What Beliefs (If Any) Do You As A Member Hold Differently Than The Official Church Position?

[SeekingUnderstanding]

What sort of sexual sin?  Should one distinguish between adultery and non-adulterous fornication?  What of petting?  Masturbation?  Are there gradations of such sin?  What are the real concerns of an LDS bishop nowadays?  What did Alma actually mean (Alma 39:5)?  Wasn't he concerned not only with Corianton's consorting with the whore Isabel, but with the way in which it created the view among the Lamanites that the sanctimonious Nephites were hypocrites

Indeed. These are the reasons I disagree with the church on this issue.

[mfbukowski]

Amen to that. The idea that people believe the Supreme Ruler of the universe helps find lost keys is just boggles my mind.

That's why it doesn't work for you.

 

Matthew 10:29-31King James Version (KJV)

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

³¹ Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

 

 

[mfbukowski]

No, that was just the carbon cycle- carbon recycling itself. The word "death" hadn't been invented yet.

Go ahead and name one idea that doesn't have a word for it.  You can't even think without language.  No words, no ideas.  It's that simple.

[Grudunza]

Amen to that. The idea that people believe the Supreme Ruler of the universe helps find lost keys is just boggles my mind.

I disagree there, though I might suggest that the act of praying is what helps... in other words, we help ourselves by stopping what hasn't worked (our searching), taking a break to refocus, and perhaps thinking of the situation in a new way or looking at our surroundings differently. So praying to God can help us find our keys.

I also think of Him as a real father, so he might have concerns for our small concerns, like good fathers should.

[Calm]

IT seems to only be a sin before a mission. Magically, on and after a mission, it doesn't matter. I guess it depends on the bishop too.

Perhaps that is because there is a higher risk for prostate cancer associated with masturbation in young men, but not with older. (joke, but not putting a smilie in case someone thinks I am joking about the risk itself, and not just the idea that it is considered a sin only before a mission...besides the stats connect problems with up to low thirties I believe)

http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20090127/masturbation-and-prostate-cancer-risk

[Calm]

That's not something half the population worries much about.

And not accurate either, see the link in the post above.

[JLHPROF]

Well of all the topics I thought this thread would cover....masturbation wasn't one of them. 

[Calm]

.  If that is all it way, why build an ark?  God could have just told Noah to walk 200 miles in a certain direction and be safe.   I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

Maybe God wanted to move him somewhere he couldn't walk to, like across an ocean.

[Calm]

That's why it doesn't work for you.

There is nothing that prevents God from having enough assistants/servants that the little things on occasion can be addressed (I don't believe all are because it would get to a point where it interferes with agency and growth).

If we are truly of one heart and mind, God would not even need to speak, a member of the divine community would simply act to answer the prayer on behalf of God and all who listen as one mind, one heart.

Edited November 6, 2014 by calmoriah

[Silhouette]

Wow, reading through this thread has been very eye-opening for me. I guess I'm the strange one here, because I have always taken the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church at face value. I assumed that the Scriptures are a true and literal accounting of their times. I believed that Adam and Eve were real people placed in the Garden by Heavenly Father, just like it describes.

I believed in a worldwide flood regarding Noah, and that he really did gather the animals two by two as described. Someone mentioned that they didn't believe that Noah put termites on a wooden ark. I always assumed that Heavenly Father suppressed the natural instincts of the wild animals (even insects, assuming there were some on board) during their time in the ark so that they could be handled better by their human caretakers.

I believed everything in the Scriptures was literal insofar as they were translated correctly, just like it says in the Articles of Faith.

I believed in all of the temple ordinances, and that we would literally present ourselves at the veil when the time comes, and present the signs and tokens, and speak with and answer Someone on the other side.

These views I've seen in this thread are extremely radical to me, and verge on apostasy. That's not meant as a condemnation or judgement of the people that have these views. It's just an opinion about some of the beliefs that have been mentioned.

In short, I took everything I've been taught literally. I saw no reason not to. I let myself be guided by what I sensed from the Spirit. The Spirit hasn't guided me to have any doubts whatsoever in how I perceived the Gospel and it's teachings. So if I have been wrong all these years, what is it that I was listening to?

I don't blindly follow. I do pray and seek guidance on teachings that I have questions about or am unsure of. The Holy Ghost (or something...I am not sure WHAT now) had always testified to me that things are true the way I perceived them, which again was at face value. It has never occurred to me to view things differently than how Scripture and the Gospel present them.

I just always figured that what I didn't understand would be made clear to me in the Lord's own good time, so I never let things bother me.

Apparently I've been naive in the extreme, ever since the day I had my first discussion.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Silhouette

[VideoGameJunkie]

Silhouette, I also believe that we'll literally be presented at the veil and have to give the signs and tokens to advance. If we get that far. I truly believe that God can forgive ANY sin if the person is truly sorry in their heart and have sorrow for their sin. I have seen that in my own life.

[ELF1024]

I'm sure there are a bunch. I don't feel the need to conform my every opinion to be in lockstep with the church. That would defeat free-agency. I also don't claim to be a good Mormon, just a member of the Church.

[Calm]

"because I have always taken the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church at face value"

What is "face value" usually depends on what you've been taught is "face value" and thus there may be more than one version.

[Silhouette]

"because I have always taken the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church at face value"

What is "face value" usually depends on what you've been taught is "face value" and thus there may be more than one version.

I wasn't taught anything about God or Jesus or religion when I was growing up. I called the Church on my own when I was 15, and asked for the missionaries to come. I was baptized 3 months later.

No one has ever taught me anything about what face value is in relation to the Gospel. I just put my own spin on things all these years, and prayed earnestly and with real intent, asking if something were true when questions arose about a concept in the Gospel.

Perhaps my interpretation of things in the Gospel as face value spilled over from some other aspects I was taught the concept in during various times in my life, and then I just ran with it/assumed that I ought to do the same thing with the Gospel.

I don't know where the idea came from, really. It just seemed the instinctive way for me to view things.

[Coreyb]

I wasn't taught anything about God or Jesus or religion when I was growing up. I called the Church on my own when I was 15, and asked for the missionaries to come. I was baptized 3 months later.

No one has ever taught me anything about what face value is in relation to the Gospel. I just put my own spin on things all these years, and prayed earnestly and with real intent, asking if something were true when questions arose about a concept in the Gospel.

Perhaps my interpretation of things in the Gospel as face value spilled over from some other aspects I was taught the concept in during various times in my life, and then I just ran with it/assumed that I ought to do the same thing with the Gospel.

I don't know where the idea came from, really. It just seemed the instinctive way for me to view things.

Taking things so matter of fact-ly certainly is a legitimate and noble way of approaching the scriptures, but it does have problems, just as all the various viewpoints do.

[mnn727]

Wow, reading through this thread has been very eye-opening for me. I guess I'm the strange one here, because I have always taken the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church at face value. 

Apparently I've been naive in the extreme, ever since the day I had my first discussion.

Many members are like you, but as you see, many members are not.

Neither is wrong (although some of the assumptions on either side may be) and most of us are still Temple Worth members.

We just keep our mouth shut on certain subjects while at Church. Although I have walked out of a Sunday School class once when I just couldn't take what was being taught anymore.

[Calm]

Perhaps my interpretation of things in the Gospel as face value spilled over from some other aspects I was taught the concept in during various times in my life, and then I just ran with it/assumed that I ought to do the same thing with the Gospel.

I don't know where the idea came from, really. It just seemed the instinctive way for me to view things.

Quite possible.

[JLHPROF]

Apparently I've been naive in the extreme, ever since the day I had my first discussion.

 

 

 

I don't consider a literalist view of the gospel to be naive at all.  There are certainly elements to the gospel that are up for interpretation.  There are definitely things that are symbolic.

But I also believe that what the scriptures say are, in general, literally true.  I believe the ordinances of the temple (and all ordinances) to be so much more than just symbols of spiritual things.

 

You are not naive and you are not alone in your views.  For some things we have to dig beneath face value to find the meat of the gospel, the hidden meanings.  But that is not the same as dismissing reality as symbol.  The scriptures are true and real.  The ordinances are not mere symbols.  But the gospel is deeper than any of us are able to understand.

And finding the balance between the literal and the hidden is a true test of a faithful saint.  And I find your level of faith to be wonderful, not naive.

Edited November 6, 2014 by JLHPROF

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

Apparently I've been naive in the extreme, ever since the day I had my first discussion.

Don't feel bad, there are many members here that don't think you can pray to God and have him help you find your car keys either, soooooo.

 

Also, you should see how many people actually are posting in this tread. What 20-25? If that. They hardly represent that majority.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Mola Ram Suda Ram

[Silhouette]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and reassurances. I tend to get down on myself alot. Perhaps I have done so here. You are all wonderful, and I'm so grateful for your encouragement and understanding about my viewpoint.

[Robert F. Smith]

Well of all the topics I thought this thread would cover....masturbation wasn't one of them. 

And yet it is a major issue for many girls and boys.

What we probably ought to emphasize for those who are bedeviled by this problem (and other problems) is that we do not expect perfection from young people.  Overcoming strong natural desires of all kinds is a process which takes time and effort.  Perhaps years.  And success is usually achieved while anxiously engaged in selfless projects, along with the usual prayer, Scripture reading, and love for others.  One wakes up one day and finds that he has forgotten his own self and has found a rich, full, and satisfying life.

 

Similarly, within Buddhism, desire is the beginning of sorrows, but also the beginning of the processual path to the Bodhi Tree.  Lord Siddharta did not begin at Enlightenment.  That was the end of his long effort to overcome desire.

[Ham Clam]

• Women should be given the choice to have the priesthood.
• Male to women or women to male surgery in vital to health for some people and the Church should allow it without consequences to their membership standing 
• Polyandry as well as polygamy will be in this next life for some as God created polyamory as a sexual orientation
• The KJV should be put away with
•  High-level leaders should have some theology/Mormon history degree/training thing
• We should stop calling Seminary and Institute by those names and have real academic seminaries and institute
• I support same-sex unions (my state of Missouri actually legalized it today ... the Bible Belt is next)
• All bunch of stuff in the Bible is non-literal
• Our women leaders do not need to look like a rainbow during Conference
• The priesthood ban was not revelation, Evergreen was a bad idea, and we should throw out any toxic junk we pick up from Evangelicals
• Masturbation is not a sin, but we should still stay away from pornography
• There should be a two hour block

  Nothing that surprising I guess  

   

[Tacenda]

I wasn't taught anything about God or Jesus or religion when I was growing up. I called the Church on my own when I was 15, and asked for the missionaries to come. I was baptized 3 months later.

No one has ever taught me anything about what face value is in relation to the Gospel. I just put my own spin on things all these years, and prayed earnestly and with real intent, asking if something were true when questions arose about a concept in the Gospel.

Perhaps my interpretation of things in the Gospel as face value spilled over from some other aspects I was taught the concept in during various times in my life, and then I just ran with it/assumed that I ought to do the same thing with the Gospel.

I don't know where the idea came from, really. It just seemed the instinctive way for me to view things.

I think you're realizing as I did, just a short time ago, that things aren't as they seem.  I taught the story of Noah's Ark in sharing time when I was in the Primary Presidency, as if it really happened, because that's what I thought had really happened.  I also thought we would talk to someone at the veil, and that there really was an Adam and Eve.  We aren't alone I believe most believe these things in the church, it's just these darn intellectuals  that say something contrary and make us feel like our world changed from black and white thinking.  But with that wouldn't we want some color in our world, the ability to see different colors or possibilities? 

 

I think now that I really question stories in the bible as to have ever happened.  Like the talking donkey, or God commanding someone to kill their son.  Or the destruction of innocent women and children, etc.  And the Garden of Eden might be allegory, well couldn't so many other things be also?  Where do we draw the line?  I guess it's up to us to decide which are true and how that helps or hinders our belief in God.  Knowing that some of these things might not have actually happened help me to believe in a kind God.  I think some of the writers of scripture may have exaggerated or wrote things to get people to be law abiding citizens or treat mankind in humanistic ways, instead of barbarians.  A lot of the writers may not have held that humankind had a moral compass and felt like they needed to show God in a way that one would fear Him. 

 

And so awesome that at 15 you took your life in your own hands and found a religion.  Very mature of you, and seems very out of the norm at that stage. 

[Silhouette]

I think you're realizing as I did, just a short time ago, that things aren't as they seem. I taught the story of Noah's Ark in sharing time when I was in the Primary Presidency, as if it really happened, because that's what I thought had really happened. I also thought we would talk to someone at the veil, and that there really was an Adam and Eve. We aren't alone I believe most believe these things in the church, it's just these darn intellectuals that say something contrary and make us feel like our world changed from black and white thinking. But with that wouldn't we want some color in our world, the ability to see different colors or possibilities?

I think now that I really question stories in the bible as to have ever happened. Like the talking donkey, or God commanding someone to kill their son. Or the destruction of innocent women and children, etc. And the Garden of Eden might be allegory, well couldn't so many other things be also? Where do we draw the line? I guess it's up to us to decide which are true and how that helps or hinders our belief in God. Knowing that some of these things might not have actually happened help me to believe in a kind God. I think some of the writers of scripture may have exaggerated or wrote things to get people to be law abiding citizens or treat mankind in humanistic ways, instead of barbarians. A lot of the writers may not have held that humankind had a moral compass and felt like they needed to show God in a way that one would fear Him.

And so awesome that at 15 you took your life in your own hands and found a religion. Very mature of you, and seems very out of the norm at that stage.

Well, I prayed about which church to join, much like Joseph Smith did. It came to me very clearly to "Call the Mormon Church". The words were as clear in my mind as if someone spoke them right next to me. So with that kind of personal revelation, I could not ignore it. The next day I called. The rest is history, as the saying goes.

Thanks for your kind words. This thread has definitely given me some things to think about.

[Calm]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and reassurances. I tend to get down on myself alot. Perhaps I have done so here. You are all wonderful, and I'm so grateful for your encouragement and understanding about my viewpoint.

Just because we have different beliefs or experiences doesn't mean any of us are better than the other.  It is what we do for each other in life that makes us matter.  If you are trying to help others and love God to the best of your ability, you have the first two commandments down pat and the rest, don't worry about along with all the doctrine, it will come in time to all who love God.