NeuroTypical

I'd add one very possible QA: Q: Is he doing this to tick mom off as he does the usual 'teenager creating space to find out who he is' thing? A: Quite possibly

When I was growing up, I only knew of two types of people interested: * Teenagers interested in be cool by learning forbidden stuff. * Teenagers who thought a good fight against the man may be needed sometime. (I fell into the first camp, which is why they caught me with a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook when I was 16. It worried the heck out of people until they got distracted by my next cornball antic. My buddy, who fell in the 2nd group and got me the book, is now a software designer in Oregon with 2 kids and a mortgage.) But now, a few more types of people can be added to the list: * Homegrown self-radicalized would-be terrorists * Homegrown would-be terrorists who are radicalized by some other group * Copycat killers * Members of terrorist cells who have entered the country to fight for their cause I guess the real question, now that we don't have to wonder any more, is what do we do about it?

Maybe I'm oversimplifying this, but could everything just be all better, if you stopped caring what people think of you and just go to chuch because you're Mormon? I know my life got so much easier back when I made that decision...

It sounds like the little bird has taken a step out of the nest, and is currently in the air. Whether he's working his wings and flying, or spiraling down to crash, I guess isn't known yet. If he ends up flying, it looks like you'll have to just deal with the fact that he's making choices with which you disagree. I'm just guessing here, but I'm guessing you might have a real big problem with that. If he ends up crashing, you can offer to scoop him back up. Make sure your terms are clear. You wouldn't be the first parent to enable a bunch of destructive nonsense by paying bills without a valid agreement about behavior, including consequenses. You wouldn't be the first parent to make bad financial decisions that land on your head, to keep a kid's bad financial decisions from landing on theirs. Consider the following: He may end up in a few years in debt, jobless, out of the church, pursuing foolish paths, and ticked off. Consider that that state of affairs is his to deal with, and not yours. Consider the appropriateness of removing his agency by manipulating him or pressuring him to avoid this end. Oh - and please come back and give us updates every now and then! I may be in your position some day, and I'd love to know if my free advice is actually worth anything. :)

I guess my question would be, did you expect a response? Are you hurt that you haven't received one?If so, please be aware of the inherent limitations of communicating something like this via email, facebook, phone text, or any other electronic way. It's a bad idea. I wouldn't even trust the hardcopy postal service with a communication this important. How did you get this message to your bishop? Before you draw any conclusions, I would at least do some real-life face-to-face verification with your bishop that he got your message. Also before you draw any conclusions, I don't really see anywhere where you asked for a response. The text you posted didn't exactly suggest to me that you wanted a response. "I feel the need to write this as a sort of progress report I guess." - ok, let's say he did get your progress report. Did you ask for his opinion? Or a response? Again, not sure if you're hurt over the lack of response or not. But sometimes we humans get ourselves into more trouble with our communication flubs, than we do by actually communicating the things we want to communicate.

Is he an independant adult living on his own dime, or is he still a dependent child relying on you to pay some/all of his bills? The answer sort of determines your power in the situation.

There are some very brilliant people out there, who have an absolute horrible time in school. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if that kid is one of them. Again, hopefully a few years of maturing will help him out in situations where he's being influenced by people who aren't doing it right enough for him. That's sort of a big part of life.

Hi jss, Wow - that's quite a story. Sounds like it's only starting. Welcome to the forums - even if it's just a short time. I don't have much for you in the way of advice or experience, just mostly questions. I once helped put a guy behind bars for sexual assault on a minor - you don't sound like you fall into a category that severe. What's the difference between a prison camp, and prison? Have you gone through your church disciplinary stuff yet? You sound like you're trying to have a positive attitude about what will be happening to you - staying close to the church and counseling with your priesthood leaders (whether you are excommunicated or not) will be a blessing to you. Are your crimes something where you can make full recompense?

Hbty!

Idealistic unhappy teenager is idealistic and unhappy. This is news? As the years go by, if he learns any wisdom as he matures, lessons about what he can influence, and better ways to influence, may sink in a little. He sounds articulate and bright - I've got my fingers crossed.

Lunch! Sweet!

Dang Gunar - you need better sources. Yours are antimormon sources, and 20 years out of date at that.Here is a partial list of all the first five tiers of 1st vision accounts: I have to giggle when people claim there is something wrong with multiple versions of something. This criticism maybe had some teeth to it maybe back in the 1990's before it was properly answered, but no longer. Consider: I was talking to my wife the other day. "I was talking to this guy named Gunar - he thinks that differences in Joseph's account of the 1st vision actually matter," I said. She agreed with me that it didn't. Then, a few days later, I brought up the subject again. "Just_A_Guy agrees - there's nothing to it!" I said. She gave me a strange look, and asked "Who's Just_A_Guy?" I told her that he's another guy that I'm discussing the issue with. "You never mentioned that you were talking to more than one person - what are you hiding from me!" she raged, and I had to spend the night on the couch while she cooled down. Then, just today, I tried to broach the subject with her again. I mentioned that the thread now had a dozen posts on it. "Posts?! Threads?! What are you talking about?" my wife yelled at me. "I thought you were talking to people face to face!" Well, I tried to explain to her, but she wasn't hearing any of it. She called me a liar, a deceiver, said I kept changing my story to fit the circumstances, and then divorced me. What a dreadful comeuppance! Oh, wait. None of that actually happened, because my wife is not an idiot. Good grief, people! The fact that learned, articulate, reasonable people think there is something to this dumb notion just amazes me! Are you telling me that unless Joseph Smith told exactly the same story each and every time he related it, he's lying somehow? Goodness people - think for a minute! "Jesus told me not to join any church" doesn't contradict "I saw angels". That's not a contradiction - that's relaying different chunks of information. You can tell one person that you talked to Jesus, and you can tell someone else that you saw God and Jesus - and be telling the truth both times. It's not a contradiction unless you say you didn't see God, and then later say you did. Is it really that hard to understand that maybe Joseph was a little unsure how much info he should give people? If you've looked into the differing accounts, you will see that in 1832 he said "and there were many things which transpired that cannot be written", and in 1839, he said "and many other things did he say unto me which I cannot write at this time." Couldn't it be possible that he was being very careful about relating all the details about what happened? Maybe, just maybe, he erred on the side of caution when telling people exactly what went on? He was what - 14 years old at the time? Tell me, can you think of an important event that happened to you when you were 14? Are you 100% sure that you described EXACTLY what happened in COMPLETE DETAIL, leaving nothing out, each and every time you talk about it? A better question: The last time you told the story, did one of your parents say "Well honey, I'm sure it seemed like that to you, but here's how it really happened..."? There is one contradictory item. The 1832 account that states that Joseph was in his 16th year, while the other accounts agree he was 14 (i.e. in his 15th year). Gunar - shall we form another mob?

Recent news: Working gun made with 3D printer I'm still not worried this technology will change the current U.S. violent crime landscape in any measurable way (other than perhaps measuring how many platic guns vs. 'real' guns are used.) But - people will have easy access to make their own guns! People in the US already have easy access to guns. For a heck of a lot cheaper than $8,000 for a machine, plus supplies, plus technical knowhow required to print one. But - people will be able to make untraceable guns! People in the US already have easy access to untraceable guns. Because making them tracable means registration laws, which people fight for good reasons (namely, they only harm the law-abiding, they don't work, and they're unconstitutional). If you must be worried about something, it seems to me that worrying about the bad guys in our midst (who have always been there) is a more appropriate worry, than the composition of the weapon he'll use.

I gathered that Gunar. Are you interested in hearing responses from believing members?

Hi Gunar, Sorry you're having a troubling issue. Welcome to the forums.

Yes it does. You lost your free agency the day you got married. :) But setting that aside, Jerome's response has always been how I see it. I see why folks get hung up on whether we can surprise God or not, as an indicator of free agency, but I've never been able to follow them there totally.

Bishops are usually good folks to counsel with on such matters. Here's a story from one, who occasionally posts on another message board:

P&F rocks. Never before has a show allowed me to say "And that's how I met your mother" so often to my children.

I am in favor of a society having a way to legally protect and care for innocent children when their parents or guardians are unable or unwilling to do so. But there is a heck of a lot of distance between that obvious ideal, and the bureaucratic governmental crap we humans put in place to attain that ideal. CPS may be some child's salvation, but until I fail in my stewardship, they are my child's enemy.

Ain't gonna happen. (Not because it's embarassing, but I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of those who can't handle that much swag.)

My daughters and I made a Harlem Shake video for Mamma - is that ok? (No, you can't see it.)

Not to put too fine a point on it: The outlandish image of Lincoln with a machine gun sitting on a flagsasddle riding a bear, is supposed to be outlandish. It's supposed to satirize blind patriotism to the point where someone actually insults what they're ballyhooing. I thought it an appropriate giggle for a chart and article that was goofy and fatally flawed to begin with.

Actually, it's because they like making massive amounts of money in short amounts of time. Plenty of other people already produce that other thing.

I'd love to see it go back to what it used to be. Any ideas on how to make that happen?

The music industry places a high value on musical talent? That's cute.