Posted by:
GNPE
(
)
Date: September 10, 2011 04:00PM
If a religious group (‘church’) doesn’t follow its own teachings in administering the faith, doesn’t that tell us that its leaders don’t have Any Confidence – belief in those (claimed) principles?
This Isn’t nuclear physics, it isn’t Brain Surgery; but: close attention to details is necessary to understand this.
First, a bit about the people involved, I’ll go first.
I was born in ’46. My parents weren’t church-goers; my dad worked many, many hours to support our family; he was a RR clerk, later promoted a bit further up the ladder (but not really into ‘management’). Dad, except for a stint in the Army, had a one-company career. Dad was born in Norway, came over with his parents as a child; lived in Spokane, later moved to Seattle.
My mother was born in New York City; I knew little regarding her family, although her mother lived with us for a while in Rxxxxxxx Bxxxx.
Anyway, while we were living in Minnesota, the Mormon missionaries lived in an apartment across the street from us; I was curious as to who they were, what they were doing. About this same time, parents began (?) having marital challenges; it was suggested that dad had an affair with a female co-worker. They divorced, my mother, brother Xxxx & I moved back to Rxxxxxxx Bxxxx. I served a domestic mission 67-69, came back & worked for the RR.
I met Xxxxx while I was stationed at a costal town in SW Washington State. She was a 'lifer'; Primary, YW, the Whole Deal. Xxxxx was away at school in UT.... Xxxxx’s siblings suggested that I travel to Utah to meet her, she was attending beauty school there, living with her parents; her father Xxxx had been injured in his occupation (Logging), and Xxxx & Xxxx didn’t want (?) to live near the woods. Other reasons (?) for moving away for them are unknown to me at this time. So, I traveled with a buddy to Utah, met Xxxxx at Spanish Fork, IMMEDIATELY fell head-over-heels in Love with her! I love (d) both her looks & attitude. I loved the ways she interacted with family & others. After a while, Xxxxx was pregnant, and wanted to move in/get married; I was Glad of her intentions. Our first child, Xxx as born 7/4/72, about seven or eight months after we were married… We named him after Harold B Lee...
After about 29 years, I had serious doubts regarding the claims of Mormonism… Xxxxx filed divorce. I had not committed adultery/fornication during our marriage, I understood those from both the bible & book of Mormon as Christ’s ‘Bright Line’ drawn across marital conduct, with the consequence being that a/f were said by Christ to be justification for divorce. I also note that God’s prophet(s), back to the Old Testament, taught against divorce; also, the statements of modern (as recently as 2004) LDS prophets & leaders have consistently been against divorce. Further: seems to me that Repentance & Forgiveness, Mercy & Compassion are ‘at the heart’ of Christ’s gospel. Christ said that Love for God & neighbor are the basis for his gospel; how could his teachings be more plain?
In her divorce filings, Xxxxx made some critical errors/false statements:
In sworn documents, signed by her to be true & correct, she:
A. She understated her income & assets. She said her income was 6,5xx.xx per month, her employer’s wage statement showed she was earning 8,0xx.xx per month.
B. Xxxxx said her Total Assets amounted to $25.00. No mention of the thousands she had in various accounts; she had the habit of opening financial accounts – with family income- that I wasn’t aware of or a party to.
I kindly mentioned these to Xxxxx early in the divorce while it was pending (nearly a year). I expected Xxxxx to see that emotions had caused her to hurry into this divorce, and that her mistakes were carelessness attributed to that… she also Denied making any mistakes to Bp C and Bp S (changed at about the same time as divorce started). I showed her ‘undeniably’ false (self-contradicting submissions) statements to Bp C; he said: “Well maybe her attorney told her to say that”. In other words:
a) He admitted the falseness of her statements
b) NO RESPONSIBILITY to-for Xxxxx NO SIR!
MY UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS:
Mormonism claims that:
- LDS people claim to follow Christ, worship Christ… as the basic fundamentals of their religion.
- It is ‘the only true & living church (of Christ) on the earth’. By this, they mean that the Mormon/LDS church is The Only church with the complete, accurate gospel of Christ; that other churches are ‘an abomination before God’ because of False teachings (motivated by greed, etc in other churches)
- at the head of the LDS (‘Mormon’) church is a living prophet who claims to be the Only Individual on earth that receives revelations for all people on earth; he claims to be the exclusive conduit of revelation(s) and/or communication(s) from God TO ALL people.
- It is the DUTY of all God’s people to follow (be in conformance to teachings of) the LDS living prophet.
Observations regarding actual Mormon practice & Culture:
Mormonism is known for its Clannishness, Here are the reasons:
-Mormons are VERY conscious of the Outward Appearances
-Mormons have signals that they’re very sensitive to regarding their ‘worthiness’ which is their term for righteousness. The chief of these is their Temple privileges; this takes on the visible Temple Recommend, which is a credit-card sized instrument given to ‘worthy’ members as their admittance permission to enter a temple & participate in the rituals that happen there…. IOW, it is the Ultimate Mormon SEAL OF APPROVAL since applicant members must pass multiple leadership interviews to qualify. Questions that they must give ‘Satisfactory’ answers that include:
1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?
2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?
3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?
4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?
5 Do you live the law of chastity?
6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church? (Say, like a Hateful, Deceitful & Greedy DIVORCE?)
7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?
9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen? ( Ummmm… Would that Include False statements in Sworn Court Documents???)
10 Are you a full-tithe payer?
11 Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?
(MOST about ‘Being Mormon’; few about ‘Being Christian’)
LDS Scriptures contain references to Basic Christian Basics:
Baptism as an ordinance
Teachings of Core Christian principles-values:
Kindness & Honesty;
The Necessity of Repentance for one’s own sins & Forgiveness to – for others of theirs.
Charity, Mercy & Compassion, Patience.
Mormonism teaches a Strict orthodoxy; that the path to living in God’s presence in an Afterlife is dependant on Compliance to a SPECIFIC regimen of Commandments:
Baptism & Confirmation as an LDS member
Priesthood for men.
Eternal Marriage, ‘sealed’ if not Married in a LDS temple (not available to non-LDS)
Conformance to ALL of their sayings (I hesitate to term them Commandments), not matter how trivial – mundane:
- How many & what size earrings are acceptable (women ONLY, of course)
- WHITE shirts for men at church
- No tattoos, No wearing of flip-flops to church
- Women MUST NOT wear other than dresses/skirts to church….. NO Pants!
- wearing their own brand of underwear, which includes special markings.
They position these requirements as ‘Following the counsel of our leaders’; leaders who are, of course, infallible & greatly adulated. Their words are considered as God Directly speaking to them. There seems to be no item that can’t be immune from LDS leaders’ comments, which faithful Mormons regard as having divine origin. They tell members that Righteousness would be attributed to members following leaders’ counsel, even if the counsel turned out to be erroneous (HOW?).
So: while Mormonism presents itself as mainline Christian, adherence to its peculiar characteristics & requirements is the “A” ticket to approval – acknowledgment in the church.
I asked Xxxxx for Forgiveness. I reminded leaders that I hadn’t committed adultery/fornication.
However, Forgiveness, In Spite of being a REQUIRED Christian value – principle – practice, wasn’t on her menu.
Also, Mormons teach that Honesty is a Requirement for attendance at LDS temples:
Those who go to the temple will go with recommends that they are true Christians; that they are true members of the Church of Christ; that they are honest with their fellow men; that they live in accordance with the ideals of the gospel of Christ” from Teachings of Presidents of the Church David O. McKay © 2003, page 130
Xxxxx wasn’t Honest; it must be that leaders calculated / determined that her dishonesty was ‘Allowable’ or ‘Justified’ in this case…WHAT A LESSON FOR ALL INVOLVED!
Yet, Xxxxx maintains her ‘temple’ privileges!
Me on Forgiveness:
Forgiveness, at the end of the day, is a GIFT that someone who has been harmed Gives to the offender. It isn’t ‘earned’.
Christ taught that Forgiveness is MANDATORY for the person who claims / has suffered at the hands of another; It isn’t negotiable!!
Forgiveness is one of those things that can ‘Roll off the tongue’… but: Do we ever ‘KNOW’ how sincere it is coming from one who has voiced it? Similar to the claim of Repentance.
It’s my thought that Christ knew that we’re not adequate to determining with certainty how sincerely others have forgiven others (us), so we’re commanded to do it without reserve; likewise, once forgiveness is signaled to an offender, it should be accepted as genuine-sincere.
‘Forgive & Forget’ is what Christ taught in John 8 with the women brought to him in adultery, ‘even caught in the very act’; The real test of (claimed) Forgiveness can ONLY be: is the situation the same/identical to what is was prior to the incident – event?
Note: I NEVER did anything wrong thinking ‘It’ll be O.K., there’s always Forgiveness’
eta Comment: It seems to me... that by Ignoring Christ's words about divorce/adultery, that they Diminish the Value of NOT committing adultery!
It's as if they're saying 'No Big Deal', we Don't Care!
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2011 06:43PM by guynoirprivateeye.