I happened on this gem while scrolling down my Facebook feed. I think that this pretty much seals the deal of not bringing up seminary as an option to my children. Now, there's nothing wrong with higher standards and checking on understanding. I graduated from Seminary and Institute and the new requirements aren't much more than what was expected 13 years ago. The only huge difference is the focus on Preach My Gospel in seminary. But, I think by reading the article and the Facebook comments made me see how much of an outsider and non-believer I really am now.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865608817/Elevate-learning-taking-seminary-to-a-higher-level.html?pg=all

Hopefully this will lead to some kids getting sick of it all and leaving. More likely it'll just feed into their martyr complex.

Sounds like the kids are going to get even more pure bullshit! Hopefully, a lot will question since they're supposedly responsible for their own testimony. Thanks for the info! Boner.

Looks like dishonesty is going to go up, graduations go down, or both.

I lied on my reading chart in seminary, even though I had no plans on going to a church-owned university after high school. I just had to get a good grade! So yes, I agree that the lying will increase. Just by listening to their teacher every class, you could get 75% on a comprehension test. They may lose some on-fence students, but who knows. I only know the Utah experience, the ones on Facebook who complained the most live outside Utah. So maybe more divisiveness between Utah Mormons and "outside" Mormons?

Looks like a brilliant way to lose more of the youth! Stupid cult!

In other words, they will have a shitt-ton of seminary "homework," along with wasting a school hour that they could be getting credit classes.

My son, out of pressure from the bishop, registered for seminary his Freshman year at Provo High. I told him he had to be there, per the school policy, but I didn't care if all he did was sleep. And any homework for seminary goes to the bottom of the priority pile. What does seminary graduation get you anyway? Who cares? Maybe it makes a difference if you want to go to BYU or something.

Anyway, after one semester, he was able to stand up to the Bishop and tell him it was none of his business what classes he took in school. So by his senior year, with having that extra hour and summer band credit he only needed one class to graduate. He wanted to work full time so he told Provo High to stuff it and finished up at the alternative school.

I now have a mormon co-worker (more of a NOM), and he told me that his son starts Seminary at 5:45 a.m. WTF? So kids who don't have released time now not only have the extra work for Seminary, they get so much less sleep. It's criminal.

This is nothing. I registered my son and read the fine print before clicking that I agreed to the terms. I was blown away.

Check it out here:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1357799

Hmmm, one can't help but wonder, if one is as cynical as I am, if adding these extra texts is part of the plan to slowly back away from the BoA and D&C?

First they add these extra texts then suddenly they are the main focus for a couple years.

Thoughts?

This Bednar scary stuff.

My take is LDS Inc has done its research and found that the kids who don't like seminary or think for themselves are the kids most likely not to go on missions or sign up for life in the cult. I think they are cutting losses on the non-receptive kids and focus on the receptive kids, as they are more likely to serve missions. The article says they plan to hammer on Preach My Gospel and the doctrines.

They are going to teach the kids that NO MATTER WHAT YOU LEARN ON THE INTERNET the doctrines are true and the crap in Preach My Gospel is from God. They can change "Preach My Gospel" from time to time to meet their needs. They will also reinforce being self-righteous little pricks and reward them for being good little morgbots. My guess is they will also involve the parents and bishop so EVERYBODY feels the guilt and pressure to obey the mind control so you can be seen as a good cult member.

There is no way my kids will be attending the creepy, creepy, Bednar (just a guess) mind control class - YUCK!!!!!

I loved seminary at first. My brainwashed little mind was thrilled to learn these "deep" doctrines. And then i got sick of all the stupid questions i had to answer (pages and pages each week of handwritten answers to assignment questions) because i was in a rural area and did home study : p

I was told by a seminary teacher neighbor that the new standards are to convince foreign governments that future missionaries are "trained religious representatives" for visa purposes

Wait! Doesn't calling 19 year-old people "Elder" make them legitimate?

my last year, I was reading No Man Knows My History while nobody was looking.

I hid it under my books and brought it out when no one was looking. One Mormon teacher in outside the seminary saw me reading it and warned me that it was a terrible book. Nobody in seminary noticed me reading blatantly 'anti' material.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2014 09:24PM by Ex Aedibus.

“We’d like to help [students] elevate [their] learning experience. We want to help [them] become more converted"

You got that right, bro davis , try MORE brainwashed

+100!

choco rations up

I don't remember any, apart from the scriptures we were required to memorise. I was in the seminary from 1986-2001.

Geez they really know how to suck every last bit of fun out of everything.

When I went to seminary you really just had to show up. It was fun to socialize and be with other Mormons (in my high school of 1600, there were maybe 15 of us total).

I know we were supposed to memorize scriptures, but I never learned more than half of them. There were no tests.

And i thought i had it hard when i was in seminary... Getting up at the buttcrack of dawn every thursday, driving half an hour both ways, getting to school just in time and being hungry by second period, doing all the stupid, time consuming assignments in addition to my regular schoolwork and sports. Oh, plus count in the fact that they were furthering my already-deep brainwashing.
Lol now they actually have to READ the material? (We had to by default, so we could do the assignment that asked questions about the material)

Every Thursday? Try everyday of the week. Seminary started at 6am and ended with just enough time to catch the bus to school. I was tired everyday.

Now seminary starts at 5:30. Sooooo glad my kids don't have to go through that anymore!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 11:11AM by twistedsister.

I think this is a good thing. They should know what their wacked out scriptures say.

My take on this when I heard it on Sunday was that they were in effect lowering the standards.

Just like saying going from 2 years, to 1 year to 6 months to 3 months food storage.

Or missions for couples going from 18 months to either 18, 12 or 6 and some you don't even leave home.

By saying you can "graduate" each year, they're going after the seniors or juniors who have convinced their parents that after 2 slow years out of the gate that there's no point to going. It's not like they're going to graduate!

Well, now they can.

I have a seminary graduation certificate somewhere. It is worth about as much as the Buzzfeed quiz award that certifies that the Muppet I am most like is the Swedish Chef. The main difference is that I didn't have to get up at 5 am for 4 years to get it.

I'm curious what they mean by "doctrinal understanding", "not a lot of dates, names, and facts" for these assessment tests.... TSCC does nothing without an ulterior motive, and I notice one of the items is Joseph Smith History. I see also one of their motives is to really "convert" teens. I think this is just one more way for them to try to stop people and teens from leaving. They realize where the danger zone is - after high school. TSCC's biggest hope is keeping in those already born into the church, not converting outsiders... It's all part of the long term plan...

is that it mentions " . . . receiving credit based on attendance and an ecclesiastic endorsement from a branch president or bishop . . .".

So do they have to pass some kind of WORTHINESS test to attend or graduate?

all that shit is designed to strengthen the brainwashing. God I hope these kids learn to think for themselves before they go on that piece of shit mission.

Fake 'Goodies' for their version of (Blind) obedience, more of 'Raising the Bar'.

as soon as she had her own transportation. She would leave the house at the prescribed hour, but hang out with kids in her band class or read in the library.

We never knew until one of the bishop's daughters commented to DH, "Gee, we miss seeing R at seminary!" DH demanded to know why DD was dodging seminary. She said calmly, "It's boring and I don't like it. And no, I won't go, no matter what you say."

Would it surprise you to learn that R resigned the same day I did? She had barely turned 18 at the time.

Why do [they] have [so many brackets] in [their] quotes? Is any of this what the guy really said?

This is the new way to print what Mormon officials say?

I [know] the [church] is [true] and I am [grateful] for [it].

Haha! It does make you wonder though. While I was reading it that did bother me, thinking about what he was actually saying. I just assumed that he was speaking generically so the reporter had to clarify by adding in pronouns.

“We’d like to help [students] elevate [their] learning experience. We want to help [them] become more converted, have more confidence in the scriptures, in [their] ability [to navigate] the scriptures and to be able to use that to bless [their] life,” said Brother Davis.

He might have said, "We'd like to help them (who? students) (I thought you could leave out "their" but you really can't... hmm...) elevate learning experience,..." After this point, I don't even want to try and figure out what he really said! Too much work. ;) Good point!