pam

I may be betraying my age, but I grew hearing that religion is bad. For Christians, the refrain was, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship." The idea being that everyone else had to be religious because they were trying to reach God. Religion was humanity's attempt to find God. We learned that God came after us by sending Jesus to die for our sins.
Non-Christians, and some progressive ones, were fond of saying, "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual." What they meant was that organized religions were about systems and rules and programs. They were about personally connecting with their higher power. 
My argument, as a chaplain, is that religion is good. If people are trying to reach God the Old Testament, New Testament, and Book of Mormon proclaim that they will find Him. As a great example, I've heard stories of Muslims having dreams of Jesus coming to them. Since Islam teaches that Jesus is a prophet, they listen carefully. After all, we should listen to and heed what prophets tell us, right? (i hear the faithful church members saying 'amen.')  Jesus tells them that he is more than a prophet--he is the Savior--the Son of God. They listen and some convert, because they are religious. Their religion teaches them that Jesus is to be listened to because he is a prophet.
So, no, religion will not redeem anyone. However, religion--a seeking after God--can build a spiritual bridge that can lead the soul to conversion/salvation.
Bottom-line: Religion is good. 

I watch on YouTube because I can speed it up - I find it easier to concentrate at high speeds.  Also, I can pause it to take notes, then resume.   But I like that the Church has an app and that it has all the features one could want (as far as I can tell).

I'll stick to the 2 hours thank you very much.

I'll stick to the 2 hours thank you very much.

You're about as dingy as they get.  Oh wait...you said dingos.  My bad.  

@pam if you don’t behave yourself I’m telling everyone why you got kicked out of the restaurant on Saturday.
 

You're about as dingy as they get.  Oh wait...you said dingos.  My bad.  

You're about as dingy as they get.  Oh wait...you said dingos.  My bad.  

You're about as dingy as they get.  Oh wait...you said dingos.  My bad.  

He looked like a drowned rat when they pulled him from the lake.  

He looked like a drowned rat when they pulled him from the lake.  

I should have let you drown. 

He looked like a drowned rat when they pulled him from the lake.  

He looked like a drowned rat when they pulled him from the lake.  

He looked like a drowned rat when they pulled him from the lake.  

And I saved you from being eaten by a real alligator. 
 
Ms. @pam jumped in the lake and wanted to feed the alligator. I heroically jumped in and rescued her while the crowd cheered. Afterwards they lifted me on their shoulders and carried me around Myrtle Beach for hours. 

What a kind gesture.

Careful, @Carborendum - you may end up in the river!

I threw him in the river.

I threw him in the river.

I threw him in the river.

The way I see it....any dent is a good dent.

Thank you @zil2for doing this.  I really appreciate you taking the lead on this.  

Thank you @zil2for doing this.  I really appreciate you taking the lead on this.  

Please see the Book of Mormon Reading Group thread for details (and discussion of 1 Nephi 1 - 5).  This is the thread for the first full week.  Our goal is to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  I'll make a new post before each Monday so that it's ready to go - weeks go from Monday to Sunday for our purposes.  Each thread will be discussions on that week's readings.  Just to make it easier on everyone, I'm going to ping all those who have expressed a desire to participate.  This is the only thread where I'll do that.
@Jamie123, @Vort, @laronius, @askandanswer, @JohnsonJones, @pam, @Carborendum, @Just_A_Guy
Index to all threads:
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 11 Sep - 17 Sep 2023 (1 Nephi 6 - 1 Nephi 18)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 18 Sep - 24 Sep 2023 (1 Nephi 19 - 2 Nephi 9)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 25 Sep - 01 Oct 2023 (2 Nephi 10 - 2 Nephi 28)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 02 Oct - 08 Oct 2023 (2 Nephi 29 - Omni 1)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 09 Oct - 15 Oct 2023 (Words of Mormon 1 - Mosiah 13)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 16 Oct - 22 Oct 2023 (Mosiah 14 - Mosiah 29)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 23 Oct - 29 Oct 2023 (Alma 1 - Alma 12)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 30 Oct - 05 Nov 2023 (Alma 13 - Alma 25)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 06 Nov - 12 Nov 2023 (Alma 26 - Alma 37)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 13 Nov - 19 Nov 2023 (Alma 38 - Alma 51)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 20 Nov - 26 Nov 2023 (Alma 52 - Helaman 1)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 27 Nov - 03 Dec 2023 (Helaman 2 - Helaman14)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 04 Dec - 10 Dec 2023 (Helaman 15 - 3 Nephi 13)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 11 Dec - 17 Dec 2023 (3 Nephi 14 - 4 Nephi 1)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 18 Dec - 24 Dec 2023 (Mormon 1 - Ether 7)
Book of Mormon Reading Group: 25 Dec - 31 Dec 2023 (Ether 8 - Moroni 10)
Repeat of the full schedule:
X Date Read Through   Sep 9 1 Nephi 3   Sep 10 1 Nephi 5   Sep 11 1 Nephi 8   Sep 12 1 Nephi 11   Sep 13 1 Nephi 13   Sep 14 1 Nephi 14   Sep 15 1 Nephi 16   Sep 16 1 Nephi 17   Sep 17 1 Nephi 18   Sep 18 1 Nephi 20   Sep 19 1 Nephi 22   Sep 20 2 Nephi 2   Sep 21 2 Nephi 3   Sep 22 2 Nephi 5   Sep 23 2 Nephi 8   Sep 24 2 Nephi 9   Sep 25 2 Nephi 11   Sep 26 2 Nephi 15   Sep 27 2 Nephi 19   Sep 28 2 Nephi 23   Sep 29 2 Nephi 25   Sep 30 2 Nephi 26   Oct 1 2 Nephi 28   Oct 2 2 Nephi 31   Oct 3 Jacob 1   Oct 4 Jacob 3   Oct 5 Jacob 5   Oct 6 Jacob 5   Oct 7 Enos 1   Oct 8 Omni 1   Oct 9 Mosiah 1   Oct 10 Mosiah 2   Oct 11 Mosiah 4   Oct 12 Mosiah 7   Oct 13 Mosiah 9   Oct 14 Mosiah 11   Oct 15 Mosiah 13   Oct 16 Mosiah 15   Oct 17 Mosiah 18   Oct 18 Mosiah 21   Oct 19 Mosiah 23   Oct 20 Mosiah 26   Oct 21 Mosiah 27   Oct 22 Mosiah 29   Oct 23 Alma 2   Oct 24 Alma 4   Oct 25 Alma 5   Oct 26 Alma 7   Oct 27 Alma 9   Oct 28 Alma 10   Oct 29 Alma 12   Oct 30 Alma 14   Oct 31 Alma 15   Nov 1 Alma 17   Nov 2 Alma 19   Nov 3 Alma 21   Nov 4 Alma 23   Nov 5 Alma 25   Nov 6 Alma 27   Nov 7 Alma 30   Nov 8 Alma 31   Nov 9 Alma 32   Nov 10 Alma 34   Nov 11 Alma 36   Nov 12 Alma 37   Nov 13 Alma 40   Nov 14 Alma 43   Nov 15 Alma 43   Nov 16 Alma 46   Nov 17 Alma 47   Nov 18 Alma 49   Nov 19 Alma 51   Nov 20 Alma 52   Nov 21 Alma 55   Nov 22 Alma 56   Nov 23 Alma 58   Nov 24 Alma 60   Nov 25 Alma 62   Nov 26 Helaman 1   Nov 27 Helaman 3   Nov 28 Helaman 5   Nov 29 Helaman 6   Nov 30 Helaman 8   Dec 1 Helaman 11   Dec 2 Helaman 12   Dec 3 Helaman 14   Dec 4 3 Nephi 1   Dec 5 3 Nephi 3   Dec 6 3 Nephi 4   Dec 7 3 Nephi 7   Dec 8 3 Nephi 9   Dec 9 3 Nephi 11   Dec 10 3 Nephi 13   Dec 11 3 Nephi 16   Dec 12 3 Nephi 18   Dec 13 3 Nephi 20   Dec 14 3 Nephi 22   Dec 15 3 Nephi 26   Dec 16 3 Nephi 28   Dec 17 4 Nephi 1   Dec 18 Mormon 2   Dec 19 Mormon 5   Dec 20 Mormon 7   Dec 21 Mormon 9   Dec 22 Ether 2   Dec 23 Ether 4   Dec 24 Ether 7   Dec 25 Ether 10   Dec 26 Ether 12   Dec 27 Ether 13   Dec 28 Moroni 2   Dec 29 Moroni 7   Dec 30 Moroni 9   Dec 31 Moroni 10 Enjoy!