http://www.gq.com/story/dear-utah-here-are-some-movies-you-can-watch-instead-of-porn GQ responds to state Sen. Todd Weiler's proposal to label pornography a public health crisis.
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http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21688587-young-single-idle-males-are-dangerous-work-and-wedlock-can-tame-them-men-and-mayhem An article from last week's Economist cites "the polygamy powder keg" as a contributing factor in Nigeria's ongoing violence. Can't be good for the PR department when the Church is cited alongside the murderous terrorist group Boko Haram. "
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgtCSfOED6w The trailer just came out for Hulu's new show "The Path" which chronicles a man's realization that he's been living a lie while part of a creepy cult. The parallels are obvious. I'm super excited to see Aaron Paul back on television. I was an avid "Breaking Bad" fan. I also loved him in "Big Love" where he played an E
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No Kindle addition :/
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This book has been on my reading list for a long, long time. Finally finished it and have to say that it blew me away. I recommend anyone who is unfamiliar with one of the great modern miscarriages of justice take a look. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three The book extensively examines matters of faith. For Damien, one of the biggest heartbreaks was realizing that Christiani
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http://www.amazon.com/Polygamist-King-Murder-Exotic-America-ebook/dp/B0192KE3U6/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_sr?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Short ebook just published. Only $3 on Kindle. Summary: "The astonishing story of James Strang—a religious rebel who became a figure of curiosity, sympathy, and murderous hatred. James Strang was a lawyer, a newspaper editor, and a
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It always amazed me how many members (myself included) would conveniently forget that it was F&T Sunday. Breakfast sandwiches taste even better when you know everyone else is hungry! Ha!
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I imagine that not all occasions that a costume is appropriate would be tolerated. Our ward Halloween party flyers always came with a bold disclaimer: "All costumes MUST adhere to Gospel Standards."
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I had no idea that there were actual exceptions. I imagined it was simply something that was tolerated, but that members were to be counseled away from careers and activities that would cause them to deviate from "Gospel Standards." Thanks.
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I'd be interested in policy communications so that we can understand exactly how new apostles, GAs are screened and selected and how new relevalation is decided. I WOULDN'T want personal data revealed - tithing amounts, TR, etc. It would be my hope that a future leaker would first turn over the cache to a reputable news organization. They have policies and procedures in place to properly filte
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Large metropolitan area. English-speaking family wards declining due to people moving out as soon as they have kids. Spanish-speaking wards stable due to moderate convert growth keeping up with those going inactive. YSA wards stable due to influx of college kids, however, there's a huge drop in single graduates.
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Also want to add in that this SP a) once counseled a member to not become a firefighter because it would require him to work on the sabbath, and b) encouraged a member to quit a well paying marketing job because one of the accounts was a tobacco brand.
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https://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/ There's probably an intelligence officer who at one point had access to all the electronic communications of the COB. Imagine what a leak like that would have done.
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Amazing, beautiful dancer - if you happen to be reading this forum, my wife and I would like to invite you over for dinner!
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DW and I saw the Nutcracker earlier this week. It was a great performance put on by a local ballet company. I like to pride myself on coming up with great date night ideas, but credit for this one goes to our stake president who recently emailed the members asking them to go support one of our own "lovely ladies" - a dancer for the company. The stake president and his wife has previous
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http://www.vox.com/identities/2015/12/2/9836846/religion-transgender "As the Pew Research Center noted on Wednesday, a few organizations still take ambiguous but seemingly negative stances toward trans people — and some, particularly more conservative religious groups like the Mormon Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, are downright hostile, rejecting trans people altogether.&qu
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The "Do you believe in Jesus?" thread got me thinking about the following quote from the most brilliant show that's ever graced our television screens (South Park). Kyle: "It's all real. Think about it. Haven't Luke Skywalker and Santa Claus affected your lives more than most real people in this room? I mean, whether Jesus is real or not, he... he's had a bigger impact on the wo
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God? No. Bad-ass rebel who took a stand against the most powerful empire the world had ever seen? Hells yeah!
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I disagree in the sense that I felt a degree of gratitude and indebtedness to my grandparents and the other moral crusaders. That's the part I later found to be absurd. To thank my grandparents for saving my life would also mean I should also thank my ancestors for their genocide of the North American natives and the enslavement of Africans which ultimately led their posterity to thrive, pr
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My mother was 19 when she got pregnant with my 22 year-old father. They had known each other for three months. They were both well on their way to becoming disbelieving inactives, but were still under the influence of their uber religious parents. Had it not been for familial pressure on both sides, they would have most likely had gotten an abortion and continued with their separate lives. They i
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You know it's not quite that simple, but I don't want this thread to descend into how democratic/autocratic/plutocratic/kleptocratic/etx. our society actually is. Just saying that it's silly to demand moral absolutism from people, is the same way it's silly for a church to demand moral absolutism from it's members.
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Believing that the church would "come around" was the keystone of my continued active involvement for years. I just knew that a new, fresh take on social issues was just around the corner. The policy changes crushed that belief.
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Has anyone ever attempted to forecast future names based on past data? What a PR disaster if the code for the algorithic temple name generator got leaked.
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There are many good reasons to leave Mormonism, but I don't think being a moral absolutist is one of them. I find many of the things America does at home and abroad deplorable. That doesn't mean I'm going to renounce my citizenship or stop paying taxes. I find that our corporatist economic system is too often exploitative and ethicly bankrupt. That doesn't mean I going to become a hermit an
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You're right. I don't owe them anything. But I want them to know exactly why I'm leaving. I was a cheerful, active, millennial member who went out of his way to try and make the place lively. Even if I'm just a drop in the bucket in terms of tithing dollars, I want them to know that their actions have real life consequences to the sustainability of the church. This bishopric has chosen to spea
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Just being facetious. Contrasting someone who's just reaching out to me because they're obliged to ("employee") versus those who genuinely care - my friends.
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I knew it was coming. Just didn't know when. After a few months of reduced attendance and activity, followed by a complete and total abatement, the FT missionaries have requested to meet me to "see how I'm doing." My close ward friends all know. Their reactions have ranged from "I hope this is just a temporary thing" to "in all honesty I'm surprised you didn't leave
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BOM musical reference.
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Never heard that past lay leaders would be part of your judge/jury/executioner. Just HF, JC, and JS. Any "doctrinal" support for this?
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In Mormonism's cosmological multiverse, the expectation is that those deemed most worthy will be exhaulted to Godhood and proceed to create and populate their own world with their own spirit children. The world will presumingly require a council of heaven to decide matters of free will, and possibly a savior to put that plan into action. As there clearly wasn't anyone more worthy than JS. Has
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