Backroads

I'm also giggling like mad.

I would buy that kit and add to our emergency supplies if my cat currently lived with us, but he doesn't and my husband would really look at me strangely if I did buy that and then I would perhaps later look at it myself and think "what did I buy that for?" ... and now I just feel sheepish...

Oh, I often agree with the ACLU. It seems we only notice the ACLU when they do something we don't like. I heard the statement once that had the ACLU been around when the Church was just getting started, they probably would have been on our side.

I'll admit, my mother used to be one of those parents who were against us playing with non-Mormons, but as we went along in elementary school she realized how stupid the concept was. Perhaps it's just an ego-driven false memory, but I do remember asking "but aren't we supposed to be around people who do good things?" and I think that may have got her thinking.

Needless to say my roommate didn't allow her dad over after that...

Went through this at the beginning of the year. My husband was afraid his ex would say nasty things, but as far as I know she did not. I also rejoiced when I found out I got to write a letter on my observations on the whole matter. Everything worked out ridiculously quickly. Think of it this way: to your ex, it might be one thing to say stuff during a divorce and another to write those same things to the First Presidency especially after she has had time to cool down. If a question does arise, it's safe to assume things will be investigated in the proper manner.

But you said the following in your first post: You never said anything about being the only one in the class. I hate to sound mean, but which is it? Do Utah Mormon teens have an easier testimony time all across the board or not? I had a college roommate whose father hated me--even told me to my face--because I was a Utah Mormon. He said his kids, even the ones that left the Church, were better Mormons than me.

In accordance with things priorly stated, sometimes we are asked to judge (i.e., someone coming here looking for advice). We are giving advice based on what we have.

Now that we're working on clearing up the confusion, I'll address the question: Sounds like you're already doing lots to let him know you're thinking of him. Have you had a date night where you get to do all we wants? You can try slipping his favorite treat into his lunch.

You convinced me. Next time we're wondering about dinner, we're going to KFC! It's good to know they'll be nicer to us than the weird girls at the new Sushi-Ya.

I'm getting the vibe we're using "judgmental" as a condemning attitude without any desire to hear another side of the story. I personally see nothing wrong about standing up for my own values. I figure if another person gets the right, I do, too. Because it's easy to call someone "judgmental!" as an insult. It stirs up bad feelings and gets everyone defensive. By calling another person judgmental, you are an innocent victim, a martyred saint. Yes, if you come asking for an opinion, you can't be too picky with the answers. You can dislike certain replies, but you can't fault the responder for responding to you question. I think there is a fine line here. There is nothing wrong with stating why you believe <insert questionable behavior> is wrong. It is wrong to say a sin completely and irrevocably defines a person. But If I'm being super-defensive, I don't want your opinion, your beliefs, your reasoning. I want you to baby me and assure me I'm just fine. If you don't do that, social norms allow me to call you judgmental.

I think the idea of a state of crazy Mormons is more intense than the reality...

I think this is where we get the opposite side of the fence, the people Vort mentioned. Now I want to say that not being religious does not automatically make one judgmental, just as being religious does not make one jugdmental. Beefche, I don't think any fair-minded person would call your assessment of premarital sex has judgmental. In the non-religious camp, I do think you get a group of people that are so defensive against those criticizing your beliefs they're ready to snap anytime someone says "Hi, I'm Betty and I'm <insert religion.>"

No, the other one with the masculine voice.

I kind of see where sister-in-faith is coming from. If the family never approves, the girl in question will have to eventually deal with that fact. In sister-in-faith's personal example, a bit of distance from her mother wound up being a healthy thing. It's not healthy for girl-in-question to be entirely under her family's influence in this matter and she will possibly have to come to terms with the lack of family approval. If she one day gets baptized and family doesn't come, they'll all have to accept that. I dare say boundaries will be healthy. Indeed, I'm against the notion of "I'm joining the Church and you can all bite me!", but a peaceable solution to both parties will not necessarily mean rainbows and butterflies. I don't think sister-in-faith ever meant that girl-in-question should completely abandon her family, just that she might have to set up some boundaries and even create a little distance for this thing to proceed in a less-awful manner.

I streamed the audio. I heard HiJolly!

While a big part of me is all "Nooo!!!! Being religious does not automatically make you a judgmental meanie-head!" I do think that yes, religiousness can contribute to being judgmental. In my mind there is a difference between righteous judgement and a judgmental attitude. "Judgmental" leaves a bad taste in my mouth--it seems to disregard spirit of the law and intent of the heart in favor of mere actions. I was thinking about today's talk about justifying our actions and moral choices. While I did indeed agree with the talk, part of me did have to play Devil's Advocate and I wondered whose morality is the correct one. I think, to a certain extent, we can justify our morality. But because religions tend to be very black-and-white with a lot of moral behavior and those religious have plenty of writings and saying to back them up, I think it can get easier to focus on those actions and not on the heart and intent of people. Let's be honest... does anyone like the ones who "darn y'all to hell" for your miniscule actions?"

It's a perfect outcome of a tragedy!

I'm sure we all feel sufficiently humbled.

For those of you that wish you had tickets... Seriously. Just go to conference and beg. Make a sign. I guarantee you tickets within 5 minutes. There's all sorts of people desperate to use up their stake/ward quota so they don't get docked next year.

From what I understand, staying sealed is merely a strong recommendation. I know of a few cases where the woman insisted on the sealing cancellation without any marital prospects.

We don't have tv, but will probably be watching it with one family or the other (probably his as things are still awkward). If not, streamed over the internet. In college, we traditionally went down to conference and begged for tickets for a session. The most fun, though, was the year before last. We were visiting my uncle who used his place of business to stream it over the internet--projected onto a giant screen--for all his LDS employees. Big potluck and everything.

I think ksl announces everything for me...

If only you heard how we talked about some volunteers behind closed office doors...

Yes, I do. I definitely understand the channels... but it does make me curious as to how many people I will have screaming at me. The thing is, we do make a lot of LDS exceptions that derive mainly from LDS relations committees. Just waiting for proper channels to be available...