FairLDS.org - Lets use this site as a resource
 

It's becoming very common these days for LDS.net members to post questions about The Church of Jesus Christ or Latter-day Saints. I wanted to post a reminder to everyone about the first rule of LDS.Net

Do not post, upload, or otherwise submit anything to the site that is contrary to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Do not post anything that is derogatory towards The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its teachers, or its leaders. Anti-LDS Propaganda will not be tolerated anywhere.

As this site grows and as curiosity in the Church continues to grow, we're going to see more and more questions from people who want to know more about the Church. Lets not to let ourselves get caught up in any arguments. There are a lot of people posting here who really do have good intentions. Our response to one person's post could give a lot of insight to an outsider wondering what Mormons are really like and what they really believe in.

There is a great resource on the web: LDS FAIR Apologetics. They have pages and pages of information on numerous topics with answers to questions that are often posted here. They have a really good Wiki too.

I encourage everyone who is answering questions about the Church to link to outside sources, such as LDS.org, Mormon.org, and FairLDS.org. Link to the specific page that is relevant to the topic at hand.

The full Encyclopedia of Mormonism is now also online:

Encyclopedia of Mormonism

Ray,

That is a great reference! Thanks so much for posting it.

Heather with these new reference sites being collected including those in your signature, may I recommend a sticky thread somewhere for posting such "online resources" for quick and easy access?

Kinda like this one that has a sticky of the online scriptures. Just a thought. :)

FARMS is a good one to use, too.

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

WillowTheWhisp, Oh yes that's totally fine. I think we have a great opportunity to be able to state our beliefs, and then also back them up with scholarly sources. Combining these together could really make these forums a great resource to so many people on many different levels.

skalenfehl, great idea. I think it would be better to make it even more prominent, and place it throughout the entire site, so it's accessible outside of the forums too. I see I took the "bookmark" link off the forum side, but on the main site, if you click on "bookmark" you get a drop down of all these bookmarking sites. I like the idea of replacing that with links to great resources like the ones everyone has been suggesting in this thread. I'll work on that.

I also use Shields and all about mormons and Anicent America Foundation and antiantimormon.com and mormon fortress and Jeff Lindsay and Brant Gardners page, Poulsens page, Book of mormon evidence, mormonantropoleticsite, mormon sites, and ofcourse FAIR, Farms, BYU, blacklds, LDSorgand mormon.org

I've added the Resources link at the top of the page. Please everyone try your best to site a source with your responses, if so fitting. Thanks! :)

Heather,

Please do not mis-understand my voice here on this comment. But I am concerned that a "good" answer requires a "scholarly" person's back-up in order to be credible.

Does this mean unless a poster here on Lds.Net accompanies their comments with a "credible" comment from a "scholarly" work, then it is not then credible?

Could we not say, that the very best response that could be given, is one that is doctrinally sound, and perhaps uses the "scriptures" themselves as the credible source and not necessarily a "scholars" interpretation of the scriptures or our doctrines?

What about quotes from our general authorities and prophets? How do these fit in with a credible post when responding online?

Is there any concern, with placing too much emphasis on "credible" resources to back up our posts, that we will lose focus on allowing the Spirit to teach those who may be investigating the Church?

Many people today, are very turned off by this whole scholar as experts idea. Is this being considered at all here on LdsNet? And please, I am not being derogatory.

Delete this post, if it is uncomfortable that I have questioned these thoughts. I am just a bit concerned at the balance?

tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon

P.S. How do we see Lds.Net so different, other than with a bit more censorship, than say a forum like MADB? :D