That's great Richard. You must be Irish.
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Thanks.
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Thanks. It's my tribute to Joseph Smith.
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OK, here's another one: There was a young prophet named Joe whose libido was running the show his passion for beavers of buxom believers brought fame that continues to grow.
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Love it.
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I'm courting a lovely young dancer Who never takes no for an answer When she spins on her toes Her virginity shows and I see that it's safe to romance her.
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You're witnessing its slow decay into something unrecognizable from what it was 50 years ago. The 'teachings' will change. They've been changing all along. The Golden plates were interdimensional and not to be taken literally. The book of Abraham will be seen as only a channeled revelation. Jesus is too busy to be at the helm all the time. It may be run by AI someday. It may be now. Just
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It means you have the approval of Mormon authorities. You have done something good in their eyes, like going on a mission, or paying your full tithe.
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Can you give an example of how you were betrayed. There are so many ways. In my case, I found out they were lying about church history. I discovered that all of the the founding events were fabricated. Every one. There was no way I could not remain a member.
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It's really about permission to have sex. They pile the guilt on you when you're single about the "sin next to murder" if you dare touch someone else. It's a form of control. After you consummate the marriage, they control you in other ways, and you know what those are.
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They're going to ignore you when you stop showing up. If you don't give them the communal reinforcement (testimony) they need, they have no use for you. Their own testimony relies on OTHERS, not on themselves.
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Cimmaron Tequila from Jalisco Mexico.
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They're inbred already. They rarely fully accept new converts from outside of Utah into positions of authority. The LDS church is in the beginning of a death spiral. Only cultural Mormons are considered for promotion to authority status. So the gene pool is shrinking. Outside of Utah, the Mormon church is just a curiosity. Go to Boston or New York City, and ask people what they think of Mormon
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They tell you what to wear. They tell you what to eat. They tell you what movies to avoid.
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I think it means, don't face one direction ( to Utah) when you're having fun. Keep moving. Keep looking.
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I gave myself permission to read whatever I wanted. I told the Bishop this, and he winced. It was worth it. The truth was easy to find. I'm gone.
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When you leave you can laugh all you want. Then you will know how Fu*ked up they are.
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They want to destroy your individuality. Laughing shows you're happy with yourself. It reveals a sense of freedom. You're supposed to be a cog in our machine. You work for us. You are nothing. How dare you laugh out loud. Do you question us? Get in line.
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The original post was about the decline in church attendance. We are certainly pushed to buy and consume as much as possible, and we do that quite well. However, the glue that holds us together as Americans, are the freedoms guaranteed to us in writing: freedom to own property, of speech, of the press, freedom of religion, to keep and bear arms, and many more. We are taught this in school.
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America is much more mature than in Tocqueville's time, and adolescents are more difficult to deal with than toddlers, especially when they're in puberty. I agree, evangelical extremism is a result of weakness, which results from doubt, uncertainty, fear. As far as wielding religion like a sword, I think they wield it like a suppressed Glock 9mm. They can kill silently without hardly moving
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Yes. The so-called religious right in the U.S. wear religion like armor to protect themselves from heathens, pagens, and all the other non-believers they are surrounded by, afraid of straying off the straight-and-narrow path. Afraid of losing 'salvation'. Bedrock belief systems, like Christianity, Mormonism, etc. take a long time to chip away, but the truth will emerge eventually.
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Before the covid pandemic, church attendance in the U.S. was around 56% for people who attend at least once a month. After the pandemic, at least once-a-month attendance is at 35%. When I was TBM, I attended every week, as I'm sure you and most TBMs did. Once a month is wishy-washy at best. So, people got used to staying home on Sunday, having a leisurely breakfast, walking the dog, lett
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No. I joined because I thought it was true. I left because I found out it's not true. I did not like getting up early on Sunday, and rushing to church.
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The True radical: • Knows that a man gets his power from a willingness to do anything. • Knows the cost of unquestioned acceptance of popular myths is your freedom, and your sanity. • Knows that mental suffering is the result of an unexamined beliefs. • Knows the world is full of myths, and many are foisted upon the ignorant for profit. • Knows that transcending
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Yes. I found the teachings of Advaita Vedenta to be much more clear. They teach we have a causal body, a subtle body, and a gross body. I believe only the causal body reincarnates leaving behind the personality and memories of the gross body. So, the 'person' does not reincarnate, but the causal body, influenced by experiences, carries the influences to the next gross body, and continues.
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There is nothing you can do to become what you already are. You are that which you are seeking. Our minds get cluttered up with thoughts which cause emotions and cloud our ability to see who we are. Your true nature is awareness, nothing more. Let go of everything else, and you allow the ego to dissolve. When it is gone, you will know the truth.
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Mind is an object appearing in awareness. Anything you can perceive is an object appearing in awareness. We live in a non-dual world. This means there is only one thing that is real. That which never changes. Awareness. Everything else is an object appearing in awareness, and will not last forever. You are awareness. You will never end.
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You are not a person, you are the awareness in which the person (you)appears. There is only awareness, and all that appears in it are objects appearing in awareness. Awareness is not a thing, and it is not nothing. So what is it? It is that which never changes, and is always present. It has no beginning and no end. Awareness has no attributes, and can not be measured. This is what you are. J
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Why do I only see (ex)ward members in Walmart? It's the only place I see them. Never in the better grocery stores. Never anywhere else. Since leaving, I've run into ward members in Walmart so many times, I lost count. I don't go into the Walmart ward anymore.
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Bodhisattvas put off their own enlightenment to help others reach enlightenment. Which is ridiculous. They would be far better able to help others reach enlightenment if they were enlightened themselves. Church leaders are not enlightened. How much can they help you?
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