Finished reading most of the article ... can't say I loved it. Very long and although I agree with
the basic premise that the Bible is flawed in many ways, I found the argument supporting
homosexual behavior to be flawed also as the writer tries to use the Bible to support the
LGBT movement. So no, I won’t be posting this on Facebook.
However, I find your fascination with this “religion critter” to be fascinating myself. I realize
you were raised to be an atheist or at least agnostic, and having grown up in Utah, able to see
the imperfections and flaws of the Latter-day Saints. Some of these imperfections have
impacted you personally and with a father who focused on the faults of the LDS, it is only
natural that you would not be able to consider the possibility that there might be truth in the
teachings of the Mormon Church. So, I hesitate to continue further, as there are precious
truths that have given me direction in my life that I would love to share, but would not love to
see ridiculed. There is a common Biblical term of throwing pearls before swine (nothing
personal).
If you are interested in understanding the mindset of someone raised in the gospel who does
not claim to have perfect understanding, or be anything near perfect, I have written a basic
explanation of my faith and will post it on my personal blog for you to read. I don’t expect you
to find this beyond ridicule, but feel that as your friend of many years I should at least provide
a personal testimony to you.
If nothing more, it will be a record for my children and grandchildren, who I hope will choose to
continue to live by the principles that have governed my life. I have had hard experiences and
my testimony of Jesus Christ and the purpose for this life have helped me face them with faith
and with optimism. I suppose at the very least, if the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
as I understand them aren’t true, at least they have given me happiness and continue to be
an anchor for my soul. And that ain’t bad.
Mormonism 101
As you know, we LDS are not considered to be Christians by the mainstream Christian
religions because we don't believe the trinity and a number of other things that were voted on
in the counsel of Nicea. My testimony of Jesus Christ doesn't depend on the Bible. When
comparing the Joseph Smith inspired version of some biblical scriptures with the King James
version, the clarification shows how minor word changes shift the entire meaning of
scriptures. In fact, the eighth article of faith states: We believe the Bible to be the word of God
as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
After Christ's death, the gospel as he taught it, along with the authority to act in His name,
slowly died off as his apostles were killed and men were left to figure things out on their own.
As the article suggests, it seems strange for God to be so unclear in the revelations he has
left us with. In fact, it was men's errors - sometimes accidental and after the counsel at Nicea,
some changes were intentional to support the decisions of that group. This is contrary to
what one would expect from a God who loves us and wants us to be happy.
But we have to go back to before the beginning of this world to understand why He would
allow these changes to take place. We lived in His presence as spirits without bodies before
our births. God is our father and as such we desired to be like Him and have all that he has.
We also had a heavenly mother since the patterns of this life are fashioned after the eternal
patterns of relationships.
We desired to have physical bodies as our Father and Mother have and to do this we needed
to come to an earth. However the mortal experience was not without risks. In coming to
earth, being inexperienced and not in full control of our faculties, we are guaranteed to screw
up in many ways. The physical body brings with it many appetites we had not experienced as
spirits. While these appetites provide much joy when harnessed - bridled if you will, and that
requires strength and determination. Not of us have achieved that wisdom and control, but
we can't return to our eternal Father's presence in that fallen condition. This is a natural law
of the universe.
There was great discussion on how this would be achieved and one of our brothers - Satan -
who was one of the more advanced of the sprits, in fact a spirit brother, proposed a plan that
would bring us all back to our Father and no one would be lost. He intended that we would
come to this earthly existance and have no free agency. He would govern us and not allow us
to make any errors. Similar to the movie "..." that has been shown in theaters recently.
Satan's plan was for us all to return unblemished from our earthly experience, and he would
have the glory of accomplishing this feat. Of course this also precluded
How
We've actually had a priest perform an exorcism in a home because Mark and I had stayed
there.
Back to the basic flaw of the article - homosexuality is a sad situation that our family has been
dealing with for many years as Mark has two brothers who were/are gay. We have not
disowned either, though one has chosen to disown us because we asked that he not bring
gay friends to our home around our children.
I'm very much involved with a grassroots movement trying to help strengthen the culture of
marriage and to stand up for the rights of children to have both a mother and a father. While I
believe everyone should be treated with love and respect, there are limits that I choose to set
to protect my family. I allow others to believe and behave as they choose, but would like that
same respect given to me.
The laws that are now allowing men who are or claim to be transvestites to use the womens'
showers, locker rooms and bathroom facilities are endangering the rights of those who don't
want
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 9:36 PM, Elizabeth Stoddard <lizstoddard@gmail.com> wrote:
We leave for Mexico a week from tomorrow (on the 14th) and will come back on February
1st. Yes, to the same place. We just love the pure relaxation and snorkeling. Hopefully we'll
go back longer next year.
I find it interesting that you bring up the subject of religion with such respect. Thanks. I'll read
the article and give you my reaction tomorrow.
Tell Trixie hi from me. Hope you had a good Christmas.
liz
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 9:44 AM, Bret Prod <bret@huishproductions.com> wrote:
Hi Liz:
As the years go by I become more interested in the religion critter. Just totally fascinating.
I know it is a big part of your life and that you have a pretty darned good brain and a really
strong faith…. good on ya…
I recently came across the following essay about the bible and how so many “christians”
don’t really know what “christian” means. The author is a Christian and is tired of people
twisting the bible for their own purpose. I think you will really like it.
Let me know what you think… if you like it as much as me feel free to share it on FB…..
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