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Aren't we all?

If this were a human life, I could see bending the rules. Otherwise, the rules are there for a reason. You don't want a 5000-member lost and found board. She has plenty of other venues, e.g. Craigslist, posting fliers on light posts, etc. I wouldn't give it a second thought. Or maybe I would, but I encourage you not to.

How can you sleep at night Bini? :) You are not the bad guy, they are for trying to make you feel bad, I would say they are the "bad guy"

I have a friend that doesn't subscribe to any faith but prays in a sense. I did in fact ask him why he does this if he doesn't believe in god, and he basically told me, that it's just a way to take a moment and say out loud: "I'm grateful for the things I have." Even though he doesn't believe anyone actually listens, he feels good about doing this every morning when he gets up. I think there's a sense of spiritual peace many feel when they can verbalise gratitude or thoughts, somewhat like a prayer, even if they are not religious at all.

I am happy to report that after 5 months of Bishops meetings, and a stake president approval, I was approved for rebaptism, set for March 21st. This process has not been an easy one, but to all those seeking it, don't give up hope. There is a light around the corner to those who seek it. 2 Nephi 27:23 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.

I came across this today about a Southern Baptist minister living in Utah -- not quite sure what to make of it: http://bpnews.net/44307/week-of-prayer-a-heart-for-mormonheavy-utah Maybe it was the "this city is on fire and burning" comment (from one of our occasional summer wildfires). Maybe it is the "convert from Mormonism to Christanity", as if they are mutually exclusive. Just not sure what to make of it, but thought I would share.

Back in high school civics class we had a debate on pro versus con arranged marriages. Teacher assigned the groups. It turned out I was ...on the pro arranged marriages side...after all was said and done it was agreed on by the class that the pro arranged marriage won the debate by a landslide, though everyone cringed for some reason.

I want you to know that I laughed. But I can't bring myself to like a comment about ending all camping.

A dozen Christmases or so ago, my wife and I were getting into our car. We lived in a less-desirable part of town in those days. A lady came running towards us crying and yelling for help. She was very upset. She said her boyfriend had beat her up and thrown her out in the cold. (It was in the 20's and snowing lightly). We offered her shelter and said we could call the cops for her. She asked for a ride back to her place, so she could see if he was still there. We said we didn't think that was wise, but again invited her to come in out of the snow - cops were optional, but we weren't going to go drive her somewhere. Then she yelled a bunch of profanities at us and accused us of being too rich and white to give a [care] about her problems, wished us a "merry [beep] Christmas" and stormed off in the other direction. Yeah, I had a short-term adrenalin-fueled bunch of emotion about the event. I felt like a horrible person for about 10 minutes. Then the chemical reaction wore off, and I've spent the last dozen years glad I didn't do anything stupid like drive her where she wanted to go.

But the morality of homosexuality varies across religious declarations. Some are okay with it, some are not. And the BSA is fairly clear on its policy that "morally straight" is supposed to be defined between the youth, his/her parents, and his/her religious leaders (emphasis on the youth's religious leaders, not the troop's chartering organization). Until you get to the membership rule, at which point only a religious conviction that rejects homosexuality is acceptable. (and now, only if you are younger than 18 and not a Venturer, or younger than 21 and a Venturer). Actually, BSA policy is quite clear that sexuality is not an appropriate discussion for scout leaders to have with the youth. They are supposed to refer them back to parents and religious leaders. And as I said above, morally straight isn't defined by troop leaders anyway. Much like our temple recommend interviews, absent objective evidence, a youth is living a morally straight life if he says he is.

These two statements are really saying the same thing; a gay youth and a straight youth of the same gender aren't usually sexually attracted to each other. In other words, what JAG is trying to get at is that a comparison of straight-boy/gay-boy tenting isn't exactly on the same level as straight-boy/straight-girl tenting.

Under the old policy, gay kids were not eligible--but there was no requirement for a specific affirmation of straight-ness, so it was basically a de facto "don't ask, don't tell". Under the new policy, as far as I know, there's still not a formal policy of asking kids what their orientation is--but even openly gay kids can be members. As I recall, when the BSA changed their policy within the last year or two, the Church said they were going along with it on the understanding that BSA would also re-emphasize moral behavior and belief in God generally. That said: I think it will be a cold day in Hades before the BSA ever drums a kid out for unchastity, regardless of the gender of his partner.

So basically she is mad because she can not high jack someone else's resources (after all someone is paying for the server, webpage, bandwidth, etc) for their her own personal quest. We get that here often (and I assume most other forums do to)... Basically it spamming although she was nice enough to ask permission first

Pfft. How could you not? Look how long it took Brigham Young to find it. (Or to found it...something like that.)

I didn't realize SLC was such a lost city.

American Sniper (Keep in mind that I will, with great discretion, view R rated movies that seem to have merit outweighing the demerits--in this case, some language, alcohol use, and non-chaste suggestions). If nothing else, it portrayed a man who loved his country, fought inner demons, and found his way to worthy service, and equally worthy husband/fatherhood. Tragic ending. Clint did well.

1 One is allowed $800 of items free of duty. Most missionaries are not buying many things. 2 As a person who travels extensively, I can tell you that carrying an iPad around is the functional equivalent of wearing a jacket. It would never occur to me to declare this. iPads are ubiquitous.

The issue isn't about finding out who is and who is not homosexual. No doubt there have always been homosexual boys (and leaders) participating in the program.The issue now is in regards to those who OPENLY proclaim their homosexuality. That is the new paradigm, and obviously we are "going to know about it" The question that hasn't been addressed by the Church or the BSA is "how do we deal with it?"

I haven't read through the thread yet, but the question itself is based on a faulty premise. Are LDS as judgmental as evangelicals? Sure. Are evangelicals as judgmental as atheists? Yes. Are atheists as judgmental as Satan worshipers? Yes. Are people, on the whole, regardless of what they believe, judgmental? Yes. As to the maybe we should be -- it depends on what judgement are being made. Righteous judgement is good. Wicked judgment is bad.

If you truly believe that impressionable kids cannot be influenced, that there is no decision in the process, or even that a kid might think he has one proclivity but simply hasn't discovered the other until it's placed before him...then maybe the first part of this might make sense. As far as the second part....um......teenagers and emotional wherewithal?

Sounds like he is trying to save the Mormons.

John, I am so sorry for the pain you have endured and are enduring. You provided no context in your original post and my response was purely objective and was written with care. I can see now why Eowyn expressed concern in her reply to my post. Had I read any of your other posts, I might have had some indication of what you have been through. Your subsequent post provides a great deal of context, which I can now relate to. I grew up in an abusive and dysfunctional home. My father had a temper and considered us kids little more than mouths to feed. "You are of no help to me." "You are useless." "All you do is eat my food." "You are stupid." "You all are a bunch of lazy animals." "Ahh, stupid." "Why are you so stupid?" "I am Lord Pharoah. You will kneel before me." That was a good day. A bad day was when he lost his temper and hit us repeatedly. Some days it was with a board. Some days his belt. Other days his fist. But he never beat us as badly as his mother beat him. He was the youngest of many siblings. If his sisters didn't belittle him, his mother had plenty to spare. There was not a day that she didn't beat him with anything that she could find and she beat him until her arm tired and she could take no more, never mind him. She didn't need an excuse to beat him. Her own temper was reason enough. When my dad turned 18, he literally ran out the door and joined the Army, not even looking back to say good-bye. Couple the discipline he received at Basic Training with his upbringing and you get an idea of his mentality when I was old enough to make him lose his temper. My dad couldn't understand what it was like to be loved. And even throughout my childhood, I loved me dad. He did have enough compassion toward us, though. I think the only love he could comprehend was the love my mom expressed. She was raised in an abusive home, too. She was quiet and subservient. So you can imagine the kind of relationship they had. I guess I can say that I do have the benefit of knowing what it's like to be loved, thanks to my mom. She was born and raised a Catholic and converted to the LDS church, served a mission and soon after met and married my dad. It was her faith that instilled in me the possibility that there was a loving God up there somewhere. But it took decades for me to strip away the layers of dysfunction and little to no self esteem. Today, as you have read in my first reply, I can testify that I know God's love. But it wasn't without walking through my own valley of the shadow of death. Incidentally, my wife (of 23 years now) and I are adoptive parents. After miscarriages and a tubal pregnancy which nearly cost her life, we decided to adopt. After having been through DCFS training and extensive and grueling paperwork (they sure go out of their way to do background checks!), we became foster parents. Eventually, we adopted two half brothers from a severely neglected home. We truly had our work cut out for us, but we really wanted to make a difference for them. It cost my wife and I heartache after heartache, sleepless nights, and so much more. I eventually closed the doors to my business, lost my home and more. My boys are full grown now. I'd like to say that there is a happy ending, but both have been in and out of jail and prison. The silver lining? Well...one of my boys called me once and told me that if we hadn't taken them under our wing, they'd surely be dead in the gutter somewhere. Do I know what love is? I've learned to love and along the way, I've become loved. I don't know how. It was just a process. I guess it's like Amulek said. It starts with a small seed. You gotta plant it, nourish it, make it grow. Sure, I made lots of mistakes and I've been through hell. Sheer hell all my life. I guess that's how I came to learn that I can be loved by God. He's taught us how. He already paid the price. We just have to do our part and get our feet wet somehow. It's different for each of us. One time, my younger son asked me why I never hit him the way my dad hit me-why I didn't treat him the way my dad treated me. I told him that I wanted to prove to myself that I could break the cycle of abuse. And I did. But not without paying for it. Mistakes will happen. The key is learning from them. You gotta make the choice to cry out to God. Yell at Him. I have. Tell Him all your pain. He'll heal you. You just gotta lay it all on the alter. And I mean all of it. I have long since forgiven my dad, have helped him to heal from his own hell. Compassion, forgiveness, patience, longsuffering, etc, isn't learned without paying a price. I guess it's kinda like letting people beat you and belittle you and spit on you and nail you to a cross so that they can learn regret and learn to ask for forgiveness while you learn to forgive and to love while taking it.

I think what he's getting at is, if I buy an expensive item while I'm traveling abroad and try to bring it home with me, I have to declare it and I may have to pay an import duty on the item when I'm going through Customs.

I had a good and talented friend that having served a mission got a summer job singing for the Billy Gram organization. It was, at the time a means to pay for his education. He quit and did not complete his summer instead taking a lower paying job. I cannot speak directly as this was not my experience but a friend I know and trust - there may be good people involved with organizations of priest-craft. Since this is my only input to such I cannot speak directly for the organization - only to say that I believe those that walk in society claiming to have a message direct from G-d have above all the greatest responsibility to know of what they speak -- more so than any other claim before men -- and should be under the greatest of all scrutiny and accountability.

For the people asking "why apple" and not tablets from much cheaper manufacturers, I don't have any inside knowledge, but my guess is for support related reasons. Historically the church has always developed it's apps for Apple devices first, before focusing on other platforms such as Android or Windows. The missionaries are likely going to be some of the first users of these apps, so it makes sense for them to have the platform the apps are initially developed for.

We are facing the same probable situation. Here is my philosophy: Thirty-three years ago, I gave every penny I had or ever would have to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as all my time, all my talents, and every blessing I had received or ever would receive from God. I became an owner of nothing, only a steward. So if God's kingdom asks me to "pay" something to them, then I already made that decision decades ago. There is no donation involved, only realization of what is mine and what is not.

I would also add that the Church is not a representative democracy; and as such we, as individual members, do not have any claim -- either in practice or in theory -- on the assets owned by the Church; be they temples, chapels, mission cars, youth camps, or shopping malls. Tithes and offerings are not taxes; missionary service is not an entitlement program; and I would be in error to suppose that I have "earned" any tangible goodies from the Church due to my prior contributions. We give money to for-profit entities because we expect return on investment. We pay taxes (to a certain level) as part of our social contract (and beyond that level, due to threat of force). But we offer tithes and additional donations to the Church solely because we love God; and therefore expect nothing of any pecuniary value in return.

Send a letter to your local Bishop stating you want your name removed and why and please be sure to sign it. When he gets that letter the process will get started.

Sandpeople always ride single file to hide their numbers.

It's not our place to judge those who have committed suicide. It is our place to state, unequivocally, that suicide is wrong and should never be considered.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Nonsense. There are plenty of fish inside the church. Try a different pond.