mordorbund

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  1. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Sacrament meeting reverence   
    No, actually, I don't get the idea. And I'm not being deliberately obtuse. I recognize the obvious tongue-in-cheek nature of your response, but I assume there is also some real feeling underlying it. But I don't understand it.
     
    First of all, most young fathers sit with their families. Only a minority of such fathers sit on the stand.
     
    Second, the appropriate reponse to an intractable and noisy child of any age is to TAKE HIM OUT OF THE MEETING. If that means the whole family must go, so be it.
     
    Third, once the child is past about two years of age, appropriate (and kindly) discipline will be enough to insure that, within three months, 95% of such children will be making it through most sacrament meetings without any disruption.
     
    So whether or not your example was in jest, I'm disinclined to believe the excuse that Mormon sacrament meetings are inherently noisy and irreverent because you just can't make them any other way. On the contrary, I know from personal experience that such an idea is untrue.
  2. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Backroads in Caring for the poor and needy   
    Many have argued that one of the reasons for the poverty cycle is because of a culture of unwed mothers and broken families. It's generally fine for these fornicators to "go to hell on their own, free of interference. However, that freedom stops when they, deliberately or accidentally, cause harm to others" - such as birthing children that they cannot afford (especially when they cannot afford themselves), or carrying and spreading diseases which is now covered by a healthcare tax, or simply encouraging a culture that is unsustainable for these reasons. "At this point, I think, the government has a right and a duty to step in, and adjudicate the best way to resolve competing interests."
     
    You have mentioned that your home is "all of Christianity", but Christianity, despite the premise of this thread, is not eradicating poverty. Christianity is Christ and Him Crucified. In all your seeking, I have heard you talk about finding a religion that carries this moral obligation that you've found as your pet issue, but only once have you talked about redemption or salvation (in one thread where you ask if salvation in the hereafter is more important that a temporal salvation in the here-and-now).
     
    I think what you're really looking for is not a Christian religion. You are looking for a social, philanthropic organization who's issues (and methods) match yours. I think you would love for Christians to join you in this (but you haven't even found this organization for yourself, so join you in what exactly?), and so you play the Christian duty card. But Christian duty is defined by Christ and His duly appointed ministers.
     
    My point is, that I get the impression that all of Christianity is not your home. Your home is the land of EradicatePoverty. This is not a bad place to live. But do not pretend that it is the land of Christianity.
  3. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Sacrament meeting reverence   
    What's wrong with "discipline your children"?
  4. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Palerider in Valuable memorization   
    I know. I'm sitting there in the pew thinking "oh thank heaven! Palerider won't be singing this one. He hasn't picked up the hymnal."
     
    And then out comes THAT NOISE!
     
     
     
    I'll send you the standard "ribbing Palerider" fee in the mail.
  5. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Bini in What do you do with Holiday leftover goodies?   
    I'll just leave this right here. http://www.candyexperiments.com/p/experiments.html
  6. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Traveler in What do you do with Holiday leftover goodies?   
    In our home all sugar based season stuff is carefully and thankfully placed in the garbage.  My dear wife is type 1 diabetic and has spent years and tears getting over a pre diabetic sugar addiction and she watched her weight and indulged sparingly.  Besides weight and health problems - sugar will cause degraded brain functions and accelerated cellular aging - none of which I would wish on anyone.   In all honesty I cannot find a single intelligent reason to have a seasonal increase in sugar or sugar based products nor reason to encourage any degree of addiction by gift increases to others.
     
    I realize many good people are offended by my efforts to honestly express my feelings.  Some of my LDS friends have found offense with my health concerns - much like an non-LDS friend was upset when I pored a $100+ gift of spirits down the drain and not re-gifting it to them.  Sorry friends - If this spoils your Christmas traditions - perhaps you are centered on things not needed to appreciate the purpose for which Jesus was born as the original or first Christmas gift to mankind.
  7. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Knitting/Crafting in Church?   
    Maybe I do. I can't think of any. I've noticed girls who twiddle with or chew on their hair, or people that play with a pencil or something like that. Is that what knitting is? Just mindless, slightly obsessive hand-play? I have noticed that autistic people will sometimes have some sort of motion or "tic" that seems to calm them and allow them to subdue their reactions to things, maybe even concentrate better. Is that along the same lines as knitting?
     
    I am not trying to make fun of knitters (or of autism). I realize this is not an uncommon thing, and it strikes me as a part of the human condition. I expect it manifests in me, too. I'm just not sure where. I'm trying to understand the mindset. It seems as if there's an attitude of, "What a waste to sit here for an hour just listening to someone without actually DOING something useful. If only I had brought my knitting..." But the idea here is that the discourse itself is not important enough, or at least that there's no good reason not to knit while you're only going to be sitting listening to someone anyway.
     
    If the Lord himself were speaking, would it be acceptable to knit while listening? If not, how is knitting at Church fundamentally different? Again, I'm not trying to be insulting or pick a fight. I'm trying to get a good handle on this issue. My questions are sincere.
  8. Like
    mordorbund reacted to yjacket in Social media for our kids, IG/FB   
    I like a lot of what Anatess says . . . .
     
    But I will be the grumpy old man :-). First off for the OP, I have a huge beef with sneakiness.  I implement very harsh discipline for a child who is sneaky behind my back, lies, etc. When I say no, it means no and the child best remember that. If I said no and the child does it anyways that is disobedient and disrespectful.  The when and where of how I implement that discipline is my choice, but they will be disciplined for directly disobeying.
     
    That issues is about trust, the less you obey me the less trust I have in the child and consequently the less freedoms the child gets.  If the child obeys, the more trust I have and the more likely that I will give more freedoms.
     
    2nd, there is no good reason why a child should have a smartphone. At best a dumbphone and if I allow them to use a cell phone, they will pay for it.  And most certainly not until they are at least in high school.  You want a phone, show me you can actually pay for it and earn it.  They will quickly learn that maybe texting isn't so important when they are paying 50+ a month for a cell phone and don't have money to do anything.
     
    Too many evils can be done through a smartphone, especially if a child is sneaky . . . and every parent thinks, "my child would never to x". They can become addicted to the screen (if you've ever seen little kids watching TV you know this). There is sexting, bullying, etc, all for the comfort of being able to send out pictures and text whenever you want . . .sorry for a child the cons outweigh the pros.
     
    http://www.amazon.com/Endangered-Minds-Children-Think-About/dp/0684856204
    http://www.amazon.com/FAILURE-TO-CONNECT-Computers-Childrens/dp/0684855399
     
    I think the social pressure aspect is blown out of proportion.  In fact, I think it's rather healthy for a child to have to tell their friends I don't chat, it will build a backbone so later in life they have the confidence to tell others no I don't do xyz.
  9. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Traveler in Caring for the poor and needy   
    I think you error in thinking (a very common political error) - is thinking poverty is caused by money or rather the lack of money.  Money is only a medium of exchange.  Poverty is caused when someone does not have anything of value to exchange for things needed.  Although money can be exchanged for things needed money cannot modify skills, abilities or value an individual gives to society.  Because of your failure to understand poverty as a value exchange deficiency you are not seeing the actual problem.  Thus you are attempting a one fix for all problems.
     
    In my personal research and experience I have found at least 5 classes of poor.  Each class requires a very different approach to solving the problem - if the problem is even solvable.  For example one class of poor are what could be called addicts or substance abusers.  Time and time again it is been proven that increasing amounts of money to addicts and substance abusers that the problem is made worse - both for society as well as the individual.
     
    Putting government in charge of determining substance abuse is a most difficult problem.  I do not know of a single example of the force of law altering the problem of substance abuse to change in any way poverty caused from such abuse.  China attempted to control drug addiction during the Opium wars (as known in the west or the 100 years of shame known in China).
     
    And substance abuse is just one kind of poverty.  You have hinted at a second type of poverty - which is the hobo class of poor.  These are individuals that have skill to provide for themselves but for some reason to them, they have decided not to offer anything of value to society in exchange for their needed support.  They are also known as freeloaders.  We have learned by historical example that offering benefits without any incentive for giving back some benefit will only increase those willing to freeload.  You have already pointed out that governments fail miserably as well as yourself in determining those deserving of assistance.  In fact you have hinted that it may be un-Christian to even try to determine those deserving assistance.
     
    Your problem in understanding poverty is like thinking all with health problem can be treated with the exact same remedy.  It is like someone going to the doctor for a broken leg  or while having a heart attack then given drugs for high blood sugar and told to exercise more. 
     
    Some poor need education, some poor need health care and some poor just need an opportunity.  Your desire to not be actually involved in others specific needs; demanding governments alone deal with poverty so no individual has any real responsibility, to me is the pinnacle of  self righteousness and lack of Christian charity.  You pretend to care but do nothing yourself - demanding instead others take care of things you refuse to contribute anything to yourself.
  10. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Backroads in What do you do with Holiday leftover goodies?   
    I'll just leave this right here. http://www.candyexperiments.com/p/experiments.html
  11. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Palerider in I love getting rid of stuff   
    My wife will have a Yard sale or Garage sale once in awhile and she will have it on a day when I am gone. She says I gripe and complain too much. Lol!!
  12. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Connie in How do the points on our page increase?   
    I'm pretty sure it's in direct relation to how much money you send to Palerider. 
  13. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Just_A_Guy in Caring for the poor and needy   
    Yup, tongue-in-cheek. You'll see in that post another quote of an earlier post of mine. 2RM's proposal is really quite simple: 1) tax the uber-wealthy at a 4% rate, and 2) watch poverty go away. My post shows that the first part looks to be unnecessary. The rich are voluntarily giving more than needed. 2RM is insistent that his plan will work if only it was implemented. Well, it's implemented on a volunteer basis, but poverty continues to exist. I want to assume that maybe this simple plan doesn't work in reality, but I am told that it's the real deal. So if the plan works, and the rich are cooperating, then the only conclusion that remains is that the poor aren't cooperating.
  14. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Caring for the poor and needy   
    Pretty sure that mordorbund's point was that the rich are already more than complying with 2RM's stated conditions, yet those obstinate poor just stay poor. If 2RM's conditions for the rich were sufficient to solve the problem of poverty, we wouldn't have poor people any more.
  15. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Just_A_Guy in Caring for the poor and needy   
    I can't quite tell; but I hope you're being tongue-in-cheek here.  I don't think there's a conscious decision amongst most poor people to stay poor.  Rather, I think they've bought into a culture that a) tells them they can never get ahead regardless of their own efforts or merit; b ) tells them that they should have more than others regardless of their own efforts or merit; c) actively denigrates self-sufficiency, d) trivializes or even denigrates the importance of self-denial and delayed gratification, e) glorifies sexual and family planning practices that ensure continued poverty; and f) holds education in utter contempt.
     
    It's not a fully-informed, knowing and voluntary decision to stay poor:  at this point, millions upon millions--quite frankly--don't know any better.  Our leading lights in academia and the arts have been carefully erasing the public's understanding of what actually builds wealth; leading those who don't have wealth to throw up their hands and assume that it can only come from corruption or birthright.
  16. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Just_A_Guy in Is it possible to be liberal and LDS?   
    IMHO:  "Free agency" and "liberty" are two different things.  Both are generally desirable, but for different reasons.
  17. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from Vort in Is Vort Clark Kent?   
    Just to round out the trilogy:
     

  18. Like
    mordorbund got a reaction from EarlJibbs in If our heroes were from the Victorian Era   
    Why wasn't Darth Vader and the droids more steampunk?
  19. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Book of Abraham   
    In my opinion, God cares not one whit about whether we are scholars.
  20. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Magen_Avot in Is Vort Clark Kent?   
    LOL!
     
    Yeah, you may look like a girl but but behind those beautiful brown eyes lurks your real alter ego, should things reach that point: 
     
     

     
    ((( )))
  21. Like
    mordorbund reacted to 2ndRateMind in Caring for the poor and needy   
    Mordorbund, my friend, I have no church, no special spiritual home. That is part of the reason I am here, looking for something congenial. Meanwhile, all of Christianity is where I live.
     
    Best, 2RM.
  22. Like
    mordorbund reacted to 2ndRateMind in Caring for the poor and needy   
    I'm up for this. I just see it a Christendom-wide project, rather than purely an LDS one.
     
    Happy New Year, all. 2RM.
  23. Like
    mordorbund reacted to classylady in Caring for the poor and needy   
  24. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Caring for the poor and needy   
    I disbelieve the idea that we do not need to live the law of consecration. We most certainly do need to live it. It's part of the covenants we make in the temple. It is as important as the law of chastity, and as applicable to us.
  25. Like
    mordorbund reacted to Vort in Caring for the poor and needy   
    We dedicate all we have, all our spiritual and physical gifts, all our money, all our effort, to the establishment and building up of God's kingdom on earth. Everything we do is to further this end.
     
    Naturally, this encompasses such things as paying an honest tithe, but is far more comprehensive. It means that we seek to be the best spouse and parent we can. It means that we fulfill our callings and seek to magnify them. It means we perform our daily devotions, repent of our weaknesses, go to the temple, be good neighbors, do missionary work, and otherwise center our lives around Jesus Christ and his kingdom, aka the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.