CrimsonKairos

A woman should only have a child when she and her husband have talked and agreed that they are equipped mentally and emotionally to handle it. A woman should not keep having babies until she feels she has met some ambiguous "quota" for LDS women. All things must be done with the Lord's counsel and with mutual agreement within marriage. That being said...the drop in births of record from 1982 to 2007 is indeed significant.

Yep, that's what I said. Spirit of God = Holy Ghost.

See, I only think the death penalty should be used when someone murders or causes someone to lose life through negligence or inaction, and in the case of treason. Maybe there are other instances I'm not thinking of right now. The whole point of using the death penalty is to dissuade criminals and hence, encourage a more civilized society and world. If murderers know that the worst they can expect is two to three square meals a day for the rest of their lives, then the power to dissuade is diluted. That is why I said that the death penalty is society's way of affirming the value of human life.

What Peter felt that convinced him of Christ's divinity was the power of the Holy Ghost, not the gift thereof. Apparently the power of the Holy Ghost was still active while Christ lived, but the gift was withheld until Christ conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost upon his apostles (which actually took place before Pentecost).

Interesting nuance. Has some merit.

In addition to that excellent explanation involving the priesthood keys of the kingdom, this might be of interest as well: During one of Brigham Young's public speeches following Joseph Smith's murder, many people reported that Brigham's voice (and if I recall, his countenance) took on the characteristics of Joseph Smith's, and many took that as a spiritual witness that Joseph's mantle was meant to fall upon Pres. Young's shoulders.

Yep. You would be pointing out that there was more than one book, not more than one Mormon. :)

Interesting posit, Drew. I enjoyed the abundance of scripture references you provided.

That was more my personal opinion than anything else. I base it on things Jesus said such as Matt. 11:21-24, among others. Officially, it is speculation on my part, but I also feel a spiritual certainty when I contemplate it.

The LDS "canon" or the official scriptures of the LDS Church include: The Holy Bible (we use the KJV) The Book of Mormon The Doctrine & Covenants (revelations given to Joseph Smith and a few other modern-day prophets after him) Pearl of Great Price (contains some of Moses' lost writings, as well as some of Abraham's writings) You can read any or all of them here. You can also use the "search" feature on that website for a variety of useful queries.

While Jesus was on the earth, his good works and charitable life formed the witness of his divinity and Sonship. When Christ was gone, the gift of the Holy Ghost was given to witness to those who had not seen Christ in the flesh.

People rarely wake up one day and decide, "I'm going to steal a family's worldly wealth and have them executed." My point: There's probably alot of backstory to Laban that we don't get from Nephi's brush with him. Laban was likely corrupt, wicked and murderous before Nephi and his brothers ever set eyes on Laban. In addition to preserving the brass plates and all that jazz, it is possible that God was rendering due justice to a man who had likely been sinning, blaspheming and murdering for years.

Neither am I. I'm proud of the powerful nation they have become with our aid. I don't recall saying we shouldn't vote for virtuous men to fill our public offices. I was pointing out that the one or two "big-ticket" issues that keep coming up (gold standard, foreign policy) do not constitute "aspirins" which if we take two of, we'll feel better as a nation in the morning. The world and the situation is far more complex...nauseatingly so, in fact. That's why I tire of these debates or discussions or whatever they are. The solutions you advance are not solutions. They are the misguided attempts to force theory and ideals to fit through the hole of pragmatism and "rubber-meets-the-road" reality. Yes, let's just pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Then, when our enemies (not just Al Qaeda) have been allowed to breed and prosper and thrive, and when they acquire truly formidable weapons to use against us and our allies (i.e. Israel), then let's send over way more troops then we have deployed right now. Yes, that sounds like a strategically sound way to mathematically decrease the loss of American blood that is currently watering the inhospitable deserts over there. Something that I keep in mind is that Ishmael's seed will forever be engaged in warfare and feuds and conflicts with their neighbors: 11 And the angel of the LORD said unto [Hagar], Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. (Gen. 16:11-12) Now I know not all Arabs are descended from Ishmael, but a large portion of the Palestinians and other Arabs are, and I think a truer prophecy was never given as was the one in Gen. 16.

Much of the Arabic nations' practice of Islam is hypocritical and/or convenient. One has but to remember the 1979 "hijacking" of Mecca by Muslim extremists...Saudi Arabia called in the French GIGN, but the problem was that only Muslims are supposed to walk near that sacred black rock. Saudi Arabia's solution? Have the GIGN say the shahada and "convert" to Islam so they could go in and mop up the extremists.

Sweet, thanks bro.

Until and unless the U.S. renounces support of Israel, the U.S. will never be seen as neutral and cordial by those in the Middle East. And I think that the U.S. should continue to support Israel against the sundry enemies that continually yip at her heels and threaten destruction. I think that the world events are best viewed not through a political lens or economic lens, but through the eternal lens of the scriptures and God's forewarnings. The you-know-what is going to keep hitting the fan until the Day Star Himself appears to end it. Returning to a gold standard won't help one whit. Pulling out of the middle east won't help one whit. All we can do is pray for God to guide our leaders, pray for cleansing through Christ, and hold on to our covenants with a white-knuckled grip until the end of days.

Which one would you say is the best for all-around use, primarily geocaching?

Yes, Iggy, I agree. It just sounded like Aphrodite thought that coffee wasn't explicitly forbidden in our current practice of the WoW, and I wanted to make sure she knew the standard involved.

Dude, you have FIVE? Can I have one?

Aphrodite, if your Bishop knows you drink coffee, you cannot go to the temple. The WOW is explicit about a few substances we are to avoid. The rest (caffeine, etc.) is up to our judgment and our personal body's ability to handle substances like caffeine. The principle is don't become addicted to a substance and don't take anything into your body that interferes with your spiritual sensitivity.

This whole hypothetical proceeds on the assumption that everyone who has cancer should get better. It may not be God's will for you to recover. That may be why you might get the "forget chemo and all that jazz" answer to prayer. I know we're talking hypotheticals, but there you go.

All of the liberal activists who thrust forth the concept of "tolerance" as the banner of their "just cause" don't really want tolerance: they want tolerance for themselves and intolerance for any who oppose them. I despise hypocrisy and double-standards. I think it was a disgrace the way the Rev. Hutcherson was treated in a public school. Then again, I think public schools are a joke. Charter and private schools are far superior despite the government's inability to realize this. Then again, maybe they do...after all, how many U.S. senators send their kids to public schools?

God bless capitalism and military superiority.

That's right, I think it was India, not Africa. Good call.