Comments by "bart thomassen thomassen" (@thomassenbart) on "The Success of Mormonism Depresses Richard Dawkins | Joe Rogan" video.

@johncooper7663 It is claimed that Utah leads the United States in subscriptions to online adult entertainment. [1] A single study showed high use in Utah. [2] The study was from a single vendor (who was not disclosed) making it difficult to know if it was a random cross-section of the entire United States. Often unmentioned is the fact that Idaho (with 25% LDS) had the lowest rate of porn subscription. [3] However, a more recent analysis [4] of Pornhub (one of the largest pornography distribution nodes) found that Utah was 40th in the nation for porn consumption. An independent analysis found that for every 10% increase in Latter-day Saints in the population, porn use dropped by 16%, with a significance level of p=0.0001. [5] This demonstrates the perils of using a single study as one's baseline, especially when the source of the data is not disclosed. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjSt-_z07HqAhXQK80KHbAjBl0QFjABegQIBhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fairmormon.org%2Fanswers%2FQuestion%3A_Why_does_Utah_lead_the_United_States_in_subscriptions_to_online_adult_entertainment%253F&usg=AOvVaw1z2Zgs0V-KbjihNHMZ1Nyd
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I don't know anyone who makes the argument that the religion changes based upon evidence. Certainly the Church does not hold this view. The official concept is that knowledge is imparted, line upon line, precept on precept, that God reveals what he will and not all at once. Also, God dictates based upon the free will of those being given, commandments for example. We have the example of the Hebrews, rejecting God's commandments and therefore they were given the lesser Mosaic law only to be replaced at the Meridian of time with the Christological message. Mormons claim this gradual revealing of the fulness of the Gospel is an ongoing scenario, some of which depends upon the righteousness of the people. Mormons believe in progression, not stagnation, that God is active in the world and that revelation continues.
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@p3tr0114 Ah, that is interesting. Mormonism is not like science. The one is a faith/religion and the other is materially based. However, the Church always has placed a lot of emphasis upon education. There is a scripture in the D&C, which states that, The Glory of God is Intelligence and this motto is placed over the gates to the entrance of BYU, so... The missionaries you have been speaking with, I would guess are improvising. Certainly in the past the Church view was that all of the natives of the New World were Lamanites. Today however, the common thinking is that there were multiple populations simultaneously present in the Americas. Since no one knows the geography or place for the events in the BoM, how large or small these lands were, question marks surround the issue. Concerning the DNA of natives and their connection with Jewish folk today, I would argue this proposition and its supposed problems are also problematic. Given that Judaism is a religion and not an ethnicity necessarily it is difficult to say with any precision what Jewish DNA equates to, outside of just a few markers. Historically Judaism encompassed a more robust population. So for example 2000 years ago, there were multiple competing groups in Judea/Palestine that are no longer present in the world today. Even further back, we have the Kingdom of Judah which was destroyed by the Chaldeans, along with the Temple and Jerusalem 597 BC . And before that cataclysm, the 10 tribes and the Northern Kingdom were destroyed and taken away by the Assyrians circa 722 BCE. All of these populations, which were part of the House of Israel, do not exist and are not a part of modern Judaism. So, argumentatively the DNA question is not particularly persuasive.
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@p3tr0114 I hear you but would contest the science aspect, since I don't think actual science has demonstrated anything about the quote 'Jewish' ancestry question v. native Americans, for all of the reasons I mentioned above. However, I grant your point that the Church has moved due to perceived scientific evidence, which casts doubt on previous claims. I personally think the new introduction is better from multiple points of view regardless. The entire topic of when and where the Native Americans came from is really fascinating and the field has busted open in the last decade, with multiple narratives now pointing to likely repeated influences and incursions into the Americas, not only from the famed land bridge, between Alaska and Siberia, but also much earlier possibly from Europe, Africa, Polynesia and China. And if we want to throw in some refugee Hebrew/Jews, why not? :)
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The BoM is supposed to be a translation of an ancient language using seer stones, inspiration from god and the urim and thumum. Everything you have said about the book of Abraham is correct. No one claims that the church and its doctrine, change based upon science. The entire nature of the religion is faith not materialism. Mormons like all monotheistic people, believe in miracles, I.e. metaphysics.
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p3tr0114 I don’t think you read me correctly. When we talk about Jewish ancestry, that means what? In the modern day it connects with a very specific group which does not encompass traditional Jewishness during the meridian of time and it also does not address the 10 tribes of Israel or the Hebrews. So dna testing around this issue is very problematic I also did not say that Church does not consider the natives as lamanites. I differentiated between all and some. The Church and Mormon apologists in general would admit that there were multiple populations present simultaneously and we don’t know how large the BoM civilizations were.
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