bytebear

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Everything posted by bytebear

  1. There is no more homosexual behavior in locker rooms than there ever were. People are just more aware today that gay people exist, and they are more paranoid. Gays do not "recruit" anybody.
  2. If she has it in her will or something, I see no reason why not. But the church does not perform sealings now unless the couple was married at some point in their lives. So you can't just take two random people in the 1700s and seal them. Same for children. But adopted children can be sealed to the adoptive parents. I do recall that some historical figures have had people sealed to them who were considered long time companions. But that comes with a knowledge of the couple, and probably through permission of the First Presidency, which implies some level of spiritual revelation on the matter.
  3. I just want to remind visitors that temples are not chapels, and everyone, member or not, is welcome to Sunday services (as well as interweek activities) that are held at chapels. I sometimes find that people think temples are for weekly worship service and that they are not allowed and therefor are afraid to visit a local chapel for fear of being turned away. So, please visit your local chapel and you will be welcomed warmly.
  4. Most large booksellers should have the Book of Mormon published by Doubleday. It sells on Amazon for about $10. It's hardcover, and is the exact same text (including footnotes and chapter headings) as the official LDS version. Of course getting it free seems like a better deal.
  5. That doesn't really count. The other men were not sealed to their wives. Many people seem to mistake a temporal marriage with a celestial sealing. One can exist with the other. So technically a temporal marrage to one man and a celestial sealing to another man is still monogomy.
  6. The church recommends you go to the temple your district is assigned to. Because the Salt Lake Temple has been the temple of choice for so many in Northern Utah, your bishop may encourage you to go to another temple. I also understand it is harder to reserve a wedding time at the Salt Lake Temple, so plan ahead.
  7. I love LDS.ORG: Word Search: atonement LDS.org - Search
  8. You are right that the Atonement of Christ is central to the Gospel. It started at the garden, and ended at the cross, so both are equally important, as is the resurrection which is Christ's ultimate triumph over death. God bless you on your journey.
  9. which is why you only hear this particular argument from anti-Mormons and not from historians. Real historians know better.
  10. Just because no revival was recorded in 1823 doesn't mean there was no religious furvor in the area. This was the heart of the "burned over district" which is called the Second Great Awakening a period between 1790 and 1840 which covered all of Western New York. It seems more implausable that Smith woudn't have known of such things prior to 1820. The flaw in the anti-Mormon argument is that they are limiting time and geography to prove a point.
  11. It's not a good idea to use the ward directory, and you would probably get chewed out by your bishop, unless it was endorsed by the bishop, but the law and church rules are that you can't use the ward direcory to endorse candidates, but says nothing about moral issues, which is why the statement of the church which said "An e-mail was sent from a local Illinois Church leader to his congregation – one of 129 congregations in the state — who was free to express his own views.” But the church has every right to distance themselves from his views. The church is against gay marriage, but not against gay rights. Please understand the distinction.
  12. A side note about apostacy. They weren't ALL wrong in their teachings, although they did teach some things that were incorrect. The reason they were ALL wrong is because they did not receive authority through the laying on of hands by one having authority. I can start a church tomorrow that is exactly like the LDS Church, with the same scriptures, hymns, Sunday school lessons, ordinances and rituals, but unless I have recieved authority correctly, my church is false. So, the LDS claim isn't a corner on the market of truth (since we make no claims to know it all), but we do claim sole rights to God's authority. Thomas S. Monson was ordained by apostles who were ordained by apostles who were ordained by apostles, who were ultimately ordained by Joseph Smith who was ordained by apostles (Peter, James and John) who were ordained by Jesus Christ. That is the meaning behind what God told Smith about why he should not join those "corrupt" churches. That chain of authority was broken some hundred or so years after the death of Christ.
  13. It would be far easier for classification if the term "Christian" didn't hold exclusivity to the worship of Jesus Christ. How about we call those who want to exclude Mormom from the Christian club something else. I think they should be "Creedalists." So now we have Mormons and Credalists. And Mormons would be perfectly happy being excluded from the Creedalists. but not from Christianity.
  14. I would agree with you except that Christianity is not monolithic. In fact, if you want to set it up like a tree, with Christians stemming from Jews, then Catholics stemmed from Christians, and protestants stemmed from Catholics, so today's Christians are far removed from the Christians of the Bible. Mormons historically stemmed from protestantism, although the claim is they are really a restoration of the early Biblical Christians. So when someone says they are a "Christian" what do they mean? Early Bible Christian? Cathoilc? Protestant? Eastern Orthodox? Evangelical? Trinitarian? Gnostic? They all are Christians, and yet their doctrines are not all the same. Even if you lump them together with trinitarianism, there are Christians who are left out, and that isn't the original premise. It isn't based on doctrinal distinctions, but on who "really" believes in Jesus, just as who "really' believes in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (vs. Abraham Essau and Mohomed). But, even Muslims believe in Abraham as a prophet, in essentially the same way we do. God was just a lot more violent then.
  15. The problem I have is the terminology. "Christian" means a believer in Jesus Christ. If we called Jews "Abrahamists" then to say that Christians don't believe in the God of Abraham, then that would be false. Add to that the fact that Latter-day Saints believe the center of their faith is Jesus Christ. Now it is fair to say that Mormons are not Catholics because that term does not exclude a belief in Jesus Christ nor do they have a cultural or historical connection with Catholics, just as Christians have no cultural or historical connection to Judaism (at least not recently). If Jews started telling Christians that their God is not the same as the God of the Old Testament, then the Christians would take offense, as they should