I learned in church today

[Jeff Lebowski]

GD teacher asked for examples of having been persecuted for being Mormon. The examples:
1) having to walk through picketers to get into the LA temple.
2) having a teacher teach that Brigham Young was polygamist
3) when living outside of Utah, people assuming that their 7-child family was either Catholic or Mormon.

We had a lesson like that a couple of years ago with similarly ridiculous responses. LAU is right. Teachers shouldn't feed our persecution complex.

[Pheidippides]

We had a lesson like that a couple of years ago with similarly ridiculous responses. LAU is right. Teachers shouldn't feed our persecution complex.

After spending the first time in a long time listening to lessons prepared right out of the manuals, I lament the state of teaching in the church in general. Side effect of lay clergy, I know.

[Viking]

I actually attended sac meeting last week in the last ward where I was somewhat active (Manhattan)...I was hoping to see some old friends and wasn't disappointed.

I learned how little I believe in Jesus (not at all, in fact). I learned that it's cool to walk out of sac meeting, get a Starbucks coffee and come back to listen to the last 20 minutes. That was awesome.

I also learned that it's still considered rude to loudly chortle when a general authority says, "we as a church are very very politically neutral".

I actually felt quite badly and was embarrassed...I'm technically a guest and should not have done that...totally visceral reaction.

I retain a ton of respect for the mormon church and its members. It is such an impressive organization.

[wuapinmon]

Wow. Well I hope your quorum brethren ostracized you sufficiently after hearing that, since that was obviously what he was going for.

What an ass.

The part that gets me is that he's been here about 3 weeks. He doesn't even know my name, first or last.

[ERCougar]

Does #2 think that Brigham young wasn't a polygamist? Did they expound on what made this event so traumatic?

She remembered thinking, "Why are they making fun of us?" although she never said anything was said beyond BY was a polygamist. Maybe, tone? Either way...

In fairness to the teacher, he prefaced the question by saying, "I've never really felt persecuted for being Mormon. Have any of you?" So I imagine he was rolling his eyes as much as me at the answers, but was much better at hiding it.

[LA Ute]

After spending the first time in a long time listening to lessons prepared right out of the manuals, I lament the state of teaching in the church in general. Side effect of lay clergy, I know.

I think it's the teacher, not the manual, that matters. That's been my experience, anyway.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

A dumb move for a GD teacher, IMO.

He was probably just looking for some fresh CUF material.

[LA Ute]

He was probably just looking for some fresh CUF material.

Based on ER's clarification, it looks like he walked into an unexpected buzz saw of whining about perceived persecution.

Family story: My GG grandfather was burned out of his house in Far West. We were always taught that unless something equally bad happened to us, we really shouldn't complain. The message was, "Don't be a wuss!"

[Moliere]

I think it's the teacher, not the manual, that matters. That's been my experience, anyway.

I don't think it's the manual, but more the system. Thus I agree with Niku. But I still love LAUte in spite of our minimal differences.

[Pheidippides]

I think it's the teacher, not the manual, that matters. That's been my experience, anyway.

I disagree completely. Well, partially. The teacher matters, but the manuals suck hardcore. There's a reason I never use them.

[Moliere]

We discussed how odd it was that Alma was performing baptisms at the waters of Mormon when they technically should have been living the law of Moses. No one had a good explanation for this given that it seems baptism was not an ordinance typically performed under that law.

[LA Ute]

I disagree completely. Well, partially. The teacher matters, but the manuals suck hardcore. There's a reason I never use them.

Don't you think an insightful, articulate teacher can teach a great lesson with the current manuals? I'm pretty familiar with the manuals - my wife's the GD teacher right now and I end up substituting every month or two. There's plenty to work with there, it seems to me.

EDIT: in the spirit of full disclosure, I taught today and didn't even touch the manual. It was a last-minute assignment and I just talked with the class about what Memorial Day means to Mormons. It was fun and I think the class enjoyed it. So I am not a manual Nazi. I just think they give a teacher plenty to work with.

[Pheidippides]

Don't you think an insightful, articulate teacher can teach a great lesson with the current manuals? I'm pretty familiar with the manuals - my wife's the GD teacher right now and I end up substituting every month or two. There's plenty to work with there, it seems to me.

EDIT: in the spirit of full disclosure, I taught today and didn't even touch the manual. It was a last-minute assignment and I just talked with the class about what Memorial Day means to Mormons. It was fun and I think the class enjoyed it. So I am not a manual Nazi. I just think they give a teacher plenty to work with.

Yeah, a great teacher will teach a good lesson with the manual. But we are not a church of great teachers. We aspire to be a church of mediocre teachers.

In fairness, no amount of manual changes will make mediocre teachers into great teachers.

I think the manuals are misleading, manipulative, overly correlated, and they cherry-pick quotes and scriptures and take them out of context to suit purposes. At least the gospel principles one does.

[wuapinmon]

I think the manuals are misleading, manipulative, overly correlated, and they cherry-pick quotes and scriptures and take them out of context to suit purposes. At least the gospel principles one does.

No, I think you said it right, especially about cherry-picking and taking things out of context. They also get rid of problematic passages in the TOTHPOTHC manuals. It's not just the GP one.

[Pheidippides]

No, I think you said it right, especially about cherry-picking and taking things out of context. They also get rid of problematic passages in the TOTHPOTHC manuals. It's not just the GP one.

Lol, I wasn't even thinking of the TOTHPOTHC manuals. Everything I said x2, plus they are hard to teach out of even for experienced teachers.

I think we need to spend more time in teacher development classes. I attended one once. Twice would be better.