Greetings Comrades

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here who recently discovered this community.

I'm a 30-year-old dude with a lovely family consisting of my wife, step-son, and puppy. I am currently enrolled in a healthcare professional program at a doctorate level and I love understanding medicine and the human body. I love metal music, spicy Mexican food, console gaming, and recently have gotten into coffee and beer sampling.

I was born and raised in the church, served a mission, and am sealed in the temple. I am not a Utah or Idaho mormon, and I attended BYU for only a few semesters before leaving. I still consider myself "active" but I have tossed around many unexplored thoughts concerning deeper doctrinal points and frustrations with separating LDS doctrine from LDS culture. I consider myself very open-minded to people of other faiths and even those who are atheist or agnostic. In fact, most people I associate with aren't LDS, and I feel a lot more comfortable around them.

With a lot of the political turmoil currently affecting the USA, I have been shocked by just how many mormons have been so passionate about Trump and their justifications for him being "God's chosen president". This stems from my own family members as well. Though I do not associate with either political party, I am a huge proponent of science and have been frustrated by the general disregard that many have towards the statements of doctors and other healthcare professionals. When I have attempted to facilitate a welcoming discussion I am normally met with defensiveness, misinformation, and accusations. I do not base my testimony off the thoughts and words of those within the church, but it is still concerning to me and has furthered my desire to associate with other open-minded individuals who I could communicate with.

And so now I'm here, ready to dive into discussion and learn from you all. I enjoy reading and hearing about different walks of life that have tread the line of unorthodox LDS life and views. Thank you for having me here!

[græy]

Welcome, El Chihuahua Chingón! (I gave up trying to type out your name after my 3rd attempt and just copied it.)

I have been shocked by just how many mormons have been so passionate about Trump and their justifications for him being "God's chosen president". This stems from my own family members as well.

My wife and I have had many discussions about this as well. She and I disagree about most everything on a theological level, but can somehow still meet up when it comes to politics. It is quite, jarring, to have such strong opinions or convictions about something, and then see people you love and respect hold the polar opposite view.

Glad to have you here and looking forward to future posts!

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Thank you græy! (I also had to copy and paste your name since I don't know how else to do the "æ") Chihuahua would work fine on its own.

That's interesting, as my wife and I are also trending in opposite directions with spiritual matters but we agree on the political side of things. At times, our differences can be a bit fatiguing, but I love her enough to always hear her out.

[Hagoth]

Welcome to NOM, Chihuahua!

You will find a lot of people here in marriages that don't quite meet eye-to-eye regarding the church and spirituality. Some have a lot of strife but many have found ways to remain respectful and supportive of each other. Most of us here are well on the non-believing side, and fall generally into the the science-over-belief camp, but there is a broad range of perspectives.

I hope you feel at home here and I look forward to hearing more from you.

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Thank you, Hagoth! I already feel at home here just based off the 2 responses.

I'm not sure how I would label myself. I honestly feel like I'm directly in the middle of "believing" and "non-believing". It's a constant self-discovery and self-analysis.

[Red Ryder]

Can we call you El Chi Chi for short?

Or El Chi Dos? Sounds to close to El Cheetos!

Or El Chi Squared?

Welcome to NOM. I too am a heavy metal fan which according to my FIL has led to a “spirit problem” whatever that means.

I think you’ll find this place is a great think tank of wisdom and understanding. Put yourself out there and ask us your deepest meaningful gospel questions. More so than not, the Sunday school answers will be skipped over and we will get to the delicate nuance of what it means to be a TK Smoothie and how we prepare ourselves for our eternal journey as genital free angels living on Kolob.

Please feel welcome and wait for WTFluffy to bring out the welcome mat!

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Hello and thank you! I'm down for any of the nicknames other than "El Chi Chi" since that is slang for "the breast"

Awesome, it's always satisfying to encounter another online metal music fan. Any particular bands you're a big fan of? It's interesting that you say that, I find that most metal music I listen to is actually very introspective in nature when it comes to lyrical content; rarely is the stigma of the music being inherently "evil" or satanic ever actually true.

I certainly plan on unleashing all of my questions here, I'm looking forward to healthy discussion and insight from all you veterans here!

[wtfluff]

Please feel welcome and wait for WTFluffy to bring out the welcome mat!

Sheesh Cowboy. Such pressure. Such high expectations.

WELCOME Chi-Squared.



\m/

Up The Irons!

[Red Ryder]

Awesome, it's always satisfying to encounter another online metal music fan. Any particular bands you're a big fan of? It's interesting that you say that, I find that most metal music I listen to is actually very introspective in nature when it comes to lyrical content; rarely is the stigma of the music being inherently "evil" or satanic ever actually true.

Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, Tool, System of a Down. Speaking of SOAD or technically Serj, I love his “Empty Walls” song. It’s my interpretative song for the whole temple experience now.

[url]https://youtu.be/-CxKA1uETxE[/quote]

Your empty walls
Your empty walls
Pretentious attention
Dismissive apprehension
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms for the dead) today
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms first the dead) today

[Red Ryder]

Awesome, it's always satisfying to encounter another online metal music fan. Any particular bands you're a big fan of? It's interesting that you say that, I find that most metal music I listen to is actually very introspective in nature when it comes to lyrical content; rarely is the stigma of the music being inherently "evil" or satanic ever actually true.

Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, Tool, System of a Down. Speaking of SOAD or technically Serj, I love his “Empty Walls” song. It’s my interpretative song for the whole temple experience now.

https://youtu.be/-CxKA1uETxE

Your empty walls
Your empty walls
Pretentious attention
Dismissive apprehension
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms for the dead) today
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms first the dead) today

[Linked]

Welcome to NOM Chihuahua! I'm looking forward to your posts.

The road you are on sounds a lot like the one I am on. I hope you find NOM a good place to explore the thoughts you want to but don't feel you can in other places.

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Thank you wtfluff and linked!

Red Ryder, I'm a big fan of Tool and '80s Metallica. SOAD lyrics are great too. I will never listen to Empty Walls the same way ever again lol, very interesting application of the lyrics!

I'm into a lot of progressive, experimental, and atmospheric metal bands. That's probably the easiest way to explain it. Some of my favorite bands include Cloudkicker, Meshuggah, Ulcerate, Devin Townsend, Kayo Dot, and Boris to name a few. I'm also a massive fan of Rush.

Since I'm already gushing about music, there's an introspective song by the Australian band Karnivool titled "Sky Machine" that I've been reflecting on lately. Here's a link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hYMitDf5CE (all clean singing, no harsh metal vocals)

And here is a section of the lyrics I want to share:

Please try to understand
There is no great plan
We have cast our lies
To the open skies
Try to understand
We've another plan
We have crossed the line
With an open mind

[wtfluff]

I'm also a massive fan of Rush.

Three Cheers for The Holy Triumvirate!!!

(Raising my hands as I cheer...)

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Farewell to the King, R.I.P. Neil Peart

[wtfluff]

Farewell to the King, R.I.P. Neil Peart

Yes. 2020 has been a BAD year for a lot of things, including the loss of The Professor.

Another NOMie who frequented this board in the past would refer to Rush as The Three Nephites. The Third has just passed to another plain at this point I guess.

[El Chihuahua Chingón]

Another NOMie who frequented this board in the past would refer to Rush as The Three Nephites.

And now I am stealing this. How fitting that the 3 immortal Nephites are brilliant Canadians.

[Ghost]

Welcome to the site. Unfortunately, it can feel fraught to have an honest and open discussion these days about nearly anything of significance.

I also have never lived around a lot of Mormons. I don't know whether that makes it easier or harder to navigate reconsidering one's beliefs.

I listen to virtually no metal music but I love this song for some reason:

https://youtu.be/_WrdG0CAIvc

[RubinHighlander]

Welcome to NOM El Guapo Chihuahua!

Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, Tool, System of a Down. Speaking of SOAD or technically Serj, I love his “Empty Walls” song. It’s my interpretative song for the whole temple experience now.

https://youtu.be/-CxKA1uETxE

Your empty walls
Your empty walls
Pretentious attention
Dismissive apprehension
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms for the dead) today
When we decline, from the confines of our mind
Don't waste your time, on coffins (baptisms first the dead) today

I'll be checking out the Red Ryder play list. I was doing some Tool 10,000 Days last night out in the liquid ship. Jambi was the one that hit home for me in the moment. "The devil and his had me down. In love with the dark side I'd found..."
The older those guys get the more dialed in they get to their music; amazing artists.