Feasting on the word of God

[Abinidied]

So this happened. Lying in bed around 10:00pm comes a knock on the door. Pretty weird as this is Mormonville and all good little Mormons are usually nestled all snug in their beds by this time. Me? I was taking a break from binging 'The Boys' on A. Prime. The knocking persisted so I got up and what to my wondrous eyes did appear? Our old bishopric wishing us some good cheer. They handed me a plastic grocery bag with a 'here'. I said, 'This is heavy - must be food?' The reply, 'No. But you can feast on it' (A glossy new copy of 'Come Follow Me') . . . and they vanished without a sound into the night. Being an absolute literalist, I did as directed.

[moksha]

hehe

[wtfluff]

[SaidNobody]

Can you believe that burning books is literally against my religion? I can throw them away. Give them to somebody else. Even toss them across the room. But I've never burned or destroyed a book in my life.

Even if I thought the book deserved to be burned as in I strongly disagreed or even hated the words on the page. Giving myself license to burn or destroy books feels evil.

Granted I've got 20 some-odd boxes of books stacked up in my basement that I have read and will probably never use again, but I cannot destroy them. I have three fairly large bookshelves in the house that I have hardly touched in five years as most of the things are online these days. But I could never destroy a single one of them no matter how badly I disliked it. I have considered it but it felt cowardly to destroy words as if I were afraid of them. Or it felt hypocritical that I would destroy words simply because I disagreed.

I must be getting old.

[Abinidied]

I truly admire your perspective. I also expect that perspective is the product of a long nurtured respect for the written word and that's very commendable.

My paradigm is certainly less reverent. Raised somewhat off-grid in a small village, we had a burning barrel. A staple of that process was print material (newspapers, old catalogues, etc.) used as tinder. We also had three fireplaces in the house so tinder was used a lot. As well, we didn't have functioning blackwater plumbing so we had an outhouse until I left for my mission in '76. When TP was scarce, the same print material took up the slack which in hind-sight (no pun intended) might be construed as even less reverent than burning.

Your post got me reflecting on a perspective off my radar so thank you and I expect there are many who certainly share the same perspective. I apologize to any who may have found my post offensive in the naivety of my off-grid upbringing.

[SaidNobody]

I truly admire your perspective. I also expect that perspective is the product of a long nurtured respect for the written word and that's very commendable.

My paradigm is certainly less reverent. Raised somewhat off-grid in a small village, we had a burning barrel. A staple of that process was print material (newspapers, old catalogues, etc.) used as tinder. We also had three fireplaces in the house so tinder was used a lot. As well, we didn't have functioning blackwater plumbing so we had an outhouse until I left for my mission in '76. When TP was scarce, the same print material took up the slack which in hind-sight (no pun intended) might be construed as even less reverent than burning.

Your post got me reflecting on a perspective off my radar so thank you and I expect there are many who certainly share the same perspective. I apologize to any who may have found my post offensive in the naivety of my off-grid upbringing.

Maybe I should have made the distinction between magazines and newspapers or even catalogs. We had an outhouse too. And we had seven fireplaces. Generally the local newspaper provided enough to keep the fireplaces going with the occasional need to hunt down a magazine or catalog.

But I meant that I've never destroyed a book. Like even the phone book is sort of like a catalog and would probably rank as one. But I could never bring myself to burn legitimate knowledge of that kind.

I was not offended by the book burning comment just sharing my thoughts.

[Abinidied]

Sounds like we've got a lot in common!! I expect there is not a lot of people who can relate to our experience growing up without central heating and indoor luxuries like toilets and such. I do have a love of books as well and very much get where your comments were coming from.

[SaidNobody]

Sounds like we've got a lot in common!! I expect there is not a lot of people who can relate to our experience growing up without central heating and indoor luxuries like toilets and such. I do have a love of books as well and very much get where your comments were coming from.

I now look at it as that most people couldn't afford the luxuries of having an outhouse or a backyard that you sometimes got lost in. Or playgrounds that might actually kill you. Once or twice a year the brothers would gather to harvest wood and they are some of the best memories of my life. I always loved books but when I was old enough to learn about Hitler's burning of books, he gave it a stigma that I never wanted to participate in, even in jest or fun.

[Corsair]

My family got one of the new manuals also. As expected, the commentary in section 132 gives only the thinnest description of what was going on with plural marriage. Here is everything the church wants you to know about plural marriage straight from the manual:

Plural marriage is acceptable to God only when He commands it.
Anyone who has read the Old Testament has probably wondered about Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and others marrying multiple wives. Were these good men committing adultery? Or did God approve of their actions? Look for answers in Doctrine and Covenants 132:1–2, 29–40.

Marriage between one man and one woman is God’s standard of marriage (see the section heading to Official Declaration 1; see also Jacob 2:27, 30). However, there have been periods in history when God has commanded His children to practice plural marriage.

The early years of the restored Church were one of those periods of exception. After receiving this commandment, Joseph Smith and other Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage. If you want to learn more about plural marriage among the early Latter-day Saints, see “Mercy Thompson and the Revelation on Marriage” (Revelations in Context, 281–93); Saints, 1:290–92, 432–35, 482–92, 502–4; “Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Gospel Topics, topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org); “Why Was It Necessary for Joseph Smith and Others to Practice Polygamy?” (video, ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

So, Joseph Smith and other Latter-day Saints "practiced" plural marriage. Does Fanny Alger count? She was not a Latter-day Saint, but records show that she certainly practiced it.

[Cnsl1]

Joseph practiced it so much, he went pro.

Then Brigham took it to a new level. All Pro Polygamist.

Brigham Young and Brigham Often