Name: Freely Given by Ian McMurray
Duration: 3 min 53 s
Description: A gospel-centered folk hymn exploring how institutional requirements can complicate what was meant to be simple. Grace was freely given - before the temples, tithing slips, and worthiness interviews. For anyone who's felt exhausted by the extras.

Joseph Smith told multiple people that an angel with a drawn or flaming sword appeared and threatened to destroy him if he didn't practice plural marriage. He used this divine threat to convince reluctant families and women to accept polygamy. A satirical cabaret about history's most convenient heavenly messenger - one that only Joseph could see and that always demanded exactly what he wanted.

The Angel with the Flaming Sword

Joseph Smith told the story of his First Vision at least nine different times with contradicting details. Early versions (1832) say he saw Jesus alone seeking forgiveness. Later versions (1838-official) say he saw God the Father AND Jesus to know which church to join. The church admits in its Gospel Topics essay that details differ between accounts - including who appeared, when it happened, and why he went. A theatrical romp through history's most inconsistent founding story.

The First Vision (Which Version)

The Nauvoo Expositor published ONE edition exposing Joseph Smith's polygamy on June 7, 1844. Three days later, he ordered the Nauvoo Legion to destroy the printing press. Twenty days after that, he was dead in Carthage Jail. The cover-up destroyed him faster than the truth ever could have.

One Edition Only

In 1835, Joseph Smith purchased Egyptian papyrus scrolls and claimed they were written by Abraham's own hand. He 'translated' them into the Book of Abraham, now LDS scripture. In the 1960s, the papyrus were rediscovered and Egyptologists confirmed they're common Egyptian funerary texts for a man named Hor - not Abraham. Every expert agrees Joseph's translation is completely wrong. The church now calls the papyrus a 'catalyst.' A campy look at scripture that doesn't match its source material.

The Book of Abraham

A quiet reckoning with everything I was taught about how old this world is.
They told us from the pulpit we'd been held back six thousand years - the most valiant spirits, saved for the latter days. They told us the dinosaur bones rode in on fragments of other planets because nothing could have died before Eve took that bite.
But I've held fossils in my hands. I've seen the ice cores and the canyon walls and the starlight that traveled longer than their timeline allows. And I don't know how to unsee what the mountains have shown me.
This one's for anyone who's ever felt the ground shift beneath a story they once trusted completely.

From the Secular Songs project.

#ExMormon #Deconstruction #SecularMusic #FaithTransition #YoungEarthCreationism #ReligiousTrauma #ExMormonMusic #SecularFolk #Deconversion #SingerSongwriter

The Rocks Remember

Inspired by https://www.instagram.com/reel/DROPz1JEXeO/?igsh=c2M5aXcyMXU3MjU4

What if the most reverent way to treat God is to leave the mystery alone?
This song explores a paradox: atheists might treat the divine with more respect than many believers. No threats. No bargaining. No claiming to speak on God's behalf. Just humility in the face of the unknown.

"They never speak on behalf of heaven / Never claim to know the will divine / They don't weaponize a holy name / Just leave it alone, treat it kind"
For anyone tired of certainty. For anyone who's found peace in "I don't know." For anyone who's watched faith get weaponized.
Let the mystery stay mystery.

🎵 Indie folk | Contemplative | Acoustic
💭 Part of the Secular Songs project - giving voice to alternative perspectives on faith and doubt
#SecularSongs #Atheism #Deconstruction #IndieFolk #FaithTransition #LetMysteryBeMystery

God's Favorite Atheists

Three feet of snow. Power's out. Phone's dead. And you're not going anywhere.

"Snowed In" is that fantasy of the world disappearing-no responsibilities, no digging out, just candles and body heat and time stretching until morning. Let the drifts climb. Don't clear the road. Some storms you don't want to end.

❄️🔥

SNOWED IN

The club is packed. The bass is shaking the floor. But none of it gets through. When they touch you, everything else goes numb-the music, the lights, the crowd. Just you and them and that cold fire you can't get enough of. 

"Frostbite" is that hypnotic moment when one person takes over your whole nervous system.

❄️🔥

FROSTBITE

The clock's about to strike midnight, the bartender's closing up, and there's one chance left to say what you've been too afraid to say all night. "Last Call" is a New Year's Eve love story about that moment when the countdown isn't just about the ball dropping—it's about finally finding the courage to walk across the bar and change everything.
A song for anyone who's ever let the moment slip away and promised themselves "next time." This time, next time is now.
🥂 Happy New Year.

LAST CALL (NEW YEAR'S)

A gospel-centered folk hymn exploring how institutional requirements can complicate what was meant to be simple. Grace was freely given - before the temples, tithing slips, and worthiness interviews. For anyone who's felt exhausted by the extras.

Freely Given

Ian McMurray

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