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They eat babies*, but only after they eat Darwinists named Steve. It's part of their agenda to make sure the Discovery Institute's petition is the best!
You aren't a Darwinist, are you Steve?
-Bok
*Actually, now that I think of it, only Scott R does this. My whole conception of Mormons as been destroyed!
Posts: 7021 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
You might consider saying something like, "What sorts of things are you forbidden from doing?"
However, your question as stated was fine, my mind just tries to find the unexpected (and usually that means the funny) in things Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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2) As a member of the Mormon Church, are there any things that you are supposed to do to prove your faithfulness? (Thinking of, if I remember correctly, the Mormons being missionaries thing.)
edit: But, fugu, its not nice.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: Yeah, that is kind of what I was thinking.
Specific Question:
2) As a member of the Mormon Church, are there any things that you are supposed to do to prove your faithfulness? (Thinking of, if I remember correctly, the Mormons being missionaries thing.)
Have faith, I suppose.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Steve, I don't quite know how to answer your question because I'm not sure "proving anything" is important to the LDS faith. Prove to whom? I'd say the most important thing is being the best sort of person you can be, and what that sort of person is is defined by God and is found in scripture.
Things that are different from average society include the Word of Wisdom that Chris linked to and keeping sex within marriage only. (There are plenty of people who adhere do these things anyway, but it isn't a mainstream part of our culture.)
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote: 2) As a member of the Mormon Church, are there any things that you are supposed to do to prove your faithfulness? (Thinking of, if I remember correctly, the Mormons being missionaries thing.)
There really is no need to prove your faithfulness. The church's allure is that people are that they might have joy. The lifestyle is supposed to (and does for many members) be the reward.
There are culture aspects (like expected missionary service for 19 year old young men) that put pressure on people.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of the temple (and all ceremonies withing--like eternal marriage) or missionary work, then you have to pass an interview with your local leader to make sure you are worthy.
Worthiness is measured by keeping the word of wisdom and chastity, sustaining church leaders, being honest, attending the majority of church meetings, et cetera. Pretty generic Christian principals--except for the strictness of the word of wisdom and sustaining the priesthood.
If you have "transgressed" there is a repentance process that ranges from mild to excommunication.Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I guess another thing for being worthy to attend the temple is paying a "full tithe" to the church. This is simply defined as one tenth your income, and how you interpret that is a matter of personal conscience. No one does an audit on you or anything. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I would go withGospel Principles for an easy to read introduction to Mormonism. It's very simple and to the point.
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
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It's pseudo-doctrine (as far as I'm concerned). Similar to the "prohibition" against caffeinated beverages. Many Mormons believe it's something they shouldn't do (myself included), but I don't think it's officially accepted doctrine. <edit> Perhaps I understated the church's position: here is a quote from a former president of the church: "Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic. Don’t listen to music that is degrading." (Ezra Taft Benson, October 1986). Still, watching R-rated movies is not on a par with, say, drinking alcohol when it comes to church prohibitions. </edit>
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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We believe that there are some thigns that it is better to not see or hear. Pornography falls well within the scope of that, as would foul, sexually explicit songs.
Some church leaders have counseled various groups of members at various times that not watching rated R movies would be a good thing. How much weight that carries and how much to follow it is left up to the individual members. Some members will not see any rated-R movies. Others will.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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So, its not necessary to avoid R-rated movies? Because not all R-rated films feature pornographic material.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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As I said, it is left up to the individual members to make that decision. Some view the R-rating as helpful tool. As long as they never watch any rated-R movies, there is a whole swath of ugly things that they will never see. Others judge whether or not they should see individual movies. Others watch anything they want.
And it's not just pornography -- that was just an extreme example that I provided. Sexual explicitness is something to be avoided as well. I myself won't even see a PG-13 movie if it's rated that way because of sexual content.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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"Necessary" is a tricky word. Necessary for what? I believe there are members of the LDS church who enjoy all the blessings of the church and still watch R-rated movies. However, I also believe that all R-rated movies contain some subject matter that makes the person watching them a worse person for having seen/heard it, whether it's violence, sex, profanity, etc. I think any person trying to progress to the goals espoused by the LDS ideal will eventually abandon such entertainment.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Church meetings are three hours long and are broken up into three different meetings. In one of them most people sit and listen to the talks (sermons) of other members of the ward (congregation). In the other two, it's smaller classes with a teacher and discussion.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: Alright, thanks.
Generic Question:
What kind of stuff goes on during a church meeting?
There are three portions of the standard LDS meeting. During the most central, called sacrament meeting, talks by members of the congregation, prayers, congregational and/or choir hymn singing (accompanied by organ or piano), and a eucharist/communion-like ritual called the sacrament all occur. Oh, and probably plenty of toddlers running up and down aisles and babies crying and people falling asleep. The other two portions are class periods spent in smaller group settings studying particular principles of the gospel.
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quote: I also believe that all R-rated movies contain some subject matter that makes the person watching them a worse person for having seen/heard it, whether it's violence, sex, profanity, etc
Do you think it's the rating that makes the difference? What about in countries that don't use MPAA ratings?
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:I'm assuming that the teacher and discussion part is slit up into age groups?
For the youth, yes. For adults, no. Unless you count "adult" as a single age group, in which case I guess the answer is yes.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Yes. One hour is simply divided into age groups with classes for each age group of children (usually divided by year) and one large class for the adults. (Actually, some wards have multiple classes on different topics, depending on the needs of the ward.)
The other hour is divided by age and gender. Teenage boys aged 12–18 meet in one room, teenage girls (same ages) in another, adult women in another, and adult men in another (there may be more than one group of men). The children under 12 all meet together for this hour.
The only exception is toddlers under age 3. They basically have play time the entire two hours while everyone else goes to class.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Do you think it's the rating that makes the difference? What about in countries that don't use MPAA ratings?
No, I believe the rating is a result of the content. Whether I'm watching a movie in the US or the UK I would try to avoid movies with content that I find degrading. Any rating method is only as helpful as it acurately evaluates the things I find objectionable.
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Generally, do you just have discussions about the church during the separate meetings? Like how to apply that day's sermon to your life or what?
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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In Sunday School (one of the two smaller classes), we go through the scriptures. This year, we are going through the Old Testament. We started at the beginning at the first of the year, and will finish it around the end. Each lesson is generally about a certain section, like Genesis chapters 10-12.
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quote:Originally posted by Brinestone: The other hour is divided by age and gender. Teenage boys aged 12–18 meet in one room, teenage girls (same ages) in another, adult women in another, and adult men in another (there may be more than one group of men). The children under 12 all meet together for this hour.
Actually, there are more age divisions usually (3-7,8-11,12-13,14-15,16-17,18-up).
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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The first class I talked about generally focuses on the scriptures. Right now we are studying the Old Testament, Genesis in particular.
The second class focuses on principles of the Church, such as prayer, faith, charity, forgiveness of others, etc.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: Generally, do you just have discussions about the church during the separate meetings? Like how to apply that day's sermon to your life or what?
As Brinestone and mph have pointed out, the study schedule is independant of the theme for the sacrament meeting, and is actually usually coordinated on a church wide level (thus the lessons in every ward of the church, whether in Utah or Uganda, are based on the same material on any given Sunday. The teacher is given significant lattitude in adapting the lesson to the specific needs of the students).
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Actually, there are more age divisions usually (3-7,8-11,12-13,14-15,16-17,18-up).
I was talking about sharing time/YM/YW/Relief Society/Priesthood. Yes, the young men and young women split into other classes after the opening exercises, but the others don't.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Actually, there are more age divisions usually (3-7,8-11,12-13,14-15,16-17,18-up).
I was talking about sharing time/YM/YW/Relief Society/Priesthood. Yes, the young men and young women split into other classes after the opening exercises, but the others don't.
Ah, I see. We have separate sharing times for junior/senior primary (thus the 3-7, 8-11 split). Also all men 12-up go to the same Priesthood opening exercises, then split into their respective age group classes (not to belabour a somewhat unimportant point )
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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The current teaching on R-rated movies, as I understand it, is that members are counseled to see things that are uplifting and spiritually beneficial to them. The previous counsel about avoiding anything with an R rating has been superceded. Some people will choose to avoid anything with sexual content, based on their own feelings and personal guidance they receive through revelation.
I pick movies on a case by case basis, skipping anything I think is degrading or trashy, and choosing those that I think will be uplifting or important, but not paying much attention to the rating. I understand that to be what we are counseled to do now. I expect that the list of movies that positively affect me will be different from anyone else's list. I think this is how it should be.
It's as important not to reject good things as it is to avoid bad things. Deciding which is which is difficult, and it's necessary for each of us to make those decisions ourselves day by day. That's how we learn. We're lucky to have counsel that helps us discern the difference up front, so we can avoid much of the hurt that inevitably comes from making wrong choices. But we should be just as careful not to close ourselves off from what's good as we are to avoid what's bad.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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To add to Tatiana's post... I avoid horror movies and anything with a lot of violence. I'm easily affected by these things, including having nightmares. Clearly, they're not good for me to watch. So even if a horror movie is rated at below an R (I don't know the proper MPAA classifications) and would be acceptable to other people, I won't watch it because it's not good for me.
That includes the movie Poltergeist, by the way. I'm just a little wussy.
quote:I think you can't have committed felonies.
Not true.
If you've committed a crime, you may (or not, depending on the nature of the crime and other factors) be excommunicated as a part of the repentance process, but once you've repented, you can be reinstated. If the crime is in your past and you've served your time and/or otherwise repented of it, you may be baptized into the church.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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