Sugarbay

I thought the banned book list only took books like the Bobsey Twins and Little House on the Prairie. Our local school banned them for racial slurs yet the kids can check out Steven King books. See thread about Common Sense.

Happy Birthday LT and Bro Dorsey.

Praying for you.

It happens to a lot of people. Sometimes they feel they are being held down. Some even hear or feel evil influences around them. Get a blessing as suggested and know that eventually it will stop. Used to happen to me when I was reactivating in Church.

Speed metal, classical, celtic, still like punk, well pretty much everything except country. Killswitch Engage is my current new favorite.

well, if they do this they would be absorbed eventually by the surrounding states as it seems to be human nature to conquer and acquire. Maple syrup would be a hot commodity.

Tragic, isn't it.

Is it hate or ignorance (being a lack of information)? Religion is such a personal thing and when people are confronted with something that put Christ in a different light than they believe, they have a tendency to become zealous. I would hope that we would not debate these things with non-members as contention is of the devil. They are still our brothers and sisters and we must remember that Father loves them as much as he does us and expects us to be Christlike in dealing with people who exhibit "hateful" tendencies. Sometimes it might be best to stay away from situations where one would be defensive about their beliefs but then, where does "Every member a missionary" come into play?

Ubuntu (linux) Verrry nifty. ATF Cleaner, fast free, effective.

But we believe that we will be punished for our own transgressions so why would an entire race of people be punished for one nitwit? This has never made sense to me. There was never a revelation denying the priesthood to anyone, just a revelation opening it up to all worthy males. Actually, we now know the practice of denying the priesthood to men of color was based on a severe, but extremely common, racism of the period. It started with Brigham Young, (not Joseph Smith), whose racism was so insidious his followers believed it to be doctrine. In fact, there is no doctrinal basis for denying the priesthood to any worthy male. From devout Mormon Armand Mauss, Professor Emeritus, Washington State University: "I am aware that the official "explanation" offered these days for denying the priesthood to blacks is that "we don't know." That response to questions about the past is perhaps technically accurate, since very few members or even leaders know much about the history of our black members or of their part in our larger history. It is true also that we can't be sure of all that lay behind Brigham Young's 1852 declaration that "descendants of Cain" could not have the priesthood. In the absence of all such knowledge, certainly the safest thing for a Church member or leader to say today is that "we don't know." It is also a good public relations tactic, since it has the effect of changing the subject before it gets complicated. Yet it is also somewhat disingenuous to say that we don't know, and it is certainly an unsatisfactory response to any of our converts, investigators, or youth who are conscientiously troubled by this chapter in our history, especially if they are black. The fact is that we do have a lot more relevant historical knowledge than would be indicated by the we-don't-know response. This knowledge, furthermore, is based on authoritative historical research by responsible scholars, to which I have alluded in the hypothetical conversation just summarized." I've included a link to Mauss' article below. The following is one of Young's many racist statements. I've only included one because I want to give a valid example of his racism, but I don't want to make this all about Young. The racism, begun by Young, continued through the church presidencies until President Kimball's anxiety about it caused him to go before the Lord and ask whether the priesthood ban should be lifted. And again, this racism was common to the entire country, not just Mormons. From Brigham Young: “You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings. This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the 'servant of servants;' and they will be, until that curse is removed." Again, please keep in mind that, while his words are abhorrent to our sensibilities, in his day and age they were actually quite common. Below is an explanation of how the priesthood ban came to be, again by Armand Mauss: “Indeed, it was apparent to many of us even four decades ago that certain scriptural passages used to explain the denial of priesthood to black members could not legitimately be so interpreted without an a priori narrative. Such a narrative was gradually constructed by the searching and inventive minds of early LDS apologists. With allusions to the books of Genesis, Moses, and Abraham, the scenario went something like this : In the pre-existence, certain of the spirits were set aside, in God's wisdom, to come to Earth through a lineage that was cursed and marked, first by Cain's fratricide and obeisance to Satan, and then again later by Ham's lèse majesté against his father Noah. We aren't exactly sure why this lineage was set apart in the pre-existence, but it was probably for reasons that do not reflect well on the premortal valiancy of the partakers of that lineage. Since the beginning, the holy priesthood has been withheld from all who have had any trace of that lineage, and so it shall be until all the rest of Adam's descendants have received the priesthood, or, for all practical purposes, throughout the mortal existence of humankind. “Neat and coherent as that scenario might seem, the scriptures typically cited in its support cannot be so interpreted unless we start with the scenario itself and project it retrospectively upon the scriptural passages in proof-text fashion. For if seen through a darkened glass of this contrived scenario, we see that the Book of Abraham says nothing about lineages set aside in the pre-existence, but only about distinguished individuals. The Book of Abraham is the only place, furthermore, that any scriptures speak of the priesthood being withheld from any lineage, but even then it is only the specific lineage of the pharoahs of Egypt, and there is no explanation as to why that lineage could not have the priesthood, or whether the proscription was temporary or permanent, or which other lineages, if any, especially in the modern world, would be covered by that proscription. At the same time, the passages in Genesis and Moses, for their part, do not refer to any priesthood proscription, and no color change occurs in either Cain or Ham, or even in Ham's son Canaan, who, for some unexplained reason, was the one actually cursed! There is no description of the mark on Cain, except that the mark was supposed to protect him from vengeance. It's true that in the seventh chapter of Moses, we learn that descendants of Cain became black, but not until the time of Enoch, six generations after Cain, and even then only in a vision of Enoch about an unspecified future time. There is no explanation for this blackness; it is not even clear that we are to take it literally." Again, I've included a link to this article below. And finally, just for the heck of it, I’m including a link about one of my favorite pioneers, Jane Manning James. She was a black woman who went through excruciating pain to follow the call of her prophet, Joseph, finally joining him in Nauvoo with bloody feet. She then took the extraordinarily difficult trek west, eventually becoming a beloved saint among saints in Utah until the end of her days. She often asked Church authorities for permission to be endowed, but was always turned down. She dearly loved her church and is an incredible inspiration. Emma The LDS Church and the Race Issue:A Study in Misplaced Apologetics, by Armand Mauss: When the Negro Doctrine: A Review of Answers from 10 Years, by Leonard E. Bush, Jr Jane Manning James Okay. But, I thought the Lord would remove a prophet from his place for wrong teachings. If Pres. Young was a bigot, which isn't very Christlike at all, why was he allowed to remain as a prophet? Perhaps that is why Emma Smith stayed behind... This is a tough issue for me to deal with.

You in timeout again, Pale?

I didn't think you would believe that...you are too smart. Explain how they are one God? We believe they are the Godhead. Is that what you mean by one God? I am not challenging you at all. I just like to know what others believe.

Great time of year for major house cleaning. Starting with the trash.

Well, there are two offices I will be visiting.

Sister Tal, please check out that link above. I know that sometimes, no matter what anyone says or does, it doesn't change how you feel. One of my best friends is a thoracic surgeon and she use to cut. I asked her if she now took that out on her patients. She reassured me that she did not but did admit that she is a better surgeon when she is feeling that way. She is very careful but decisive. I didn't quite know what to say to her except that at least she has a creative outlet of sorts and I hoped she never really had a bad day if I had some pathology in a lung and went to her. I wondered how this affected her practice but she has been a cutter for years and also a successful surgeon for years. Perhaps expressing your pain in a a more creative way, such as painting, sculpting would be good, something that required you to let those emotions out while creating something of worth and beauty would be good. For what it is worth, much love and support. Sug