bluebell

This is the criticism I’m hearing the most right now on social media.

Can you clarify who you are talking to? The OP stated he wanted to contribute to his ward and never implied that he believes he can't live the Gospel of Christ without having a calling, so I'm thinking it wasn't written to him.

I’ve heard myths about it but never anything that had any references attached. I can’t imagine it.

It seems like bsj is just alluding to the fact that citizens do (and should) have different legal rights than people who are here illegally. Especially if they have been convicted of a crime. That seems like a fairly uncontroversial opinion. Though we might disagree with the best way to go about it, I don’t see the point in assuming those who see things differently are insincere or irrational.

I'm just stating the legal facts though. Can I ask why you are finding them aggravating?

It's a criminal act (misdemeanor) to cross the border illegally but "unlawful presence" is only a civil violation. It's similar in severity to a parking ticket.

There is another charity that guarantees 100% of the donations go to the charity. It's called Charity: Water. They use private donors to pay for all their overhead and administration costs so that 100% of the public donations can go to providing clean water to communities without it. But yes, it is very very rare and I love the church's humanitarian arm for that same reason.

As I understand it, fast offerings don't got to pay the church's bills. They can definitely go to pay someone else's bills though.

Agreed. I think if Plan B's exist they are to help us and provide a way for God to be as merciful to us as possible. Not to ensure He can accomplish His work.

I don't personally believe that God has Plan B's, because I do believe that He is omniscient and doesn't need to hedge His bets, and He didn't seem to have a Plan B for the Atonement, which implies to me that He doesn't need to rely on contingency plans to ensure His will is done and His plan isn't frustrated. But, if they do exist then I would think they would be more about preserving our agency than making sure His plan doesn't fail.

Are you going to address your misquoting of the previous article that caused it to be understood completely opposite of what it was actually saying, to show that this discussion is in good faith?

Agreed. It can be one way to show that we have some skin in the game, so to speak. I think it can also help us focus our own thoughts so that we can better understand God's will.

My son served in Tennessee (Spanish speaking) and he said pretty much all of his converts were undocumented. This was two years ago.

I’ve wondered about that movie for a while but never watched because the story sounded a little off to me. Hearing your review I can now pass without wondering anymore if I’m missing something

I meant that being in the country illegally is a civil violation, not a criminal one.

Good advice. I think you can also call the bank and put a stop on it, but you might have to wait until it's "pending". That usually costs money though.

I think the advice for civil violations is likely different than for criminal violations.

It’s hard to say. In the Old Testament fasting is always voluntary. The people had access to food, but voluntarily chose not to eat. Such as when Moses didn’t eat before going up to the mountain and eventually receiving the 10 Commandments. Your question made me curious, so I looked it up and according to ChatGPT, the first instance of fasting in the Bible, I’m thinking where the word is used, is in judges when the Israelites fast because they lost a battle. But I don’t know if we can trust ChatGPT on that. In the book of Mormon, it sounds like fasting is always used in combo with prayer and seeking favor from God or supplication. It doesn’t sound like it was typically caused by a lack of food or famine, but that’s after a very cursory exploration of the idea. There’s probably more and better information available out there on the topic.

I remember a few years ago in my Stake they were having a really bad drought. The Stake is mostly agriculture, farmers and ranchers, so it was a big deal. The Stake president asked everybody to fast for rain and a break from the record high temps, and then the day after the fast the temperature was like 105 and no rain in sight. A little while later, the Stake president told us he had shared this experience with a visiting GA. The GA said “well, it never hurts to ask” That’s my opinion as far as fasting and prayer goes. We do our best not to ask amiss, but we always leave it in God’s hands and work to accept his will.

Thanks for explaining your thinking on it.

Can you explain in what ways you see them as similar?

I wouldn't report them either, and for the same reasons. The "I wouldn't report someone for speeding or unpaid parking tickets either or any other civil legal matter" reason was the first 'why' that came to my mind as well.

That's one of my favorites. I love when they mix actions/sci-fi and humor together.

Agreed. The plots of the movies out right now all seems to be violent, dark, or ideologically driven. I miss just going to the movies and being entertained, and leaving feeling happy.

Since there is no way to get away from the light of Christ, I don’t think such an experiment would be possible (leaving out it being completely immoral to do that to a child of course) but I agree it would be very interesting to know how a human would respond with only neutral or negative influences. I’ve always wondered.