Our Platform for Outlining Colorado’s Future

Reasons the unstated assumptions required to accept or reject this belief  (the Church uses logical fallacies)   are true. Straw man: Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk in 1985 titled "Reading Church History" where he warns members about "alternate voices" that might present challenging or controversial aspects of Church history. He said, "Alternate voices are usually negative. They specialize in sowing doubts and nurturing grievances. They see only weaknesses and faults and are blind to the inspired accomplishments and miracles that surround them." This could be seen as a straw man argument as it generalizes critics and their concerns. (Source: Elder Dallin H. Oaks, CES Symposium on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, 16 Aug. 1985) Appeal to authority: An example is the teaching that when the prophet speaks, the debate is over. This phrase comes from a 1945 Improvement Era message by President Heber J. Grant, which said, "When our leaders ...

Reasons to agree : + The LDS Church supports an unhealthy black and white view of the world . (+3) Reasons to disagree :  - Scriptures that agree : + Scriptures that disagree : - Images That agree : + Images That disagree : - Valid Interest of those who agree : + Valid Interest of those who disagree : - Videos That agree : + Videos That disagree : - Website that agree : + Websites that disagree : - Podcast that agree : + Podcast that disagree : - Unbiased Experts who agree : + Unbiased Experts who disagree : - Score : # of reasons to agree: +0 # of reasons to disagree: -0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0 Total Idea Score: 0 Don't like the score? It is easy to change the score. Just post a reason to agree or disagree with the overall idea, or any of the reasons and the score will change. Common Interest : Opposing Interest : Related arguments:

Reasons to agree : + Brigham Young taught that Adam was God the Father. Other Prophets don't. Early prophets of the Church said that the Church would never give up Polygamy, but they did. Reasons to disagree :  - Scriptures that agree : + Scriptures that disagree : - Images That agree : + Images That disagree : - Valid Interest of those who agree : + Valid Interest of those who disagree : - Videos That agree : + Videos That disagree : - Website that agree : + Websites that disagree : - Podcast that agree : + Podcast that disagree : - Score : # of reasons to agree: +0 # of reasons to disagree: -0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: +0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0 Total Idea Score: 0 Common Interest : Opposing Interest : Related arguments: Don't like the score? It is easy to change the score. Just post a reason to agree or disagree with the overall idea, or any of the reasons and the score will change

Reasons to agree : +3 It is hard to produce a totally unique, consistent story with solid spiritual beliefs that inspire people. The Book of Mormon is very helpful to millions of people. The Book of Mormon is relevant today. -1 The fact that there are many similarities between modern gangs and the Gadianton Robbers contributes to the belief that the Book of Mormon is relevant today. Reasons to agree : -2 Most of the relevant parts in the BOM are copied from the Bible Most of the war stories in the BOM have very limited application to modern-day life. Score : # of reasons to agree: +4 # of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: -1 Total: 3 Reasons to disagree :  -2 Smith had lots of help on the BOM. First from his wife. Then Oliver Cowdry  The BOM is not a totally unique story +13 Reasons to agree : +1 There are many similarities between the BOM and View of the Hebrews by Ethan Smith: +13 Reasons to agree : +12 both have extensive quotations from the prophecies of Isaiah ...

Reasons to agree Historical Practices : The Church previously required members to make extreme covenants, including symbolic gestures related to life and death. Critics argue these practices were unsettling and indicative of cult-like behavior. The Church used to have you promise to slit your throat if you broke your covenants. This is pretty messed up.  Reasons to disagree Evolution of Practices : The Church no longer includes such extreme promises in its rituals, reflecting a shift away from controversial practices. Shared Christian Beliefs : Mormons follow Christ's teachings as presented in the New Testament and strive to live according to its principles. Dismissive Labeling : Calling the LDS Church a cult dismisses the faith and humanity of its members, reducing them to stereotypes rather than recognizing them as individuals with complex beliefs and experiences. Personal Testimonies : Many members, like the writer’s mother, exemplify compassion, morality, and love, challenging ...

Reasons to agree LDS Church leaders have often prophesied things that did not happen . +2 The fact that LDS Church leaders were unable to see through Mark William Hofmann is evidence that suggest that LDS prophets do not seem to have the gift of prophesy.  Joseph Smith seems to have been fooled by the Kinderhook plates. But more than just being tricked, he claimed to have the power to translate them, and made up stuff about them. Reasons to disagree    Website that agree http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinderhook_plates Websites that disagree Score : # of reasons to agree: 2 # of reasons to disagree: -0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: 2 # of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0 Total Idea Score: 4 Scriptures that agree Scriptures that disagree Images That agree Images That disagree Interest of those who agree Interest of those who disagree Common Interest Opposing Interest Videos That agree Videos...

Reasons to agree : +2 My mission president told us that Joseph Smith never consummated any of his marriages to any of his wives but Emma. However, I've heard that, when the re-organized church was saying he never practiced Polygamy, Brigham Young got sworn affidavits from women in Utah, that he consummated their relationship  That they were married in every sense of the word.  Not telling all the truth, and letting people make up their own minds is a form of lying. If the church really wanted to be 100% honest, like the 10 commandments teach, they should frankley admit Joseph Smiths mistakes. Reasons to disagree : -0   Score : # of reasons to agree: 2 # of reasons to disagree: -0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to agree: 0 # of reasons to agree with reasons to disagree: -0 Total Idea Score: 0 Website that agree: +2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joseph_Smith's_wives . I grew up in the church in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I...

Reasons to agree : The books on the "Modern Library's 100 best novels" list are good Reasons to agree : #13 on the list: " 1984 ," by George Orwell is a good book Reasons to agree : Art imitates real life, and real life imitates art. People form the 1950s soviet union say that is what it was like, only 1984 was a little worse. 1984 is an accurate warning. You can't ask much more than a book's main point to be based in an important truth.  Number 31 on the list, "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, is good.  Reasons to agree : Truth is beauty and beauty is truth. If a book is not truthful it is not beautiful. However, obvious truths are often ignored, because people would rather be unique than diligent. A good book can vividly explain obvious truths in such a way that people would feel stupid to ignore. It is an obvious truth that w orkers' revolution tend to go wrong. However people keep ignoring this fact, because the motiva...

Reasons to agree : Works of literature should not be measured by how much work went into them. Sure a lot of work went into writing Ulysses. But writing shouldn't just be a game where someone says, look at all this fancy work I can do, and people pat themselves on the back for being able to notice the fancy work.  Ulysses is tiresome Ulysses is tedious Joyce is a pseudo-intellectual. Scientist are intellects. They propose a hypothesis  Make it as clear as possible, and gather evidence to support or weaken the hypothesis. If Joyce believes things, he should state them clearly, make a list of logical reasons to support those conclusion, and encourage other people to submit their reasons to agree or disagree with his conclusion. We can do that now. Lets advance the science of thinking. Lets be clear. Lets be organized. If you believe your ideas are important you owe it to your readers to be clear, comprehensible, a...

Reasons to agree : There is no reason Gatsby should love Daisy. Yes we all get it. People fall in love for bad reasons, and this ends in tragedy. You should fall in love with real people, not your allusion of what you think these people are like. But you shouldn't waste your time reading stupid stories about stupid people that do stupid things. From an  Amazon review : "But unhappy endings need not be the same thing as nihilism. Gatsby's universe is a highly nihilistic one, a world so far gone that even the saddest ideals seem priceless simply for being ideals. Perhaps it's the kind of cynicism the book represents--it's not "grumpy old man" cynicism like Vonnegut or Twain, which at least feels earned and honest".

Reasons to agree : +2 They are free, if you have a computer or MP3 player. Librivox has good books. The following books are good: The Grapes of Wrath A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling The Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare   Howards End By EM Forster Poetics By Aristotle Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson The Awful German Language By Mark Twain The Sayings Of Confucius By Confucius Anna Karenina Book By Leo Tolstoy Les Miserables Volume By Victor Hugo Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen   The Autobigraphy Of Benjamin Franklin Ed By Frank Woodworth Pine The Return Of Sherlock Holmes By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Great Expectations By Charles Dickens The Secret Garden By Frances Hodgson Burnett Reasons to disagree : -2 Each Chapter has the "This is a librivox recording..." thing Listening to a book on tape may be more distracting than listening to music Websites that agree : +1 http://l...

Score: 2 + 2 +1 +3 = 8 Reasons to agree : Good books should be relevant to you. The Grapes of Wrath is not very relevant today  Reasons to agree : + 2 Poverty in America has drastically changed from the time of the Great Depression Reasons to agree : + 3 We have food stamps. We now have disability  Kids are not starving to death in America in more.  Yes we all know that things were tough. The great depression was hard. Life sucked. But life has always sucked. Why should I read about it now? People live like that overseas.  Tragedies with no hope are great at pointing out how wonderful the author is, but there is often little reason to read them. Reasons to agree : + 1 Why waste your time learning about depressing stuff? Life is short. Write about your own problems. Better yet, try to fix your problems. But why read about other people's problems? Why read about fake other people's problems? If you want to read about other people's pr...

The Boy Scouts should improve their requirements to reach their first advancement category. (Score: 1 + 2 + 7 + 3 = 13) Reasons to agree : 2 1.1 The Boy Scouts should not require people to be "properly dressed" in a Boy Scout Uniform in order to advance to their first rank of "tenderfoot". (Score: 6+3-1-1 = 7) Reasons to agree : 6 You have to go through a monopoly to purchase a Boy Scout Uniform. Monopolies are bad. The uniforms are a racket. Even if uniforms were important, they should be a "nice to have" not a requirement. The belief that what you wear is important is unnecessary. As long as clothing is clean and shows respect for yourself and your troop, it shouldn't matter. There is no strong reason to require uniforms. (Score: +3-1 = 2) Reasons to agree : +3 The Boy Scouts of America are judged on outward appearances rather than their values. The organization didn't adapt marketing strategies to appeal to modern youth. Not everyone understands...

Reasons to agree : +5 The internet has more room than the refrigerator Grandparents can't see your refrigerator, if they live thousands of miles away. You can usually assume other people will want to be treated the way you want to be treated. I wish my parents had access to scanners and the internet when I was little. Kids will want to see their work when they are older. If you house burns down, has water damage, or you loose things, or throw them away, the internet can back them up. Kids will need to get used to their efforts being evaluated by others including their teachers, their boss, and the public. Reasons to agree : -2 Kids might think you are making fun of them, by posting their early work. You don't have the right to publish things, unless they give you permission.  Belief Score : +5 -3 = +2 Images that agree : Soft: Echolocation, a piano, and a bat in a cave Load: An elephant, a lion, and and avalanche Self Portrait Gealaejea James Laub...