SanctitasDeo

When I was a teenager (I grew up in the church), I worried about this exact thing. I thought all the adults around me knew that everything was true, and I was the only one who doubted. Oddly enough, just discovering that other people also doubted did a lot for me in terms of my ability to believe. Do I know everything is true now? No. Are there still things I doubt or that cause me to think? Of course. But due to the experiences I have had, I feel like I know God, that I work with him daily to help my family and the other people around me and to grow spiritually. I know that doesn't say anything about anachronisms in the Book of Mormon. But my belief is based first on my relationship with God. As far as the Book of Mormon goes, I feel similar about it as I do about the Bible. Despite any inaccuracies or anachronisms (which the Bible also seems to have), I feel like God uses them to speak to me. That being said, I have never had much of a problem believing in the historicity of either book. Nephi seems like a real person to me. Steel and concrete all existed in one form or another, and words can be slippery things, anyway. Those things don't stand as obstacles in the face of the things I have seen and felt. I am willing to put up with some uncertainties. If ye shall know them by their fruits, then, well, the fruits of the Gospel in my life have been great so far. I also have a question: Your handle is Tovarisch--Are you Russian, or do you speak Russian?

"Please bless the hands that made this food" No clue where this comes from, but I have heard it in Utah.

Um, that is very cool. I feel much cooler now.

I've never heard of it, and Google does not provide any answers. Is it a very local thing?

Congratulations! I am happy for you!

When I first saw this I thought: you mean, as opposed to the 1805 version?

I use Skype because that is what my family uses. But I would love to use Hangouts. I use Google+ as a social network already, so it is only a matter of time.

I am a student in school right now. My wife is just finishing her bachelors. We have a five year old son. We made the decision to have a child pretty carefully, and my wife will graduate in a few months. It is harder to have a child during school than not, but, frankly, that was true of getting married, too. I spent more time studying before I got married. But I won't put my life on hold just for school. There is nothing wrong with wanting to stay home with kids. But it is really sad if that becomes an excuse for not finishing school. Education has an intrinsic value that contributes to one's betterment regardless of one's marital or employment status. And, frankly, the world can be harsh, and everyone needs to be able to take care of themselves. I think Mormons still have a lower divorce rate than America in general. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. There are still too many sad stories.

I write poetry and do a lot of academic writing. I enjoy both, although poetry is more cathartic and more of a challenge. I also write a lot of RPG stuff, but lately it has been for a setting or three; I don't have time to run games during the semester.

I think that the problem is that this man almost doesn't exist. I mean, okay, there are probably guys like that sometimes. And I try my best to read my wife and tell what she wants. I think the longer we are married, the more likely it is that I will be successful at that. But romantic movies tell a fantasy story about a relationship, and the ability to read a woman perfectly is as much a superpower as Superman's ability to fly.

When I bother to think about it, I think the way rameumpton does. It is kind of an interesting idea, but it doesn't mean much in day to day life. It is irrelevant to our salvation.

Yes. I find this disturbing. It is affirmative action for 'the right kind of woman.' Because it is the 'right' kind. Because apparently we should want to replace the older social norm with the new one, which says that women who work are better than women who do not because they are not advancing the common (collective) cause of women everywhere. As far as I can tell, this is the radical feminist position. Most of the women I have talked to about it don't agree with Goff--but they are not radical feminists. Specifically, they do not agree that women must work if they get a degree.

I didn't catch that wrinkle. Good point. That would be really funny if it wasn't so sad.

It's so true. I hope that the recent news about Netflix switching to HTML5 comes soon and with Linux support. Okay. Thanks. I will have to mess with that. My wife's Vista laptop died, so our only way to hook up to a TV right now is a netbook running Peppermint. I will take a look at the PPA. If nothing else, I can try Mint or Ubuntu on there instead.

It really is a wonderful story. Maybe there will be a movie.

From the Goff article. This is funny. Apparently, it is unfair if someone who earns a spot at one of these schools is not going to work and displaces a woman who will, despite the fact that she did earn the spot. This is interesting partly because it bypasses the usually extremely individualist bent of most feminist theory and conceives of women as a collective who should work out a concept of fairness between themselves in order to achieve collective goals in society.

Oh, man, there is so much wrong with that. I think this goes all the way down to our conception of what the good life is. Education of part of what makes a good life. That does not necessarily mean an ivy league university, but it means that education should be part of one's life no matter how one plans to spend it. I feel like there is an attitude nowadays that education is only for work. Someone I know proposed that the government prohibit universities from offering a Philosophy major* because it does not produce the kind of workers that America needs. This is a similar attitude to that offered in Goff's article. The other attitude that I feel is problematic is the idea that there should be an elite which needs to protect itself by circling the wagons and keeping out people who do not agree in some way. She clearly feels that some people are better than others and should be kept separate. This is an extension of the pernicious idea that women who do not work are betraying their fellow women, as if they were all on a team against men, and leaving work to have kids is not an equal choice. I understand their ideological framework, but I feel like it misses a lot of what it means to be human.

I felt some of that, too, before I got married. But I was fairly recently married, and we have a child now, too, and you know what? We still see friends, whether separately or together. Mostly, it just takes the desire to do so. We just make time for it. Having a child cuts down on your time and flexibility, of course, but there is so much in being married and in raising a child that makes up for it. I didn't realize this until my son was born, but raising children is part of the human experience. Everyone should do it. Also, I feel much closer to my heavenly parents now that I have a child, something I didn't necessarily expect.

Jerome, what do you do to watch it on Linux? I have tried to think of ways to do it before, but nothing but a virtual machine really comes to mind. I think this is great news. We've had Netflix streaming for a while, and I would prefer never to subscribe to HBO or any kind of cable for a lot of reasons.

I have seen some good stuff at JC Penny. Walmart and Target both carry inexpensive suits. They are not the nicest, but they are suits. If you were only going to wear it once a week, you don't have to worry about it falling apart (I would look for higher quality suits for a mission, for instance). And if you do khakis (or other slacks) and a coat, that makes it less expensive no matter where you go.

I have read them. It is in fact kind of a secret society (at least in so far as they hold some things sacred like Mormons. Their membership is not necessarily secret). So that shouldn't really surprise anyone. Most places can be a recruiting ground for secret combinations (I have seen the church used as such by some members). However, it is not satanic. It is not a branch of the church of the devil. It is a system which is supposed to make good men better. Many godly men have been masons. JAG is right. This is like anti-Mormonism. It always make me sad when I see books by Mormons slandering other groups. You'd think we might know better.

I would say: do it anyway. If you can't get to church, I suppose you can't get to church. But you can read scriptures, pray, etc. You don't have to do it in their faces or even where they can see you. I can understand why they might be angry with you. What you may need to do is calmly ask if they can still respect you as a family member and a person even though you do things that they think are strange. I don't know if now is the time for that or not, but I suspect it will have to happen sooner or later. It sounds like they are letting religious differences get in the way of remembering that you are family. This is something I would pray about. Heavenly Father will help you know what to do. He can help you stay calm and feel the Spirit.

We had trouble with Priesthood. The equipment seemed old to me. Back in the ward I grew up in, I don't remember ever having trouble.

That is some serious Other Sheep.

I have a friend in it, too. I am not sure who he plays, but I intend to see it at some point.