Coggins7 wrote:Thanks for the admittance that your adolescent posturing was nothing more than precisely that.
I think that orginized religion, in one way or another, uses manipulation, threats, fear and intimidation. The LDS church especially says to people (at least my bishop did to me) that you do (or don't do) such and such or you will be damned--even though I didn't feel it was the rational or a good thing for me. In this way, it is a cult (but, hey, I'm all for people being in cults if they really want to). I just say that I'm greatful that my family supports my own good judgement for my life over what the bishop/prophet says.
Coggins7 wrote:I think that orginized religion, in one way or another, uses manipulation, threats, fear and intimidation. The LDS church especially says to people (at least my bishop did to me) that you do (or don't do) such and such or you will be damned--even though I didn't feel it was the rational or a good thing for me. In this way, it is a cult (but, hey, I'm all for people being in cults if they really want to). I just say that I'm greatful that my family supports my own good judgement for my life over what the bishop/prophet says.
So the Gospel says that if you do or don't do such and such you will be damned. You then, do not like what those Gospel teachings suggest. Then you feel manipulated, intimidated, and threatened. Perhaps you feel this way because you actually, on another level, feel guilty, and you are reframing and displacing that guilt such that that guilt, when paired with the consequences of the behavior which produced that guilt, is experienced as an imposition upon you by others. I don't know. What I do know is that your characterization of the Church is cartoonish and facile, and deserves no more respect than that.
m sorry; I'm taken a bit aback. I am new to this board and I was under the impression that it was supposed to be realistic discussions and thoughtful views. Please don't be rude. I think everyone should have the right to feel what they feel and not be disrespected or personally attacked. Please, I am asking with respect that you do not speak to me that way again or make character insinuations; thank you :) I am not comfortable with a lot of things, as a lot of people aren't--I'm sorry; I'm a recent convert and my family isn't Mormon. The church is a bit foreign to me. I think that it is a fair thing to not believe something or another or choose not to do something that you feel is not right for you--but still be loved and accepted with a Christ-like patience.
On an extreme case, though, religions get dangerous is when, for example, the FLDS church tells young girls that they must have sex with their uncles or be damned...now that's wrong. All religions tell people to do certain things, but it becomes bad when pressure and fear is used even though you think it is wrong...and of course it gets worse depending on what is required.
Coggins7 wrote:'m sorry; I'm taken a bit aback. I am new to this board and I was under the impression that it was supposed to be realistic discussions and thoughtful views. Please don't be rude. I think everyone should have the right to feel what they feel and not be disrespected or personally attacked. Please, I am asking with respect that you do not speak to me that way again or make character insinuations; thank you :) I am not comfortable with a lot of things, as a lot of people aren't--I'm sorry; I'm a recent convert and my family isn't Mormon. The church is a bit foreign to me. I think that it is a fair thing to not believe something or another or choose not to do something that you feel is not right for you--but still be loved and accepted with a Christ-like patience.
On an extreme case, though, religions get dangerous is when, for example, the FLDS church tells young girls that they must have sex with their uncles or be damned...now that's wrong. All religions tell people to do certain things, but it becomes bad when pressure and fear is used even though you think it is wrong...and of course it gets worse depending on what is required.
Very well, respect it is, but I will still stand by my remarks that your description of organized religion per se, and the Church in particular, is cartoonish and facile. The bare fact that a ecclesiastical leader made clear to you that certain things will cause, if not repented of, your damnation, implies no manipulation, threat, or intimidation. Jesus, in his day, warned others in precisely the same terms of the conseqeneces of choices made in this life. He was not intimidating anyone; only identifying the truth about the effects of the use of our agency. To many, however, the identification of the truth about something or other is perceived as threatening. The truth threatens our present system. It cramps our style. It challenges and throws into our faces our received wisdom, unexamined notions, and cultural assumptions. That is its purpose.
Where we end up in the phase of our existence after this one will be precisely where we are most comfortable and will be commensurate with the level of truth and intelligence we were willing to receive and integrate within us here.
Thank you; well I guess it all comes down to that I don't accept the bishop's and prophet's advice as binding to me, for I don't really accept that they are truely in the accepted positions that they claim in respect to me (meaning I don't accept that they haven't spiritual charge over me). I believe that I am better to recieve revelations for myself than they would be. Perhaps the question, though is to ask if I am really Mormon at all. But I do understand what you are saying, and you do make some good points.
Coggins7 wrote:Thank you; well I guess it all comes down to that I don't accept the bishop's and prophet's advice as binding to me, for I don't really accept that they are truely in the accepted positions that they claim in respect to me (meaning I don't accept that they haven't spiritual charge over me). I believe that I am better to recieve revelations for myself than they would be. Perhaps the question, though is to ask if I am really Mormon at all. But I do understand what you are saying, and you do make some good points.
I'm wondering, do you accept the New Testament as the word of God?