Okay, here's a link for this story from the Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/12/sister-wives-family-challenge-utah-bigamy-law/print/ Note that the conservative paper, once funded by the Rev. Sung-yung Moon (the Moonies' cult) makes no attempt to hide the past polygamous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And yes, it's Utah's anti-biga
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I don't have a link for this yet, but Fox News is reporting this morning that the family profiled in "Sister Wives" is suing the state of Utah claiming its anti-bigamy (I'm assuming anti-polygamy) law is unconstitutional. I suspected somebody was going to try this sooner or later...
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I am posting on this topic with the links below, because several right-wing religious organizations in the U.S., including (if memory serves) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, actually were backing this hideous legislation. And, in eighteen months when the Ugandan parliament comes back into session, this bill could come up again. Anti-gay bill shelved: http://www.bbc.co.uk/new
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I'm guessing that one of the reasons that Roman Catholic posts may be proliferating on this site may be the upcoming Beattification of the late Pope John Paul II by said church. Regarding my initial post and your response, I can't help but remember the number of times in the gospel of St. Matthew (forged though it may be) where said Apostle has Jesus saying "I desire mercy and not sacrifice&
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Hi Danny. Nice to see a posting from you! While I agree with both you and Bona Dea on this topic (sounds contradictory, I know), I do think that many people--be they Mormons, Catholics, or others--tend to doubt their own capabilities and therefore want/need some source for support to keep them doing what they are doing (religion in a nutshell, right?). It would be nice if people took responsibili
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And at the end of the article, Mr. Ehrman has this to say about Mormonism: "If both the Old and New Testaments are full of fibs and forgeries, then what of other so-called holy books? "People always ask me that question about the Koran," Ehrman says. "Out of concern for my personal safety, I don't say a thing." However, he doesn't hesitate to say: "The Book
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For the record, though I just learned about this guy today, he is now one of my heroes. http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/150734 Here are my favorite paragraphs. "Forging holy books in an effort to save souls "is in one sense a noble cause, because it's not for self-aggrandizement, it's not for advancement, and it's not for money. It's because these people had somethi
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While my last post tackled differences between Mormonism and (Catholic) Christianity, this one goes to the heart of a problem with Roman Catholicism that has a related Mormon branch. Again, if the url is longer than one line, you will have to copy and paste into your browser to read the article. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/2-examples-margaret-sanger-vs.-st.-gianna/ From the article
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The link below may be too long for one line. If so, copy and paste into your browser. http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-trust-apostles-over-muhammad-or.html From the series of responses: "B. Mormonism Let me give you a few examples from Mormonism. First, in Pearl of Great Price, there's an entire book just about Joseph Smith and his family. There's nothing similar in
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T-Bone: I liked your response, and I'm glad you got to work with some partially sighted people in the past. Regarding your question, while blind and partially sighted people can perform many functions with the same results as the sighted, their means for getting the job done can be vastly different, especially if you are totally blind as I am. This difference in means has often led to job d
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3X: 1) Actually, the prices for Braille displays have come down a little bit. During the 1990s when I was working for a hotel franchising outfit, the state vocational rehabilitation agency paid for me to have a Braille display on the computer I was using at work. That was a 40-cell display, and, at that time (the tail end of 1990), the cost was about $7000 for a 40-cell display and around $11,
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I've been away from this board for a while and had not noticed this posting until today. Most of the answers you have received are quite good and correct. I was especially impressed with Jim Huston's, but I must tell you, Jim, that I am using a Focus-40 braille display supported by JAWS on top of JAWS' speech access. The two main reasons that you probably don't see too many blind people with b
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Brother of Jerry wrote in part: "And in 25 years, they will be the mid level leaders of Mormonism. I'd say the prospects for the future religious success of Mormonism are in serious question." I wouldn't be so sure about that. The best evidence we have now says that when people become parents, they fall back on the positions taught to them by their parents. This doesn't always hap
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/22/us-india-family-idUSTRE71L4VH20110222?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FoddlyEnoughNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Oddly+Enough%29 He beats Joseph Smith (but not Brigham Young) in the number of wives. And I think he beats both of them in the number of children! From the
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blindmag: Whether you are inside or outside of the U.S., you might try contacting the following two U.S.-based blind consumer organizations. While there are Mormons involved with both of them, the leaderships at the national level in both cases are not Mormon. And, whether or not you agree with their philosophies or ideals, they can assist you in finding alternative support arrangements. The
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Hi blindmag. Yes I've seen some of your posts. You're correct! It is much more difficult for blind people both inside and outside of Mormonism. This is because many sighted people, whether Mormon or not, have difficulty relating to people whose emotions don't usually show on their faces (the poker face, it's called). Psychologists tell us that more than 50% of the verbal communication we both
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(For those who are new to the board, the below was actually the second time someone has tried to convert me to your former religion--the first time occurred in 2007 when I feigned boredom and sleep.) As a few of you may remember, I proofread the braille versions of the AIMS tests used by grade school and high school students in the state of Arizona. Three Saturdays ago, the woman I was suppose
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http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/150006 Favorite paragraph: "The need for high school atheist groups -- or indeed, for atheist groups of any kind -- is baffling to many people. When USA Today ran an article about Brian Lisco and the SSA's new high school program, it was met with a barrage of hostile comments... partly in the hysterical "Satan is trolling for the souls o
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http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/12/20/news/doc4d0f807d1376a459373805.txt?viewmode=fullstory From the article: "...In his traditional, end-of-the-year speech to Vatican cardinals and bishops, Benedict said revelations of abuse in 2010 reached "an unimaginable dimension" that required the church to accept the "humiliation" as a call for renewal. "We mu
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One thing that may assist you in your struggles over this issue is the idea that we humans are very predictable creatures. If we have lied about certain topics in the past, we are likely to lie about those same topics in the future. Bringing this back to Mormonism, if the BOM isn't genetically and historically accurate (something you indicate understanding in your first post), then what is the
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAkytM0ZoVg This is a very obscure and lyrically perceptive song from the summer of 1972. The lyrics that, I think, most refer to the purposes of this site are found in the second verse and bridge which I quote below: 2nd Verse: "In order to form a more perfect union Religion will cost a man one-tenth of his gold. A piece of paper says he's redeemed
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http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2010/12/bias-in-black-and-white.html From the article: "The Golden State legal tussle has many parallels to the struggle to end bans on interracial marriage. Back then, some ministers and government officials fulminated against "race mixing" and argued that God did not favor such unions. In Virginia, a trial judge named L
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To answer one of your questions, U.S. law gives a lot of authority to parents, including the authority to question their children about mastaurbation. That said, that same authority is not necessarily given to authority figures in a church--but the children involved or their parents have to file the charges and have the evidence to back them up. Unfortunately, when it comes to mastaurbation and o
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The problem is that many of the scientific advances humans have made have come at the expense of a belief in a god being and its powers. From what I've observed thus far, we humans use the concept of God to 1) justify our own behaviors; and 2) criticize the behaviors of those we don't like. The only reason I consider myself an agnostic over an atheist is that while I am absolutely convinced that
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From everything I've read on this board and elsewhere on the subject (I was never a Mormon thankfully), the whole trick of recovering from Mormonism is rebuilding your own belief in yourself from the ground up. This includes learning to trust in both yourself and your own judgments, even if you do make mistakes. I wish you luck in your efforts.
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While I would like to take credit for the essay below, I have to say that it came from a friend who emailed it to a listserv for the blind that I'm on (his name is at the bottom of the piece). Read and enjoy! The Creation of God. No my dears, God is not dead, for he never existed. It is Man's imagination that has lifted him above other creatures. Imagination enabled Man to explore and
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Most humans are both poor and superstitious. This is why many follow this or that religious leader instead of trying to figure out their own way. Thankfully, a former Mormon missionary tried to convert me just once (the LDS woman I considered dating three-and-a-half years ago). I feigned falling asleep, and she never tried again.
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While the article didn't "sicken" me or anything like that, I wondered why the LDS church printed it. Specifically, I'm wondering if fewer unwed Mormons are giving up their infants for adoption through LDS Family Services, and the church is trying to provide support to this sponsored group. Fortunately, though my brother and his LDS ex-wife were divorced many moons ago (before the bi
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Nick Humphrey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > blindguy Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > might say. I am usually very suspicious of > people > > who make a 180-degree shift in their morality > > overnight > how are you suspicious? what are you suspicious > of? Fair questions. I
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I think it is important to recognize that the vast majority of humans do not change the values they were raised with, and those that do tend to gradually change those values over time as they gain knowledge they didn't have previously. It is really a minority of people who radically change their own morality overnight after they have changed their minds about religion, as SusieQ#1 might say. I am
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