Polygamy justification?

[ERCougar]

Why do you feel you need a conventional American Protestant-type church (generally, I share Harold Bloom's fascination with religious literature and disappointment in American Protestantism) to approach God?

Because I learn things from other people and their experiences.

It's ironic how skeptical Mormons will default to saying "Mormonism is the best tool I know to approaching God, that's all I know," and then talk about how 99% of the time they spend in a Mormon meetinghouse is an empty, boring experience. ER, you do both of these things in this same post!

I'll dispute the 99% figure as another of your exaggerations, but aside form that, I could say the same thing about school, my job, many great books, family life, most hobbies, and essentially any pursuit that requires any effort beyond my 5-yo daughter's capacities.

I wonder what percentage of devotees to any particular religion were once devoted to another religion? Of the miniscule percentage that you could say yes about in respese to that question, I wonder how many converted not because they were following a spouse's faith? Subtract from the remainder any mentally unstable people and I wonder what percentage remains. Ultimately, devotion to a faith seems to be an accident of birth subject to only exceptional circumstances. I know I baptized a lot of people on my mission; they were all rootless in terms of religion. I always found the active Catholics or Evangelists or JV's to be inaccessible.

I like you, SU, and I genuinely appreciate your input on things. But your arrogance at times is truly astounding.

[Babs]

Seattle... hope it's OK if I ask a personal question: How do you approach God?

I think there may be an unwarranted assumption in there, RB.

[UtahDan]

I like you, SU, and I genuinely appreciate your input on things. But your arrogance at times is truly astounding.

SU can be very thought provoking at times. At other times is seems like he has thought very hard about the issue, considered the alternatives, and come to a conclusion he is sticking with. About 25 years ago. There is a reluctance to update his thinking and reexamine certain things that is reminiscent of a good chunk of my gospel doctrine class. But truthfully they seem more open to hearing new ideas than he does on church issues anyway.

This reluctance translates into many things intuitively seeming correct to him which just aren't. This thread has at least one example of that. Is it LA who used to have the line in his sig that said "It isn't the things we don't know that hurt us, its the things we know that just ain't so." We all have our blinds spots, me not least of all.

[Indy Coug]

Seattle... hope it's OK if I ask a personal question: How do you approach God?

With his back turned, loud noise-reducing Bose headphones on and two middle fingers out for a mid-day stretch.

[Babs]

According to the latest Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life study, 44% of religious adults do not belong to the faith of their childhood. You can read about it here. Anyway, SU's thought on this is totally off base.

That survey is pretty silly. Switching from Presbyterian to Lutheran is hardly equivalent (no offense) to converting from Baptist to LDS, or Buddhist to Catholic, or whatever.

[Goatnapper'96]

SU can be very thought provoking at times. At other times is seems like he has thought very hard about the issue, considered the alternatives, and come to a conclusion he is sticking with. About 25 years ago. There is a reluctance to update his thinking and reexamine certain things that is reminiscent of a good chunk of my gospel doctrine class. But truthfully they seem more open to hearing new ideas than he does on church issues anyway.

This reluctance translates into many things intuitively seeming correct to him which just aren't. This thread has at least one example of that. Is it LA who used to have the line in his sig that said "It isn't the things we don't know that hurt us, its the things we know that just ain't so." We all have our blinds spots, me not least of all.

Well all that and he is an asshole.

[Babs]

Because I learn things from other people and their experiences.

you can come visit the great and abominable church with me! we have fog machines!!

[I.J. Reilly]

That survey is pretty silly. Switching from Presbyterian to Lutheran is hardly equivalent (no offense) to converting from Baptist to LDS, or Buddhist to Catholic, or whatever.

While it is true that not all denomination changes are equal, they are, nonetheless, still changes. There are reasons why each denomination is its own seperate entity, and while some of the differences may only be matters of degree, they are still differences.

[ERCougar]

you can come visit the great and abominable church with me! we have fog machines!!

Fog? Meh.

Donuts? I'm there.

[Jarid in Cedar]

you can come visit the great and abominable church with me! we have fog machines!!

Are they used for the introductions or are they used to set the mood?

[Babs]

Are they used for the introductions or are they used to set the mood?

They're used because it makes the laser light display look cooler during the worship service.

[Babs]

While it is true that not all denomination changes are equal, they are, nonetheless, still changes. There are reasons why each denomination is its own seperate entity, and while some of the differences may only be matters of degree, they are still differences.

That's fine. Should we count movement between wards?

[UtahDan]

Well all that and he is an asshole.

Well, so are we.

[Jarid in Cedar]

They're used because it makes the laser light display look cooler during the worship service.

It also helped with the Lightening effects when God's voice "booms down from the heavens".

[I.J. Reilly]

That's fine. Should we count movement between wards?

Lol. You would still call yourself a Mormon. You didn't move from being a Mormon to a Community of Christ member. You are still counted on the Mormon rolls. Changing from a Lutheran to a Presbyterian takes you from one head count to another and one title to another.

Anyways, it's only 15% that have moved between Protestant faiths.