Hi all
I recently saw a PBSprogram on Mormons which prompted questions. I would love to get feedback on these!
on Tithing...
how is this 10% arrived at, is it on the honour system or do you have to show them pay stubs/tax returns? alot of churches have anon. envelopes...but I understand Mormons have meetings, does one need to provide figures?
I know the church does not provide public records of spending...does anyone know or suppose the LDS may actually fund the FLDS church they supposedly shun? -just how connected are the two?
on mysticism/magic
Joseph Smith used scrying & devining, how sympathetic is the church to others who have such abilities or utilize divination methods?
on family....
what if one does not want to be sealed to family? -for example my family of origin was quite abusive. On imediate family .....What if one's significant other is not Mormon, are you then shunned? Can you be sealed? Does it make a difference if this marriage happened before one converts? What if there is dispute on how/in what religion to raise the family? Does a woman really require her husband to "awaken" her in the spirit life/post mortem with a secret name?-if so what about the unwed....or is all that FLDS?
On freethinkers...
Is the church still anti feminism? How many working Moms (outside home) did you know of? How many people held a temple recomend that actually secretly (or overtly) had notions that challenged traditional gospel/ritual's interpretations/validity?
On temple...
is there an outer court/temple for newbies & an inner court/temple for adepts/longstanding faithful? The program I saw had so many regulations required for a temple recomend, to gain entrance.....but the temple neer me is keen to invite anyone in. -hence this incongruity created questions re. the nature of temple/worship/fellowship.
On sexuality....
Are gay people automatically ex-comunicated if they live an expression of their sexuality? Are married couples expected to only have procreative sex?
Ok thanks for your time & thanks for your participation.....I'm sure I'll have more questions, I'll post more as I think of them if you all don't mind?
I recently saw a PBSprogram on Mormons which prompted questions. I would love to get feedback on these!
on Tithing...
how is this 10% arrived at, is it on the honour system or do you have to show them pay stubs/tax returns? alot of churches have anon. envelopes...but I understand Mormons have meetings, does one need to provide figures?
I know the church does not provide public records of spending...does anyone know or suppose the LDS may actually fund the FLDS church they supposedly shun? -just how connected are the two?
on mysticism/magic
Joseph Smith used scrying & devining, how sympathetic is the church to others who have such abilities or utilize divination methods?
on family....
what if one does not want to be sealed to family? -for example my family of origin was quite abusive. On imediate family .....What if one's significant other is not Mormon, are you then shunned? Can you be sealed? Does it make a difference if this marriage happened before one converts? What if there is dispute on how/in what religion to raise the family? Does a woman really require her husband to "awaken" her in the spirit life/post mortem with a secret name?-if so what about the unwed....or is all that FLDS?
On freethinkers...
Is the church still anti feminism? How many working Moms (outside home) did you know of? How many people held a temple recomend that actually secretly (or overtly) had notions that challenged traditional gospel/ritual's interpretations/validity?
On temple...
is there an outer court/temple for newbies & an inner court/temple for adepts/longstanding faithful? The program I saw had so many regulations required for a temple recomend, to gain entrance.....but the temple neer me is keen to invite anyone in. -hence this incongruity created questions re. the nature of temple/worship/fellowship.
On sexuality....
Are gay people automatically ex-comunicated if they live an expression of their sexuality? Are married couples expected to only have procreative sex?
Ok thanks for your time & thanks for your participation.....I'm sure I'll have more questions, I'll post more as I think of them if you all don't mind?
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Canada
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Re: contemplating the mormon faith, not mormon, but please help
Sun, April 20, 2008 - 7:37 AMon what happens after death...
I know some if not all Jewish people believe in reincarnation.........& some more spiritist types of x-tians I know believe the "being born again in the spirit" to be a phrase in support of the theory of reincarnation. What is the offical thought of the mormon church on this? -are there freethinking temple going mormons that believe in reincarnation?
on baptism....
Do they rebaptise converts who were baptised in another christian denomination?
Do they assume that the spirits of the dead accept baptism on their behalf automatically, or in theory is there still room for these departed spirits to decline? Does the baptism wash all sin/transgressions from when the decesed was alive?
-I would honestly like to hear the mormon perspective on these issues, please note this is not to flame/argue, thanks again -
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Re: contemplating the mormon faith, not mormon, but please help
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 5:35 PMMormon.org has answers to a lot of your questions www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/ and I just found this great article in Vanity Fair www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb...view.html
I don't claim to know all the answers but we don't believe in reincarnation, as such that we will return to earth in another body after death. We believe we have one life on earth before we go back to live with our Heavenly Father. And yes one would get baptized Mormon even if you'd been baptized another faith. I understand that people baptized after death can choose to accept the baptism or not.
I think the church believes in feminism in the true sense of the word, meaning they value and treasure women and honor them as mothers. I don't see anyone trying to push not working outside of the home, but I believe personally that it is best to stay at home and raise your own children if possible.
I hope that helps a little. Unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to address all your questions in depth.
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Re: contemplating the mormon faith, not mormon, but please help
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 11:10 PMI saw the same program and didn't like it. So on to answer a few of your Qs.
On tithing.....
The 10% comes from a passage in the bible. A clear exposition of the tithe is given in Mal. 3: 8-18, in which it is shown that blessings from the payment of tithing are both temporal and spiritual, and failure to pay an honest tithe is a form of robbery. The importance of Malachi’s words is demonstrated by the fact that the Lord repeated them to the Nephites (see 3 Ne. 24). It is an honor system and the only tithing meeting we have at the end of the year. And at the moment the only thing I can think of that happens in the meeting is if you pay a full tithe or not and the Bishop askes if there is anything you may need help with.
LDS and FLDS are not connected at all. We do not provide funding to those baby rappers (the baby rapper part is my own opinion of the FLDS).
On family.....
It is a choice to be sealed or not. Heavenly Father gives us the agency to make our choice with or without His guidence. No one is shunned; but welcomed like a family member. And no you can not be sealed unless you are a member and are worthy of entering the temple. When you are married makes no difference. As for what religion to raise one's family is their decision. My only advice is to do the research on the religion(s) in question then pray. Heavenly Father answers all prayers. As for the last I think that is FLDS.
This is all the time I have for now. I'll answer the rest to the best of my ability when I have more time.
