Lucifer's Lantern

By July 1831, reports of the new Mormon movement had begun appearing in newspapers well beyond Ohio and New York. The Church had recently commanded its members to gather to Jackson County, Missouri, which believers identified as the future site of Zion. As converts sold their property and departed westward, local newspapers covered the migration with a mixture of fascination and alarm. One such report, published in the Painesville Gazette, described dozens of newly ordained Mormon missionaries traveling "two and two" toward Missouri and repeated the movement's claims of miraculous healings, exorcisms, and other supernatural gifts.   This series looks back at how early critics of the church reacted to the rise of Mormonism. Some mocked it, others warned against it, and a few tried to make sense of it. Each post features a historical excerpt and some brief context to show how critics viewed the new faith as it was unfolding.  -The full series can be found here - Rober...

Former BYU baseball player Candon Dahle is expected to marry this week, less than a year after receiving a plea deal that allowed him to avoid sex offender registration despite admitting guilt to two felony counts involving the abuse of a child. News of the wedding has reignited criticism online, where many argue Dahle's return to ordinary life has come far too quickly in light of the allegations against him.  The topic was recently discussed on Instagram by  @justinthenickofcrime View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin (@justinthenickofcrime) Dahle first made headlines in February 2025 when he was charged in Fremont County, Idaho, with felony lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16. According to the probable cause affidavit summarized by East Idaho News , prosecutors alleged Dahle sexually abused an 11-year-old girl and covered her mouth during one of the assaults. Authorities also filed a separate juvenile case in neighboring Bing...

An email sent to members of the Orem Utah Lakeview Stake on July 19, 2026, informed congregants that an individual carrying a firearm was observed inside the stake center earlier that morning, prompting an immediate evacuation of the building. According to the message, the incident occurred at approximately 10:45 a.m. The individual was reportedly sitting on a sofa in the foyer with a gun beside him. Orem police responded to the scene, took the individual into custody, and planned to have him undergo a mental health evaluation. One portion of the email warrants particular attention. Members were instructed "to not post information online regarding the incident and allow the Church to manage the public information." While organizations often try to ensure accurate communication during emergencies, critics may question whether asking members to refrain from discussing a public safety incident places institutional message control ahead of transparency. Lucifer's Lantern rec...

A video from an LDS sacrament meeting in Martinsburg, West Virginia is once again making the rounds on social media. The footage shows two mothers interrupting a testimony meeting to warn fellow members that, in their view, local Church leaders had failed to protect children from a convicted child molester within their own congregation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brett Henry (@beardedrealtorutah) This event came after years of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, and allegations that Church leaders ignored warning signs while children continued to be abused. The case centered on Christopher Michael Jensen, who was sentenced in 2013 to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two children, ages three and four. Court records also show that allegations against Jensen stretched back to 2004, when, at just 13 years old, he was arrested and charged with two felony counts involving the sexual abuse of two girls at his middle school. According...

On a recent livestream, Shane Baldwin of Zion Media publicly recounted what he describes as one of the defining events of his life. According to Baldwin, he was visited by none other than John the Beloved while serving time in the Salt Lake County Jail where he was serving time for committing investment fraud . According to LDS belief, John remains alive today, continuing his ministry on the earth until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The belief comes primarily from an interpretation of John 21:20-23 and is expanded in the Mormon scripture of Doctrine and Covenants 7, which teaches that John requested the privilege of remaining on the earth to continue bringing souls to Christ until the Second Coming.  But John is not alone. The Book of Mormon also describes three disciples, commonly known as the Three Nephites, who were granted the same blessing. Together, these figures have become central to a long tradition of Mormon faith-promoting stories involving mysterious strangers who ...

  When most people think about Mormon missionary work, they picture young men in white shirts and ties, or young women with missionary name tags. That image exists for a reason. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates the largest missionary program in the world. But missionaries are only one part of the church's outreach. For decades, the church has also invested heavily in television, radio, and internet advertising, developing a style that has evolved dramatically over time. During the 1980s and 1990s, many LDS television commercials felt more like public service announcements than traditional advertisements. Rather than directly asking viewers to join the church, these commercials usually told short stories. Children often found themselves in situations where they had to choose between honesty and dishonesty or learn lessons about kindness, responsibility, and family relationships. Because family is such a central part of LDS theology, many advertisements emphas...

I think we can all agree that the Book of Mormon is probably one of the most controversial publications ever produced. Every single aspect of it is debated. You have apologists who firmly believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it is an ancient record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and that it was given to Joseph Smith by an ancient American prophet named Moroni, who appeared as an angel. Or you have critics like myself who firmly believe that the Book of Mormon is a 19th century publication. But even beyond that, there are countless debates about the actual content of the book itself. One of the biggest is its historical setting. Where was the Book of Mormon actually supposed to take place? Some apologists and critics believe the narrative largely unfolded in North America , in places that would eventually become the United States. Others argue that it took place in S outh America or Central America. Historically, the LDS Church has even presented evidence t...