Do you mean that the above is actually the official opinion of the LDS church, or just your interpretation, or what?
Because an above poster said that the Mormons also believe that homosexuality is a choice. Do they really believe that someone would choose to be gay and then not act on it? Are they just trying for the fashion sense and interior decorating skills, or what? What’s the point of “choosing” to be gay (note: I don’t believe your sexuality is a choice myself; just going from the assumptions posted above) and exposed to hatred, violence, and prejudice if you don’t even get the Hot Gay Sex to go along with it? I don’t see the point, really.
FWIW, I was never taught it was a choice. It was always an analogy to alcoholism. You are always an alcoholic, but you don’t have to choose to drink. (Yes, the analogy is flawed, but that’s the best one I can remember.)
So being attractive to someone the same sex=no problem. Acting on said attraction=problem. Because pre-marital sex is a sin. (Please, stop me if you’ve heard it before.)
Big difference there. It’s the difference between being attracted to a member of the opposite sex, and engaging in sexual acts with them. FYI I use the term practicing homosexual to mean a homosexual who engages in sexual relations with members of the same sex, probably where the confusion stems from. If this is where the confusion stems from I’m open to suggestions for a less confusing term.
I’ve not heard anything against it, in fact my parents good upstanding LDS folk use condoms, so in this respect we defiantly ain’t Catholics.
Excuse me, that would be members of the same sex, attracted to members of the same sex. I can’t believe I previewed thrice and that still made it through.
One last question, if nobody minds. Is it true that those who have lots of children have a higher place in the next world, while those without children are in the lowest place in heaven ? Thanks.
For many obvious reasons, such as an absence of capability or the means to do so, many people do not have more than 2 or 3 kids. This does not impair their “placing” in the next world, so to speak.
Stccrd, have you ever been through a “crisis of faith”? If so, did you talk to your bishop/church leaders? If not, are you prepared for when it will occur? (It will.)
Eh, I figured you might say that. I’m not really after a conversation, or trying to deconvert you, or reaffirm my own beliefs, or anything. I’m just wondering if you talked to your bishop/leaders and if they helped.
With some kinds of metals, when heating to very high temperatures, they will melt. Put them in cold water right after that happens, and they will harden, often becoming harder than before.
My testimony of the gospel is the same way. There have been times where I have had “crises of faith”. I have done my best to do what is right. Not necessarily right from what is considered right from the church’s point of view, but my own. After going through ordeals, I have found that the church always helps and never hurts.
Yes, I have had tremendous help from my bishop and church leaders. I have had some pretty big issues arise, and they have always been there to help me.
They are given to a mormon member as they go through the mormon temple to signify the “coat of skins” that god gave to Adam and Eve as they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. They are meant to be a reminder of the covenants made with god in the temple, are also meant to be “a shield and a protection” to the member, as long as they “do not defile it.” The garment is also marked in places with symbols learned in the temple that also represent covenants or promises made to god.
The garments these days are generally two pieces, the bottoms are a “boxer” style, going from waist to a few inches above the knee, while the tops are “cap” sleeved, with a scoop neckline. They are meant to be worn next to the skin - women wear a bra or stockings over the TOP of the garment. This is why in predominantly mormon areas you don’t see women (or men) wearing sleeveless attire, nor shorts/skirts that are very short. Members are instructed to wear them all the time, where feasible, sleeping, waking, etc. Obviously, one would not wear them in the shower, underneath exercise wear, or while in a doctor’s examination, etc.
Yes, I used to be a mormon, I was born and raised in the faith, I was married in the temple (since divorced) and went through the “endowment” ceremony many times. I requested that my name be removed from the membership rolls several years ago and no longer consider myself a mormon in any sense (I am now an atheist). However, my family is all still very involved in the mormon church, which makes for some interesting trips home.
I understand that the members on the Board would be reticent to speak in any detail at all about the temple, but I have no such qualms. Out of respect, I’ll not post links or more detail in this thread, but the curious are free to email me.
The notion that if you try hard enough that you can be fixed from being gay, that you don’t have to be gay, that its just a choice, drives countless gay teens to suicide every year. By apparently helping to propogate that myth, the Mormon church is culturally culpable for its share of this slaughter.
I’m not the poster you asked, but here’s my take on it. Say someone told you you had a mental illness, but one that could be cured, if you only worked at it, did your best, everything “they” asked you to do. You respect these people, you love them. You want to please them, want to get “better” to make them happy. Say you did as they asked, all that they said would “cure” your mental illness, and despite your very best efforts, you still couldn’t get rid of your problem. Do you think that at some point you’d have to start wondering what was wrong with you? Thinking that perhaps you were irrepairably flawed, that no matter what you did, (because you tried the BEST that you could) you were doomed to never be “cured”, could never be what “they” asked you to be.
Do you think you might see how someone could take their life, rather than be “flawed”, rather than be “ill”, rather than be “damned”, rather than to continue to disappoint the people you respect and love? Suicide is, last I checked, deadly. Also one of the leading causes of death among gay youth.
What is the official reasoning behind this? I mean, I can understand a religious prohibition on mind-altering chemicals for the reasons previously stated, but what does the temperature of the drink have to do with anything?
Another question, this one regarding polygamy. I know it’s no longer officially sanctioned, but why was this practice started in the first place?
