MaryJehanne

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Everything posted by MaryJehanne

  1. At least from a Catholic perspective, we would say Christ was being kind there! It is very kind to correct people, and lead them away from sin (which is what was happening there). He was also trying to keep the respect due to His Temple, but even in that dimension, He wasn't hateful to those people, and He knew it was an act that would serve to instruct people in the present and future. Kindness involves love, and sometimes you have to put on a stern face. Kind of like a parent who puts on a mean face to scold a slightly naughty 2-year-old. I just read about an abbot (or someone along those lines), who faked anger to correct one of the brothers. Once the brother left, he was perfectly at peace again, and asked if he'd seemed to be convincing. When someone is cruel, not just rough or authoritative, it's seated in a sense of hatred (lack of love).
  2. And that's part of the value of being kind, too! It's more valuable to God when we love for His sake when people make it difficult. If it was easy, and people were always loving to us, we would never really be tried. It is true that no one is really innocent! But people may be innocent in some situations, at least (just misunderstood, or maybe the other person was looking for something to snap at). There is a Catholic psychologist who wrote on something similar... the idea of us finding offense where it doesn't exist! But I think, when the offense really does exist, it makes sense that we feel bad. No matter what we've done wrong in our lives, we're creatures of God. He loves us and has told us to love others, so anything short of that is unjust, no matter how much a person seems to deserve it.
  3. That's another thing that's difficult. 😕 At least the most important thing is your intentions! As long as you're trying to be kind, that's what matters to God.
  4. That is true. Some people have a much higher tolerance for things than others! Very true. I guess it's part of being human. No one wants to feel like they're unloved by someone, which is the message being mean/rude/cruel sends... One of the important things I'm trying to remember is that, as much as it feels bad that a person doesn't like me, the only love I should care about having is God's. And His will never go away. 😌 Yes! That's something I have to work on.
  5. 😄 That's a good approach! That's all we can do, isn't it? Pray, and keep moving forward!
  6. That is true. Although, if someone's putting the effort in to be nice, even if they fail at it interiorly, it at least makes me feel like they care on some level. I wish I could be as objective in thinking about it as you! 😣 That's another thing that's very true. Sometimes people just have bad days! It still hurts in the moment. 😞 But I guess that's to be expected!
  7. Thank you, Jane_Doe! :) I think that's another struggle I have... ending a conversation. Even if it's completely unfruitful, I keep replying, because I don't want to be rude to them. It's good to hear someone else say they feel the same! I think, especially on the internet, you can feel so alone, which adds to it. When arguments happen in person, people tend to be less rude, because they can see you. And, you have a sense of community and support, because usually there are people you can see around you.
  8. Hey, everyone! (I'm hoping this will be more of a candid, lighthearted thread!) What does kindness mean to you? What do you do when someone's aggressive or rude to you? I have a lot of trouble when people are offensive, which is something I've been trying to work on. When someone's rude, mean, or dismissive, I tend to take it to heart, deeply. Especially lately, I'm now trying to take a deep breath, let things go, and not let it effect how I feel about myself... which can be hard. Especially in the world of the web, most notably things like YouTube comments, I'm continually shocked by how uncaring and harsh people can be. And this isn't to bash people, of course. All of us have had moments where it's hard not to say something biting. I was wondering how you all deal with unkind or difficult people, and how you manage it online?
  9. Hi, Alia! It's great to meet you.
  10. Thank you, Jane_Doe. It really means a lot. I think sometimes it's harder over the computer, too. You can't get tonal cues from written words.
  11. Thank you, Estradling75. I thought it was LDS teaching. I've heard from other members that it's LDS teaching, and I guess I misunderstood what they understood to be plurality of gods. Asking and talking about someone's beliefs isn't being nasty... (I thought I was quoting a legitimate source in a legitimate context) people have been challenging Catholicism and the Trinity all over this thread. I'm not offended by that. I'm offended by personal attacks. I'm sorry I made you feel hurt. Hopefully I won't do it again. God bless
  12. Thank you, Jane_Doe. I mean, the part about the Trinity can be a little upsetting, but it's usually okay... I get it; it's different and hard to understand. I'm more rattled about some of the personal attacks happening... all for saying stuff I've heard other LDS members teach. Maybe people don't realize how they're coming off, but I've just been crying and think I need to step away from LDS stuff for a while to recover. I'll probably stick around for a few more hours, and then pull the plug, so to speak. Thanks for being kind.
  13. I'm so sorry, Anatess. I thought that was what your post was saying... I'm a little beaten down right now, so I'm probably expecting an attack. The false consensus is I thought LDS taught multiple gods and that the members on this forum believed that. I thought LDS thought that (for instance, 3 Mormons YouTube claimed they do... I probably won't be watching them for a while). And even some members on here said, that LDS taught multiple gods. 😥 Not a lot of good feelings right now.
  14. Thank you, Anatess! I wasn't intending to argue about whether the LDS Heavenly Father is the true God or not. I wanted to talk about a term, and, to my misfortune, understood there as being a what turned out to be a false consensus. God bless!
  15. Thank you, Zaccheus! I'm very glad for you help! God bless!
  16. Thank you, CV75. I wasn't debating whether the LDS were Christian in this thread... The topic of this thread was created on a presumption of a shared principle that turned out not to be shared after all. I did not create this thread with the thesis of "Polytheists aren't Christian so the LDS aren't Christians - Ha!". I was only saying that, since the LDS believe in multiple gods (a presumption I thought was agreed upon, although the course of this thread has proven otherwise), why isn't polytheism used as a descriptor? That's all the topic was supposed to discuss.
  17. I never accused the LDS members on this forum as twisting anything, even when they express incorrect ideas and understanding about my religion... Why? Because twisting implies intent. You can say I have things wrong or I'm misunderstanding, that I have things incorrect about your religion - that's all right and respectful - but once you use the word "twisting" you're accusing me of malice, something you cannot truly know, because you are not inside my mind. It's judging my subjective moral state, something I thought LDS believed belonged to God. Thank you for the explanation! I'm sorry; I was trying to be gentle and give the LDS religion the benefit of the doubt. I should not have said it had something to do with my religion. I should rephrase what I said: I do not understand that statement logically. As far as I understand the plurality of gods, it means more than one god. Polytheism means many gods. So I was deeply confused. My comment was an invitation to either drop the idea or try to explain it to me. I did not say it wasn't allowed. What I mean by "that's not a thing," I meant (assuming it was a concept in the LDS religion that could be explained to me) that it was not a concept I was familiar with. If it is not explained, you can't be upset with me for not understanding it. Just because someone states there is a difference, without explaining the difference (since it should be clear that I thought there was no difference, hence this thread), it does not mean the information will automatically pop into my head. If I show a small child the word "cat" and they can't understand it, I can't be mad at them for not reading it because I haven't taught them to read in the first place. Maybe I'm interpreting the written word with emotions that aren't there... But more than just passionate beliefs, I've been getting some people who are trying to insult my religion so that I'll feel the way they do (emotional abuse wasn't my intent, although they seem to be expressing that it is theirs), accuse me of evils, and very aggressively dismiss and insult me. I have done none of these things (I have upset some people with this topic, apparently, but the goal in itself was not to cause anguish), and am hurt that LDS members feel at liberty to abuse me like that. At the very least I would think members would desire to leave a good impression of Latter-Day Saints on me, not a bad one, and offer gentle correction, even if they didn't really desire to be kind!