NeuroTypical

Except for Chuck Norris.LM

Neither. Just genuinely clueless. Carry on.

The South Park episode on mormons featured the stereotypical perfect mormon family. The Harrisons came to town, integrated in society, did service projects. The kids all got along and displayed their marvelous talents during family home evening. The boy made freinds with the South Park kids and helped them become better people by following his example. After the South Park dad got home from the Harrison's house, full of happy togetherness and warm energy - he had to look at his own crappy family where the kids were trying to kill each other over what tv show to watch during dinner. See - that's parody, not reality. The image of how wonderfully perfect mormons are scares the crap out of normal people. Occasionally it causes a mormon to break under the pressure of 'how we're all supposed to be'. We're normal people with normal struggles. There's nothing wrong with showing that. Our claim is that if you follow this church's teachings, you'll be a happier and better person, both in this life and the next. But we're not perfect. LM

Hey Goose, Could you take a moment and explain your avatar (if there's an explanation)? Military insignia with a dove? What's the message you're trying to convey? Just interested, LM

You hemmorhage enough members, you start to get desperate to stop the bleeding.

A lot of different things getting jumbled together here. No argument there - life is full of all sorts of unfairness. But until I'm able to read minds and righteously judge hearts, I won't really be able to tell. So, avoiding risk it is! Well, identifying risks is not the same thing as falsely accusing people. By definition, a risk is something that has a chance of occuring - not a claim that it has occurred. I haven't seen anyone here make any accusations about men. Well again, there's no such thing as having innocence proven. You're found 'not guilty' - meaning there wasn't sufficient evidence of guilt. But yeah, I see what you're saying. Allegations often harm a reputation, whether the allegations are founded or not.LM

It means don't spend more than you earn. It means pay cash instead of using credit. It means save. Yes, if you are filthy rich and can afford to pay cash for 4 houses and a dozen cars, you'd still be living within your means. You may be running afoul of some other commandments about being humble, but you'd be following the counsel. LM (a long way away from being filthy rich)

I had to giggle - for a mature adult, you sure are trying for the same old excuse as a giggly flirty teenager! :)Y'all keep your hands where they belong on each other, until you're married, just like the rest of us! Good luck and happy marriage (if that's where it goes). LM

How could someone do it? That's easy. The seeds of evil are present within the human race. The Natural Man is present within all of us. Maybe he was drunk or high. Maybe he wanted a way to hurt someone who loved the dog. Maybe he was still the same maturity level of young punks who drown cats in sacks. It's a horrible thing. But people do horrible things on this earth. That's one reason why it's important we spread the gospel - so we can win against this stuff. LM

I have an understanding of the very real threat of child molestation. I understand that molestors come from most every demographic, income level, race, political affiliation, and age. Most of them are men. I understand that much abuse comes from relatives. Most of the incestual stuff comes from 13-24 yr old males. Most abuse comes from perpetrators who know their victims. Most abuse happens in places where it can - in someone's home, or on an activity, or a sleep over. Understanding these things, and taking them into account when having my kids go somewhere or not go somewhere, does not mean I am in the grips of paranoia and fear. A few rules - my kids don't go on sleepovers to homes where there will be 13-34 yr old boys present, or unmarried adult males. They don't go unless my wife or I feel comfortable with the kids and adults involved. Fear and paranoia don't enter the equasion. I know the chance of something happening is small. But the impacts of that thing are huge, so I judge the risk unacceptable. LM

Another thing that enters into play, is Christ's opinion. I've watched it two or three times as an 'insider' - the Stake (or stakes) gathers the data, pours over maps, looks at long-range building planning needs, and creates a new set of boudaries. Then they send the plan to SLC, and it always comes back with a few changes. Sometimes these changes don't make sense to the people who put together the plan. (I put insider in quotes, because I was an executive seceretary for two changes, and knew the Stake exec sec for a third - and he told me stuff before the bishops even knew.) LM

It's good for us.

The more I think about it, I'm probably way high in my earlier estimate of how many active members you need. I do know that we start thinking about splitting wards when we push 300+. That number I can remember, because it's happened 3-4 times to me here in Colorado. One guy has lived in the same house for 10 years and been in 5 different wards in 2 different stakes because the borders keep changing on him. LM

welcome back!

So, my wife looked at the girl brightly and said "pole or cage", in the same tone that someone would use if someone had told her they'd taken up fishing, and she was asking 'fresh or saltwater'. The parents eyes got pretty large (as did mine, as did probably most of yours I'm guessing). The girl assumed she'd found someone that would be on her side of the discussion, and said there was a pole on the stage, but 'she didn't really like to use it'. My wife then asked "Did they tell you what it's there for?" When the girl stuttered a bit, wondering how to put her answer into terms that she could say in front of her parents, my wife let her know the pole was there to give the dancer something to hold on to, to make it harder to get grabbed and dragged down into the audience. And the cage is there to keep people in the audience from getting to her. The girl turned a shade or two whiter as she caught the vision. My wife then talked a bit about the kinds of guys who show up on the front row of a strip club, and said very sympathetically "So, when you get beat up or worse for the first time, give me a call." The girl got another shade paler, and left with her parents - sort of leaning on her father as she'd become a bit unsteady from the impact of this extra information about her new career. Love unfeigned, with a respect of the principle of agency, add a genuine desire to serve her neighbor, teamed up with a little bit of being wise as a serpent - all those working together managed to make a dent in this girl. Will it help? Dunno. The girl left so fast she forgot to get my wife's number, so we'll probably never know. I do know that my wife's answer is much better than anything I could have come up with. She rocks. LM

A ward needs around 250-ish or so active members to be fully functional. (I forget the exact number, but it's somewhere in that area.) If enough active members go inactive or move away, there's just not enough warm bodies to keep enough nursery workers and elder's quorums and clerks and librarians and young womens and all the rest. And you end up with Bishops in the role for 10 years and other such undesirable things. It happens. Some areas shrink, others grow. The church as a whole continues to grow.

So, those are both bits of advice for the parents - but what would help the daughter? Anyone?

Here's a situation: You're sitting in a restaurant, and you can't help but overhear a conversation happening behind you. It's getting a bit louder as it progresses. There is a mom and dad, and their 19 year old daughter. The daughter apparently has recently become a stripper, and she's worked up the courage to tell her parents. The daughter has moved out of her parent's home. The mom is on the verge of tears, her emotions vividly running across her face. The dad is showing frustration, sadness, anger. Both parents are reacting pretty much like you can see yourself reacting if you were in their shoes. The daughter looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but here, but she's got her heels dug in and is resolved to get this information communicated to her parents. As the conversation goes back and forth, you get the sense that the parents are well grounded and mature with a good moral foundation, and they raised their daughter with these benefits. The dad catches your eye, and throwing his hands up in a gesture of frustration and surrender says 'Yeah, that's right - my daughter's decided to become a stripper!'. All three of them, probably out of desperation, stop talking and look at you. So, ball is in your court - what do you do to help this girl? This really happened to my wife yesterday. (She always ends up in the middle of stuff like this) Believe it or not, she had a great answer. Lots of gospel principles put into action with her answer. I wanna hear y'alls best answers, then I'll relate what my wife said. LM

You are a good mom. If you can bring yourself to abondon such lame ideas, you'll be a great mom.He "should" be performing to the best of his ability - whatever that ability happens to be. It doesn't matter what the other kids are doing. It doesn't matter what other people think he should be doing. You know your kid, you know what he's capable of. Your job is to help him achieve whatever level he's able to achieve. LM (I think you already know all this - just hoping that hearing it from someone else might help...)

What did tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming? "Here come the elephants!" What did tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming wearing dark sunglasses? Nothing - he didn't recognize them. How do you hide an elephant in a strawberry patch? Paint his toenails red.

Top Ten reasons Mitt Romney should be president 10) The National Cathedral could be renamed the National Tabernacle 9) NASA could commission a satellite 'to hie to Kolob' 8) The Secret Service could be renamed the Sacred Service 7) All official government prayers could include the phrase 'that we all can get home safely' 6) Napoleon Dynamite could get someone other than Pedro elected 5) The President could not only explain things in Layman's terms, but also Lemuel's terms 4) The President could issue pardons in exchange for 100% home teaching 3) Not only could he pronounce 'Nuclear' but also 'Mahonri Moriancumer' and 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz'. 2) At his inauguration he would swear on the Bible 'as far as it is translated correctly' 1) Finally a first family large enough to fill up the White House

BTW, does anyone consider what Russia just did in Kyrgystan, an alternative to starting wars?

Solution? Step one don't start any wars, like the one we started over in Iraq. "Oh - you mean if people just stop killing each other, then there would be no more war? " Dear brother Loudmouth_Mormon, let’s not get silly here. We started that war in Iraq and that’s why I mentioned step one: don't start any wars, or for the more academically inclined (not me) drop the 'preventive war' principal and leave preemptive war for only the very extreme situation. Iraq was neither. Iraq was just one huge mistake, one which no has being held accountable for as yet.I'm being silly because I'm having a hard time taking your suggestion seriously. Obviously, the idealistic "don't start any more wars" works just fine in an ideal world for getting rid of wars. But here in reality, mankind starts wars. Mankind has always started wars. Until the most righteous leader takes the reigns during the Millenium, mankind will always start wars.Wars will get started, for right or wrong, by good guys or bad, no matter what the US position is. If the US starts no more wars, wars will continue to be started. Your suggestion is simply not a solution to war. Which is what I asked for. LM

For the love of Pete - DO IT! There are reputable online degrees that mean something, and a lot of crappy meaningless degrees that will get you nothing but a hole in the wallet. Choose well. If you know what you want, go get a degree. If you don't, then start out with an Associates degree that can transfer to other places easily - you'll figure out what you want soon enough.LM