More temple changes

[laronius]

I did a session this morning and found that the brethren have made some very significant changes to the endowment, not the covenant parts of course but in it's presentation. The doctrine behind much of what takes place is now described in detail so there can be no mistaking what the Lord expects of us.

It made me think about the motivation behind these changes and the thought that came to mind is that as the hastening increases, both the good and bad, we really don't have a lifetime to ponder and study and slowly come to this knowledge, especially the younger generation. Plainness is required and a hastening in preparation for what lies ahead. 

For agency to exist there must be opposition. We often refer to this opposition in the negative sense, darkness in opposition to light. But with evil and lies becoming ever more prevalent I think an increase in good and truth must accelerate in order to maintain true agency. But only if we avail ourselves of it.

I remember a quote by one of the brethren about not whispering the gospel to our kids in an almost subliminal way of teaching it but rather teaching it clearly and upfront. Perhaps the heavy use of symbolism in the temple has for some become a hindrance in a world where blunt, unscripted and in your face "reality" is causing young people to lose the ability to comprehend let alone appreciate the form of teaching found in the temple. 

[Vort]

Some things are emphasized and stated more plainly; other things are deemphasized. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, which I think is evident in the endowment presentation. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

[The Folk Prophet]

10 hours ago, laronius said:

I did a session this morning and found that the brethren have made some very significant changes to the endowment, not the covenant parts of course but in it's presentation. The doctrine behind much of what takes place is now described in detail so there can be no mistaking what the Lord expects of us.

It made me think about the motivation behind these changes and the thought that came to mind is that as the hastening increases, both the good and bad, we really don't have a lifetime to ponder and study and slowly come to this knowledge, especially the younger generation. Plainness is required and a hastening in preparation for what lies ahead. 

For agency to exist there must be opposition. We often refer to this opposition in the negative sense, darkness in opposition to light. But with evil and lies becoming ever more prevalent I think an increase in good and truth must accelerate in order to maintain true agency. But only if we avail ourselves of it.

I remember a quote by one of the brethren about not whispering the gospel to our kids in an almost subliminal way of teaching it but rather teaching it clearly and upfront. Perhaps the heavy use of symbolism in the temple has for some become a hindrance in a world where blunt, unscripted and in your face "reality" is causing young people to lose the ability to comprehend let alone appreciate the form of teaching found in the temple. 

Maybe the next round of changes will present everything in series of TikTok style shorts.

[The Folk Prophet]

7 hours ago, Vort said:

Some things are emphasized and stated more plainly; other things are deemphasized. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, which I think is evident in the endowment presentation. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I generally tend to disregard it when people call the church's "changes" the so-called "law of Samuel" or use the 116 lost pages of the BOM translation as analogous to the the changes. But with the latest changes in the temple, for some of it, I could not help but think that.

But....I still don't really believe that. Accordingly I do not understand some of the changes at all. Moreover, I don't understand why things have changed so many times in the past few, having not changed for decades and decades prior to that. It's all quite baffling to me.

The fact that it's baffling and I don't understand isn't important. I have enough humility to put that all aside and trust that others know better than me and that the Lord runs His church. But logically I can't make sense of it all yet. But I gave up on making sense of everything years ago.

[scottyg]

12 hours ago, laronius said:

I did a session this morning and found that the brethren have made some very significant changes to the endowment, not the covenant parts of course but in it's presentation. The doctrine behind much of what takes place is now described in detail so there can be no mistaking what the Lord expects of us.

Correct. It's important for all to remember that the Endowment itself hasn't changed at all...just the presentation of the Endowment.

[mirkwood]

It has been a few months since I did an endowment session.  Are these changes in the last few months, or are we referring to the last set of changes?

[Vort]

44 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

It has been a few months since I did an endowment session.  Are these changes in the last few months, or are we referring to the last set of changes?

Last set of changes.

[laronius]

2 hours ago, mirkwood said:

It has been a few months since I did an endowment session.  Are these changes in the last few months, or are we referring to the last set of changes?

Yesterday was significantly different from what it was last week. The session was filled with temple workers, I assume learning how things are done because most of the responsibility of the officiator is now obsolete.

[laronius]

2 hours ago, Vort said:

Last set of changes.

No these are brand spanken new.

[scottyg]

45 minutes ago, laronius said:

Yesterday was significantly different from what it was last week. The session was filled with temple workers, I assume learning how things are done because most of the responsibility of the officiator is now obsolete.

Not yet implemented in my temple, but we have heard about it and it is coming next week I believe. That is a stressful temple assignment to say the least...you would be surprised how many people complain to temple presidents about officiators not doing little insignificant things exactly the way they want them to.

[laronius]

1 hour ago, scottyg said:

Not yet implemented in my temple, but we have heard about it and it is coming next week I believe. That is a stressful temple assignment to say the least...you would be surprised how many people complain to temple presidents about officiators not doing little insignificant things exactly the way they want them to.

Well your job is about to get a whole lot easier. 😁 But that is unfortunate that even in the temple people would complain about things like that. How can they hope to be taught be the Spirit when they are so focused on being critical of those doing their best to serve? I guess there will always be those people.

[scottyg]

2 hours ago, laronius said:

Well your job is about to get a whole lot easier. 😁 But that is unfortunate that even in the temple people would complain about things like that. How can they hope to be taught be the Spirit when they are so focused on being critical of those doing their best to serve? I guess there will always be those people.

Yes...unfortunately there are. It's a good reminder for me to not be overly critical of insignificant issues. 

[CrimsonKairos]

As a filmmaker by training, I find the visuals (actors) and audio/music choices very distracting. I usually close my eyes and endure to the end, but honestly it’s difficult.

Not saying I could do better, but I certainly wouldn’t do worse. I miss the brunette-version of the video from 2001 with uninflected acting other than Satan who was excellent compared to the current version. 

Feel free to disagree. The covenants are why I go of course, and getting to kick down cell doors in Spirit Prison…but form distracts from function for me as things stand now.

[mikbone]

I heard its more Jesus less Adam and Eve.  

Unfortunately, I’m on call for the next month and a half and wont be able to attend till then.

[Vort]

5 hours ago, laronius said:

No these are brand spanken new.

Sorry, my bad. I was just at the temple two weeks ago and didn't notice any changes.

[Vort]

14 hours ago, CrimsonKairos said:

As a filmmaker by training, I find the visuals (actors) and audio/music choices very distracting. I usually close my eyes and endure to the end, but honestly it’s difficult.

Not saying I could do better, but I certainly wouldn’t do worse. I miss the brunette-version of the video from 2001 with uninflected acting other than Satan who was excellent compared to the current version. 

Feel free to disagree. The covenants are why I go of course, and getting to kick down cell doors in Spirit Prison…but form distracts from function for me as things stand now.

I actually do not disagree. I had my favorites among the various presentation films I have seen since I received my endowment in 1982, but I admit that I rather enjoy the slide-show-style presentation. It removes the overt emotive interpretation that some of the films provided, allowing me more easily to ponder and investigate things.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Vort

[mikbone]

Yup, I’ve had it with professional actors in the temple.  Overdramatic acting.  I also hate having to wonder if the actor has gender / orientation issues.

Can’t we share the gospel in normal and natural ways?

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

I actually do not disagree. I had my favorites and definite least favorites among the various films I saw since I received my endowment in 1982, but I admit that I rather enjoy the slide-show-style presentation. It removes the overt, club-over-the-head emotive interpretation that some of the films seemed to provide, allowing me more easily to ponder and investigate things.

I dunno.  The slide-show-style presentations evoke those old film strips with audio tracks played via a separate cassette player that Primary teachers were still using well into the 1980s, and I half expect to hear a soft “beep” every time the scene changes.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Just_A_Guy

[laronius]

1 hour ago, mikbone said:

I heard its more Jesus less Adam and Eve.  

Unfortunately, I’m on call for the next month and a half and wont be able to attend till then.

I wouldn't say less Adam and Eve but so much of what is found in the endowment is now so clearly spelled out, including the roll Deity plays. Kind of like Jesus explaining to His apostles the meaning of the parables, except this time it's the meaning of the endowment.

[CrimsonKairos]

I just think it’s sad all that production budget got spent and crew did their best work but the overacting resulted in a slideshow…in 2023. I feel bad for the crew whose efforts were hamstrung because either the director wasn’t in control of the actors, or he/she was in control but had pretty bad taste.

The question on everyone’s minds on set should have been (and should be even in secular productions): “Is this element (whatever it is) going to distract from the narrative intent?”

Edited February 9, 2023 by CrimsonKairos

[laronius]

1 minute ago, CrimsonKairos said:

I just think it’s sad all that production budget got spent and crew did their best worl but the overacting resulted in a slideshow…in 2023. I feel bad for the crew whose efforts were hamstrung because either the director wasn’t in control of the actors, or he/she was in control but had pretty bad taste.

The question on everyone’s minds on set should have been (and should be even in secular productions): “Is this element (whatever it is) going to distract from the narrative intent?”

I think those videos added something to people's perception of what took place, at least from the viewpoint of them representing us. It made it more relatable, I think. But I do agree that perhaps the pendulum swung a little too far in the other direction. I however did find the various interpretation of events very interesting. It just goes to show that words alone do not always communicate the full meaning of things.

[Just_A_Guy]

22 minutes ago, CrimsonKairos said:

I just think it’s sad all that production budget got spent and crew did their best work but the overacting resulted in a slideshow…in 2023. I feel bad for the crew whose efforts were hamstrung because either the director wasn’t in control of the actors, or he/she was in control but had pretty bad taste.

The question on everyone’s minds on set should have been (and should be even in secular productions): “Is this element (whatever it is) going to distract from the narrative intent?”

Given that three live-action films were produced in a 2-3 year period and that *all* of them were discontinued in favor of a slide show, I suspect that the cause wasn’t so much acting technique/production values as that the slide-show presentation makes it possible to do further changes in the future by simply re-dubbing the audio without having to do a whole new visual production.  

[Vort]

4 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Given that three live-action films were produced in a 2-3 year period and that *all* of them were discontinued in favor of a slide show, I suspect that the cause wasn’t so much acting technique/production values as that the slide-show presentation makes it possible to do further changes in the future by simply re-dubbing the audio without having to do a whole new visual production.  

Interesting theory. Makes sense.

[MarginOfError]

8 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Given that three live-action films were produced in a 2-3 year period and that *all* of them were discontinued in favor of a slide show, I suspect that the cause wasn’t so much acting technique/production values as that the slide-show presentation makes it possible to do further changes in the future by simply re-dubbing the audio without having to do a whole new visual production.  

 

8 hours ago, Vort said:

Interesting theory. Makes sense.

That and dubbing in multiple languages with accurate translations is far easier when you are not bound by the constraints of the time it takes to say something in English. 

[The Folk Prophet]

7 minutes ago, MarginOfError said:

 

That and dubbing in multiple languages with accurate translations is far easier when you are not bound by the constraints of the time it takes to say something in English. 

True...but not as simple as you imply. Because the dubbing you speak of has to happen concurrently in time with the English version or vice versa, etc., in many cases.

The translated language listener sits with headphones on and listens in their language that plays in time with the English (or vice versa). So the core language and the English still must fill the same amount of time.