One year is not that long of a time frame. This is supposed to be a rationality site and in places where logic matters there are people trying to answer questions posed hundreds of years ago. If you had any actual contradictions then you should still be aware of them after a year or you would be able to easily remember them.
there's really no good evidence for god or Jesus or the Book of Mormon or the Bible... these things are (at least to me) clearly false.
Well, there is evidence that the books mentioned exist and their is some decent evidence that Jesus existed historically. There is quite a bit of evidence that there was indeed the kingdom of Israel and a Babylonian captivity and so forth. I have to assume you are saying that Jesus wasn't the Son of God, and etc., that God doesn't exist, and that from the first two all books about God are therefore not truthful.
There is tons of evidence for all of those things being true so I have to assume that none of it meets your standard of goodness. That is another entire topic by itself so lets leave it alone for now.
You haven't pointed to a contradiction in fact, just that they are things that you do not think exist.
these things are fun!! They are simply not sinful, and not wrong.
Okay, something being fun does not mean that it is not sinful. To be sinful (or wrong) requires some concept of sin (or right). Concepts of sin generally, but not always, require some sense of supernatural law or law held universally by all of nature. Throwing out all such possibilities does indeed negate the idea that they are sinful but does not say that within a system that holds a premise of sin that there exists any contradiction.
Is alcohol really wrong?
As a law of health and a recommendation to being more spiritual and avoid the consequences of alcohol for this dispensation alcohol is forbidden. There could easily be more reasons why it is forbidden currently, not being God I can't say what are all His reasons. So is it eternally wrong, no, is it currently contrary to the laws of God, yes.
Just about any form of polyamory.
Polygamy is currently illegal according to the laws of the United States (and many other countries). Were it to be legalized the continuation of the practice would require additional revelation as per the scripture in the book of Jacob. All other forms of polyamory are indeed contrary to the basic dictates of morality given the assumptions held by the Latter-Day Saints.
There are many possible ways to argue against most of what you post as being fun here that do not require the use of any type of religion.
I'm not sure if there are any vegan Mormons
Some of the Presidents of the Church have been vegetarian. Forbidding others to eat meat is contrary to the commandments given in the Doctrine and Covenants. Animals are for the benefit and use of man but we are also responsible for them and are answerable before God for shedding their blood such that doing so with no need is sinful. From this it is easy to construct a position that fits within the commands of God that allows for someone to be vegetarian and to hold the position that killing animals is, generally, wrong. No milk and no honey (and yeast (depending on what type of vegan)) becomes a harder position to defend.
Fun does not mean something is or is not wrong. If I were a sadist I might find it "fun" to torture small furry animals. The fun-ness doesn't weigh into the equation unless you are a utilitarian and then it must be weighed against any negative side effects to you and to society at large. Using many different measures of negative side effects it is possible to argue that almost everything listed is immoral under a utilitarian system.
For someone convinced of contradictions you haven't provided any. Remember you have to find the contradictions internally, so within the belief structure of the religion, or you have just justified your own actions, not pointed out any flaw in the morality structure based on the premises. That is, you have said I like and wish to do these actions, these actions contradict the LDS belief system, therefore I will give up the LDS belief system rather then change my actions. This takes as a premise that the actions are good and then concludes the belief system is bad, not that the belief system is internally contradictory.
I'm not really sure how much I should reply to any of this... I'm not trying to convince you that your religion is wrong. Most of my family is still Mormon, so I'm quite good at hanging out with Mormons and not trying to convince them that they are wrong. (In fact, my deeply-ingrained strategy is to avoid conversations just like the one we are having right now.)
Perhaps I should start at the end:
...For someone convinced of contradictions you haven't provided any. Remember you have to find the contradictions internally, so within the belief structure of the
(Disclaimer: This post is sympathetic to a certain subset of theists. I am not myself a theist, nor have I ever been one. I do not intend to justify all varieties of theism, nor do I intend to justify much in the way of common theistic behavior.)
I'm not adopted. You all believe me, right? How do you think I came by this information, that you're confident in my statement? The obvious and correct answer is that my parents told me so1. Why do I believe them? Well, they would be in a position to know the answer, and they have been generally honest and sincere in their statements to me. A false belief on the subject could be hazardous to me, if I report inaccurate family history to physicians, and I believe that my parents have my safety in mind. I know of the existence of adopted people; the possibility isn't completely absent from my mind - but I believe quite confidently that I am not among those people, because my parents say otherwise.
Now let's consider another example. I have a friend who plans to name her first daughter Wednesday. Wednesday will also not be adopted, but that isn't the part of the example that is important: Wednesday will grow up in Provo, Utah, in a Mormon family in a Mormon community with Mormon friends, classmates, and neighbors, attending an LDS church every week and reading scripture and participating in church activities. It is overwhelmingly likely that she will believe the doctrines of the LDS church, because not only her parents, but virtually everyone she knows will reinforce these beliefs in her. Given the particular nuances of Mormonism as opposed to other forms of Christianity, Wednesday will also be regularly informed that several of these people are in a position to have special knowledge on the subject via direct prayer-derived evidence2 - in much the same way that her parents will have special knowledge of her non-adopted status via direct experience when she wasn't in a state suitable to notice or remember the events. Also, a false belief on the subject could have all kinds of bad consequences - if the Muslims are right, for instance, no doubt Hell awaits Wednesday and her family - so if she also correctly assumes that her parents have her best interests at heart, she'll assume they would do their best to give her accurate information.
Atheism tends to be treated as an open-and-shut case here and in other intellectually sophisticated venues, but is that fair? What about Wednesday? What would have to happen to her to get her to give up those beliefs? Well, for starters, she'd have to dramatically change her opinion of her family. Her parents care enough about honesty that they are already planning not to deceive her about Santa Claus - should she believe that they're liars? They're both college-educated, clever people, who read a lot and think carefully about (some) things - should she believe that they're fools? They've traveled around the world and have friends like me who are, vocally, non-Mormons and even non-Christians - should she believe that her parents have not been exposed to other ideas?
Would giving up her religion help Wednesday win? I don't think her family would outright reject her for it, but it would definitely strain those valued relationships, and some of the aforementioned friends, classmates, and neighbors would certainly react badly. It doesn't seem that it would make her any richer, happier, more successful - especially if she carries on living in Utah3. (I reject out of hand the idea that she should deconvert in the closet and systematically lie to everyone she knows.) It would make her right. And that would be all it would do - if she were lucky.
Is it really essential that, as a community, we exclude or dismiss or reflexively criticize theists who are good at partitioning, who like and are good at rational reasoning in every other sphere - and who just have higher priorities than being right? I have priorities that I'd probably put ahead of being right, too; I'm just not in a position where I really have to choose between "keeping my friends and being right", "feeling at home and being right", "eating this week and being right". That's my luck, not my cleverness, at work.
When Wednesday has been born and has learned to read, it would be nice if there were a place for her here.
1I have other evidence - I have inherited some physical characteristics from my parents and have seen my birth certificate - but the point is that this is something I would take their word for even if I didn't take after them very strongly and had never seen the documentation.
2Mormons believe in direct revelation, and they also believe that priesthood authorities are entitled to receive revelations for those over whom they have said authority (e.g. fathers for their children, husbands for their wives, etc.).
3I have lived in Salt Lake City, and during this time was, as always, openly an atheist. Everyone was tolerant of me, but I do not think it improved my situation in any way.