Why does this claim matter to you?
Well, because it is basically the cornerstone of the LDS Church.
The Catholic church also claims to have a direct line to God and a representative on Earth. The Muslim faith also teaches that Muhammed had a direct connection to God, and that there is a direct lineage after Muhammed which still has such a connection.
Jews believe that there will be a Messiah who will come and save them, but has not. They claim that there will be.
Why do those claims not matter to you?
I wouldn't say that those claims don't matter - rather that I don't believe them. Some of those I don't think I could ever believe, some at least in theory I could.
Has the Mormon religion ever changed its views on what is moral or immoral, permissible or not?
What is and isn't permissible has changed over time - this makes sense precisely because we receive revelation, so when God wants us to do or not do something, He can tell us.
If the Mormon leaders have a direct connection to God, why would they change their views?
If God gives us new information, that may change our views on something.
Why would God, who is infallible and always right, ever change his mind or contradict himself?
He wouldn't, although changes in what humans do might lead to Him changing exactly what He wants us to do.
Other people have spiritual experiences with other religions.
Many, many people believe in things that you do not.
Why do they experience things which directly contradict your experiences, if there is only one God and one right answer?
I am not sure that anyone has experiences that "directly contradict" mine - but even if they do, personal experiences are just that - personal.
Are their experiences invalid?
I have absolutely no grounds for judging other people's personal religious experiences.
What do you believe there is to know about God?
Even in religion, he's a rather nebulous figure and little is talked about him directly. We are supposed to glorify him and worship him, but we don't know what he looks like, and we don't know what he did before he created the universe, and how long eternity existed before he decided to create the universe.
Some of that, we still don't know, and won't until He tells us. I am not sure how important the specific examples you gave are.
Can you describe your own personal belief in God?
I believe Him to be all-loving, all-powerful (not, however, omnipotent as the term is usually used), all-knowing (whether this entails a perfect knowledge of what
will happen in the future or just what
can I don't know).
Do you recognize that personal belief is wildly different from many other people's beliefs?
Yes, of course.
"Why it's correct" I don't think I can answer, if it's correct, it's correct because that's just how it
is. Why I believe it's correct - because I believe that God told me it is.
If it is not correct, why do you believe it?
See above - I wouldn't believe something I thought not to be correct, though I might believe something that is actually incorrect, if I think it's correct.
If someone else's view was correct, how would you know?
If someone said, "you can ask God if X is correct, and if it is He will tell you it is", and I did and He did and it was - then I would think it was correct.
No, I don't think it is semantics. A belief that you can fly, for example, if the Bible says that anything you pray for can come true, is different from actually going up to the top of a building and jumping off, due to that belief.
You are just applying the word "faith" to a different part of the equation is all. I would call accepting what the Bible says as "belief", but actually jumping off the building "faith".
Do you literally believe in the power of prayer?
Yes.
Do you believe God intervenes in the events of the world?
At times, yes.
Do you believe there is a divine plan?
Yes.
Why would God change this plan?
He wouldn't.
Why is there prayer if there is a divine plan? Isn't that contradictory?
Because the Plan, sweeping as it is, is not so set in stone that it doesn't allow for the exercise of free will, or other human input.
]Do you literally believe that anything you pray for will happen, if God wills it to be so?
"If God wills it to be so" - which is the catch, because it then becomes hard to differentiate a prayer not being answered* because God felt that it is better that something else happen, versus a prayer not answered because God doesn't exist or doesn't answer prayers.
*That is, the desired outcome doesn't occur. God may answer prayers in an unexpected way that is nothing like what the person who prayed, wanted to happen.
Why doesn't prayer get answered consistently?
Because God is concerned with what is best for the person who is praying, and knows what this is better than they do.
If God is fair and just, why do good people have their prayers go unanswered, and "miraculous" outcomes happen for those who didn't believe beforehand, and didn't believe afterward?
Sometimes the "miracle" was simply the world operating the way the world operates; sometimes, what seems bad in the short term is best in the long term.
Where are there actual, documented miracles?
Well, I define a miracle simply as "divine intervention" - it doesn't involve "breaking the laws on nature" (which I consider to be logically impossible), and may not thus be possible to identify as a miracle.
As far as documentation - there are lots of documents that describe miracles. The Bible, for instance, is a series of documents that describes a number of episodes of divine intervention. But miracles are generally one time events, and not amenable to scientific study.
If you believe in your faith, literally, how strong is that faith? Would you be willing to test your faith? Would you be willing to determine if your belief affects the outcome of your life, or the events of the world?
I like to think I have tested my faith - when I sought answers from God about it. And my beliefs
definitely affect the outcome of my life.
If you believe in your faith, wouldn't you always act on it? Why would you act in a way that contradicts your faith, ever?
I like to think I do, generally, act on my belief; when I don't, it isn't a case of me rationally deciding that my faith doesn't apply in that particular instance, or deciding to temporarily abandon it; it is a case of me being a weak, irrational human being.
As we all are.
Would God ever have any reason to lie? Why would God lie?
I don't think God would outright lie, although He might cause someone to hold an incorrect view if He felt it was better for them to think something that is false than to know the truth.
Would God ever have reason to be malevolent? Why would God be malevolent?
I don't suppose He would - He will allow us to suffer, but not out of malevolence.
Would God ever say anything that was provably untrue, just to shake your faith in him? Why would he do that?
I don't think God would say something that is provably untrue (unless, as above, He felt it would be best) - although He has undoubtedly said things that some people
think are provably untrue . . .