A list of puns related to "Proof by assertion"
TL;DR, see the title.
I grew up Mormon, born in Utah to goodly converted parents. I knew I was gay around eight or nine (age of accountability #amiright?) and spent my entire adolescence closeted. I lived with the constant, nagging guilt that comes with believing you are some kind of deviant or an addict because you masturbate and check out porn on this new thing called the internet (#itsthe90s).
I never had a strong testimony, though I went through the motions, and even served a mission despite having serious reservations. I returned fairly indoctrinated, but quickly resumed feeling that the gospel was hollow and lacked the joy everyone else seemed to feel.
I felt isolated in my "struggle" with same-sex-attraction; a designation I now find so clinical that it's no wonder the church talks about it like you are afflicted with some grave sickness. In talking with my bishop, I was introduced to the church's porn addiction program, called PASG (pornography addiction support group). Despite the complete ineffectiveness of the program to get me to stop viewing porn, the friendships and bonds I made in the year or so that I attended the meetings, were rich and deeply satisfying in a way I hadn't felt in a long time. In hindsight, I would add, satisfying in a way that church was not.
Eventually, relationships at the porn group lead me to learn about another group that was loosely associated with an organization called Evergreen. Some of you may know it is the now defunct gay-recovery group located in SLC that recently merged with North Star. There, I met another gay LDS guy in his 60s who I will call David. He was a lovely, kind, and genuine man, yet despite living the gospel strictly enough that he had served as a bishop and in stake callings, he was utterly miserable. To this day, I don't think I have ever met anyone who was so supremely devoid of joy or the remotest pleasure in life. I learned that in his youth he had a very mild, explorative encounter with a very close male friend. David felt tremendous guilt and shame for what he had done and confessed to his bishop.
To my best recollection, the bishop asked, if this was the only time, David answered yes. The bishop said, will you ever do it again, David answered, no, he would not. That was that. David was true to his word and never again engaged in anything remotely homosexual, save the one exception of participation in groups like the one where I had met him. To see a man so obviously well intentioned
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I recently was in an argument like the following. It wasn't actually about religion, but I'll use it as an example:
So anyway, it would seem that mentioning the Bible after stating that God exists would imply that it's being used as proof of God's existence. But is there a harder rule that backs this up?
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