re polygamy

[ttribe]

14 minutes ago, Ahab said:

Same answer if people asked which of your children you love the most,  I suppose.

In French I think the thought is...

Viva la difference! 

I don't French very well, by the way. 

I just know that I already love everybody... even all  wonderful women!

You say strange things on the Internet.

10 minutes ago, JulieM said:

Women are not items on a menu for you to just point at and pick.  They have a choice in all of this too. I think this is a poor comparison.

Amen, sister!  I am stunned at the lack of thought being applied to these posts.

[consiglieri]

[ALarson]

3 hours ago, Ahab said:

Haven't you ever looked at a menu and thought THAT is what I want and should get?

Of course, but I would never equate that with how to treat women (or anyone).  That is very demeaning and I really wonder why you would even post this (even if it is how you think).  

Edited April 27, 2016 by ALarson

[bcuzbcuz]

2 hours ago, cinepro said:

Are the feelings of the woman factored into your math, or is their rate of production a fixed constant?

Yeah, it does sort a sound like a "pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen" kind of arrangement . 1000 wives, 1000 nights, would mean 2 years and 9 months before the cycle would begin again, back to wife no. 1. Remembering the name of each wife and what things she liked or disliked, would be what I define as Hell on earth. Not to mention trying to remember all the names of the kids.....and their birthdays, and what they liked or disliked. Would the kids even remember who I was? even if we all ate dinner at the same time,,,,,,can you imagine serving one thousand and one adults every meal and the tens of thousands of offspring. Good thing there are cell phones. My kids could send me a "Hi Dad" from the far end of the table. Of course, if we used artificial insemination I could have a 1000 news kids every year. "Time with Dad" would add up to 6 visits per child before they start moving out on their own.

The more I think about it the less this scenario appeals to me. I'd rather take my time and get to know my 1 (one) mate, rather than running a production farm.

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, Ahab said:

Same answer if people asked which of your children you love the most,  I suppose.

In French I think the thought is...

Viva la difference! 

I don't French very well, by the way. 

I just know that I already love everybody... even all  wonderful women!

Not really the same answer.

I am certain I could love more than one woman at the same time, and each one of them equally.  I do not love my wives in the same way that I love my children.  My wives are in and of me, while my children are "merely" of me.  I shall send them forth to make their own lives, but my wives will stay and be as essential to my life as I am.  One of them I will have to give back in the end, regretfully, but in the meantime I will love her devotedly and furiously.

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, JulieM said:

Women are not items on a menu for you to just point at and pick.  They have a choice in all of this too. I think this is a poor comparison.

Oh, you're funny.  Of course they're not on the menu!  They are all simply beautiful and worthy of love!  Just as you are!  And the choice is of course theirs!  Too.

I do know what Ahab is talking about.  I feel the same way.  All of Father's daughters are noble and beautiful, and all are worthy of being sought for and won in love!  They are not prizes, in the way that Jasmine of Alladin fame expressed it, but to a man having been graced by her choice, they may seem like prizes, because they are priceless! That's what it feels like with my Wendy -- that I have been blindsided by the love of an angel, and a choice daughter of God.

But I do know that there are more like her out there!  And I could have loved any number of them -- but it was Wendy who chose me!

[VideoGameJunkie]

I've yet to love a single woman yet so I really don't know what I'm talking about anymore.

[JLHPROF]

14 minutes ago, VideoGameJunkie said:

I've yet to love a single woman yet so I really don't know what I'm talking about anymore.

Your comments on polygamy do seem inconsistent, even all over the place.

[Stargazer]

13 minutes ago, VideoGameJunkie said:

I've yet to love a single woman yet so I really don't know what I'm talking about anymore.

Well, don't give up!  There are probably 10 women out there, at a minimum, who would be delighted with you, and whom you, in turn, would delight in.  Just gotta keep looking.  Perhaps there's one just around the corner.

My wife's late husband quietly courted her, sometimes with significant gaps of time between meetings, and once she even wrote in her journal that she could never marry him.  Yet, it happened, and they had a happy marriage, she tells me.

[VideoGameJunkie]

51 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

Your comments on polygamy do seem inconsistent, even all over the place.

That's probably because I can't settle my mind on the issue and my mind keeps changing every day on the issue. I just have no closure in my mind. I don't know who to believe on the issue.

Edited April 28, 2016 by VideoGameJunkie

[JLHPROF]

7 minutes ago, VideoGameJunkie said:

That's probably because I can't settle my mind on the issue and my mind keeps changing every day on the issue. I just have no closure in my mind. I don't know who to believe on the issue.

God.

[VideoGameJunkie]

33 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

God.

I've tried praying for an answer from God for months even in 2 temple visits I prayed in the Celestial room for an answer but I still have not received an answer from God.

[Teancum]

22 hours ago, rodheadlee said:

Only to those who lack faith in the Holy Spirit to confirm truth.

What a compellingly logical and devastating response.  I am underwhelmed.

[VideoGameJunkie]

How am I supposed to get an answer from God when I haven't yet? What am I supposed to do? I've tried praying in the temple and praying many times for an answer.

[ladyshanae]

For what it's worth, I eventually prayed to simply be at peace about the whole thing. It's not something that currently effects (affects? I always get that wrong) my day to day life or my personal testimony. So, I prayed for peace. Maybe try that approach?

[JulieM]

11 minutes ago, ladyshanae said:

For what it's worth, I eventually prayed to simply be at peace about the whole thing. It's not something that currently effects (affects? I always get that wrong) my day to day life or my personal testimony. So, I prayed for peace. Maybe try that approach?

This has worked for me as well.  I now believe God will force no one to live polygamy.  I still have issues with how it was lived in the early days of the church (some details), but I also hope that will all be explained and made right.

So, VGJ, try this.  Only worry about things you have control over and don't obsess over polygamy!  Focus on the good and positive the church adds to your life.

Edited April 28, 2016 by JulieM

[VideoGameJunkie]

1 minute ago, JulieM said:

This has worked for me as well.  I now believe God will force no one to live polygamy.  I still have issues with how it was lived in the early days of the church (some details), but I also hope that will all be explained and made right.

So, VGJ, try this.  Only worry about things you have control over and don't obsess over this!  Focus on the good and positive the church adds to your life.

That's good advice. I'm just confused because modern prophets contradict old prophets and some scripture contradicts other scripture. So it's hard to figure out which to rely on as being correct.

[Stargazer]

13 minutes ago, VideoGameJunkie said:

How am I supposed to get an answer from God when I haven't yet? What am I supposed to do? I've tried praying in the temple and praying many times for an answer.

Do you think you need an answer?  

There was a time back before the 1978 revelation on the priesthood when I was worried about why some were not permitted to hold the priesthood just because of their racial origins.  I actually didn't expect the Lord to pick me out and give me an answer as to why (if the Church didn't have an answer, how was I supposed to get one?).  I settled it in my mind by realizing that there were those whom it did affect, and didn't let it bother them because they knew the Church was true.  Alan Gerald Cherry was one such man, and I read his book "It's You and Me, Lord", published well before the 1978 revelation.  He determined that whatever the deal with the priesthood restriction was, it didn't matter, because the Church was true.  Later I read other books.  Helvecio Martins, the first black General Authority, joined the church before 1978 and he and his wife knew the Church was true in their first meeting with the missionaries.  Joseph Freeman, who though a minister in the Holiness Church and who had always wanted to be a minister of the Gospel couldn't hold the priesthood due to his race, but the Spirit testified to him that the Book of Mormon was true, and he was the first black member to be ordained to the priesthood after the 1978 revelation.   Mary Frances Sturlaugson, who didn't believe in any God and was raised by her family to hate whites, joined the Church despite all her brothers telling her she could never come home again if she became a Mormon; she later served a full-time mission in Texas after the 1978 revelation. What right did I have to complain and demand answers from God about something that didn't directly affect me, when so many of those whom it did affect could not deny the truth of the Church and joined despite it all?  But in all this, the Spirit still confirmed in me that the Priesthood was real, and the Church was true.  So I relied upon that.  It was good enough.

Was Joseph Smith a prophet, or not?  If he was, then DC 132 means something.  There's more than enough evidence from the Old Testament that polygamy is not something that God ever commanded against.  The only quibble heard was in the Book of Mormon, but that fell well short of a contradiction of the principle.  Maybe you're praying about the wrong thing, VGJ.  Maybe it isn't polygamy that is bothering you.  I remember praying over and over again about whether I should serve a full-time mission.  I had imagined up to myself the notion that it was for others, but not for me.  So I kept asking God if I should go on a mission or not.  No answer.  I finally reallized that I already had my answer, and all I was doing was wasting God's time and mine asking for something I already knew the answer to.  I didn't need to know if I should.  I knew I should.

I settled it in my mind long ago that the Church was true and that President of the Church is a prophet, seer and revelator.  The first presidency and the quorum of the twelve are not going to guide us astray.  It's not in God's program.  Faith in this has helped me enormously to realize that God is guiding the Church.  Things may not be perfect, but who or what is perfect?  

The fact of the matter is this: plural marriage is a divine principle.  I don't know why, but I don't need to know why.

 

[VideoGameJunkie]

14 minutes ago, Stargazer said:

Do you think you need an answer?  

There was a time back before the 1978 revelation on the priesthood when I was worried about why some were not permitted to hold the priesthood just because of their racial origins.  I actually didn't expect the Lord to pick me out and give me an answer as to why (if the Church didn't have an answer, how was I supposed to get one?).  I settled it in my mind by realizing that there were those whom it did affect, and didn't let it bother them because they knew the Church was true.  Alan Gerald Cherry was one such man, and I read his book "It's You and Me, Lord", published well before the 1978 revelation.  He determined that whatever the deal with the priesthood restriction was, it didn't matter, because the Church was true.  Later I read other books.  Helvecio Martins, the first black General Authority, joined the church before 1978 and he and his wife knew the Church was true in their first meeting with the missionaries.  Joseph Freeman, who though a minister in the Holiness Church and who had always wanted to be a minister of the Gospel couldn't hold the priesthood due to his race, but the Spirit testified to him that the Book of Mormon was true, and he was the first black member to be ordained to the priesthood after the 1978 revelation.   Mary Frances Sturlaugson, who didn't believe in any God and was raised by her family to hate whites, joined the Church despite all her brothers telling her she could never come home again if she became a Mormon; she later served a full-time mission in Texas after the 1978 revelation. What right did I have to complain and demand answers from God about something that didn't directly affect me, when so many of those whom it did affect could not deny the truth of the Church and joined despite it all?  But in all this, the Spirit still confirmed in me that the Priesthood was real, and the Church was true.  So I relied upon that.  It was good enough.

Was Joseph Smith a prophet, or not?  If he was, then DC 132 means something.  There's more than enough evidence from the Old Testament that polygamy is not something that God ever commanded against.  The only quibble heard was in the Book of Mormon, but that fell well short of a contradiction of the principle.  Maybe you're praying about the wrong thing, VGJ.  Maybe it isn't polygamy that is bothering you.  I remember praying over and over again about whether I should serve a full-time mission.  I had imagined up to myself the notion that it was for others, but not for me.  So I kept asking God if I should go on a mission or not.  No answer.  I finally reallized that I already had my answer, and all I was doing was wasting God's time and mine asking for something I already knew the answer to.  I didn't need to know if I should.  I knew I should.

I settled it in my mind long ago that the Church was true and that President of the Church is a prophet, seer and revelator.  The first presidency and the quorum of the twelve are not going to guide us astray.  It's not in God's program.  Faith in this has helped me enormously to realize that God is guiding the Church.  Things may not be perfect, but who or what is perfect?  

The fact of the matter is this: plural marriage is a divine principle.  I don't know why, but I don't need to know why.

 

If I'm praying about the wrong thing, thenot what is the right thing to pray about?

[rodheadlee]

2 hours ago, Teancum said:

What a compellingly logical and devastating response.  I am underwhelmed.

It's not a restaurant, you don't get to pick and choose which scriptures you consider valid scripture. I don't like D&C 89 too bad for me, no TR. I can think of verses in Matthew 15 that negate the Word of Wisdom but I don't expect the Church or Christ to change their/His standards just for me. Thy will be done Father is the correct answer.

[rodheadlee]

2 hours ago, ladyshanae said:

For what it's worth, I eventually prayed to simply be at peace about the whole thing. It's not something that currently effects (affects? I always get that wrong) my day to day life or my personal testimony. So, I prayed for peace. Maybe try that approach?

Excellent post, thank you. This is the way it should be. Pray for peace of mind and put it on shelf until later, until it affects you.

[VideoGameJunkie]

31 minutes ago, rodheadlee said:

Excellent post, thank you. This is the way it should be. Pray for peace of mind and put it on shelf until later, until it affects you.

I have a problem where I like to obsess over the future and disregard the present. I've been seeing a psychologist for this and my next appointment isn't until May 4th.

[Tacenda]

http://mormonstories.org/dc-132-a-revelation-of-men-not-god/

VGJ, I read this through just today.  I like what it says about polygamy not really being from God.  It makes a lot of comparisons and has thought provoking questions.  I'd c/p several but don't  have time.  Hopefully it helps, I know it helped me or the same information helped me in the past.

[Ahab]

16 hours ago, JulieM said:

Women are not items on a menu for you to just point at and pick.  They have a choice in all of this too. I think this is a poor comparison.

You think it's a poor comparison because you're not considering some of what I meant.

All the women I've ever had the opportunity to meet were on my menu, and that is still true today too, even the ones that would not be a good option for me. Not that all of them would "agree with" me or my body, so to speak, but in some way I still could have chosrn any one of them and if you don't agree then you would have simply been a bad one for me to have chosen.  

Fortunately for me I made a good choice and the one I chose agreed and still "agrees with" me, and I don't ever want to get her "out of my system".

Take that and if you still don't agree with me it doesn't really matter because I am only allowed one choice from the menu and I already have what I want and she is good for me.

[ttribe]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

You think it's a poor comparison because you're not considering some of what I meant.

All the women I've ever had the opportunity to meet were on my menu, and that is still true today too, even the ones that would not be a good option for me. Not that all of them would "agree with" me or my body, so to speak, but in some way I still could have chosrn any one of them and if you don't agree then you would have simply been a bad one for me to have chosen.  

Fortunately for me I made a good choice and the one I chose agreed and still "agrees with" me, and I don't ever want to get her "out of my system".

Take that and if you still don't agree with me it doesn't really matter because I am only allowed one choice from the menu and I already have what I want and she is good for me.

You really are completely tone deaf on this issue.