Mormon Stories Podcast

On 4/4/2019 at 9:00AM MST, the Mormon Church officially reversed its November 2015 LGBTQ policy - which declared same-sex marriage an act of apostasy, and which excluded the children of LGBTQ Mormon couples from baby blessings and baptism. These changes came in spite of Russell M. Nelson declaring the November Policy to be "revelation" in early 2016. Today we will be discussing what the changes mean to Mormons and post-Mormons.

On 4/4/2019 at 9:00AM MST, the Mormon Church officially reversed its November 2015 LGBTQ policy - which declared same-sex marriage an act of apostasy, and which excluded the children of LGBTQ Mormon couples from baby blessings and baptism. These changes came in spite of Russell M. Nelson declaring the November Policy to be "revelation" in early 2016. Today we will be discussing what the changes mean to Mormons and post-Mormons.

On March 24, 2019, we held an evening to honor and celebrate Dan Wotherspoon, host of Mormon Matters Podcast. As a part of this event, John interviewed Dan for a joint Mormon Stories/Mormon Matters Podcast release. Topics discussed in the interview included: *An update from Dan on his experiences and insight as a mentor for progressive Mormons attempting to stay faithfully engaged in Mormonism *Dan’s insight on the latest changes/improvements made by the LDS church *Dan's announcement of a few exciting and important new projects *Questions from our live audience as well as expressions of gratitude for what his work has meant to many listeners over the years

On March 24, 2019, we held an evening to honor and celebrate Dan Wotherspoon, host of Mormon Matters Podcast. As a part of this event, John interviewed Dan for a joint Mormon Stories/Mormon Matters Podcast release. Topics discussed in the interview included: *An update from Dan on his experiences and insight as a mentor for progressive Mormons attempting to stay faithfully engaged in Mormonism *Dan’s insight on the latest changes/improvements made by the LDS church *Dan's announcement of a few exciting and important new projects *Questions from our live audience as well as expressions of gratitude for what his work has meant to many listeners over the years

On March 24, 2019, we held an evening to honor and celebrate Dan Wotherspoon, host of Mormon Matters Podcast. As a part of this event, John interviewed Dan for a joint Mormon Stories/Mormon Matters Podcast release. Topics discussed in the interview included: *An update from Dan on his experiences and insight as a mentor for progressive Mormons attempting to stay faithfully engaged in Mormonism *Dan’s insight on the latest changes/improvements made by the LDS church *Dan's announcement of a few exciting and important new projects *Questions from our live audience as well as expressions of gratitude for what his work has meant to many listeners over the years

Concluding our interview with Lloyd Evans, we focus on his journey from devout Witness youth to outspoken ex-Witness activist and atheist. Lloyd shares the circumstances leading to his "awakening" with startling honesty and reveals how the heartbreaking loss of his mother played a profound role in keeping long-held doubts suppressed. Lloyd is the founder and senior editor of JWsurvey.org—a website that promotes freeness of thought among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is also author of “The Reluctant Apostate,” a book that chronicles his experiences growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and his journey to freedom from Watchtower indoctrination. His wildly popular Youtube channel “John Cedars” hosts a range of videos aimed at dissecting the various teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as new developments in the religion.

Concluding our interview with Lloyd Evans, we focus on his journey from devout Witness youth to outspoken ex-Witness activist and atheist. Lloyd shares the circumstances leading to his "awakening" with startling honesty and reveals how the heartbreaking loss of his mother played a profound role in keeping long-held doubts suppressed. Lloyd is the founder and senior editor of JWsurvey.org—a website that promotes freeness of thought among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is also author of “The Reluctant Apostate,” a book that chronicles his experiences growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and his journey to freedom from Watchtower indoctrination. His wildly popular Youtube channel “John Cedars” hosts a range of videos aimed at dissecting the various teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as new developments in the religion.

Continuing our interview with Lloyd Evans, we focus this portion of the interview on Lloyd’s experience living as a Jehovah’s Witness—drawing occasional parallels between those living life as Mormons and those who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Lloyd is the founder and senior editor of JWsurvey.org—a website that promotes freeness of thought among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is also author of “The Reluctant Apostate,” a book that chronicles his experiences growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and his journey to freedom from Watchtower indoctrination. His wildly popular Youtube channel “John Cedars” hosts a range of videos aimed at dissecting the various teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as new developments in the religion.

Mormon Stories Podcast is excited to interview Lloyd Evans—founder and senior editor of JWsurvey.org—a website that promotes freeness of thought among Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is also author of “The Reluctant Apostate,” a book that chronicles his experiences growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and his journey to freedom from Watchtower indoctrination. His wildly popular Youtube channel “John Cedars” hosts a range of videos aimed at dissecting the various teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as new developments in the religion. In this portion of our time with Lloyd, we focus on the history of the Jehovah Witness movement to provide a foundation for our future discussion on what it is like to be a Jehovah’s Witness as well as his experience leaving the religion behind.

Join us now for this Mormon Stories Podcast episode, wherein John Hamer offers his theory as to how the Book of Mormon was created.