- Raymond Winn on Accommodating People’s Wrong Religious Beliefs: “Thanks, Carey F – that puts a really nice spin on a socially-acceptable way to interact with folks whose traditions – of all sorts, including religion, or vaccines, or aliens, clothing customs such as headscarves and long dresses – don’t jibe with ours. The world is complicated, and the more people we have to interact with on a social level, the more complicated it becomes. So a rule of thumb as Carey posited seems very useful.” Mar 25, 17:48
- on Accommodating People’s Wrong Religious Beliefs: “While not exactly the same, I think a lesson learned from an essay a philosopher wrote about Phil Connors overlaps nicely with your post: Phil Connors at the beginning of Groundhog Day is irritated that people seem to treat the weather predicting powers of Punxsutawney Phil as if they were real. He takes it so seriously that it makes him miserable, and he ends up making everyone around him miserable too. But in reality, most people do not literally believe in the groundhog’s predictions. They are either playfully suspending disbelief or just enjoying the tradition for what it is, a shared experience that brings people together. What Phil does not see at first is that the value is not in whether it is true, but in what it does for people. The whole event creates joy, connection, and a sense of participating in something bigger than themselves. His frustration comes from insisting on taking it literally when that was never really the point. Over time, he starts to see that meaning can still be real even when belief is held more loosely, and that sometimes what matters most is how a practice shapes the way people relate to each other and to the world.” Mar 25, 12:59
- on Accommodating People’s Wrong Religious Beliefs: “The apostle Paul allowed for differing perspectives within the same faith community. There are two parallel thoughts: we sustain each other in holding our own sincere beliefs (“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind”). and we don’t cause others to stumble (“Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”) Someone else said, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”” Mar 25, 06:34
- 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
