American Exceptionalism but as a Religion | Mormons

We should all know the American creation  myth, but for the two or three of you that   don’t. It all started when a group of religious  conservatives who didn’t think the Church of   England was Protestant enough were kicked out  of a number of European countries and sailed   west to settle in America. These were known as  the Puritans, or more famously, the Pilgrims.  Every American kid learns this story in school  and we’re reminded of it every Thanksgiving. Fewer   people learn about the second time this happened.  When a group of religious conservatives who didn’t   think the Puritans were pure enough were kicked  out of a number of American states and settled out   west. This time, they were known as the Pioneers,  or less famously, the Mormons. [Doorbell]  ♫Hello! My name is Elder Better and I would  like to share with you the most amazing book.♫  Why are you singing? [Intro Music] This video was brought to you  by CuriosityStream and Nebula.  …door to door to talk about Jesus Christ. You know I’ve always wanted to talk with one   of you guys… And it’s kind of a weird coincidence  that you showed up today, I just started to film   a video about you guys and here you are. Almost like it was planned that way!   I can come back later if I’m interrupting. Nah, take a seat, this should only take a few   minutes and I think it would be helpful to have  a Mormon perspective. Plus, I’m really committed   to this plot device. What?  Nothing, don’t worry about it… [Tone] The early 1800s were an exciting time in America,   we had just won independence from Britain  and doubled our territory with the Louisiana   Purchase. And just to be sure, we reaffirmed our  independence in 1812. America felt invincible,   it was a free and awesome democracy  with seemingly limitless potential. In   the years after independence, an entire  generation was born into that mindset.  This also happened to be the  end of the Enlightenment,   when the concepts of personal responsibility  and self-determination were first put to paper,   and the beginning of the Second Great  Awakening, when people were encouraged   to seek a personal relationship with God over  working through a priest. America was founded   on the ideas of religious liberty and individual  freedom, so those ideas really took off here.  Protestant denominations that began  during the First Great Awakening,   like the Baptists and the Methodists, saw a  surge in new membership, but more excitingly,   brand new denominations began popping up. Almost  exclusively in Upstate New York, for some reason.  There were the Shakers, a breakaway sect of the  Quakers who believed that their leader, Ann Lee,   was the female manifestation of Christ’s Second  Coming. This will be a recurring theme. They   earned their nickname by violently dancing during  their prayer sessions, and they were completely   celibate, which made recruiting and birthing new  members nearly impossible. Somewhat predictably,   there are only two living Shakers today. Then there was William Miller and the   Millerites, who believed that we were in  the biblical final days and whose multiple   failed predictions for the end of the world  became known as The Great Disappointment.   They’ve since rebranded as the Seventh Day  Adventists and are still going strong today.  Wait, they were disappointed  that the world didn’t end?  Then came the Mormons, who also believe that the  Second Coming of Christ will happen any day now.   With the additional caveat that America  will be the Holy Land, along with Israel.  I mean, there’s more to it than that, but yeah.  Joseph Smith was born in 1805 to a farming  family in Vermont and around ten years later,   they moved to Upstate New York. Right in the  middle of the Second Great Awakening. Smith’s   family attended a number of different churches  and even practiced folk magic, many of his family   members claimed to have received visions from God.  To help the family make ends meet, Joseph became a   scryer and a dowser. You may not recognize those  occupations since they don’t exist anymore, but   basically, he used divining rods to find  underwater aquifers and seer stones to locate   lost treasure. To do this, he placed a seer stone  in a hat and then covered the hole with his face,   giving him second sight of the treasure. This  method wasn’t always successful and in 1826,   a few of his dissatisfied customers had him tried  in the State of New York for “glass looking.”  Hey, he later said that his childhood  treasure hunting was nonsense – and   a lot of people used seer stones back then. That’s right, Joseph Smith was just one of   many. But in 1820, this specific scryer was  praying in the woods near his home in Palmyra,   New York when he was visited by God and Jesus,  who forgave his sins and told him none of the   current churches were correct. This became known  as the First Vision and is incredibly important.   Which is weird, because he didn’t write about  this event until a decade after it happened   and each account of the event was different. Do you tell stories the same exact way every   time or do you tailor the story to each audience? Whenever I do that, the main details are usually   the same. Sometimes when he told it, it’s just  God or just Jesus, sometimes it’s angels instead   of God, and sometimes they neglect to forgive  his sins; but the one enduring point is that   all of the current churches have turned away  from the gospel. And this fourteen-year-old   boy was chosen to be the one to restore it. In 1823, the angel Moroni visited Joseph   Smith and told him where he could find  an ancient record written on gold plates,   but he couldn’t take possession of them  until he brought the right person along.   It took him four years to find that person, who  turned out to be his wife, Emma Hale Smith. He   retrieved the plates in September 1827, along with  two seer stones, the Urim and Thummim, which had   been fashioned into a pair of glasses which he  called interpreters. The angel Moroni then told   Joseph that he could not show the plates to anyone  and he is to translate and publish the record.  The golden plates were bound into a book which  weighed roughly fifty pounds and were written in   Reformed Egyptian, a hieroglyphic language  which only Joseph Smith could understand.   Because no scholar recognizes it… And because  they don’t have a seer stone to translate it.  His wife Emma served as his scribe for a few  months but was later replaced by Martin Harris.   Martin agreed to finance publication; and after  four months of working together, he and Joseph   finished the first 116 pages. He took them home  to show off to his friends and family and then   lost them. That’s the only part of the South  Park episode that was wrong, by the way. They   weren’t hidden by Martin Harris’s wife to expose  him as a fraud, they were and are still lost.  I’m gonna hide these pages, if Joseph Smith really is translating off of golden plates, then he’ll be able to do it again. Joseph was devastated by the loss of the  manuscript and after praying about it,   the angel Moroni took the plates and interpreters  from him. For a few months, Joseph began attending   a Methodist church. But in September 1828,  the plates were returned to him and he resumed   translation using this seer stone which he found  while digging a well a few years beforehand.  Wait… I knew I recognized  that! How did you get that?!  I have connections, don’t worry about it.  To do this, he used a familiar method…   he dropped his seer s- Oops. [Tone] He dropped his  seer stone into a top hat then covered the hole   with his face. This blocked out any excess light,  allowing him to see the illuminated translation.  To replace the first 116 pages, which happened  to be the first and second book of Lehi,   he now had to translate from the book of Nephi.  Which was the same story told from a different   perspective. In April 1829, Oliver Cowdery  replaced Martin as scribe and Joseph could   now translate the plates without the use of a  seer stone, through divine revelation. The plates   didn’t even need to be in the room anymore. They finished the manuscript in only three   months and in 1830, they published the  first edition of the Book of Mormon,   Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Sometimes  referred to as the Restored Gospel or the   Golden Bible. Though, it’s important to note  that this isn’t a replacement for the Bible,   it’s the third book in a trilogy after the Old and  New Testaments. And in true trilogy fashion, it   retcons a bunch of stuff from the first two books. Soon after the book was complete, the angel   Moroni took the golden plates back to heaven,  never to be seen again. Without the plates,   it’s somewhat difficult to verify the authenticity  of this book. Which is why, on the first page,   before you even get to the proper story, you  will find the Testimony of Three Witnesses.   Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery, and recent convert,  David Whitmer. All three of them attest to being   shown the plates by the angel Moroni and told by  God that the Book of Mormon is true… In a vision.   They needed three witnesses because of the “Law of  Witnesses,” which Mormons typically cite as coming   from Second Corinthians in the New Testament. This is the third time I am coming to you.   In the mouth of two or three witnesses  shall every word be established.  The typical understanding of that verse,  coupled with another from Deuteronomy,   is that you shouldn’t believe an eyewitness  account of a crime, unless you have multiple   people saying the same thing. The Mormon  interpretation is a little different.  Two or three people said it, therefore it  must be true. That’s also how I know the   Book of Mormon is true, because it’s the  third testament or witness of Christ. And   it strengthens my faith to have three accounts. All three of the original Witnesses either left   the church or were excommunicated. But luckily,  right under that is the Testimony of Eight   Witnesses. All eight of these men attest to having  been shown the plates in reality by Joseph Smith;   even having the chance to handle the plates  and flip through the pages. All eight of these   witnesses were related to Smith by blood or  marriage. And somewhat comically, half of them   either left the church or were excommunicated. But none of them ever recanted their testimony.  That’s true, none of them ever overtly took back  their statements. But some people would say that   going back to being a Baptist or a Methodist kind  of implies that you no longer believe the Book of   Mormon to be true. In the end, it just boils  down to faith. Which is the same justification   people have for believing in this book, the only  difference being that this one doesn’t start with   a quasi-legal document declaring its truthfulness. So what’s actually in the Book of Mormon? I’m   sure a lot of you are expecting an epic atheist  takedown of certain passages. And if that’s what   you’re looking for, I’ll point you to the CES  letter down below. There’s plenty of material   to work with, this book mentions animals and  technology that we know didn’t exist in America   until Columbus. Cows, chickens, horses, chariots,  steel, silk, the list goes on. The thing is,   most Mormons are aware of those  discrepancies and choose to believe   anyway. Like I said, it all comes down to faith. The content isn’t all that dissimilar from the   Old and New Testaments, it’s a history of the  Nephites and Lamanites and tells the story of   when Jesus came to America. And right away, that’s  a lot to unpack. According to the Book of Mormon,   around the year 600 BC, the prophet Lehi sailed  from Jerusalem and landed in the Americas. His   descendants became the Nephites and the Lamanites,  which are considered to be Lost Tribes of Israel.   Following the events of the New Testament,  after his crucifixion and resurrection,   Jesus came to America to preach and  perform miracles. How he knew about   America when nobody else did, I have no idea. He talks about it in the New Testament,   it’s in the Gospel of John. And other sheep I have,   which are not of this fold: them also I  must bring, and they shall hear my voice;   and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. I mean, that’s not really specific, he could be   talking about anyone there… Fine, let’s ask him.  What? Let’s ask him.  You can just call up Jesus whenever you want? Yeah, all Mormons can.  [Hallelujah Ringtone] Go for JC. Hey Jesus, I’m here with my new   friend KB and he has some questions for you. Oh, hey KB, it’s been a while!  Hey Jesus, how does this  guy have your phone number?  He has connections, don’t worry about it. You guys know each other?  Yeah, me and Jesus go way back. Yeah, this isn’t the first   time he’s had a bunch of questions. So, anyway, so John chapter ten verse-  Oh ok so you’re going to quote scripture  to me? Imagine making yourself available   on the internet to all your children and  all they ever ask about is what you meant   by something you said 2000 years ago. How did  I know about America? I’m Jesus, that’s how.  Okay, so, separate question. I’ve heard this Lost  Tribe of Israel narrative several times before,   a number of churches claim to be the descendants  of one of them. What’s going on here,   what happened to those tribes? They were never lost to me,   you were the ones that lost them. …. That’s not really an answer-  Look, I get asked these same questions  a lot and it always feels like the   setup for some sort of gotcha. It gets kind  of old after a while, I’m human too… well…   halfway. I’m hoping that  since you’re making a video,   maybe we can finally put some of these issues  to rest. So, what’s your next question?  How did the Mark of Cain  survive Noah’s flood, because I-  Would you look at that, it’s about time for me to  tend to the other sheep I have which are not of   this fold. It was nice talking to you KB, bye! … Do you really have to talk about that?  Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. Jesus spent three days in America healing   the sick and preaching his gospel before returning  to Heaven, in the centuries after he left, there   was a war between the Nephites and Lamanites. The  Nephite leader, Mormon, wrote down the history of   his people on golden plates. After the Nephites  were wiped out, his son Moroni finished the story   and hid the plates in a hillside, which Joseph  Smith would find centuries later. As punishment   for their wickedness, the Lamanites were cursed. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them,   yea, even a sore cursing, because of their  iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their   hearts against him, that they had become like  unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white,   and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they  might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God   did caused a skin of blackness to come upon them. According to the Book of Mormon, Native Americans   are the descendants of the Lamanites. And this  is why they have dark skin. On top of that,   converting to Mormonism will lift that  curse and physically change their skin   color back to their original, pure whiteness. And it came to pass that those Lamanites who   had united with the Nephites were numbered among  the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them,   and their skin became white like unto the  Nephites; And their young men and their daughters   became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered  among the Nephites, and were called Nephites.  That was in the early days, nobody in the church  believes that today, it’s just a metaphor.  Look man, it’s not really the skin color  thing, it’s that you think these people   are uniquely cursed and need to be  saved. And it extends beyond them.  And it came to pass that Hagoth, he  being an exceedingly curious man,   therefore he went forth and built him an  exceedingly large ship, on the borders of   the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and  launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow   neck which led into the land northward. According to some Mormon interpretations,   Pacific Islanders are the descendants of  Native Americans and are likewise cursed   with dark skin. DNA and archaeological  evidence dispute that version of history.  …Dude you’re even bumming me  out. That’s such a small part   of what we believe and practice every day. Do you wanna take the chair and talk about that?  Sure, that’s why I’m here! So, as he was saying, the angel   Moroni hid the plates in a hillside for Joseph  Smith to find 1400 years later. That period of   time is known as the Great Apostasy. Once the  Book of Mormon was translated and published,   Joseph Smith formally re-established the church  on April 6, 1830. This is the Restored Gospel   and therefore, the natural continuation of  Christ’s original church. Joseph tried out   a few different names for the church until a  revelation led him to the answer – the Church   of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Members  are known as Latter-Day Saints or LDS for short.  Like many others during the Second Great  Awakening, Joseph Smith believed that we   are in the biblical final day of rest and that  the second coming of Christ would occur at any   moment. Until then, we are in the latter days.  It’s during this first decade of the church   that many of our beliefs and practices first  took shape. Like the Word of Wisdom in 1833.  Joseph Smith and a few early members of the  church would discuss theology in a small room   filled with cigar smoke, tobacco spit, and  a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. His   wife Emma complained about having to clean up  the mess every night. So, Joseph prayed to God,   who handed down a health code for Mormons to  follow known as the Word of Wisdom. This is   why Mormons who want to remain in good standing  with the church must abstain from strong drinks,   which we understand to mean alcohol. We also can’t  use tobacco, or any other drugs not prescribed by   a doctor. And last but not least, somewhat unique  to our faith – hot drinks, which was historically   interpreted as any drink containing caffeine. But in 2012, church leaders clarified that   “hot drinks” only refer to coffee and tea, so  caffeinated sodas and whatever the heck is in   a can of Monster is allowed. Though there  are individual members who still abstain.  That sounds a lot like Catholics  and eating meat on Friday.  Exactly, there’s variation, does fish count  as meat? That’s kind of up to you. These later   revelations on how to live your life and the  function of the church were compiled into a   second book known as the Doctrine and Covenants,  originally published in 1835. It’s kind of like   the Mormon handbook, a collection of commandments. In 1842, Joseph Smith wrote a summary of   the church’s beliefs for a newspaper, which  later became known as the Articles of Faith.   If you really want to know what Mormons  believe, this is where you should start.  Number one. We believe in God, the  Eternal Father, and in His Son,   Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. Just like every other Christian denomination.  Ehhh…. Not like every other  Christian denomination c’mon.  Okay so, most Christians believe in the Trinity.  That God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy   Spirit are one and the same. We don’t believe  that they are one being. Instead, we believe   that these are three separate beings united in  one purpose, a concept known as the Godhead.  [Snicker] Sorry. We also believe that since   God created us in his image, he must’ve  started as a human, just like one of us.  This is known as the Doctrine of Eternal  Progression, life started as a form of   free intelligence, which then became man, which  then perfected himself into a god. And like God,   you can reach that same level. Though you never  overtake God, the son doesn’t replace the father,   as your exaltation increases, so does his. And  since we are his children, we believe there must   be a Heavenly Mother. Though we don’t really  know much about her and we don’t pray to her,   it’s just nice to know that she exists. This kind of implies that Mormons might   be polytheists, since many people can become  like God. But we only have a special covenant   with this one, Heavenly Father, so he is the  only one that we worship and pray to, a concept   known as Monolatry. Unlike polytheism where you  pray to different gods for different purposes;   we only pray to one god. Which is what the Old  Testament describes, Jehovah is only the God of   Israel, everyone else prays to their own gods. Number two. We believe that men will be   punished for their own sins, and  not for Adam’s transgression.  So, we don’t believe in Original Sin.  Everyone is responsible for repenting   for their own sins, not the sins of their fathers. Except for Native Americans and Pacific Islanders,   who are cursed for the transgressions of the  Lamanites. And then there’s the Mark of Cain-  Number three! We believe that  through the Atonement of Christ,   all mankind may be saved, by obedience  to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.  Like other Christians, Mormons believe that Christ  died for our sins and that he was the original   leader of the church. And by following his  example, we can achieve salvation and exaltation.  Can we maybe skip the ones where  it’s just like Christianity? I’m   trying to keep this under twenty m... Okay, this next one’s kind of long though.  Yeah, go ahead, we’re already way over. We believe that the first principles and   ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith  in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance;   third, Baptism by immersion for  the remission of sins; fourth,   Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. There are two important bits there. First, rather   than just sprinkling some water on your forehead,  Mormons believe that baptisms are performed by   full immersion underwater. Since that’s how  it was originally done by John the Baptist.   We also wait until you’re at least eight years  old, which we call the Age of Accountability,   when you should have a basic understanding  of morality and are old enough to consent.  What about all those dead people  you baptized, did they consent?  Right, so rather famously, back in the day,  Mormons would posthumously baptize people into   the faith – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,  pretty much all of the founding fathers really,   Holocaust survivors, Holocaust victims, and yes,  even Hitler. Though many of those have since been   annulled, for obvious reasons. Nowadays,  you can only perform baptisms for the dead   if they’re a family member or you have the  permission of their closest living relative.   Or if they were born over 110 years ago. I can’t shake the feeling that this is a   violation of my spiritual autonomy or something.  Even if I don’t think your prayers will change   where I end up after I die, you do. What gives  you the right to make that decision for me?  So, we’re not making the decision for you. We  believe that after you die, your soul goes to   the Spirit World, where you can choose to accept  the gospel or not, and after the Final Judgment,   your soul goes to one of three Kingdoms of  Heaven. Baptism for the Dead just gives you   that option in the Spirit World – it doesn’t  force anything on you. If you reject the gospel,   you go to the Telestial Kingdom, which is  still a kingdom of Heaven, it’s just the   lowest and isn’t as glorious as the others. The  worst you can do is still a Kingdom of Heaven!  The next kingdom up is the Terrestrial, for people  who led generally good lives but didn’t accept the   restored gospel of Jesus Christ until they entered  the Spirit World. This is the kingdom of heaven   that most Christians already expect. Above that is  the Celestial Kingdom, for the faithful, covenant   keepers, where you live with and become like God. And you get your own planet.  When you reach exaltation, the powers of creation  will be unlocked to you – you can create your own   universe or your own people in your own  image. There’s no reason you’d be limited   to one planet. If you’re especially wicked and  actively work against God, you’re sent to Outer   Darkness with Satan and all of his followers.  That’s the spooky Mormon version of Hell.  The other important point is the laying on of  hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy   Ghost is like a spiritual protector. If you’ve  ever felt a warm fuzzy feeling of confirming truth   or a presence warning you against some  sort of danger, like a gut feeling or   a near-death experience. That was the Holy  Ghost. Whenever something like that happens,   we’re encouraged to share that story with  our church in what’s known as a Testimony.  We believe in the gift of tongues,  prophecy, revelation, visions, healing,   interpretation of tongues, and so forth. We believe that God still interacts with   the world today. Whether that means working  through objects, like a staff or a stone,   or people, through the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is a little different   from speaking in tongues. You don’t necessarily  need to know a language in order to speak it,   you just allow the Holy Ghost to work through  you and the language will come naturally.   Allowing us to spread the Gospel even further. And since God spoke through prophets during   biblical times, we believe that he still speaks  through prophets today. Joseph Smith and all   of the leaders of the church since him were  prophets. The current president of the church,   Russell M. Nelson is a living prophet who  continues to receive revelations on how we should   live our lives. During the semiannual General  Conference, LDS members from around the world   tune in to hear their living prophet dispense  modern revelation. Modern revelation allows God to   clarify misunderstandings and update his doctrine.  Like with caffeinated soda a few years ago.  And black people a few years before that.  Hey, I thought Jesus said there wouldn’t   be any prophets after him. That’s not what he said.  For false Christs and false prophets will  arise and will show great signs and wonders,   so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. How is that not what I just said?   False Christs and false prophets will rise. But he didn’t say there wouldn’t be true prophets.  Call Jesus. What?  There’s no way he would omit  something like that, Jesus!  [Hallelujah Ringtone] Go for JC. Didn’t you say that after you,   false prophets would try to lead people astray? Yeah, but there’ll be true prophets too.  Then why didn’t you say that? I did, just a few chapters earlier.  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in  sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening   wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do  men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?   Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;  but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  Look at this, I’m the one quoting  scripture now… unbelievable!  Did I just get told off by Jesus? We believe the Bible to be the word of God   as far as it is translated correctly; we also  believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  Like he said before, we believe  in the Bible, the Book of Mormon   isn’t a replacement, it’s an addition. Yeah, there’s more to it than that though,   you believe in Biblical Inerrancy. Yeah, we believe in the Bible.  Can you expand on that? We believe in a literal   interpretation of the Bible. We believe  things happened just as they were described,   from the creation of the Earth to Noah’s  flood all the way through the gospels of   Jesus. We believe this to be an accurate telling  of events, as long as it’s translated correctly.  So which translation is the most correct? The King James Version, published in the   year of our Lord, 1611. This is the only  canonical translation of the Bible that we use,   and Middle English is the language that we speak  during temple ceremonies, rather than Latin.   Joseph Smith described the Book of Mormon  as “the most correct of any book on Earth.”   This is the last dispensation of the Gospel, so  any time the Book of Mormon and the Bible differ   in their telling of events, we default to the  most recent, and therefore most correct version.  Joseph Smith also had revelations expanding on  biblical stories. These are included in the Pearl   of Great Price, another book of scripture in the  LDS church canonized in 1880, which is kind of   like the Mormon expanded universe. Or to borrow  a Star Wars term, I guess this would be Legends?   It includes the Articles of Faith and the Books  of Moses and Abraham, which provide a much more   detailed account of the creation and the Book  of Genesis. Including the fact that man lived in   America before Noah’s flood, which displaced them  to Eurasia… You’re not going to make fun of that?  Nah, thinking that the Garden of Eden or the  Terrestrial Paradise were in the New World   isn’t unique to Mormonism. The idea had been  around for centuries at that point. Though I   think it’s important to point out that the Book  of Abraham was translated from some scrolls   that Smith bought from a traveling mummy exhibit.  Which he said told the story of Genesis from   Abraham’s perspective. The scrolls were sold to  a Chicago museum where they were presumed lost   in the Great Fire, but in 1965, fragments of the  scroll were rediscovered in a New York museum.   When they were translated, they were found to be  common funerary texts, like an ancient obituary.  Those were just fragments though, not  the pieces Smith translated. Besides,   just like the golden plates, he didn’t  actually need to read the scrolls,   they were the catalyst for divine revelation. Right, but it’s in these expanded retellings of   Genesis – Specifically the Book of Moses – that  the Mark of Cain becomes a curse of physically   dark skin and somehow survives the flood. You seem really fixated on the Mark of Cain.  Yeah… It isn’t important to the story yet,  but keep that in the back of your mind.  We believe in the literal gathering of Israel  and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes;   that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will  be built upon the American continent;   that Christ will reign personally upon  the earth; and, that the earth will be   renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. Since the Garden of Eden was in America,   it makes sense that the seat of God’s Kingdom on  Earth will also be in America. And as KB said,   any day now. Mormons are encouraged to  keep a 72-hour emergency preparedness kit   so that when it happens, we’re ready. The church  is the steward of God’s kingdom until Christ’s   Second Coming. So, the early church was structured  as a government with an Anointed Council of Fifty,   and Joseph Smith took the title “King,  Priest, and Ruler over Israel on the Earth.”  Protector of the Realm, King of the Andals  and the First Men, Breaker...I’ll stop.  That council has since been dissolved. We  consider ourselves to be the subjects of   earthly governments and obey their laws. The current President of the church is   also its Prophet, together with two counselors,  they form the First Presidency. The prophet is   chosen by God from among the Quorum of the Twelve  Apostles; if it helps, you can think of this as   the President’s cabinet. Underneath them is the  Quorum of the Seventy, our version of a senate,   made up of high-ranking church leaders  and representatives from around the world.  Hey why are all of these stick figures men? Women aren’t allowed to hold the priesthood.   Instead of the clergy, women are  inducted into the Relief Society,   which is a charity organization like the Salvation  Army. There are literally binders full of women   in leadership there. But as it was under Jesus,  all of the clergy are men and as described in the   Book of Isaiah, the central leadership acts as the  tentpole while regional churches are the stakes.  Each Stake is led by a President and two  counselors, known as the Stake Presidency.   Within a stake, there are several Wards, which  are what we call individual congregations or   local churches. These are led by a Bishop and  two counselors; known as the Ward Bishopric.  There are over 30,000 wards serving over  16 million Latter-Day Saints worldwide.  That’s more than there are  Jewish people in the world.  Yep, we’re one of the fastest growing religions  right now, especially in the United States.  Are all of those active members  or are you including everyone   you’ve ever talked to like Scientology. We’re only counting baptized mem- living,   baptized members. Though there are varying  degrees of participation, just like any religion.  Alright, now that you’ve covered the basic  beliefs and structure, I think we can jump   back into the history now. Do we have to?  In the first decade of the church, Joseph Smith  and the rest of the Mormons moved from New York   to Ohio to Missouri. Mormons hoped that they  might be able to practice their religion in peace   out on the frontier. [Bzzt] …Why’d you cut to me? I’m not   one of those heretic Mormonites. They mainly settled in Jackson   County, Missouri, which – Whoa, wait, what was that?!  What? You changed clothes there for a second.  Anyway, Mormons don’t believe that the Garden  of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri. But   according to Joseph Smith, that is where Adam  and Eve lived after they were banished from   the Terrestrial Paradise and where the future Zion  will be constructed. They named it Adam-ondi-Ahman   and declared it a sacred holy site. That was  the last straw for the Governor of Missouri,   who wanted to rid his state of these  heretics and signed Executive Order 44.   Otherwise known as the Mormon Extermination  Order, which wasn’t rescinded until 1976.  The Mormons, legitimately fleeing religious  persecution by the Missouri Volunteer Militia   settled in Nauvoo, Illinois. The town charter they  negotiated with the state was especially generous,   allowing them to police and judge  themselves, not pay any taxes to the state,   and form their own militia known as the Nauvoo  Legion. Nauvoo became the largest city in Illinois   at the time. By 1844, Chicago only had eight  thousand residents, Nauvoo had ten thousand,   with twenty-five thousand Mormons  total in the area. And since they   voted as a bloc, they decided elections. Having such an insular, self-sufficient town   allowed Joseph Smith to introduce one of the most  controversial doctrines of the church – Polygamy.   Since they had their own legal system, they  performed their own secret marriages. Joseph   Smith taught that in order to achieve the highest  level of exaltation and gain access to the highest   kingdom of Heaven, you had to increase the size of  your family. God created us to increase his glory,   so we should do the same. There are three ways  to increase the size of your celestial family;   have a lot of kids, marry a lot of people,  and baptize your ancestors. Which is why   Baptism of the Dead is such a common practice. Moses, Abraham, and a lot of other prophets had   multiple wives and since Mormonism is trying to  restore the primitive church, they should have   plural wives as well. Joseph Smith introduced this  idea in 1842. By the time he announced it to the   church, he had already been “sealed” to six women  and would soon have anywhere from thirty-three to   forty-nine plural wives. Joseph was 36 years  old and married girls aged from 14 to 60.  Okay, it’s important to note that these marriages  weren’t necessarily sexual. Celestial marriages   are a way to increase your exaltation in the  afterlife, not for procreation in this life.  You’re right, but the procreation part did happen  on occasion. In the revelation where God commands   Joseph to take plural wives, he specifically  tells Emma that she has to be okay with it.  And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith,  to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph,   and to none else. But if she will not abide  this commandment she shall be destroyed,   saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and  will destroy her if she abide not in my law.  She never accepted plural marriage  and was in denial about its existence   until her dying breath. Polygamy is a hard  sell for most Christian converts though,   so most Mormons never participated – it’s  estimated that only 30% of the church was   involved in polygamy. Which was still  enough to be branded as heretics. The   people of Illinois were just as uninviting as  Missouri and there were constant skirmishes   between the Nauvoo Legion and surrounding  militias. All that came to a head in 1844.  The nearby town of Carthage published a  newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor,   which told its non-Mormon readers all about Mormon  doctrine, including monolatry and polygamy. The   Nauvoo Legion stormed the town and destroyed the  printing press in response. The state got involved   and Joseph Smith and the other church leaders were  charged with inciting a riot and interfering with   freedom of the press. He turned himself in  to a Carthage jail and while awaiting trial,   he was murdered by a mob of townsfolk. This event is understandably known as the   Martyrdom and triggered a succession crisis  within the church. His brother Hyrum was the   obvious successor, but he died in the same jail  cell. Joseph Smith was running for President of   the United States that year, so all twelve of  his apostles were scattered around the country   campaigning on his behalf. It took some of  them two months to hear about his death.  Just about every apostle and prominent church  leader had some sort of claim to lead the church   and there were a dozen breakaway sects in the  years that followed. For the sake of time,   we’re only going to focus on a few of them. Joseph Smith’s son, Joseph Smith the third   had the strongest natural claim and the blessing  of Emma Hale Smith. He named his church the   Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day  Saints or RLDS. They believe in the trinity,   rather than the godhead, they don’t believe you  can become exalted like God in the afterlife,   and they never adopted polygamy as a doctrine. But  they do believe in Modern Revelation and the Word   of Wisdom. In 2001, they renamed themselves  the Community of Christ and are currently   headquartered in Independence, Missouri; since  this sect was founded by Joseph Smith’s direct   family, they own and maintain his gravesite in  Nauvoo. They’re currently the second largest group   of Mormons with over a quarter million members. A Mormon is anyone who believes in this book,   the Church of Jesus Christ of  Latter-Day Saints is by far the largest,   but not the only. Even if they’d like to be. Mormons, more properly referred to as   Latter-Day Saints, members of the Church  of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints…  That’s like saying “Christians, more properly  referred to as Roman Catholics” – you don’t get to   claim ownership over the entire word. And the LDS  Church has a history of flip-flopping on its use.  From 2010 to 2018, in response to the South  Park episode and the Book of Mormon musical,   the LDS Church produced the “I’m a Mormon”  advertising campaign in an effort to reclaim   the word and humanize its members to non-Mormons;  featuring a number of celebrities, athletes,   and prominent Youtubers. But in 2018, the current  prophet, Russell M. Nelson, reversed that decision   and now discourages its use. Though I personally  think the cat is out of the bag at this point.  Yeah, I haven’t even bothered  trying to correct you.  That said, most Mormons are members of the LDS  church and refer to themselves as Latter-Day   Saints. Because they came out of the succession  crisis with the most members. Brigham Young was   one of Joseph’s apostles and was chosen as the  next President and Prophet of the church – the   only one to have ever been elected by the people.  Nowadays, it’s usually the longest serving   apostle. Much like Scientology, when the original  leader died and the second in command took over,   they instituted a bunch of changes to consolidate  power and form the church we recognize today.  Most famously, he oversaw the Mormon exodus  to Utah. Even after the death of Joseph Smith,   local militias continued to harass the  Mormons to the point that Brigham Young   decided it was time to leave. In the Spring of 1846, several   thousand wagons and handcarts would make the  journey over portions of the Oregon Trail,   otherwise known as the Mormon Trail,  from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City,   Utah. Only, it wasn’t Utah, the map of  the United States wasn’t filled in yet,   the land they were hoping to settle on  was actually part of Mexico at the time.  In preparation for the journey, Mormons tried  to sell off their possessions, but had a hard   time finding buyers… Why? [Bzzt] Right so, how much are  you selling this land for?  Am I supposed to…? Uh, a few  hundred dollars… fair market value.  And when are you leaving? Uh in the spring.  So, what’ll the price be in spring? Well… we’re leaving in the spring.  Right. … Are you going to steal my land?  Why not? You’re leaving America forever,  sounds like the definition of abandoned to me.  You can’t do th- Why am I playing into  this? You need an exorcism. [Tone]  The first Mormon pioneers set up camp  in Winter Quarters, Iowa and in 1847,   they arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley. They  didn’t mistakenly think they reached the Pacific   Ocean, they intentionally settled in an  area that they considered to be depopulated.   Brigham Young then claimed this entire territory  as the State of Deseret, which nobody really   paid attention to, because this was right  in the middle of the Mexican-American War.  Just as the Mormons were trying to bail  on America, America reabsorbed them.   Brigham Young saw the writing on the wall, and  seeking to curry favor with the United States,   offered up the Nauvoo Legion to help in the war  effort. The Mormon Battalion is the only religious   unit to ever serve in the United States military. [Bzzt]… Why’d you cut to me? That’s not even the right war. After the war, the borders of Deseret were   carved down to what was eventually called Utah and  Brigham Young was elected as its first territorial   governor in 1850. This was during the time of  Popular Sovereignty, which was a compromise that   hoped to solve the problem of slavery by letting  each new state decide for itself. So, the question   was, would Utah be a slave state or a free state?  Brigham Young believed that black people had dark   skin because of the Mark of Cain – [Sigh] Here we go…  – which survived the flood through a similar curse  on Noah’s son Ham or his grandson Canaan. Either   way, they were cursed by God with dark skin. Brigham Young opted to make Utah a semi-slave   state; you couldn’t buy or sell slaves  in Utah, but you could bring them in from   outside. All told, there were fewer than a  hundred slaves in Utah, but still slaves. He   also decided that since they weren’t allowed to  participate in government and were cursed by God,   they shouldn’t be allowed into the priesthood  either. You might be thinking, who cares? Only   a few people want to become priests anyway.  But that’s not how it works in Mormonism,   every male above the age of twelve is ordained  into the priesthood. Well, except black males.  Not one of the children of old Cain have one  particle of right to bear rule in government   affairs from first to last; they have no business  there. This privilege was taken from them by   their own transgressions, and I cannot help it. The moment we consent to mingle with the seed   of Cain, the Church must go to destruction;  we should receive the curse which has been   placed upon the seed of Cain, and never more be  numbered with the children of Adam who are heirs   to the priesthood until that curse be removed. They were so serious about not mingling their   blood with the seed of Cain that interracial  marriage was banned, and for decades,   Utah blood banks kept white people blood and black  people blood separate. Just so that nobody would   be accidentally tainted. The priesthood ban was  instituted in 1852 and retroactively kicked out   any black men who had been previously ordained  by Joseph Smith. And for decades, the church   pretended that those men didn’t exist. It’s worth  noting that this ban only applied to black men;   Native American, Pacific Islander, Asian,  and every other man of color was allowed.  Well, all that would change in 1978. Right, but we’re not there yet. In 1857, now that   Utah was a territory, the United States government  deployed its military to protect settlers from...   the people whose lands they were settling on.  Just as they had in every other western state.   But remembering the conflicts in Missouri  and Illinois, the Mormons decided they were   going to defend their new territory from outside  aggression. And thus began the Utah War – or for   those keeping count, the third Mormon War. There  weren’t any major battles, just a few skirmishes   here and there, and the only notable event  was when Mormon militia members slaughtered   a hundred people on the California Trail and  tried to blame Native Americans. An event known   as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Once there was peace in Utah, and   in the South, and in the West as a whole, the only  obstacle for statehood was polygamy. Polygamy was   and is still illegal in the United States. Federal  marshals regularly raided Mormon households to   arrest any adults they caught engaging in  the practice; so if Utah wanted statehood,   polygamy had to go. Brigham Young was a strong  believer in polygamy, but he died in 1877. So,   the fourth prophet, Wilford Woodruff, suspended  the practice with an 1890 Manifesto, declaring   that there wouldn’t be any new plural marriages.  This caused yet another schism in the church.  Some Mormons wanted to continue practicing  polygamy and split off to form the Fundamentalist   Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or  the FLDS Church. There are under ten thousand   FLDS members worldwide, if you’ve ever  spotted groups of women dressed like this,   those are FLDS Mormons. But the fact that the government   of Utah and the main LDS Church had disavowed  polygamy was enough to satisfy the United States,   who pardoned every Mormon polygamist in  1893. And Utah gained statehood in 1896.   The LDS Church has existed for over twice as  long without polygamy than it ever did with.   But that’s still the first joke everyone makes. Since dropping polygamy, the LDS Church has been   trying to rehabilitate its image and position  itself as a mainstream Protestant church. Mainly   by appealing to American patriotism. The Boy  Scouts of America were founded in 1910 and three   years later the LDS Church made participation in  the program mandatory for all boys. Cub Scouts   at eight years old and Boy Scouts at eleven. Over  the last hundred years, almost a third of all Boy   Scouts were Mormon and in 2018, there were over  400,000 Mormon Scouts. Each paying $60 a year.  That gave the LDS Church a lot of leverage over  what was taught, including a religious component.   It’s part of the oath and showing reverence is a  requirement for Eagle Scout. More controversially,   they also controlled who was allowed into the  program – keeping it mostly white for decades.   The Boy Scouts ended their racial segregation in  1974. In 2015, they allowed gay members and in   2017 they allowed trans and female members. So,  in 2019, the LDS Church ended their century-long   partnership with the Boy Scouts. That’s because we wanted to create   our own scouting program that’s  more in-line with our values.  That’s one way to phrase it, I guess. The  Mormon Tabernacle Choir was created in 1847   but didn’t really hit it big until 1959 when  they sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic.   Right in the middle of Post-World War 2, Cold  War patriotism. The American public ate it up   and it even reached number thirteen on the  Billboard Hot 100; it even won a Grammy.   Then the Civil Rights movement happened. Suddenly, some Americans had a distaste   for any segregated institution and thanks to  anti-miscegenation policies and decades of banning   certain people from the priesthood,  the LDS Church was at least 85% white.   The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was 100% white.  During the 70s, another Mormon musical group   rose to fame – the Osmonds, the real-life Brady  Bunch, marketed as a straight-laced alternative   to the Jackson Five. Both of these groups  faced boycotts during the Civil Rights Era.  But the final straw came when multiple college  football teams refused to play against the   segregated Brigham Young University team. [Bzzt] Politics in sports?! Ridiculous!  These boycotts, combined with  missionary efforts in South America,   caused the LDS Church to reconsider its position  and they lifted the ban on black men joining the   priesthood in 1978. The Official Declaration  regarding this change was the last addition to   the Doctrine and Covenants. Despite this obvious  reversal in policy, the LDS church still won’t   admit that their previous position was wrong. Well because it’s complicated.  So un-complicate it. Okay so first of all,   I should point out that churches change policies  all the time, that’s not unique to Mormonism.   The Catholic Church finally stopped blaming  Jewish people for Jesus’ death in 1965. But   when a church changes doctrine, that doesn’t mean  the previous doctrine was wrong. It was correct   for that time. God never changes, he’s the same  yesterday, today, and forever – but we change,   and church doctrine changes along with us. There’s  a reason we don’t pay attention to the rules in   the Old Testament anymore. Those were the correct  rules for the people of Israel at the time,   these are the correct rules for Mormons today.  How does that not make the  previous doctrine wrong?  You can think it’s morally wrong, that’s an  opinion, but that doesn’t mean it was incorrect   for the time. For the record, I personally  think that segregation was morally wrong.  But you still participate in a  system that says it was okay.  Well, if I had that attitude, I  wouldn’t be able to participate in   America; a lot of institutions have bad history.  All I can do is try to shape a better future,   which is why I’m going door to door. Okay, so what’s it like to be a missionary?  Ah well, for men over the age of eighteen, it’s  a two-year commitment, for women over the age of   nineteen, it’s eighteen months. Retired couples  can serve as mission leaders if they want. There   are currently around 70,000 Mormon missionaries  spreading the gospel to prospective members and   reactivating former members who  maybe need some encouragement.  Going on a mission is a rite of passage.  Men are strongly encouraged to volunteer   and may find it difficult to move up in the  church without performing some kind of service.  [Bzzt] Service guarantees a  Celestial Afterlife. … What? … Only about a third of Mormon men  become missionaries. One of the largest hurdles is  that you have to pay for your trip out of pocket,   which the church averages to $500 a month  regardless of your destination. Which is   twelve thousand dollars for the whole two years. You don’t get to choose where you’re sent,   you don’t know if you have to learn a language  beforehand, and you don’t get to choose your   companion. Your what?  Mormon missionaries always travel in pairs, we’re  not allowed outside of sight or hearing of each   other. Except to go to the bathroom, obviously. So you’re supposed to have an accoutabilibuddy?  Yeah… What?  Can we cut to commercial? This video was brought to you by Curiositystream   and Nebula. Nebula is a streaming service built  by fellow Youtubers fleeing the persecution of   the algorithm, allowing us to explore ideas  that might otherwise be demonetized. All of   my content is hosted there ad-free and viewers  who watch this video over on Nebula get to see a   few jokes that were too spicy for Youtube, as well  as a few relevant anecdotes. I grew up in Hawaii,   which is a Mormon missionary epicenter. Check  it out by also signing up for CuriosityStream,   a subscription streaming service that offers  thousands of documentaries and non-fiction   titles which you can access across multiple  platforms. Wondering what kind of strange   animal that was in the hat? Check out  Meet the Mustelids – a documentary I’m   convinced was made just for me. So head on  over to curiositystream.com/knowingbetter,   for the next few days you can get a Holiday  deal on both CuriosityStream and Nebula for   only twelve dollars a year. You’ll also  be supporting the channel when you do.  Do you not see how that’s a  major plot hole in this video?  No, not really. Besides, I always  have the Holy Ghost with me.  Are you talking about your magic underwear? We actually call them garments and there’s   nothing magical about them. We’re just wearing a  reminder of our covenant, just like a lot of other   religions, whether it’s a yarmulke, turban, veil,  or colored robes. We just wear ours underneath.  The Missionary Handbook says “Wearing the temple  garment is the sacred privilege of those who have   taken upon themselves the covenants of the  temple. The garment is a constant reminder   of these covenants. When properly worn, it  provides protection against temptation and evil.   Endowed members should wear the garment both  night and day.” So, it’s not Mithril armor,   it doesn’t protect you from bullets or anything. Okay but… other missionaries have companions?  Yeah. Is that a safety thing?  Yeah. The Missionary handbook also   states that you have a responsibility to protect  your companion from physical and spiritual danger.   If you do not fulfill this responsibility and  your companion engages in serious misconduct,   you may be subject to Church disciplinary action.  That means we sleep in the same room and go to   bed and wake up at the same time; we also aren’t  allowed to wear headphones since that isolates us   from our companions. And if we use a computer,  we have to be able to see each other’s screens.  How does that protect you from danger? Pornography is a spiritual danger.  ...Are you allowed to date while on a mission? Absolutely not, we follow the Law of Chastity,   which means no sex before marriage and  no masturbating. Men and women don’t do   missionary work together. There’s actually an  interesting dating dynamic because of that,   some men refuse to date women who go on a mission,  because that’s historically been a man’s job. And   some women refuse to date men who don’t. But women still can’t hold the priesthood?  That’s correct, we have pretty  traditional views on gender roles.  By divine design, fathers are to preside over  their families in love and righteousness and are   responsible to provide the necessities of life  and protection for their families. Mothers are   primarily responsible for the nurture of their  children. In these sacred responsibilities,   fathers and mothers are obligated to help  one another as equal partners. Disability,   death, or other circumstances may  necessitate individual adaptation.  So, men are providers and women are homemakers,  but they’re supposed to be equal partners   in raising a family. The family unit is the  most important structure in the Mormon faith.   Every Monday night we have Family Home Evening,  where we play board games or read scripture,   without our phones, TV, or any other  distractions. It’s all about spending   time together and strengthening those bonds. Then why do you shun people who leave the church?  That’s not actually church policy. It does  happen, sometimes people choose not to   associate with apostates, but you see that in  every religion. If you’re an atheist or LGBT,   you’ve probably experienced that firsthand. Speaking of the LGBT community.  Oh no. Over the years,   your church has repeatedly backed efforts  that go against the message of equality,   not just in the Boy Scouts. They were also against  the Equal Rights Amendment and Same Sex Marriage.  Like I said, we have traditional views  on gender roles and things like marriage.  But you’re trying to impose those views on others,  in 2008 the church used its considerable wealth   to influence the Proposition 8 vote in  California. Wealth gained through tithing.  That’s not what tithing is used for. Members  of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day   Saints are supposed to give up 10% of their  income to the church to help build up God’s   Kingdom. The church uses that money to  build temples, perform missionary work,   and feed the poor. You can think of it as  a way to help you budget and you often see   a spiritual return on that investment in the form  of blessings. As they say, you reap what you sow.  So none of that money ends up in politics? Well, I could never really say for sure,   sometimes the church invests in businesses which- [Bzzt] -can then donate to SuperPACs. Corporations   are people my friend. Along with charities  like the Relief Society and Deseret Industries,   Mormons own or control a lot of world-famous  businesses, including multiple MLMs, two   family genealogy websites, and an international  hotel chain. Which along with a Gideon Bible,   has a Book of Mormon in every room. Having your religion influence your   politics isn’t unique to Mormonism, but it’s  easy to point it out because it seems different.   Many times during this video, I drew parallels to  Scientology. And there certainly are similarities,   especially when you bring up the fact that  God lives on the planet Kolob and everyone   gets their own planet when they die. But that’s  actually Christian propaganda from the 1840s.  In fact, most of the misconceptions I had to  debunk during this video came from Christian   propaganda in the 1840s. Including that magic  underwear thing. That actually started as a   rumor after Joseph Smith’s death, because  he and everyone else who were killed in that   cell weren’t wearing theirs. And the one person  who survived apparently was. The garments and   the Temple Endowment ceremony might have been  borrowed concepts from the Freemasons, which   Joseph was a member of. Just as LRH was a member  of secret societies before founding his religion.  Scientology rose out of the Cold War religious  boom, when a lot of Americans felt like the   world might end at any moment – a period of time  we now recognize as the Fourth Great Awakening.   Mormonism came out of the Second Great  Awakening. The Third Great Awakening,   which occurred at the same time as the Temperance  Movement gave rise to the Christian Scientists,   who abstain from all drugs and medicine.  Along with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who   believe that the end will occur any day now and  have set up God’s Kingdom ahead of his arrival.  By far the largest religion to come out of  Fourth Great Awakening was the Evangelical   Christian Movement. Do you know why Evangelicals  specifically support the state of Israel? Because   they believe that the literal gathering of tribes  is a precursor to the Second Coming of Christ.   And they really want that to happen.  As the Baby Boomers were coming of age,   a lot of Protestant Christians became evangelized  and started to believe that the end of the world   will occur any day now. And America will  have some sort of unique role to play.  Why do 49% of Americans believe that we are  currently living in the biblical end times   and therefore we don’t need to worry about global  warming? I can only speculate. I wonder if there   were any patriotic musical groups that were  popular in the last few decades… And this is   completely apropos of nothing, but – I wonder  how many of you were some level of Boy Scout?  We have not reached the end of history. Thinking  that God or Jesus will show up any day now allows   us to put off making any sort of societal  progress or economic change. Because n-  -none of this really matters in the end.  We don’t need to work towards equality or   worry about long term consequences because it’ll  all be over soon anyway. This is the way things   have always been, it’s fine this way. Every generation thinks that they’re   going to be the last and therefore most  important, and every generation laughs   at the previous generation for being wrong. Joseph Smith predicted that Jesus would return   within his lifetime. The LDS church modeled  their society after a more primitive form of   Christianity with the intention of keeping  it that way until Christ’s second coming.  Black people can’t be in the priesthood until  God removes their curse. Women are divinely   designed to be homemakers, the Boy Scouts are  for boys, same-sex marriage shouldn’t be allowed,   and America should be a Christian nation. Mormons are not the only group that believes this.   This is just what happens when you take American  Exceptionalism and turn it into a religion.  This video would not have been possible without  the help and input of my Discord and Twitch   communities. So many people helped to make sure  this video was fair and accurate and I hope it   lived up to the hype. This was quite a long  one, so I’m going to take a bit of time off   but I’ll see you in February 2021. Until then,  I’d like to give a special shout out to my newest   Golden Fork patron, Joe. If you’d like to add  your name to this register cliff, head on over   to patreon.com/knowingbetter. Or for a one-time  donation, paypal.me/knowingbetter. Don’t forget to   ordain that subscribe button, or the join button  if you’re feeling exalted. Check out the merch at   knowingbetter.tv, follow me on Twitter, Facebook,  and Instagram, and join us on the subreddit.

Channel: Knowing Better

Views: 1,849,642

Keywords: knowing better

Id: Pl8B55MqOQo

Length: 53min 52sec (3232 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/snacob_]

KB back at it again with the quality content

[u/Baumbauer1]

I could have sworn he already made a video about the mormons, but then I realized i was probably thinking of the scientology video, i guess because his sea org costume was pretty similar. I hope he maybe does a mini video about other christian cults like JW's and the salvation army

[u/[deleted]]

This will be a good one!

[u/mountains_forever]

Fuck yes. I’ve been wanting him cover this for a long time.

[u/Renovatio_]

You can kind of tell that KB is pretty familiar with LDS, beyond the research...its kinda like the Hawaii video...it feels like he has had some past experience with it.

He's not LDS but maybe he grew up with a lot of LDS friends? Or maybe just the army? Lots of LDS there.

[u/Boring_Sci_Fi]

I love KB, but YouTube premiers can go to hell.

[u/Hussar1130]

Very even-handed, surprising given the subject matter.

[u/cvg596]

So I was taught in my confirmation class (Lutheran) that Mormonism is a cult (like Scientology, Christian Scientists, Jehovah’s Witness’). But I also remember going with a group from my church to see the local LDS church’s Christmas Crèche exhibits when I was younger. I think it’s fair to say that the relationship between Mormons and the rest of Christendom is complicated, and credit to KB for making me think more about that.

[u/StThoughtWheelz]

very cool