I am a pet lover.

Was it unusual that neither of my two favorite bishops had family pets?  We lived next door to my first bishop for about five years. Lovely man, great family, but they never had pets.  When they moved, their new place was still in the ward and Sister bishop became a confidante during high school and post-high school dating years.  But still, no pets.

Has anyone ever seen a photo or video clip of a GA with his dog or cat?  What about JoJu or BY?

Is it like a rule irrevocably decreed in the heavens that real mormons don't waste time on pets?  I can see where pets might be considered completely extraneous to the process of salvation and exaltation.  After all, there are no instructive stories about Jesus Christ and a puppy or kitten...

Does not wanting/needing to bond with a pet say anything useful about an individual?



Here's an apocryphal story about Nazi SS officer's school...

Upon entry to the SS officer candidate school, each young man was given a German Shepherd puppy, with instructions to the effect that BOTH of them were being judged as they progressed through the school.

After graduation, during which each team, man and dog, proudly crossed the stage to receive their coveted SS pins, they were all told to report for an exit interview the following day, during which each team would receive word of their first posting.

Each man and dog entered the interview room where after handshakes and congratulations were handed out, the new officer was instructed to kill his dog by strangulation.

Those men who complied were congratulated and given their first posting and sent off to serve der Führer. Those men who couldn't/wouldn't do it had their SS pins taken away and were sent off to serve in some other branch of Nazi armed services.

Although it doesn't pass the smell test, the story does get across the point that SS officers were cruel M/F'er, with nary a drop of human kindness for anything/anyone not pure Aryan.  It does seem like a good way to test for true psychosis.



Maybe I'm just being unduly prejudiced, but I have no problem loathing people who mistreat pets.  And I would probably have no difficulty believing stories about GA's mistreating or under-appreciating pets.

They should have "bring your brain to church" day.

That may b e your best yet. haha

>> They should have "bring your brain to church" day. <<

I don't there would be many in attendance that day.

...or after.

Many Catholic and Protestant churches do. They hold an annual “Blessing of the animals”. Usually on the feast of St Francis of Assisi.

I've been to a couple of those services, and if you are an animal lover, they can be incredible.

I love Francis de Asisi services. I played organ for a Lutheran church and the services were usually at the county fairground for the blessing of animals as many members had horses and other large animals. I was playing the electronic piano and one of our dogs kept turning off my power strip.

The group of Mormons I grew up were oddballs because only one of them had a dog. He and his family were not animal-pet people at all. The poor dog was severely neglected/depressed (the dog was fed, but they need to be walked/played with on regular intervals). Mormons are too busy taking care of church duties.

From the pea sized Mormon perspective, loving animals was regarded as a weakness. I was told over and over that having love for animals was a waste of time. When my childhood collie passed away; they didn't understand- I was told to get over it. They told me "it's just a dog- get another one, sheesh!!!"

I remember another family had a dog, but none of the kids my age were interested in it. Just the mom because it was her dog. She took her dog everywhere from hiking/biking and even kayaking (she was a convert to the church).

'teach your children Not to step on caterpillars; it's good for both'

JS did actually have a dog. If memory serves, he called him "Old Major". The stories I heard sounded like he cared for the dog and vice versa.

I might be in rarified air myself, having multiple times brought my dog not only into my local stake center, but into a bishop's office. Can't say it was during Sunday meetings though. I was just starting therapy with an LDSFS counselor and was a little mistrustful, having had a pretty bad experience with another LDSFS counselor, so I asked if I could bring the pup I'd just adopted for moral support. She kindly consented, but said to keep it on the DL since we were meeting in one of the bishops' offices.

He believed that one way to stop or calm the guarding ghost/spirit of a treasure was to sacrifice a black dog....

In the time of their digging for money and not finding it attainable, Joe Smith told them there was a charm on the pots of money, and if some animal was killed and the blood sprinkled around the place, then they could get it. So they killed a dog, and tried this method of obtaining the precious metal; but again money was scarce in those diggings. Still, they dug and dug, but never came to the precious treasure. Alas! how vivid was the expectation when the blood of poor Tray was used to take off the charm, and after all to find their mistake. Emily Coburn, in Emily M. Austin, Mormonism; or, Life Among the Mormons, 1882, pp. 32-33

-Hiel Lewis affirmed that Smith translated the Book of Mormon by means of the same enchanting spirit that directed Smith to make dog sacrifices. Dr. Quinn wrote, "A cousin of Smith's wife Emma reported that Smith 'translated the book of Mormon by means of the same peep stone, and under the same inspiration that directed his enchantments and dog sacrifices; it was all by the same spirit' (H. Lewis 1879)" (Quinn, 1987 edition, p. 144).

-Justice Joel King Noble, who tried Smith in an 1830 trial in Colesville, N.Y., related in a letter that when Joe Smith and others were digging "for a Chest of money," they acquired a black dog and offered it as "a sacrafise [blo]od Sprinkled prayer made at the time (no money obtained) the above Sworn to on trial. . . ." (Letter of Justice Noble, dated March 8, 1842, photographically reproduced in Walters, "Joseph Smith's Bainbridge, N.Y., Court Trials," p. 134).

This deserves its own thread. One of the signs of a sociopath is the wanton killing of animals for no good reason.

not all dogs are potty trained, + some owners 'forget' to take them outside...

ergo, more clean-up work for the 'volunteer' janitors / custodians...

Sorry.

"If ultimate tidiness were a concern, they wouldn't let kids in until they were potty-trained..." might be a response.

Pet lovers tolerate the untidiness of puppies within their homes.  Hopefully, we're just one revelation away from "Visitor & Pets Welcome".

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "If ultimate tidiness were a concern, they
> wouldn't let kids in until they were
> potty-trained..."

But then they'd have to kick out at least some of the elderly, n'est-ce pas?

>> But then they'd have to kick out at least some of the elderly, n'est-ce pas? <<

If they paid tithing on their gross income and were no longer paying tithing, I'm sure they would think about doing just that.

FYI to EOD.....you don't need anyone to bring you to church. You can go all by yourself. Just bring newspaper in case you have to "go" and are so riveted by the inspirational talk being given that you can't leave your seat.

Here in the PNW, people take pride in adapting rescue animals, we get flights of animals displaced by storms, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, etc.


IDK if we've received any animals from Ukraine, but I wouldn't doubt it.

ElderOlddog asked,

"...Is it like a rule irrevocably decreed in the heavens that real mormons don't waste time on pets? I can see where pets might be considered completely extraneous to the process of salvation and exaltation. After all, there are no instructive stories about Jesus Christ and a puppy or kitten..."

After taxes, tithing, fast offerings, numerous kids, supporting some of their kids on missions, cleaning toilets and being given multiple callings, real mormons probably just don't have the money time or energy needed for pets. Real mormons are too caught up with the mythological mormon ghawd to realise that pets are a piece of Heaven on earth. That God is simply Dog spelt backward.

I would never have subjected my dog to that shite!