LDS Church Misrepresents Its Own Evidence Against Mormon Stories?

Tonight on The Mormon Newscast, we dig into several stories making waves across the Latter-day Saint world. Our lead story returns to the LDS Church’s lawsuit against John Dehlin and Mormon Stories. A recent Church filing claims a Mormon Stories guest believed the podcast was “Church affiliated”—but when we go back to what the guest actually said, there appears to be an important difference between believing Mormon Stories was a faithful Mormon podcast and believing it was actually affiliated with the LDS Church. Did the Church misrepresent its own evidence? We also cover the increasingly ugly backlash surrounding Charlie Bird and Ryan Clifford’s plans to become fathers through IVF, egg donation and surrogacy. What began as a debate among conservative Latter-day Saint commentators about same-sex parenting has now included disturbing personal messages and reported threats directed toward Charlie, Ryan and their future family. Also tonight: new data suggesting 22% of LDS college students surveyed identified as something other than heterosexual; Latter-day Saint creators using AI to produce cinematic Book of Mormon imagery; an update on the deadly Kearns LDS funeral shooting; a look back at the Church’s infamous “baseball baptisms” and what membership numbers actually tell us; and new research challenging some assumptions about women, ordination and religious retention. Finally, we look at the major restructuring happening inside BYU athletics surrounding Kalani Sitake and the football program, and Jana Riess takes a look at Ensign Peak’s investment performance—with outside analysts concluding that despite the Church’s enormous gains, its publicly reported stock portfolio has still lagged the S&P 500. Join us as we break down the stories, the claims, and—most importantly—the details underneath the headlines on The Mormon Newscast. The Book of Mormon Trailer -    • The Book of Mormon Trailer   If you want to support The Mormon Newscast, you can donate here: https://donorbox.org/the-mormon-newscast (Bill & RFM) https://donorbox.org/mormonish-podcast (Rebecca) And if you’re navigating faith transition or spiritual trauma and need support, 1-on-1 coaching and group work is available at: https://awakenandthrive.org/