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mercyngrace wrote:
1. Everything is symbolic. Everything.
If this is the case and the temple is a place to learn that is fine I guess. But why is it an ordinance we
needin order to achieve the highest degree of heaven? Right now I am not even sure what I believe as far as degrees of glory in heaven go or even what the afterlife will even be like. So I do have that to work through as well. I am still just wondering have the temple ordinances been something that has been required or done down through the ages or is this something that Joseph Smith saw as having value somehow in the theology he was developing? DevilsAdvocate wrote:As far as I’m concerned, temples have become mostly a symbol of the “eternal family” sales pitch that the Church currently uses to motivate obedience to their rules like tithing, the WoW, and essentially professing acceptance of the “one true church” idea.
This definitely resonates with me. Because being a full tithe payer and obeying the WoW as well as the other requirements are essential for obtaining a TR this places heavy emphasis on being obedient to these commandments. Without the requirement of the temple ordinances in order to have an eternal family I think it would be hard to keep people as obedient to some of the rules such as tithing and the WoW.
Well I got set apart this morning. The 2nd counselor is also a guy I like and is a more laid back type personality so that will be good. The EQ president bore his testimony and instead of giving the “one and only true church” type of testimony he said he was a big proponent of service. Right now for me that is probably the best focus I can have. The history and doctrine stuff just makes my head spin right now so if I can just focus on trying to make the world a little bit better by helping people I think things will be ok. Thank you for the input. Being able to vent and express my struggles with like minded people right now is really a great help with trying to navigate these unknown waters I’m on right now. I am going to try and stay positive with this new calling. The EQ president is someone I like and he is an easy going guy so I think that will be a good thing. I want to be true to myself right now and in the future and this forum certainly helps with being able to do that. Just a thought on acarlton’s position. I think you really need to separate M and P from one another. I don’t see Ming as hurting anyone most of the time. Maybe there would be some issues that come up in a marriage where the spouse was unaware that the other spouse was Ming and wanted to know why, but I just don’t see how Ming hurts anyone otherwise. However, when P comes into the picture I think there can be some real problems. P can create such an unrealistic expectation of what sex is and can be. There is no love or close emotional connection in P. It becomes very easy to think that all women should look like the women in the films who have had various procedures done. It becomes very easy to think that all of the activities in the films are what everybody wants to do. I believe that these two items can have a very negative effect on a relationship. M and P unfortunately seem to be inseparable a lot of the time because looking at P certainly creates a desire to release that sexual tension. But I think M in and of itself is not a bad thing at all and creating all the guilt and shame around it has a very negative impact on a persons general outlook on sexuality.
” if I stop going then we will definitely lose the next generation. Their commitment is easily shattered.” Still can’t figure out how to do the quotes right. Anyway, I have had the same experience with my kids. I have been working out of town for the last month and have skipped a few Sundays. We took a family day and I stayed home another day. The kids very easily get into a “do we have to go to church” attitude. If it was just my wife and myself we would be playing hooky a lot more because our desire to go right now is at an all time low but I feel an obligation to the kids. Also, both my wife and I have Sunday responsibilities and I feel bad about calling someone to teach my lesson on a regular basis. Don’t exactly know what to do but that seems to be par for the course for me right now. DevilsAdvocate wrote: Quote:“If this life is mostly just a test that only good obedient Mormons can ever pass then it seems like a huge waste of life experience to see that more than 99% of the people in the world are not LDS and the majority of the members they still count are not active while even fewer are “temple worthy.”
This is one of the biggest reasons I have a real hard time going along with the “one and only true church on the earth” mentality. It is just ridiculously inconceivable that God would turn his back on so many of his children. God is so much bigger than that.
Thanks for the reply’s. I realize that it is ultimately my decision but I appreciate other peoples insight. I have paid a full tithe for a long time and have never really had a problem doing so. With the inability to obey all the commandments 100% of the time I have always looked at tithing as something that I could be 100% obedient to. The other thing is the church does do a lot of humanitarian aid and I hope that my contributions in some way help. Struggling to make ends meet though and having to go into our savings to do so has definitely made me think about what I should do. Not working for this money also is different from what I am used to. As I am finding with most church stuff nowadays there is more than one interpretation of what to believe for yourself. Not any useful advice but just an acknowledgement that I have had the exact same experience as I have struggled with my faith and testimony. I have always felt that no matter what was going on in my life-good, bad or indifferent-that everything was going to be ok. I didn’t necessarily base that on living a righteous life by church standards but just always felt that way. I have definitely lost some of that peace as I have run into questions about the church and god in general. I want to get some of that peace back. After those first few posts I thought I was an anomaly. Guess it depends on what ward or area you are in. I am so glad I found this site. I would guess there are others in my ward that may be having the same experience I am having and it would be nice to talk with them but guessing or finding out who those people are seems impossible. I appreciate so much that I can ask questions and get some great insights and advice from people who have gone through this themselves. I am uncertain and apprehensive about where this journey might lead me. Right now I am pretty grumpy and confused about the church and religion in general but I am hopeful that I can develop a faith and belief system that is actually mine. In a way I feel like the blinders have been taken off and I have this whole wide area to explore but it is really scary because I have had the blinders on my whole life. However, the great insight and advice on this site kind of acts like road signs so I do not feel completely rudderless on how I should proceed. Thanks again for all the great input.
Thank you for the suggestions. It sounds like “Rough Stone Rolling” is a good one to start with. Ray I think you are right when you talk about it being awfully hard finding something that is halfway readable without at least a little bit of the authors biases coming in. That was wishful thinking on my part. I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge a bit. I really appreciate the reply’s. Just hearing others perspectives and ideas is a help. I am still feeling way out of sorts and really stressed but also I guess excited for a possibly more real and fulfilling life. I have been cruising along for so long not examining my life that hopefully in the end this will be a good growth experience. It is hard to see it that way right now but I’m hopeful. The replies really surprised me. I have heard this ever since I was a kid and almost every church halloween party I have been to this has been mentioned. Must be one of those things that someone started and it just got around. Thanks for the input. Thank you for posting about your temple experience. My last several visits to the temple have been uncomfortable/empty. I have been struggling spiritually for awhile and it was heartening for me to realize that not all temple visits come with a spiritual experience but that they are possible. Even sometimes out of the blue.
