Recovery Board
: RfM
Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
I know stuff. Some of what I know is practical, but most isn’t. (I got my photo in the local paper my sophomore year for testing out in the top 2% of America’s high school sophomores, which at the time I saw as a positive for me, but now wonder if it was actually a negative for America?)
But there is demonstrable evidence that I can be ginormously stupid; a good deal of that evidence is "site supra" and will be "site infra" if I have anything to say about it.
After the mission at the Y, I answered an ad in the Cougar Daily Universe for test subjects. A senior was doing some kind of study/report/assessment of IQ tests/testing. At one point during the testing, with raised eyebrows, he asked me, “How do you know so many words?!?” (It now occurs to me that maybe he was a normal Utah mormon, and my skin tone had created a certain expectation, but that's just me being ever so modest.)
At the end, curiosity prompted me to ask how I tested out. He begged off answering, saying that he had to do more analysis, which I absolutely decided meant he couldn’t believe how smart I was. (Please note that if I wanted to cite instances proving up the depths of my stupidity, there might not be enough pixels…)
I can bend my mind around the notion that I’m a lot like Joseph Smith, Jr. Surely some of you have seen this even if you hadn't ID’d it as such. This gets me a step closer to one point of this post, in that it’s my belief/faith that had Joseph Smith lived into his 60s, there would be no modern mormon church, but there would be battalions of JoJu’s living descendants.
But, just like me, had he lived, he would have no legacy other than his proven desire to have fun and his genetic strain/stain. And just like me, he would have been fine with that because having fun was central.
Here's another point to this post: What is “Fun”?
Why do what people think of "fun" run the gamut (gamete!!) from one end of the spectrum to the other? Isn’t it true that “fun” is a criterion, among others, that is crucial for bonding, either as friends or lovers, or best, both?
Probably, most of us can say that while it might not be easy to define “fun” using words, we surely all know it when we see it, as is the case with pornography, which at times can itself be “fun.”
How people view having “fun” is one way to distinguish differing points of view. One man’s fun may be another woman’s horror ... or not. Sometimes fun is actually funny, but other times fun can be very, very stressful, or even thought and sense-provoking.
It’s my opinion that after JoJu’s leap of non-faith out of the Carthage jail window, mormonism started its path away from “fun,” moving back onto the superhighway of American religiosity: that the path to hell is paved with wanting to have fun, and laughter-prone activity is anathema to ghawdliness ... except at MIA and weekend scouting, neither of which, sadly, now exist (that's my perspective).
Academia recognizes that “fun” as being useful: “Academic research has found that fun can have a positive impact on learning. For example, one study found that students scored higher on final exams when their lecturer used humor in their lectures. Another study found that fun experiences increase levels of dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen. (Just like sex!)
“Educational psychologists agree that students learn and retain more information when learning is associated with strong positive emotions. Fun can also motivate students to attend classes and learn.
“Fun can also help children develop skills such as planning, organizing, and getting along with others. Play can also help children with language, math, social skills, and preparing and blessing the Sacrament.” (Okay, I added the final six words...sue me.)
Bro/Sis RfM'er, are you having fun? Do you ration your fun? What percentage of your income do you earmark for fun? Is your fun ever life-threatening?
My answers: Yes. No. A small percentage because most of my fun is self-generated (thanks to the internet, RfM, and golf). I’ve owned three Z-cars and used to hang out in South Central, so at one point, my "fun" might have been viewed as dangerous, but I’m a good boy now.
What are your thoughts on “fun” and “fun”’s connection(s) with mormonism, Albert Einstein, and the Great Attractor? And how did "having fun" contribute to you parting ways with mormonism...if at all?
Finally, was mormonism ever fun for you?
But there is demonstrable evidence that I can be ginormously stupid; a good deal of that evidence is "site supra" and will be "site infra" if I have anything to say about it.
After the mission at the Y, I answered an ad in the Cougar Daily Universe for test subjects. A senior was doing some kind of study/report/assessment of IQ tests/testing. At one point during the testing, with raised eyebrows, he asked me, “How do you know so many words?!?” (It now occurs to me that maybe he was a normal Utah mormon, and my skin tone had created a certain expectation, but that's just me being ever so modest.)
At the end, curiosity prompted me to ask how I tested out. He begged off answering, saying that he had to do more analysis, which I absolutely decided meant he couldn’t believe how smart I was. (Please note that if I wanted to cite instances proving up the depths of my stupidity, there might not be enough pixels…)
I can bend my mind around the notion that I’m a lot like Joseph Smith, Jr. Surely some of you have seen this even if you hadn't ID’d it as such. This gets me a step closer to one point of this post, in that it’s my belief/faith that had Joseph Smith lived into his 60s, there would be no modern mormon church, but there would be battalions of JoJu’s living descendants.
But, just like me, had he lived, he would have no legacy other than his proven desire to have fun and his genetic strain/stain. And just like me, he would have been fine with that because having fun was central.
Here's another point to this post: What is “Fun”?
Why do what people think of "fun" run the gamut (gamete!!) from one end of the spectrum to the other? Isn’t it true that “fun” is a criterion, among others, that is crucial for bonding, either as friends or lovers, or best, both?
Probably, most of us can say that while it might not be easy to define “fun” using words, we surely all know it when we see it, as is the case with pornography, which at times can itself be “fun.”
How people view having “fun” is one way to distinguish differing points of view. One man’s fun may be another woman’s horror ... or not. Sometimes fun is actually funny, but other times fun can be very, very stressful, or even thought and sense-provoking.
It’s my opinion that after JoJu’s leap of non-faith out of the Carthage jail window, mormonism started its path away from “fun,” moving back onto the superhighway of American religiosity: that the path to hell is paved with wanting to have fun, and laughter-prone activity is anathema to ghawdliness ... except at MIA and weekend scouting, neither of which, sadly, now exist (that's my perspective).
Academia recognizes that “fun” as being useful: “Academic research has found that fun can have a positive impact on learning. For example, one study found that students scored higher on final exams when their lecturer used humor in their lectures. Another study found that fun experiences increase levels of dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen. (Just like sex!)
“Educational psychologists agree that students learn and retain more information when learning is associated with strong positive emotions. Fun can also motivate students to attend classes and learn.
“Fun can also help children develop skills such as planning, organizing, and getting along with others. Play can also help children with language, math, social skills, and preparing and blessing the Sacrament.” (Okay, I added the final six words...sue me.)
Bro/Sis RfM'er, are you having fun? Do you ration your fun? What percentage of your income do you earmark for fun? Is your fun ever life-threatening?
My answers: Yes. No. A small percentage because most of my fun is self-generated (thanks to the internet, RfM, and golf). I’ve owned three Z-cars and used to hang out in South Central, so at one point, my "fun" might have been viewed as dangerous, but I’m a good boy now.
What are your thoughts on “fun” and “fun”’s connection(s) with mormonism, Albert Einstein, and the Great Attractor? And how did "having fun" contribute to you parting ways with mormonism...if at all?
Finally, was mormonism ever fun for you?
>>Finally, was mormonism ever fun for you?<<
mormonism puts the "F" "U" in fun.
mormonism puts the "F" "U" in fun.
. . . and unseemly laughter was heard emanating from the shack overlooking the river just west of Kinsangani.
>>just west of Kinsangani<<
Didn't Godzilla destroy that city? Or maybe it was was King Kong?
Didn't Godzilla destroy that city? Or maybe it was was King Kong?
What I heard was that it was a band of feral APs.
I'm a feral AP (once you get the mantel, it can't be taken away)and I do play in a band, so you're probably correct.
my older brother went to South Africa on his mission, but he was not a feral AP and doesn't play in a band so that rules him out. for a minute I thought he might have gone there on a P-day.
my older brother went to South Africa on his mission, but he was not a feral AP and doesn't play in a band so that rules him out. for a minute I thought he might have gone there on a P-day.
I think it was McConkie who wrote that once you turn against the truth you gradually lose the light of Christ and are, before you know it, scavenging with raccoons for scraps in dumpsters.
I guess the question is whether you've encountered EOD during your adventures in "extreme dining." He can be difficult to distinguish from the rodents but the Lederhosen always give him away.
I guess the question is whether you've encountered EOD during your adventures in "extreme dining." He can be difficult to distinguish from the rodents but the Lederhosen always give him away.
>> I guess the question is whether you've encountered EOD during your adventures in "extreme dining." He can be difficult to distinguish from the rodents but the Lederhosen always give him away. <<
That explains it, I thought he was just an old German racoon with a hint of Spanish in his accent, on holiday, enjoying some foreign cuisine. He did look Waaaay too happy with all that food stuck to his face. In fact, even the pockets of his lederhosen were stuffed full of old pizza. The golf clubs should have been my first clue though.
That explains it, I thought he was just an old German racoon with a hint of Spanish in his accent, on holiday, enjoying some foreign cuisine. He did look Waaaay too happy with all that food stuck to his face. In fact, even the pockets of his lederhosen were stuffed full of old pizza. The golf clubs should have been my first clue though.
A very important tenet of current mormonism, Bro. Phil !!
But from my perspective, mormonism used to be more fun than not, even after the mission, especially if you had a key to the chapel.
Edited to add: ...and tithing was $36/month, while rent was $75/month.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2023 04:03PM by elderolddog.
But from my perspective, mormonism used to be more fun than not, even after the mission, especially if you had a key to the chapel.
Edited to add: ...and tithing was $36/month, while rent was $75/month.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2023 04:03PM by elderolddog.
Well she got her daddy's car
And she cruised through the hamburger stand now
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man now
And with the radio blasting
Goes cruising just as fast as she can now
And she'll have fun fun fun
'Til her daddy takes the T-bird away
Those were the days, my friend.
But yeah. The Mormon church takes your "T-Bird away" just as fast as it can now.
Nice to be back in the driver' seat.
And fun? I've heard of it. I have a sneaky feeling EOD got my share somehow now. I have been too much of a goody goody all my life ---with some shockingly grand exceptions now.
And she cruised through the hamburger stand now
Seems she forgot all about the library
Like she told her old man now
And with the radio blasting
Goes cruising just as fast as she can now
And she'll have fun fun fun
'Til her daddy takes the T-bird away
Those were the days, my friend.
But yeah. The Mormon church takes your "T-Bird away" just as fast as it can now.
Nice to be back in the driver' seat.
And fun? I've heard of it. I have a sneaky feeling EOD got my share somehow now. I have been too much of a goody goody all my life ---with some shockingly grand exceptions now.
>>Those were the days, my friend<<
....We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La-la-la-da-da-da
La-la-la-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da
....We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La-la-la-da-da-da
La-la-la-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, la-da-da-da-da
Yeah, I think I'm going to cancel those concert tickets.
Several years ago I was the scout leader for the 11 year old scouts. We actually had fun doing the basic boy scout requirements.
For some reason as part of that calling, I was expected to attend Mormon Primary with the boys. The primary president was very much from the Boyd k Packer School of Mormonism. I recall her lecturing me on several occasions that "Those boys aren't here to have fun, they're here to learn THE GOSPEL!"
It was FUN to ignore her.
For some reason as part of that calling, I was expected to attend Mormon Primary with the boys. The primary president was very much from the Boyd k Packer School of Mormonism. I recall her lecturing me on several occasions that "Those boys aren't here to have fun, they're here to learn THE GOSPEL!"
It was FUN to ignore her.
Most exmos and TBMs have a hard time believing that when my second to the last son was nine, he wanted to join some school friends' cub scout pack, a mormon one, and I was fine with that. The bishop was a neighbor and had kids that matched up, age-wise, with mine. This was a couple of years before 2000.
The bishop knew my background and that I was a declared atheist (which mormons are fine with cuz it means you couldn't find a better church cuz you're too dumb...).
So, my boy was attending weekly pack meetings, and I went with him to his first monthly pack meeting.
And then, the bishop asked me to be the Cub Scout Pack Master. I brought up the issue of being an atheist. He grinned at me and said he'd discovered that the ward pack master only had to be a mormon who was living the word of wisdom; that was it.
So I said okay.
All I had to do was open the monthly pack meeting, call on someone for open and closing prayers ... and be in charge of whatever pack activity I could come up with.
I came up with one that once they did it, they didn't want to do anything else.
I had an old furniture dolly, a low rectangle of carpeted wood with a free-spinning wheel at each corner. I tied a rope at the mid-front and mid-back, leaving about 4' loose.
I cleared a lane along the four walls of the wedding hall/basketball court and had the boys divide themselves up into teams of three. Then, one boy sat on the dolly, one pulled the front rope, and the third boy controlled the rear with that rope.
One at a time, the team would run around the wedding hall, and when they reached the starting point, they'd shift: the rear rope guy would sit on the dolly, the sitter would move forward to pull, and the puller ran to the rear rope, and off they'd go again, with the timer still going.
When they completed the next loop, they'd switch again. Sometimes, we did just one set of switches, and other times, they'd do two. Three was too much; they'd poop out...
The kids loved it, the parents loved it...
I'm probably one of the few mormon atheists ever to have been given a key to the chapel, which again adds to my luster as having been a shoo-in as modern mormonism's first Lamanite apostle if I'd really wanted that kind of life.
...the next time I run into some missionaries, I think I'll tell them that!
(You can always tell the days I don't play golf...)
The bishop knew my background and that I was a declared atheist (which mormons are fine with cuz it means you couldn't find a better church cuz you're too dumb...).
So, my boy was attending weekly pack meetings, and I went with him to his first monthly pack meeting.
And then, the bishop asked me to be the Cub Scout Pack Master. I brought up the issue of being an atheist. He grinned at me and said he'd discovered that the ward pack master only had to be a mormon who was living the word of wisdom; that was it.
So I said okay.
All I had to do was open the monthly pack meeting, call on someone for open and closing prayers ... and be in charge of whatever pack activity I could come up with.
I came up with one that once they did it, they didn't want to do anything else.
I had an old furniture dolly, a low rectangle of carpeted wood with a free-spinning wheel at each corner. I tied a rope at the mid-front and mid-back, leaving about 4' loose.
I cleared a lane along the four walls of the wedding hall/basketball court and had the boys divide themselves up into teams of three. Then, one boy sat on the dolly, one pulled the front rope, and the third boy controlled the rear with that rope.
One at a time, the team would run around the wedding hall, and when they reached the starting point, they'd shift: the rear rope guy would sit on the dolly, the sitter would move forward to pull, and the puller ran to the rear rope, and off they'd go again, with the timer still going.
When they completed the next loop, they'd switch again. Sometimes, we did just one set of switches, and other times, they'd do two. Three was too much; they'd poop out...
The kids loved it, the parents loved it...
I'm probably one of the few mormon atheists ever to have been given a key to the chapel, which again adds to my luster as having been a shoo-in as modern mormonism's first Lamanite apostle if I'd really wanted that kind of life.
...the next time I run into some missionaries, I think I'll tell them that!
(You can always tell the days I don't play golf...)
"after JoJu’s leap of non-faith out of the Carthage jail window"
Mormon prophets can't fly. Who knew?
I was just thinking of Joseph's demise today. Where did his libertine ways get him? His church was hijacked by a monster and effectively destroyed.
I suspect that occultism did him in. Supposing Joseph was gifted in a way, as so many believed, his misuse of those gifts led him to destruction. As if that wasn't bad enough, the church was taken over by a bigger opportunist than himself. It seems to me the occult leads one to madness. Maybe Joseph didn't have far to go.
So rather than regard the mob as the enemy, Mormons would be better off pinning the blame for Joseph's death on Joseph himself. He was an object lesson for all saints. If you let the devil have you, this is what happens.
Mormon prophets can't fly. Who knew?
I was just thinking of Joseph's demise today. Where did his libertine ways get him? His church was hijacked by a monster and effectively destroyed.
I suspect that occultism did him in. Supposing Joseph was gifted in a way, as so many believed, his misuse of those gifts led him to destruction. As if that wasn't bad enough, the church was taken over by a bigger opportunist than himself. It seems to me the occult leads one to madness. Maybe Joseph didn't have far to go.
So rather than regard the mob as the enemy, Mormons would be better off pinning the blame for Joseph's death on Joseph himself. He was an object lesson for all saints. If you let the devil have you, this is what happens.
Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it was McConkie who wrote that once you
> turn against the truth you gradually lose the
> light of Christ and are, before you know it,
> scavenging with raccoons for scraps in dumpsters.
>
> I guess the question is whether you've encountered
> EOD during your adventures in "extreme dining." He
> can be difficult to distinguish from the rodents
> but the Lederhosen always give him away.
E.O.D. should come to Boston student neighborhoods at the end of August. I've collected six grocery bags -- so far -- of discarded but usable groceries: Bags of rice, boxes of pasta, jars of pasta sauce, bags of flour, and enough oatmeal to weather another winter of "global warming." etc. All packaging intact. Kingston wives would be green with envy.
Then there's the small appliances, cookware, furniture...
Lederhosen optional.
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it was McConkie who wrote that once you
> turn against the truth you gradually lose the
> light of Christ and are, before you know it,
> scavenging with raccoons for scraps in dumpsters.
>
> I guess the question is whether you've encountered
> EOD during your adventures in "extreme dining." He
> can be difficult to distinguish from the rodents
> but the Lederhosen always give him away.
E.O.D. should come to Boston student neighborhoods at the end of August. I've collected six grocery bags -- so far -- of discarded but usable groceries: Bags of rice, boxes of pasta, jars of pasta sauce, bags of flour, and enough oatmeal to weather another winter of "global warming." etc. All packaging intact. Kingston wives would be green with envy.
Then there's the small appliances, cookware, furniture...
Lederhosen optional.
Did I ever tell you about the time I out ran the cops ?
You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese.
Emotion is the brain function that sears events into long term memory ie: "Remember this; it's important".
The "Fun" emotion works that way. So does the "Fear" emotion.
LDS inc. has slowly switched out "fun" for "fear". But the results are the same.
The "Fun" emotion works that way. So does the "Fear" emotion.
LDS inc. has slowly switched out "fun" for "fear". But the results are the same.
It's fun to play pin the tail on the donkey, if you can get the bishop to play.
FUN for me as it related to the Mormon church was some of the guys I became friends with, whose interests in raising hell and doing anti Mormon stuff meshed with my own. I still count some of those guys as friends today 60+ years on.
That's a fake! The skin color is way off.
A lot of words for “fun”. TLDR. Maybe be later, gator…(wavy-hand guy goes glhere)
I definitely could use more fun in my life. Thanks old dog for making me realize this.