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Heather

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  2. Does God Manipulate His Children?

    in Third Hour Article Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:
     
     
    1
    15 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

    "manipulate" us...but to use that word implies negativity where negativity does not exist. Which means expressing it that way implies things that are false. Which is bad communication.

    Didn't the writer feel negative about her interpretation of God? Whether or not it's false, are those feelings her true feelings? Would it be lying and manipulative to soften those feelings to appeal to a wider, more faithful audience? I think many faithful would say the ends justify the means. But to show where the writer ended up without being truthful to the journey could be seen as disingenuous and unrelatable. If the writer is trying to reach someone who struggles with God in the Old Testament, that reader is not going to relate to someone who doesn't struggle, or even worse, someone who tells them what they feel when they read the scriptures is wrong. Whether the writer is right or wrong, isn't the point I took away. I saw vulnerability, perhaps even an admittance of one's sins and shortcomings, which is always refreshing to me. It's tiring trying to put on the airs of perfectionism :)

    It's your truth (and others) that she is false, but expressing what she is felt is real and raw and human. It is true to her. It is her perception of the truth that she owns, even when coming to the conclusion later her truth is wrong. And that is the payoff. That's the relatable aspect of "I can overcome this too."

  3. Does God Manipulate His Children?

    in Third Hour Article Discussion

    Posted

    I find discussions like this fascinating. I think it speaks to the divide between the generations. I was told by a coworker that millennials write and interpret things differently than older generations, basically implying that the way I say/write things sometimes doesn't go over well with millennials. I'm sure that coworker would be surprised to learn that I feel the exact same way about millennials. So what's the difference? I didn't tell that coworker I felt that same way about millennials too. Case in point with this article. I find this to be an abrupt approach by a younger voice that doesn't go over well with older generations. There is a sliding scale between respect and honesty, and I feel that when it comes to specific topics, different generations will slide one way more than another. An older generation may favor the be respectful above being honest while a younger generation would favor be absolutely honest and try to be respectful while doing it. So which is more important?  I grew up being taught respectfulness above all else, and so I didn't question. I just accepted, or rather I had an internal conflict that I couldn't rationalize, but also couldn't speak about it because of questioning or doubt or disagreement could be disrespectful. Some would say that taught me that lying is acceptable. It does feel safer in correlated conformity until you come across a conflict that puts you on the outside of it. And then it creates this mad scramble of trying to build a bridge between your new truth and the safe haven of correlation. I don't think the "speak your truth your way" of rising generations is going to change. But will the older generation allow a safe place for that? If not, then the place that the older generations have created will die with them. 

  4. President Oaks Receives Criticism After Suggesting “Research is not the answer”

    in Third Hour Article Discussion

    Posted

    I did want to see what it felt like to be President Oaks and have your words over sensationalized. I think this happens to him more than probably any church leader, and I wish that it didn't. Even when he has a very progressive and inclusive message, like this one, he is taken completely out of context and hammered by the critics. I knew my words would not be popular with this group. I even called it out in the second paragraph. It wasn't worded for you. It was the thing I debated back and forth all day. I did not want to upset the faithful members of the Church, but I still wanted to reach those who are much further away. In the end, I landed with it's better to be raw and vulnerable and take the criticism in order to be real, in a hope that it would reach those who are struggling.

    Despite the leadership constantly telling us that they are not perfect, that they do make mistakes, that they do not always speak for God, somehow the membership continues to insist that they are perfect. That their opinions are God's opinion. That when they speak, they say everything that God would have them say. We continually rob them of their humanity.  When the leaders tell me that they're human, I believe them. And so am I. When I open myself up, I will do so honestly. Despite statists showing that a larger percentage of the membership does not align on everything from the leadership, it's terrifying to hear someone admit that they don't always agree. Terrifying to some, and relatable to others. It's can be scary to realize that not even the Apostles agree with each other all the time. 

    No, I do not have to be a fan of everything President Oaks says in order to sustain him. I can agree with things he says, and there have been sometimes I have a hard time with how he says it. That's on me to seek my own personal revelation. I don't like to see people hurting because they want to belong in the Church, but they feel that they are not welcome. Maybe that doesn't bother everyone, but it's a difficult thing for me. I struggle seeing the heartache people experience because their loved ones do not share their faith and beliefs, and how that can divide a family. And here Pres Oaks was fighting to heal that divide and most will never realize what his real message was. 

  6. NewsMax Names America’s 50 Most Influential Mormons

    in Third Hour Article Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Maureen said:

    When I first looked at the article Steve Benson's name was there, can't remember which number he was but he was after Steve Young and before Brandon Flowers. But now he's been replaced, which makes sense since he is no longer Mormon.

    M.

    Yup, he was there. Google's cache has been updated, but Bing's hasn't. Seems that someone let them know of their mistake and they fixed it.


    28. Steve Benson — The grandson of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former LDS Church president Ezra Taft Benson, Steve Benson is a masterful cartoonist who won a Pulitzer in 1993 for his work with The Arizona Republic.

    Cael Sanderson is the substitution.

    http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=cache%3ahttp%3a%2f%2fwww.newsmax.com%2fTopBestList%2fnewsmax-list-mormons-influential%2f2016%2f08%2f24%2fid%2f744898%2f&d=5428564155397&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=kE8u8QhkNSh53wLzt31cBR1qI303QMw_

    28. Steve Benson — The grandson of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former LDS Church president Ezra Taft Benson, Steve Benson is a masterful cartoonist who won a Pulitzer in 1993 for his work with The Arizona Republic.

    Breaking News at Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/TopBestList/newsmax-list-mormons-influential/2016/08/24/id/744898/#ixzz4IN1w5JnP
    Urgent: Do You Back Trump or Hillary? Vote Here Now!

  7. Historical accuracy of the BOM

    in LDS Gospel Discussion

    Posted

    Quite a lot of judgement based on hypothetical that really the only one who could ever judge that situation is Christ. I could stand before God and say, no, I did not take a gun to my face for no reason, to satisfy a crazy person. How is that standing up for the truth of the gospel? Does that bring any one to Christ? I'd be willing to be told I was wrong, by Christ, but that's the only one I would accept judgement from. Joseph defended himself. Joseph had a gun. And Joseph saw God and Jesus Christ, not just going on faith alone. He was called, yet he still fought to the end.

    President Faust said, "For most of us, however, what is required is not to die for the Church but to live for it. For many, living a Christlike life every day may be even more difficult than laying down one’s life." I'd be more worried about responding to Christ when he asks me, "Why did you take the easy way out and sacrifice the greatest gift I have given you and bring no souls until me, when you could have lived out your days showing everyone around you who I am through your example?"

  10. Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees controversial new video shows anger towards Mormon religion

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    "Glenn came out as gay two years ago, to Rolling Stone Magazine, and has maintained his relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until recently. It's obvious watching his new video, Glenn's been hurt and in pain." http://kutv.com/news/local/tyler-glenn-explains-anger-in-his-new-video-toward-the-lds-church

     

    Tyler is a return missionary and up until November 2015, a strong believer of the Church. He had a very difficult time with the LDS Church adding same-sex marriage to definition of apostasy last November, which was the beginning of his break with his Mormon faith. Before that, he felt he could be both an openly gay man and Mormon, even have children and raise them in the Church. It definitely seems to be a very difficult and painful break for him.

    I was surprised with how hostile the video is towards the Church, especially Joseph Smith, who Tyler said was his hero. I would not encourage anyone to watch it, because you may take offense. I also realize this is a sensitive topic and I can't help but feel love and empathy watching this video of Tyler, as he starts to break down about losing his faith and his belief in God all in one weekend.

    I understand he is feeling a lot of emotions, not just the anger of this video. I hope that he finds peace. He may change, but Gods love for him doesn't change. I hope that he feels that, that he doesn't make anger his new religion.

  12. Helping loved ones with depression

    in Support in Hard Times

    Posted

    I have had multiple people who are close to me who have dealt with or are dealing with major depression, and it's been a very difficult things for me to know how to support them and understand it. It's difficult to make sense of it. It's absolutely crazy, the way they think, the things they do. Crazy to me, but it's their reality and what they feel and believe.

    I remember back in 2012 searching on LDS.org for something, anything about crisis and depression, to help me have a better understanding of this illness from a gospel perspective. And there wasn't anything. Nothing helped. The best information I got from it was from non-Church resources and that helped me to have a much greater understanding and compassion for what they're going through. I knew that this was a illness that you can't snap out of someone, and while in it, it's incredibly difficult for the person to seek help and get help for it. Depression is a real thing. A real scary illness that needs real professional help to cure. And there truly isn't anything anyone else can do but try to be supporting and understanding. You can't fix something you didn't break.

    So, as I'm trying to understand this better, I find myself with my family, including my parents and my husbands parents (my father-in-law had not been active in the Church since 1978) lucky enough to be sitting in the Conference Center for the Saturday session of October Conference 2013. It was the first time I had actually "been" to Conference and this was such a special event to be able to be there with everyone.

    And guess who gets up, yes, Elder Holland. I felt like we had won the lottery of all Conference tickets. I didn't know this was his session to speak, and I was so excited. And then he starts to speak on the very subject that had been overwhelming my life for the past two years. And I felt like he was speaking right to me, right to those who were with me. I had overwhelming feeling, stronger than I had at any point in my life, Heavenly Father does really know me and cares about what I'm going through. No one may understand this craziness that I don't even know how to explain, but he does. He knows I needed this. He knows so many of us need this talk right now.

    Flash forward to today, and so many things are better. So many things have been fixed. There are still some things that are broken, but I feel confident they can get better. I feel like no matter what comes up, I can get through it. I feel happier. I feel happier knowing that I am the one who decides whether I'm happy or not, and I can be happy no matter what situation I'm in, because I choose to be happy.

    Any my father-in-law? He called us recently to let us know he was called as Executive Secretary in the Bishopric. He is planning on going through the temple soon for the first time and wants us to be there for it.

     

     

  17. My life-changing LDS.net post from February 5

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Vort said:

    Remember that post I made on February 5? It has completely changed my life. I cannot tell you the blessings that have come to me and my family just because of that one silly yet amazingly profound post. Reality itself has been altered for me! I am so, so, SO glad that I made it a permanent part of my life record by publishing it on this forum! Now, as my memory dims (as it does all too quickly), I can always come back here and do a quick search to find exactly what I wrote! The miracles of modern technology! And all I have to do to find that precious post in a search is to remember the date engraven forever in my memory: February 5, 2016. Thanks, LDS.net!

    P.S. Fwiw, I think the new forum design looks great. After we get used to the new functionality, I'm sure we will wonder how we ever lived with any other forum software.

    TBH, it really wasn't that great.

  20. Welcome to the Support in Hard Times Forum

    in Support in Hard Times

    Posted

    We all go through difficult times in life, and sometimes it's nice to just have somewhere you can lean, without opening yourself up publicly. I have felt the need to foster a place for that. Here you can come, drop your heavy heart, and leave feeling stronger, knowing it's going to be okay. You are loved. You can get through this.

    To enable such a place is a community effort. Here in this forum we are not going to allow the negative voices, the judgments, the brush asides. Here every person is important and every trial means something. It takes a lot to open up, even in an anonymous setting, and it's important that all participants are sensitive to that.

    We welcome those who are encouraging and positive with great insight to participate in helping those through difficult times.

    This forum is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment. Support groups are not a substitute for professional care. Please consult a qualified professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions and disorders.

    If you are wondering if you have a matter that you should talk to your Bishop about, then you should talk to your Bishop. He is the one who has stewardship over you, and not anyone on this forum. Speak to your Bishop and let him decide if it is something that you should talk to him about.

  21. LDS.net software update

    in Third Hour Admin Alerts

    Posted

    Hah Vort! :)

     

     

    Upgrade Issues:

     

    We are in the queue to have IPB(Invision Power Board) support upgrade the forum. We won't know when this will happen. It will just happen and there will be a message the board is offline.There is a waiting list, but hopefully it will happen the middle of next week.  Until then, the login is going to be a bit weird, as the forums are no longer connected to the main section of the site. So if you are having any problems logging in, please visit this link:

    http://lds.net/forums/index.php?app=core&module=global&section=login

     

    We will work on getting a better login showing up in the header tomorrow.

     

    Yes, the password reset email was from us. However, that password will not work until the forums are upgraded. Until then, keep using your old password.

     

    I apologize this upgrade did not go as smoothly as planned, but IPB as assured us that after this upgrade, future upgrades are much easier. (Remind me I said this next year...)