- Stephen C. on Latter-day Saint Book Review: The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley: “Mark Ashurst McGee: Unfortunately, I’ve already returned the book so I’m not sure about pagination, but it’s sort an of extended essay length work, so it should be easy to catch his discussion. Jonathan Green: Oh right. Yes, to be clear to everyone, this post is not in any way a subtle hint that Joseph Smith was a shroomer. Ivan Wolfe: Yeah, for somebody prone to making such grand sweeping statements his lack of footnotes is quite conspicuous.” Dec 11, 16:14
- on Latter-day Saint Book Review: The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley: “I have had around half a dozen Medieval historians tell me variations on this: “Whenever Foucault talks about the Middle Ages, it’s best to assume he’s not just wrong, but completely divorced from reality.”” Dec 11, 15:58
- on Latter-day Saint Book Review: The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley: “Stephen, prepare to hear from supporters of the theory that Joseph Smith used primitive, 19th-century psychedelics.” Dec 11, 10:25
- on Latter-day Saint Book Review: The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley: “” . . . he goes on for pages and pages about the role of bright light, powerful colors, and gemstones in religions across the world . . . .” Stephen, could you please point me in the general direction of this range of “pages and pages”?” Dec 11, 09:29
- on The Evolution of a Ban: Paul Reeve on Brigham Young and the Curse of Cain: “This is timely, given the current push to collectively punish groups of people for the actions of a few individuals based on their national origin.” Dec 11, 07:16
- on Is “Godhead Incarnate” False Doctrine? Reclaiming John Rutter’s Candlelight Carol for LDS Theology: “Amen to that, Vic Rattlehead!” Dec 10, 12:16
- on Is “Godhead Incarnate” False Doctrine? Reclaiming John Rutter’s Candlelight Carol for LDS Theology: “I think shows one of my favorite parts of being in the LDS church, is room for inteperetation and freedom of theological and philosophical belief. Since we have an orthoprax and less orthodox system, we have room to believe what we think is best. As long as you believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost and that salvation comes via Christ, I don’t really care all that much if you want to hold to an Arian, Subordinationist, or more traditional Trinitarian view. If you want to belive Holy Ghost is Heavenly Mother, I don’t care. If you want to believe God is head God or has Gods before Him, that’s fine by me too, even if I disagree.” Dec 10, 11:42
- on CFM 12/15-12/21(The Family): Poetry for “The Family Is Central to the Creator’s Plan”: “ji: I like your perspective. I have always thought the phrase “salvation is an individual matter, exaltation is a family matter”, was doctrinally incorrect. If an individual accepts the gospel, they will be exalted, whether their parents, children or spouse accepted it or not.” Dec 9, 14:07
- on When We Are Proselytized by Others: “As a typical member of the Church in Latin America, I interact daily with people of other religions. I have interacted with Jehovah’s Witnesses and, remembering my time as a missionary, I have been as cordial and attentive as possible to their message, although I make it clear to them that I actively participate in a religious congregation with my family. My children study at an evangelical school, and my daughter even participated in the Methodist choir in middle school and knew all their songs. She also sang PFJ songs to them during their religious activities. I work at a Catholic university and have very interesting conversations about religion. Obviously, I cannot proselytize there. In that same spirit, there are many things that other religions do much better than we do, in worship, Sunday school, the way they treat visitors… I think that if we interacted more with other religions, we would improve many things about how we do things. It is interesting to have theological conversations with people of other religions, not to convert to another faith, but to learn and share experiences. When there is time, of course.” Dec 9, 12:04
- on When We Are Proselytized by Others: “I’ll go a step further than Turtle. I have lived in several states outside the Mormon corridor and been not just surprised, but somewhat disappointed at the lack of proselytizing by my friends and neighbors of other faiths. I may not have a sincere interest in changing religions, but I am genuinely curious about other traditions and would welcome greater engagement with my community, with more opportunities for friendship and service. When I lived in Virginia, a contractor we hired for some home renovations mentioned that he was the music minister for a non-denominational Christian church down the street. I don’t recall whether he extended an invitation or if I asked to know more, but my family and I attended their Christmas Eve candlelight service, and it became a family tradition that I looked forward to every year. I would have gladly accepted more invitations to fellowship with that group, which included several other families in our neighborhood. I have also accepted and enjoyed Passover meals and bat mitzvah services with Jewish friends, Diwali celebrations with Hindu neighbors, and conversations with a Community of Christ coworker. My daughter regularly attends Jesus Club at her high school. I think our church is often too insular and would greatly benefit from frequent organized activities or service projects with other faith groups — especially our youth groups. Interfaith outreach should not be a vehicle for proselytizing, but a means to build trust and mutual respect with others in our communities. And who knows? Maybe if we show more interest in others, they will show more interest in us and want to know more.” Dec 9, 10:58
