In this amazing episode of RFM, we get three podcasts in one! The first deals with comments collected from apologetic podcasts that may end up being useful to John Dehlin in defending himself in court against the Mormon Church! The second deals with the 600-Year Prophecy of Christ’s Birth found in the Book of Mormon, and how a close examination of that one prophecy can clarify how we read the Book of Mormon. Finally, RFM tells the story of how it is he actually changed a word in the text of the Book of Mormon! This is not clickbait. This really happened! This one you won’t want to miss!

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Can a church become so important that no amount of bad leadership, toxic culture, or personal harm should ever cause someone to leave? Recently, Elder Lawrence Corbridge made a striking statement: “Darth Vader could be your bishop. The culture could be like Alcatraz… If you see the Church as the kingdom of God on earth, then you will stay.” At first glance, this sounds like a call for faith. But beneath the surface lies a powerful psychological framework—one that asks members to separate their lived experience from their evaluation of the institution itself. In this popup Newscast, Radio Free Mormon, Rebecca Bibliotheca, & Bill Reel, examine why this way of thinking can be deeply unhealthy, how it shifts accountability away from institutions and onto individuals, and why it mirrors patterns commonly found in high-demand groups.

We’ll explore questions like:
• When does loyalty become unhealthy?
• Should abuse or toxic leadership count as evidence about an institution?
• Why do some organizations teach people to distrust their own experiences?
• How does this mindset contribute to spiritual abuse, learned helplessness, and institutional protection?
• Would we accept this reasoning from a corporation, a political party, a marriage, or a therapist?

Rather than simply criticizing one Church leader, this episode investigates the psychology of institutional loyalty and asks whether truth should ever require us to ignore reality. Whether you’re an active Latter-day Saint, someone navigating faith transition, or simply interested in the psychology of belief and high-demand organizations, this conversation offers a thoughtful framework for evaluating one of the most consequential questions anyone can ask: Should commitment to an institution ever come before evidence, experience, and conscience?

Join the conversation below: Do you think Elder Corbridge’s statement reflects healthy faith—or unhealthy institutional loyalty?

What was your reaction when you first heard it?
#Mormonism #LDS #ExMormon #FaithCrisis #ReligiousTrauma #Psychology #SpiritualAbuse #HighDemandReligion #MormonDiscussion #MormonNewscast

The post “You Will Stay” – When Loyalty Matters More Than Abuse ! appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

RFM and Bill Reel are joined by Dr. Thomas Murphy to discuss what the presence of Native American myths, individuals, and stories in the Book of Mormon means. Are these evidence the Book of Mormon is true? Or do they give us an insight into some of the creative grist Joseph was using to compile his narrative of ancient American inhabitants? World-renowned expert in the field Dr. Murphy helps us find the answers!

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The Mormon Church is claiming their lawsuit against John Dehlin has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Of course not! They are just trying to sue John Dehlin into oblivion so he will agree it is wiser and less-expensive to stop criticizing Mormonism. It is so obvious that even church members are noticing and beginning to turn against the church. And the clumsy filings of the church, together with an even clumsier press conference, go a long way toward proving the Mormon Church is suing John Dehlin for all the reasons they say they are not. Listen and see if you agree! (This material originally aired on the Mormon Newscast on August 24, 2026.)

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Tonight on Mormon Newscast, the LDS Church says its trademark lawsuit against John Dehlin and Mormon Stories isn’t an attempt to silence a prominent critic—it’s about preventing consumer confusion. But does the Church’s latest court filing tell quite the same story as its original legal arguments? Our lead story examines the Church’s new opposition to Mormon Stories’ motion to dismiss, and whether the Church is clarifying its case—or backpedaling what this lawsuit was about in the first place.

Also on tonight’s Newscast:

• Sunday School Schedule Problems — The Church is preparing members for its new September Sunday schedule, including weekly 25-minute Sunday School, Relief Society, elders quorum, Young Women and Aaronic Priesthood meetings. But have they considered all the potential problems? Well, Someone has.
• Big changes at Temple Square — New attractions and exhibits are coming as Temple Square prepares for the massive 2027 Salt Lake Temple celebration—and reservations for the long-awaited temple open house become available September 1.
• Why do LDS influencers keep using the word “Mormon”? — President Russell M. Nelson famously pushed members away from the Mormon nickname, yet “Mormon” remains extraordinarily valuable in the attention economy. We look at why influencers, entertainment companies and online creators continue using the word the institutional Church worked so hard to retire.
• Is Deseret News warning Latter-day Saints against therapy? — We examine its provocative new article, “7 signs your counselor may be undermining your faith,” which warns that even religious counselors may unknowingly steer clients away from a God-centered worldview—and raises larger questions about therapy, autonomy and religious deconstruction.
• Patrick Kearon tells Mormon overachievers to slow down — At BYU Education Week, Elder Kearon challenged the culture of relentless achievement, telling high achievers to seek peace, rest and stillness rather than treating discipleship as another endless checklist. But we’ll also ask an uncomfortable historical question: Did generations of LDS leadership help create the very culture of spiritual striving and burnout Kearon is now trying to correct?

All of that and more on the August 24, 2026 Mormon Newscast.

If you want to support The Mormon Newscast, you can donate here:
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And if you’re navigating faith transition or spiritual trauma and need support, 1-on-1 coaching and group work is available at: https://awakenandthrive.org/

The post The LDS Church Changes Its Story ? appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Mormon apologist Jacob Hansen has chosen the hill he wants to die on. That hill is his unusual position that even though prophets can be (and have been!) horribly wrong about doctrinal issues, they can still be trusted to teach us the truth. I know. I know. It doesn’t make any sense to me, either! But in this episode, we will demonstrate that not only is this actually Jacob Hansen’s position, but that he will in fact die on the particular hill. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Radio Free Mormon.

The post Lying About Prophets: RFM: 470 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

In June 1834, while marching with Zion’s Camp through Illinois, Joseph Smith and his followers came across an ancient Native American burial mound. Members of the group dug into the mound and uncovered a human skeleton—with what appeared to be an arrowhead among its ribs.

According to multiple members of Zion’s Camp, Joseph Smith then received a vision revealing the identity of the dead man. His name was Zelph. He was described as a “white Lamanite,” a warrior and “man of God” who had fought under a great prophet named Onandagus. Wilford Woodruff recorded that Onandagus was known across a territory extending from “the hill Cumorah” to the Rocky Mountains and that Joseph received this information “in a vision.”

But the story gets considerably more interesting when we dig deeper.

In this episode of Mormonism Live, we examine the earliest surviving Zelph accounts from Wilford Woodruff, Reuben McBride, Levi Hancock, Heber C. Kimball, and others. What did these witnesses independently agree Joseph said? Which details appeared later? And how did the story change as it was edited into the official history of the Church?

We also explore Joseph Smith’s own remarkable letter written during Zion’s Camp describing the group as wandering across the “plains of the Nephites,” examine the possible connections between Zelph, Cumorah, the Land of Desolation, and Book of Mormon geography, and look at what modern archaeology has discovered about the mound where the skeleton was reportedly found.

Was Zelph simply an unusual nineteenth-century frontier story? Or did Joseph Smith make a specific prophetic claim about an actual ancient person—one that potentially tells us where Joseph believed Book of Mormon peoples lived?

Zelph the White Lamanite: Digging Up Bones

This is where archaeology, Mormon history, Book of Mormon geography, and Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims collide.

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Why do intelligent, sincere women remain loyal to systems that often ask them to suppress their own intuition? In this episode, Bill Reel is joined by three thoughtful women- Jana Spangler, Julie De Azevedo, and Teresa Hobbs; for an in-depth conversation about the psychology of high-demand religion—not to criticize individuals, but to better understand the powerful social and psychological forces that shape belief, obedience, and identity. Together, they explore five well-established psychological concepts that help explain why leaving Mormonism can be so difficult: Pluralistic Ignorance Preference Falsification Cognitive Dissonance Identity Fusion Learned Helplessness Rather than remaining theoretical, these ideas are brought to life through personal stories, lived experience, and honest reflection. The discussion examines how mechanisms such as secrecy, surveillance, ritualization, conformity incentives, embodied obedience, fear of relational loss, and gendered hierarchy can gradually influence behavior and make resistance increasingly costly.

This conversation also asks difficult but important questions:
• Why do so many members believe they are alone in their doubts?
• Why do people sometimes publicly defend beliefs they privately question?
• How can an institution become intertwined with a person’s identity?
• Why can leaving feel like losing your family, purpose, and even yourself?
• And perhaps most importantly, what helps someone learn to trust themselves again?

Whether you’re a faithful member seeking to better understand loved ones, someone navigating faith deconstruction, or simply interested in the psychology of belief and social influence, this episode offers insight into why intelligent, sincere people can remain committed to high-demand systems—and what healing can look like afterward. Please share your own experiences in the comments. Which of these psychological processes resonated most with your journey?

#Mormonism #LDS #ExMormon #FaithTransition #ReligiousTrauma #Psychology #HighDemandReligion #CultPsychology #Deconstruction #MentalHealth #WomenInMormonism #MormonDiscussion #BillReel

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Tonight on Mormon Newscast, we’re following the money—and asking what the latest numbers actually tell us about the LDS Church. We begin with Ensign Peak’s newly released Q2 2026 investment report. The Church’s publicly disclosed U.S. securities climbed from roughly $53.67 billion to $60.82 billion in a single quarter, with enormous exposure to Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Micron, AMD and the broader AI boom. But how impressive is that performance when compared with the S&P 500—or a simple momentum ETF? We dig into what Ensign Peak bought and sold, its increasingly AI-heavy portfolio, and whether prophets, seers and portfolio managers are actually beating the market.

Also tonight:
• President Dallin H. Oaks turns 94—and a seemingly innocent birthday photo involving some suspiciously fancy glassware sparks a wonderfully Mormon debate about the old commandment to “avoid the appearance of evil.”
• A Provo man is sentenced in a child sexual abuse material case after an FBI investigation uncovered disturbing online conversations, including statements about wanting access to young children.
• Let the Christ-centered demolition begin! The Church appears to be experimenting with redesigned meetinghouses intended to create a more explicitly Christian worship environment.
• Why won’t these darn kids just get married? Marriage rates at BYU are dropping sharply, and Church and university leaders are trying to figure out how to get young Latter-day Saints off the dating apps and onto actual dates. Is Mormon dating culture collapsing—or are LDS young adults simply beginning to behave more like everyone else their age?
• An LDS local leader in Scotland is sentenced after admitting offenses involving sexual communications with people he believed were 13- and 14-year-old girls. The Church says it unequivocally condemns abuse.
• The Church is celebrating a record 88,500 full-time missionaries, but falling birthrates and the recent missionary-age change for women raise an important question: is this sustainable growth—or another temporary demographic surge?
• Tim Ballard’s former organization, Our Rescue, lands a federal contract worth as much as $244 million to provide immigration-related legal services for roughly 24,000 unaccompanied children—even as critics argue the organization lacks the experience and legal infrastructure for the assignment.
• More than 400 Salt Lake Tribune readers answered the question: What question should be added to the LDS temple recommend interview? Their answers raise a fascinating distinction between institutional worthiness and actual moral character—and we’ll imagine what a temple recommend interview might look like if its central concern were producing healthy, compassionate, accountable human beings.
• And finally: Want to star in an LDS Church movie? The Church is recruiting volunteers for a new Temple Square production—and apparently this could be your big break. All of that, plus what’s happening across the Mormon podcasting world, tonight on Mormon Newscast.

The post The LDS Church Made $7 Billion & Still Lost to the S&P 500 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

RFM and Bill Reel host an august panel of Sunstone Symposium presenters and attendees, as they tell us fun and fascinating stories about what goes on behind the scenes of Sunstone! Join us! Mormon Studies were never so much fun!

The post Find Out What REALLY Happened At Sunstone 2026! appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.