Two close friends of mine, wake up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to get ready for church. Every morning being, monday through Friday.
They get to church, learn about God for maybe and hour or so, and then putz around till school starts at 8:08 a.m.
It used to be once every week, After school on wednesday, but last year it was changed to the mind killing dates and times mentioned earlier. Why do they do it? Being in the 12th grade with homework every night, they have to throw homework about God into the mix. They end up falling asleep at 10 p.m. tired, exhausted and mentally drained. I personally would not put up with this crap, but they still do. I asked them why, and I got bare answers. It’s like they don’t even know why they do it, they just do…
I feel sorry for them, can anyone tell me what is so important about this ritual? I feel like it’s slowly destroying their mental health…(though that may be exaggerated a bit)
I don’t want to push my own opinions and beleifs about what they should do with their lives, in fear I may be mimicking the act of the “Mission” that so many Christians do… :rolleyes:
Which reminds me, at least one of my friends mentioned, is going on a mission. (No, emoticon can show my true feelings right now…)
I’m not sure what your question is. A seminary (from the Latin for seed, indicating a place where thoughts are planted and nourished in young minds) is currently a school for the preparation of ministers or priests. (It had a wider meaning 150 years ago.)
By your (rather disconnected) description, it sounds as though your two friends are studying to be priests or ministers, based on a belief (that you do not share) that they are called to such a vocation. A decent seminary will provide all the standard courses of high school (later, college) as well as classes on theological issues, so the theological stuff has to be added on to the other material to prevent squeezing out any basic studies.
It might be possible that your friends are obeying some wish of their families and are not able to express their actual intentions when you grill them. Alternatively, they may sense your hostility to religious topics and would prefer to shrug it off to getting embroiled in an acrimonious discussion with you on the topic.
…Or it could be that your friends simply enjoy going to church every day. I have a seventeen-year-old sister in Catholic high school who goes to mass daily. She wouldn’t miss it for the world.
People adhere to religions for many different reasons; some of them are good and some of them are not so good. If your friends find fulfillment from spending an hour or so each day with their god, who are you to complain?
[sub]I hope my tone here doesn’t sound mean-spirited or accusatory, because I certainly don’t mean to convey any hostility to the OP.[/sub]
Self sacrifice(sp?) is a key part of religion. Why do Muslims fast? (during Ramadan). Why?
Med Students have a hectic (to say the least) life. Whether or not they enjoy it isn’t the point. Self denial can be healthy to learn to distance yourself from worldly ambitions and goods.
That sounds like Mormon seminary. LDS high school kids are expected to go to seminary on school days, at least in areas with more than a negligible LDS population. It’s basically the same thing as Sunday school, where you get a religiously-oriented lesson, but with homework. Since high school is four years long (at least in the USA) each year of seminary covers a different set of Mormon scriptures: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants.
It’s basically considered a sacrifice you make for your religion, just like any other religious ritual.
And reading your last sentence now, I’m pretty sure you’re describing Mormon seminary, as I’ve only heard of high-school seminary and “going on a mission” among LDS populations.
I was going to say it sounds like they’re Mormons, and what chorpler said. As to why they do it, if they believe God said to they’d be pretty stupid not to, right? I believe all Mormon men are considered priests, right? So calling this seminary makes sense.
I’m no fan of missionary activity in general, but I sort of have to admire their dedication…though I wish they’d put there energies someplace more useful than trying to convert the likes of me.
As a survivor of morning “cemetary”, since we were so dead we couldn’t really concentrate, I’m very familiar with it.
Except when I was in it, the four courses were Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Church History (scriptures studied that year were the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price).
If it wasn’t for the instructor, who was one of the finest and funniest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, I would have dropped out.
Here’s an interesting note: In Utah, seminary is taken by students as one class in the regular school day. Non-LDS students are not required to take the seminary class, but apparently LDS students are. The seminary building is off-campus, but usually right across the street from the school, so every class change you see high school students streaming back and forth across the street to and from the seminary building (the building is built and owned by the church).
Incorrect. Only those of us who have been ordained to the Priesthood are considered priests.
It’s called seminary because that fits the dictionary definition. To wit:
It seems to me that definitions 1 and 2a fit our use of the term.
What’s missionary activity got to do with the defintion of seminary?
Rico: I don’t believe the public schools can require anyone of any religion to take a particular course based on their membership in a particular religion. Perhaps you meant to say the parents of the LDS children required those students to attend the seminary?
“Priest” is an office/level/whatever of the Aaronic priesthood in the LDS church. When a Mormon boy is twelve, he’ll usually be ordained as a deacon, and start attending priesthood meetings. At age 14, he’ll be ordained a teacher. At age 16, a priest. Each level includes various new responsibilities including collection of offerings, blessing and/or passing of the sacrament (the Mormon equivalent of communion), ordaining others to the priesthood, etc.
These are all offices of the Aaronic or “lesser” priesthood, and it’s more or less automatic – when a boy turns 12, 14, and 16, he is almost always ordained to the appropriate level of the priesthood (after being interviewed to determine worthiness and the like).
Later comes ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood, the “higher” priesthood. Usually a man will be ordained an elder, the first office of the Melchizedek priesthood, a bit before going on a mission (usually at age 19), but it is not an age-linked thing like the offices of the Aaronic priesthood are. There are further offices in the Melchizedek priesthood like “seventy” and high priest … I believe bishops and other authority figures have to be ordained as high priests, but I’m not sure.
So whiterabbit has the general idea right – virtually all LDS males age 12 and older are priesthood holders. But not necessarily priests.
… Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled topic.
Not much, except that the OP said something about his friends talking about their missions. I just wish the nice young men that occasionally come to the door would not occasionally come to the door, as none of us are interested in becoming Mormon and it seems a waste of their time and effort. (Though if it’s a really hot day we’ll invite them in for a glass of water or something. We’re not mean, and the climate here is punishing!)
Thanks for the rest of the explanations, it’s much appreciated. I know something of the general sweep of things LDS but little or nothing about the details.
:smack: I really should of provided some more details…
Yes, they are both Mormon, attending a public school; a school that is very very close to being a Religious school because about 95% of the people in that school are religious. (I attend it as well)
I don’t have anything against Religious people, especially my 2 close friends.
Mormon’s are probably the nicest group of people in the world, that I have ever met. Even though some of them…well kind of off topic but, a few mormons I have met seem to have no idea how to act in normal social situations. They just don’t seem like they know what the real world can be like. I also noticed that none of them swear. Ever. (i’m quite the opposite)
Anyways, what I specifically wanted to know is what compells them to do attend Seminary, what can be gained by graduating from Seminary? Whats next for them in their Religious training? And what is the point?
But, most of you have pretty much answered my questions already.
Like I implied, I don’t want my friend to go away for 2 bloody years. I’ve told him to break his legs or inject himself with rabies or something…only jokingly of course.
Teelo, the point is that this activity prepares them to carry out what will be their religious duties once they become adults.
Their religion compels them; just like an observant Catholic will be compelled to attend Mass every Sunday and Holiday of Obligation and avoid certain meats during Lenten Fridays, like an observant Orthodox Jew will be compelled to avoid performing any work on the Sabbath, like an observant Muslim will feel compelled to save up to make a Hajj to Mecca at least once in his lifetime. It does not have to make sense to you or to me.
Logic Lesson 101: The fact that the vast majority of the student population, and possibly even the teaching staff, are members of one particular religious group has zero correlation to the school’s status of religious or secular school. What matters for that is the curriculum of the school itself, not of any outside entity.
Monty I didn’t imply that my school would become a Religion based school because of the 95% that are. I just meant it may as well of been one.
Anyhow, I see what you mean, I felt like adding how vast Religion stretches in my school. Although, not everyone is Mormon, there are at least 6 different churches in the town my school is in! FYI, this town ain’t big. Ain’t big at all. Its kinda scary.
I attended because it was expected of me… at first.
After a bit I came to look forward to it and would arrange my own rides to be sure I could get there if my Mom wouldn’t take me.
I suppose the best way to explain it would be to compare it to people who derive benefit or pleasure from regular morning meditation, or exercise. I went to a large 5A high school with less than a handful of LDS young people and no LDS adults. In early morning seminary there were kids that I went to church with from about 4 high schools. I went to seminary for the full four years because I liked the fellowship, the opportunity to learn about my faith and I felt like a stronger person for deciding to go and sticking to the goal of completing all four years even when I was over tired.
Someone mentioned homework. The “homework” is an agreement to read the work of scripture a bit daily over the course of a full year. You can even read it ahead of time over the summer so it doesn’t have to be done during the school year. There are 25 scriptures that students are challenged to memorize over the course of the full year. So over the course of four years a high school student reads the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and memorizes 25 selections from each for a total of 100 selections at the end of 4 years. If an early morning student feels they don’t want to make the commitment to work on it daily, then they can do it over the prior summer and it counts as done.
Finally, seminary is a choice, not a requirement. Believe it or not, sometimes kids who are not LDS and hear about it from LDS friends choose to go. Sometimes in some families the parents make that choice. I made the choice for myself and went all four years, my son has made the choice for himself and is in his third year and as far as I know plans to complete the four year course. He does not get school “credit” for it. What he “gets” is the chance to learn about his faith daily, just as he learns about secular things daily in a structured classroom setting. He gets the chance to set a four year goal and find that one day at a time he can follow through with a long range plan. He gets the chance to start his day with other kids who share his faith. He gets the opportunity to start his day in an uplifting setting, with a teacher in a classroom without swearing or the belittling atmosphere as can be found in most all high schools. Now and then he gets donuts. He gets to have a little fun. He gets to talk with other kids about how they deal with being considered anywhere from a cultist, to peculiar, or goody goody. For some kids it becomes a time to endure because their parents say they must if they want to drive (or whatever the carrot), for others it is the time when seeds of doubt are planted, for still others it is a time when their faith grows in leaps and bounds. Like so many things in life, what you get out of seminary depends a great deal the attitude you approach it with and what you put into it.
