...I received a HUGE PPT from my father talking about secret combinations and I didn't want to read through it all so I didn't. My brother comes over the other day and says, did you get that PPT from dad? He shouldn't be sending any of that stuff our randomly. I told my brother that I deleted it and changed the subject.

Now I'm curious....what are they?

Secret combinations were, among other things, the oaths and covenants made among the "bad guys" in the BofM. Particular mention is made of the Gadianton Robbers who were the highwaymen in the BofM. They had secret combinations that are similary "honor codes and passwords among thieves".

Also, secrect combinations are the three numbers you used on your locker lock at school. Mine was 13 L 19 R 28 L. But if you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you.

Just sayin'...

Ron

They happen every day.

I ran into a sister from our ward in the local Quickie-Mart.

We were both buying our non-WoW compliant contraband.

There was eye contact but no recognition as we formed a secret combination.

Baptists don't recognize each other in the liquor store.

Secrect combinations also refer to the Masons and their secret rituals which included hand signs and coded phrases. When the BOM was written, many people had an anti-Mason sentiment.

Eventually, the Joseph Smith and the Mormons adopted the very secrect combinations warned against in the BOM when they adapted the Masonic ritual for then their own purposes. The temple handshakes, coded words, etc for getting into heaven (symbolized by the Celestrial Room) is every bit a secret combination.

obsessively referred to and depicted in the BoM and believed by Mormonism to be taking over the world in the "latter days."

The secret combination to women really isn't that hard in print form. The actual accomplishing of said combo is not so easy.

Joyful acts of service
Constant repair and improvement of property
Sincere words of praise about her
Two ears listening intently
Consistent eye contact
Frequent words of thanks
Humor
Confident leadership
Teamwork in childrearing
Selflessness
Competence
Integrity
Repeat daily

In order to understand anything that's going on in the BoM, one must understand what was going on in the world during Joseph Smith's lifetime. The BoM is nothing more than a reflection of Smith's world.

On the other hand, I've been trying to figure out the secret combination to women with no success for years!

The church is all about secrecy. Has any of us been in the Holy of Holies in the SLC temple or even know what goes on there? The church keeps it's finances a tightly locked secret. Hell, name another organization besides the government that has huge underground vaults in a mountain to store things out of sight.

Mormons always viewed themselves as the people who will fill the earth. Anyone else like the Muslims or communists were viewed as interlopers trying to muscle in on the Mormon's turf. So therefore not only were they evil for being bad systems but more importantly, they were doing what the Mormons were supposed to be doing and the church was jelouse of them.

Well, the thing is, is that all I could think of was all the secret combinations that the Mormons themselves carry on at the temple. Mormons are the biggest hypocrites! I don't understand how blindsighted my family is, it's all out there and not one of them have the guts to dig a little deeper.

I think the Mormon Church practices secret combinations. The Mormon Church forms front groups to illegalize same-sex marriage and hides behind those front groups and pretends that they aren't part of those front groups.

I think it is a polygamous family.

. . . that is to say, secret combinations are the things you don't reveal to your enemies lest they find out, and later reveal, what you're hiding in the safe.

I have to appreciate the irony of Joseph Smith's (and others'?) original narrative and its implied context towards certain social ideologies (fun homework about Masonry) and the beating with which Mormonism receives from its critics after Joseph introduces 'secret combinations' into his movement.

Brilliant irony. You just can't make this stuff up.

Agreed.

...and also the ingredients of the Coke you swill down afterwards. Not sure about the recipe for Hostess Twinkies...

If you go to Gold's Gym in Lexington, SC, locker 24, and use 38r, 3l, 16r you will have access to my sweaty gym wear.

Congratulations - you're now a member of the secret society.

Secret combinations are many things... The tokens and signs of the temple... Talking to a man behind the curtain in order to get out of a temple session... Secret combinations are the feeling you get after admitting to the bishop that you wanked off whilst thinking about his sexy daughter... They are the imaginary cordons that keep you from seeing your daughter get married to Peter Priesthood, or the feeling you have when the bishop hijacks the funeral of your mother... The are the feeling you have when a high priest runs his hand around between the shoulder blades of your wife... They are questions like, "Do you pay a full tithing?" or, "Do you wear the approved temple garment both day and night?"

Yes, dit, secret combinations are the key that locks members of God's True Church together, to make them function as one, to make them walk in a funny lockstep, one behind the other. They give people the ability to stand up and cry out, "M-Baaaaaaah!"

So away back when I saw my Bishop at Wyoming Downs drinking beer with a scantily clad black lady and said hi..... we formed a secret combination?

I know! I mean a Black Lady in Evanston, WY!?

Working out ways to accomplish your deeds without being known.

You know, like hiding behind front organizations [for marriage] and then denying any involvement.

If you look into the amount of effort that went into funding and hiding millions of dollars and hours and the subsequent lawsuits to keep those activities hidden, the activities of the church definitely qualify as secret combinations.

One can't help but wonder if it is a righteous institution openly run by trustworthy men for the whole world to see, or a shadowy band of sneaks whose master if the father of lies and hiding...