I'm no expert in ancient languages, but that sounds about right. : )
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If you want to know how the Mormon church places value on different professions, look at the leadership. How many "blue-collar" stake presidents and general authorities are there? (I guess Jesus should have been a lawyer, not a carpenter.)
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http://unbaptism.org/ldsrevoke.html They also issue an attractive certificate, and they have just as much divine authority to do so as the Mormon church has to do anything it does.
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"Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: 'The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.' Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren." http://www.
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n/t
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... too sacred to share. Oh, and you would have invited them--if only they had been worthy to attend and were members of your sacred club. Maybe I'm not being constructive, but you can see how this might help them understand how it feels to be on the other side. Anyway, congratulations and best wishes to the two of you! : )
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n/t
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Several years ago, Rodney Stark published the following: "Today there are more than five million Mormons on earth. How many will there be in the near future? Projections require assumptions. If growth during the next century is like that of the past, the Mormons will become a major world faith. If, for example, we assume they will grow by 30 percent per decade, then in 2080 there will be
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One thing the Mormon church is good at is changing its teachings, policies and practices, as it is forced to do so (usually) by external pressures. And as such is the case, it is currently unrecognizable from what it was at its founding--and will again be unrecognizable in another century or so from what it is now. Another thing it is good at is convincing its faithful members that "the G
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http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/09/business/earth-institute-world-happiness-rankings/ And I am confident that the inverse relationship with Mormon church membership is not a coincidence.
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I had never seen the show, but a person with whom I have had a business relationship told me a few months ago that it's very funny, so I've started watching it and I really like it. The thing is, the young man who told me this is--I'm ninety-nine percent sure--a TBM: lives in Utah County, conservative style and personality. All I know for sure is that when I was his age (1990-ish), young TBMs
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"Tuesday, 5.— Attended the Hebrew school, divided it into classes. Had some debate with Elder Orson Pratt concerning the pronunciation of a Hebrew letter. He manifested a stubborn spirit, at which I was much grieved . ... "Wednesday, 6.—Attended school and spent most of the forenoon in settling the unpleasant feelings that existed in the breast of Elder Orson Pratt. After much
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and furnishings that could be used to help the poor.
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Yep, "doing good" is always with the intent that the beneficiary is a candidate for baptism ... at least that was my impression growing up Mormon.
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It's nice to get feedback confirming that your efforts have paid off, isn't it? Thanks for keeping up the good work, Richard! : )
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I'm not sure if it's supposed to be some kind of joke/exaggeration to put across a point, but it's definitely not accurate. For instance, if you search occurrences of the word "obedience" during the year 1980 on the lds.org site, you get the following results: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Alds.org+obedience+1980&biw=1366&bih=575&sa=X&ei=H-DZUtKXKcKsyAGYnYE
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Also problematic is the interpretation of Genesis 10:25 as meaning that all the earth's landmasses were joined together just a few thousand years ago: "President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: 'If … the earth is to be restored as it was in the beginning, then all the land surface will again be in one place as it was before the days of Peleg, when this great division was accomplished. Euro
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... he indeed would have been violating the Mormon God's laws, as you have shown from the D&C, and as also is found in the BoM: "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people ; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things . (Book of Mormon | Jacob 2:30) I think some Mormons try to deny JS had sex with his polygamous wives because they kno
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When I first discovered this tidbit, it blew me away: "One important change Joseph Smith made in his revelations was an obvious attempt to cover up the endorsement of Oliver Cowdery's supposed gift from God to work with a divining rod. Below is a comparison of the way this revelation was first published in the Book of Commandments and the way it has been changed to read in recent editions
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... from the claim that the Salt Lake Valley was a wasteland when the pioneers arrived ... to the tale of the seagulls saving the pioneers from the crickets ... they're all lies or gross exaggerations.
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... to the rest of the United States: "In January 1870 line was completed, connecting Salt Lake City to the national rail system. One of the benefits that the Mormon Church received from the coming of the railroad was the availability of low-cost transportation that would help to bring large numbers of its members to the new Zion. From places as distant as Europe, new members came by way
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I went to look at some of the actual scans of the books that the Ngram viewer graphs (linked at bottom of Ngram page). I looked at a few dozen examples and NONE of the books, before the beginning of the Mormon era (1830s), actually use the word "telestial." Instead, it looks like the Google digitizing software has misread the word "celestial" as "telestial." Oh
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They actually have a condensed version of "Mormonism: Shadow or Reality," available for free on their website. It's called "The Changing World of Mormonism," and most of the quotes they use are taken from Mormon church sources, which they reference throughout. Here's the link: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changecontents.htm
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The usually high temperature of tea and coffee causes an increase risk for esophageal cancer, not the tea and coffee themselves. However, both higher consumption temperatures and quantities of mate (which the Mormon church allows), increase esophageal cancer risk. From a systematic review of scientific studies: there is "...little evidence for an association between EC risk and amount
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It seems that some personalities thrive on Mormonism and it makes them feel very happy, but for many (most?) the opposite occurs. Depression, self-loathing, self-doubt become overwhelming. Many of these people leave the church--formally or informally--or stay "active" even though in their own minds they have rejected the parts of Mormonism that cause them the most pain. (RfM poster G
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n/t
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Yes, "which is ONE God" (found in The Testimony of the Three Witnesses as well as in 2 Nephi 31:21) is another smoking gun, in my mind. "Which ARE one God" (found elsewhere in the Mormon canon) is bad enough, but can be weaseled out of, I suppose, by the weak argument that such a formulation refers to their being "one in purpose." However, when you literally and gr
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They want their cake and eat it too; they disavow whatever portions of the JoD don't further their goals, but quote extensively from it when expedient. The following link is to a Google search of the lds.org website for the phrase "in Journal of Discourses" (which is the principle way they reference quotes from that resource): https://www.google.com/#q=site:lds.org+%22in+journal+of+
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... consider reviewing the following pages: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech6.htm And, http://mormonthink.com/firstvisionweb.htm (Be sure to read all the links in the box found at the right-hand side of the MormonThink page.) If you think they would be helpful, you could talk to your husband about them and/or have him read them himself.
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I think it will eventually happen, but not for two or three more generations--and almost certainly not before the Catholic church, and other conservative religions, make the official change in their practice. Until then, the Mormon church has plenty of cover.
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