Traditional VS Electronic scriptures. More Spirit?


EarlJibbs
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Your sarcasm is misplaced. No one ever made such a claim.

Addiction was actually referenced at least once and implied more than once.

That our youth are equated /assumed to be at the lowest common denominator irks me. I don't like it as an adult, I don't like it as a parent, and I don't like it as an educator. Are there human turnips? Absolutely. But I find that challenging our youth, and treating adults as competent individuals more than ready to rise to the task at hand... Brings out amazing depths and strengths. Teaching to the lowest common denominator, creates turnips. People rise or fall to the levels expected of them.

I have a standing rule for my students: I LOVE the distraction of ringing cell phones, and will gladly take the oppurtunity to not have to repeat myself for the eleventy twelveth time about peat bogs being preservative... And instead chat with whomever is calling them. Or texting. Or emailing. Bwaaahahahaha! Sadly, word gets around that Im lighthearted, but not actually joking.

I do, however, invite the use of electronics in my classroom... I just challenge my students not to be rude or obnoxious about them. I also give extra credit for "interesting stuff". And I get a LOT of interesting stuff that way. From thoughts, to articles, to primary sources, to an online edition of Oxford's version of my class just uploaded, to real time sattelite imagry, to plane surveys, the list goes on. All while managing to have alerts, ringers, etc. turned off. As an end result, Im treated to students who are active, involved, and respectful.

This is hardly spraining my arm to pay myself on the back. I learned this from my own professors, and most of my colleagues have similar policies. We EXPECT hard work, dedication, and for our students not to be obnoxious. And are rewarded with most of then rising to that challenge.

As a parent, I find the same holds true.

As a person myself, I find the same holds true.

So it drives me a little nuts, when, while Im sure there are drooling, disresoectful, turnip like teens out there incapable of using electronic decicescwith any kind of intentionality... When ALL teens & preteens are lumped into the

Addicted to / Spirit isn't as present when YOU read scriptures/ dismissive & disrespectful lumps.

Edited by BadWolf
Durn autocorrect, oy. I'm sick. Any other grammar me bestest will just have to stand.
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If this is the case our ward would be in trouble. I'm pretty sure at least of half of those attending sunday school every week use electronic devices of some sort. I agree that I probably won't let my children bring electronic devices, nor cell phones to their church classes/mutual/seminary. Too distracting for them. Though I admit I let them play coloring apps on our ipod after the sacrament has been passed. Which is a topic for another thread I guess.

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If the church was really concerned about technology distractions especially during church time they wouldn't have made the wifi password freely available to every member including the youth. At least it is in this part of the world. You can go anywhere in Australia and log into the church wifi.

What the GA said about not having the spirit through electronic scriptures is just not sound. However if he said that its difficult to feel the spirit when your reading your electronic scriptures, updating your status on facebook, playing cut the rope and texting your friends all at the same time. Then that makes perfect sense.

Unfortunately I see to many kids these days engaged in other activities on electronic devices in all of the meetings of the church and the truth of the matter is (its not just the kids)

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Addiction was actually referenced at least once and implied more than once.

Oh, that was me. And again, I used to be fully on BW's side of things. But after looking at the data and evidence before me, I've converted to the "electronic gizmos can become addictions" camp. Because they can. And they are. Especially with our youth. Unless someone like BW or me is there forcing some other sort of interaction out of our youth, the default behavior is drooling turnip people.

That our youth are equated /assumed to be at the lowest common denominator irks me.

Well, you can't blame that on me, because I never made such an equating, nor made such an assumption.

I read your examples about how you preserve a learning/productive environment in your classes with electronics. Awesome! Gizmos certainly aren't going anywhere - they are all but required these days as productivity tools, so kudos for teaching our youth how to use them, and finding lighthearted ways to keep them from abusing them, and demanding good things from them.

If you or someone like you were running Young Women's camp, I'd be happy. But since there probably isn't, I'm happy with the 'no gizmos' rule.

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Cannot think of another reason. BTW, that 70 probably had a vested interest in the publisher of the book of Mormon and did not want to loose money on it :)

Pads and phones not only are replacing the book of Mormon, but computers, printers, and laptops in some cases. It is just a evolution of the printed text.

BTW, there was a report that did say today's kids are having problems being able to print and write in cursive.

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Cannot think of another reason. BTW, that 70 probably had a vested interest in the publisher of the book of Mormon and did not want to loose money on it :)

Pads and phones not only are replacing the book of Mormon, but computers, printers, and laptops in some cases. It is just a evolution of the printed text.

BTW, there was a report that did say today's kids are having problems being able to print and write in cursive.

What the heck are you talking about? What 70 would have had a vested interest? The church publishes the Book of Mormon.

As far as kids and cursive..that's not half as sad as some adults who have such a hard time with spelling and simple grammar.

Edited by pam
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I see this sort of advice akin to an old writer teaching younger ones that they'll write better if they use a typewriter instead of a computer. Rubbish I say. Still, follow your leaders and you'll be blessed. But I don't agree with this sort of thinking. (Spirit stronger if you don't use electronics? Really?) I find the notion ridiculous.

Now asking the youth to bring paper scriptures to church, or in preparation for a mission. There's some logic there at least.

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I have the scriptures in several different forms, in print, on computer in several different software programs, and on a Kindle in several different apps and in an e-book. One main thing that I miss is the maps, and photos in the back of the Bible.

We are counseled to search the scriptures, not just to read them, with a Bible study software program that I have, I can do that lighting fast, instead of hours, days, weeks, months, or even years to search for something, I can take seconds to not just search the scriptures, but hundreds of books, and am able to easily read and compare more than twenty different English translations of the Bible. I can do difficult, if not impossible, to do searches. One of the disadvantage of electronic scriptures is that you can’t drop them and them flip to a random scripture that somehow talks about something you had prayed for. Maybe there will be, or even is, a random verse setting for a scripture e-book.

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There too many advantages to electronic scriptures to dismiss them as being secondary forms. Size of type being changeable is a big one. Not spiritual but anything that makes scriptures readable is good.

Searchability is expanded. My app will search everything including general conference talks, books like Jesus the Christ and the magazines. Who knows what else. Not only does it search but it displays them all at once so a lot of time is saved from just finding the references.

I know this is all basic but it is amazing how easy and useful they are. AND they are so light. AND they can go to audio. And well I just think they are the greatest invention ever. :)

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Sometimes I picture Moroni carrying around those heavy plates for all those years. He would be spinning out at what I can carry on my iPhone in my pocket. As for the spirit, it's in the words not what there written on. Certain verses written on a snotty hanky could bring me to tears. I just wouldn't be trying to write in the margins :)

Edited by Drpepper
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Sometimes I picture Moroni carrying around those heavy plates for all those years. He would be spinning out at what I can carry on my iPhone in my pocket. As for the spirit, it's in the words not what there written on. Certain verses written on a snotty hanky could bring me to tears. I just wouldn't be trying to write in the margins :)

Internal evidences from the Book of Mormon itself suggest that Moroni did not in fact haul around his father's gold plates for decades, much less the huge pile of Nephite records.

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Internal evidences from the Book of Mormon itself suggest that Moroni did not in fact haul around his father's gold plates for decades, much less the huge pile of Nephite records.

Ive pictured Nephi and his brothers playing football on the beach. Captain Moroni taking on middle earth and the army of orcs and Ammon as a ninja assassin. Moroni must of had the plates at some stage and he saw our day. I can just picture him looking into the future and seeing someone on an iPhone thinking "where can I get one of those"

You see thats what makes the Book of Mormon fun for me, characters within the characters.

Ill probably never be called to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher but the 7 year olds love me...:lol:

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My son's teacher has asked that they bring physical copies of the scriptures to church rather than electronics. Yet, he still begs me every week to let him just take a gadget instead, swearing that he will only use it to look up scriptures. But I know that kid pretty darn well, and I know that if he sees an opportunity to play a game on the gadget, he will take it. Not because he's a lazy turnip-person, but because he's a pre-teenaged boy with a gadget full of fun games loaded on it in his pocket. I'd worry about whether he was feeling all right if he WASN'T tempted to use it for something other than just scriptures at some point in the day.

Heck, I have to fight the urge to check my own email or jump on facebook during a particularly droning part of Sunday School sometimes. It's not what the scriptures are on that's the problem, it's the other distractions that come with them. I don't think there's one answer that's right for every person on earth. But I can see the wisdom in counseling the youth not to have gadgets with them at church. It just eliminates a distraction and makes it more possible for them to stay focused on the scriptures.

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My son's teacher has asked that they bring physical copies of the scriptures to church rather than electronics.

But I can see the wisdom in counseling the youth not to have gadgets with them at church. It just eliminates a distraction and makes it more possible for them to stay focused on the scriptures.

In my opinion asking youth not to bring electronic scriptures is like trying to hold back the tide (although there is this one guy I read about who managed to pull that off :)

Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves. This is a hard thing to do with youth but im afraid the days of we only have 1 computer in the lounge room so parents can monitor internet activity are over.

If a youth has a smart phone they have access to the internet in their pocket. Free wifi on public transport in restaurants and public places is becoming more common.

the only way around that is to buy them one of those brick looking phones from the 80s. That should put you in the popular category.

As a parent you just cant be looking over your childs shoulder and monitoring their text, tweeting, social facebook and all the other ways youth connect with each other these days.

The handheld device is already entrenched in our primary children. I would say over 75% of the primary children in my ward have an electronic device. My own daughter new how to slide open a mobile phone before she was toilet trained.

I just think kids these days need a better understanding on why and why not, rather than do and do not.

I think his name was moses:lol:

Edited by Drpepper
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