CatholicLady

Hi everyone, I am a practicing Catholic, 28 years old, homemaker, and married to an air force pilot.
 
I am here to learn about the Mormon faith, as I find it interesting and quite similar to Catholicism. I am happy to be here and hope to meet some like minded folks in the Mormon community. :) 
 

I think Jesus is the best example of God that there is. Not the God who supposedly ordered people to kill others in the OT. Again, I don't believe that ever happened. When I want to try to understand God better, and the type of entity that He is, I look to Jesus and see the type of man He was... and that is the type of God that I imagine.

Why some Christians vote Democrat: They perceive that Democrats . . .
 
1.  are more concerned about minorities and the poor
2.  care more for the enviornment
3.  protect American jobs from foreign competition
4.  are more humane in times of war
5.  won't deport my family or I
6.  will help me with grants, aid, etc.
7.  will make things more even between me and the rich
8.  respect women and their opinions more
ETC.
 
Not saying I agree with any of those...but if someone sincerely believes some of these types of ideas we may fault their wisdom, but we ought not judge their spirituality.

I'm going to poke this thread with a figurative stick , because I'm not sure.
 
I don't quite like the idea of the death penalty...except in the case of extreme crimes...even then i'm not sure if i'm for it or against it.



 

Just read that article. Blah. In the long run, women end up hurting themselves any which way you look at it. There are so many single moms where I work, and though I'm not attributing it all to the pill, I wouldn't doubt that it and the mentality it has produced in our society is a contributing factor. Personally speaking, I'm going on 24 years of marriage and loving it!  Watch and learn:
 

Interesting post from Matt Walsh today, entitled " Birth Control Pills: Men Get Free Sex, Women Could Get Cancer

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/birth-control-pills-men-get-free-sex-women-get-cancer/

I'm against the DP because I believe all human life is sacred and worth living. That's the bottom line.
 
I think we should only take away a life as an absolute last resort. Like in self defense, or in the case of a just war.
When someone is already locked up and they no longer pose a threat to society, I see no justifiable reason to kill them. We are not killing them in order to protect ourselves. We have the technology and the means to keep society safe from these people without having to resort to execution. So I don't see the point. Life is sacred. You don't destroy it unless you absolutely have to.
^That above is the reason why I don't support the DP.
Now, there are other things about the DP that I think further makes it horrible, but are not THE reason why I am against it.
 
- One thing is the fact that by executing someone, you are robbing them of their chance to repent and save their soul from Hell. As long as they are still alive, there is always the hope that they will turn to Christ.
 
- Another thing is in regards to the people who already have repented. We can learn from them. They can give us insight into the minds of people who have an urge to kill. They can do good for the world. Ted vehemently warned us about the dangers of pornography in his interviews. Jeffrey became an active Christian and served as a model for other inmates to turn to Christ. 
- Lastly, of course, is the issue of wrongly convicted innocent people getting executed. Even one innocent person having been convicted is one too many.
But even if someone never were to repent, had absolutely nothing positive to contribute to the world, and was 100% guilty, I would still be against the DP for the sole reason that human life is sacred and we don't destroy it unless we absolutely need to.

I actually do think, theologically, that CatholicLady's post about giving time for repentance is valid.  While LDS teaching, of course, holds that it's impossible to make restitution for a taken life (and thus, the repentance available might be somewhat limited), isn't it also a tenet of our own theology that repentance is far easier to perform during mortality?

Yesssir! 
 
CatholicLady must be a youngster. I'll check out Matt's blog. Never heard of him.  :)
 

Initially, I felt strongly for CP but over the last six years I've felt strongly against it.

You are always so hopeful to get out quickly, yet you start fire storms.  :)

The problem with the "too soon" argument is that the topic is, well, topical for only a short time.
 
Suppose Walsh waited four weeks to post his thoughts. What would be the response? "Why are you talking about this? That's old news! Pick something relevant, for Pete's sake!" More importantly, what of the foolish and/or impressionable people who might consider suicide because, hey, Robin Williams did it, and look how nice everyone is talking about him now? Heck, they're saying he's some kind of hero! And he's in a better place! Yeah, I'll get me some of that!
 
Walsh may just possibly have saved someone's life by pointing out not only the ugly evil of suicide, but the stupidity of those who lionize people who kill themselves. That seems more than enough to counterbalance the bruised feelings of the prissy know-it-alls who insist that anyone who speaks a word against their pet causes is just too mean and awful for words.
 
(No, I do not have you in mind, LP.)

I thought I posted on this topic already here, but I did a search and don't see it... hmmm.  Forgive me if I am repeating an earlier post.
 
Anyway, I cross the Golden Gate Bridge every week on the way to a class in Sausalito, and I'm very much aware of the debate around adding suicide barriers under the bridge.  The bridge authority stopped keeping an official count of suicides right before the number reached 1000, and the unofficial count is now around 1600.  On average, someone jumps once every two weeks or so, but it's not reported.  During one especially bad month in 2013, someone jumped every three days.  Not all bodies are recovered, but many are.  A former boss of mine went to a San Francisco church where the choir director suddenly vanished.  Everyone thought she had run away or been abducted, but her body washed up a few weeks later with all the signs of a bridge jump.
 
I mention these grisly details because one interesting thing has come out of all this tragedy.  A small number of people jump and survive.  (One survived on her first jump, but not her second.)  From what I have read, almost all the survivors report the same feeling: they step off into space, they feel the sickening weightlessness of falling, and then, for four short seconds, they suddenly regret that they jumped.  I wouldn't be surprised if Robin Williams felt a flash of regret the moment before he died.
 
Maybe some day we will make a drug that can let people feel that regret before they pull the trigger or step off a ledge.  In any case, if you're curious about how depressed people see the world, the following TED talk was absolutely amazing.  After watching it, I really feel more forgiving and loving to people who struggle with depression.  I used to run from them.
 

Yo FREAKY mama

Bytor is........................opposed.

Like this:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/official-statement/capital-punishment

Actually, this is hugely important.  Limbaugh's equating conservatism with small government means he believes government should be lean.  It should do a few things, and do them well.  When government engrains itself in too much it becomes controlling, and stifles innovation, creativity, personal responsiblity, and most certainly liberty (to become big it must tax more, leaving less for individuals and their families). 
 
Perhaps an example is charity.  Self-identified conservatives give more to charity than liberals.  Why?  We believe in private charity.  They often mesh religion and social work.  They rely on volunteers and low-paid workers (usually), who become personally involved in the lives of those they help.  There is accountablity, and the ultimate goal is the liberation of the recipients from the need for charity.  Liberals, on the other hand, favor government programs for those in need.  Government programs have to be secular, promote equality of results, consider accountablity and responsiblity requirements to be demeaning to the recipients, and, since their workers are government-employees, the goal is to keep the program running.  Often, large-scale government charity will have 5-generations of families on the dole.
 
So Limbaugh is correct.  "Small government" is a conservative ideal (lower taxes, fewer programs).  "Big government" is a liberal ideal (bigger government, more programs, more taxes).

Some interesting history of political parties among Mormons. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party_%28Utah%29
 
http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehood_and_the_progressive_era/partypoliticsandutahstatehood.html

I didn't think it was an "in-your-face" opinion. I think it was a well-considered essay and a desperately needed counterbalance to the nauseating "Robin-is-in-a-far-better-place" tripe being dished out neck-deep for weeks after his suicide.
 
Hey, if it's such a better place, shouldn't we *all* commit suicide?
 
I might feel differently if one of my loved ones killed himself. On the other hand, I might not. Suicide is indeed a monstrous act. I don't know if it's "murder", and I think it's less bad than killing someone else. But the fallout of suicide is lifelong pain and misery for the loved ones still living and a bad example set for everyone else watching. Matt Walsh basically stood alone in pointing out that this Emperor had no clothes. Good for him.

You may not be an official member, but if you were granted "honorary" status, I have a pretty good guess at which party would be bestowing it upon you.  On the conservative side, if you want a deeper understanding of what the differences are just look up the Young Republicans vs. the Young Americans for Freedom.  The former promotes the party and its candidates, regardless of ideology.  The latter promotes a conservative ideology, regardless of party (though 90%+ it will be Republican).
 
http://yrnf.com/about-us/#sthash.aR9EfZdy.dpbs
 
http://www.yaf.org/
 

It probably won't surprise anyone, but no one thinks I'm liberal. :)

I like Matt Walsh and I think allot of his opinions go well with LDS values.

Committed, believing Catholics tend to be great people, so yes, they make great Mormons. In my experience as a missionary in Italy, most baptized members tended to be inactive, and a fairly high percentage more or less went back to the Catholic Church, at least ritually speaking. But faithful Italian members are as wonderful as any other faithful members. And as an added bonus, they speak Italian fluently.

Abortions are down.  I believe there are fewer clinics.  Further, should public opinion continue to swing pro-life, then I feel pretty certain about which political party will be quickest to respond with more legislative restrictions, or even another go at some kind of amendment to the Constitution protecting unborn children.
 
There is no doubt that social conservatives are dancing with folks who are only nominally committed to our causes.  However, we dance as best we can with those partners will to at least take our hand.