A prayer is (or should be) a beautiful poem. For a believer, it is addressed to God. For a non-believer, it is addressed to whoever hears it. I would be glad to give such a prayer at a funeral (I am atheist). I would say something like this: "We, the friends and relatives of ____, now bow our heads in remembrance of the life that he led, the joys and friendships which he brought us
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Before I saw this post from Doxie, an old friend in New Mexico e-mailed me the link. I forwarded it to my editor at the New-Review, and she had already seen it, sent to her by a friend in Vancouver. I guess I am finally famous! :-) I write a general opinion column every other Sunday for the local newspaper, called "View From The Hill" and this was a column I wrote recently.
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Most Mormons today are unaware that there was a time when bishops and stake presidents received regular pay, based on the amount of tithing they collected. The bishop kept 10% of all tithing collected in his ward, and the SP got 1% of what was collected in his stake. In addition, SPs got a pension after they were released, which I presume was paid for from tithing. On a similar note, patri
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Some places people have listed are places where my TBM mother would not hesitate to go. Mom loved to gamble, and she'd usually win. Any time the folks were going through Nevada, she made dad stop at a casino for a quick visit. When they visited us in San Francisco, we took them to Finocchio's on Broadway, which is a famous nightclub show of female impersonators. (The only female in the sh
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Notice that in the epistle to the Corinthians Pauls specifically labels this as his advice only, not a revelation from God: "12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord:..." In another place the contradictory advice is given: do not be "unequally yoked" with an unbeliever (2 Cor 6:14). Paul does not label this as just his opinion.
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Here's the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/exmormon2010 Scroll down - there are five recordings. But DOWNLOAD THEM FAST because they may be taken down at any moment due to some misunderstandings between the conference organizers and the audio-video people.
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My wife and I were endowed on our wedding day in August 1952, in Idaho Falls. We were never told that I could not tell her my new name, so as we were in the car driving to our honeymoon destination, I told her that my name was Enoch. I commented that her new name was really odd (she had told me her name as I took her through the veil, of course). "What's so odd about it?" &q
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See "Leaving The Mormon Church: How To Get Out" at http://packham.n4m.org/leaving.htm If the BP is dragging his feet, telephone Salt Lake (number is at the link above) and complain. They will get things moving.
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If you want to quickly get rid of Mormon Elders when they come a-knockin' at your door, greet them enthusiastically and offer them your hand. Shake each of their hands carefully, using the Sure Sign of the Nail. This is sure to disturb them. If they ask you why you shook their hand that way, tell them you were testing to see if they were demons or spirits. This is sure to disturb them even fu
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honestone Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But doesn't it take a doubter to go to the > internet to begin to research??? Sure the info is > there but you have to GET THERE. A lot of Mormons have written to say that they found my website by doing an Internet search for materials to help them prepare for a Sunday school lesson. Some were quite indi
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The BoM has Hagoth's ships leaving from the coast on the "west sea" (one of the Great Lakes) and never being heard from again. Meldrum's principal sources for his theory, other than his DNA claims, are the statements of Mormon prophets. (In this respect, he should be much more believable to TBMs than the Limited Geography guys.) But Mormon prophets have identified the Pacific
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at the original site: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/exmormon2010 All the presentations have been excellent, but Jim Whitefield's is a must-watch!! The schedule is at http://exmormonfoundation.org
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8 pm Mountain time? or 7:30?
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I was chatting a few years ago with an exmormon Christian minister who often did informational picketing at temple open house events. He said that before one of those events he had been contacted by the FBI and warned that "Mormon Danites" were planning to do him harm. He went anyway. I suspect that there are some kooky Mormons who consider themselves "called" to do the
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It is church procedure, when a divorced member wants to remarry in the temple, that the church contacts the ex-spouse and informs him/her. The church also asks for any pertinent information the ex-spouse may have (child support current? any immorality? etc.) about the member that may have a bearing on worthiness. The ex-spouse is also asked for his/her feelings about the proposed marriage (al
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I just found out that in our town we have a car repair shop run by devout Christians. If you take your car in there for any kind of work, one of the items on your bill is "10% contribution to our church." So you pay $650 for the car repair, plus a $65 contribution to the owners' church. They take the item off if you complain, but then you come across as anti-religious.
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This month's Smithsonian magazine has an excellent article by Kenneth C. Davis, debunking the myth that America's history is characterized by religious tolerance. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Americas-True-History-of-Religious-Tolerance.html Toward the end, however, he uses the example of the Mormons' persecution to bolster his thesis. It simply parrots the Mormon myth
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n/t
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and counter-productive. It gives Mormons (and everybody) more ammunition for believing that exmormons are scumbags and crass. It would rank right up there with dumping dogshit on the bishop's porch.
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Misfit wrote: >He complained about the fact that too many mishies fast before going to the temple, and the MTC should've instructed mishies NOT to fast prior to doing temple work. Except that D&C 109:16 REQUIRES you to fast: " And that this house may be a house of prayer, a house of FASTING, a house of faith, a house of glory and of God,..."
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There were no "temple weddings" (i.e., weddings in special sealing rooms in the temple) during Joseph Smith's day. There were "sealings," and they were performed in various places - in JS' office over the red brick store, in private homes, etc. And they were done in secret, since polygamy was still a dark secret.
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Mormons have explained to me that "fulness" only means "all the basics," not "everything there is." And the BoM does say that the fulness of the gospel (Jesus' doctrine) is faith, repentance and baptism. 3 Nephi 11:31-40. Hmmm.... that passage also quotes Jesus as saying that anyone who says that there is more to Jesus' doctrine than that is of the devil....
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D&C 84:85 says: "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say " George Q. Cannon (First Presidency) said: "We are commanded to be subject to the direction of the Holy Spirit when we arise to speak; for if we speak as we should do, it is not we who speak, but it is the Spirit of God which speaks through us. On this account, the Elders of the Church do not, at least as
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It doesn't sound authentic - too many damning statements in one sentence. Sounds like something made up by a virulent "anti-Mormon".
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on slavery in early Utah. 179 pages. Very well done. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1909.pdf "Slavery and Sovereignty in Early Territorial Utah" by Nathaniel R. Ricks. Although it is a BYU history thesis, the author does not pull any punches, and tells it like it was. (Full disclosure: the author is my TBM grandson)
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D&C 21:4-5 commands the church to "give heed unto ALL words... For his word ye shall receive, as if from MINE OWN MOUTH..." . This idea was the basis for conferring the same reverence on succeeding prophets, in the common expressions "when the prophet speaks, the debate is over (or) the thinking has been done." Also in the often cited statement by Wilford Woodruf
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You've already had great advice, and I will add only a couple of thoughts. My law degree was earned over four years of night school; passed the bar on the first try in '74 while teaching full-time at the local community college. One of the other college teachers (history department) had a law degree. I asked him (after I was well into law school) why he didn't practice. He said he got
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Lots of people have found themselves in your situation. Some couples can work it out, some end up divorced. For some suggestions see http://packham.n4m.org/spouse.htm "Married to a Mormon!"
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"Follow The Prophet" is in a minor key, IIRC. Also "We Three Kings" (is that still in the hymnbook?)
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Which is actually in violation (almost always) of the commandment at D&C 20:46, 50, which says that a priest (teenage boy) should NOT bless the sacrament unless there is NO ELDER present! If any elder is present, the priest is not authorized to bless the sacrament.
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