bytebear

I don't know many people who can't get through their day without a good stiff brushing.

I look at the Word of Wisdom as being substances that alter our mind chemistry, but more importantly are addictive in a way that one needs their daily dose. Coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and now things like speed, cocaine, marijuana. Caffeine may be an addiction, but I don't know many people who MUST have a Coke before starting their day, and if they are, I would say they need to consider changing things. But there are habitual products that are part of daily routine. Those are the ones specified in the Word of Wisdom.

As far as I know, the church can simply release you from your covenants. They do not shun, or disallow people from attending church (unless there is some legal action underlying that), but basically, if you sin to an extent that your covenants burden you with greater accountability to those sins, the accountability via covenant is broken, and you no longer carry that burden.

I think those "doctrines" were well reasoned through the scriptures and considered Biblically sound. And I am sure we have beliefs right now that we consider solid in their doctrine that will change as more light is given.

Really? But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. My point is that there are beliefs that were taught as doctrine in the past that are no longer considered true.

I absolutely disagree. There are many things prophets have said, that were believed to be absolute doctrine, that have now been revealed to be untrue. What we consider absolute doctrine today could be dismissed tomorrow as we follow our own Articles of Faith that says "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

Two things come to mind. 1) the Bible talks of "in the beginning" but that is the beginning of the Earth, not the beginning of God, or even the sons of God, since they shouted for joy at the creation of the Earth. So it was more than God that existed, since he had sons before the creation of the Earth. Now we don't have any details from the Bible other than a few scant references to the Morning stars which represent either Jesus or Satan depending on the context. But we have a lot of information about the promises of Man, that we will become as God, and share His throne. LDS revelation gives more details, as do Joseph Smith's thoughts. But it's important to remember that LDS doctrine is contained only in canonized scripture. Everything else is speculation or elaboration. And it's up to us, as individuals to receive a confirmation on every piece of truth revealed to us. So, take it for what it's worth, but I feel quite confident in the LDS view on the pre-mortal existence, and our ultimate promises. I really don't want to cite a bunch of scriptures but the topical guide has a lot of references to ponder. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg?lang=eng&letter=m Start with Man, and go through the various sections on Man.

I can think of no other Latter Day Saint branch that fulfills prophecy of the truth church in the last days. Only the LDS Church as led by the current prophet does that.

I will speculate that one is born of the mother, and begotten by the father, in a general sense of the words. So I think the phrase "born and begotten" means by a mother and father. In the case of Jesus he was born of Mary, begotten by God the Father.

I would say God nudges in areas that need nudging.

The church has one single goal. To bring to pass, the immortality and eternal life of Man. This includes priesthood keys, and a structure. I think a lot of what has been organized is inspired. The home teaching program, the welfare program, the three hour Sunday block, the Sunday school manuals. Sometimes I think God pushes prophets in the right direction, or simply inspires people in the trenches with brilliance. Other times, the prophets may say, "How about this idea..." and God says, "That'll work." And sometimes God may say "You can try it out, but I'll let you know when to change it." Perfect? No, the programs, aren't perfect (although some are as close to Earthly perfection, as anything I have seen). And as the church grows, programs don't work. When I was a kid, we had Sunday School in the morning, Sacrament meeting in the afternoon, and Primary was on Wednesdays. Worked great when you lived a couple blocks from the church, which the vast majority of Mormons did, back in the day. Also, temples were massive. And new temples were rare. Not so much any more. The church even (no pun intended) floated the idea of a temple ship that could travel to the islands of the Pacific so members could have their temple work done on a portable temple. So, no, not so much perfect, but adjustable to the needs and requirements to fulfill the plan of God.

Surprisingly no. Turns out, when you commit to it, you end up making it work. Probably wouldn't work in our society of cheap divorce, but when you have no option but make it work, you make it work. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-22/features/sc-fam-0821-arranged-marriage-20120821_1_marriages-free-choice-satisfaction

I had a 98 Ford Mustang for 13 years. Loved it, but it was pretty ragged at the end. I now lease a Fiat 500e all electric car, and thanks to California's generous cash back program for such things, I have a super low cost lease ($80/mo). it's perfect for work but I can't go more than 30 miles in any one direction.

Also, I don't consider android to be like being a mechanic. Sure you can go deeper into the OS, but you don't have to. You can use it at a very high level right out of the box. Very easy.

Android phones come in all different varieties. You can get a super expensive cutting edge phone, or you can get a basic model, or anything in between. I got a lower end model with a good camera. With Apple you get what you get, and yes, cost is the driving factor for me, both in the hardware and the monthly plan. I am saving at least $1000 a year by not going Apple.

The real loser was Microsoft, who was too hung up on Windows comparability.

Not really. Android was an open source project with a few phones out that used it, but no one really mainstream. Google bought them, and essentially commercialized it releasing multiple main phone releases about a year after the first iPhone, but the UI was around at least 3 years before Apple even started designing their phone's UI.

Actually he stole the UI from Android, before Google bought them. They had an opensource demo out for years before Apple's first iPhone.

Price and selection. Android. I have a plan through Republic Wireless, and my monthly bill is $12. No data and I get internet via wifi. Sometimes I don't have wifi, but not often. For those who want data, they have plans for $25 for 3G and $35 for 4G (price may have gone up, but not much). So, the monthly charges are Waaaay cheaper. The company piggy backs on Sprint, so that's your actual carrier, but cheaper than going directly through Sprint. No contract. And you can change your plan any time, even just for a few days, so if I go on vacation, I can set my plan to 4G for a while, and then switch back when I am done. Phone. With my plan I pick a phone from several options from cheap to expensive. I just upgrade my MotoX to a MotoG (latest) which is on the cheaper end, but still an awesome phone. You pay up front, face value for the phone, because no contract. But it's worth it. When I transferred over, all I did was put in my number and it did the rest. Transferred everything from Google storage, including all my installed apps, contacts and pictures. The OS is the same (well a little different with an upgrade) but familiar and totally compatible. And I could have switched to any number of a dozen or more phones. So you just have tons more options. Apple is for people who want to impress, but it's not as good, and it's way more expensive. You're paying for smugness.

What about Whigs?

Living in Orange County, I welcome any change that removes us from the boot of LA and SF.

Trump wasn't my first choice, but he wasn't my last. Hillary was my last choice, and frankly, I would have voted for an old shoe if I knew it meant she wouldn't win. That said, reading up on his style and methodology via the book Winning Bigly by Scott Adams, put a lot of things into perspective. The lying media, the way he overshoots a goal, how he uses purposeful false facts to ensure the media "corrects" him and end up spreading the actual figures. Much of it is psychological, and it works, clearly. The media and the left are eating their own as to why their strategy of carpet bombing anti-Trump isn't working. And, frankly, it's glorious to watch. I just hope they implode soon so we can have true journalism again.

This just shows the total bias of the media. Dershowitzs is saying exactly what every journalist should be saying. The anti-Trump rhetoric is a joke, and the media is just another player in it, when they should be calling it out for what it is. If we had honesty, they would all chant in unison how ignorant and stupid these things are. And maybe gain some respect again for the office of the presidency, and maybe find some way to accept half of America who supported Trump in the election as anything other than little Nazis. Seriously.

Movies: Field of Dreams, Rudy, Miracle, Titanic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (timeless classic), Jurassic Park (the original), James Bond (with Roger Moore especially), 50 First Dates (and I loathe Adam Sandler). TV: Star Trek Voyager (I've gone through the series at least 5 times), CSI Las Vegas, Jeopardy (every day). I do have Babylon 5 on DVD, but I haven't watched it in years. I also loved Leminy Snicket. It was unique.

By the way, the movie RAN, is King Lear set in Japan with samurai. So, adaptations can be pretty interesting. Brilliant movie by the way. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/?ref_=nv_sr_1