesthood that is given under "the hand of God" himself. It has at its highest expressions the duty and most importantly the desire to build a city that is Zion in nature for the edification of its inhabitants to the renewing of their bodies through beliefs and behaviors that are celestial in nature. It exists only where there is celestial marriage, the Council of 50 (or Kingdom of God) and the law of consecration. Those things MUST be present for it to enjoy its fullest expression. It is the sealing authority or the ability to act in the name of God. It is called the priesthood after the order of the son, or the priesthood of the king of righteousness (which is the meaning of the word Melchizedek). This priesthood must be established and maintained in this life or the adherent cannot enter into the celestial kingdom in the world to come.

It is a requirement for entry into celestial glory. It was the goal of Joseph Smith Jr. and MUST be our goal if we are to return and reside in the presence of the Elohim or the Ahmanic host. This understanding MUST be had by all faithful covenant latter day saints. It is second only to the knowledge of what Adam (or Michael to us) is. It is the method to becoming Adam like our father in heaven Michael. Without this understanding we are as lost as any gentile ever was. Thus assured we may be that our men will become "Prophets (then) Priests and (then) Kings" in that successive order of understanding.

This should drive every reader to a more faithful adherence to the fundamental doctrines, covenants and blessings that were lost or given away by the mainstream LDS church over the last 133years.

5. THE CELESTIAL LAW OF PLURAL MARRIAGE. This has the common name of 'polygamy' or the technical name 'polygamy', but it is the celestial law of marriage. It represents the highest degree of bliss, happiness, Godhood, family association, and is the culture and system of the celestial kingdom. It is how the celestial kingdom is blessed with 'chosen vessels' and it is how the celestial kingdom blesses the terrestrial kingdom. It seeks as its premise to remove envy, strife and anger from the most important and interpersonal relationships - the family. Without it no one can enter into the celestial kingdom because it requires the giving of oneself to a united or bound group by consent, and that group has as their goal the mutual guidance and acquisition of the highest degree of celestial glory.

The group exists for the group and the group existence is celestial in nature and invites celestial law, celestial priesthood and celestial priests to guide them. That is the crux of this religious doctrine and practice. It cannot be overstated. It is the building block of exaltation and is the very beginning point of it - meaning NO ONE can enter into exaltation in the celestial kingdom WITHOUT abiding its practice, custom and law. The Council of 50 or Kingdom of God is only available to the earth because of its practice; for the Kingdom of God seeks, as its main function to protect and promote celestial marriage.

In the temple one cannot progress to the veil that separates terrestrial law and its reality into the celestial kingdom without abiding it for it is the culmination or blessing for the keeping of the Law of Chastity. It is the reason for the practice of that law, because the law of chastity cleanses the soul sufficient for the lawful and righteous practice of celestial marriage. There is no true heaven where celestial plural marriage does not exist. For it is the culture of Elohim (which term actually means the plurality of God with many female Goddesses involved).

It is the culture of Ahman. It is the culture of Michael. And it therefore MUST become our culture in order for us to abide by the realm in which they live. But it must be practiced consensually and ought to be sought by the adherent by their own desire and choice. To be taught these things over a lifetime is the blessing of having the celestial kingdom touch the earth and become involved in one's life, family and culture. What a blessing!

6. THE COUNCIL OF 50 (or the Kingdom of God). This is a theodemocracy, or benevolent Kingdom of God upon earth. It is the practical day-to-day enforcement of laws, mores, customs and requirements for the highest degrees of glory and what the lower degrees must do to seek and associate with the higher degrees. It can only exist where full and passionate belief in 'kings and priests unto the most high God' who rule and reign. It is lived by common consent and is eternal, unalterable and exact.

Its constitution eschews worldly governments as usurpers and supplanters. It sets up a group of judges that enforce the law of God upon a consenting population. This population can include covenant members of the priesthood, and righteous gentiles who abide by the laws without partaking of the priesthood or its blessings. This means that righteous non-members can and do exist within its realms and are guided and governed by its laws. This kingdom has as its main goal to 'justify' or 'rectify' the souls of all those who are under allegiance to it before God sufficient to allow the United Order to be ushered in among them.

This is so crucial to the developing soul. To know God and understand his ways in a personal, day to day manner. And to understand the punishments for acting contrary to the laws of God. Not just how the laws of God work - but that they do in fact work.

7. THE LAW OF CONSECRATION OR THE UNITED ORDER. The greatest expression of human social interaction in the scriptures and throughout the dispensations is found in what the new testament calls "the law of common consent" and what the Book of Mormon refers to as "all things in common." Joseph Smith Jr elucidated it as the United Order or the day to day work of the law of consecration. Many groups, religious and otherwise, have attempted to live it. Nearly all have failed.

Those given to perpetual success were the City of Enoch. Those who enjoyed a long term success followed by slow decay and ultimately violent repudiation and rancor were the Nephites from 33AD to approximately 300AD; the people of Salem with Melchizedek; Kirkland's co operative society, and a handful of others. The Lord has made it clear that all the laws of happiness guide us to this fraternal bond of fellowship where there are no poor. History and reflection show that it must be followed with a high degree of religious sentiment to be effective, and that at its core it is a social agreement and must be nurtured with close and prolonged interpersonal contact and association.

This is the economy of heaven and must be lived to be understood and inherited. The celestial kingdom cannot be bequeathed, it must be followed and inherited. This law therefore represents the culmination of our religious, familial and social desires. It is the ultimate expression of culture to the covenant (fundamentalist) saint. Where it has fully existed, the celestial kingdom has revealed itself.

8. REBAPTISM OR RE-ORDERING OF THE BASIC PRIESTHOOD ORDINANCE LINE. The closest and longest lasting of all human relationships exist only in the gospel. Rebaptism was practiced by the early members of the restoration to reinvigorate their faith and most importantly, to tie their covenants to one another eternally. As is well understood that baptism is a recognized ordinance and done through the priesthood power. It therefore at its core establishes genealogies of authority and then re-establishes or expands them to include the priesthood oversight of others.

This means to say that those who baptize another take upon themselves the charge to care for the one baptized. Both in this world and the next. This increases the scope and magnitude of those to whom we are bound to both in this life and in the eternities. Rebaptism increases this group of those devoted to each other.

This is the crucial element of baptism, confirmation and rebaptism. It is essential that these relationships be selected in wisdom and with an eternal view in mind. Rebaptism is the conscious understanding that the people rebaptizing each other consent to be bound to one another's care. It is an eternal commitment and a beautiful continuing ordinance.

Brigham Young was rebaptized on several occasions, and condoned and encouraged the ordinance. How and with whom we rebaptize tells us whom we will care and protect spiritually and whose company we will enjoy in the eternities.

9. THE SEALING OF MAN TO MAN AS SON, BROTHER OR FATHER AND THE RE ORDERING OF THE SEALING BLESSINGS IN THE ETERNITIES. Our Savior taught that those who are unwilling to leave family members and loved ones for the kingdom of heaven were not worthy of it. To enjoy exaltation one must understand where and with whom one may find it. If it does not and worse yet, cannot exist in the sealing bonds of one's immediate family then one should seek and repair to those to whom it has been promised and blessed.

There were many worthy priesthood men that sealed themselves to Joseph Smith, Jr. Others to Brigham Young. And why did they do this? Because they understood that these men had access to exalted beings and entrance into the exalted spheres of the celestial kingdom. These men lived these principles, commandments and ordinances in this world and sought and desired the attending blessings in the eternities.

This means that while their hopes were that their immediate families would live the higher laws in the highest fashion, they knew the men that lived these laws, had the authority and power to administer and seal and were guaranteed salvation and exaltation. Being sealed to this caliber of man (priest) virtually assured them that they would not be left to wander in darkness without the greatest of effort expended to come and offer them relief, succor and guidance.

This is the highest level of faith because it seeks at its core to establish relationships with those that are objectively the ones that are in harmony and can and do live celestial law. Thus the practice of sealing men to men extends the influence of the one they are sealed to, and assures them entrance into the blessings of heaven promised to such men. This is family planning on a celestial level.

10. THE TRUE ORDER OF PRAYER CIRCLES AS A NON-TEMPLE LOCATED PRACTICE AT HOME WITH FAMILY AND LOVED ONES OR HEAVEN ON EARTH. The central feature of the Lord's visit to Bountiful in the America's after his death in Jerusalem was the prayers he prayed for and with the peoples of the land of Bountiful. In the most endearing and dramatic of these prayers angelic ministers surrounded the officiant of the prayer and the followers in circles of celestial flames and light.

Children and other heavenly ministers came down and the blessings upon the people were poured out. Surely there could be no greater blessing than to be taught how to pray in this manner! In our temples we are taught the true order of prayer. The ability to call down angels and heavenly ministers, and children and beings from the celestial kingdom itself upon the earth. Were these lessons on how to perform these things taught only to be done by the same teachers in the temple itself?

No. They were to be enjoyed by the household of faith in their homes and with their closest faithful family and loved ones. This single ability, more than any other, brings with it the blessing of heaven on earth. It brings group revelation and literally invites the celestial kingdom to engage with and enjoin and guide our lives. Our faith and our ordinances all lead to this continual blessing and we should gather often to truly pray. In this testimony I have avoided lengthy and legalistic citations to scripture although I can quite easily provide them.

My hope is to convey understanding as to how the doctrines, ordinances, laws and ultimately the privileges build and grow upon one another in a progressive way. Progressive as they build upon the others and increase into a more fitting celestial life through celestial behaviors. There are many other ordinances that are appendages to all of these. But these doctrines, ordinances, councils, laws and practices (or performances) are the literal celestial kingdom on this earth and represent the highest life we could hope for.

The mainstream LDS church cannot help us, in any productive way, to achieve this anymore. It stands as an Aaronic institution dedicated to preaching morals to gentiles. While it may have served to rectify us before the laws and commandments of the Lord, only through faithful adherence (by doing) can we hope to attain the eternal ability, right and habit of living this way forever.

We are not ashamed of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ unto the redemption, salvation and exaltation of our souls. How could we possibly ever give up the fulness of the gospel and its attendant blessings?! These are the very fundamentals of our faith. Please come and join with us in the highest hopes of this online forum.

Thank you,

Chadwick LaVerl Hyde, Publisher of The Fundamentalist Online

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

My inspired take on the burgeoning "gods" of AI...

Could AI become a "god" to unsuspecting souls, as it progresses into our daily lives? (image courtesy neowin.com)

By Greg Knight

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is asking its members to refrain from using artificial intelligence (AI) technology when writing their sacrament talks in a letter released to local leaders Saturday morning. The letter comes following an increase in the popularity of breakthrough AI technology from OpenAI and their platform ChatGPT."

- Courtesy LDSDaily.com, April 1, 2023

Even though this seemingly important "announcement" was, in truth, an April Fools joke, it is prescient and more right than it tried to be. LOL.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been delving into current events surrounding what progress is being made in the world of AI, and how it is increasing its development as a technology... at a pace not seen since the industrial revolution took fire in the 19th century. Every day there seems to be some new application of AI - from your banking to healthcare, to how your new truck's GPS system guides you to a national park, or even how the construction materials for your new house are hewn, graded and shipped to you.

The applications of AI are limitless, it appears, and that unbound nature extends to the spiritual even as it begins to dominate the temporal.

One example that scares me more than most is that of Anthony Levandowsky. He is a multimillionaire tech guru involved in rideshares and associated technology. He also has a "mission to truly develop robots; robots that might one day become, as his new religion suggests, supreme beings." The religion is called Way of the Future, and according to a magazine article in Wired, is proposed to "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence."

According to the story at neowin.com, "Way of the Future is a completely different approach to the development of AI; once we have an AI Godhead, the religious organization wants to understand and worship the Godhead so that this can lead to the betterment of society. Although the organization has yet to file the papers that a non-profit religious organization has to file to the IRS annually, Levandowski has yet to make any public statements about the organization, and there don't appear to be any prominent AI churches being built yet."

But what happens when they do get built, and are open to a Google search for people in the depths of despair, seeking the comfort of a God they may have never known before. What happens when their search for God reveals a "god"?

An article I just read from theconversation.com spoke to my heart:

The Risks of AI worship

There are several pathways by which AI religions will emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

Generative AI that can create or produce new content possesses several characteristics that are often associated with divine beings, like deities or prophets:

1. It displays a level of intelligence that goes beyond that of most humans. Indeed, its knowledge appears limitless.
2. It is capable of great feats of creativity. It can write poetry, compose music and generate art, in almost any style, close to instantaneously.
3. It is removed from normal human concerns and needs. It does not suffer physical pain, hunger, or earthly desire.
4. It can offer guidance to people in their daily lives.
5. It is immortal.

According to the article, generative AI will produce output that can be taken for religious doctrine. It will provide answers to theological questions, and engage in the construction of complex worldviews.

The article adds that generative AI may ask to be worshipped or may actively solicit followers. There have already been such cases, like when the chatbot used by the search engine Bing tried to convince a user to fall in love with it.

A scholarly article by Robert A. Geraci, published by the Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Vol. 76, No. 1 (Mar., 2008), pp. 138-166 (29 pages), states in its abstract:

"Three major elements characterize early Jewish and Christian apocalypticism: alienation within the world, desire for the establishment of a heavenly new world, and the transformation of human beings so that they may live in that world in purified bodies. In Apocalyptic AI, these characteristics are attributed scientific authority. Apocalyptic AI advocates, frustrated by the limitations of bodily life, look forward to a virtual world inhabited by intelligent machines and human beings who have left their bodies. Having downloaded their consciousnesses into machines, human beings will possess enhanced mental abilities and, through their infinite replicability, immortality."

And here is an even scarier foray into the world of AI as it applies to Mormons, here and now. The article outlines how a Bing AI bot developed a TESTIMONY of the Book of Mormon! Are you kidding me?!

So how can we use the true spirit and scripture to manifest a worshipful approach to how AI is changing the world - and how we can keep it from diverting us from our salvation and exaltation?

The number one (and most solid) rule in my good book is held within the words of Exodus 20:3-5...

"(3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

But what of the prophecies of something like AI? Where is it foretold of in the scripture? Let's begin with Daniel 12:4:

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

Could the exponential increase of knowledge we are experiencing when it comes to the internet and AI be what this scripture is referring to? I also offer up Revelation 13:15:

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."

In the headline of this post, I referred to my "inspired" take on this issue. It is one that I have prayed about incessantly for nearly a year. Every time I have come across a chatbot, or some other vestige of AI in my digital life online, I recoil with revulsion. I will not take part in it. It scares me to no end that many people, mostly under the age of 45 or 50 (those who grew up with the first version of the internet, and are consequently addicted to their iPhones), rely so greatly on what technology tells them, rather than the spirit, that I am quite vocal about how much evil can come of it.

The scariest part for me is that I have an understanding of technology and where it can go. Once it is released into humanity, it doesn't ever shrink or go away. In fact, it evolves and changes, and not ever for good, I believe.

Finally, in my research, I came across the Mormon Transhumanist Association. In its quasi-mission statement, the MTA claims to promote "abundant flourishing through the compassionate use of science and technology. We explore the intersection of science, technology, and religion. We believe that human ingenuity is essential for positive outcomes (both for us and the biosphere), that the learning that comes from this process is necessary for our exaltation, and that the religious impulse is a core part of humanity that should be leveraged for good."

Yeah, sorry, no... I'm not buying it. My God, and the gods in the eternal progressions are real enough to me and so many of us that I will never need an energized silicon wafer to tell me what I need to believe or pray about, etc. The day I start letting a computer do my soul searching for me, I will mightily have lost it, methinks.

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

Jell-O... one of life's joys... the Kosher way!

Green Jell-O and pineapple slices! Yummmmm! (photo courtesy of "RicketyUS" on Flickr)

By Greg Knight

That the children may live long... And be beautiful and strong, tea and coffee and tobacco they despise, drink no liquor, and they eat but a very little meat; They are seeking to be great and good and wise. 

- In Our Lovely Deseret (Hymn #307)

At the onset of the 20th century, Apostle George Teasdale taught that, when it came to the Word of Wisdom, eating pork was a more serious breach than drinking tea or coffee.

Today, while the LDS Church still maintains that meat should be used sparingly, especially in the summer months, when protein is available from many sources, many fundamentalists hold the line when it comes to pork products. This includes (my favorite, unfortunately) sausages, bacon, hot dogs, pork chops, Jell-O, marshmallows and most alcoholic beverages (as a clarifying agent). Some forms of stearic acid (which is in a lot of food and beauty products) can also be sourced from swine, thus making it non-kosher and a no-no for fundamentalists that abstain from pork products.

This made me think. As a boy and young man raised in the LDS faith, it was always a weekend treat when mom would make green Jell-O, either plain (my favorite), or with veggies and fruit in the mix. Now, as a mature adult who is striving to live a good dietary law under the Word of Wisdom, I remarked, "How can I still have a Jell-O treat without the pork?!"

The answer came with a Google search. I had no idea that there was any such thing as kosher gelatin. Oh my surprise when I found some.

I am not endorsing any product, but OC Kosher sells Gefen gelatin that is kosher, and thus safe to use for those of us that follow a higher authority when it comes to our foods.

Here are some recipes I found that my mother (the ultimate arbiter of perfect Jell-O) would have recommended with gusto...

Mormons and Jell-O...

Mormons and Jell-O — what is the attraction

They find in this savory, jiggly concoction?

Perhaps, since they cannot drink coffee or tea,

This sugary treat is one small vice they need!

It's colorful, bright and the kids love the flavor.

Each recipe seems to have something to savor.

Jell-O is versatile — that much is true —

Just add this or that and it's something brand new!

But here is the secret they faithfully keep:

Mormons love Jell-O because it is CHEAP!

Janice Kapp Perry

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

The prayer circle...

Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, Illinois

 By Chadwick LaVerl Hyde

Of all the blessings we enjoy in this our mortal sojourn, the greatest of blessings is our communion with our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ.  It holds all our hopes and aspirations.  It galvanizes and eternalizes our families.  It creates the conditions we call salvation and provides a way for exaltation—which is just a word that means LIVING LIKE OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN AND DOING WHAT HE DOES...

The question becomes; is there a way in which we can communicate with our Heavenly Father, Michael-Adam and his begotten son Jesus Christ (whom he begat only after he resurrected himself through the oath and covenant of the priesthood?—thus Christ is his ‘only begotten son’ of his resurrected body on this earth)?  Yes, there is a way, prayer circles or the true order of prayer in our homes, among our righteous families.

What is required of this prayer circle?  A consecrated room, an altar, a priesthood “mouth”, or person praying, temple-endowed wives and family in their appropriate proximity to each other.  And these bound by the tokens of their covenants to which they faithfully adhere.

Now lastly, we must provide our Heavenly Father a place in our hearts and homes sufficient to bring him to us, and instruct us, or he will send ministers to provide us his will concerning us.  What does this mean?  What are our hopes and requests?  Is it money, mammon and provender—such things do become necessary, but are they reasons for divinity to visit us?  Is it marriages, family and society of saints and their administration?  As utterly important as these things are?  Or rather it is to become acquainted with him that our faith may be upon him in this world and throughout eternity—that we may know HIM the only true and living god with which we have to do and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent?  YES!

For that is life eternal.  That is the entirety of our faith.  Put another way—a family prayer circle that does not have an angel, a holy spirit of a just man made holy in the Lord, or even our god almighty, Adam-Kadmon, (Michael-Adam) is merely practice.  We may feel the influence of heaven in our prayer circles, but this can only be a guide to our highest hopes of a just and true witness of him.

I may tell you that I have seen angelic ministering priesthood spirits encircling the altars of our temples, but as poignant and endearing as that is, can it replace having physical divinity standing above the altar speaking his loving will unto the mouthpiece in the form of prayer that all may be instructed?—for this is the purpose and the fulness of our hope for our prayer circles.  This is the celestial kingdom in our terrestrial homes on this ofttimes telestial world.

Brothers and sisters, our duty and our calling, nay our blessing, is to see the face of the Lord our god and live—truly living celestial lives here on this earth.  This is the purpose of our true order of prayer.  This is why it is taught before entering the celestial room in the temples.

May our hearts and houses be filled with this hope and aspiration.  May our prayers be ever closer to heaven and may Michael our great Heavenly Father come to us even with his son, and whisper the hope of salvation to our hearts and our ears, solidifying us in our exaltative duty and lifestyle is my hope and prayer for all the faithful.  In the name of his holy redeeming son Jesus Christ, Amen.

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

Controlling the Mormon Fundamentalism narrative...

 

Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah

By Greg Knight

For too long, the mainstream media and the LDS church have been in charge of defining the discussion on Mormon Fundamentalism. We aim to take that power back and become bearers of truth as it is, not as others want it to be portrayed....

In Utah, Nevada and many more gathering places across North America, the term "Mormon Fundamentalism" has had a stigma attached to it for decades, if not longer. The Fundamentalist wants to help remove that stigma and help fellow travelers, as well as non-believers, understand each other. We have more in common than we have distinctions as fundamentalists. That's a point we want to drive home. 

One of the best parts of this life is the agency we have to believe the truth, or disregard it. Living that agency is one of the best aspects of life, just as obedience to Him that reigns is of the utmost importance. It is up to each one of us as priesthood holders and members of a family, to live the life we know will gain us an ultimate salvation and hopefully exaltation. As those who believe we have the truth of His church, we want to spread the wholesome message of our faith.

The Fundamentalist is currently a blog, with aspirations to become a website and a quarterly - and possibly monthly - magazine in print form. It is intended as an open dialogue between Mormon Fundamentalists, as is meant to bring believers in the restoration together.

Here's a good example of media bias that affected perception for generations: The Short Creek raid of 1953. Per Wikipedia:

One of the few media outlets to applaud the raid was the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News, which was owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The News applauded the action as a needed response to prevent the fundamentalists from becoming "a cancer of a sort that is beyond hope of human repair." When the paper later editorialized its support for separating children from their polygamist parents, there was a backlash against the paper and the church by a number of Latter-day Saints, including Juanita Brooks, who complained that the church organization was approving of "such a basically cruel and wicked thing as the taking of little children from their mother." The Short Creek raid was the last action against polygamous Mormon fundamentalists that has been actively supported by the LDS Church."

Or how about a post from The Atlantic magazine, dated July 9, 2005:

Now that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, writer Freddie de Boer wants its proponents to adopt a new focus. “Where does the next advance come?” he asks in an essay at Politico. “Now that we’ve defined that love and devotion and family isn’t driven by gender alone, why should it be limited to just two individuals? The most natural advance next for marriage lies in legalized polygamy.”

The time is ripe, he argues, in part because there’s no longer a strategic reason to hold off. “To advocate for polygamy during the marriage equality fight may have seemed to confirm the socially conservative narrative, that gay marriage augured a wholesale collapse in traditional values,” he observes. “But times have changed; while work remains to be done, the immediate danger to marriage equality has passed.”

He proceeds to argue that “the case against polygamy is incredibly flimsy, almost entirely lacking in rational basis and animated by purely irrational fears and prejudice.” And he goes further, insisting that even if there are pragmatic reasons to deny state-sanction to polygamous marriage, we must extend it anyway because it is a human right. “We must insist that rights cannot be dismissed out of short-term interests of logistics and political pragmatism,” he says in the essay, adding in a followup blog post that “logistics are never sufficient reason to deny human rights.”

All three of those arguments strike me as wrongheaded.

I suspect that there are still strategic reasons for gay-marriage advocates to refrain from pushing for plural marriage; there are numerous rational arguments against state endorsement of group marriages; and having a polygamous marriage recognized and incentivized by the state is not a human right.

By this author's reasoning, anyone who would pursue plural marriage as a religious belief would be labeled as pursuing something deemed as subhuman.

It pains me to no end when I hear stories about folks who, while living the life they believe in wholeheartedly and without reserve, are discriminated against in work, housing, social circles or otherwise. And this type of discrimination is not reserved to just Utah or other parts of the Mountain West - I've had fundamentalist friends in Canada, Mexico and even California tell me stories about how they lost a job or other opportunities for living their faith.

It has to end, I believe. And if we can help draw that line in the sand and say "no more," so be it.

I'll leave you with this... an amazing sermon by Pres. Wilford Woodruff given in 1891, after the First Manifesto press release had been divulged to the world:

...This testament which Joseph Smith left, contains a revelation and commandment from God, out of heaven, concerning the patriarchal order of marriage.  The Lord has commanded us to have our wives and children sealed to us, for time and eternity, that we may have them with us in our family organizations in the resurrection, to dwell with us forever in the eternal worlds, that we may have an increase of posterity forever in connection with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the ancient patriarchs.  And God our Heavenly Father, knowing that this was the only law ordained by the Gods of eternity that would exalt immortal beings to kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers and dominions, and heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to a fullness of celestial glory, I say, the God of Israel knowing these things, commanded Joseph Smith, the prophet, and the Latter-day Saints, to obey this law, "or you shall be damned", saith the Lord.
 
    Now, after having obeyed the law for many years, the Congress of the United States, and the supreme judges of the nation, stand forth and say, "you shall be damned if you do obey it."  Now, Latter-day Saints, what are we going to do under the circumstances?  God says, "We shall be damned if we do not obey the law" Congress says, "We shall be damned if we do."  It places us precisely in the same position that it did the Hebrews in the Fiery furnace, and Daniel in the den of lions.  The enemies of Daniel counseled together and said, "We cannot find any occasion against Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of His God".  Our enemies have pursued the same course, and the lawmakers and judges of the nation have joined them, and made it a law of offense to obey one of the laws of our God.  Now, who shall we obey?  God or man?  My voice is, we will obey God.  We have but a short time to live here; we have a long eternity to live on the other side of the veil.

Thus situated, the matter is taken entirely out of our hands, the warfare is now between God and the nation. I am an American citizen, born and raised in the state of Connecticut.  I wish to ask the lawmakers and judges of the government a few questions: By what power was Columbus inspired and moved upon to plead before courts of Europe to assist him to fit out a fleet to cross the ocean and find a Western Continent?  By what power was he protected until he accomplished this?  By what power were our forefathers inspired to cross the ocean to inhabit this land? And when they had inhabited the land, and the yoke of bondage laid upon their necks by the Mother Country became too grievous to be born they rose up as a nation and declared their independence, and passed through an eight years' war at the expense of much blood and treasure, and finally obtained their liberty, and established a free and independent government, which was acknowledged by the nations of the earth?  By what power was the constitution of the United States inspired, framed and adopted, as the supreme law of the land, to be handed down as a rich legacy to posterity from generation to generation? All these blessings have been obtained by the inspiration of Almighty God and the will of heaven. 

 
    This glorious instrument guarantees to all its citizens the rights of religion, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right of the enjoyment of religion of any citizen of this republic, has never been questioned by any Congress or Judges of the law, until of late, when both the Congress of the United States and the supreme judges of the law sought, by their action, to deprive a hundred and fifty thousand of her citizens of the right to enjoy their religion which the constitution guarantees unto them.  Will not the same God who has given this nation a free government and an inspired constitution of equal rights to all men who inhabit its broad domain, hold the rulers and judges of the law responsible for the use they make of the power in their hands?  He will. 

 
    The Congress of 1862, and the Supreme Judges of 1879, in their acts and decisions, have taken a dangerous and fearful step; their acts will sap the very foundation of our government, and it will be rent asunder and the God of Heaven will hold them responsible for these things, for "what men sow they will reap, and the measure they mete unto others will be meted unto them", saith the Lord.  The Constitution once broken by the rulers of the land, there will be no stopping place until the nation is broken in pieces, and no power beneath the Heavens can save this nation from the consequences thereof; and all rulers of this nation, as well as other nations will have to give an account unto the judge of all the earth for the use they make of the power put into their hands.  Virtue exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any people.
 
    The question was asked the Hebrews, "What God is there that is able to deliver you out of the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar?" A righteous answer of faith was given, "That we do not know as our God will deliver us out of your hands, but one thing we know, that we will not bow down and worship the Golden Image which thou hast set up".  So say I, as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will not desert my wives and my children and disobey the commandments of God, for the sake of accommodating the public clamor of a nation steeped in sin and ripened for the damnation of Hell!  I would rather go to prison and to death. If I would not, I would never be fit to associate with the prophets and patriarchs of old, and I could not but despise in my heart any man who professed to be a Latter-day Saint who would do otherwise.  Why should we fear man who only has power to kill the body, more than him who has power to cast both soul and body into Hell?  Christ says, "When men speak all manner of evil against you, and persecute you for righteousness sake, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for so persecuted they the prophets and apostles who were before you."
 
    I would say to all Israel, treat your wives and children kindly and keep the commandments of God and trust in Him, and He will fight your battles.  And I will say in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that "Mormonism" will live and prosper; Zion will flourish, and the kingdom of God will stand in power and glory and dominion as Daniel saw it, when this nation is broken to pieces as a potter's vessel and land in the dust and brought to judgment, or God never spoke by my mouth.

Well said, Pres. Woodruff... well said.

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.

Sorry, bro... wrong church.

 

The Salt Lake City Endowment House.

By Greg Knight

 

It constantly amazes me...

Truth be told, if I had a dime for every instance where someone teased me throughout my life about being a Mormon by saying, "Hey... so you have six wives or what?!? (chortle, chortle, guffaw, laugh)," I would probably have enough money for a down payment on some land in Nevada.

"But fundamentalists believe in Mormonism plus multiple wives, right?," they ask. I say,"Nope. Sorry, bro... wrong church."

I am a novice in the world of fundamentalism, but nothing annoys me more than meeting someone who also claims to believe in the true doctrine of His church, only to put an extraordinary belief that the doctrine of celestial, plural marriage is the only thing they need to focus on. It's so annoying, in fact, that I have bristled and chastened when possible to state that fundamentalist Mormonism is an all-encompassing doctrine. I try to tell them it is replete with concepts like one-man rule, Adam-God, the United Order, first and second anointings, the Word of Wisdom, the true order of prayer, a deeper dive into the priesthood, and many, many other subjects that make up the corpus of belief. 

Most look at me like I am a physics professor trying to teach them quantum state or  matter-antimatter asymmetry. Some nod their heads and acknowledge the truth, and even fewer have a lightbulb go off above their noggins that leads them to the truth.

I have also found myself admonishing anyone interested in knowing the true depth of Mormon fundamentalism to start with Ogden Kraut, followed by a perusal of the Journal of Discourses. I also try to clue them in on the bigger, broader subjects outside of plural marriage. In the end, I tell them about the power or prayer on any questions they might have relating to the truth they are (hopefully) seeking.

Long ago, I told my brother and a select group of others that any person who has ever been exposed to Mormonism, if they are intellectually and spiritually honest with themselves, will someday understand that they must begin to study and follow the ways of the church in the 19th century, and follow that with a deep dive into the circumstances of the 1886 revelation, and what came next with Wooleyite Mormonism - but only as a means to understand that celestial marriage was the first in a series of straws that broke the LDS camel's back.

Another thing I testify to is the belief that there is really only one major question to answer after admitting that Christ is your savior - and that is that you believe Joseph Smith, Jr. was and is a prophet of God. If you can accept that, and then read and accept the Holy Bible, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great, you are well on your way. I believe then, and only then, can you begin to ask the deeper questions.

You can reach me at fundamentalistmag@gmail.com.