tektronik

I was surprised that there wasn't a topic dedicated to music, so I figured I'd start a thread about it. Post whatever you'd like! To start, here's two songs from the same album: This song is in most of my party playlists. Its got a catchy beat and most girls seem to like it This song is a bit different. I wouldn't play it at a party, but I enjoy the lyrics. I also recommend turning up the bass.

Have you been baptized? I ask only because I want to know if you can be baptized and still have this view. Who originally said that coffee and tea were not allowed to be consumed? Did it come from the Book of Mormon or a person? I don't have to have it, but I don't understand why this is a part of the faith. I understand abstaining from drugs, alcohol (BTW didn't Jesus drink wine?), and even sex, but I don't see the reasoning behind banning such a benign substance. I could stop drinking it, and will if I decide to participate, but I'd like to understand it. I doubt this will persuade my dad at all, but it's good to know. I've only met one Mormon, and she didn't seem that different. She certainly swore a whole lot less than the other people at work, but she seemed... normal. Just to clarify, does personal revelation mean sudden realization about something? Or the forming of opinions? In the past (a really long time ago), I have tried praying to see if I would get a response. I received nothing but silence, but then again, maybe my expectations of silence tainted the results. I believe I have this Sunday off, so I'll probably get to go to church, and I'll show up early and give it another shot. I'll also be sure to keep an open mind this time.

Even though it is explicitly subjective? I meant that it is one of the thing I would look for in joining a religion. People are entitled to their own opinions, and to explain how they arrived at their conclusions based on these opinions, but calling it evidence is a bit of a stretch. Yep. And coffee. Is there a reason for this? Is it the caffeine content? I happen to enjoy the taste of both. I'd be fine with drinking decaff. So that's what communion is! All I remember is having to stand in a white robe for awhile, eat my Jesus Cracker, and then drink some wine at the end. Can the evidence be shared with other people or is it based on feeling? One of my favorite quotes: Subjective evidence leads to contradicting arguments because both sides are working from different premises. In this case, I suppose the premises themselves are subjective... It's a difficult topic, that's for sure. In a perfect world, there would be no differences in opinion and everything would be objective, but who would want to live in a world like that? There would be no need to innovate, to investigate, to question anything. It would be... boring. I suppose the objective truth I am searching for is impossible to know, except by the dead. I guess the best way to form an opinion is to form hypotheses and test them through reflection (with scientific input). Working from the premise that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omnitemporal would explain how he/she/it would be able to have a "greater plan", using necessary evil for greater good. My problem with this is that if God is directing every event, does free will truly exist? In the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve (surely something not to be taken literally) says that humanity was gifted with free will, which inevitably led to Adam and Eve falling out of God's good graces. But if God knew this would happen, why would God be disappointed? That's disappointing. Though I suppose these problems plague most groups. Yes, but it only disproves a conclusion based upon a conflicting premise. It doesn't address the premise itself. Not quite: --------- Actually, yes. It's a way to answer philosophical questions, rather than physical. "What is the meaning of life?", ect. Will do. I want to go to church with an open mind, and see what I experience. If I felt like I had made up my mind ahead of time, I wouldn't waste my time going down there. I'm using the forum to gather my questions ahead of time, and to go in with a little background information. I appreciate, and thank everyone for their responses to my posts. And I might add that those who believe in these things... turn out to be better men for believing in these principles.Just some food for thought. It's a good quote, and definitely something to think about. I asked my dad last night about his thoughts on Mormonism, and his response? "It's a cult." I figured he would say something like that. I wont use his preconceptions to influence my decision, but I realize now that it may not be greeted with open arms. I'm going to go down there for sure, but like I said before, I'm using this opportunity to get some background information and to try to rid myself of my tendency to argue against religion. They came by my house once... they didn't seem very interested after I told them I worship satan. lol -------- Another question: If Jesus died for our sins, wouldn't that give us free reign to do whatever we wanted?

Thanks for the heads-up!

Thanks everyone for your replies. If I got to everything here I'd have a post longer than my original post, so I'll pick out the main things: I unfortunately have not had the time thus far to research the "Three Degrees of Glory" but I'll write it down and see if I can ask someone about it when I go to church. This is one of the main things I am looking for. a) I understand that belief in god is essential to being a part of any religion. I'm not 100% sure about Jesus being the son of god, but we'll see what I can learn from church. b) I have not read Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon (or the Bible... how good of a Christian was I? lol) so I cannot comment on it. c) I have no idea who Thomas Monson is. d) Fair enough. e) I understand all of the above, except for tea. Is tea really banned? At some point this week (or when I go to church) I will do more research on all of the above. That is definitely not the reason I would use to join a church. I said that I was considering it and that it was one of the reasons Mormonism caught my eye. Mmmm... this is difficult because, to me at least, finding acceptance from the Mormon version of god requires the premise that god speaks to you directly. Maybe it will make more sense after I attend mass. The so-called "evidence" that god does exist is based on religious premises instead of facts, while the "evidence" that god doesn't exist is trying to prove that a specific religion didn't get the story right (Earth is billions of years old vs 6000). There is nothing concrete for either side to argue. It's based on beliefs and faith. I believe in personal responsibility and I'll stay clean because I want to. While the fact that I've done drugs may have led me to this point, it will not impact my decision. But does your doctrine require you to believe the words from the Bible and Book of Mormon word for word? Or can you simply appreciate the lessons being passed on through the stories? Fair enough. It's a big decision, and I certainly wont commit myself to baptism without undue thought. Will do. Hopefully I can do it this weekend. If not, I'll be sure to make time next Sunday.

*WARNING* This thread contains topics of adult nature. There's nothing profane or explicit, but you might not want your 13 year old to read this. Hi everyone. At the moment, I am considering joining the LDS church. My previous experiences with faith: I was raised as a Catholic, and attended church weekly until I was around 5 (I moved and had to transfer to public school). I did end up getting my holy communion (still not sure what the significance of that is) at age 7 or so, but that was my last religious event. I don't remember anything from Sunday School, except that I was bored to tears from it. No one in my family is Mormon, and I'm pretty sure my dad considers it a cult. What sparked my interest in joining: In the past, I have experimented with drugs; I've never used narcotics, but I have abused various herbal and hallucinogenic compounds. I realized about a year and a half ago that doing these things was a long road to nowhere, and I quit doing hallucinogenics and other "harder" drugs, and significantly reduced the amount of weed I smoked. 5 months later I had quit smoking weed altogether, but I was still drinking alcohol. About a month ago I was at a party, and we were playing a drinking game. Luck was not on my side that night however, and I ended up drinking much more than I intended to. The last thing I remember was cursing out everyone at the table (one of the rules was you had to drink every time you cursed). I woke up the next morning, and was immediately concerned because I did not remember going to bed. I asked my buddy what happened and he told me I pounded most of a (1.75L) handle of vodka, spent half an hour in a gas mask with a bong hooked up to it, almost boinked the ugliest girl at the party, and was about to leave with someone I didn't even know to go pick up some ecstasy before my buddy pulled me aside and made me go to bed. That was the second most sobering moment of my life. Before, I had had a near death experience while on the effects of drugs, which "scared me sober" enough to stop doing hallucinogenics. After hearing my buddy's recollection of the events that night, I realized that alcohol is just another drug, and by extension, a danger. Not only did it make me break a promise I made to myself and my family about not doing drugs, but I could have easily gotten in my truck and gone out and killed someone. I have not had a drop of alcohol since, and I have had little trouble quitting; I didn't drink every day so I didn't have any withdrawals. However, the whole event got me thinking about the broad topics of life: what is the meaning of life, is there a god, is everything predetermined or does free will exist, ect. Why am I considering becoming Mormon? I'm drawn to Mormonism because, while it has its own stigmata, it is more distant to the Vatican than the other sects of Christianity (I've never heard of a Mormon priest molesting anyone). Mormonism also has the most strict adherence to its own rules, something that Catholicism severely lacks. Also, none of the other religions really appeal to me. Islam is most definitely a tool devised to allow its leader to kill anyone they don't like through jihad. Buddhism preaches about wanting nothing to be the peak of existence. I'd lump Judaism with the other sects of Christianity because they're practically the same thing. My reservations about joining: Until this point I had written god off as a figment of someone's imagination, or worse: being an invented idea that was used to control people and get money from them. Now, I'm not so sure. Being the logical, realistic person that I am, it's frustrating not being able to objectively say whether something is real or not. There is no evidence to show that god does or does-not exist, but something makes me a bit skeptical of the scientific theory that all we are as people (memories, feelings, dispositions) is caused purely by electrical impulses in the brain. I believe that it's possible that everyone has a spirit, and extrapolating that out, there could be a lead spirit that we define as a god. However, I find it hard to believe that there is some guy sitting in heaven/space directing events at his whim. I'm also leery of so-called prophets that claim to speak the word of god. Throughout history, organized religion has proven to be a tool used by unscrupulous folks to increase their personal power. They can prove they're right through "faith" while you can't prove them wrong. In addition, I think I'll have a hard time giving up swearing... and masturbation... My Questions for you: 1. After reading all this, do you think it's possible for me to become a respectable Mormon? 2. What makes you believe in your religion? 3. Do the leaders of your church believe some things are open to interpretation? 4. Is it possible to be a part of the church without necessarily believing everything? ------ PS: I hope that I haven't jumped around too much, and I apologize for writing a novel. When it comes to topics like this, my mind seems to go a mile a minute and my fingers can't keep up :). I hope at the very least it was an entertaining read. TL;DR I'm a screw up that wants to hear your reasons for believing what you do.

Hello everyone! I figured registering here would be a good first step to finding out if joining the church is the right decision for me. I plan on taking a Sunday off in the near future to attend mass and see what being in the church would be like on a weekly basis.