I don't know about any of you but the sluttiest gals I grew up with looked like the Mother Mary.......no tattoos, no piercings and not one condom in their dress pockets.
I believe most or all of the core tenets and do my best to practice Mormonism.
I am unorthodox in some significant way but still do my best to practice the Mormon faith.
I am a believer at some level, but currently inactive.
I am more or less a non-believer, but for one or more reasons still practice the Mormon faith.
I am more or less a non-believer who no longer practices the Mormon faith.
I have never been or identified as Mormon in any meaningful way.
I don't know about any of you but the sluttiest gals I grew up with looked like the Mother Mary.......no tattoos, no piercings and not one condom in their dress pockets.
-What would you do if you saw spaceships over Glasgow?
Would you fear them?
Every aircraft, every camera, is a wish that wasn't granted.
What was that for?
Try to be bad.
What I want to know is what is considered slutty? I have never been one to tell my girls they can't wear tank tops, sleeveless shirts or shorts that go above your knee. All of which I don't find slutty. But I am sure they would be considered immodest by some people. One of my daughters had someone comment about her sleeveless dress one time and she will no longer wear dresses like that.
AS far as tattoos go, I have several of them. I actually like them and plan on getting a few more.
Lady, I think the problem lies within a few select group of people pushing a "modesty" agenda and the rest falling in line with what that is.....I think modesty falls more in line with how one presents themselves and less about what one dresses in.
-What would you do if you saw spaceships over Glasgow?
Would you fear them?
Every aircraft, every camera, is a wish that wasn't granted.
What was that for?
Try to be bad.
I probably ought to say what I am.
It is tough to say. I do believe it all. I believe in modern revelation, believe that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, just like Moses, etc.
I believe all the tenets and follow all the rules.
I try to read my scriptures every day, and pray as well.
I worked my tail off on my mission, and do my best to fulfill all my callings.
Now, all of that being said, I do appreciate a good joke, maybe even a slightly dirty one.
I pay my tithing and fast offerings and when I can, toss in extra for the PEF, and other things (your welcome BYU).
I work my tail off, and that has meant for the last six months or so, my church attendance has been spotty.
That has made some of our ward members think I am inactive, and that makes me chuckle, because I do more/live it more than a lot of them do (self-righteous on my part, right?), I just have to work some weeks and can't make it to church.
Utah, no worries man.
We are all entitled to believe what we chose to.
Thanks for that.
Now get to church next Sunday.
-What would you do if you saw spaceships over Glasgow?
Would you fear them?
Every aircraft, every camera, is a wish that wasn't granted.
What was that for?
Try to be bad.
With regard to the modesty issues. My mother was pretty strict with my sisters. She reasoned that they should wear clothing as young women that they could wear if they were wearing temple garments. Her reasoning was the notion of why get used to wearing clothing styles that they would have to give up once they went through the temple. I don't pay much heed to what others consider "slutty" or immodest. I think if the woman feels comfortable wearing it then why not wear it? Frankly I think far too much importance is placed on outward appearance and this seems especially true in the wards I have attended here in Utah.
WE had a lesson about modesty a few weeks ago and my teacher said the same thing. I told my girls afterward I don't believe this is how you need to dress. This seems a little overboard to me. I say let girls have fun with their clothes while they are young. Doesn't hurt anything.
This is going way off course, and treading into creeeeepy territory (like 72 kind of creepy).
As a non-Mormon parent, actually non-religious in general, I do set some boundaries for the way my daughter's can look before they leave the house. At the same time, I'm somewhat lucky that my girls seem to prefer pants to shorts, and t-shirts to tank tops.
The slutty girls wear short skirts and shorts and spaghetti strap tanks, apparently. Oh, and strapless or backless dresses to prom.
I found it disturbing when the teacher talked disdainfully about little girls wearing sleeveless dresses, as if they're even capable of being immodest.
"Well-behaved women seldom make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
The current LDS concept of ordinances = baptism, endowments, etc. and that these ordinances are both eternal and essential for salvation is another example of doctrine evolving over time. The term "ordinances" when used in the bible does not refer to priesthood ordinances, but had a more general definition as a belief or practice. This was also the definition used in the early LDS church.
From the original Wentworth letter:
Note that in article three we are saved by obedience to ordinances. We never use that language anymore. We talk about obedience to commandments. Also note that the four items in article four are called ordinances, including faith and baptism.[3] We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
[4] We believe that these ordinances are 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d, Repentance; 3d, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Now compare to the current articles of faith:
They inserted the term "principles and".[3]We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
[4]We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I sure hope when my daughter is 16 that she dresses like she's been to the temple.
The Bible is an interesting collection of stories, wisdom, direction. It's written by so many different people, in different periods, in different languages. Do I think there was a great flood, the literal version of the Noah's Arc story? No. Do I think Solomon had a lot of sage advice, especially for that period? Yes.
I can see where the Gnostics, the early Christian group that got snuffed out soon after Jesus was gone, got their idea that there were two distinct Gods - the rather stern, uncompromising, vengeful God of the Old Testament, and the benevalent, loving, forgiving God represented by Jesus' teachers. The Gnostic thesis makes sense, based on the distinct "tones".
The Bible has archeology going for it - the places are there, most of them.
The fascinating part of the Bible are the parts that were thrown out at Nicea that we're recently discovering. From a LDS standpoint, some aspects of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene parallel LDS thought. Why wouldn't Jesus have a wife?
I know the jury's still out, but the most explosive of the lost gospels is the Gospel of Judas. If it really was a setup, an agreement between Jesus and Judas for the betrayal to occur, it turns a lot of Christian thought on it's head.
Not Biblical, but there's another lost part of Christianity that lives on today, namely the 7 Christian churches founded by the Apostle Thomas in South India. A colleague of mine is Hindu, her husband is Christian, from a church founded by Thomas. Much of their teachings and scriptures were destroyed by the Catholics once they were discovered, but it's a branch of Christianity that is distinct. Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants & Restorationists (ie, Mormons). Where do you put these Indians with lineage back to Thomas? Does the LDS view of Apostacy automatically cover these folks, too? Or could they have carried the Priesthood keys (at least until the Catholics got to them)?
In my book you don't need to be Christian to be saved, and I don't know that I believe in the devinity of Jesus. Great teacher, sure. Son of God? I dunno about that. So, for me, it's all kind of academic.
A friend of mine here in Eugene owns a Pita Pit downtown that has a tattoo shop right next door. He told me that the owner of the tat shop has told him that he won't give someone under 30 a neck or hand tat, because he doesn't think that a college kid is ready to make a life altering decision like that.
Since this is a Mormon thread I'll note that neither are Morms, nor likely have an opinion on them.
It's OK, Utah, there's a big tent here on UB5. You and I can hang out together in the corner for "People Who Buy It All and Are In With Both Feet, But Are Still Cool Because We Are Utah Fans." We'll have some company there and we'll share our Diet Cokes with the rest of the folks in the tent.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Sweet. See you guys there...when the Utes travel to Cali.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell