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Thanks for the responses. I really don’t know if it would have been harder or easier without the prior knowledge. Stage 4 is what it is. It may be that if I had been raised by purely TBM parents with no inoculation I would never have questioned because I would have avoided “the mere appearance of evil” in the form of anything that made me uncomfortable with the current church teachings. I am drawn to the wackiness and the wackiness makes me alternately uncomfortable and fascinated. I want to do what’s right for my kids but I don’t want them looking back saying my lack of faith destroyed them for whatever reason, but I also want to be true to myself and what I feel to be right. Thanks for listening. Sorry, I think I put this thread in the wrong area initially. Oops. I have to get in on this as it’s a topic I’ve been pondering of late. I suppose we would have to define the box, no? If that is true then the box would have millions of differing definitions, and that’s okay. If we narrowly define the box as what is contained in the Handbook then it is more difficult for one to be unorthodox and stay LDS. We can more narrowly define it as what the prophets have taught or go even further and say it is what just the current prophet has taught making it nearly impossible to be at all unorthodox. Fortunately or unfortunately, the box is mostly defined by local leadership and, to a smaller extent, our own minds and desires. Until recently I was defining the box so narrowly as to push myself out completely and I didn’t give my local leadership much input at all. I don’t think we have to do that. Perhaps the best way to figure it out is to get to know the leadership enough to be able to decide how their box is defined. That is extremely difficult in the LDS church because there are so many differing opinions among the leadership. So, I have decided to keep my box fuzzy and speak the language of my “tribe”. The only people I really have to answer to are my Heavenly Parents and they know my heart. I say I am mormon so I am. I define my orthodoxy. I define my beliefs. SamBee, I looked at that link and found it to be less than useful in this argument. Yes, there are tannins in tea, but tannins are different from tannic acid which is not contained in tea. Herbal teas and cocoa also have tannins and all kinds of foods have some carcinogenic effects. Also, this linked review notes that, although tannins might be carcinogenic, they also have health benefits. I would like to see the entire report because this review really doesn’t have much of a conclusion. I don’t tend to like to refer to Wikipedia, but here is a good summary of what tannins are and what foods have them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin and here is a fun one about carcinogens:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/sep/06/medicalscience.healthandwellbeing I prefer green tea to soda. I also tend to think that soda is far worse for the human body than tea. Of course, moderation in all things.
I have to agree with Rix on this one. I don’t think the GAs are necessarily “holier” than others, they just have a different role and calling in life. For example, I believe I was given my questioning nature as a gift of God. I will likely never be a GA (well, that and I have the wrong chromosomes) because of that. One who is or will be a GA is more likely to tow the party line and be a super TBM. Perhaps the ability to be unwavering in the faith is part of their special gifts. I would be so unhappy having to be under the microscope that way. They can do their part, and I will do mine. I do think that the GAs receive some revelation, but not so much the “thus sayeth the Lord” types lately. I know I also receive revelation for myself. I don’t think it is much different. Rix, I like that idea of living “diagonally”. I wish I knew how to do it effectively. I think I am past the guilt and shame point. I probably wouldn’t feel too bad if I actually left the church since my family is very open and accepting regardless of personal beliefs (my sister has left the church and we are all fine with it), but it is the culture in which I live that seems to dictate what I “should” be. Knowing that, I don’t think it would be effective to leave the church because many of my personal religious beliefs are based upon LDS doctrines. I have deconstructed a lot of my preconceived ideas and made them my own, but there is always just a hit of mormonism that I don’t really want to get rid of. Maybe it is superstition or it could be that those teachings speak to my soul, but I can’t seem to make them fit with other religious dogmas. Perhaps it is a losing battle, or it could be that it is the only fight for which it is important for me to keep fighting. I have to be true to myself and true to God regardless of what society or the church think I should do or believe. If that means I have to eventually leave, so be it, but right now I am where I am.
Heber, I’m tired because it has been a long, arduous journey that is still not over. I feel like I have spent my whole life trying to fit myself into a mold that is just too small. That and I have 3 kidlets who have been sick for the past week
bridget,
I so appreciate my incredible and unconventional mission companions. I have a friend who is an RM from a Brazilian mission. He is so numbers centered even now where I have a completely different take on things. He was shocked when I told him that I saw very few baptisms in my companionship for the entire mission. He was so proud of his hundreds and looked down on me for my experience, telling me I was unfaithful. Fortunately I know different and I am grateful for the love I learned.
I hope I’m not threadjacking here, but I also understand the alure of fundamentalism. Unfortunately I just don’t understand how women fit into the whole thing. I like to think of myself as a feminist. How does fundamentalism appeal to women? I really don’t see how things like polygamy can exalt women. Wouldn’t it tend to make women more of a possession than not? Perhaps I am wanting more revealed doctrine on what a woman’s real portion in the eternities will be, and I don’t mean an eternally pregnant sister-wife. That sounds completely horrible to me. I do like the idea of Mother in Heaven. Does she have a place in fundamentalism? I feel lost in the church as it is. Looking back to Kirtland and Nauvoo it seems women had a completely different experience with, perhaps, a more full understanding of women’s place in the gospel that has been lost. I noticed in the Kraut link you sent there were a few entries on women that I couldn’t see since it cut off. Could you post those or PM me? We recently moved to a new ward where we are still mostly thought of as odd TBM’s I think. Then again, one of my friends told me that before I moved in she was the ward “hippie” but I have usurped her place so I am now the ward “hippie”. I have no idea if this has anything to do with my less than orthodox beliefs or my obsession with ethic food and brewing kombucha in my kitchen Hi everyone! My great uncle was employed in the missionary department for years as was my best friend. The method they used to use (the 90’s, he has since retired and my friend quit) is much like what theindex said. They receive the papers and they are computerized (my friend used to do the data entry). They coordinate with each mission and the MTC to decide which missions will need new missionaries and which MTC classes can be scheduled. A list is then made of which missions and how many missionaries are needed. Then a GA reviews all the prospective missionaries papers and assigns them to a mission based upon that list. Sometimes they will take into account languages that are already spoken or family mission experiences (like parents or siblings who served in a specific country or language area) but that is not the rule, it kind of depends on the GA. I found out from my MTC group (again, in the 90’s) that nearly all had sent our papers in around the same date and all of us received our calls around the same date as well. as I recall, there was one exception. One elder had sent his papers a couple of weeks earlier than the rest of us. Not sure if his was delayed in the mail or if the missionary department delayed his for some reason. Not as inspired as I had hoped, but it is more practical than some other methods, I’m sure.
