My sister got really excited when she heard church would be more home centered. After a year of the so called home centered church she said nothing has really changed other than church is an hour shorter.

She says it's weird calling visiting teaching ministering and she hates the new name of the tabernacle choir. She goes they aren't always at temple square.

My sis goes I don't want to criticize the prophet but it's just changing programs and names.

it will dawn on her (like a lightbulb moment) that the Church has never been anything more than programs and names.

Programs, names, policies, practices. Everything that gets flushed down the toilet magically, in hindsight, becomes nothing more than a program, name, policy or practice.

There were all the teachings and preachings about the war in heaven and the consequences for spirits who were particularly lacking in valor in the war in heaven -- i.e. being born into families of African descent and therefore marked as being unworthy of the priesthood and the higher order of temple blessings. Well, funny thing (ha ha), turns out that wasn't really doctrinal after all. It was just a "policy" and nobody really understands how it became a policy.

Those rascally policies. Those unimportant programs and names. Prophets and Apostles had at great length preached the "Curse of Cain" and about the fate of the "Fence Sitters" in the war in heaven as doctrine for generations. But then it turned out to be a very inconvenient doctrine and then, in hindsight, it turned out that it was all just a misunderstanding...a "program" if you will. The "Curse of Cain" was just a name or label that was associated with a program. So nothing important was changed. It was just programs and names. You sillies, you can't tell who was or wasn't valiant in the pre-existence based on skin color! Why, where on earth would you ever have gotten such an idea???

Like Jesus himself wasn't dark skinned? and from Northern Africa so to speak? Some may say Jerusalem is actually in Asia, but still that is not a Caucasian area. Or I guess people can Imagine Jesus was light skinned Caucasian with Red hair?, as usually it's depicted that way. Ethnocentric thinking is odd. everyone wants it to be Their way I guess.

My stake had the pear farm. We were told that it was one of three that the church owned for its welfare program. I can't tell you how many times we were admonished for slacking off in the "Lord's vineyard." There was always something that had to be done at the farm. Then the region's pear trees suffered a terrible disease or blight. The church reacted predictably. "Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!"

Like so many other programs, the stake told members to show up with their saws; even chain saws. And untrained members butchered the hell out of those pear trees. Each person giving their inept touch to "trim the blight." Eventually, the church contracted a professional team to stop the disease, and even they couldn't stop nature from taking its course. An entire hillside was declared a loss.

So the church planted blight resistance apple trees in it place. One older brother took to a liking of tending to their care. Perhaps it was his way of finding meaning and solace after getting kicked out of the bishopric (The new bishop thought that the executive secretary was TOO nice. This guy had people skills and he didn't fit with the new reign of terror that was coming from the fear driven stake president.)

Long story short, just a year shy of the apple trees maturing for their first year of harvest, the church sent a couple of Caterpillar tractors to the farm. Row by row, the apple trees were bulldozed by lunch time. The dying pear trees were left untouched. About 20 years ago, the church sold its farm to a local vineyard. Only a handful of people remember the church farm and the sermons to show up and work free for the church.

All the headlines I have seen for this past weekend’s conference go on and on about this “historic conference” and talk about the announced changes breathlessly as if they were major revelations, all part of the “unfolding restoration”. Yet it is all so much a case of trivialities that, when these changes are changed down the road, will be shrugged off as mere policies and programs. The changes are like the emperor’s new clothes fable: nothing is there, but everyone falls over themselves fawning over how profound and beautiful the changes are. Where is the little child to point out that the emperor is naked? Maybe it is us, but it needs to be someone on the inside who has the courage to break away from the herd mentality of praising everything the leaders do and say and speak the truth about what is happening.

It’s a great story Messy. It screams Animal Farm with a side of climate change.

LOL! Yeah, except Animal Farm wanted to succeed in farming more than the church does. I don't know but I heard they were a big agribusiness? Maybe it is only cattle...and sheep.

Nothing changed? Just in the last two days they've been busy editing all the brazenly callous statements out. I just happened to check out Ballard's talk and it's practically a different one than what he said live. They've cut at least half of just that one. I didn't bother looking at the other 666 talks given and what else was cut.

Correlation has been busy.

"Change" is a bizarre thing in mormonism and TBM's see it 2 ways.

1) The church never changes anything, what ever you say changed wasn't a change (like temple penalties).

2) The church changed something, but nothing really changed (like 2 hours of church still sucks).

On one hand, they deny that anything changes, on the other hand, they are sad that the changes they make don't bring them a better experience. Tough way to live.

Ever pick up a box or can of something, and it proudly proclaims, "Bright New Look! Same Great Taste!"

Except that it tastes like the same old sh*t.

Edit: I usually notice (or suspect) that merchandisers are down-sizing the packaging, so you get less of the product for the same price. Now, think of three hours down to two, HTs and VTs (two pair) merged into one pair of "ministers," all for the same 10%. Get it?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2019 01:50PM by caffiend.

I think that's a good analogy.

The church changes its packaging, but not what's in the can....TBM's say, what's in the can hasn't changed, nothing was changed!

The church changes its packaging, but not what's in the can....TBM's say, I was hoping it would taste better.

The church changes the quantity but charges the same amount (10% min.)....TBM's say, I wish I was getting more for my money....but its still a very good value so I'll keep buying....and keep trying to sell it to others, even if they don't want it.

because to Mormons, church = Christ's gospel.

but ChurchCo says they're just refining / pruning.


Memo to GAs: You don't focus on the Core of Christ-Like living, it's always about ChurchCo; it's the presentation that matters to the rank-and-file, because you're Ignoring the Core.

She's right and wrong at the same time. The church does change, but it does so slowly. A lot of the changes since the 1970s have been superficial, or have involved playing down controversial doctrines.

I wouldn't call correlation "superficial." Doctrinally they haven't much changed. Lots of policy changes with different levels of abuse or "watering down" weirdness.