NOM

Let the record show that looking into Mormon history is EXCITING!....Its like a freaking mystery novel of "who done it!"ally WERE! Real Mormon history can be fascinating. Lots of interesting things. Real humans and real human situations. The pablum fed to members in Church -- not so much.

Yeah man, gotta keep your head in the game and not take the bait. Smile and nod! But if you must engage: Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to ...

BTW what is meant in the temple when they say that the man and woman are symbolic? Does it mean that Tim and Sally from down the street are symbolically representing a real Adam and Eve, or does it mean the characters of Adam and Eve are symbols for humankind in general? It's been a while since I ...

Anyway, that young woman in question apparently has similar tastes to the Senatorial Candidate from Alabama, except it seems much less weird for her to seek out another Laurel age woman. Much less weird. Besides, there are all those issues of consent and power differentials and maturity. At Laurel ...

Yes, it's more common in Mormonism. Very strongly ingrained in Mormon cultural interactions. It happens quite a bit in general American society, but not nearly as much as in Mormonism.

I'd say that even in a small Midwest city, there's a pretty good chance a Mia Maid young woman is aware of gays and lesbians. And a decent chance she knows what's going on with her friends and acquaintances. It's hard to be as naive as I was long ago when I was that age. It is still possible to be ...

In and of itself yes, but it does a decent job of explaining how things rolled out after the singularity. As I understand it though there are some new thoughts on the universe being an oscillation, that at some point it will stop expanding and eventually start contracting and may end up collapsing ...

dareka wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 2:05 pm I find it interesting that in the church it's not okay for a man and a woman who aren't married to each other to teach a classroom full of kids together, yet a bishop can be one-on-one with an unrelated minor behind a closed door. Hmm.

It's the power of the priesthood.

One determines it by the complaints one gets from his co-teacher or the kids' parents. Ah, so it's externally determined based upon what others think? :) Have you gotten complaints from the kids' parents? Tell them they can teach it -- that should help quiet things down. I have taught a little ...

slavereeno wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:35 am I am still deep in the throws of deconstruction and I don't claim to KNOW anything.

While the throes may end, I'm not sure the knowing anything ever does. At best, you just end up with more things to not know anything about.

slavereeno wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:39 pm

NOMinally Mormon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 4:04 pmAs a substitute, I did a lot of hangman.

I haven't resorted to hangman yet, although I teach far more science then I should.

Should? What is this "should? How does one determine it?

slavereeno wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:35 pm It does keep me out of gospel doctrine which is a huge plus!

Definitely. That's s what I strongly found after being released from years of callings that kept me out of GD and EQ. It was better being elsewhere and I couldn't stand the adult classes anymore. So I finally left.

I'd say skip the unfounded folklore and try to help the kids understand what it would've been like to have lived then. If you live in the Salt Lake area, talk about how things were different then and what it would've been like to arrive. If you live outside that area, generalize it away from a ...

Corsair wrote: ↑Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:52 amHowever, he has no idea about my philosophy and I have restarted assembling the rhetorical strategy I will have to employ if he ever tries to call me as Ward Mission Leader or Elder's Quorum President.

"Just say no"

Or consider a wide variety of paganism, pantheism, Wicca, or any number of individualized spiritual practices. Many of these people don't have any literal beliefs. From a little more traditional perspective there are the Unitarian Universalists. Their members tolerate a wide range of beliefs, but in ...

This is where the next major reformation in Christianity is set to occur, a mass movement into a stage 5 religion. I like to use Star Wars as an example because of the Campbell and Jung influences. A myth like Star Wars doesn't need to be literally believed in order to evoke insight or a religious ...

Definitely not. But, it is easier to inspire intense devotion and loyalty that way. Literalism is one of the central components of a Stage 3 faith perspective. These are the people who are strongly aligned and strongly loyal to their tribe, their religious institution, and their recognized religious ...

I thought the Church's position was that "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." Seems like they loudly proclaimed that.

They, along with lots of others including Shapiro, invoke the slippery slope argument frequently when talking about these issues. There may be a need to label someone as mentally ill and prevent their desires if those desires will result in harm to others or themselves. This part right here is ...

Talking to some acquaintances about this the other night. They, along with lots of others including Shapiro, invoke the slippery slope argument frequently when talking about these issues. There may be a need to label someone as mentally ill and prevent their desires if those desires will result in ...