Swiper

So there would have been no Christians upset if a Muslim was allowed to give a public prayer to Allah and claim that Muhammed is the last prophet of God during a High School graduation? Tolerance for atheists? The day an open atheist has a reasonable chance to run for the Presidency of the United States I will agree with you. Right now, claiming to be an atheist would be a "kiss of death" for anyone running for public office. So you would be okay if Atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, Satanists, Wiccans, etc, would unapologetically and publically worship and speak about their beliefs in the class rooms, inside court houses, from the podium in the Senate, etc?

I'm soliciting advice from several different spiritual sources about my dilemma. A former roommate fell in love with me when I lived at her house for about a year. She developed very strong feelings for me that have remained even after I moved from her house. Now she seems to be soliciting something more from me than just friendship. I'm not sure what do with it. I care for her deeply as a friend. She's like a close family member and intimate platonic friend, but I am married and will not be able to become hers. The dilemma is that she has had a really rough year. She was in a traffic accident that left her partially brain damaged and she's unable to do many of the activities that used to make her happy. She lost her job because of the injury and she had to put her house on the market and move to something smaller. Now it looks like she can't sell her old house because of structural damages. Her former employer cheated her out of her retirement and she is losing her medical insurance. She's in her 60's so the chances for her to get a new job is very slim. I'm pretty much the only bright spot in her life right now and her apparent love for me seems to be the only thing that keeps her from just giving up. I don't think just telling her 'no' is the right answer right now, but at the same time I am not interested in having an inappropriate relationship with her. To me it seems like a lose-lose scenario right now. Any ideas?

The numbers tells a different story. The other two protelyzing churches, Jehovah's Witnesses and the 7th Day Adventist, both have a higher convertion rate and both are growing faster than the LDS church.

The dress standards sends the visual impression of being "out of touch" with the modern world. It's a leftover from the 1950s and probably should have stayed there.

Is that really a noticable change in dress code? If the church wanted the missionary dress code to get into the 21st century, they should get ride of the ties and allow the male missionaries to wear colored shirts.

I believe the church would do that. Didn't the church leaders bless the City Creek Center when it opened up last year?

I think its acceptable. I would actually put them up on the wall next to eachother, perhaps even using those frames with room for two pictures. My wife and I only have pictures of our 'civil wedding'. No pictures were ever taken the day we got sealed in the temple.

I had an epiphany in regard to this issue after reading the biography "Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith".

faceseast.org ?

The last person I unfriended was a woman in my former ward (and neighbor) who posted an online rant blaming the Sandy Hook shooting on liberal teachers who according to her had taken God out of school. It's all those **** liberal teachers' fault!!!

Craigslist. No, I'm not joking.

I think the statement is a platitude. It has no substance, no solid definition, and can usually be flipped around against the person who makes the statement.

The Supreme Court has ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional for violating people's equal rights. Prop 8 appeal has been dismissed as having no legal standing with the Supreme Court and also vacated the Ninth Circuit's decision. This effectively means that gay marriages will once again be allowed in California and that the federal government must recognize all gay marriages performed in states that permits same-sex marriages.

My comment was not aimed at the OP specifically, but only a general statement. I was trying to make the point of the importance to find out what the spouse do believe in and try to find common ground. I think that we often get to fixated on what we think we lost that we fail to look for the beliefs that we still share.

That a person does not believe in an afterlife does not mean that they don't believe in something. Having a belief is not restricted to concepts of a god or an afterlife. I'm sure the atheist might have belief in humanity, in love, and in being compassionate to their fellow man.

I think labelling the spouse as "unbelieving" is not being fair to him/her. Yes, the spouse might no longer believe what you believe, but he/she believes in something. Listen to your spouse, find out what he/she believes in now and find common ground. I'm not talking about the spouse's disbelief in Mormonism/Christianity, but what his/her actual beliefs are now. I'm not "unbelieving," I believe in something. Yes, I do not believe in the God of Abraham nor do I believe that Jesus was the Messiah; but I do believe in the concept of Pantheism, I get inspired by the teachings of Gautama Buddha, I believe in love and compassion, and the Golden Rule is my commandment. There is a common ground, find it and build on it. There is happiness to be found even if your spouse do not share your religious and/or spiritual beliefs. Don't dwell on what you think you have lost, look into the future and build on what you have now.

I suspect that all sides, to a certain extent, has fallen victim to Confirmation Bias. I have reviewed church history just as you, but I share the view of the original poster's husband. We find what our we (consiously or unconsiously) are looking for. We readily accept information that support our views and, at the same time, tend to disregard the information that challlenges those views.

I would suggest one of the following options: 1. If both of you work: You pay tithing (10%) on your income only and he can use 10% of his income on a charity of his choice. 2. If only one of you work: You pay partial tithing (5%) of your combined household income and he can use 5% of the combined income on a charity of his choice. 3. You can donate 10% of your income to a charity which you both agree upon (instead of paying tithe to the church). I think God will understand. Do NOT try to force him to tithe any of his income to the church. It will only cause hard feelings and resentment.

I live in Vienna, VA, which is next door to Tysons Corner. Tysons Corner is technically not a city but an unincorporated location in Fairfax County (you can say its a collection of office buildings and a shopping mall). The cities and towns in this area has pretty much grown into eachother and its difficult to tell them apart. You might be working in Tysons Corner, but your house next block over might have a Falls Church address and, at the same time, be located in Fairfax county outside the city limits. What do you want to know?

Rumours has it that the missionaries are going digital and that the announcement will be this upcoming Sunday. They would be issued iPads containing scriptures, lesson manuals, videos, etc. - everything they need for their missionary effort. It would make sense to do as everyone else are going digital now.

John 8:7

I think its tacky. I also think it's somewhat ironic that they want to be as comfortable as possible while walking in Jesus' footsteps.

I go with spouse B approach. I find it difficult to believe that God keep tabs on how devout we have been. Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I think that most people doing "comb overs" would be better off just shaving it all off. A full bald head is a much better fashion statement than trying to pretend to have more hair where there is none.

I thought it was well written and sincere. I do strongly disagree with your premises, interference, and conclusion; but that's irrelevant for the purpose of this thread. I do not think you will get any strong negative reactions to your post. Some honest public disagrement, perhaps, but nothing so negative that it would result in unfriending, name calling, etc. We can only see the reactions if we are your friends on Facebook or if you change the privacy settings for that particular post to "public".