Since I am no longer a believer, my concern is not so much with “faithfulness” but whether a source is accurate and helpful, or, in the case of larger lists and playlists, whether I’m providing a helpfully diverse array of sources. Fair warning: this site is targeted toward people who no longer believe in the LDS gospel.
However, while providing faithful resources is not my main focus, I do believe that people deserve support regardless of their religious beliefs, and I believe in informed consent. To that end, when I make recommendations or write blog posts about specific sources, I’ll comment on whether they are “faithful” so you can better judge for yourself if you want to engage with them.
What Are “Faithful” Resources?
Good question. I think the answer to this question depends on the person, but I generally think of “faithful” resources as resources that:
1) are about Mormonism from a faithful creator
2) address the topic from a faithful or neutral perspective with respect to religious belief, or
3) are made by never-Mormons and are not about Mormonism but nevertheless would be helpful to faithful LDS members.
So when I say “faithful” resources, I’m talking about resources that faithful members who have questions would likely find acceptable and not antagonistic toward the Church. The resource does not necessarily need to be explicitly faith-affirming or include a testimony.
I will tag my own posts with a “Faithful Resources” label when I think the content, tone, and perspectives expressed will be generally acceptable to believing members or are compatible with Mormon teachings. Note that I do not take a fundamentalist approach, so I expect some of my choices will be controversial.
For example, I consider the Breaking Down Patriarchy podcast to be a faithful resources because when it does address Mormon patriarchy specifically, it does not present gender equality as incompatible with Mormonism or any given religion. I would also label Crash Course Philosophy as an appropriate resource because, while believing Mormons will doubtless disagree with some of the philosophical theories presented, the series does not present theories as Truth and thus does not contradict Mormon teachings.
YouTube playlists are generally dominated by ex-Mormon content, which tends toward unfaithful angst.
Eternity of Cats 