Dan Ellsworth
@DanEllsworthVA
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Believing and sustaining Latter-Day Saint husband and father, Host of YouTube channel Latter-day Presentations
Virginia, USA
Joined August 2020
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Last Seen Profiles
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Some things Latter-day Saints should understand about Marxism, a 🧵:
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U.S. Latter-day Saints- keep in mind in light of Pres. Nelson's talk, that we are likely entering the most ugly contentious political season we've ever seen. We can be different.
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Don’t want to freak out members of my faith, but I’m going to say it again, clearly: if you are not actively pursuing a deepening of your conversion, understand that forces of deconversion are pursuing you. There is no stasis, no neutral ground.
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I have no hesitation whatsoever in following people like this.
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My message to people like Mike is twofold:
1. We love you.
2. There is nothing whatsoever that we need from you.
Mormonism is not Christianity.
As much as I love Mormons, it would be an insult to Christ to pretend they are the same.
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When the church is confronted with receipts on a high profile member who is name-dropping while seeking counsel from a phony medium who claims to be talking to Nephi, we don't get to dictate to church PR what they are supposed to do or not do.
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I have zero hesitation in following people like this.
🧵
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(source: Oct 2014 conference)
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If you're employed at BYU, there's a really simple way to reduce ambiguity about the likelihood of your retention: you can be very open and forthright about the nature of your faith commitments.
You are fully empowered to do this.
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It's a predictable conversation that we have every conference time, when we are confronted with empathy-shaming that utilizes Mosiah 18. From my presentation on empathy:
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My wish list for Latter-day Saint politics, a 🧵:
First, I wish for Latter-day Saints to understand that we can legitimately swing elections in the United States, and increasingly in other places in the world.
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I'm happy to sustain this man, without reservation.
The Savior is more interested in our personal growth than our mistakes. Repentance helps us become true and faithful sons and daughters of God. We are only eventually made perfect only through Jesus Christ and His perfect atonement.
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The idea that Jesus basically walked around empathizing and validating people's feelings.
What do people pretend is in the Bible but is absolutely not in the Bible?
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Another 🧵on church finances, and what it takes to build things.
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Show me a Latter-day Saint’s influencers, and I can probably tell you their spiritual trajectory with accuracy. My latest at
@PublicSquareMag
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Mark my words- there is going to come a time when Latter-day Saints are going to be forced to choose between their church participation and QAnon. And a shocking number of members will choose QAnon.
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When I gave consent to join my faith community, I was not at all informed as to how amazing my life of faith would turn out to be. I was ill informed about the depths of joy, the miracles, and the connection to God and other people I would be able to experience. I had no idea.
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Church leadership handled COVID well, and the vaccine was a good recommendation.
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Here is something that's really hard to do. Without consulting notes, dictate a large text full of stories that flow and interweave and change setting,
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In the ward I attended today, a woman closed the meeting with a tearful prayer “Help those who have left us…to come back.”
A simple, powerful pleading that gives voice to God’s own heart. These are the little things that make me love going to church.
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My unpopular take- when it comes to church finances, transparency is one of those things that sounds lovely until you game out what it would actually achieve in real life. 🧵 1/
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The CES letter and other Gish gallop accusation lists are effective because the authors share some poor assumptions with their readers, and they feed them additional garbage assumptions: 🧵
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Thread- Lots of important discussion about Latter-day Saint influencers these days. These are 11 examples of conversations I have with my daughters, which is why I feel they are well equipped for messaging headed in their direction.
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@religiongal
The risk is always that we use Heavenly Mother as an idol, fashioned in our image. And then we use her as a vehicle to validate our personal religion, which in the West is expressive individualism.
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"But make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters; in the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency."
Neal A. Maxwell
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent the following message today to Church members around the world:
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Love never, ever involves indulging another person's delusions. No matter how "nice" it feels to do so. "Mourn with those who mourn" never involves validating their downward spiral.
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Following up my thread on Marxism from yesterday, one of the best insights on the nature of evil.
Evil does not create; it is parasitic. It imitates and distorts and pretends.
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🧵 Just a note to Latter-day Saint friends: it’s fine to engage with other Christians here, and sometimes those interactions are really insightful (see posts by
@slc_saint
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Prophets are fallible. This is 100% true. A 🧵 for Latter-day Saints
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If you have been avoiding the work of preparing your heart and mind to hear some difficult news about one of your heroes, I would suggest you begin now.
I spoke with one of female victims coming forward against Tim Ballard today for over an hour ... Here are my thoughts.
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As I’ve said before, for Latter-day Saints, the Family Proclamation is core doctrine. God is gendered and we are created in their image. It is also true that some of us don’t fit gender roles and stereotypes like others do. Both statements can be true.
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This is one of the best things Brigham Young ever said. It set realistic expectations among the saints, which allows us to change our relationship to controversy.
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Elder Corbitt will be speaking, and I’m counting down the minutes. His recent talk on activism was instant-legendary.
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Bridle your empathy, so that you can truly love.
My article on empathy, and how it deserves more critical thinking than we typically give it.
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Another 🧵of great
#generalconference
clips, beginning with Elder M. Russell Ballard spelling out the basic binary questions of our faith.
(Oct 1994)
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Brad Wilcox prayed tonight “for those that have wandered, that they may be led home.”
With all my heart, amen.
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Marxism: A Latter-day Saint Perspective was written in honor of one of my spiritual heroes, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
It's now available. Spread the word.
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Fascism is not the opposite of Marxism.
BYU Pathway is.
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@religiongal
@hankrsmith
He got into a Twitter argument over religion and used a scriptural moniker for an apostate who leads people astray, then reconsidered and apologized. The ensuing wailing and struggle session have only served to validate Hank's stance.
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My second wish is for Latter-day Saints to understand that politics is not the real battle. There is no political solution to spiritual rot in society. Politics can only ever offer band-aids and phony saviors when people have become ungovernable.
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Elder Holland’s remarks are true in my experience. The times when I have been unhappy and conflicted in my discipleship have been times when I have not been all in. It’s miserable to be double-minded or lukewarm in our commitments.
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Let's not kid ourselves; transparency would not reassure anyone of anything. It would simply provide more targets for the critical commentariat, more material for online chatter, more diversions from where our hearts and minds should be focused. 3/
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Sister Tracy Browning just showed us what Paul was trying to achieve with the book of Romans. That’s a talk to come back to and study and underline.
#generalconference
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The Church’s support for the Respect for Marriage Act shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Church’s interest is in religious freedom, and all other considerations are way down the ladder of importance.
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Pres. Oaks offering Latter-Day Saints hard medicine for our tendency toward triumphalism.
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Activist versus disciple. One of these can thrive in church and even make a lasting positive impact. The other can only flail around and complain.
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A few thoughts on the Tim Ballard issue: 🧵
Sometimes we internalize the erroneous message that the church exists to tell us neat narratives of who to love or hate, believe or doubt. We import that expectation from our politics.
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Years ago I had a friend who was fired. 🧵
I had suspicions it was going to happen, because his workplace behavior was pretty reckless and sometimes just awful. After his termination I was shown his file, and it had some really embarrassing things.
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From my reading this morning. What does it mean to become unable to hold treasure?
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Marxism, however, is alive and thriving. Out of Marx's inner turmoil grew his theories, and after his death, those toxic roots produced branches in Gramsci's cultural Marxism, then the Frankfurt School's critical theory, and various attempts at national communism.
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Marxism is often discussed by its adherents in terms of "liberation," and yet it creates horribly oppressive societies where the worst human depravity is framed as "social justice."
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"But what about fascism?" Yes, fascism is terrible. But fascism and Marxism are not opposites. In the words of Benito Mussolini,
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I’m friends with a lot of people of other faiths, and the clearest indicator that someone is secure in their faith is that they don’t attack mine. I love those relationships. I love the conversations we have.
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Today is a fine day for me to buy a Hank Smith book or three.
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The judgment-seat is overrated. In the U.S., we currently have a congress of careerists who think their primary job is not legislating, but fund-raising. They feel entitled to their positions, and the word for that in scripture is "king-men."
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Diversity is neither a good or bad thing in itself. When unity is our goal, we see diversity in the proper way, as something that teaches patience and charity. When diversity becomes the goal, unity becomes impossible.
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A 🧵 on FEMA and faith:
Shortly before hurricane Ivan in 2004, I was working on a project with Homeland Security that took me to the office of the mayor of New Orleans. I met with public safety personnel there and in a location nearby.
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Apostasy is a plague on the church, and excommunication is a perfectly appropriate response to it. To see excommunication as a harmful thing is just evidence of our privileged white Western therapeutization of Christianity, and this is why we are not the future of the church.
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When Marxists warn of fascism and vice-versa, it's like someone warning the world about their own alter personality. Historian James Gregor said fascism and Marxism are like Janus, the mythical Roman god. It's one entity with two faces.
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Also ideally, U.S. republicans would understand that if they surround themselves with evangelicals who disparage our faith, or they ignore problems of corruption in government, they risk losing the Latter-day Saint vote.
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1/ A note to members of my faith. Anytime we invoke the name “Jesus” to contradict clear teachings and directives that are coming from the united voices of His current servants, we’re breaking the third commandment.
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Marxism is not the same as communism. In October 1988 President Ezra Taft Benson warned of a worldwide secret combination, and we tend to assume he was talking about communism. But the world epicenter of communism collapsed shortly after his talk.
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"Follow the Prophet" is a phrase used by Latter-day Saints, and it's common to see church members who think that they have somehow "outgrown" it. 🧵
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Whereas, apostasy turns people into emotional vampires, and so does religious insecurity. Don’t let people drain the life out of you online. Engage with people who are serious, and block people who aren’t.
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Ideally, U.S. democrats would understand that when candidates surround themselves with Marxist advisors, or they take extreme positions on issues like abortion, they risk losing the Latter-day Saint vote.
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Every single one of us knows in our soul that a baby deserves a mother and father. Yes, there are things that can prevent that ideal. But we should never, ever actively plan to deny a baby this basic need.
#ThemBeforeUs
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My final wish is that Latter-day Saints would hold politicians to a standard of not bearing false witness. No lying about opponents; no lying about the way things are; no sleazy manipulative messaging that avoids uncomfortable truth. Speak the truth and we will deal with it.
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I realize my wishes are unlikely to come true anytime soon, but they really might eventually. The way things are headed in the world, I would not be surprised if in the future we end up disengaging and becoming way more politically independent than we currently are.
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The gospel net catches all kinds, and we should embrace that reality. But let’s be clear: to build things that are lasting and impactful like the church's aid infrastructure requires believing-and-sustaining members, because only they can cohere.
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Shout this one from the rooftops.
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Marx was not the originator of most of his ideas. When you trace the threads of his ideology and worldview, they go back very far. His gift was to weave long-existing ideas into a vision for the world. I suggest Marx was not a creator, but a *restorer* of something ancient.
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@Miss_Snuffy
This is one of those situations where it helps to recognize the game being played.
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He's a beautiful soul and I gladly sustain him.
May we all find peace together in the only place we can truly find it—the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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🧵 Posting my meme again. When people say the word "nuanced" in discussions of their faith, it would be really great if it carried the normal meaning of perceiving subtle distinctions and features, being able to examine different angles, etc.
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@seerutkchawla
I do that kind of training all the time. It’s helpful for those situations where you’re hanging from a branch that is being shaken by a bear and there’s a guy punching you. Those leg movements really help to make the experience manageable.
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Ideally, the U.S. presidency would occupy no more than .5% of our thinking, but instead we have made them into false gods and false saviors who dominate our attention. This is the result of having a non-functioning congress.
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Elder Cook cautioned against doomscrolling, which is one of my favorite pastimes. But I’m mostly immune to its effects because I don’t believe much of anything I see online. Especially posts that begin with “Breaking:”
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The ideal situation would be for church members to wake up every day and ask "What can I do to spread God's influence in the world today?"
*not*
"What is happening at church HQ today, and what will be my hot takes?" 2/
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I recently went with my family to an event at a progressive church. Looking around at their art and materials and hymns, there were lots of references to inclusion and other things, but few direct references to God. 1/ 🧵
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This book has a special place in my heart, but sometimes it also melts my writer brain.
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This is why I strongly encourage people - especially the unconverted - to attend other churches that are oriented toward personal accommodation. See for yourself what it’s actually like, and why people don’t stay in those congregations.
.
@GordonMonson
: This lifelong Latter-day Saint has 20 ideas for things he would change about the church, on the Word of Wisdom, tithing, full-time missions, how female members are treated, and more.
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Amazing how many adults I know who are incapable of doing what this kid just did.
Fantastic teacher, fantastic student.
This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses
@jk_rowling
of being transphobic. This teacher skilfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions.
He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically.
Watch until the end.
You see the epiphany in real-time.
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The Marxist worldview should be countered wherever we find it. But let us also not build the Marxist/fascist Janus idol designed in hell, with the purpose of laying waste to the world.
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So the church is an integral participant in feeding more than 110k families in our area. And it cracks me up to think that some of the people receiving the food probably hate "the Mormons." 😅 It's all good.
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Definitely feeling convicted by Pres. Nelson’s talk. I need to choose my battles better, and engage better. For me, that means engaging with ideas instead of attacking people.
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Some thoughts on vertical and horizontal faith. 🧵
Vertical faith is our connection to God. Horizontal faith is the way we live our faith in community.
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Personally, I would much rather see a vague admission and maybe apology from a guy who I choose to believe is basically good, who sometimes gets carried away.
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Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci said the Bolsheviks were not strictly following "the master." No, Lenin and the Bolsheviks had tapped into a deeper current of "Marxist thought, the one that will never die," that exists apart from the thinking of Karl Marx.
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My YT feed always suggests debates about biblical scholarship, and sometimes I give in and watch out of trainwreck curiosity. I own and use a lot of scholarly resources; I'm not dismissive of all of it. But here's a thread of the most common cringe in that field:
🧵
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Some Christians (particularly evangelicals) are not secure in their authority claims, so they spend huge amounts of time roaming around and orbiting other denominations to attack their faith. Nobody is fooled about the insecurity that motivates this behavior.
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I’m certain this man personally knows God more than just about any of my friends or influencers. I’m glad to receive his counsel.
In the kingdom of God, there can be no halfway measures, no starting and stopping, no turning back. The loyalty we pledge to the cause of Christ should be the supreme devotion of our lives.
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You can’t overstate the impact of these investments in education for bettering lives and enabling upward mobility.
One thing that the Church invests a lot of money in, is education. The church spends $1B a year on the Church Educational System, and I don’t think a lot of people realize exactly how massive this program is. /1
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Reality doesn’t care who believes it or not. Joseph Smith is an authentic prophet.
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The only thing “holding this church back” on any issue is lack of conversion.
You know what’s ironic?
Our fixation on celestial marriage is what’s holding this church back on LGBTQ+ issues.
That fixation was born out of polygamy.
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