NeuroTypical

I guess it depends on how you define 'ready'. People tend to be all over the map on this one. Does ready mean a basement full of food storage? Is it spiritual readiness to live the law of consecration? Some folks are expecting a call-out from the prophet to go live in the Rocky mountains for a year. Some folks figure they'll be taking up arms against the food rioters or commies or zombies or whatever. I guess I define 'ready', as prepared to drop dead and meet my maker, and prepared to do the will of my Lord and Savior if He has stuff for me to do. At this point in my progression, I'd have to say I'm more ready for the first thing than I am for the second. There's always work to do on me. LM I don't think that many people are truly ready. Just able to make the changes necessary

I've never heard the term before. Got link to more info?

Hi addicthelp, So, what was your poison? Or is your learning all academic?

So, you do realize that video was produced by a bunch of antimormon evangelicals, right? You discount scientists and PhD's, but you accept blindly the word of a piece put together by the attack dogs at "living hope ministries"? Tell me, do you also take the word of Athiest-produced videos telling me about the falsehoods of the Bible? LM p.s. - I see you indicate you're from the UK. Do you have anything to do with the Reachout Trust countercult folks? I went the rounds with a poster on their forum a few years back on this subject. I did so well there, they deleted the whole thread. I could send it to you if you like. The jury's been out on this video for a few years, it might help you come to grips...

Well yes, but he didn't say "my choice was poor". He said "I apologize for the impact of this controversy", and "I would like to publically apologize to all of our families for the obvious disruption". Look at who he's apologizing for - it's not his actions. He is apologizing for the actions of others. It really is a manipulative, backhandad, crappy way of saying "I'm sorry you idiots got all offended". He did not say his choice was poor. He said "In this situation, I may have moved too quickly in drawing the line of when to take preventative action." First, "may have" is not the same as "I moved too quickly". Second, he's not admitting the possibility of being wrong, he's only saying he might have been wrong in his choice of timing. This is not, in any way, any sort of apology. It's the standard double-speak nonsense from someone attempting to sooth irate people by saying nothing, that will be interpreted as saying something. So, should he ever actually produces something like "I was wrong, I'm sorry", then I'm more than happy to drop him from the list of items I'm ticked off about in this story. LM

Ok. So perhaps you could explain to us how we interpret DNA from your perspective? The links I provided you are written by folks who have done quite a bit of research on the issue. PhD's in various fields. One is a genuine DNA scientist who earns a living by doing DNA stuff. Perhaps you could start by giving us your credentials. Have any published papers on the subject of DNA we could look at?I mean, I hear that you fundamentally disagree with what seem to us rational, scientific, correct opinions. Before we just drop our faith and accept your opinion, shouldn't we know a bit about why you believe what you do? LM

Well, a satisfactory answer involves unlearning a few falsehoods you've accepted as truth, so here goes. The answer lies in the question "what does Jewish DNA look like?" That question is answered as follows:There is no such thing as "Jewish DNA". The Jews, although they tend to be homogenous through the millenia, still have a lot of diversity in their genes. So that's a falsehood you need to unlearn in order to ever move forward in this area. No such thing as "Jewish DNA". There are Cohen markers, lots of haplotypes [sp?], etc - but no, you can't tell someone is Jewish by their DNA. Another falsehood involves thinking that DNA science can help prove or disprove the BoM. It really can't. Here's a big stack of articles you might want to persue, to help you understand what DNA is and isn't, and what the BoM claims are and aren't. LM

Oh man - that's quite an apology there. "I apologize for the impact of this controversy on our school and our community."? ??!? BTW, the "I'm sorry all you people got upset"-style apology was also Justin Timberlake's apology when he ripped Janet Jackson's top of in front of everyone during the Superbowl. That's not an apology, that's an underhanded way of saying the upset people have the problem. "I may have moved too quickly in drawing the line of when to take preventative action." This is not an apology - this is admission of the chance that perhaps he might have maybe been possibility wrong. Maybe. Big difference than, oh, say Mel Gibson's "I'm deeply ashamed of my actions and I want to change myself into something better" style apology after his drunken rant about Jews. At the end of the day, this is about the restrictions on free speech schools can place on the little minds who are required by law to attend. It's about who is at fault when there's a problem. It's about who deserves tolerance, and who needs to just shut up and sit down and smile. The right answer would have been either to send both the offenders and the offended home - or send neither of them home and let them work it out. That's what non-hypocritical tolerance looks like. LM

I'd love to see the biblical support for the Holy Spirit providing a negative. His job is to affirm truth - He nods his head yes, he doesn't shake his head no. Dark negative feelings of doom and foreboding are not given from the Holy Spirit. They come from other sources (like our own preconceptions and fears). I usually find a link for them to go read. It probably won't change their negative opinion, but then, nothing I say to them will either. Some critics are not interested in hearing explanations or corrections - they're interested in proving you wrong. Nothing else will suffice - they'll either succeed or fail with you, but changing their opinion isn't in the mix.Now, are you troubled by similarities between Masonic tradition and what goes on in the temple? I'd suggest you state why first - then look at what you just stated and see if it holds any water. So, why are you troubled? LM

Why MOE! I'm surprised and edified to see someone so close to the action! I once applied for a project management job with the church's localization department - I still wish I had got that job. Since you're so close to TPTB, could you please let them know that LM would also like to pay tithing online, and if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to be able to use a credit card! LM (Trying my best to get an apostle to use a swear word...)

N00BZ! the correct answers are: Yes, if you fail to dispose of the original first. If the original is dead, you're good to go. Only if she has a beard, or a robotic arm that shoots lasers or something. If alternate reality chick is just the evil version of your good chick, it's not cheating, because both people currently exist in her already - it's just about choice. No. But if the love child of that relationship turns out to grow up to be your mom or dad, you have bigger things to worry about than cheating. (Trust me - stuff like this happens all the time with time travel.) Assuming the robot is sufficiently advanced, same answer as #1. It takes more than memories though - you have to capture the entire soul.Hope this helps. All my answers are right, everyone else's are wrong. (Except for the serious answers - those probably have mine beat.) LM

Interesting thing: Cinco de Mayo is about as noticed in Mexico, as Pearl Harbor day or V-E day is here in the states. Actually, Cinco de Mayo was about that interesting everywhere, until about 30 years ago. Beer importers were making lots of money - especially German beers. The Corona Beer company in Mexico wanted some of these profits. So they embarked on a big marketing campaign to make Cinco de Mayo a new "party and drink beer" day. It worked so amazingly well, that now have this dumb news story. (You can almost hear the announcer: ) "Cinco de Mayo - brought to you by ... Beer! Yes, cool, refreshing Beer! Because "Diez y Seis De Septeimbre" is just too hard to say!" What nonsense. LM p.s. - September 16th is Mexican independence day, in case you spoke spanish and were wondering.

Progress marches on. Just got a letter (via the postal service, not an email) from my Stake Presidency about our upcoming Stake Conference:

In this age of backwards understanding of rights, you have to do a little thinking. There is no right to healthcare. There is a right to refuse treatment. Forcing someone to accept medical treatment against their will is a violation of their agency. The shoulds and shouldn'ts depend on the unique situation. Now, taking action to end life that would continue just fine by itself, is a very different matter. LM

I can't speak to the specifics - they're different for everyone. But I can say one thing: It sounds like you very much are on the right path.

What caused my inactivity: Finally reaching the point that I could tell my mom I wasn't going any more, and she couldn't do anything about it. What caused my interest and going back: Wanting what my friends had. Searching for a reliable answer about whether the church was true or not. What caused my return to activity: Getting my answer!

I'm all for the church using modern technology (in this case, technology widely available for a quarter century) to help forward the work of the kindom. Unfortunately, doing so often involves having to deal with people who feel technology is somehow an affront to the spirit, or even inspired by satan himself. Back in school astronomy class, they showed me a painting of Gallileo and his telescope, having an audience with church authorities. He was gesturing towards the telescope, inviting people to look through. The church authorities were dismayed, holding their hands up to fend off the danger this heretical device posed. Advances in technology isn't nearly as world-changing as the telescope was, but the reactions to such technology are still alive and well. As long as people fear change, and worry that information from unauthorized sources is a danger to them, then such common-sense ideas as using a conference call will meet resistance. LM (The Ward membership clerk has kept a close eye on me ever since I showed up with a shiny new lazer mouse with a wheel, and threw away the clerk computer's old trackball mouse.)

Someone wise taught me something, I think it applies here. When people see something they don't understand, their brains will automatically try to explain it. Often, the explanation is wrong. So yeah, if a Southern-Baptist Christian started coming to RS enrichment, but declined invitations to come to church, a lot of brains could think up some pretty strange stories when trying to explain it. I've found that an ounce of truth is best. "Hi there - my hubby is really against me coming to services, but I talked him into Enrichment. Is that ok with you if I come here?" I can pretty much guarantee they'll be ok with it. After all, most of them probably have husbands to deal with also. LM

Well, assuming we were able to defend it. That comes across pretty clearly in the book too - the dad has to kill someone breaking into his house, not to mention the town has to fend off the huge gang intent on killing everyone...

This story was posted by a guy many years ago on another message board, arguing about violence in movies. I think he makes good points.

Good deal RWB. In related news, my wife and I'll be traveling to Utah in the coming months to attend the parole hearing of the dood who molested our niece. He's done 3 years of his 5-life sentence. It'll be nice to see everyone again. From what I hear, the niece hasn't let her bad experience slow her down any either. LM

Your friend wants to deny the reality of economic existence - caveat emptor. It's just as true in countries like Canada as it is in the US. LM (My 401k and IRA is up around 65% this year)

I start with low expectations. When I was executive seceretary, making appointments for the Bishop, I would basically assume that whatever youth who had an appointment would not show. Anything I could personally do to raise the odds I'd do, but I simply would expect that 40-70% of them would just not appear. I'd make the appointment through the parents if possible, that would help. I'd remind them the day of the appointment, that would sometimes help. If I could spot them in the building the day of the appointment, I'd mention it to them, that would help. Seriously, if I had a gurney, I would have wheeled it in to their class, and have the teacher help me load them up on to it, and provide supplimental oxygen during the trip in case the youth needed someone to do their breathing for them as well. The calling was much easier to bear, when we rejoiced and sang praises to God every time someone would actually show up to an appointment they agreed to. Yeah, low expectations. That's the way to go. Call it "more realistic expectations" if that helps. And don't bother trying to figure out why they're not doing it. You'll go crazy with all the unrighteous judgements you'd have to make. LM

Gnosticism is very interesting. Lots and lots of similarities with LDS faith. I hope to be able to have time to read up more on it some day. Welcome to the site! LM

Turley points out the author's anti-religious bias, how he states untruths as fact, presents historical unknowns as if they were fact, holds a main hypothesis that he never manages to produce any evidence for, and creates patterns out of thin air and passes them off as fact. Foster thinks the book does violence to journalistic integrity. Krakauer once gave an interview to the Ghanian Chronicle in Nov 2003. I don't think he ever expected people back home to hear what he had to say: I have a hard time taking anything he says seriously after reading that. LM