Canucklehead wrote:Is this what prophets do nowadays? Spout meaningless generalities and leave it to individuals to figure out what it could possible mean? How courageous!! No wonder you get people like BCSpace who hear this statement and somehow read some kind of message for apostates into it. These statements could literally mean anything to anyone who cared to construct a particular interpretation.
Um, they never said that the prophets were perfect. Or even very intelligent, or even very interesting to listen to. Or anything in particular for that matter.
The important thing is that this man is a prophet. Try to hang on to that.
Is this what prophets do nowadays? Spout meaningless generalities and leave it to individuals to figure out what it could possible mean?
It sure seems that way to me. I'm guessing he's referring to homosexuality. This is the biggest rift I see between the Mormon religion and the PC religion of Secular liberalism. Both are trying to mold the minds of people, esepcially young people, into what will suit their interests.
By speaking in generalities a bishop can stand up and say what President Monson really wanted to say and still use Pres. Monson's talk as backup. Then when someone takes issue with this, you can always say, "This is what Pres. Monson actually said. Bishop X was just mistaken."
It still seems to me that Mormonism could increase it's retention by boldly proclaiming the truth as Joseph Smith once did. Baptisms would decrease, but I don't really see where the baptisms they're getting now are helping them all that much. Don't ask me why they take this approach. It doesn't make much sense to me.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
"The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance." Again, what the hell does this mean?!
Not to put to fine a point on it, it means modern "liberalism", who's mask has been enshrined in the academy, the public schools, the mainstream media, and the entertainment community under the rubric of "political correctness".
"The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance." Again, what the hell does this mean?!
Not to put to fine a point on it, it means modern "liberalism", who's mask has been enshrined in the academy, the public schools, the mainstream media, and the entertainment community under the rubric of "political correctness".
What Droopy is trying to say, is that liberals are naughty and don't think the same as he does.
"My young friends, be strong. The philosophies of men surround us. The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance. Do not be deceived; behind that facade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain. You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that. The character of transgression remains the same. If your so-called friends urge you to do anything you know to be wrong, you be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness—and what a glorious feeling it is to know that you stand in your appointed place clean and with the confidence that you are worthy to do so."
This type of talk does not work for a lot of people. It creates confusion and pain when you are being hit by the meida 24/7 He doesn't get into specifics and it's a mind game in my opinion. Why doesn't he talk about being honest about your past and that you will be accepted and not feel like you are inferior when attending church - but he then needs to suggest a church.
Whether we feel inferior or not while attending Church should have to do with ourselves and the choices we have made and continue to make, not Pres. Monson. Whether the talk works for people or not should not mean that Pres. Monson should change what he says. He should just proclaim what he knows to be true. If people like and accept this, than good for them. If only a handful of people accept it and are saved than so be it. Don't throw away truth for the sake of numbers, poiltics, or anything.
It seems like early Christianity was very willing to do this. They were so defiant to worshipping the Roman emperor as a god that one would wonder how the religion ever survived without all the believers being exterminated. And yet, the Christians pretty much went on to rule Europe for some time.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
ajax18 wrote:They were so defiant to worshipping the Roman emperor as a god that one would wonder how the religion ever survived without all the believers being exterminated.
That's precisely how it survived--without all of its members being exterminated.
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
I know they didn't kill all Christians, but to grow like it did, the religion had to have a lot of converts. To me that's pretty surprising given the precarious situation many Christians faced early on.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
ajax18 wrote:I know they didn't kill all Christians, but to grow like it did, the religion had to have a lot of converts. To me that's pretty surprising given the precarious situation many Christians faced early on.
Truth is, we don't know how much persecution Christians faced very early on. It may be the case that Nero murdered some Christians in Rome in the year 64. The difficulty here is in knowing whether Romans understood the difference between Christians and Jews at this date. After that Domitian is thought to have persecuted Christians, but we have no good evidence that he did so. Under Trajan, Pliny the Younger, while governing the province of Bithynia, wrote to the emperor about his prosecutions of people accused of being Christians. But, this is one province. Beyond this, we have very little idea of how Christians were being treated around the Roman Empire. There was no imperial decree sanctioning the suppression of Christianity across the empire until the mid third century. This gave Christianity plenty of time to take root.
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
"The face of sin today often wears the mask of tolerance." Again, what the hell does this mean?!
Not to put to fine a point on it, it means modern "liberalism", who's mask has been enshrined in the academy, the public schools, the mainstream media, and the entertainment community under the rubric of "political correctness".
Of course that's one possible interpretation and, frankly, the one that I expected you to make.
However, one could also imagine that it refers to the sin of torture currently being committed by the neo-conservatives in power, enabled by the press and congress who tolerate violations of the (supposedly) God-inspired constitution in order to remain secure in their position at the governmental teat.
Modern Mormonism has become so bland and generic that its pronouncements could be interpreted so as to lend support to opposite positions.