Kenngo1969

I've read the last couple pages of the thread. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Witnesses, about the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon. For anyone who may not be "in the know," when Joseph Smith first got the metal plates ("ha[ving] the appearance of gold") from which the record we now know as the Book of Mormon was translated, he was commanded to not show them to anyone else unless and until he was commanded to do otherwise. Eventually, he received permission for three other witnesses to see the plates, and an angel showed them to the witnesses: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Mar

By the way, my first response when I read this question is, I dunno. Where the hell do you think it is?!

He would. He's Welsh.

I don't think that the vast majority of us (any of us really, given how hard it is to go to hell in Latter-day Saint soteriology) have to worry about going to hell. All of us are destined for some kingdom of glory, and I think that, by and large, we'll be content with where we end up. (It'll be easiest to satisfy the folks who weren't expecting any kind of an afterlife: "Whoa, I'm still here! Cool!" 👍) As for where it is, while it might be difficult for me to qualify for much more than a modest little cottage on the outskirts of the Celestial City, since, nevertheless, by contrast, I don't

Actually, Hell is in Michigan. Allegedly, when they asked the guy who spearheaded the settlement what, for official purposes, it should be named, he said, "You can name it Hell , for all I care!" So, they did. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/michigan/articles/how-hell-michigan-got-its-name/

J. Golden Kimball is reported, once, to have said, "If I had a house in St. George and a house in Hell , I'd rent out the one in St. George and live in Hell !" (If you want at least a little bit of relief, actually, you could come up to St. George: It's only supposed to hit 111 °F there tomorrow! )

Have you visited WaPo a few times this month? You get, I think, three articles free, then it says, "You've reached your limit of [x] free articles this month. Subscribe for [x weeks] for only [x $s per week]."

You mean, like, Jesus Christ (see John 7:17*)? Yeah, I would say He has the secret to life after death. (I know. Call me crazy ... ) While I do hope, someday, to reap an eternal benefit, I'd be worried about people (Prophets, Seers, and Revelators) telling me about benefits that, one day, I will receive ... If I received absolutely no benefit from living the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in the here-and-now. (If you want to equate the Brethren to some MLM huckster who, when I confide in him that I'm discouraged because it isn't working for me, tells me, "Work the plan!

Please forgive me for the strange ways in which my mind works, but I saw the title of this thread and this is what I thought of: Sorry.

That's evil, I tell ya! Eeeeee-vuhl!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if addiction has taken away our free will? Yes, every addiction starts with a choice, but the reason why addiction is so pernicious, and one reason why we are counseled (commanded) to avoid addictive substances is because, once addicted, we become slaves to our "desires, appetites, and passions." Seeking out ways to obtain what was once the "drug of choice" comes, more and more, to dominate our thoughts and our efforts, and, often, leads us to take advantage of, to betray, and otherwise to mistreat those closest to us. "Evil," per se? For the responsible consumer who partakes i

I think, when we talk about the "evils" of the Word of Wisdom, that, often, we're approaching the problem from the wrong end: It's not that users are evil for using, even though many of them do horrible things when they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs; it's that many of the purveyors of the substances are evil (or at least, they have done evil) by doing the things they have done to promote use of their products. As an example, in the case of tobacco, consider the case of Jeffrey Wigand, whom his employer reportedly (according to him) harassed for his blowing the whistle on the

Bless me, Mother, for I have sinned. It's been a week since my last confession ... (And you can expect to see me here in the confessional on a regular basis ...)

And therein lies a key to the answer to the question you asked me about whether we are responsible for our own sins: Again, my answer is, "To the extent that we were free to make a choice, yes, we are responsible for our own sins." However, if another person's intervention, through manufacturing the drug that I use and selling me the drug that I use, takes away my freedom to make a choice by facilitating my addiction to their product, then, at least to a certain extent, they become responsible even for my sins.

I'm punished for my own sins if I have a free choice whether to sin or to live righteously, and I choose to sin. If addiction takes away my opportunity to make a free choice whether to sin or to live righteously, then the person or persons responsible for my addiction must bear at least some of the responsibility both for my loss of agency and for the poor choices I make as a result.