- SVbob on What Was Revealed to You In Church (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 3/22)?: “Revelation should distill upon you like the dews of heaven, but….. Here is one. The bishop spoke for 40 minutes. A very rambling talk. He left 5 minutes for the stake 1st councilor in the Ward Council Meeting. The 1st Councilor said he was a last minute substitute because the SP was ill. Then it was revealed to me; The bishop was doing the 1st councilor a favor be leaving him 5 minutes as he had not prepared anything special at the last minute. Why is this important? Because I was beginning to be irritated with the bishop for making such an long, disjointed, talk and leaving just 5 minutes for the big gun. It saved the bishop’s reputation in my mind.” Mar 23, 18:32
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Matthew B, It is NOT a sin so you can receive the priesthood, go to the temple and serve a mission. It IS a sin but you can receive the priesthood, go to the temple and serve a mission. This is the difference I am talking about and how we label it. If it is not a serious enough sin, but a sin, to prevent YM from doing these things then lets drop the shame and move on. I thought the Maker wanted us not to commit adultery?” Mar 23, 07:48
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Expert Hook Baiter: Lol REC911: Those results weren’t specific to Latter-day Saints. davidwayner: The last time I read up on the whole “masturbation is good for prostate health” literature I wasn’t really convinced, but it’s been a while so things may have changed. But sure, I could in theory see some specific health issues that might justify it in my mind. For example, you have testicular cancer, are unmarried, and want to preserve your sperm for later use, you’re going to have to masturbate to provide a sample, and I think that’s fine in that context. However, I would be wary of a slippery slope; kind of an analog to using medical marijuana to alleviate post-surgery nausea symptoms versus using “medical marijuana,” when we really know what it’s about, but again I don’t think the Church should come out with a legalistic tome about exceptions and such, and think they’re right to mostly leave those kinds of details up to the individual.” Mar 23, 07:38
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Would anyone care to comment on masturbation as prostate therapy, especially in older men?” Mar 23, 06:37
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “REC911, you serious? If we allowed masturbation to not be a sin, that opens the door to allowing OTHER sins to be tolerated! Should we suddenly allow fornication to be tolerated? Same-sex behavior? Pornography? Where does it all end? I’m all for reducing shame over masturbation, given how imperfect we are as human, but there’s a big difference between saying “It’s OK. You’re not alone here. This is something a lot of people deal with.” and saying “It’s OK. This is not a sin. It’s perfectly OK to do.”. The latter is clearly endorsing the behavior, which is not what our Maker wants.” Mar 22, 23:57
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “I believe the correct term is “self abuse.”” Mar 22, 21:38
- on What Was Revealed to You In Church (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 3/22)?: “Here are a few of the things I thought about because of attending Church meetings yesterday (3/22): One speaker suggested that youth speaking in church was something that built faith. While I think youth should speak in church, I am not sure I agree. Speaking in church does build speaking abilities, self confidence, etc., but I don’t think it builds faith in and of itself. I think, like with most not-specifically faith-based activities, it depends on how it is approached. Yes, if the youth exercises faith in preparing the talk, or studies a faith-related topic, it can build faith. But otherwise? I think it can be good for the youth, but not necessarily faith-building. The lesson in priesthood focused on the idea of temperance, and one comment suggested that self-control is central to temperance. True, I think. But temperance is also about balance, about finding a point between two extremes, because both of those extremes can have undesirable consequences. I think there’s a lot more to temperance than simply not going overboard. Before church started in a small branch I attended, one of the members came up to talk to me. Eventually, I wondered about before church activities, and what might be best for those attending. Certainly there is benefit to talking to others before church; handled correctly it can create a good spirit to go into the meeting. Also good is prayer and meditation before church—exactly the opposite of talking to others. And, I think many preparatory activities (setting the sacrament table, putting up the hymn numbers, etc.) are not only necessary, but improve the meeting because they avoid problems or help the meeting run smoothly. What is best before a meeting? I’m honestly not sure! A comment made in class, in response to the idea of agency, mentioned God using His agency. The idea stood out to me, because I don’t think we talk much about God’s agency — it’s something we kind of assume, but also something that we sometimes assume doesn’t exist because we think everything God does is because it is right, not because its what he has chosen to do. Where is the boundary between God doing something because it is the right thing to do, and God choosing to do a good thing (perhaps one of many possible good things)? We have the agency to make choices like this, so why don’t we talk about God’s agency to make choices? ” Mar 22, 18:27
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “REC911, In the two stories that were shared here, and to which I was responding, there was no pastoral reason to ask the question. To help curb prurient excursions by bishops and stake presidents, the brethren have specified the questions that are to be asked for temple recommends and prospective missionaries, with instructions not to deviate, and that question is not included. I wish bishops and stake presidents would follow instructions from the First Presidency.” Mar 22, 11:05
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “ji, there is pastoral reasons to ask this question. As I stated in my experience, the stake required that missionaries had to be masturbation free before going on a mission. As the bishop, I couldn’t start the mission papers until this was achieved. I am not saying I agree with this policy, as I dont, but this is why bishops have been asking this question to YM for like 50+ years. Probably started when the factory pamphlet was given to every YM. Still not sure if this interview question was from HQ or culture. If all the bishops and SP were asked the same question when they were young, they may have assumed they have to ask when they became leaders. (spitballing here) There are lots of policies that local leaders are asked to do from HQ that are not in handbooks. (or at least there was in my day) Stephen C, The depression, IMO, comes from the guilt members deal with for doing this. YM felt they were not worthy to participate in the sacrament, (prep or take) temple, and missions because some bishops told them they weren’t. No parent feels bad that their son doesn’t get the eagle scout award anymore. If the church would allow masturbation, the guilt would go away for most. Like most of our LDS sins, we are trying to prevent more serious sins through complete abstinence of lessor sins. These lessor sins then become as serious as the sins we are trying to prevent. Booze is a good example of this as is lusting etc. The sin was drunkenness not drinking booze.” Mar 22, 09:32
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Mariner and Charles, I am so sorry that your bishops abused their office with you, and am yet glad you are still here. From what you wrote, there was no pastoral reason for your bishops to ask the question, and I can only think that they did it for their own prurient pleasure. Shame on them. Inasmuch as the church delights in truth, maybe your stories could be told somewhere in the press? Sunshine is a wonderful disinfectant, and might help to stop future abuse by other bishops.” Mar 21, 22:34
