- REC911 on Unnecessary Spiritual Hierarchies: Leaders Receiving the Sacrament First: “IMO this is where that tradition came from… Up until the spanish flu outbreak (1918 i think?) the bishop at that point in all wards was the one and only person that blessed the sacrament. In doing so, he took it first just like the Catholic priest do today. Our sacrament looked very much like a Catholic version with members coming up to the bishop to drink out of the same cup. Not sure if the bishop put the bread in the mouth or hand for the members back then. We started to pass the sacrament because of the spanish flu outbreak. Since the bishop blessed and took the sacrament first up until this point, him being first stuck. Typical tradition turned doctrine that we tend to do a lot in the church. Like the tradition that the sacrament should be taken with the right hand. It is back in the handbook.” Jul 22, 08:47
- on Unnecessary Spiritual Hierarchies: Leaders Receiving the Sacrament First: “The proposed iconoclasm sound fine by me, but isn’t the stake president’s counselor or whoever sitting near the bishop, and the bishop just quietly motions the deacon approaching him to instead give that other man first offering of the bread and water? One thing I enjoy about visiting other wards is the variety of arrangements the priests and deacons have for conducting the ordinance, keeping it an ordinance and not a ceremony. “aren’t going to help the kind of members who reactively disregard or attack leaders” Well, good luck with that.” Jul 22, 08:33
- on Unnecessary Spiritual Hierarchies: Leaders Receiving the Sacrament First: “Thanks for highlighting this, Stephen. It’s definitely unnecessary, yet it persists. Maybe it isn’t a huge thing. But maybe it’s a symptom of a huge thing?” Jul 22, 08:04
- on Unnecessary Spiritual Hierarchies: Leaders Receiving the Sacrament First: “” Church leader self-esteem is not exactly at risk” – isn’t that where this comes from though? I still have vivid memories of a mission visit from Elder Hugh Pinnock in the late 90s lecturing the missionaries about who gets on the elevator first and in what order at the church office building and it was very much a hierarchy, and this is why we stand when a GA enters the room. The Q12 won’t exit their meetings except in order of seniority. It’s very much baked into the leadership culture.” Jul 22, 07:42
- on A Review: After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis: “Thanks for the review, Chad. Sounds like an important book.” Jul 21, 18:48
- on A Review: After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis: “Chad, I would put it like this: There’s a broad spectrum of income levels and family sizes for which having one parent as the primary nurturer is not a luxury, but an economic necessity – childcare is so expensive that it’s basically impossible to pay for if there are multiple children of the relevant age and income is limited. But, as you say, it also entails paying for little beyond basic necessities for years at a time, which is not much fun. I just think that this experience isn’t that unusual across generations. I think people are generally pretty good about not viewing less-than-ideal situations as moral failings in others, but it’s often harder to extend the same grace to ourselves. Natalie, thanks for engaging with Chad’s review! I wish more of the authors he reviewed would do that.” Jul 21, 18:06
- on A Review: After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis: “Chad, thanks for this lovely review and deep understanding of the challenges faced by LDS Millennials. This book does not attack The Proclamation on the Family. Instead, it talks about how much I regret that more families today cannot make the choice to live the ideal it articulates. I think you’ll be surprised to find that it is also a deeply multi-generational book that turns to my father and the prophets before us as models of how to live in our own times. Hope you enjoy it <3” Jul 21, 17:04
- on A Preposterously Complimentary Review of the Book of Abraham: “Personally, as I continue to watch, learn (and live) as the years roll along – I’ve come to perceive that the Book of Abraham is simply just silly “Fan Fiction”; and that there’s no historical or revelatory value to it. And, I believe that many LDS folks are coming to the same conclusion. I absolutely agree (that a great many) LDS Folks are tremendous people and I want to continue my association with them.” Jul 21, 16:15
- on A Review: After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis: “To be clear, my own view is that the Family Proclamation is important and has good principles. I think that Brown’s point wasn’t that we need to throw out the Family Proclamation or to throw out the target it presents, as Jonathan says, so much as that the lived reality is complicated. I’m glad to hear that in some people’s experience, “It’s quite possible to raise a family primarily on one income even today,” but for most people in my generation, the model of a stay-at-home mother focused on nurturing a multitude of children and a breadwinning father bringing in the sole income for the family is out of reach, at least if you want to have a place to live and food to eat at the same time. I’ve lived a privileged life, with enough intergenerational wealth to buy and pay off a home and a STEM-field job that pays well, so it’s something my family has been able to do, but even then, it’s difficult. Raising children is great, but it takes a huge toll on mental health if it’s the only thing you’re doing, and it’s difficult to pay for anything beyond basic necessities on one income, even if you have a good income. I think because of that reality, what Brown is saying is that we need to make more room culturally for people who don’t fit that ideal, so that when they aren’t in that exact ideal situation, they don’t feel like it’s viewed as a moral failing.” Jul 21, 15:07
- on A Review: After Happiness: Living with Faith in a Time of Crisis: “I would not so quickly dismiss the faith and spiritual lives of multiple generations of church members so quickly as uncomplicated enjoyment of prosperity. I promise you, your parents and grandparents also experienced trials, you can just ask them. You may even have seen some of them. It’s quite possible to raise a family primarily on one income even today, although you may not enjoy some of the sacrifices that entails, and I completely understand if you make different choices; just be aware that it’s a choice, not something that has been forced on you or taken from you. The Proclamation on the Family is probably more relevant today than when it was first published. People fail to understand it because they are looking for a series of simple thou shalt/thou shalt not commandments, when it instead presents a positive target that anyone, whatever their situation, can work towards.” Jul 21, 13:28
