Category Archive for ‘new order mormon’ at Mormon Matters

Archive for the 'new order mormon' Category

Is a “believing heart” really a positive attribute?

Published

on December 27, 2009

in Bloggernacle, Charity, Mormon, accountability, apologetics, apostasy, book of mormon, christianity, curiosity and new order mormon

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…

98 Comments

To Those Struggling In Their Faith

Published

Euhemerus

on November 13, 2009

in LDS, Mormon, Mormons, doctrine, history, new order mormon, orthodox, questioning, religion, surviving, testimony and theology

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There are many within Mormonism who struggle daily with their faith. They have been exposed to historical information they were not aware of, they were torn in political battle, they dislike the culture, or in some other way awoke to a “reality” they had not known before. It can be a lonely place in a tight knit community with such strong beliefs. And when a person is in that frame of mind, it often feels like the solution is to crawl in a hole and disappear. To further throw salt in the wound, the church doesn’t have any sort of official support group, or weeknight class, or specially trained individuals to handle such a dilemma. They are alone, and desperate, as they watch the foundation of their life get blown apart like a bomb in the basement of a skyscraper! They are often told to have more faith, to wait, read the scriptures, fast, pray, etc. But these answers now feel empty and unpromising. My heart goes out to these people. I have been there, and sometimes revisit (though I try to make the visit short). Continue reading…

21 Comments

Adam and Eve: the First TBM & NOM

Published

Andrew

on June 29, 2009

in Bloggernacle, General Authorities, LDS, Leaders, Logic, Mormon, Mormons, accountability, church, diversity, doubt, faith, history, liberal, love, marriage, mormon, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, parables, prophets, questioning, religion, scripture, spiritual progression, spirituality, symbols, testimony and thought

Adam-and-Eve-Garden There have been several attempts over the years to categorize Mormon “belief-styles”: Orthodox Mormon versus Liberal Mormon, Iron Rod Mormon versus Liahona Mormon, and so on. In the online world of LDS blogs commonly called “the Bloggernacle”, Mormons are often categorized as being TBMs (True Believing Mormons) or NOMs (New Order Mormons).

One evening when my wife and I had the opportunity to reflect on the timeless story of Adam and Eve, it struck me that their different responses to God’s commandments, and to Lucifer’s “temptation”, perfectly exemplified the different mindsets of TBMs and NOMs, and symbolically portrayed the age-old struggle between Orthodox and Liberal in any faith. And as I meditated on their dramatic dialog with Lucifer, with each other, and with God, it donned on me that Adam and Eve were the perfect TBM-NOM couple.

55 Comments

The Facade of Activity

Published

Jeff Spector

on June 5, 2009

in Bloggernacle, Culture, Mormon, Mormons, accountability, church, faith, mormon, new order mormon, religion, sacrament meeting, spirituality and testimony

You see them every week at Church, attending their meetings, performing their callings, shuttling their children to this or that activity. They are active in the Church by every definition. But are they really ACTIVE in the Church? Are they ACTIVE in the gospel?

154 Comments

The consumer model of religion — A look at a BCC post

Published

Andrew S

on May 30, 2009

in LDS, Mormon, Mormons, doubt, faith, liberal, new order mormon, questioning, religion and spirituality

I was reading BCC the other day, and I came across this post that just seemed like this tremendous threat to me. I know John C had nothing in mind and really, I’m just writing this for the melodrama, but as an ex-mormon atheist, it seemed to hit close to home. John just had it out for those militant atheists, but I guess they do enough to deserve some of it.

I wanted to make a qualification and…perhaps…a defense…of what he lambastes as a “consumer model” of religion…especially since recently on my blog, I’ve been talking about the need to find one’s philosophical “fit” (and others have written about similar issues).

Part of me wants to summarize John’s main points. The other part (perhaps that militant atheist one) wants me to tell you all to not be lazy and read that BCC post (the first link — it’s good) [partially because I'll probably botch things up in a summary and partially because I will make this post too long if I summarize here.] Continue reading…

81 Comments

Who Should Go to Church, Anyway?

Published

Andrew S

on May 2, 2009

in LDS, Mormon, Mormons, church, diversity, doubt, liberal, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, questioning, religion and righteousness

So over at T&S they’ve been having this discussion about the recent media report about the majority of America’s drifiting faith issues. And I know, you’re about to say, “Dude, this isn’t T&S. We do things differently at Mormon Matters,” and I understand. And while I discussed this a bit at my blog, I most definitely know we do things differently here than there. So I wanted to try to approach the subject differently here and add some value (well…perhaps I won’t be so successful at this latter endeavor.) Continue reading…

49 Comments

Why B,B-S-W A-As Who Support Extension of the Priesthood to W-w-l-P are Depressed

Published

Andrew S

on March 29, 2009

in Asides, Culture, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, burdens, doubt, liberal, new order mormon, obedience and questioning

I decided to spare everyone the full title of this article: Why Bearded, Blue-Shirt-Wearing African-Americans Who Support Extension of the Priesthood to Women who love Pr0n are Depressed. (And that title, if you can believe it, is actually culled from what the internal memos discussed).

I’m sure there are several writers on site who are busily searching through intellectual copyright law as I speak, so I must speak quickly before I get shut down (not to mention before the Bearded, Blue-Shirt-Wearing African Americans and Women who love Pr0n nab me for libel).

The other day, John C at BCC made another Monday Morning Theological Poll and asked: “True or False: If someone wishes to leave the church, it is because they have some grave, unconfessed sin?”

…I don’t know how representative BCC is of Mormondom as a whole, but if we can but abuse statistics for this one time, we can come to the conclusion that, overwhelmingly, Mormons do not believe such a claim. Just looking at the stats, more Mormons percentage-wise say “no” to such a claim than Facebookers hate the new Facebook design (drat, that’s a lie: Facebook’s current 93% hate [with millions of votes] tops the 91% of BCCers that say false. But if Obama’s 53% of the popular vote can be a landslide and Prop 8’s 52% can just be a “narrow victory,” then I’m game for anything statistic-wise.) I’ll add Obama supporters to the list of people coming after me. Continue reading…

12 Comments

Coming out of the closet

Published

Andrew S

on March 26, 2009

in Culture, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, apostasy, diversity, liberal and new order mormon

A while back I was reading an article by Seth Payne (and I blogged about it on my personal blog from a slightly different perspective)…and I guess I was most impressed/shocked by something that Seth had done.

See, while I was already interested in the paper because he tried to analyze the Ex-Mormon exit narrative (I’m just a sucker for that…even if someone gets it wrong [it happens more often than I'd care to admit], but fortunately Seth had a reasonable analysis, I think) what I didn’t expect was in this shift that Seth took. Rather than speaking about how flawed and petty and prideful Ex-Mormons must be or whatever, he notes:

…the narratives themselves seem to be driven by an estrangement process both doctrinal and social. I believe that we, as liberal and intellectual Mormons are partially to blame for perpetuating these feelings of estrangement.

I discussed this a bit on my blog, but I wanted to discuss this again because I hadn’t really quite seen something like it. Continue reading…

155 Comments

Every exmember a missionary

Published

Andrew S

on February 27, 2009

in Anti-Mormon, Mormon, Mormons, apostasy, missionary, new order mormon, race and religion

And now, dear friends at Mormon Matters, is your regular report from the Dark Side of the Moon.

I was reading a comment in another article here, and what Doug had said intrigued me:

This board started out as a place for middle-way thinking people to discuss problematic issues with doctrine and history. It would now appear that anyone with an opinion different then the “current LDS view” is attacked as I and many others have been. On several other discussion boards, mormon matters is considered a pro LDS blog. Gentlemen, just say the word and I’ll find another place to try and help those who don’t see the church the way you do understand that they’re not alone. I guess it’s true; there is in reality no room for a NOM in the church.

I don’t know if I have ever thought of MM as anything other than a pro-LDS blog. But I *have* always recognized that this site is of a different caliber, of course, than M* or T&S and others. So I guess, I’ll try to shake things up and offer a different perspective and hope that I don’t get chased out on a rail. Continue reading…

77 Comments

Authority Problem? Why not morality?

Published

Andrew S

on January 29, 2009

in Culture, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, church, liberal, new order mormon, obedience and religion

About a week ago (if I’ve got this newfangled blog software system set up and can submit this article correctly this time, that is [what's worse is that I use this stuff for my own blog, actually {sorry guys; I'm really breaking the blog fourth wall here}]), Hawkgrrrl wrote about The Problem with Morality. In it, she raised that oft-repeated idea that Mormons are so unquestioningly obedient to their authority leaders that “when the prophet has spoken, the thinking is done.” She raises this up in a somewhat negative light (and haven’t you seen it brought up in a negative light?) Usually…someone is criticizing the church or its members for taking such an obedient position. Continue reading…

20 Comments

Horus Bible Parallels

Published

James

on January 25, 2009

in Anti-Mormon, Bible, Bloggernacle, Culture, Folklore, Jesus, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, Mormons, Sermon on the Mount, Uncategorized, apologetics, apostasy, book of mormon, books, christianity, church, curiosity, diversity, doubt, education, evangelicals, faith, fear, general, history, inter-faith, international, liberal, marriage, mormon, movies, new order mormon, orthodox, parables, questioning, religion, scripture, spirituality, tesimony, theology and thought

Recently I saw Religulous here and he touched on Horus here and a few of the parallels between the story of Horus and Jesus.

Many Mormons when they start delving and unravelling events in our history also delve into what they can find out about (possible origins)

20 Comments

Can you be a Unitarian and a Mormon at the Same Time?

Published

James

on December 29, 2008

in Anti-Mormon, Bible, Bloggernacle, Culture, God, Happiness, Jesus, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, apostasy, book of mormon, catholicism, christ, christianity, church, curiosity, death, diversity, doubt, education, faith, families, fear, general, inter-faith, international, liberal, love, media, mormon, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, prayer, prophets, service, theology and thought

We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons. Joseph Smith

27 Comments

Unity, Diversity and Conformity

Published

Hawkgrrrl

on December 21, 2008

in Asides, Charity, Culture, Discrimination, Mormon, Mormons, apostasy, burdens, curiosity, diversity, doubt, education, faith, families, mormon, new order mormon, orthodox, questioning, service, temple, theology and thought

How do we create and maintain unity at church while valuing diversity and avoiding conformity? Do we have to embrace the diversity of those who value conformity? Do we have to unify with those whose diversity gives us the heebie jeebies? Continue reading…

7 Comments

The Church as a Tool

Published

guest

on November 7, 2008

in Anti-Mormon, Asides, Charity, Culture, God, Happiness, LDS, Mormons, Peace, Priesthood, apologetics, apostasy, christ, christianity, church, curiosity, depression, diversity, doubt, education, faith, fear, history, mormon, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, parables, prayer, prophets, questioning, religion, testimony, theology and thought

What is the church to you? A family you must learn to love? A path you must follow? A checklist of items you must do to be saved? Today’s post talks about the church as a tool and is from guest poster Jordan Turner. Continue reading…

21 Comments

FacesEast, an Interview with Prairie Chuck

Published

Brian Johnston

on October 21, 2008

in Bloggernacle, Mormon, apostasy, faith, families, inter-faith, marriage, new order mormon and temple

This article is an interview with a woman who goes by the online alias “Prairie Chuck.” Prairie Chuck is the leader of a support group called FacesEast.org. This post is a lot longer than my usual ones, but it was a great conversation we had together. I want to take some space here at MormonMatters to shine the internet spotlight on the important work Prairie Chuck does. She is an inspirational woman, who rolled up her sleeves and got down into the trenches of life to provide service, help, love and support to others. Continue reading…

12 Comments

Archive for the 'new order mormon' Category

Is a “believing heart” really a positive attribute?

To Those Struggling In Their Faith

Adam and Eve: the First TBM & NOM

The Facade of Activity

The consumer model of religion — A look at a BCC post

Who Should Go to Church, Anyway?

Why B,B-S-W A-As Who Support Extension of the Priesthood to W-w-l-P are Depressed

Coming out of the closet

Every exmember a missionary

Authority Problem? Why not morality?

Horus Bible Parallels

Can you be a Unitarian and a Mormon at the Same Time?

Unity, Diversity and Conformity

The Church as a Tool

FacesEast, an Interview with Prairie Chuck

Notes From All Over

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