I was refused a temple recommend because I was not attending my church meetings regularly enough. I had a calling, I paid tithing but if I didn’t need to be at church for the calling I didn’t go. Being denied the recommend was what made me see it was a control mechanism for the church.

I was talking to a former mission president and he said the church is only growing at 1%. I was told the same thing from a General Authority in 2000. All this missionary effort isn’t growing the church anymore.

So why all the temples? The church wants recommend worthy members. That seems what it wants to distill down to. With temples closer you can ratchet up the pressure to go. The church will eventually have more control over the congregation than if it had a large percentage of luke warm members. It’s all about control. If you can’t grow the numbers you control what’s left.

It’s the last days. Separating the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, even the very elect will fall away.

Now that the prophecy of the stone cut without hands filling the whole earth isn’t working, so they have to switch to the idea that only the truly special ones will stay.

They really don't need many members. They have the money to maintain what they want from their investments. Temples have the advantage of being closed to the public so people can't tell how little activity there really is.

The herd's function now IMO is to give validity and the appearance that the business is about religion. The church mostly just needs a small obedient herd to shuffle around to look busy.

The great thing about having scriptures that contradict each other is you can change the narrative as needed.

When the church was growing fast, it was the rock carved from the mountain expanding to engulf the world. When the growth faltered, the church emphasized the "separating the wheat from the chaff" narrative.

You are right. The church has the resources necessary to keep itself afloat for centuries, and its apologists have more than enough scriptural literature to defend whatever position is convenient at any given time.

Right. There is always a quote or scripture to support any side of anything they want to say.

They just need enough extremely brainwashed people to stay and reproduce to keep the church status going. I figure the church will have 2-3 million active members. Their main concern is a mass exodus of the youth. Meanwhile the church will keep expanding its portfolio. It’s already the biggest real estate holder in some states.

Yup. Having the church cloak is an advantage over just being a corporation. The business assets are generating more money than what the members are donating but it’s still $6 billion a year and tax free and the members are also a pool of free labor.

I just spent a bit of time in an LDS church this weekend (funeral of an elderly aunt). It's been at least 20 years since I've attended a function that was most of a day like this was.


some surprises and some things not surprising.

Surprises--I fretted about "proper" dress to wear. Several of the younger folks were wearing nice slacks, very short skirts and a few in knee hi shorts. No one seemed to be surprised.

The bishop seemed quite nervous and inexperienced. I felt kinda sorry for him.

The grandchildren sang a medley of songs that were not from the hymnbook and the tempo was upbeat and very energetic. It was so good that the congregation burst into applause at the end! Afterward, there was some discussion about whether clapping was now allowed in the chapel with someone stating that the handbook of instruction had been recently changed to allow that in certain instances.

Not surprising--the same "church smell" was there like I remembered. Several of the toilets would not flush and soap dispensers were out of soap. Janitor closets are now labeled "member custodial supply closet".

The luncheon was very sparse...a salad, slices of ham ,funeral potatoes and a WHOLE table full of cookies and other sweets.

Not ONE of the very large group of relatives I had not seen in years asked me about my church callings or anything because everyone just assumed that everyone else there was also TBM.

I think the church smell is that stuff they glue to the walls to avoid dings. It fills with dirt and dust and starts to smell. It could also be the padded pews absorbing the smells of sweaty butts. Yuck! LDS buildings have that smell. Especially older ones.

True all that.
You're on a tear tonight, Rubicon!

They gave you an excuse to skip regular temple attendance.

I got to sit in the temple lobby in shame with my brother as the rest of the family including my brother got to go to the sealing room. It’s all about family togetherness. Ha! Ha!

Including my wife I meant to say. I was stuck in Mormon purgatory.

ergo the dilution on Core, Basic Christ-like choices or living, it's no longer necessary or even attractive.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2024 12:47AM by GNPE.

Christ. You mean the guy who trashed the temple and called it a den of thieves? He also said our body was a temple. He said nothing of building new ones. He just said be good to each other.