Gems from open-mic Sunday

[Advocate]

We had a couple gems from a bishopric counselor yesterday in fast and testimony meeting.

- He has had many friends and family that have examined the church's claims and history from an analytical perspective and when they are finished they "are found wanting" (understood to mean that they have issues with the church's claims and history). The problem, according to the counselor, is that all of them failed to use the Spirit to examine the church's claims and history. If they had only used the Spirit then there would have been a different result. He didn't mention how it was he knew that all of them failed to use the Spirit.

- The gospel is perfect and beautiful. It is a challenge that we have to rely on ourselves to teach each other the gospel. You see, it's like the gospel in its perfect form is the Mona Lisa. And we are like a bunch of three year olds that only have three crayons, and we are trying to recreate the Mona Lisa. So that is the problem on why there are misunderstandings about the gospel. I leaned over to my TBM wife and told her we could stop watching General Conference since the church leaders are just a bunch of three year olds with three crayons.

I'm vaguely aware that there are several people in our ward that are experiencing/have experienced a "faith crisis". Sounds like the bishopric is well aware of it and trying to address it. Good luck!

I already didn't have a very high opinion of this guy, and his "testimony" just lowered my opinion even more. Sometimes I wonder how many people actually think about what they are saying when they share on open-mic Sunday.

[Palerider]

- The gospel is perfect and beautiful. It is a challenge that we have to rely on ourselves to teach each other the gospel. You see, it's like the gospel in its perfect form is the Mona Lisa. And we are like a bunch of three year olds that only have three crayons, and we are trying to recreate the Mona Lisa. So that is the problem on why there are misunderstandings about the gospel. I leaned over to my TBM wife and told her we could stop watching General Conference since the church leaders are just a bunch of three year olds with three crayons.

Yeahhhh......this is one of the worst analogies I've heard in quit awhile.

But to play along, the claim of church leadership has always been that they're the only religion playing with a full box of colors. And that's why you under-priviledged out there need to join the church.......so you can get the full range of crayons that God wants you to have.

But when you realize that you don't have anymore colors than anyone else, they expect you to take their word for it that you do have all the colors. Some of them are just invisible to the less faithful.

It's really your fault.

[blazerb]

- The gospel is perfect and beautiful. It is a challenge that we have to rely on ourselves to teach each other the gospel. You see, it's like the gospel in its perfect form is the Mona Lisa. And we are like a bunch of three year olds that only have three crayons, and we are trying to recreate the Mona Lisa. So that is the problem on why there are misunderstandings about the gospel. I leaned over to my TBM wife and told her we could stop watching General Conference since the church leaders are just a bunch of three year olds with three crayons.

Yeahhhh......this is one of the worst analogies I've heard in quit awhile.

But to play along, the claim of church leadership has always been that they're the only religion playing with a full box of colors. And that's why you under-priviledged out there need to join the church.......so you can get the full range of crayons that God wants you to have.

But when you realize that you don't have anymore colors than anyone else, they expect you to take their word for it that you do have all the colors. Some of them are just invisible to the less faithful.

It's really your fault.

Not to mention that forbidding any criticism of the work of the high status three year olds is ridiculous.

[græy]

I'm vaguely aware that there are several people in our ward that are experiencing/have experienced a "faith crisis". Sounds like the bishopric is well aware of it and trying to address it. Good luck!

I already didn't have a very high opinion of this guy, and his "testimony" just lowered my opinion even more. Sometimes I wonder how many people actually think about what they are saying when they share on open-mic Sunday.

Give Brother Counselor a break! He doesn't want to actually stop and think about the concerns these people have. Its not his fault that serious self-reflection causes huge amounts of cognitive dissonance and heartache. He's just trying to justify his own actions by using thought-stopping analogies to encourage others to do the same as him.

**end sarcasm**

I wish someone would say something similar in our ward so that I could make the same suggestion to my wife about not listening to GC anymore. Planting seeds yields future fruit! Or, so I'm told.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

That's funny, our bishopric counselor gave a very similar testimony about a friend that expressed doubts recently. He bore his testimony to him while helping him with a project and felt that he wasn't there to offer physical help but spiritual help instead. I'm pretty good friends with this counselor and the thought crossed my mind "why haven't you come to bare your testimony to me!?!" Perhaps because they know I'm already a son of perdition and a lost cause. I am the cogdis!

[Advocate]

I'm vaguely aware that there are several people in our ward that are experiencing/have experienced a "faith crisis". Sounds like the bishopric is well aware of it and trying to address it. Good luck!

I already didn't have a very high opinion of this guy, and his "testimony" just lowered my opinion even more. Sometimes I wonder how many people actually think about what they are saying when they share on open-mic Sunday.

Give Brother Counselor a break! He doesn't want to actually stop and think about the concerns these people have. Its not his fault that serious self-reflection causes huge amounts of cognitive dissonance and heartache. He's just trying to justify his own actions by using thought-stopping analogies to encourage others to do the same as him.

**end sarcasm**

I wish someone would say something similar in our ward so that I could make the same suggestion to my wife about not listening to GC anymore. Planting seeds yields future fruit! Or, so I'm told.

I've been doing similar things for some time. Anytime something crazy is said in general conference (and with octogenarians speaking, there will always be something said that younger people consider to be crazy) I make sure to point it out. It plants seeds that we shouldn't accept everything we see/hear at face value. (Unfortunately I do the same thing during movies if something unrealistic happens or the plot doesn't follow just right - it drives my wife nuts).

The result is a mixed bag. We aren't as serious about general conference (Saturday sessions are always challenging if you don't live in Utah). My wife is willing to acknowledge that church leaders say crazy things, but she says it doesn't matter to her because they will have to answer for what they say and the church is still true.

[Corsair]

I'm vaguely aware that there are several people in our ward that are experiencing/have experienced a "faith crisis". Sounds like the bishopric is well aware of it and trying to address it. Good luck!

I'm a bit envious of people who know that a faith transition is underway in their ward. The few in my ward have largely vacated attendance.

The bishopric member who presided over our F&T meeting emphasized that tithing settlement is underway and encouraged everyone to sign up. I will be doing my best to avoid that.

[wtfluff]

Thread-jack Alert!

...
I am the cogdis!
...

There's another Angry Postate T-Shirt idea.

A nice, BLACK shirt that says "I Am The Congnitive Dissonance"

I'll wear that one when not wearing the shirt that says: "I Am An Empty Chair"

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Thread-jack Alert!

...
I am the cogdis!
...

There's another Angry Postate T-Shirt idea.

A nice, BLACK shirt that says "I Am The Congnitive Dissonance"

I'll wear that one when not wearing the shirt that says: "I Am An Empty Chair"

I'll buy one!! [emoji869]

[wtfluff]

Thread-jack Alert!

...
I am the cogdis!
...

There's another Angry Postate T-Shirt idea.

A nice, BLACK shirt that says "I Am The Cognitive Dissonance"

I'll wear that one when not wearing the shirt that says: "I Am An Empty Chair"

I'll buy one!! [emoji869]

Now that I think aboot it a bit, the "I Am" statements are unnecessary. Just at simple: "Cognitive Dissonance" and "Empty Chair" would do just fine. I couldn't bring myself to wear one in front of my ailing, elderly parent, but it would be fun to wear one in the presence of other believing family members...

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Thread-jack Alert! There's another Angry Postate T-Shirt idea.

A nice, BLACK shirt that says "I Am The Cognitive Dissonance"

I'll wear that one when not wearing the shirt that says: "I Am An Empty Chair"

I'll buy one!! [emoji869]

Now that I think aboot it a bit, the "I Am" statements are unnecessary. Just at simple: "Cognitive Dissonance" and "Empty Chair" would do just fine. I couldn't bring myself to wear one in front of my ailing, elderly parent, but it would be fun to wear one in the presence of other believing family members...

Amazon has some fun ones already:

Cognitive dissonance tee science shirt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MDHF517/re ... 5Db745Q3SA

[Advocate]

I'm vaguely aware that there are several people in our ward that are experiencing/have experienced a "faith crisis". Sounds like the bishopric is well aware of it and trying to address it. Good luck!

I'm a bit envious of people who know that a faith transition is underway in their ward. The few in my ward have largely vacated attendance.

The bishopric member who presided over our F&T meeting emphasized that tithing settlement is underway and encouraged everyone to sign up. I will be doing my best to avoid that.

It's really pretty interesting. Apparently there was one very strong family and another less strong family in the ward that left the church when the November 2015 policy came out (we didn't live here at the time). Another family moved in a few months ago and at least the husband is heavily struggling. There is another lady that gave an interesting testimony a few months ago and said "don't worry Bishop, I'm not going to say anything too out there" and then talked about her struggle with knowing the Prophet speaks for God. There may be others like me, that nobody knows about (I'm certain that nobody in the ward besides my wife knows about my disaffection).

Definitely makes for some interesting testimonies as you see people tiptoe around the issue, some less successful than others.

[wtfluff]

Amazon has some fun ones already:

Cognitive dissonance tee science shirt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MDHF517/re ... 5Db745Q3SA

Yeah... That shirt is definitely on my wish list.