As a TBM, didn't you find it infuriating that rich Mormons were allowed to break the Sabbath, but the rest of us plebes were not...

I have known various well to do Utah Mormon families. They bend the Sabbath to fit their means. I remember thinking (because I didn't grow up in Utah) how much they were sinning.

Where I was raised, outside the Morridor, we were basically taught that any form of recreation on Sunday was wrong. The most we would be allowed to do is go for a walk - but no bike rides, no TV, no movies, no sports ....and definitely no swimming.

The mission prez was here, and Mr. Pompous disparaged the members for even owning boats. He called them 'tithing boats.' Here in this hot dry area, many members, including my then TBM spouse, had boats as a way of surviving the months of intense heat. And he certainly didn't take a penny of tithing to buy it. Amazing how the higher ups will suck the last bit of relaxation and enjoyment from the members, while they have regular expensive vacations.

Hey, I now sometimes go boating on the Sabbath, too! This is the only thing the Mittster and I have in common, though.

I had a BP who once said in a comment during my Sunday school class that owning an Aston Martin was a sin because people who owned them were proud of their money. Pride is a sin, so you better drive a POS.

Owning a boat is a sin because it doesn't offer profits like a mall or a condo.

Sounds like the local leaders need a slap.

I'm not sure how TBM he really is. On a scale of one to ten, ten believing the three nephites changed your tire, he could be anywhere from a one to a ten, but I would probably give him a five. Thinks the church is true, but isn't going to let it get in his way.

Will Mitt be arrested again like when he went boating in 1981 ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2012 12:16AM by Dave the Atheist.

I live on an island. The bishops all had a problem with anyone who owned a boat. I think it was because none of them had one, so they wanted everyone who had one to feel bad about it.

One time my husband had a business trip to Tofino. It's common for all the guys to charter a boat and go fishing. It's usually over a week-end. My husband caught some salmon. When he got home the bishop dropped by, and asked my husband if he could have some of the salmon. My husband told him he didn't think it would be a good idea because he had caught it on Sunday. The bish didn't miss a beat. He said that was ok, just don't tell his wife and kids.

It bugs me when people say, "I'm not allowed to ___________. I'm a Mormon." What do they mean, they're not allowed? Is someone physically restraining them? No. What they really mean is that they have chosen to obey the church's teachings. CHOSEN. So, really, they have themselves to blame. We always had the option of giving the church the middle finger, but we were cowed, we were submissive. They had us indoctrinated into believing we were on the right path and that awful things would happen if we didn't conform. But here we are. We realized we were allowed to leave.

I've always found the dichotomy between high profile mormons and "average joe" mormons amusing.

No GA ever chastised Steve Young, and he made his living on Sundays as player, and now as an analyst. If it benefits the church and their recruiting efforts, the rules can be bent any way they want.

Rulon Jones, a Denver Broncos player in the 80's was in our ward growing up, and one prominent family believed it was OK to watch him play on Sunday.

All of this rule bending BS conforms perfectly with the history of the church. If you can help us grow, we can make an excuse for any behavior.

I've heard many members say it's OK to go swimming on Sunday if you have your own pool. Sounds like something a rich #$@%& like Mitt would say.

How does he even have the conscience to do it? Back when I believed, this would have eaten me alive.

Conscience?

Giving the authority to choose your values to others, giving others the only important words in a debate, giving the Brethren the right to interpret scripture down to three words of advice: pray, pay and obey...

All of that shrivels the conscience and makes adolescent pranksters out of grown men, found sucking cigars behind the shed while the pseudo-parent-authority figure isn't looking.

Mormonism infantilizes adults and causes the conscience to atrophy. Mitt's is clearly vestigial being he's hiding money in Switzerland and the Caymens to keep from paying the country he loves so much his fair share of taxes.

Anagrammy

+10

Is it really the same thing when your boat is basically a floating luxury hotel? I mean that is more like sitting around your house, then participating in an actual sport.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2012 06:47PM by forbiddencokedrinker.

Did he tie his pet dog Seamus to the yardarm?

No, but they did attach the goldfish bowl to the bottom of the boat.

He was a High Priest and his calling was the Stake Clerk.

He loved NFL football, so he routinely watched Sunday NFL games. I like bicycling and hiking for sports. My father wouldn't let me do those activities on Sundays. That hypocrisy really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed to me like a bike ride was less abusive of the Sabbath than an NFL Footbal Game. That really pissed me off.

The real issue is the temple recommend. Other religions may encourage certain behaviors, but the lds church makes adherence to the rules a requirement for admittance to the house of handshakes.

So what do members do? Knowingly break the rule and then lie during the worthiness interview, justify their behaviors as okay, or secretly resent members who break the rules and get away with it? Either way, it's not a healthy atmosphere.

Conformance - Compliance - Control

but NOT for the Royalty!

To continue your list of "c's":
Royalty = Coffers

To TheBrethren, nothing matters as much as access to the coffers.

What about Brandon Flowers of The Killers? He has acknowledged he occasionally smokes and drinks, yet he is touted in the "I Am Mormon" campaign as an example Mormon father?

Hey, he's smokin' for the Lord.

That is having you live in the dark ages....and of course that is where the bigwigs want you. Do not be of this world. But my convert daughter breaks this all the time....even shops at Walmart on Sun. - sometimes in her Sun. church clothes. She has also gone to movies on Sun. and for sure she is a TV watcher each day of the wk.

I've never owned a boat--a combination of frugality and hardscrabble, I'm afraid. It does crack me up that people out here in the dry west desire boats so much. In drought years the lakes and reservoirs are often too low for launching.

If you do own a boat, you'd be foolish not to use it on Sunday. That's half your weekend. I would like all Mormon boat owners to follow Mitt's example and go boating on Sundays. In fact, follow Mitt's example to shut the hell up about the "gospel." Close down the missions and act like a mature religion, for god's sake.

I'd rather see boating than gloating on Sundays.

Amen. If everyone in our ward had a little boat with a motor, and they went out in Puget sound to watch the whales on Sunday, they would have been some of the most spiritual people i've ever known.

A killer whale swimming by is a more spiritual experience than I ever had at church.

Thanks for expounding on my point.

the 'rules' of Mormonism says ONE Thing:

the leaders can make up whatever Silly / Worthless rules that they want, and 'no one' above them can challenge their 'inspiration' that they're needed for those particular people.
They make a half-hearted attempt to enforce them evenly, but that often fails.

Mitt can eat all the coffee ice cream and go boating on the sabbath all he wants. I wish more Mormons would do this. At least the guy seems like he has fun instead of being some bitter guilt tripper who is not happy unless he makes others around him miserable.

there is ALWAYS an exemption for the elite, whether its God commanding Joe to *marry* some 14 year old or postponing the missionary service that is so critical for others to be performing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IybKqL62mWY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2012 02:47AM by lucky.