Salt Lake Tribune Trashes LDS for Serving too Much

[Robert F. Smith]

14 hours ago, The Nehor said:

And not being able to afford the cost of living, feeling trapped in a system where ownership of a home seems impossible, having to give up dreams of parenthood due to financial realities, paranoia that every health concern could turn into financial ruin, and the like. Add in being chastised by others that you are all a bunch of lazy layabouts who have had it easy for way too long and people wonder why everyone is lonely and depressed.

It never ceases to be funny to me that people who think we are in the last days when troubles are supposed to abound everywhere will ignore all that because their favored diet of propaganda tells them it is more fun to punch down and insist that all the suffering of others is due to laziness and sloth and not being challenged enough by life.

Yep, and in a worldwide Church, we could say that the Latter-day Saint way optimizes survival and even happiness.  Ironic in view of the old joke about Mormons greening Hell itself.

[Robert F. Smith]

5 hours ago, Notatbm said:

You are preaching to the wrong guy.  Go dig up my parents and give em the good news. 

Just stating the facts to MDDB, not you.  You already get it that this is wrong.

I also worry that the Church has made a fetish of the nuclear family, when it is the extended (multigenerational) family which should be primary (Mosiah 2:5).  However, even the nuclear family is now in decline:

Maria Kouloglou, “The New Inequality: The Decline of the Working Class Family,” Quillette, June 13, 2019, online at https://quillette.com/2019/06/13/the-new-inequality-the-decline-of-the-working-class-family/ ,

Quote

The family has been called “the cornerstone of society” and for good reason. According to studies, children born to married parents are more likely to go to university and less likely to receive government benefits. Children raised in fatherless homes, however, appear more likely to face worse outcomes when it comes to well-being, education and mental health. Married people also appear to be healthier and happier.

According to a report, before the 1970s there were no large class divides in American family life. Most people got married and stayed married and the children were raised in two-parent families. This trend eventually changed, with poorer and less educated people becoming less likely to get married and stay married. The decline of marriage is also correlated with the rise of single-mother households. A similar decline of the working class family appears to exist in the UK, with men from poor backgrounds being significantly more likely to be single in their forties than richer men.

 

Edited July 11, 2025 by Robert F. Smith

[Calm]

7 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

also worry that the Church has made a fetish of the nuclear family, when it is the extended (multigenerational) family which should be primary (Mosiah 2:5). 

Given our doctrine on the work for the dead and forever families, it would be relatively easy to modify the emphasis imo.

[Calm]

On 7/11/2025 at 3:45 AM, Robert F. Smith said:

also worry that the Church has made a fetish of the nuclear family, when it is the extended (multigenerational) family which should be primary (Mosiah 2:5). 

I just remembered something I was told when my mother was in assisted living.  According to the manager at that time (2017 or 2018), Utah lacked the usual number of assisted living centers for the amount of elderly population because it wasn’t as profitable here as there was a higher than typical number of families caring for their elderly parents and grandparents, thus allowing them to stay in their own homes or to move in with family.

A strong nuclear family would support in some ways extended family bonds as one is often both a child in one family and parents in another.  If the bonds are strong with parents and siblings as a child, those often continue as adults.

If this is/was accurate (I vaguely remember her saying this was changing as businesses were getting better at offering comforts, but not sure if she actually said that, I might do some research on this later), it of course isn’t necessarily because of the Church’s teachings since Utah does not equate directly with the Church, but it could indicate that the extended family is a high priority among LDS.  It could also be the fact that children may tend to stay local as it has been my impression there are less adults moving away from family here than other places I have lived, but that could be mostly a result of my own extended family and friends (my husband comes from a family of 8 kids who grew up in Orem, all but two now live in Utah along with most of their kids). 

 I also hear constantly of family reunions.  It would be interesting to see if LDS have more extended family reunions than others.

Edited July 12, 2025 by Calm

[Tacenda]

On 6/30/2025 at 9:53 PM, Robert F. Smith said:

Monson is spewing nonsense.  Latter-day Saints are among the most well-balanced people I know of.  I never hear them preach or testify that active caring for others is a "golden ticket to heaven."  They do nice things out of love for others, and they are not overburdened.  Indeed, with fewer Sunday mtgs along with modern technology, getting something done is far easier now than ever.  Are there foolish and irresponsible Latter-day Saints?  Of course, but that is true of every culture.

The truly great burdens wee those borne by our pioneer ancestors.  If anything, we have it too easy today.

My friend and her husband's recent mission, helping every Thursday with the addiction classes has now changed. They were told they are in charge of the whole program a lot like being mission presidents and she bought a better internet to get better reception since it was glitching. And the program is a learning experience to be sure, and the time commitment is 20 hours a week. But all will be well I hope.