Apr 6, 2018
“Stand up and speak up for truth—especially when it is not popular.” —President Russell M. Nelson, “ Becoming True Millennials ” Accessed...
Occasionally, I return to my roots and share my ideas on politics and government...
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“Stand up and speak up for truth—especially when it is not popular.” —President Russell M. Nelson, “ Becoming True Millennials ” Accessed...
Occasionally, I return to my roots and share my ideas on politics and government...
My Aunt Carmen in her favorite shade of pink. My Dad had one sibling, a sister, my aunt. My earliest memories include her and my uncle ...
Questions of the Restoration
A regular feature from Questions for the Brethren, where we test our knowledge of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith.
In which temple was the film version of the endowment used?
a. Bern, Switzerland b. London, England c. Hamilton, New Zealand Temple d. Salt Lake Temple e. Los Angeles Temple
The Process of Building a Mormon Temple (Part II)
Background: According to the Church’s Newsroom, the Church makes the decision to build a temple in an area “with enough members (there’s no required number) to warrant construction, or where great distances exist between temple.” The decision to build a temple in a given area precedes the decision to build on a particular site. In other words, it is a two-step process. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/…/mormon-temple-building-proc…
In the early days of the Church during the presidency of Joseph Smith, there was no membership or distance qualifications for determining the site of a temple. The Lord simply commanded that a temple be built at particular site, and it was done. When the Lord directed that a temple be built at the city of Zion, for example, the Church had not yet established itself there, which is why the Lord also commanded the Church to buy up land so that the members could gather there.
“Wherefore, it is wisdom that the land should be purchased by the saints, and also every tract lying westward, even unto the line running directly between Jew and Gentile; And also every tract bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disciples are enabled to buy lands. Behold, this is wisdom, that they may obtain it for an everlasting inheritance.” (D&C 57:4-5)
Questions: Why does the Church require there be a sufficient number of members to “warrant” the building of a temple? Or, why does the Church consider distance an important factor in the decision for a site? When were these benchmarks revealed by the Lord? If the Lord revealed the membership benchmark, why is there not a specific number? Why doesn’t the Church build temples first and have the saints gather to the new area as was the case under Joseph Smith?
The Oath of Vengeance
Background: In 1845, Brigham Young added the following covenant to the endowment ceremony, which all temple participants were required to make:
“You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation.”
The prophets referred to were Joseph and Hyrum Smith and the nation was the United States of America. Though the covenant explicitly called for prayer and no direct action, there were members who believed that the covenant implied personal responsibility to avenge the murder of the prophets. For example, John D. Lee, who took part in the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre, explained
“I believed then as I do now, that it was the will of every true Mormon in Utah, at that time, that the enemies of the Church should be killed as fast as possible, and that as this lot of people had men amongst them that were supposed to have helped kill the Prophets in the Carthage jail, the killing of all of them would be keeping our oaths and avenging the blood of the Prophets.”
The Oath of Vengeance was removed from the endowment by President Heber J. Grant in 1927.
Background: Was the oath of vengeance added to the endowment by revelation and commandment of the Lord? If not, why was it added without His permission? Was it common practice among the saints to pray for vengeance in family and personal prayers? Were calls for vengeance a part of prayer circles? Why was the oath removed? Aren’t the saints supposed to cry to the Lord to be avenged of their enemies? (D&C 87:7)
I'm indebted to my friends for these thoughts. Are you familiar with the Turing test? The trouble with the Turing test is that it's a very unsatisfying test. It doesn't seem to be able to demonstra...
“Its obvious to everyone what would happen if we let gay families be part of Mormon congregations: they would look like normal, happy, healthy Mormon families, they would talk like normal, happy, healthy Mormon families, they would serve and love and mourn and give their lives to the church like all the other normal, happy, healthy Mormon families.In other words, they would be happy, healthy Mormon families and people would stop caring altogether that they were gay. They would pass the Turing test. So we can’t let them take the test.This policy change stinks to high heaven because the policy transparently acknowledges that this is the case.We have zero confidence in the capacity of our doctrines to speak for themselves and win the day. We have zero confidence in the ability of the church as a whole to judge for themselves good from evil.If we’re wrong about gay families, then let’s at least have the guts to trust our doctrines through to the end without signaling up front that we don’t actually trust them by procedurally rigging the test from the start.The policy looks and feels and smells like cowardice.”
Partially it is because I am very tired, having worked without a weekend off for about a month now. Mostly, though, it is because I feel shattered by the latest policy announcement from Salt Lake a...