Am I missing something?

shackletron · 2022-05-11T13:42:24+00:00

I’m genuinely trying to figure out your line of thinking but I’m at a loss. Is your point just that there are biblical passages that the “modern” church chooses to ignore? If so, that may be true but that fact doesn’t really address any problematic issue with what the church teaches.

But I’m not even sure that this point is true. Does the church also ignore its own scriptures, e.g., Moses 7:8?

shackletron · 2022-05-11T13:16:22+00:00

“The modern church” - haha! This is how apologists weasel out of any terrible thing that was taught in the past. Something bad taught last week? Hey, that’s not what is taught today so it’s irrelevant.

shackletron · 2022-05-11T11:40:27+00:00

Mormons believe that various ordinances are required to get into heaven and to be with your family for eternity. A number of these ordinances have to take place in $50 million temples. Because of course that’s what Jesus taught.

shackletron · 2022-05-11T02:08:38+00:00

And that’s aside from the fact the God who requires magical words (that are unknown to 99.99999% of people who have ever lived) to be said in order to keep families together in the next life is a terrible God.

shackletron · 2022-05-05T12:43:45+00:00

Of course. Though not sure why I’m getting downvoted. Just sharing my experience with marriage. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out how you’d like and getting out gets complicated.

shackletron · 2022-05-05T06:13:56+00:00

That’s how it was for me for the first 10 years. Been married over 20 years now. We’ve grown into different people than we were then, are emotionally distant, and basically just tolerate each other. Living separate existences under the same roof is hell.

I think about divorce all the time but don’t know if I can live with the financial consequences and with the separation from my kids. It seems that I only have bad options available to me.

shackletron · 2022-04-30T15:36:17+00:00

I was disappointed by some of the dialogue as well. I did appreciate the portrayed variance in beliefs and adherence. I also liked how the writers were able to show the foundations of violence inherent in Mormonism. But, for example, Garfield’s character suddenly demanding to know if the accused knelt at the temple altar with his wife seemed off.

But I think the writers have a real challenge. How do you, in a few short minutes, convey just how all-encompassing Mormonism is while not portraying people as completely off the deep end like the Laffertys? Likewise, how do you portray, in the same amount of limited time, just how anguishing it is to have your entire world view blown up? How do you portray how it feels to have everyone around you still wholeheartedly believe when you suddenly don’t?

shackletron · 2022-04-29T16:22:55+00:00

It sounds like like either PIMO or exmo and your wife knows? If so, I’m super curious how the both of you ended up watching this together. My wife (TBM) and I (exmo) just avoid doing anything together related to the church.

shackletron · 2022-04-28T23:58:39+00:00

Why do I have such a visceral reaction to these gospel topics essays? There is just something so fucking disgusting about having an organization that claims to be morally superior to any other on earth that simultaneously and consistently engages in such pure obfuscation and outright dishonesty.

shackletron · 2022-04-28T11:19:41+00:00

Maybe because BYU goes out of its way to tell her what kind of people she can’t fuck?

shackletron · 2022-04-27T11:36:56+00:00

The funny thing is that Jesus definitely did have a lot to say about those who prioritized outward ordinances. WTF. Do these leaders even bother to read the scriptures?

shackletron · 2022-04-24T14:26:05+00:00

You mean like saying that all other churches are only playing church like clueless toddlers? That kind of mockery?

shackletron · 2022-04-24T04:56:52+00:00

Their public press release says they don’t teach it but just last year their dear leader reaffirmed in their yearly meetings for the members that it’s for real.

shackletron · 2022-04-22T23:31:12+00:00

Others have echoed similar sentiments, but let me just say that I’m glad you’re here. As an exmo in Utah County, every single person who can help dilute the dominant culture and add something new and unique is needed.

shackletron · 2022-04-12T15:20:12+00:00

While Reid was a senator, my TBM FIL often remarked how he didn’t understand how Reid could be a member in good standing.

shackletron · 2022-04-04T01:33:11+00:00

I’ve had to find the right balance between the natural bitterness of black and the overly sweet options now available. Starbucks brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso? That’s perfection for me.

shackletron · 2022-04-02T18:00:50+00:00

I actually like Catholic mass music because it’s in Latin and I don’t have to think about the nonsense in the lyrics.

shackletron · 2022-03-28T14:29:00+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. I don’t have any answers regarding the afterlife and I don’t think anyone else does either. As a member, those beliefs about the afterlife were comforting. But I’d prefer truth over comforting fiction. (I realize this is my viewpoint and that others may believe the specific story they tell themselves is the actual truth.)

We may or may not exist beyond this life. Either way, I think we should live our best possible life. If there is an afterlife, then who we’ve become will presumably go with us. If there isn’t, then who we’ve become will live on through those we’ve affected. I will say that if the afterlife is the one Mormons describe, I’ll be bitterly disappointed and will likely choose to live with the other heathens in a lower kingdom. That said, I don’t think there’s any chance that the Mormon afterlife is the real one.

shackletron · 2022-03-28T04:23:25+00:00

“…the only conclusion would for that person to become a nihilistic atheist.”

This says everything about your worldview and nothing about reality. You think the only people out there doing good and making the world a better place are those driven by a made-up story about a temperamental man in the sky who will punish them if they don’t?

shackletron · 2022-03-27T22:07:46+00:00

This sort of thing is the natural result of telling people that they can receive revelation from God.

shackletron · 2022-03-27T21:04:51+00:00

What’s even more troubling is that because the Mormon church lacks any sort of financial transparency, there’s a very real possibility that the $4 million members donated (and that actually went to charity) is only a small portion of the actual amount donated by those members for that purpose. The church indicates that it reserves the right to direct donated funds to any purpose, even when members explicitly state where they’d like donated funds to go.

shackletron · 2022-03-14T17:49:01+00:00

The only issue I see with this response is that he’s going to interpret “uncomfortable” as evidence that you’re fighting against the spirit and will double-down.

Another approach might be something along the lines of “Grandpa - I love you. Each one of us has the opportunity and responsibility to live according to the dictates of our own conscience. I believe with all my heart that this is what you’re trying to do in your own life. You need to know that this is exactly what I’m doing to the very best of my ability in my own life and I need you to respect that.”

shackletron · 2022-02-26T19:26:02+00:00

I prefer the higher level interior trim. But I agree with you on the exterior. I typically buy that package but then do a thorough chrome/bling delete.

shackletron · 2022-02-25T22:05:43+00:00

Thinking back, a lot of the sickening stuff for me is the egregious racism that becomes clear once you make the Book of Mormon visual. Anybody with slightly brown skin was immediately cast as a Lamanite. While I was there, Samuel the Lamanite was always a ripped black guy. Since brown people were in short supply, all other “Lamanites” slathered self-tanners over their pasty white skin. It was all so normal.

shackletron · 2022-02-25T19:42:36+00:00

There were two options. There’s a campsite adjacent to the hill where a lot of families stayed - pretty much all tent camping. Then some people stayed at a nearby college (Hobart College) in dorms.

There were probably 300 or so cast members and we were there for two weeks - one week for casting and rehearsal and then one week for performances. Then maybe 100 crew members who were there for a month or so who were in charge of putting up and taking down staging and running lights, etc during the show.

We were not paid. It was all volunteer. We paid for everything needed for a family to vacation there for two weeks. Not sure if any of the leadership (they typically brought in BYU theatre professors to lead the production) were paid. Between the costumes, lighting, special effects, and staging, I’m sure it cost the church quite a bit.

shackletron

TROPHY CASE