Maxel

lol beefche. I don't think you'd want to go out with me when I'm in that mindset...

Errr... I think acting morally even when the major incentives to do so are removed is very honorable.Why does that make you not an LDS poster child?

If there was really no afterlife, no repercussions for what we do, I would go out on the town drinking. Get sexed up, blow a lot of cash, and then kill myself in some painless manner. I'm not joking. The major motivating factor in my life is God. If He weren't real, I would rather cease to exist than continue this hellish existence.

The article says the spire would be higher than the residential zoning regulations. Do the residential regulations apply to commercial buildings like temples?

I think religion is the tool God uses to bring His children into His fold and to bare His holy arm to the nations. Of course, like all tools, if used improperly and/or wielded by one with evil intentions, it can become a force for evil.

I just want to add my in agreement of much of what has been said above. Everything I've learned about the nature of sin tells me that we cannot fully repent until we've admitted that sin to everyone we hurt- and this indiscretion hurt your husband as much as it hurt you and the Lord. Move forward with faith and prayer. You're not a bad person! Repentance makes everything better, if we are willing to undergo the process.

I believe that God the Father is the literal, physical father of Christ, but that doesn't mean that the Father had intercourse with Mary.I look at it more this way: If the father has flesh and bones, then those flesh and bones are constructed by DNA (I think; there may be something of a higher level at work but for this exercise's sake, we'll assume it's DNA). A literal son would have the DNA of his parent's- at birth, 50% is from his mom and 50% is from his dad. Christ received godly DNA from his Father and human DNA from his mother. Somehow, Mary got impregnated and the resultant embryo contained 50% Mary's DNA and 50% God the Father's. How exactly this occurred is anyone's guess; however I'm of the opinion that it wasn't through traditional means.

Also, maybe we could drop the GrandmaAri tangent? It's going nowhere. If she wants to post her opinions and claim they are fact, but cannot back them up, then don't respond. Unless she's breaking a rule, I don't see the need for this kind of reaction. Even if she were, there still wouldn't be justification for this kind of response from non-moderators.

Theoretically- The man and his partner would be welcomed so long as they didn't show any public display of affection (maybe holding hands would be ok... Probably up to the discretion of the bishop). Eventually, they would find the Church a waste of time or desire to join. From that point on, it's their choice if they want to give up their homosexual lifestyle and focus on becoming disciples of Christ or not. Either way, I doubt they'd be attending as a gay couple for long.

Man, what a bummer day at Church. Glad to see that you soldiered through valiantly, interalia.

So, out of ~5000 doctors polled who belonged to the AMA- which on its website proudly declares it supports health care reform, only 63% actually support a public option? That seems to be a shockingly low number of doctors who are committed to their organization's goals. Thanks for linking the original study, Elphaba.

Moksha, Joseph Smith also taught about the Sun/Moon/Stars analogy. I doubt he ever learned about Swedenborg's teachings. If two men realize there's salt in the sea at different time periods, does that mean that the latter copied the former's conclusion?

If she doesn't want to "do the work", so to speak, required for Godhood, she can't "reap the rewards".If, after being wholly sanctified she still wants no children, she'll be as happy as she can wherever she's put- but she'll probably never attain the level of godhood that our Father enjoys. Perhaps that's the kind of people that populate the second level of the celestial kingdom. Right now, I'm working on even being worthy to enter the Celestial kingdom at all... Long way to go before being endowed and sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise.

That's awesome!

HWJP? (How Would Jesus Post?)

Wait... Doctors are there to help people? I thought they just wanted to amputate limbs for profit.... I don't see how the poll Elphaba's posted is "baloney". I understand that the article bytor linked is critical of it and has different results but the sampling method seems to be the same (randomly chosen doctors surveyed by mail and phone), and the sampling size for Elphaba's poll is larger (2,130, as opposed to 1,376). Did I miss fine print in the article Elphaba linked...?

Religious prohibition aside, I also wouldn't get one. I change so much- I don't want reminders of what I have been on my body. There are other ways to show uniqueness that don't require so much pain.

GrandmaAri: If you can't link sources, you can't expect us to believe what you're saying when all linked resources (from reputable sources) show evidence to the contrary. That being said- can we drop the AIDS tangent? It brings absolutely zero to this conversation; it's relation to the OP is purely hypothetical.

Homosexuality can only be spinnned as a 'special gift' if it's viewed as healthy and normal. Then, one can revel in the 'individuality' and 'uniqueness' of it- disregarding the elephant of an uneasy conscience sitting in the corner of the room. That's part of why I said Affirmation's goals are anti-Christ- they seek to rip some Saints away from the foundation of Christ by unwittingly rejecting His eternal laws and relishing in wickedness. This is accomplished by saying wickedness isn't actually wickedness. Sounds like Korihor- only a lot more deceitful.

There's not enough of the story to judge whether AIDS was a factor or not.I'd still like to know: -Where did he get the money for the trip to Portland? Who paid for it? -Why did he go to Portland? Did he have no friends' houses to go to? Why go and be homeless in Portland instead of being homeless in one's hometown? Surely one is better connected where one is; no need to move unless there's better prospects there. -What's the whole story? What was in the friend's letter that lead Moore's aunt to believe that Moore was gay? Was it because he just suffered from Same-Sex Attraction, or was he having gay sex or living an otherwise gay lifestyle? -What contention and problems-- other than Moore's aunt's aversion to his sexuality-- were extant in the household? There's simply too few facts presented in the article. If anyone has more information that would be great.

I don't think Alana holds the priesthood, seeing as how she's a female. So... Girls like the white shirts, eh? Going to have to start wearing one every day!

Because people are too stupid to take care of themselves and need a king to rule over them and herd them like sheep. Not a spiritual king like God, mind you- an earthly king. Having God as one's king is just silly! He can't be seen and we can't know his mind- we need a good king to make sure we don't hurt ourselves with guns or too much money.[/sarcasm]

If Moore had to tell his Aunt, who he was living with, that he was gay over the phone because she read a letter his friend sent to him then there's probably other problems in the home besides the anti-homosexuality. And much more to the story. Just a thought. It infuriates me when those with anti-Christ agendas attempt to take the moral high ground and criticize the entirety of the Saints for the stupid actions of a relatively minor percentage of them. Yes... The LDS populace is so hate-filled and bigoted. That's why we fight back when our temples are picketed and threatened. That's why we seceded from an America that turned its back on us when we were kicked like dogs. That's why there's so many Mormon suicide bombers out there. Oh wait... We don't do any of those things.

Oh, gotcha.Well, I'm against both tattoos and purely cosmetic plastic surgery, so I guess there's no hypocrisy within me in that regard.

Is that really why temples get reconstructed? Or is it to bring temples up to date with current safety standards?Putting graffiti on a temple is a far cry from reconstruction. The former is like tattooing our bodies, the latter is like getting needed medical procedures.