People are rarely persuaded by logic alone. There is also ethos and pathos. Ethos is character; pathos is emotion. In tscc, the character of everyone influences others testimonies. This is one of the reasons so many of us have a difficult time leaving. We trust, for example, our parents; they wouldn't leave us astray. So it must be true. We're told by these people, profits, and scripture that if we feel good it must be true.

It's only human to be persuaded by ethos and pathos. Logic is valuable but even if the logic is flawed, if the ethos and pathos are strong enough people disregard it.

I made this mistake when I left the church. My mother kept telling me I needed to get out of my head and into my heart (out of logos and into pathos).

Before someone will change her beliefs she needs to change her mood or her mind. Mood changes by using pathos. Mind changes by using ethos. Too often, we want our loved ones to change their beliefs without preparing them in anyway to do so. Why? Because we can prove it with logic!

If the person you are persuading is completely in, our job is to change the mood or the mind first. The book of Abraham is a good tool to help people change their minds about Joseph Smith.

Think about your own transition out of the church. Chances are you changed your mind about the leaders of tscc (ethos), it made you angry (pathos), and you justified leaving with logic.

Look at all the posts on here about people being angry at the church. The anger is what gives them the power to change. We can't logic people out of the church. We have to anger them out. This isn't easy either, because if we do too much "trash talking" they get mad at us. When anger is directed at a group in opposition to their group, it reinforces their beliefs.

Too often we try to jump right to logic, but people need to go through the same process to become convinced enough to change.