NeuroTypical

You can get as much drugs and beer and sex at BYU as you can on any other college campus, if you know where to look. That's not the point. The point is BYU won't be looking the other way when they catch you. That speaks to integrity. Speaking to the ability to keep naughtitude off campus is another thread.

Excellent. I'm a U of U graduate, but I applaud BYU not making an exception to their honor code for the 'special class' of student that brings in money and prestige for the university. It's evidence that the church is not developing pharisee/saducee elements. Dood who got kicked out can go anywhere else he wants, and do as much as whatever he did to get him kicked out of BYU as he wants. He just can't do it at BYU.

Non-traditional story here, but then again my wife and I seem to generate endless non-traditional stories. My wife and I saw two guys off at the side of the road with their hood up outside of Colorado Springs. Ordinarily, I'd suggest nobody pull over for two males between the ages of 18 and 35, but she's got an amazing ability to read body language, and figured these guys were not a threat to us, so we pulled over. It's a buddy's truck, they call him, he's ok with them leaving it on the side of the road, and can we give them a lift to their appointment at the Springs. It's on our way - no problem. They're friendly guys, although obviously worldly. For some reason, they guess that we are Mormons, and they give a few compliments and whatnot. Anyway, it turns out they're in a big hurry, because they're heading to a rave, and need to get there before it ends so they have a chance at 'scoring some hot chicks'. I'm sitting there, trying not to look uptight, and thinking "So wait - these guys needed help, but am I actually providing christian service by enabling their drunken debauchery?" But fortunately, my wife also has an amazing ability to set a friendly and light-hearted atmosphere with such folks, so we're laughing back and forth about how they're going to hell, and how they should find nice Christian girls that will make them clean up and stop partying and get them into a church. Everything turned out all right in the end - the "rave" was for 14-17 yr olds only. Our randy billy-goat passengers were in their mid-20's, and had absolutely zero desire to hang out with a bunch of 'pre-legal teenie-boppers'. So we gave them one last light-hearted round of "You know God sent us to make sure you got His hint, right?" And drove off laughing, leaving them in the rave parking lot trying to call anyone that could help them salvage their Saturday night. As I think back on it, it wasn't a half-bad missionary moment. True story. LM

Usually, it's other Christian sects that tell Mormons that we worship a different God. I do not think it's a good thing that we've started foisting the same criticism back at them. Anyway, here's how I've learned to answer, when someone tells me my Jesus is the wrong Jesus:Bob works with Doug. He knows Doug as a quiet guy who gets his work done most of the time. Fred knows Doug. Doug coaches Fred's kid's soccer team. He knows doug as an energetic guy who loves to laugh and get each kid to give a little more. Duane knows Doug. Duane is Doug's 19 yr old stepson. Duane thinks Doug yells too much and is anal-retentive. Mary knows Doug. Mary is Doug's 4 yr old stepdaughter. Mary loves Doug, because Mommy used to cry every night, and now that Doug is here, Mommy doesn't cry any more. Doug is good because he plays with her and gives her hugs and tickles. Which one knows the "right Doug"? It's a stupid question. They all know the same Doug. There are not multiple Dougs. They just have different perspectives about who Doug is. LM

My thoughts are around raising my two daughters so they're a bit more able to define themselves based on what matters instead of what doesn't matter so much. Remember the ? I'm still very grateful somebody made it. Right now, my daughters think the lady looks just fine at the beginning, and that makes me happy.

Hey LDSC! Just a friendly observation - When folks ask for advice, in an advice forum, with a post called "What should I do", and then denigrate people when they give it, it's hard for anyone to take such folk seriously.

Actually, you did. Here. --------- Well, no, that is not all you "just said". You started a thread on the advice board entitled "what should I do", and then when someone gave you advice, you told them "I wouldn't want relationship advice from someone who's been married more than once if it's due to a divorce." So I'm taking your statement, and probing to see how far the notion goes in your mind, by asking you if you also refuse to sing hymns written by someone who has been excommunicated. --------- I'm sure. Are you sure you're not a bit, well, 180 degrees wrong in your reaction to ryanh?LM

Hi Kimz, I've never seen anything documented, but I've written down an experience I had that might help:

Ok, got it. You're not interested in hearing from people who might have learned from their mistakes. But you'll listen to prophets regardless of their background. So anything Brigham Young had to say on marriage is ok, but marriage advice from any bishop, stake president, patriarch, area or general authority is still out, if they'd ever been divorced. (Fortunately these folks are pretty rare.) But does that still leave WW Phelps out? He never made prophet, just counselor to David Whitmer...

Careful with those quotes, JAG. If you have anything from Brigham Young, don't tell LDSC. He doesn't take advice from people who have been through a divorce. As far as I can tell, part of wisdom involves being willing and able to learn from someone who has made mistakes. Surely, some of the most precious and valueable advice my wife and I ever recieved, was from our bishop in 2006. He had been through a divorce and was on his 2nd marriage when he gave us the advice.But hey, live like you wanna live, baby. May I suggest you also refuse to sing hymns written by people who were once excommunicated?

I'm not sure I understand what you think "Sharia-abiding" means. As I look around wikipedia, it strikes me that "Sharia law" might be one of those words like 'homophobe' or 'liberal' where people struggle for control of the word's definition.As far as I can tell, "Sharia-abiding" means a muslim is living in a nation ruled by the theocratic sharia law, or is actively trying to change the government of where they do live into a theocratic Islamic state. The concern is from folks who think "Trying to change" amounts to subversion, revolution, traitorous acts, terrorism, conquering, etc. It's more than following the five pillars of islam. It's more than following the "Basic Code" of the Qur'an and Sunnah. It's more than living as a Muslim in a constitutional republic like the US. Islamists from more extreme sects do not believe Saudi Arabia lives under sharia law, although they have religious courts. Organizations like the European Court of Human Rights consider the punishments prescribed by Sharia in some countries to be barbaric and cruel. Lots of stuff to think about here. Folks worried about the free exercise clause may have a point. And folks who want to make it easier to go after terrorist organizations and those who mean our country harm, also have a point. LM

Well God bless you, JM. I know you're a mom, but you're still very young to be dealing with stuff like this. You have very relevant and valid concerns. Money and time and lifestyle and 'is this even possible if I can't control him' and 'what about the rest of the family' - all relevant questions. Financially - is there any sort of trust fund? Will your parent's life insurance help out? Is there social security disability involved? In this will of theirs, will you be getting funds from your parents estate to help with the costs? Lifestyle - Ever planning on getting married again? Will a potential spouse accept this responsibility with you? Your brother - if he has impulse control issues, would he harm you or your kids? Will he ever be able to live on his own, even in some sort of assisted living arangement? There are many questions. We don't have the answers - you are the only one that can get these answers. If you find answers you can choose to live with, then go for it. "Not until I'm remarried and out of school" may be a good answer. "As soon as my kids are out of the house" may be the answer. "There is no way I could financially support this" may be the answer. "Let's look into assisted-living stuff that medicare pays for, and I'll help him with his bills and drive him places" could be the answer. Prayer and fasting - your parents recommended well. If the Lord has something to say about it, do what He says.

Yes, very much so. And here's the kicker - the stress and fights don't stop until both of you learn how to do something more productive with your disagreements. It's part of growing up and putting on your big-people britches. (Not trying to sound dismissive or insulting - that's just how I put it as I was watching myself go through the same motions.) Because love is not enough. People are not meant to agree on everything. It takes a lot of just plain roll-up-your-sleeves hard work to make a relationship wonderful. You both have different backgrounds, hopes, desires, ways of doing things, and baggage. Sometimes these differences fit together and make life good, sometimes they crash into each other like two freight trains. Learning how to communicate and how to resolve issues is will make this better. Patience, respect, tolerance, forebearance, choosing to put up with a lot of things, choosing your battles, and finding mutually agreed-upon ways to work things out when you decide it's worth working through. Right now when you decide it's worth working through, you fight about it, because neither of you have any idea how else to work through stuff. There are lots of ways - be open with your bride about wanting to find ways that are better than fighting."Hey honey - it seems like we see this differently. Instead of fighting and having a winner and loser, I wonder if we might want to find a better way to work through these differences. What do you think?" Stuff like that. Happy wedding! You are in good company! LM

Heh - my dad was a Mason and a Moose. Does that mean I've inherited the reins of power for poor deluded planet earth?

I'm sorry - what part of this historical observation is unique to LDS folks? From what I can tell, you just described Americans in general - not mormons. It seems odd to single out Mormons and talk about our journey from humanity's racist past, as if our journey was somehow the only one that was made.And as far as that history goes, mormons were persecuted for wanting to free slaves before it became fashionable to do so. Joseph Smith favored a solution to slavery that involved freeing blacks. The territory of Utah stood firmly with the northern states in the Civil War. Blacks were allowed membership into our church a heck of a lot earlier than a lot of Christian churches. Well, the church is going gangbusters in South America and Africa. There are more saints outside of the US than in it. You might want to check out Black LDS Mormons.

Aw come on volgadon - everybody knows the illuminati is a shadowy puppet-master society older than time. They are the people who ran the neanderthals out of Europe with tommy guns so they could go extinct. They suppressed the invention of the wheel and control of fire until introducing it among humans would help them build the military industrial complex. Recently- they are the people who got daVinci to pretend he had a code, just to throw us off their track. And they took out atlantis because 'they knew too much'. They are the people who faked the moon landing, hide the mars landing, and control the secret ingredient of KFC chicken. And since mormons are all about brain washing and world domination and lizard people and whatnot, it makes perfect sense that we have ties.

Here's a question: Let's assume your wife jumped into bed with some guy. Would you want to hear it from her as she was repenting and going to the bishop and whatnot, or would you rather she keep it a secret for the duration of your marriage?

I'm thinking the 'rumor' involved Masons, not the illuminati. Although I suppose you could have heard it from someone who couldn't tell the difference, or thought they were related or something. Anyway, yes indeed, there are certain similarities between some of the symbolic stuff masons do, and some of the symbolic stuff you see in or on the temple. There are various ways to think about such things, and I've heard various possible explanations put forward. Here are a few, although none of them will really make any sense unless you've either been to/through the temple or know anything about masonry: FAIR: Mormonism and temples/Endowment/Freemasonry FAIR: Mormonism and Freemasonry/Hugh W. Nibley quotes Neal A. Maxwell Institute Book Review: Mormonism, Masonry, and Mischief LM

It stinks to be lonely. I know - I used to be lonely, and every time I hear from a complaining unhappy YSA or SA, I'm reminded of how it used to stink.There's only one way out of lonliness. And really, honestly, truly - a blog griping about how other people aren't serving you sufficiently, ain't it. That's what I think.

Are your children grown and out of the house? If not, just be aware that whatever answer you give your husband, your children will incorporate into their own lives as an acceptable answer. You will be role modeling their future behavior.Choose wisely.

Odd - I'm happy to see nobody advocating that stupid show September Dawn from 2007. Terrible events like MMM deserve better treatment than the laughingly one-dimentional Flash Gordon vs. the Evil Emperor Ming deal this crapfest dumped on moviegoers.

There's no such thing. There are, however, lots of teenage hormones that make people feel that way. I'm betting that's what you've got going on. I mean, that's not a bad thing. It's just not nearly as set in stone as you might dearly want to believe. LM

Oh my goodness. I hope you have your food storage. No telling how long you might be unable to make it to the grocery store! LM (routinely gets 4' snow drifts)

Meh. It's not that there is a shadowy group of people plotting for world domination. It's just that on the geopolitical stage, there is no such thing as a nation that DOESN'T plot for world domination. Every single group on earth since Adam & Eve got kicked out of the nice place, has set their military, economic, and political power to get bigger, more powerful, and just plain more. Every single plot, tactic, plan, and strategy that one might ascribe to a shadowy plotter, is always in regular use by everybody, all the time. You just never hear about it on the news. LM

Here's a good Ensign article from Richard Turley on the matter. He's finishing up a book on the MMM. Richard E. Turley Jr., "The Mountain Meadows Massacre", Ensign, Sept. 2007