Jamie123
-
Posts
2979 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
28
Posts posted by Jamie123
-
-
K. I need a little rant moment here.
I am getting sick of the two extremes. The perspectives that are all about the letter and the adherance to the letter meaning focus on performance and practice and to do lists and all the evaluation of that as it is used to decide if someone is "good". And then the subsequent judgments that get thrown across the chapel at others and how they aren't righteous...etc.
And then there is the spirit of the law champions who sometimes disregard the law in favor of their own needs. As if strictness of the law is somehow distasteful or lesser. It feels rather ( i can't think of the right word) prideful to bend the law or lay it aside as one justifies themselves in a little sin or indulgence or freedom and at the same time sees themselves as obedient. And then there are the judgments that come flying out of this camp that make the the law observers all characterized as pharasees!
Frankly, I can't understand the two camps. Seems both are missing the point. Since when does understanding the spirit of the law and living a principle oriented life mean that we abandon the law? Or think we know better than the brethren? Since when did obedience mean that we sort of follow the law or that we only follow it with our individual spins?
And since when does following the law automatically mean that we are blind to the spirit of the law? BAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am reminded of this scripture.
Matthew 23: 23
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrits! for ye pay tithe of mine and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
In my mind, obedience is about both.
I agree with you. Some people are fond of using the phrase "they did what was right in their own eyes" (a reference to Judges 21:25) to condemn people who have disregarded written rules in face of conflicting considerations. An interesting case was on a website posted by one of the "Anti-Harry Potter Brigade" who (doubtless hoping to reach people who didn't share her anti-witchcraft views) cited the fact that Harry and his friends sometimes tell lies and disobey their superiors. Yet anyone who has ever thought about it properly will freely admit there are circumstances where it is necessary to tell a white lie. What, for instance would you have said had you lived in Nazi-occupied Europe and a Gestapo officer asked you if you knew where any Jews were hiding?
Of course telling lies isn't usually against the law (except in a few cases such as when giving testimony in court) but it is an example of a something that is usually "against the rules" - it might for example be forbidden under a school honor code, which is essentially a system of laws in miniature. Returning to the actual law though, you often hear arguments of this type:
A: So you would disobey the law?
B: Under those circumstances, yes.
A: So what you're saying is that the law doesn't matter?
This is a false dichotomy, on a par with:
A: Would you like a cup of tea?
B: No thank you.
A: So what you're saying is you want to drink nitric acid?
Of course the law matters. We have a duty to obey it. But that doesn't mean that our duty to obey the law is our first, last and only duty, which comes ahead of every other consideration. (For an example of this kind of logic in action, look at some of Thunderf00t's YouTube condemnations of Ben Stein's movie Expelled.)
-
Jamie...i wasn't referring to your comment. just to something that happens all the time.
Thanks miztrniceguy - I didn't really think that. I just wanted to clarify where I was coming from. I know there are a lot of strawmen of Mormonism, just as there are of most other belief systems.
-
Having asked about the "large bodies of water" thing, I've been racking my brains for other strange ideas I've heard about Mormonism. Three spring to mind:
- Heavenly Father (on Kolob) communicates with His spirit-children on Earth via streams of "tachyons" (hypothetical faster-than-light particles which lose energy as they accelerate). This supposedly explains how prayers can be answered instantaneously, despite the many light-years between Kolob and Earth.
- Heavenly Father has a physical body similar to ours, but has powder in his veins in place of blood.
- Joseph Smith claimed that the moon is inhabited by a race of tall humans who dress similarly to the early Quakers. During the 1960s and early 70's, Apollo astronauts were contacted by Church members and asked to look for signs of these people.
Any thoughts on where these ideas may have come from? (Please forgive my idle curiosity.)
-
Thanks for all the replies - I suspected this was probably some obscure piece of doctrine which was being taken out of context.
isn't wonderful that nonmembers so often tell us what we believe?
Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to tell you guys what you believe - I was just interested to hear your comments about this rather strange idea I remember hearing.
-
I read Charles Larson's book a few years ago, and I was grateful for it as none of the Mormon sisters/elders I'd spoken to before then knew anything to speak of about the BOA controversy. But even then I thought there were a few holes in Larson's arguments. For instance, there's no proof that the Egyptian letters on the BOA MS were put there by Joseph Smith at all, and not some well-meaning but hopelessly misguided individual who came across the papers years later. Also the last chapter of Larson's book shows it's an anti-Mormon polemic and not a true work of scholarship.
Having said that, this guy (in the video) seems to be making an awful fuss about one very small victory. It's not like this is the first chink ever discovered in Larson's armor.
-
I remember reading somewhere (unless I dreamed it - which is possible) that Mormons are afraid of large bodies of water (lakes, oceans, large rivers) because they believe that is where the Devil lives. Is there any truth in this?
-
Every Single Episode of Scooby Doo Ever
1. En-route to a pop concert, Scooby and his friends are waylaid by the leader of a community being terrorised by a monster.
2. They decide to solve the mystery and split into two groups to search for the monster.
3. Daphne falls through a trapdoor, thus discovering monster's secret passage.
4. Velma loses her glasses and runs around colliding with stationary objects.
5. Shaggy and Scooby encounter the monster, but manage to distract it (temporarily) by pretending to be barbers and giving it a haircut.
6. The whole gang run around to musical accompaniment, sometimes pursuing and sometimes pursued by the monster.
7. Fred constructs an elaborate Heath Robinson-style contraption to capture the monster.
8. Fred's contraption fails to work as he intends it to, but the monster is nonetheless captured - thanks to dumb luck on the part of Shaggy and Scooby.
9. The mask is pulled from the monster's face, revealing it to be really the person who was complaining about it in the first place.
10. Velma explains everything.
11. The unmasked "monster" comments that his plan would have worked had it not been for certain "meddling kids".
12. Shaggy fixes himself an unfeasibly large sandwich which is promptly eaten by Scooby, who excuses this thieving behavior by saying "Scooby Dooby Doo!" Everyone laughs and the episode closes.
-
That didn't take you by surprise? It sure caught me out!The Sixth Sense: He's dead.
-
Probably this one...
-
Star Trek - The Search for Spock (They find him.)
Titanic (The ship sinks.)
The Fall of the Roman Empire (The Roman Empire falls.)
-
A boy gets sent home from school early.
"What did you do to get sent home?" demands his father.
The boy refuses to say. So the father puts on his hat and coat and goes to see the school Principal.
"My son was sent home from school," he says, "and I want to know why!"
"Well," says the Principal. "In scripture class today he was asked 'who knocked down the walls of Jericho' and he answered 'Well it wasn't me!'"
The father thinks about this for a moment and then replies:
"Well if he says he didn't do it, he didn't do it!"
-
Someone sent me an email that one of the planets will be close to the size of the moon by the end of August. I can't remember which one was mentioned and don't know if it is even true. They said won't happen again for another 60,000 years.
It is certainly not true, Pam. None of the planets ever comes remotely near enough to earth appear anything like the size of the moon.
-
Yup - there isn't much animation to match up with Walt Disney.
-
Sounds like me - I've always considered telephones a nuisance - RING RING RING breaking my train of thought. It used to be that when you were away from the telephone you were free, but then some evil blighter had to go and invent the cell phone. Now there's no peace for the wicked.No, not really. Most of my family are technophobes and most have mobile phones but never actually turn them on - apparently this small detail of the purpose of a mobile phone is missed on them.
-
Why are pirates called "pirates"?
Because they just arrrrrr!
-
In light of the Pres. Obama, Sargeant Crowley, and Prof. Gates incident, has anybody had any positive or negative experiences with police officers? Also, any thoughts on the Obama/Crowley/Gates episode? Did Gates over-react? Or was it Crowley? Or was it Pres. Obama with his statement at the press conference? Again, any experiences you've had, good or bad, please share.
I'm not familiar with this incident - can you post a link please?
-
Well apparently Mormons aren't allowed to send flowers:
-
Once upon a time there was a far away land which was ruled by a King and Queen. They and all their subjects were happy, but there was one thing that troubled them. They had no son to rule after them when they were gone. They prayed to God to send them a child, and at last their prayers were answered.
The young prince was perfect in every way, but there was one rather strange thing about him. In the centre of his naval was the head of a silver screw. The King and Queen were troubled by this, and they summoned all the sages and prophets and other wise men of the kingdom to see if they could explain it. And none of them could, apart from one very old, wise man who made a prophecy that at the last stroke of midnight, on the prince's twelfth birthday, this screw would be removed and its hidden purpose would be revealed.
Well the years went by, and the baby grew into a strong healthy young boy who would one day make a fine king. And when his twelfth birthday came, his parents held a magnificent banquet in his honor, and lords and ladies from all over the land came and danced long into the night. But as midnight approached, the guests began to leave and young prince - tired but happy - was taken up to bed.
As he lay there, listening to the palace clock striking twelve, he remembered the old man's prophecy and wondered what would happen when when the last stroke came. Then above him in the ceiling a tiny trap door opened, and from it came a silver thread, and on the end of the silver thread was a silver fairy holding a silver screwdriver. And the fairy reached down and began to unscrew the screw in the prince's bellybutton. The screw turned and turned and turned, and it came out to quite a length - about two or three inches. Then the fairy climbed back up the thread, back through the trapdoor and was gone.
The prince was elated. The silver screw was gone, and at last he was like any other boy. He leaped out of bed, eager to tell his mother and father about the wonderful thing that had happened to him...
...and his butt fell off.
-
I got the impression (this is based on my experience 15-odd years ago when I used to attend an LDS chapel) that the High Priests' Quorum represented the older male element of the branch, and that elders (and even prospective elders) of the similar age group were considered part of it - as far as social events went anyhow.
The way I see it usually happen is that it comes in conjunction with some sort of calling that needs the higher authority. For example, my husband became a HP because he was called into a bishopric. Our new bishopric are all new HP's as well. I don't think anyone becomes a HP just to become a HP.
I read somewhere that a man can serve as .bishop without being a HP if he can prove that he is descended from the tribe of Levi - but that this has never actually happened.
-
There was once a young man who dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. He went to ballet school, graduated top of his class, and finally he bears his diploma proudly to the employment bureau.
"Oh, no no!" says the clerk. "We have too many unemployed ballet dancers in this country! Why not go to America? They're crying out for ballet dancers over there!"
So the young man goes to the travel agents, but tickets to America are far too expensive for him to afford. But as he wanders despondently down the street, he noticed a display of surf boards in a sports shop window. Suddenly he brightens up.
"I know!" he says. "If I buy a surf board and take it down to the ocean, and paddle and paddle and paddle, eventually I can get right across the ocean to America and can pursue my dream of being a ballet dancer."
So he buys the board, takes it down to the beach, and gets paddling.
Several days later he is utterly exhausted and can't paddle another foot, and is still only half way across the Atlantic. He is sitting there wondering what to do when a pigeon lands on his board.
"What are you doing?" asks the (surprisingly articulate) pigeon. "Half way across the ocean sitting on a surf board! Are you crazy?"
So the young man tells his sorry tale, and the pigeon listens.
"I know," says the pigeon. "Have you any string?"
The man looks in his pocket, and sure enough he does have a long piece of string.
"Good," says the pigeon. "Tie one end to the front of the board, and give the other end to me."
So he does this, and the pigeon obligingly tows him the rest of the way to America. He thanks the pigeon and makes his way to the closest employment office.
"Excellent!" says the clerk. "You're just what we need! I just need a few details though. How did you get to America?"
"By surf board," says the youth.
"What?"
"Surf board. I say on a surf board and paddled."
"What!?" says the clerk, astonished. "You paddled all the way to America."
"Well...not exactly," says the young man. "I paddled half way and a pigeon pulled me the rest."
"Oh no!" says the clerk. "This will never do!"
"Why not?" asks the crestfallen youth.
"Because no one wants to employ a PIGEON TOWED BALLET DANCER!"
-
Treebeard put it rather well:
Time for lunch here! We're having goat today!Maybe you have heard of Trolls? They are mighty strong. But Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves. We are stronger than Trolls.
-
Richmal Crompton, another famous British author (though perhaps less famous than Milne), best known for the Just William series, once wrote a cruel but very funny parody of Christopher Robin in a short story called Aunt Arabelle in Charge. It appears in a collection called William the Pirate, which is probably out of print by now, but if you're familiar with Milne's poetry it will have you in stitches.Many Americans have been enchanted by Milne's sweet stories and read them to our children; for about a year, he was my children's preferred author for bedtime stories.
-
LOL It's OK Vort I'm not offended - I've always had a fascination for "bad jokes" that drives my family mad. Examples:- Ugh. My post about Jamie's joke came across much nastier than I had intended, which I see as I reread it. I would delete it, though since at this point it's already been quoted in its entirety, deletion would be a futile gesture. Sorry, Jamie.
- Humor is personal and situational, so my declaration that the joke "wasn't funny" is a case of poor judgment, and not just because the statement was offensive. Who's to say it wasn't funny? Heaven knows I've posted many supposedly "funny" observations that haven't exactly caught the list by storm, like my recent crack about non-existent galactic epicanthic folds.
- Calling the poem "obscure" was likewise a poor word choice. Many Americans have been enchanted by Milne's sweet stories and read them to our children; for about a year, he was my children's preferred author for bedtime stories.
All in all, an unfortunate posting from Vort. Apologies all around.
- There are never any aspirins in the jungle because "Parrots eat 'em all".
- Confusion of Swede (a person from Sweden) with swede (a kind of turnip).
- Endless stupid comments based on the assumption that "eau de toilette" is literally water from the toilet.
- That the TO LET signs often seen in Britain are missing an I between the O and the L.
Maybe I'll grow out of it one day.
-
You also need to be familiar with an obscure British ditty about Christopher Robin going down with Alice to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
I've just been thinking this over: Though Americans know all about Winnie the Pooh, this is principally because of Walt Disney and the original creator - A.A.Milne - has largely been forgotten. This tends to happen a lot: Once the movie-makers get hold of a story their version soon eclipses the original.
This is not always a terrible thing: For instance, I love Disney's Snow White way better than any other version of the story. On the other hand not many people remember L. Frank Baum as the author of the Oz books; mention of the Wizard of Oz has us thinking mostly of Judy Garland and singing dancing munchkins.
In the case of Pooh, I reckon many Americans think that he's an original Disney creation, not a "Disnification" of a well-known British character. I think is a shame, because much of the original humour of Pooh does not carry over into the Disney versions. For instance, Milne's original Eyore is not merely gloomy, but also rather laconic. He expresses himself through understatement and generally has a low opinion of other people's intelligence (particularly Pooh and Piglet).
I remember after one of our family trips to the movie theatre when I was a a child; we went to see one of the Disney Pooh movies, and when we came out my dad was grumbling about what "The Americans" had done to his favourite childhood characters, and how Tigger never referred to Rabbit as "Old Long Ears"!
Some other strange ideas
in LDS Gospel Discussion
Posted
I'll buy it! It's not every day you're offered a bridge that makes bird-noises!