NeuroTypical

I'm sort of with Funky on this, but I don't believe you're being disingenuous. I do believe that various parts of Christianity are doing themselves a great injustice when they ignore all the other teachings in the Bible. For example, despite a new testament so very full of Jesus and His Apostles telling folks what to do and not do, and how to live and not live, it amazes me how passionately some Christians will argue against the notion that God wants anything out of them. Inquisitive, I hope you don't feel attacked here (although Funky sort of does think you're here to tear us apart rather than understand us, so he's sort of attacking...). But maybe you can understand that we Mormons believe that God's commandments exist, and that we should indeed strive to follow them. You want a truth besides Jesus declaring who He is and what He represents? I would submit that other important truths include how we go about following Him and availing ourselves of what He has to offer. LM

Lemme guess - is this a story about special forces parachuting in to coordinate things with the rebels? Yeah - we're pretty good at that. Not usually what we consider "boots on the ground" though. That's a different concept.

Well, you don't "have" to do anything. Food storage isn't a "thou shalt" sort of thing. We figure it's a "you're smart if you do this" sort of thing.Anyway, church guidance is summarized in this pamphlet:

The 1911A might be the offical firearm of Utah, but the Glock is the official firearm of the church. (So says my County Sheriff buddy who has worked with church security, who reports the team guarding the prophet carry Glocks.)

Where are your kids? Are they all moved in with you at your boyfriend's house?

From what I can tell, American effort in the middle east (no matter who is president) is meant to accomplish two things: 1- Keep the oil flowing 2- Play the folks living there against each other to keep everyone from uniting. No Caliphates allowed. Everything else, like democracy or human rights or ability to control the media cycle, is gravy. And I doubt we're really all that fervent about promoting democracy there, because so many people are ticked off at us, we know what they'll pick if they're given the ability to choose. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying...

Hi echegollen, welcome to the forums. You might want to check out this thread - it discusses things in depth. http://www.lds.net/forums/sports/34657-how-can-you-support-boxing-ultimate-fighting.html

So how come when I go from a look of abject horror to giggling maniacally, people try to commit me? Life is so biased towards babies. It's unfair.

I live in Colorado, and I wait for the day when both CA and the Salt Lake Valley are under water...

Well, if it couldn't be a Glock, they chose the next best thing.

Hey, I don't get it either. I watched the video and don't feel especially closer to God. But she says it does it for her, so who am I to say it doesn't?We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. Doesn't mean I'll be signing up my daughters any time soon. But it also doesn't mean I'll be judging this lady's actions either.

After watching the video, I'm gonna break from my initial gut reaction here, and just not have a problem with her. You have to be in phenominal shape to do what she's doing, and when you look at it, it's not in front of an audience, it's not for money, it's not any more erotic or sexy than what you see in Cirque de Soleil or any sort of modern Christian dance I've seen. People who used to be in that line of work tend to bear a label for the rest of their lives. Folks can repent of a heck of a lot of sinful nonsense and leave it behind and go forth building the kingdom of God, but no matter how fervent one's discipleship becomes, one will always be looked down on as a former stripper. Consider - my own ward has called former drug abusers to teach 17 yr old Sunday School, a former party animal fornicator is in the Elder's quorum presidency. Nobody bats an eye. Good - they've got stories that might help the youth stay away from that sort of thing. But what's your reaction to hearing about a former stripper teaching the Mia-Maids? Lots of folks have strong negative reactions about such things. This lady will be picked-at and mocked and scorned by all the supposed good righteous people for what she's doing. But if she has found a way to get closer to God through turning something that used to be sinful into something pure, then fine /w me. I won't be judging her.

The honey is still good, everything else is not. At best, it still looks like food but has lost it's nutritional value. At worst, it's become toxic.I know how hard it can be - when my dad died, I chucked his year's supply of triticale bought in the '70's. But yeah - chuck it.

Why does the husband hate the job the wife wants? Does she want to be a stripper or something? I would sure hate it if my wife wanted a job like that, or something that put her in harm's way or something.As things are now, I'm supporting her going to school, and it's entirely possible that she'll be able to make more than me at some point in the future. We'll switch roles when that happens, and I'll walk around the house in my little french maid costume and homeschool the kids and whatnot. It's a field she's already a natural in, she'd be great at it, and probably can make more money than me at it. LM

Interesting thing about the Lord - He's not only aware of what you do in life, but why you do it. He is able to see into your heart and soul - He know more than what you do and don't do - He knows who you are. I don't claim to see things as God sees them - but here's what I see:* You bear a heavy burden, but keep going. (That's called enduring to the end) * You struggle and often fail to be happy, yet you spend effort to appear happy for the benefit of others. (That's called selfless service) * You come here for help and advice, but apologize in advance if you've made things hard on us. (That's called giving others an opportunity to serve, and also showing love and concern for people you've never met.) Honestly Anonymouse, how much better would the world be, if everyone living in it had the qualities you are displaying here? (Hint: A heck of a lot better) It's really not that hard for me to see why God would be pleased with you. Because even though you're a sinner like the rest of us, even though you are struggling under these burdens He knows you have - you are not giving up. Welcome to the board.

congratulations on leaving so much of that stuff behind! It doesn't sound easy.Anyway, if you think going back to church means hanging out with perfect people, you might be in for a surprise. There are lots of folks with pasts in church. Yeah, there might not be many people who have been where you've been - but I'm reasonably sure that wherever you live, there are at least one or two in whatever ward you belong to, who can understand because they've left a lot of stuff behind themselves. My suggestion is you show up, and anyone who asks a little about you, say something like "I've been a member 20 years, but I've only recently decided to act like it" and leave it at that. Shame is useful when it helps someone get out of shameful situations. Shame can be crippling when it stops you from doing what you should be doing. Don't let it cripple you. There are lots of people who never made it back as far as you have - don't sell yourself short. Tell us how it goes! LM

I'm not sure why there was a big long post after this. You were already planning to have your current husband, your kid's stepdad, not baptize your son. Right? If that was already your plan, how come the big deal about bending over backwards and walking on eggshells and whantot? If it was simple consideration to not have stepdad do the baptism, how is it not a matter of simple consideration to have him not do the confirmation?I don't have any answers, other than to suggest the adults, to the best of their ability, do what is in the best interests of the kids, who didn't ask for the extra burden. Divorce does not mean the relationship ends. It just means everything gets a lot more complicated since now you need to juggle more adults.

Hi Kadijah - welcome!

Sorry - could I ask for a little clarification here? Protected how, and from what? What does this protection for the law-abiding look like to you?Let's use the example of running a red light as given by the OP. What dangers present themselves if you run a red light? How many of them remain if you stay put? At the very least you're protected from getting a ticket and having a good chunk of your next paycheck or two given to the city.I guess I see what you're saying. But with all the innocent law-abiding people out there who die due to drunk drivers or innatentive drivers, or poorly marked road hazzards, or weather-related deaths, I wouldn't say that following the law makes one protected. If you're talking eternal perspective, we're fine. If you're talking having blessings in life, we're fine. If you're talking "being a good person means you'll never face adversity or harm in this life", well, I can't go that far. I don't agree with this either, because of situations where there are unjust laws from unjust men. People have to break the laws of man all the time to save their families and their souls, in places like North Korea or Iran.

I would submit that one popular choice for folks in your situation is really not a good option and should be avoided at all costs. Please, for the love of pete, do NOT bring an innocent child into this rocky and unstable situation. Lots of folks make that choice, in the hopes that the burden of a child will get the other spouse to 'wake up' and change their behavior. Unfortunately, it doesn't often succeed. Since there are no innocent lives involved yet, it seems to me that your two legitimate choices are to try to make the marriage work, or get a divorce. I figure you have to pick one and go for it. No idea which one you should pick, but good luck.

It kills me to say it, but I must give Michael Moore props for doing some interestingly-put-together counter protesting. I suppose I'm happier with the folks who just protect the attendees, like the YW group who go to conference and sing hymns that drown out the countercultist folk. But I must appreciate Michael for standing on the right side of the fence here - against Phelps.LM

You might have aquainted yourself with the rules of this site, before just assuming that we're here to provide you a podium from which to challenge our beliefs. Poor assuming, and crummy netiquette on your part.It could have saved you the effort. The folks who fund this site are interested in spreading our story. If you want to challenge the story, you should seek out another forum (like ornery.com, or mormonapologetics.org, or mormondiscussions.com). I mean, it isn't like this is the only place you can find us. You wanna argue, go find the mormons who wanna argue with you. Yeah. A snarky zinger. Hallmark of the better scholarly mind, apparently. Well, here's a witty rejoinder of equal relevance for ya: "Neener, neener, boogers on you!"

Same here. No and no.The thing you're missing here, is that we aren't LDS because Joseph Smith set us up to prove a negative, and we're all too dumb to know what that means, so we became Mormon. That is not what is going on here. Our scriptures expressly spell out a series of steps one should take, in order to get an unmistakable witness from God that the incredible claims of Joseph and the BoM are true. This witness, is what we call 'recieving a testimony'. It's not that nobody can prove it false. It's that God tells us it's true. Quite a difference, yes? LM

I watched an Indian version of the original Star Trek tv show and enjoyed the heck out of it. They actually made a better Bill Shatner than Bill Shatner.

Thanks, Elphaba. For the record, I don't really have any solution to advocate at all. I'm just thinking that before a solution can even be visualized, folks need to be aware of the realities of the current situation. And I find that both sides of the issue tend to be pretty unaware of various important aspects of reality. The pro-MM folks tend to be unaware of the realities of who produces and distributes the stuff, and who uses it. The anti-MM folks tend to be unaware of it's legitimate uses, and have an oversensationalized concerns of mj's impact on a human soul. Nobody will ever budge an inch to work together until they allow themselves to understand the other side a bit. LM