NOM

I just saw that Spencer Fluhman is stepping down as director of the Maxwell Institute in May. I doubt this is directly related to this book or any of the other situations, but he must look forward to not having the pressure on him from having to stand between the fundamentalism in the church and the...

Have you ever been in a rainstorm? A really, really bad rain storm? One where you can't see to drive? One where you are soaked to the skin before you make it 15 feet from the door? That is a rain storm that is delivering .5" per hour. A big hurricane might be able to deliver an inch an hour. Mount ...

deacon blues wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:37 am

maybe a little like a home owners organization on steroids.

What a great description of the church!

I think the BYU's give an idea of what it would look like. There would be "elections" where the Brethren would tell us the candidate who would be running unopposed for each office. I'd bet that elections would be held by public vote and raising the right hand. Those in lower offices would be expecte...

Yeah, I'm in a little different boat than many on here. For family and other reasons, I have a current temple recommend, and to justify it they want their books clean that I pay tithing. So that's why I at least email/text my status. But there is absolutely no way I'm showing up for a meeting. Ever...

I just listened to a TBM who said that his favorite BoM story is that of Alma the Younger. He fought against the church and had a dramatic conversion, of course. There was a series written on a TBM blog several years ago about recruiting an Alma the Younger. Clearly the story is important to many me...

I've told this story before, but I haven't been to tithing settlement/declaration in nearly a decade. Now, they still want to know my status, so every year I email or text the bishop my status. That's it. It's pretty easy to say why. Got a new bishop who wanted to know why I don't go. I simply say,...

I don't suppose they explain why there was a restoration if there was no apostasy. What was restored anyways? If Pope Francis is the successor to Peter and holds the keys he was given, the whole basis for JS falls apart. I had a companion who once challenged someone on the line of popes in order to ...

So just a little question here. How would you respond when someone inevitably says "the leaders of the church will be held responsible for how they use the funds. We are just responsible to pay our tithing." Here's my thought: Who's going to hold them responsible? If they are misusing funds, they a...

My patriarchal blessing was a ... frisson filled experience - thankful that blessing was bs (warned me that my children would be handicapped requiring my special attention... my kids are not handicapped) ... and another *spiritual * temple experience... with people who should *not* have been in the...

One of the most powerful spiritual experiences of my life told me to marry my now ex-wife. It's obvious how that turned out. Sometimes those hormone rushes lead to good things, and sometimes they lead to bad things. I think they tend to lead to good more often just because almost any decision usuall...

On the other hand, the church has also ended the fun things that added fun to our experiences as kids. There are no more road shows, sports leagues, dance festivals, etc. I know different leaders give different counsel, but there are a lot more wards where every activity has to have a spiritual purp...

It’s furious to think the church doesn’t do the majority of these items already. It really shows the willingness to hide and obfuscate any claims of abuse. Seriously disturbing considering the family nature of the church. I predict that they will do them. There is probably unanimous support for doi...

One thing that stood out to me in the talk is that he gives a blessing to everyone and invokes the authority of the apostleship. I found this interesting as he is the president of the church and it would seem that he would have a higher authority than the apostleship. Was this an unintentional peak...

When I see how long it took the church to decide to do something about meetings during COVID, I find it hard to believe that they would be looking at new ways to connect with people. I think they will continue to do the same basic thing with small tweaks. They may be willing to make changes to the s...

No, problem, because I am probably venting some frustration about it and it was an excuse to blow off steam. The problem is that the number of people is causing problems with my husband who needs the social contact and isn’t getting it because you don’t get to know anyone when there are that many p...

I was watching the Bednar press conference that wtfluff linked in another thread. Bednar said President Nelson was very brave in making the commitment that "we will no longer use a pejorative nickname that was attached to us by our enemies." The wicked apostates Hinkley and Monson must certainly ra...

Garden City has 3,000 visitors on many Sundays. St. Charles has over 1,000. Then there are the many visitors who stay in Montpelier, or come to the Lakes East side and do not want to drive to the West side of the lake, so they attend in Dingle or Montpelier. With your method of counting attendance,...

I think the census surveys are self reported. So it’s possible the church data was inflated by people who moved but didn’t forward their records or people that have died but haven’t had their records removed. Either way I think everyone knows the church membership statistics are always over inflate...

There's a great Mormon Stories podcast with a panel of lawyers who explain how it is a tiny step for LGBTQ people, but a big win for the church's ability to continue discriminating. I agree that the church wants to continue discriminating. I think an additional reason is shown in this graph of supp...