- Not a Cougar on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “Stephen, if that’s the case, then I’d urge you to be a little clearer that you have made a conclusion regarding his beliefs based on his public scholarship rather than giving the incorrect impression that Dan has publicly stated he is a nonbeliever. If belief is a choice, as Elder Neil L. Andersen taught in his talk “Faith Is Not by Chance, but by Choice,” from the October 2015 General Conference, then, for all we know, Dan chooses to believe in spite of his and other’s scholarship . Isn’t that exactly what we’re asked to do when we’re told by multiple General Authorities to doubt our doubts? I’d be hesitant to make conclusions about someone else’s personal beliefs, especially when they are on record multiple times saying that they don’t talk about their personal beliefs in public. Also, thanks again for highlighting the interview.” Oct 8, 08:23
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “Sure, I guess? But if you say “the data contradicts LDS truth claims” I’m fine taking that meaning that he doesn’t believe the truth claims. I don’t think that’s much of a stretch. I take his reticence to be mostly about what he *does* believe, but it’s not that hard to parse out what he *does not* believe on his channel on LDS and other religious topics. ” Oct 8, 07:39
- on Latter-day Saint on Joe Rogan: “Stephen, first, thank you for highlighting the interview. I listened to it in its entirety, and Dan was his usual thoughtful and thought-provoking self. I also agree that he gently but firmly pushed back on Joe’s instinctual desire to veer toward “extreme minority” (i.e., weird, unprovable, and extremely unlikely) explanations for ancient history. That said, I’d push back on your statement that “[Dan] is also on the record as not believing in LDS truth claims.” He’s certainly on record as stating that his scholarship does not support the Church’s truth claims (a quick search pulled a quote that has him saying his scholarship “almost unilaterally conflicts with and undermines LDS dogmas”), but that’s a fundamentally different statement from whether or not he is on record as personally not believing them. In fact, he’s been very clear about the fact that he does not speak about his personal beliefs in public fora, and he reiterated that position towards the end of this interview when Joe asked him about how his scholarship impacts his personal beliefs. If you have a public quote from Dan on his personal lack of belief in LDS truth claims, I’ll be happy to withdraw my objection to your statement above.” Oct 8, 07:34
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: “If nothing else, 25-minute lessons are a better fit for the average current attention span. You even get a quick break in the middle to stand up and take a short walk.” Oct 7, 12:26
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: “Two days ago someone posted on X: “We created gyms because modern day work no longer required physical activity. Without exercise, our muscles atrophy. I predict we’ll need gyms for our brains too, once AI starts doing our knowledge work.” On Bluesky, there were a few responses: “the tech industry is about to invent books,” one said. “Hear me out … We call it ‘The University,’” said another.” Oct 6, 20:27
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: “I was born in 1966, and so was seven in 1973. Now and then I would take home from the school library some thick yet age-appropriate story book from before 1950. The book may have been no older than Harry Potter is now, but it was from the before-times when seven year olds did not watch re-runs of Bonanza, Gilligan’s Island, and Star Trek in the afternoon. I did not know about the divide then, but as an adult it made sense of something like The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, a book I remember as just going on and on and on as if the child reading it had nothing else to do that hour. So, I guess I should have sympathy with today’s children and youth and the point made above.” Oct 6, 13:19
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: “Lol, I should have said “how much I hate *the music*, making sure I separated the handbell wheat from the choir tares ;) But seriously, I wonder what it would be like to have not grown up with it always playing in the background on Sunday and to just walk into a MoTab rehearsal without having ever been exposed to it.” Oct 6, 12:58
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: ““Mormon Tabernacle Choir (gosh how I still hate them.)” On the one hand, I understand getting sick of them from too much exposure. On the other hand, I feel like I need to feel mortally offended as a member of the Choir org.” Oct 6, 12:37
- on Attention Spans and Spiritual Diets in the 21st Century: “I don’t think we can downplay the dangers of a diet of digital “short forms”. That stuff is like processed food. It definitely lowers your spiritual life expectancy.” Oct 6, 10:22
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, September 2026: “Really enjoying reading https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/who-is-the-real-jacques-derrida Thanks for posting!” Oct 6, 09:34
