British LDS Successfully Lobbied for Background Checks

[Free Ranger]

I recently posted on a recent interaction with LDS missionaries here viewtopic.php?t=157731 and my pushing them to embrace the new Race and the Priesthood essay which rejects any form of racism. I noticed that there is 2 attitudes, one, the Brighamite LDS Curch is a top-down Institution and can't be changed and the other attitude is it's enough of a bottom-up system that if the members do something things can change. I think both opinions are valid but this recent article makes me have more faith in the bottom-up attempt of Mormons themselves to change the institution for the better. See: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/07 ... atter-day/

Baby steps but still steps.

[Moksha]

Nemo and the Britvengers pulled off a miracle in making those background checks happen. Kudos to the local UK Church leaders for not seeking to seriously impede their efforts. Thank you to Free Ranger for helping elevate the consciousness of those missionaries.

[Free Ranger]

Nemo and the Britvengers pulled off a miracle ... Thank you to Free Ranger for helping elevate the consciousness of those missionaries.

You're welcome. It felt good to speak up and raise the consciousness of those missionaries.

I hope to see further positive changes like this one by British LDS.

[French Toast]

Nemo and the Britvengers pulled off a miracle in making those background checks happen. Kudos to the local UK Church leaders for not seeking to seriously impede their efforts. Thank you to Free Ranger for helping elevate the consciousness of those missionaries.

Hi, I'm new here as of right now. I couldn't resist responding to this because I've literally known [personal information deleted] Nemo the Mormon for his entire life. I won't say how or why, but I will say he has caused no shortage of ill feeling in his search for notoriety. But hey! Everyone deserves 15 minutes of fame.

Do not post any real life information about a poster that they haven't posted here. Thanks. RI.

[Moksha]

I'm new here as of right now. I couldn't resist responding to this because I've literally known [personal information deleted] Nemo the Mormon for his entire life. I won't say how or why, but I will say he has caused no shortage of ill feeling in his search for notoriety. But hey! Everyone deserves 15 minutes of fame.

I imagine when Leonardo da Vinci first gained notice, there were plenty of his neighbors back in Florence who said, "Hey Leonardo, why you no keep your head down like the rest of us? We gonna badmouth you in the name of the Padre".

[French Toast]

Within the context of what you may know about this, yours is a fair point well made.

However, I know his family and the distress his wider actions and attention seeking have caused.

I was sitting a few rows behind him at our recent stake conference, and a friend was sitting in the row directly in front. That friend shared with me later that one of his siblings was overheard to say, "Please don't oppose the business," to which he responded, "I'll do what I like. This is my stake." It actually isn't his stake because he moved south by 100 miles to another stake a few years back.

Fortunately, his family were spared some discomfort on this occasion because the stake president shrewdly skipped conducting the general-authority sustainings because that technically needs to be done only once each year.

There is far more to this story than was reported in the press. However, the narrative is often shaped by those who shout loudest, and they aren't necessarily the good guys.

[huckelberry]

I'm new here as of right now. I couldn't resist responding to this because I've literally known [personal information deleted] Nemo the Mormon for his entire life. I won't say how or why, but I will say he has caused no shortage of ill feeling in his search for notoriety. But hey! Everyone deserves 15 minutes of fame.

I imagine when Leonardo da Vinci first gained notice, there were plenty of his neighbors back in Florence who said, "Hey Leonardo, why you no keep your head down like the rest of us? We gonna badmouth you in the name of the Padre".

widapedia on Leonardo Da Vince:

Leonardo da Vinci was described by his early biographers as a man with great personal appeal, kindness, and generosity. He was generally well loved by his contemporaries. According to Vasari, "Leonardo's disposition was so lovable that he commanded everyone's affection". He was "a sparkling conversationalist" who charmed Ludovico Sforza with his wit. Vasari sums him up by saying:

... his magnificent presence brought comfort to the most troubled soul; he was so persuasive that he could bend other people to his will. ... He was so generous that he fed all his friends, rich or poor... Through his birth Florence received a very great gift, and through his death it sustained an incalculable loss.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_ ... o_da_Vinci

[French Toast]

Thanks, but I'm fairly certain the Leo da Vinci reference was simply to illustrate the poster's point — albeit badly since the Wikipedia page seems to know absolutely everything about the great Leonardo.

[Dwight]

I was sitting a few rows behind him at our recent stake conference, and a friend was sitting in the row directly in front. That friend shared with me later that one of his siblings was overheard to say, "Please don't oppose the business," to which he responded, "I'll do what I like. This is my stake." It actually isn't his stake because he moved south by 100 miles to another stake a few years back.

Fortunately, his family were spared some discomfort on this occasion because the stake president shrewdly skipped conducting the general-authority sustainings because that technically needs to be done only once each year.

There is far more to this story than was reported in the press. However, the narrative is often shaped by those who shout loudest, and they aren't necessarily the good guys.

So was it stake business or was it general authority business? If you live 100 miles south in another stake are they still your general authorities? Last time I checked they were for everyone in the church regardless of what stake or ward you might be living in. I used to attend my parents ward, the ward I grew up in, when visiting from another continent, and I had no problem sustaining people for the ward's business cause it was my ward, and I know the people.

I enjoy that the sustaining votes have gone from a democratized input to a fall in line and get with the program. I also enjoy that my family that supports racist policies or politicians get more discomfort from me pointing it out than adjusting their views. "I'll stop pointing out you are a racist homophobe when you stop being one."

The church has had this issue come up before with Sam Young. They could have done this minimal thing then and taken the wind from Nemo's sails.

[Torquemada]

French Toast,
It's a rudimentary principle of theocratic dictatorships to deny free speech and any form of pluralism. Those who challenge its orthodoxy are accused of deviationism and heresy. Nemo is testing your ability to reason with others. You don't have a good history of this. Both Korihor and Sherem were victims of your antipathy to civil discourse.
It's never too late to engage with a fellow member and have an empathetic and mature discussion about different opinions. Go on, put your big boys trousers on.