Published in Bloggernacle,
Charity,
Culture,
Happiness,
LDS,
Mormon,
accountability,
apostasy,
apostles,
children,
christianity,
curiosity,
doctrine,
doubt,
faith,
inter-faith,
love,
marriage,
mormon,
questioning,
salvation and
women .
A recent post by Cr@ig on Main Street Plaza caused me to reflect on the strength of interfaith marriages. I had hoped to generate a follow-up post on
this topic at MSP. However, since the comments on the Cr@ig’s post devolved into a blame game of whether the believer or non-believer was more responsible for marital dissolution, I decided it was probably best to avoid a second opportunity for mud-slinging.
Differences in religious belief can be the death knell to a marriage. For that reason, many organized religions strongly advocate against being “yoked with unbelievers”. This is not only a Mormon phenomenon; you see this in any faith tradition that teaches that they alone have exclusive access to God. Even before marriage, it is rare for the unmarried, devout Mormon to even consider dating (let alone marrying) a non-Mormon; most LDS women raised in the Church are taught from an early age to make a temple marriage to a returned missionary their primary goal. Continue reading…

I would like to introduce Madam Curie which many of you know her by on her replies at Mormon Matters she also has her own blog Third Wave Mormon . She has shared with us what I think is a very interesting and thought provoking article.
Is a “believing heart” really a positive attribute?
“Blessed are those that have not seen, and yet have believed.” – John 20:29
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1
Having a “faithful” or “believing” heart is greatly prized among the religious. Those who uncover less savory aspects of LDS history are frequently told to “Just have faith,” even in the face of opposing evidence. As I have pondered the question of faith, I have begun to question whether a “believing heart” is really a positive attribute, or where and when it should be applied. Continue reading…
Published in Bloggernacle,
Culture,
Discrimination,
Folklore,
General Authorities,
Happiness,
LDS,
Leaders,
Logic,
Mormon,
apologetics,
apostasy,
apostles,
baptism,
book of mormon,
burdens,
christianity,
church,
cinema,
curiosity,
depression,
doctrine,
doubt,
education,
faith,
families,
historicity,
liberal,
marriage,
media,
mormon,
obedience,
ordinances,
polygamy,
questioning,
resignation,
righteousness,
spiritual progression,
temple and
tesimony .

A close friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous recently saw in the shadow of the temple his story follows
In October, I was fortunate to attend the Portland, Oregon, screening of the movie, In the Shadow of the Temple. http://www.intheshadowofthetemple.com The screening was hosted by the producers, Karen Di Millia and Dennis Lavery. Prior to the screening Dennis and Karen spoke for 10 minutes and explained how they started this project. After the screening they took questions and answers for roughly 30 minutes.
Lavery and DeMillia, who are not–and never have been–LDS, originally planned to make a movie about people who had left the religion of their youth. They attended a meeting of the Portland Humanist Society, explained their project, and asked if anyone had such stories they would be willing to share. In the course of discussing the project with members of the society, they were told that who they really needed to talk to was Sue Emmett, who had left the LDS church. After talking with Sue and others with whom she put them in touch, they decided to re-focus their project on the experience of those who have left the LDS church. Continue reading…
Published in Bible,
Charity,
Culture,
General Authorities,
General Conference,
Happiness,
Jesus,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
accountability,
apologetics,
apostles,
book of mormon,
children,
curiosity,
doctrine,
doubt,
faith,
families,
historicity,
joseph,
liberal,
marriage,
missionary,
plan of salvation and
testimony .
A temple wedding petition to is being circulated to promote love and happiness in the family by changing the church’s stance on civil marriages preceding temple weddings. The petition requests that the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints make it acceptable to have a civil marriage ceremony first, if desired, and then giving the couple the necessary time to attend the temple for the sealing ordinance as they do in those countries whose laws require it. (The petition is not endorsed by Mormon Matters; this information is being shared for discussion as a news item).
In the following video which lasts about 2 minutes, Jean talks about the stigma some members may feel if they choose a civil wedding ceremony. The other preseding videos last approximately 2 minutes each.
Temple Wedding Petition 3 Here
Continue reading…
Published in Anti-Mormon,
Charity,
Culture,
Discrimination,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
Priesthood,
Utah,
abuse,
adultery,
apostasy,
apostles,
baptism,
blacks,
burdens,
christianity,
church,
curiosity,
death,
depression,
doubt,
eternity,
excommunication,
faith,
historicity,
marriage,
media,
obedience,
ordinances,
polygamy,
prophets,
race,
repentance,
salvation,
tesimony,
thought and
women .
Recently I drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon with my brother and nephew. This is the canyon in which many of your ancestors pulled out the granite for the construction of the salt lake temple. As soon as we passed the granite facings on the side of the canyon my nephew played a song on his iPod by Corb Lund Brother Brigham Brother Young and it brought mental flashes into my mind of men working on the side of the mountain blasting granite out of it. It made me think of the struggles that men and women had even back then with the faith in many ways very similar to our day. From what I have read Mr Lund isn’t LDS but has relatives that are. Im assuming one of his relatives is a historian buff? Its probably safe to presume this song will never be played in a chapel
but I can’t help liking it! You can listen to his song Here Continue reading…
Published in Bloggernacle,
Folklore,
General Authorities,
General Conference,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
Priesthood,
apologetics,
blacks,
conference,
curiosity,
doubt,
faith,
families,
gay,
mormon,
orthodox,
questioning,
race and
revelation .
“It’s the MOST WONderful TIIIME of the YEARRRRRR.” The leaves are starting to change color. The evenings and mornings are a bit crisper. Even the birds’ singing suddenly sounds sweeter than ever.
General Conference must be coming this weekend.
Continue reading…
This is a guest post from Heber13.
As a guest author, a brief introduction is appropriate. I am a direct descendant from members of the Martin Handcart company of mormons, however, despite the efforts of my ancestors to make such sacrifices to walk across the plains to get out west, my parents decided to take a plane ride back to the East Coast where I was born and raised in the church my whole life. I attended BYU, served a state-side mission, and now am married with 4 kids that are the center of my life.
Continue reading…
Published in Bloggernacle,
Charity,
Culture,
Discrimination,
Folklore,
LDS,
Mormon,
President Monson,
blacks,
church,
curiosity,
diversity,
doctrine,
faith,
inter-faith,
liberal,
race and
racism .

President Barack Obama met with President Monson on Monday in the Oval Office, thanking President Monson for a thorough history of the first family. Continue reading…
Published in Bloggernacle,
Charity,
Devil,
God,
Happiness,
Jesus,
Mormon,
apostasy,
catholicism,
christ,
church,
curiosity,
death,
depression,
doubt,
faith,
fear,
inter-faith,
international,
jehovahs witnesses and
religion .

The ICM poll of 10,000 people in the USA, UK, Israel, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Mexico and Lebanon was carried out for the BBC Continue reading…
Published in Asides,
Charity,
Culture,
General Authorities,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
church,
curiosity,
death,
doubt,
families,
love,
mormon,
questioning,
religion,
reverence and
thought .
What do you want your funeral to be like? Do you care or do you figure you’ll be dead anyway? How do you feel about burial vs. cremation? Are you an organ donor? Continue reading…
Published in Asides,
Charity,
Culture,
General Authorities,
LDS,
Leaders,
Mormon,
Mormons,
apologetics,
catholicism,
christianity,
church,
curiosity,
diversity,
doubt,
inter-faith,
liberal,
media manipulation,
mormon,
obedience,
orthodox,
prophets,
questioning,
racism,
religion,
theology and
thought .
The church has a history of high level leaders making sweeping pronouncements that are later deemed incorrect, speculative, or unauthorized, yet in each case, church leaders are reluctant to make public correction of those presumptions. This tolerance sometimes results in dogmatic voices flourishing, drowning out those same tolerant voices that have graciously granted them access to the open mic. Continue reading…