jerome1232

He has very little to gain by expressing tolerance towards traditionalists.  In fact, he'll like get some rather sever push back from the LBGT activists.  Even if his motive is to play nice to win a few of us over, I'd suggest his tactic (if not his position) is blblical.

I don't really care for the blog that much, but I think that the notion that MormOns are fairly normal and go about life in a routine, expected way is helpful in a missionary sense. More people than not are more likely to be interested in a religion that acts as a bonus addition to everyday life than one that weighs one down with cultish behaviors and constrictions. (Amish, Moonies, etc.)  We also have the Fundamentalist identity to contend with. Every time they make it into the news it skews the reality of who we are.
 
So I think it's helpful to appear like regular folks. But I draw the line of blending in with the world at lightening up on standards like the Word of Wisdom, chastity, language and such. We HAVE to maintain our peculiarity in these areas or there wouldn't be much reason for the Church to exist.
 
As far as doctrinal normalcy, we need to maintain our beliefs there, too but those beliefs aren't going to show up very much in day to day conversation and in how we interact with people. I think I would act the same way I do if I believed in a different Godhead or if I had no idea what the priesthood was.

You can keep it vague and general...  In fact it might even be wise.  But that limits us to vague and general advise.
 
You have gotten advice and council from your doctor and your bishop... Both whom have acted within their stewardship to council you.  Now it is time for you to exert your stewardship over yourself.  You are the one that has to live with your choices, you are one that has to face God with your actions.
 
Make a choice... then take it to the lord and see if he approves.  If he does then act.  If not the discard that and choose a different one.  What ever choice the lord approves of... do... but know you will have to face the fall out from such a choice

Because I did a typo.  It should have read "but he is NOW advocating tolerance..."

(slapping head) Thanks for fixing the link. More senior moment than I should be having at my age. I'm not blonde either. No excuse.
 
Good way to stall out a perfectly good discussion: 1) Spell Mormon wrong and 2) Let Lakumi and Jerome have a sword fight while you mess around trying to fix the obvious problem.
 
I still can't copy and paste like I used to though and the quote button doesn't seem to be working either.

Wow, this is a massive assumption. You mean because viewing a little porn at night hasn't destroyed the relationship immediately that everything is normal and healthy.... Pornography has no boundaries. Families of all races, beliefs, religion and cultures are being slowly unstitched by this addiction. LDS members can often appear to unravel quicker than others because the addiction is often associated with the breaking of eternal covenants. The church is so concerned about pornography that it has even published a website dedicated to overcoming the addiction.

It looks like a chain link with a green plus sign in the lower right, it's on the second row 8 buttons from the left.

I was going to attach a screenshot, but I can't figure out how lol

But you are self-admittedly strange... so your concept of normal must be abnormal 

Yeah, the link doesn't go to a blog. But as to the question -- if the world sees and LDS person as entirely normal then it's probably an indication that there's something amiss with said LDS person, IMO.

Since I'm in the trenches with porn addicts, I can tell you, it's an issue in the church.  I don't have numbers but I know it may be a serious problem when my Stake dedicates one of the High Councilman to specifically deal with this issue.  Besides, you have to realize porn addiction isn't about sexual gratification, it's about control, or lack of it, of something in a person's life or self.  I'm not talking about the "gee, look at this" kind of thing, I'm talking about "hon, why don't you turn that thing off, it's 3 in the morning" type of thing.

Are you kidding me? Porn is only a big deal because we're not used to it?
 
It is a sin. It is a major deal. It is a major problem. Just because the rest of the world doesn't consider it a problem is irrelevant. A sin is a sin and it is NOT relative. Morality is NOT relative. God sets the standards for what we should and should not "freak" at, not the world.

I usually just ask Palerider what's going on.  He can be biased, but he's not as bad as MSNBC or FOX.   

This one is easy--NONE!  No good angel would be caught dancing!  You would not hear that in some liberal church, either. 

Nope. Why would we be shielded? I don't think there's any evidence from any of the general authorities for the theory that we are being shielded at all anyway.
 
In fact, in a way, We're encountering more evil than in the past. This form of evil may not be breaking down our door or tar and feathering us or etc. but it is almost everywhere and it is always trying to drag us down into sin. It's much less,
 
"Hey, you a Mormon? GET 'EM!"
 
and much more,
 
"Oh you're a Mormon? That's cool... But hey, don't you think you're missing out on life? You really should at least try some things like drinking."
 
or better yet,
 
"Hey, it's OK if you 'sinned', it's natural and really isn't a sin at all. Don't worry about it."

Did you try the report button next to multiquote?
 
I'm not actually sure it helps though  :)

That's like saying when someone's in school I'm just glad they're there, even though they didn't bring any text books, notebooks, don't bother listening, etc...
 
Coming to church is not the end all of soul-saving. We should be concerned with the salvation of people's souls. Someone who dresses disrespectfully at church concerns me because I worry about their attitude and what they're getting out of church. Yes...reserve judgement...get to know them, be friendly, don't wish they would stop coming, etc.... But no, I'm not going to wave it off as I'm just glad they're there. I can be glad they're there and still want to influence them for even greater good, greater humility, greater faith, and a greater ability to draw close to our Father in Heaven.

So seconding Quin's
 

I thought you might like this link, it explains how right you are.
 
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Debunking-the-Paleo-Diet-Christ

So seconding Quin's
 

My beard won't have a bare patch on my cheek so that I can grow it.
My idea though is pretty generic, we'll have a perfected hierarchical society, I picture gardens all over the place and that we will have lots of work to get done. Honestly I'm not concerned about the details, I just hope one day I can get there to find out.

I tried downloading it, and, being a non-tech person, quickly got frustrated.  My disk arrived today, and installed fine.  They sent the 64-bit, but it works.  I was talking to a fellow at work, and he said that Ubuntu is really "fat" and inefficient.  So, for those converting to linux from XP, I'll definitely suggest Lubuntu or Xubuntu.

I prefer it in written form, usually an electronic format. It's easier for me to pick apart the bias that way, it's also easier for me to separate the fact from spin as well usually.

"Putting on my admin hat"
 
The purpose of this particular forum is to have a place for those who have legitimate and sincere questions regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).
 
This forum should not be used for any other purpose.  When it is used for other purposes it takes away from the spirit in which this forum is intended.

I wonder what is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I remember years ago... before the internet  staying up late into the night to finally watch a news story I was interested in. Inevitably they always made me wait to watch everything else to see the part I cared to see.