Almost every person on this planet has experienced this spiritual witness confirming their own unique religious practices. If you were living in Iran, no doubt your spiritual witness would be coming from allah.
You are wrong here. Most people do not report having strong religious experiences. If you peruse the anti-Mormon message boards, you will find this a consistent complaint. They only feel emotional highs, like rock concerts, not associated with religion. They then say that this is all that people are reallly experiencing instead of spiritual events.
No she is not wrong and not they do not refer to emotional highs like rock concerts. Your date base on which you conclude this is skewed. You base it primarily on your experience with LDS critics that are evangelical. They tend to downplay the influence of emotions and feelings when dealing with LDS because the LDS experience is actually focused solely on feelings that are supposed to be the Holy Ghost.
If you spent time actually talking to others from other faith traditions as well as reading about others spiritual experiences you would find language similar to what LDS use to describe spiritual experiences.
Your witness is not unique Charity nor is the LDS witness. Billions of others through out history believe God speaks to them through the still small voice. Golly, if I recall this fellow named Elijah had an experience with this. Can you really be so pious that you think your experience Trump's theirs?
Inconceivable wrote:I believe the more charitable would rise up in righteous indignation over the pittance the church extends to those in most extreme need. It is shameful.
Like I mentioned before, it can cost as little as .17 a day to feed a starving/dying child. Every imported tile and every brass handle is a testimony to the negligence of those who are entrusted with these sacred funds.
How many starving children can you feed for the price of one concert ticket? One month of cable TV, or high speed DSL, one dozen Krispy Kremes? Did you use an extra gallon of gas today in recreation? If so, where I live you could hve fed 18 children for a day on that. Did you? Are you living absolutely only a a subsistence diet and lifestyle and giving your surplus to feed the starving children?
Until you are, you can't criticize anybody or any institution.
Almost every person on this planet has experienced this spiritual witness confirming their own unique religious practices. If you were living in Iran, no doubt your spiritual witness would be coming from allah.
You are wrong here. Most people do not report having strong religious experiences. If you peruse the anti-Mormon message boards, you will find this a consistent complaint. They only feel emotional highs, like rock concerts, not associated with religion. They then say that this is all that people are reallly experiencing instead of spiritual events.
No she is not wrong and not they do not refer to emotional highs like rock concerts. Your date base on which you conclude this is skewed. You base it primarily on your experience with LDS critics that are evangelical. They tend to downplay the influence of emotions and feelings when dealing with LDS because the LDS experience is actually focused solely on feelings that are supposed to be the Holy Ghost.
If you spent time actually talking to others from other faith traditions as well as reading about others spiritual experiences you would find language similar to what LDS use to describe spiritual experiences.
Your witness is not unique Charity nor is the LDS witness. Billions of others through out history believe God speaks to them through the still small voice. Golly, if I recall this fellow named Elijah had an experience with this. Can you really be so pious that you think your experience Trump's theirs?
Jason, you don't think that "almost every person on the planet" is an exaggeration? About 20% of the population reports themselves as "non-religious." Less than 50% of the remaining 80% who consider themselves "religious" have gone to church in the past week. So the "almsot every person the planet" seems a tad bit high, don't you think?
And of course, other people besides LDS can have a witness from the Holy Ghost. If they couldn't, the promise in Mormoni 10:4 wouldn't work.
Inconceivable wrote:I believe the more charitable would rise up in righteous indignation over the pittance the church extends to those in most extreme need. It is shameful.
Like I mentioned before, it can cost as little as .17 a day to feed a starving/dying child. Every imported tile and every brass handle is a testimony to the negligence of those who are entrusted with these sacred funds.
How many starving children can you feed for the price of one concert ticket? One month of cable TV, or high speed DSL, one dozen Krispy Kremes? Did you use an extra gallon of gas today in recreation? If so, where I live you could hve fed 18 children for a day on that. Did you? Are you living absolutely only a a subsistence diet and lifestyle and giving your surplus to feed the starving children?
Until you are, you can't criticize anybody or any institution.
Actually, he not only can; he should. Any institution that's as rich as the church, that has as pitiful a humanitarian showing as the church has, that hides its financials like the church does, deserves to be criticized.
That said, I don't think opening the books would have a huge impact on the amount of tithing that is paid. Here in my ward, it's a rare person who doesn't attend tithing settlement. It would be difficult to go to church every Sunday and be unable to look the bishop in the eye, because he knows you aren't a full tithe payer. Perhaps the few inactives we have aren't full tithe payers, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out that upwards of 90% of the active calling holding members are.
Inconceivable wrote:I believe the more charitable would rise up in righteous indignation over the pittance the church extends to those in most extreme need. It is shameful.
Like I mentioned before, it can cost as little as .17 a day to feed a starving/dying child. Every imported tile and every brass handle is a testimony to the negligence of those who are entrusted with these sacred funds.
How many starving children can you feed for the price of one concert ticket? One month of cable TV, or high speed DSL, one dozen Krispy Kremes? Did you use an extra gallon of gas today in recreation? If so, where I live you could hve fed 18 children for a day on that. Did you? Are you living absolutely only a a subsistence diet and lifestyle and giving your surplus to feed the starving children?
Until you are, you can't criticize anybody or any institution.
Actually, he not only can; he should. Any institution that's as rich as the church, that has as pitiful a humanitarian showing as the church has, that hides its financials like the church does, deserves to be criticized.
That said, I don't think opening the books would have a huge impact on the amount of tithing that is paid. Here in my ward, it's a rare person who doesn't attend tithing settlement. It would be difficult to go to church every Sunday and be unable to look the bishop in the eye, because he knows you aren't a full tithe payer. Perhaps the few inactives we have aren't full tithe payers, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out that upwards of 90% of the active calling holding members are.
As a full tithe payer yourself you should probably bring up your concerns to the Bishop or better yet, share them during Fast & Testimony Meeting.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics "I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
The Nehor wrote:As a full tithe payer yourself you should probably bring up your concerns to the Bishop or better yet, share them during Fast & Testimony Meeting.
The Nehor wrote:As a full tithe payer yourself you should probably bring up your concerns to the Bishop or better yet, share them during Fast & Testimony Meeting.
What makes you think I haven't?
I have no doubt that you HAVE. That's why I love you, Harm! ;)
charity wrote:If you peruse the anti-Mormon message boards, you will find this a consistent complaint. They only feel emotional highs, like rock concerts, not associated with religion. They then say that this is all that people are reallly experiencing instead of spiritual events.
I think your sample might be skewed. Which "anti-Mormon message boards" are you perusing?
The road is beautiful, treacherous, and full of twists and turns.
The Nehor wrote:As a full tithe payer yourself you should probably bring up your concerns to the Bishop or better yet, share them during Fast & Testimony Meeting.
What makes you think I haven't?
Both of them?
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics "I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
charity wrote:If you peruse the anti-Mormon message boards, you will find this a consistent complaint. They only feel emotional highs, like rock concerts, not associated with religion. They then say that this is all that people are reallly experiencing instead of spiritual events.
I think your sample might be skewed. Which "anti-Mormon message boards" are you perusing?
Once in a while I check in on RfM, but not often. The whiners are really off putting. Concerned Chrsitians likewise. I don't spend much time on anti boards, but my admittedly non-random sample shows up a lot of compaliners. Oh, yes, and quite a few of the ex or non-mo's from the MA&D complain about this, too.