Inside a 2015 comment on Reddit on The subject of Runnells acquiring donations to fund the CES Letter, he clarified who he envisions as the target audience:
In actual fact, there are already folks who I am aware personally who may have asked me about if to go down the rabbit hole And that i advised them which i felt, determined by my knowledge of them Individually, they were superior off during the Church right now and to leave it on your own Except if situation improved they usually had been no longer content and fulfilled inside the Church.
Then they draw incorrect conclusions that may affect testimony. Any who definitely have made these possibilities can repent and become spiritually renewed.
It is not my details And that i stand about the shoulders of giants, the Tanners. . . What I did was I took their exploration, and their insights, and their works, And that i place it in a means that labored greatest for me, that defined my train of assumed when it comes to why I not considered inside the Church.
What Jim will not show you is I do mourn with those who mourn and comfort the ones that stand needing convenience. Despite the fact that I did not lead to the truth crisis or perpetuate it, I've donated and specified lots of, lots of hours in email messages and conversations with All those devastated and left comfortless through the LDS Church's real truth crisis by comforting them and telling them that it will be ok.
went viral and it has had a monumental effect through the years is It really LDS Response to the CES Letter is consumable and digestable. You do not feel like you're examining a uninteresting textbook or maybe a dry scientific paper. It isn't penned in the condescending or unrelatable way.
You will find a phrase that describes a standard tactic and system that cults and their apologists use to prevent inquiry and significant contemplating in their associates: "considered-halting". It is really Section of the BITE Design of Authoritarian Management.
Runnells reviews on Reddit that "the audience" with the CES Letter "are classified as the fence sitters" and that his rebuttal to Reasonable's criticisms of the CES Letter "will almost certainly damage FairMormon's latest crayon drawing butthurt Restoration endeavor."
As I look at the initially 4 goods while in the chart, two of them have incorrect scriptural references – probably typos – and one of them improperly estimates the Guide of Mormon.
It does this by mixing selective facts with distortions in regards to the Church and guiding the reader down a path that manipulates them into inner thoughts of anger, disgrace, and betrayal.
When diligent analyze is paired with faith, the pursuit of truth of the matter and lightweight may be an invigorating, uplifting knowledge that broadens our perspectives, strengthens our empathy, bolsters our religion in Jesus Christ, and renews our comprehension of His restored gospel.
Runnells identifies the "target audience" with the CES Letter as "doubting users or TBMs who may have recognized the likelihood that the Church just isn't correct."
As time went on, things just kept blowing up as well as the letter just stored likely a lot more viral. Many issues were becoming questioned with regards to the author of the letter and what his motives have been. I had been invited by John Dehlin of Mormon Stories
However the guide provides us a summary of parallels. To provide you with a flavor of All those parallels, let me give two illustrations.