How many times have you heard this one?

Especially when discussing something about the dumb temple.

One of those who said that to me about the temple was my "husband's" sister. I guess since we aren't divorced, she is still my SIL. She came out to me as lesbian years ago after I said something to her that made her wonder if he was gay. Now she says I was confused. She told me that in a 10-page letter. My therapist laughed about that one--10 page letter explaining why I was confused.

But she won't leave the church because of something that happened to her in the temple. She's still married. They are in their late 60s, maybe early 70s actually. I think they had sex once (and I actually know that for a fact--she had 3 pregnancies--2 were facilitated in the doctor's office).

That one bugs me too. What are they really saying?

I'm special and can't share my pearls with you pigs.

I'm so righteous. God and I have secrets.

God favors me but if I say it out loud, it will sound like I'm making stuff up.

I prefer to use the cloak of "sacredness" card so I don't have to tell you any details about my story. Sacredness is an excuse to avoid scrutiny.

You forgot "All of the above".

More sacred than the First Vision? What could possibly be more sacred than the Big Gulp Himself showing up to give Jesus an intro? And yet the church talks that up nonstop.

"Too sacred to share" is a lame cop-out designed to avoid admitting that nothing happened. Recognizing that makes it easy to call out as a BS excuse. Mormons are accustomed to playing that card without pushback, and have no idea how to react when challenged on it.

is something Steve Benson wrote about on this board. He had talked to two of the GAs and asked him about their spiritual experiences and they were no big deal. I was so surprised. If you went to F&T meeting in most wards, a few of the people would have better sacred stories than the GAs did.

I tend to think their stories aren't that big of a deal and we'd see right through them.

I had my most spiritual experience while tripping on LSD.

The church is a corporation. The leaders are administrators. They spend most their time doing administrative work while the members spend most their time doing busy work. The church is mostly about process. There isn’t much spirituality there. It’s about schedules, meetings, following process dictated by Salt Lake. In short, the church is really about following orders given from the top.

Rubicon Wrote:
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> There isn’t much spirituality there.

Yeah, that was my experience.

So many members insist that everything is so very sacred. And yet it is the closest I've ever come to actually experiencing that the Emperor, indeed, has no clothes.

My fellow convert friend who sat beside me at SMs and I would look around the chapel while the teens passed the sacrament, glance at each other, whisper 'Emperor' and then try to stifle our giggling.

I didn't last long in the church. I don't know about her. We lost touch after I left. As you do.

I never took the sacrament either. Bad member.

If the sacrament was a piece of nice French bread and a half glass of wine I probably would have partaken.

Razortooth Wrote:
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> How many times have you heard this one?

Many, many times.

Funny story. I'm friends with a guy from my mission. He is the biggest Trump supporter I know and he is always posting these Mormon perspective calls to repentance type political posts. Like he calls into question people's true strength of testimony if they support anything left leaning.

So the other day he posts if anyone has questions about "mysteries." I ask about the Second Anointing and he replies with the FAIR article. I press and he won't be drawn into a discussion about the SA.

Here is a man who asked for mysteries and then won't even engage (and he loves to engage) in this topic. He didn't say "too sacred" but his silence was as palatable as that old cover for anything a Mormon won't discuss.

My Dad was very reserved when it came to his spirituality. He didn't think much of JS, the BoM or church doctrine. Dare I say that he was a goofball who went to church to tell jokes and be silly. He attended to keep peace with my Mom.

So one day, he shared his personal story of losing his car keys during F/T meeting. He went swimming in the river and decided to clip his big set of keys to the belt loop of his cut-off shorts. He wasn't active in the church and most definitely was not wearing garments. After cooling off in the Feather River, he looked around for the keys thinking he had left them near his towel and eyeglasses.

I was with him so for the next hour, I was helping him dive looking for keys underwater. The water is very murky at that particular location. We couldn't find them. So I gave up and started hiking to town in order to use a pay phone. I was going to call my Mom to drive over the spare set of keys. It was going to be a long day because my Mom was busy running errands on a Saturday.

He found the keys after I set off walking down the road. He said that he prayed and had the idea of moving further down the river. He dove and found his keys shimmering in what little light was penetrating the underwater crevasse.

-So after the meeting, several brothers thanked him for sharing his personal experience. One brother was miffed and told him. "Some things are too personal and better off not being shared." I don't think my Dad realized that he had been insulted.

**Does not prove the church is true
**Does not prove that god or anyone answers prayers

And here's the spot where we were swimming that day.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9910888,-121.2825684,3a,75y,90h,83.98t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWyK2RdEEdU2QxXM1xRQWEQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Wow. That is some opaque water. Beautiful place.

God and keys. So Mormon.

We have learned by sad experience that Too Sacred to Share is frequently code for the Second Anointing.

That was basically what my brother said. If I could go back in time I would have responded, "Oh. So the second anointing, then?" Cuz it was very obvious. As obvious as they could make it without saying it.

Must kill them to keep it secret.

It's never too late.

You could even bring it up without naming it. Simply describe it.

"Wouldn't it be something if there was a special invitation-only temple ordinance, where an apostle washes your feet, cleansing you from the blood and sins of this generation? Then anoints your head with oil and seals you up to eternal life, and gives you the power to live as long as life is desirable? Then does the same to your wife, and promises her posterity without end? And then you and your wife were to go to another room where she washes your feet, lays her hands on your head and gives you a blessing? Wouldn't that be something?"

So you describe it in minute detail as a hypothetical, as if you know nothing about it, but clearly you do because of the way you're talking about it. He knows you know but can't say anything. Since it's only a hypothetical, he can't stop you. Priceless.

Love this idea.

I still consider the unsnapping of a bra to be too sacred to talk about...

That is because you only heard it once and it was in the temple when you went the wrong way and goofed up the five points of fellowship.

It was one of the events in Mony Pythons "Twit Of the Year" competition. Removing the bra of the debutante occurs at about the 2:40 mark. Which number were you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYA3oTG8fg

Too personal and sacred to reveal was the response told to members who wanted to know if Jesus himself had vaporized to them (General Authorities) inside the temple.

This was told "off the record" but from the pulpit when Elder Gen ____(Asshole) was going to be in attendance at a particular meeting and that Elder _____ would answer questions (long before they were afraid of getting embarrassing doctrinal questions).

This standardized answer helped the church perpetuate the myth that these so called leaders were indeed receiving inspiration-revelation in holy places.

I still resent my unbearable mission president prick telling off the entire zone because a missionary had the gall to question what kind of spiritual experiences the leaders might have had as the "chosen ones".

Once again my response is
BULLSHITSKI

How about using an abbreviation so you don't have to type so much?

OAMRIBS.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” Carl Sagan
When scrutiny replaces deference, we see the Wizard of Oz is wearing no clothes.

Who needs evidence when credulity is in abundance?

I've had a few of what I consider to be spiritual experiences in my lifetime -- strong feelings of transcendence. None of them were in a church. I think you could just as easily call them human experiences.

Mormonism tries to claim these experiences, just as it tries to claim "eternal families," the afterlife, etc. Religion tries to own what cannot be owned.

Just out of curiosity, when one goes to a temple, are you assigned a temple or can you go to anyone you want?

Your Temple Recommend gets you into any temple whose door you can darken.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2021 09:06AM by elderolddog.

And over the years lots of sacred stuff has been dumped from the temple ceremony. How sacred is it if it can be easily changed?

Now LDS Inc., wants to hide just how much things have changed.

Razortooth Wrote:
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> How many times have you heard this one?