Asked not to wear pants to church

[paracaidista508]

6 hours ago, Grunt said:

I don’t.  Nobody has mentioned that I should.  

One thing to keep in mind is the further you get from Utah, Arizona or Idaho, the less people stress over this stuff. as you can see, on this forum we cant even agree on what the church manuals tell us. Arguments are won here by whoever shouts out you are disobedient first. Kinda like calling someone  a racist in a political argument they are not winning.

The manual says it is not a pre-condition to participating in sacrament preparation or admin. That said, whoever mentioned (Bishop discretion) is correct. The bishop can add to the standard for a variety of reasons. In places like Utah or other extremely Mormon populated areas...they are very strict about it. Even though it is not a rule, it is the culture. Growing up, I never even owned any color of dress shirt other than white. My parents would have left me at home rather than darken the door of the chapel in anything but a white shirt. My father didn't even own any color of dress shirt other than white. Probably because he was transiting so much between work and church stuff it was easier.

Anyway- the comment about you not hearing about it because you are new is fairly correct. Also, you are on the east coast. There are like two Mormons there so no one wants to get anyone mad and not come back. Where I'm at entire wards can be as small a boundary as 1 square mile. If you don't show up, no one notices. 

I usually wear white shirts. For a few years I wore dress shirts from an old job I had. Didn't want them to go to waste in my closet because they were not needed anymore. I did have one person say something to me about it and I told them to go buy me a white one and I would wear it if they cared so much. They never did.

Wear whatever color dress shirt you like- the book says white isn't mandatory. Temple is probably the only exception.

Edited March 16, 2018 by paracaidista508

[paracaidista508]

52 minutes ago, truthseaker said:

 Old mate pants police can bite me.  

Kinda like these guys:

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, paracaidista508 said:

One thing to keep in mind is the further you get from Utah, Arizona or Idaho, the less people stress over this stuff.

So true. 

[Vort]

11 minutes ago, paracaidista508 said:

Arguments are won here by whoever shouts out you are disobedient first. Kinda like calling someone  a racist in a political argument they are not winning.

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.

[askandanswer]

4 hours ago, MormonGator said:

 What @Vort usually wears to Sacrament meeting.

Several sizes too small I suspect  

[Vort]

Just now, askandanswer said:

Several sizes too small I suspect  

The rippling muscles just make it look that way.

[Grunt]

43 minutes ago, paracaidista508 said:

One thing to keep in mind is the further you get from Utah, Arizona or Idaho, the less people stress over this stuff. as you can see, on this forum we cant even agree on what the church manuals tell us. Arguments are won here by whoever shouts out you are disobedient first. Kinda like calling someone  a racist in a political argument they are not winning.

The manual says it is not a pre-condition to participating in sacrament preparation or admin. That said, whoever mentioned (Bishop discretion) is correct. The bishop can add to the standard for a variety of reasons. In places like Utah or other extremely Mormon populated areas...they are very strict about it. Even though it is not a rule, it is the culture. Growing up, I never even owned any color of dress shirt other than white. My parents would have left me at home rather than darken the door of the chapel in anything but a white shirt. My father didn't even own any color of dress shirt other than white. Probably because he was transiting so much between work and church stuff it was easier.

Anyway- the comment about you not hearing about it because you are new is fairly correct. Also, you are on the east coast. There are like two Mormons there so no one wants to get anyone mad and not come back. Where I'm at entire wards can be as small a boundary as 1 square mile. If you don't show up, no one notices. 

I usually wear white shirts. For a few years I wore dress shirts from an old job I had. Didn't want them to go to waste in my closet because they were not needed anymore. I did have one person say something to me about it and I told them to go buy me a white one and I would wear it if they cared so much. They never did.

Wear whatever color dress shirt you like- the book says white isn't mandatory. Temple is probably the only exception.

I've only been to Temple once and came from work.  I was in fatigues.   I'm going to be excommunicated.

 

[Grunt]

34 minutes ago, Vort said:

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.

Hitler was a distant uncle of Kevin Bacon.

[Guest MormonGator]

27 minutes ago, Grunt said:

Hitler was a distant uncle of Kevin Bacon.

Seriously? Never knew that! 

[Grunt]

5 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Seriously? Never knew that! 

I made that up.

[Guest MormonGator]

Just now, Grunt said:

I made that up.

You could have kept it going, I believed you. 

[bytebear]

I don't think it's a Utah thing at all.  I think you have a lot more wards in heavily Mormon areas to pick out the "strict" examples.  I grew up in Salt Lake with an apostle in my stake, and a General Relief Society president in my ward.  I also had a faithful member who wore blue jean overalls every single Sunday.  We did have a "deacons wear a tie" rule, and they had a box of extras when a deacon forgot, but we never had a white shirt rule, although we probably should have, given the styles at the time.

Edited March 17, 2018 by bytebear

[NightSG]

 

15 hours ago, Carborendum said:

On more than one occasion, I forgot my belt.  He noted it and reminded me to wear it next time.  He didn't kick me out or forbid entry to the practice session.  But he made it clear that it was important for me to wear it.  Since it was fairly infrequent, he understood and didn't mind it happening from time-to-time.

Putting on the belt, like bowing to the mat (or at the front door) is a reminder to put the day's anger and stresses aside, so you don't accidentally take them out on your uke.

Plus it lets guys like me know how much pain we get to cause you and what kind of throws we can use on you.  After all, if you're higher ranked than me, it's your own responsibility not to let me hurt you too badly.   

15 hours ago, Carborendum said:

You should get out more.  Think about a middle class wedding.  The wedding party wears tuxedos.  But the guests?  Not so often.  But how many women wear pants?  Most weddings I've been to: None.  And I'm not just talking about Mormon weddings.

Sounds like you're still in a pretty limited crowd.  Look at Melania Trump; she frequently wears pantsuits, though I suspect some of that is just showing off how much better she is at it than Hillary ever was.  And I'm betting other than some clearly fashion-incompetent types, those men aren't showing up in short sleeve "dress" shirts.  That's the equivalent of a too-short clip-on tie: wearing it to Church is basically saying "well, Jesus only suffered and died for me - nothing worth my being infinitesimally less comfortable at having to wear a few more square inches of the flimsiest cotton broadcloth known to mankind in an air conditioned building, or taking fifteen seconds to tie a real tie."

Quote

How is a short/long sleeve shirt different than a short/long dress/skirt?

Unless you're talking about a leopard print microskirt that shows off "made ya look" print panties, a short sleeve "dress" shirt is far tackier.

10 hours ago, anatess2 said:

After a while, the Welshman realized the bowtie club disbanded.  He probably did some pondering or something because soon after that, he started wearing a regular tie.  Then soon after that he started wearing a white shirt.  The bishop never asked him to do so.

So in other words, he was driven to conform to a cultural expectation that has no foundation in the Gospel by peer pressure rather than obedience of any sort.  Really not something to be proud of.

8 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Like I said, no one is going to kick anyone out of the church over this.

Making someone uncomfortable, causing them to feel unwelcome at Church is often equally effective, and of course, includes the all-important element of plausible deniability.

Edited March 17, 2018 by NightSG

[lostinwater]

59 minutes ago, NightSG said:

Making someone uncomfortable, causing them to feel unwelcome at Church is often equally effective, and of course, includes the all-important element of plausible deniability.

True!  

But of course the people whose actions have that effect see it as an inevitable consequence of the maintenance of their morality - like they are the rock solid wall that the idiot keeps stubbing his toe on.  But two armies form, dig in, and bullets begin to fly, both fully convinced the correctness of their cause justifies the use of extreme emotional force.  From my experience, those bullets hit far more (partly to mostly) innocent bystanders than anyone else - the ones that don't suit up in their bulletproof vests of righteous indignation at the start of every day.  i guess though that's a medic's point of view - and displays my lack of respect for those who do the jobs i'm incapable of doing.

[lostinwater]

6 hours ago, Vort said:

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.

@Vort - you don't really believe this, do you?  i honestly don't see how Hitler could be preferred to anyone here - by like, say, around, a factor of a million.

[omegaseamaster75]

14 hours ago, Vort said:

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.

I hope this is a joke, I personally find this offensive. 

[paracaidista508]

14 hours ago, Vort said:

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.

Didn’t even know a this was a thing. I’m honored and I’ll use my little hat pin ☠️

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

[Vort]

9 hours ago, lostinwater said:

@Vort - you don't really believe this, do you?  i honestly don't see how Hitler could be preferred to anyone here - by like, say, around, a factor of a million.

It's a quotation from The Simpsons and an example of so-called "Godwin's Law", which says that internet discussions always degenerate into calling each other Hitler. Which is basically what paracaidista was saying, so I illustrated his point. I don't know, I thought it was pretty broad, obvious humor, even funny. Apparently not everyone agrees.

"I'd do anything for you, Marge. I'd kill for you. [in a deeper, excited voice] Please ask me to kill for you..."

Edited March 17, 2018 by Vort

[lostinwater]

10 minutes ago, Vort said:

It's a quotation from The Simpsons and an example of so-called "Godwin's Law", which says that internet discussions always degenerate into calling each other Hitler. Which is basically what paracaidista was saying, so I illustrated his point. I don't know, I thought it was pretty broad, obvious humor, even funny. Apparently not everyone agrees

Good.  Well, honestly, i'm a bit dense at times, too.  

That, and i think i've been watching too many of the Hitler's Circle of Evil documentary episodes on Netflix....

[Sunday21]

15 hours ago, Grunt said:

I've only been to Temple once and came from work.  I was in fatigues.   I'm going to be excommunicated.

 

Never! We ❤️ You. Never leave us!

[truthseaker]

Met my bishop today (in my pants!) and he was awesome, the pants police (he's the ward's mission leader) even apologised to me (after the bishop spoke to him but still an apology none the less).  So just for the record pants are fine in church - well in the ward I go to at least.

[Guest MormonGator]

38 minutes ago, truthseaker said:

Met my bishop today (in my pants!) and he was awesome, the pants police (he's the ward's mission leader) even apologised to me (after the bishop spoke to him but still an apology none the less).  So just for the record pants are fine in church - well in the ward I go to at least.

Victory is yours @truthseaker! 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, truthseaker said:

Met my bishop today (in my pants!) and he was awesome, the pants police (he's the ward's mission leader) even apologised to me (after the bishop spoke to him but still an apology none the less).  So just for the record pants are fine in church - well in the ward I go to at least.

This whole episode may be a good lesson of a different sort for you - while the Church is true, it is full of individuals who are imperfect.  You may yet have several opportunities to use your skills in forgiving others and showing Christlike love to others, even when they are acting like total jerks and should know better.  The good news is, every time you forgive someone who is showing their imperfections, every time you are nice and charitable to them even when they are acting horribly or doing stupid things, you become a little bit more like Christ!

(this is coming from a former ward mission leader who sometimes has imperfections that show very, very badly).

Edited March 18, 2018 by DoctorLemon

[truthseaker]

Just now, DoctorLemon said:

while the Church is true

I dont understand this statement, why do all the members say this so often, its as if they believe the LDS church is more true than other churches.  Is that true?

[Sunday21]

12 hours ago, paracaidista508 said:

Didn’t even know a this was a thing. I’m honored and I’ll use my little hat pin ☠️

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

In Mormon circles, the argument goes on until, someone threatens your temple recommend!