HEthePrimate

Oh good, now that I've read the letter, I don't have to attend sacrament meeting tomorrow!(Just kidding! )

There are people who say the spread of democracy is a plague. That doesn't mean they're right. I compare it to the consumption of alcoholic beverages. There is a huge difference between occasionally having a glass of wine with dinner, and being an alcoholic. I'm just saying that just because a person may have looked at porn a few times, doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Let's not blow things out of proportion. However, I certainly do acknowledge that porn use, like alcohol use, can easily get out of hand and wreck lives. So people should use their judgment, and get help if they need it. But let's not assume that a person is a horrible evil sinner simply for having looked at pictures of naked ladies a couple of times.

It may be political, but keep in mind that "political" is not a synonym for "bad" or "wrong." Personally, I agree with the premise that we shouldn't be greedy, and shouldn't chop down all the trees. The book and movie may be simplistic, but they were written for kids, and the basic message is correct. People who have a problem with The Lorax should also have a problem with The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien had a similar attitude to Dr. Seuss about greed, industrialization, and their potential negative impact on the environment. (And he was right, too! )

Your bishop would be surprised if you had NOT seen porn or masturbated. So if you feel it'll help you, do not fear talking to the bishop--he has undoubtedly already had plenty of other people confess to him, so you will not surprise or shock him. Unless he just barely got called to be a bishop for the first time, of course! Other people will disagree with me on this--and that's ok--but frankly, I think many Mormons get a little carried away with the guilt over "small potatoes" stuff like masturbation and pornography. I mean, if viewing porn consumes hours of your time on a regular basis, interferes with your work and family life, etc., then sure, you have a problem and need to do something about it. But if you just look at it occasionally, in the privacy of your own home, and it doesn't hurt anybody else, then maybe it's not such a big problem. And honestly, because of how human psychology works, worrying too much over something like that can actually make the problem worse, the old "don't think about white elephants" conundrum. But that's just my point of view, not yours. You know what's best for you, and if you feel that talking to the bishop can help assuage your guilt or overcome your problem, by all means, go ahead. I think you'll find him understanding and sympathetic. (Unless you're gay, in which case you'll be lucky to find a sympathetic bishop, though they do exist. But that's a topic for another thread.) Good luck, my friend! :) HEP

That is neat. Just curious, is it just the one item on display, or is there more Islamic art being shown, too?

Well, at least the government tells you how it spends the money you give it...

Sorry, double post.

Never heard of it before, but I just looked it up online, and that sounds GOOOOOD! There's a local ice cream chain in my town that is just incredible. They use natural ingredients, and though they can't get all of their ingredients locally, they try to do that as much as possible. Super rich, super tasty, and they come up with some pretty exotic flavors. For example, "Bangkok Peanut," with the following ingredients: Peanut butter, locally-produced honey, toasted fresh-ground coconut, and sharp cayenne pepper. Also, Influenza Sorbet: Cayenne pepper, ginger, bourbon, honey, and cold- and flu-fighting orange and lemon juices. Cures whatever ails you. They say, “This is our flu-season fix. It’s proven to clear nasal passages, ease a sore throat, and soothe the body. It’s modeled on the home remedy my mother and grandmother made when anyone in the family was under the weather. Sniffles, aches, and fevers meant one thing: a mug of hot whiskey with honey and lemon juice, then straight to bed.” Probably my favorite flavor, though, is Pistachio & Honey. Mmmmmm!!! :)

No, the couple would not have to get remarried before the sealing--they are already legally married.Now, if the couple wants to publicly celebrate their love for and commitment to each other again, there's no reason they couldn't invite their friends and family to a party/renewal of vows ceremony. But it's certainly not required by the Church, and I think most couples who join the Church after alreay being married just do a sealing ceremony. Just want to say, I LOVE weddings! (I'm a romantic at heart. :))

Part of it depends on how you two have agreed to handle your finances. If the arrangement is that every major financial decision be mutually agreed upon, then your DW should have counseled with you about this first. However, if you have agreed that each of you can unilaterally make financial decisions, within reason, then maybe she is within her rights. Some couples basically allocate a certain amount (hopefully equal) of money that each can spend without asking the other, and if you two have that arrangement, then your wife can spend "her" money how she pleases, even if you don't agree with it. But I don't know what your situation is. In any case, I agree with you that it's foolish to keep lending money to a compulsive gambler, at least if he doesn't pay you back. Maybe once or twice, but not on a continuing basis. And yes, your BIL needs to address his addiction. It is normal, and actually kind of touching, that your wife loves her brother enough to try to help him. But some ways of helping are better than others. Sometimes bailing someone out is the right thing to do--Christ did that for us. Sometimes saying "enough is enough" is the right thing to do. Good luck, my friend.

I don't know how many times I've read the BoM--stopped counting about two decades ago. Besides, I don't think how many times one reads the BoM to be important--what matters is paying heed to the message from God found in The Book of Mormon. I've learned a number of things from the BoM, but the one that sticks out for me right now is the "Nephite Cycle," where the Nephites are blessed, but then become prideful, look down on and despise others (especially the poor and weak) and persecute them, and then God chastises/humbles the Nephites for that. That is an extremely timely message for our day. Is the Church still under condemnation for that? I remember President Benson saying that, but that was 25 years ago. Maybe it still is, and if so, it's probably because of where we, as a Church, are in the Nephite Cycle mentioned above.Peace, HEP

FWIW, Snow, I agree that the existence of a personage called 'Satan' is not strictly necessary. It doesn't logically follow that because God exists, Satan must also exist. Having said that, it is possible that those who oppose God have a leader, and that people call him Satan, the Devil, or whatever. But evil would exist in the world just fine without such a being--we humans are quite capable of cooking up evil in our own hearts.

Agreed. I don't think she's trying to say that all men in leadership positions are like that, just that she has a problem and would like it fixed.

So, being upset that you can't be sealed to your parents is a sign that your moral compass is "unbridledly pointed by your feelings?" Strange, I thought we Mormons were supposed to encourage people to get sealed to their families!

I think most of our bad decisions are a result of stupidity. Either that or selfishness, though one could argue that selfishness is stupid. For the most part, we're quite capable of doing bad things on our own without encouragement from the Devil. It's not as though it would never have occurred to us to, say, steal that cookie unless somebody told us to!

For a good discussion of what Satan is all about, I recommend the book I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, by Rene Girard.

Thanks, I'll try that later. In order to get the disk check to stop, I restarted the computer and booted from the CD. Ended up reinstalling the OS. Not a huge problem, but annoying.

Really? Paranoid much?

Last night I decided to run a disk check on my computer, which uses the Windows Vista OS. I thought it would take an hour or so, but it ran all night and was nowhere near done when I left for work this morning! How can I abort chkdsk, and prevent it from starting up again when I reboot? I already tried restarting the computer, and it went automatically into chkdsk without asking me. There was a window of about 10 seconds when it said to 'Press any key' to stop the disk check, but when I pressed a key, it didn't stop! o_O Help! I want to logon and be able to use my computer! Thanks.

Just saw this over at Feminist Mormon Housewives: Second Class Citizens - Part-Member Family. What I'm caught my attention was not so much the blog post itself, but Comment #8, about the woman who was not allowed to get sealed to her parents because she was supposedly too old!! It seems to me her bishop and stake president were waaaay out of line, considering that the Church teaches that everybody is supposed to be sealed to their parents, as well as to their spouses and children. What's your reaction?

Testing testing 1 2 3... Morg Tom, ****, and Harry Just wanted to do an experiment and see if 'Morg' got censored here. Apparently not! It does at another site I post at, but you can write 'Tom, ****, and Harry' over there and not get it bleeped. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Sorry, but you lost me there.Does your spouse love you and treat you well? If so, that's great! Do your children have two loving parents? If so, they are pretty darn lucky! Having an active LDS spouse may be what you envisioned, and both spouses sharing a faith can make certain things easier, but it is not the "end all and be all" of happy family life. You can enjoy a loving and happy family even if you view religion differently. Enjoy the wonderful blessings you have! Peace, HEP

Join the club--I think most of us, at some point or another, have coworkers we don't like.Is there anything you know of that you two have in common, perhaps a common interest? Even if you otherwise can't stand the person, talking with them about something you're both interested in (or agree on) may help to overcome the revulsion you feel towards that person. That's kind of what I do with my coworker, who is a person I would not normally associate with except that I have to work with him. Sometimes I just ignore him and do my own thing, other times I get him talking about a mutual interest. Not only does it help me deal with him, it puts him in a better mood, too! Good luck! :)

The only thing I would say is that scripture would be what that person writes under inspiration from God. That is, scripture is the result when God tells a person to write a message for people, and the person does write it. The same person could could also, of his own accord, write a cookbook (or a novel, or his opinion about religion), and that would not be scripture because it's not under the direction of God.

If this site replaces '****' with four asterisks, what do you do if your real life name is ****?