Comments for Mormon Matters

Comment on 69: Patriarchal Blessings by Dan Wotherspoon

Dan Wotherspoon — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:40:00 +0000

I can’t see a ton of difference, Will, between these and “be alive when Christ returns” ones. In all the cases, I see Bushman’s claims about what prophecy is and is not to be pertinent. And in this case, I think the discussion near the end about valiancy in the pre-earth life relates to the kinds of specifics you mention. Patriarchs bring a lot with them into the blessings and general impressions often get mapped onto those frameworks.

It’s not so much a matter of “eternal perspective” on these sorts of statements but the realities of how humans interact with the spirit, even ones with special callings and lots of practice at trying to discern the messaging. It isn’t an easy thing. We’ll be doing an episode in a couple of weeks where we really work at spirit vs emotion/desires/biases and how it all plays out.

Comment on 69: Patriarchal Blessings by Will

Will — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:25:00 +0000

What do you make of “Your husband will be with you when you get your endowments?” and her going on a mission and meeting her husband for the first time there?

Got an eternal perspective on that one? To me that just sounds dead wrong. And if it was trumped by agency then why is that in the blessing at all and what’s the point of anything being in a blessing?

Having seen that I’m pretty sure that patriarchal blessings are vague horoscopes that thrive in ambiguity and are only useful or ‘fulfilled’ in retrospect seems to describe what I’m seeing, which makes them completely pointless as ‘prophecy’. I could always apologeticize my way out of anything in a patriarchal blessing before, but reading and seeing that one firsthand did me in.

Comment on 74: Writing Mormon Lives by Jen White

Jen White — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:53:00 +0000

Both of you are amazing! I am hope one of these times I get to be on a podcast with Joanna Brooks.

Comment on Elder Holland Publicly Denounces Past Racist Teachings by LDS Church Leaders by Ecummings49

Ecummings49 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Who said we did not love our brothers and sisters who are homosexual. We love all our brothers and sisters. It is the sin that they commit that we do not like. Like Jesus Christ, yes he loves us all, but not the thing we do that are sinful and wrong. If you know your scriptures homosexuality is a sin and because the world want to accept it as being normal, then you go ahead and we will continue to pray for them to be clean.

Comment on 72: Effecting Change in the Church by Brian Derick

Brian Derick — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:58:00 +0000

I finally had time to finish this podcast and found it excellent! I love hearing these voices of candor, strength, authenticity, and love.

As a man who finds the way women are treated in the endowment offensive, I so wanted to hear more from Chelsea on what she found in the temple attendance that resolved these issues for her.

Comment on 71: Make Love AND War!: Maintaining Positive Relationships During Faith Transitions—A Spiritual Framing by Dan Wotherspoon

Dan Wotherspoon — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Hi JJ,

Glad you found the podcast! Fun to have another spiritual traveler from a different tradition discover our discussions. (If you feel like writing me via FB about your background and are interested in meeting others who are not LDS but can relate to these issues within their respective traditions, I’ll do my best to connect you.)

You can get all the news about the various Mormon Stories Podcast community events at mormonmonstories.org, which is the blog for the MS podcast and Open Stories Foundation, which is the parent organization that our MM podcast is part of). Go there and explore. I don’t know where you’re living, but at that site you can also discover MS groups in a bunch of cities/regions around the world.

Good luck! Again, welcome!

Dan Wotherspoon

Comment on 70: Is the World Getting Worse? by Fernando Bredariol Gaertner

Fernando Bredariol Gaertner — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:56:00 +0000

FIFA and SOPA being considred, economy getting worse and worse, foreign debt growing, political correctness, nuclear threats, divorce rates rising just to name a few things………..I didn’t listen to the podcast, but the creators of this website are obviously trying to nitpick things to make the church look bad

Comment on 74: Writing Mormon Lives by Phyllis Barber

Phyllis Barber — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:58:00 +0000

In answer to Mandy’s question about getting started, I will offer advice given to me many years ago. I went to a children’s book writing conference, had an interview with an editor who had read my submission, and she told me that I needed to know more about the craft of writing. Period. I went back to school and finally received an MFA in writing. There is much to learn as writing is an instrument, much as a piano is an instrument. Learn as much as you can about it and read, read, read the kind of stories you want to write. This will give you a wider sense of what is possible. Best of luck.

Comment on 72: Effecting Change in the Church by Guest

Guest — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Geoff:
Why not contribute your salary to a fund to help members go to the temple? All people seem to do on blogs is discuss and lament but what are people really doing? Nothing in most cases.

Comment on 72: Effecting Change in the Church by UTManMI

UTManMI — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:30:00 +0000

Anyone have a link to Claudia Bushman’s talk that they discuss here?

Comment on 73: “And the Survey Says…!”: Reflections on Mormon Disaffection, Marlin Jensen’s Remarks, Recent Articles on Mormonism’s Challenge in Better Facing Its History by Goldengirl7138

Goldengirl7138 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:23:00 +0000

Ouch.

Comment on 73: “And the Survey Says…!”: Reflections on Mormon Disaffection, Marlin Jensen’s Remarks, Recent Articles on Mormonism’s Challenge in Better Facing Its History by Goldengirl7138

Goldengirl7138 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:23:00 +0000

Ouch.

Comment on 73: “And the Survey Says…!”: Reflections on Mormon Disaffection, Marlin Jensen’s Remarks, Recent Articles on Mormonism’s Challenge in Better Facing Its History by Goldengirl7138

Goldengirl7138 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:11:00 +0000

I have been using the Gospel Principles class to dip my heretic toes into, because it’s a small class.. (It’s a good thing there are no investigators there) I find though, that if I express my views, I get pat responses. The brothers and sisters are kind, but feel they already know the answers and just don’t get what I’m trying to express. It ends up an argument. I end up going home exhausted. And if I just sit quietly keeping my thoughts to myself, I end up going home exhausted from trying so hard to be appropriate. Going to Church is exhausting.

Comment on 73: “And the Survey Says…!”: Reflections on Mormon Disaffection, Marlin Jensen’s Remarks, Recent Articles on Mormonism’s Challenge in Better Facing Its History by Asdasd

Asdasd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:27:00 +0000

^^ you mustn’t have heard of this ‘science’ thing but it actually turns out, it debates faith very well!

This ‘you can’t debate faith’ argument is a total cop out because of your fear of admitting the truth. you CAN debate faith, and certainly the use of it to manipulate others as the head of the church and as joseph smith did originally

Comment on 55: Cult Claims and the Media by Asdasd

Asdasd — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:23:00 +0000

Cult is defined as:
‘A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.’Considering the magic underpants and the book of mormon being written in 17th century english despite being written in the 19th century, then yeah, I’d say it’s a cult. That was just two examples, but there’s definitely cases of it being ‘strange’, and on the ‘sinister’ front – how about all that horrible stuff it says about black people?

Comment on Bigfoot, the Three Nephites and the Lost Tribes of Israel by Patricia Derk Gatacre

Patricia Derk Gatacre — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:10:00 +0000

According to reliable accounts about Bigfoot the description of these organisms are clearly that of the Nephelim. Remnants of this ancient life form reveal themselves all over the world, given different names to identify the same entity. Luckily their numbers are sufficiently few and as such they pose no danger to those who glimpse them at a distance. Any sightings from a close range or interactions between the Nephelim and purely human observers must be considered fraudulent. Little is written of the Nephelim other than in Jewish mythology.
On a December night in 2005, before leaving Tel Aviv for Eilat, crossing the Negev in caravan, I had a nightmare from which I awoke yelling, “Horrible, horrible!” The Nephelim provided me with images of terror and death but I was unable to relate the admittedly vague contents of my dream to my companions. I was left with a dark, ominous presence but departed with my group at three a.m. to be able to view the Ramon Crater at sunrise — a spectacular sight.
I had managed to shake off the aura of my nightmare when, three days later while shopping at a mall near Eilat, breaking news flashed onto the screen of an in-store television. The scene was one of chaos and destruction in Netanya — a local resort suburb of Tel Aviv. A suicide bombing took the lives of six people that day, including children, in a plaza less than a block from the small hotel where we’d stayed five days prior to the attack. Why did the Nephelim invade my sleep with dream imagery of an event yet to occur but without the means to prevent the actuality of that horrifc event. This is not to say the Nephelim appear only as wraiths; they possess both corporeal and incorporeal forms just as substance and essence co-exist in matter. However, the substance they present is as “the fallen sons of God.” Their influence in the everyday lives of humanity is predictably unknown.
Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo Yeti

Comment on 61: Mormon Views on Satan and the Origins of Evil by Vegasmyopia

Vegasmyopia — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:20:00 +0000

I see Satan as representing our flesh.

Comment on 74: Writing Mormon Lives by LilyTiger

LilyTiger — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Thank you for this podcast. I loved “The Book of Mormon Girl” and am excited to learn about and start reading “Raw Edges.”

I also loved that “Refuge” was referenced in the podcast. Another great biography of a woman coming to terms with her Mormon roots is “Riding in the Shadows of Saints: A Woman’s Story of Motorcycling the Mormon Trail.” I read it every Pioneer Day and cry.

Finally, I find it interesting that only women are commenting on this podcast. What gives?

Comment on 69: Patriarchal Blessings by UnderCover Brother

UnderCover Brother — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Hi Jared,
Any update to the above, please? This really interests me.

Thanks.

Comment on Choice Seer, Spokesman, and Scribe by Lloyd Brumbaugh

Lloyd Brumbaugh — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:27:00 +0000

I am an independent B of M student and believer and not a LDS member. I use the Book of Commandments rather than the D & C, and I reject most of the D & C as did David Whitmer, (See David Whitmer’s Address to All Believers in Christ). I have thoroughly and very thoughtfully studied this subject with the following conclusions: Joseph Smith was indeed the Choice Seer of this prophecy notwithstanding David Whitmer’s opinion to the contrary. Joseph Smith’s Spokesman was neither Sidney or Oliver. The Spokesman is either of the two following possibilities: (1) Some Lamanite believer who took the message of the Book of Mormon to his people probably sometime in the 1800s without advertising that fact to us Gentiles; or (2) Some future person who will literally be a spokesman for the resurrected Joseph Smith. A serious study of the Marred Servant of 3 Nephi 21:10 shows that Joseph Smith will be resurrected (healed from his marring) and that failure to believe that (whenever it occurs) will be the cause of unbelievers being cut off (verse 11) at about the time the Gentiles are about to be tread down (verse 12). Please feel free to request my written studies on this subject. Lloyd Brumbaugh, truthseekers_ohio@yahoo.com

Comment on 71: Make Love AND War!: Maintaining Positive Relationships During Faith Transitions—A Spiritual Framing by JJ

JJ — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Just heard this week’s wonderful podcast. What I’d like to know is how I find out about meetings of the “Mormon Stories Support Community.” While I’m not of a Mormon background, I do relate to the struggles and journey you describe and always gain a lot from listening.

Comment on 73: “And the Survey Says…!”: Reflections on Mormon Disaffection, Marlin Jensen’s Remarks, Recent Articles on Mormonism’s Challenge in Better Facing Its History by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Jonah

You are trying to debate a faith based deal here which you can’t. Faith is very much an individual thing and different from person to person. You will have as much luck debating faith with people who place their faith elsewhere as you will debating if their is a God with people who don’t believe their is one.

I agree that some members of the church may not be as compassionate as other towards those that struggle. Everyone struggles at some time or another. But I agree with Chris that if you leave (which you are free to do at any time and for any reason) don’t blame everyone else, you made that choice. Also if you are struggling don’t assume people can read your mind and know you are. You have to talk to people, let them know, ask for help and actively seek the answers (even if you seek outside the church) if you want to resolve the struggle, even if it leads to you leaving or staying. Don’t say people don’t try (though on some levels we could do better) since wards and missionaries are constantly working to find those who have left and to seek out those wanting the Gospel. You don’t send out so many missionaries and focus so much on finding people if not for the love you bear for them.

But more often I have seen people leave over disagreements with the people (and those peoples take on the Gospel) then over the actual core Gospel. What is wrong with believing in family? Being kind and repectful? That we can be forgiven of mistakes? That we have a loving Heavenly Father and brother? The Gospel is perfect, not the people.

Your claim of people wanting callings for power is unfounded as most people in the Church would love a simple calling that allows for more time with family, but more often then not are humbled by the experience and do it out of love and devotion. Remember we do not pay people to do this and yet they still put in the effort (sometimes years of it), not many churches can claim this.

I have been in wards where I didn’t always feel the warmth and love. I struggled when it felt like no one even noticed I was there or not. But I went because I know the teachings of the Gospel are true and I don’t base my attendance or testimony on if every person in that room loves me (which most likely they don’t). I go because of the Lord.

Do not wish “Good Luck” to those of us you deem “stuck in the matrix”. At the end of the day my beliefs and my religion have made me a good person and there is nothing wrong with any religion that makes people want to be better. You have made your choices and I have made mine, they differ and that is okay. You are trying to debate a debate that can’t be done and certainly can’t lead to anything but contention and hurt feelings.

Comment on Planet Kolob to Mormons: It’s not our weird beliefs, it’s our credibility by Ry Horn

Ry Horn — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:23:00 +0000

I’ve lived in South America….. and I have never heard of people being a waiting list for two years to be baptized. That doesn’t make sense. Where was this?

Comment on Elder Holland Publicly Denounces Past Racist Teachings by LDS Church Leaders by dgantt

dgantt — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:27:00 +0000

I agree with the first post. say it over the General Conference Pulpit. and while that is being said, perhaps they should say something about the church not knowing everything about homosexuality either and just love our gay brothers and sisters as Jesus would

Comment on 74: Writing Mormon Lives by Apron Appeal

Apron Appeal — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:43:00 +0000

I’ve had a story in my head for a few years that I really want to write and this podcast had me planning out how I can get it done. All of our stories are important. I’m not even done with this podcast yet but I’m sitting here crying listening to @571234271570e22a1860ac434a20eb41:disqus tell about her 3 year old son & his death and the mild struggle she had with understanding if she qualified for God’s love. I don’t want anyone to question that because it’s a dark place. I’ll expose my vulnerability if it means there is someone who may be able to identify with it and feel less alone.

Ok I’m going to go finish listening now.