2 Nephi 08

Smith starts us with a wonderful invocation. It gets a little morbid, but Smith tells us about a classic country song: Bury Me Under That Durian Tree. Joe invokes Marty Robbins. Smith wants to know the difference between light and heavy petting. Good thing Joe learned about it in seminary. The guys detour into more Pavement talk. Joe’s #1 fave Pave-cast is Meeting Malkmus: A Pavement Podcast. A close second: Stuff You Should Know. Smith contends that Malkmus is in the top 5 of the top 10 of something. The same goes for his favorite R.E.M. podcasts. Joe reads a reddit meme from Smith. The guys love to talk about not liking themselves. Joe has an ant update, and Smith has an update from Who-ville. Smith is not yet ready to return and report about the JS apology from last week. Joe discovers that he can see things in JS that he doesn’t like about himself. Joe wants to do a proxy B for PSH. Joe pitches the idea that proxy O’s should include the cause of death. Smith gets a little conspiratorial about what the LDS app is tracking and who is looking. 

The guys are not good at jazz scatting. Joe shares his version of a Simpsons quote. Smith reads a headline about the church covering up sexual abuse. Smith still hasn’t seen Zodiac (2007). Smith asserts that the systems in place in the church are a breeding ground for grooming. The guys quickly veer off into the Potterverse. Joe bears his testimony of the everlasting message from the Fab 4 about love, and he’s not stoned. 

Joe points out why it’s not fun to read the Isaiah chapters on J&SP:RtBOMWU which is that JS did not write them. Is grad school regalia Satan’s counterfeit of the temple ceremony? Are drugs Satan’s counterfeit of the priesthood power? Joe points out that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected to white male privilege. Smith feels dumb sometimes, but he isn’t. Joe found a scholarly article where the author asserts that JS did not, in fact,plagiarize Isaiah. Smith asserts that the author’s argument is sometimes referred to in the church as ‘justifying your own sin’. Smith reminds us that morals don’t come from religion. Joe tells the story “he would tell you that he is happy” about a friend’s apostate family member. The talk about how some of their religious trauma involves feeling like they don’t deserve happiness now because they’re not following the church. Smith casually refers to himself as a trainwreck and Joe reminds him that it’s the mormons who taught him that he was a trainwreck, not the gentiles. Smith still has a family member who treats him as if he was a trainwreck. Joe concedes that he had a genuine laugh a the John BTFW video on this chapter. Who’s talents are being wasted on the BOM?

Meeting Malkmus - a Pavement podcast
Stuff You Should Know Podcast 
Glenn Ostland’s JS Apology (start around 19 min in)
Seven Years of Sex Abuse: How Mormon Officials Let it Happen
Brother Jake Explains: Book of Mormon Translation (feat. seer stone)
Was Joseph Smith Guilty of Plagiarism? John A. Tvedtnes
CES Letter My Search for Answers to my Mormon Doubts
John Bytheway and Darryl Discover 2 Nephi 8 and Isaiah 51

Music Provided by Eric VanAusdal with permission from the artist.

The Book of Mormon is publicly available at churchofjesuschrist.org 

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