NOM

Reuben wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:59 am

What? No, no, no. In the Star Wars universe they celebrate Life Day, which is totally different.

Good to know. I have never actually seen the Star Wars Holiday Special. In the case of He-Man, though, it was definitely Christmas.

When I experienced the temple ceremonies for the first time, I was surprised and glad that I had something new and unusual to think about, in contrast to the usual repetitive lessons and things. It was fascinating, but also kind of disappointing to eventually discover many of the pieces that they ar...

It also gets interesting when fictional settings have "Christmas specials," such as Star Wars or He-Man. The implications of the holiday existing in those universes are fun to consider.

For what it's worth, I hope that NOM will always remain a place where those who believe in God, Christianity, Mormonism, or some other brand of spirituality will not feel hesitant to participate, along with those who have lost some or all of the above. One thing I believe in is the purpose of this s...

I've found that the word "spiritual" has become almost repellent to me. I guess in part because so many things that word connotes have become so empty. I still outwardly practice my religious tradition to some degree, though. It sure would be nice to somehow be convinced again that I have a spiritua...

I recently read the phrase "religious, but not spiritual" somewhere, and realized that this might describe me to some degree. I still maintain a connection to the Mormon community and I still follow a lot of the rules, even many of the arbitrary Mormon-specific ones. But I can't seem to make room fo...

Parts of this video resonate with me and come across as authentic, though I can't sympathize with the part that Palerider mentioned where he says that he found himself wanting to disbelieve and investigating further for that reason. That sure isn't a phase that I went through. (I also can't help bei...

I guess it would be difficult to wield even a proton pack as a spirit.

The official teaching I'd always heard was that it was a war of ideas.

But perhaps they also tested out some of the devices that will ultimately be used to keep resurrected beings from infiltrating a higher kingdom.

I'm perfectly fine with "not existing" if that means there would have been less suffering in the world because MORmONism never existed. My fluffy little person means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of the universe. If life had never existed at all, then there would not be suffering of any ki...

My thoughts on this are similar to what blazerb said above, I think. On the surface, the cosmological argument seems to me to be simply dodging the question of how things came to be. An infinite regress of gods similarly kicks the can down the road without answering anything. At one time, I found ar...

God's Army has a character that some at NOM might relate to, a questioning missionary. States of Grace is a movie that I've recommended many times to people at church. I have always appreciated how it's edgy enough to be interesting but also includes things such as a literal application of a Book of...

Move forward some years and I find myself wondering is it possible that we can become gods. Not so much in the Mormon sense, getting there my some inane rituals and adherence to a set of arbitrary rules. Maybe it is just part of the universal plan that we progress through eternity, growing and acqu...

I guess mine might be something like this: "How disappointing to discover that not only religion but absolutely everything appears to be made-up nonsense."

Thanks for sharing. It is an interesting idea that authority bestowed on a player (or even a non-player character) in a video game is "real" in a sense that maybe no authority is in our world outside the game. Within the game's world, it can be truly concrete and binding rather than just something t...

God's Army , Brigham City , and States of Grace are now included with an Amazon Prime subscription. I hope Falling eventually gets added as well. I've been wanting to see that for ages. There are some amusing reviews by people who didn't realize that these films were "Mormon propaganda." I'm still ...

If only the Book of Mormon revealed whether they really sacrificed the winners or the losers (or neither) at the end of a Maya ball game.

This is a great thread. All of the responses are very interesting. Yes, I also appreciate this discussion. I sure was impressed with Givens's By the Hand of Mormon when I read it soon after its release. I've wondered in recent years how differently I might look at it now were I to read it again.

I think this book is excellent. One of the reasons I liked it was that some of the points Haidt made backed up thoughts I'd had myself about how we as humans come to conclusions and then attempt to support our conclusions using reason. It was amusing to find myself more or less applying this practic...