Quin

All my best to you and yours. Hoping you find peace as you can, when you can, for as long as you can. Q

VS Hmmmm. Team Pam on this one. All the way. Pick me! Pick me! Q

So.... If a parent spends $1,000 a month on their child... $100 has already been paid in tithing. But... iF a parent wants to teach money management, and has the child buy what is needed out of that thousand...$200 has to be paid on that $1000? That doesn't compute. *** Families structure allowance differently. In some, it's pocket money. In others it: - Daycare/Afterschool care (as needed) - Clothes/ shoes/ uniforms - Food - A portion of household bills - Sports & Extracurricular activities - School supplies - Birthday & Christmas budget - Doctors visits and Rx's. -etc. The kid who gets $1000 a month may well only have $20 left over. Meanwhile the kid whose parents pay for the $1000 a month has $40 in pocket money. ($1000 a month is actually a lowball number, childcare is often double that, but it's round). All families work allowance differently. Some families have kids pay on allowance. Some don't. *** The difference between a Mormon working for a Mormon... And a Parent & their Child... Is a pretty big difference. Q

We're having Round#1 of "We're sick of winter" parties at my parents ... Which means its Burgers & punches. (Round 2 is Latin Food & Virgin Margaritas). So I'm schlepping to the store with everyone's lists of ingredients for their burgers this year, which means I'm collecting emails with ingredient listings. Beef, Bison, Lamb, Turkey, Chicken, & Portobello mushrooms are all on my list. Sadly, the game store is late on their shipment of wallabies, so no wallaby burgers this time. No one makes their burgers in the same way. How bout y'all? How do you make yours? _______________ I do a couple different ones, but this smorgasburger I'm doing turkey. Ground turkey Ground turkey skin Olive oil Santa Maria Seasoning (essentially garlic, salt, & pepper) Smash all together in a ziplock bag and let sit for awhile. Then patty up. Served on a kaiser roll with Tomato Jam Tomato Purple onion Spinach Avocado Q

Hello! You know, I never really considered it like that before, but that's basically what forums are, aren't they? Pen pals in the modern age. Q

ROFL...You know WHY??? Two identical screws. Same. Durn. Screw. Home Depot $0.35 Marine Depot $75 It's like adding "wedding" to a name. _______ Or as my Strine friends say But Oy 'Awnt That'n'nex

Most people, myself included, are pretty good about saying "in my understanding, from what I see one of the things, in my experience, from what I've observed, according to XYZ source," etc. But this is an open forum. We're not publishing, here. There's no editor to double check our statements. Nor are we writing them under any kind of official umbrella. We're chatting. And debating. And questioning. And seeking better understanding. And sharing our own understanding. An open RELIGIOUS forum. Which means that most of the above is on religious matters. If all of us waited until we had a perfect understanding of truth...the forum would be empty. No discourse necessary. Q

^^^^^ This. Definitely. Q

The LDS faith is one that intermarries well... In no small part because of our belief that after death, everyone has the chance to accept the Father on His terms. Not that people won't be trying to convert you off and on until then... But we don't believe you're going to Hell (or purgatory) if you aren't baptized into the faith. Nor will your children, you and your wife's future children (if any), etc. So there's both less, ah, urgency. Not to mention a great deal less fear. So less anger. A lot of the problems that crop up in interfaith marriages, in my observation, stem from those fears. By parents, siblings, priests, and everyone who loves the person marrying outside of the faith. As well as the individuals themselves. If you posed the same questions you have on a board of a different faith... You may well see dozens, if not hundreds from time to time, of responses. Marrying outside of some faiths can have dire consequences spiritually... Which means huge problems in the family, socially, etc.. With us, we'll be dragging you out for BBQs, and service projects to clear away blackberries, and peppering you with (actual curiosity driven, not argument driven) questions about your own faith. We'll be peppering your wife with questions about how wonderful you are, and how are the kids, and do she or the kids need any work done for them (priesthood stuff, mostly). We believe Heavenly Father loves you. We believe Heavenly Father loves your kids. Regardless of what faith you are. And while we can get annoying (most of our missionaries are apx 19yo, remember, they're quite keen, and rotate around a lot)... It's actually PART of our faith to respect other religions. #11 in the articles of faith : We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. & #13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Heck, even on this board, one of the moderators on this board is clergy for a different branch of Christianity... And we've got quite a few non-members, as well. Respecting others, and their agency, is very much a core value in the church. ______ Will there be challenges? Absolutely. The big ones / common ones that crop up you've already been shared with. If you're waiting for the other shoe to drop... There just isn't one. No firestorm, or angry mob with torches trying to talk you (or her) out of things. Welcome! Q

Yah. Yah. Like allowance. Some people have their kids tithe on their allowance, either for practice, or because once money has changed hands their view is that it's "new" money. Some don't, since it's already been tithed on by the family. Q

The only Baptist run preschool I'm familiar with, may very well not be representational of baptist preschools in general. What I didn't like about it: - Corporal Punishment (pants pulled down and spanked in front of other students for the peer pressure aspect, as well). - Hell. As in talked about a kajillion times a day. And how bad little girls were going straight to it, and wouldn't mommy be sad? Q

I'll stick my oar in: GB seems to be taking the Farmer's Part. Meaning my farming & ranching family take care of their family out of the proceeds of their work (they don't buy food & shelter, they raise both). Only AFTER they've fed their families, stored things by, fixed houses and barns... Do they sell their surplus... And have money for it. Generally they only sell once a year, sometimes twice. Depends. In any event, of what they sold, that would be their increase. Of which 10% would go to the Church. Most of us, though, aren't farmers. We get paychecks. What most of us do, is simply take 10% of their paycheck. (Net, gross, whatever) So the idea of taking care of your family first, doesn't work for most. Even though that probably what a lot of the early members did, and what I suspect most farmers & ranchers still do. It's not that EITHER concept is wrong. They just don't translate from one world into the other very well. It's a 180 concept. Like on farms, the more children you have, the richer you are... As the more free labor you have. It's like a potluck. Each new person bringing a dish. So you end up with a feast. But in the city, the more children you have, the poorer you are... As there are more muons to feed, bigger house & car needed, more classes to pay for, etc. Like having a pizza. A sum total that each new person takes a piece from. The more people there. The less pizza everyone gets. But the concept is still legitimate. Like, few of us in the city would total all the money we save from smart shopping, and add the total to our income to tithe from. But in using Farming Ideology in the city, means taking care of your family first, then tithing off of the remainder. Which would often be $0 (but hardly most much less always). As many of us in the city live not making ends meet. If we were farmers, we'd have nothing to sell at the end of the year. Because we'd be using up everything we had just to survive. Paycheck Ideology, though, means 10% of whatever that number is. Whether you can pay your power bill, or buy groceries... Or not. I find our leaders to be very wise in how they've allowed the flexibility in tithing for different lifestyles & concepts. Q

Because we can still catch malaria from Mosquitos! Truth doesn't always equal comfort. Q

Health, wealth, & happiness. Q

I'd be fine sending my kids to either a Jesuit / Catholic, Muslim, or a Jewish school. I'd have more problems sending them to a Protestant Christian school. Because I know enough about he first group, and not enough about the other. Why ARENT there LDS schools, anyway? Q

LOL. No doubt, right? And yet, I missed Noeo for YEARS Becuase it was put out by christian publisher., so I didn't been bother looking at it. And it is hands down the best elementary/middle school science program I've ever found. Loathe their new website, though. I still send my kids to away-school with the reproduceable pages to take notes for science. Homeschool - Logos Press AND I'll have ya know... I taught anatomy & physiology, and microbiology in a catholic homeschool group :) One of the astronomers from the university did earth & space science. Q

I think this right here is the line that some people are getting confused / conflating. Because we have TWO levels. What's between us and Heavenly Father. What's between us and the Church. Tithing (and many other things) have both standards applied. Even so, it's no one else's business... except ours, our leadership, and Heavenly Father. If asked, yes, we may have an opinion. But judgement isn't ours. That's between that person, their bishop, & God. I think you did a beautiful job at illustrating that difference. Q

Not to mention the Queen's Jubilee! Q

2 points to Mirkwood!

Only in some branches of Christianity. Some absolutely require works. Many others take a far more literal interpretation of by faith alone. I don't doubt you that your faith requires word and deed, not just word. And, as I said, even if deed is not required, there are stellar people in every branch. It's just not my cup of tea. :) Which is why I'm in an action based based Christian Denomination. It sounds like you are, also. Hail & well met! Although it is the odd man out to be action-based in Christianity. In the religions of Abraham the TENDENCY for the requirements are Judaism = Active Christianity = Faith Islam = Action & Faith There are schisms in all 3 that go against the norm. Judaism that requires faith Christianity that requires action Islam that requires neither faith, nor action, nor either. But there really, really are good people in all branches & schisms. Q

Dude is using false logic. JS's statement is If/then. If this, then that. IF abc happens, THEN xyz happens. Reverse logic, though, says if XYZ didn't happen, then ABC didn't happen. Which is a fallacy. Doesn't work. Here's a wiki on it Deductive fallacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia They have their own example, but here's my fav: Sick people take pills (if you're sick, then you take pills) THEREFORE!!! (False logic coming) If I don't take pills, then I won't get sick. Ummmmm.... No. You can't reverse logic and have it make sense. Hence the fallacy. But people do it all the time. Like in this case. Where dude is saying the second thing was false, so the first one must be, "by his own admission" Nope. That's reverse logic. Q

LOL. ... Some women are also complete featherheads. We are, neither gender, perfect. If the shoe had been on the other foot, and it was a widower who had met with the fluffiest, dipsiest, woman... And was made uncomfortable by her actions in her home, I would have said that, too. Unless the church was mostly made of of egomaniac men, and idiot women. Of which, it is not. The standard is for strong, smart, and compassionate men... As well as intelligent, caring, intentional women. With both genders being equally important and held in high regard. That's not always true, and the OPs first experience with a man (not missionary, but man representative of the church) was of someone who bowled over her statements, was dismissive, and was generally a patoot to her in her own home. So much so that based off of his actions, she no longer liked or felt comfortable "their" church. I'm sure we've all run into those individuals, that if they had been our gateway of understanding, we'd have slammed the gate shut and walked away, muttering good riddance. If what she had described was normal standards of behavior (offering to help, wanting her opinion, etc.) and she was upset about that... I'd have said that's normal for the church. His statements and actions shared are not normal for the church. That's just not how most of "our" men are, as it's not church-culture for them to be so. Do we have lots of individuals wih their own spin? Of course. From tattooed with blue hair, to sports-crazy, to old world manners, to, to, to. But hese are all individuals who have fallen in love with the gospel. It's not as if a girl all in black, with purple hair, fails to meet the standards of the church. It's just that she's not indicative of most of the women within it. Nor is a man who makes you feel weak and scared. As I said... Not technically untrue if we want to break it down one way, albeit fairly awkwardly... But Vort. I double dog dare you to walk up to 6 strangers and tell them that you have the Power of God, and judge their reactions. Outside of the church would be best, but even if it was in a strange ward, I strongly suspect you'd get the raised eyebrow and back-away-a-step reaction even inside a new ward where no one knows you. Similarly, I'm not in the Priesthood, so I can't say for sure that during 2nd hour that's not the exact phrasing used. However, I am given to understand that the concept is not having the same power as HF, but being a vessel for HIS power. I agree, completely, that it's one of the most amazing things. It's easy to take something beautiful, though, and make it scary or warp it. Squabble... EXACTLY. Why walk into someone's home and start a squabble? Even if that's what one believes, it's poor manners. It's like my other Christian friends in some faiths may well believe everyone else is going to Hell, but only the idiots walk around telling people they're going to hell. The rest ask people if they want to be saved. PURELY a difference in words. But one is insulting and aggressive, the over is inviting and uplifting. Which is what I was apologizing for. "No you weren't" is dismissive, and insulting. True or not. AMB! Q

What JAG, said. Or this: Q

It was from here: If a veritable stranger walks up to you and tells you he has the power of God... Most people are going to whistle quietly and back away. The power of the priesthood (any priesthood) can in theory be broken down that way... But it's... Self aggrandizing at the very least. Similarly, while we require a separate baptism, that doesn't mean she wasn't baptized. In the Lutheran Church as a child. Telling here it doesn't count would be rude at best, but arguing that she's never been baptized at all is insulting, dismissive. and aggressive. It would be like a catholic walking up to you and saying YOU were never baptized. When, really, you have been. Just not into the Catholic faith. So the Catholic Church wouldn't recognize it. Doesn't mean that you weren't baptized. It just sets the table for argument. Some people work well, that way: Rabbi M used to start arguments to get us to think. But for many, most if the person is a stranger, it's extremely off putting. I came here to learn, why are you picking a fight? And the person's mind shuts down and quits listening. Not a great introduction to the Church. Since that's generally not how we operate. We want people to bring the good stuff with them, Not convince them there isn't good stuff, or that they're idiots. ______________________________________ Mishwanee.... Like your missionaries, I'm sorry. Sounds like this guy had a major case of poisoning by testosterone coupled with social ineptitude. Some guys have that. (I work with one, bless his heart). Principles before Personalities is one of those concepts that only works well once one understands the principles. When you're just trying to learn about them, the wrong personality can really put salt in the cookies instead of sugar. Blech. Yuck. What is wrong, here? Kind of response. But I hope that, in this case, you get the chance to try he cookies made the way they're supposed to be. & I hope you have a better meeting upcoming. Q

I didn't discover them for a looooooong time. As far as kids programming goes, pretty awesome. Maybe not the best thing ever, but Right up here with Thomas the Tank Engine, Kipper, & Fraggle Rock. Q