For Charity: about your Oija board before your conversion

[_Mercury]

I'd like to know what Joseph Smith, and all the others who were using peepstones at the time, were having faith in, when they were out searching for buried treasure and the like.

They had faith that the suckers who they had told buried treasure stories to would keep paying them.

Its ALWAYS been about the money.

[_beastie]

You don't understand the purpose of life, beastie. And you don't have the eternal perspective. These 70-80 years of mortal life are a snap of the fingers. Any thing which people have to suffer and endure through no fault of their own will be made up to them in the next life. I know you don't believe that. Sad.

How in the world does this address the fact that your god will intervene to tell you what hymn to play in a funeral, but doesn't intervene in cases of tragedy and suffering that are truly catastrophic to many lives? After all, the death of your friend and the grief of his family is also over in a "snap of the fingers."

[_the road to hana]

God showed His love for all His children when He restored His gospel through Joseph Smith. Then the children are left to chose it or not. God loves all Hs children. But do they love Him?

Some people feel they love him more by not joining a false religion.

You don't understand the purpose of life, beastie. And you don't have the eternal perspective. These 70-80 years of mortal life are a snap of the fingers. Any thing which people have to suffer and endure through no fault of their own will be made up to them in the next life. I know you don't believe that. Sad.

It will be even sadder for you if you spent most of it following a fraud.

[_charity]

You don't understand the purpose of life, beastie. And you don't have the eternal perspective. These 70-80 years of mortal life are a snap of the fingers. Any thing which people have to suffer and endure through no fault of their own will be made up to them in the next life. I know you don't believe that. Sad.

It will be even sadder for you if you spent most of it following a fraud.

This is the beauty of the gospel. The precepts taught lead to a good, moral, life which leads one to become more Christ-like. Following these principles makes for a very happy and satisfying life in this sphere of existence. And by anyother religion's standpoint, we will do well on the other side, not matter who is right.

[_truth dancer]

God knew her needs and fulfilled them.

I'm glad to know the real universe, TD. The one where God loves His children.

Newsflash! People the world over help each other. Its true. The world is filled with people who care about others.

This amazing phenomenon is not limited to members of the church founded by Joseph Smith. There are even those who do not need an otherworldly being to help them understand how to care for those in need.

In fact, it could be argued that the only way people are helped is by other people, not other worldly beings but this is a different thread.

As TRTH mentioned, my post did not address whether or not God loves human beings. Nothing at all.

It just sort of makes me laugh to think the God of the Universe, in order to bring his very power and authority to earth, to restore ultimate truth, to bring about the final days ushering in Christ, had to resort to putting some magical rocks in NY for a boy to find.. rocks helpful in finding buried treasures no less.

I'm not saying it can't be true... Anything may be true but my gosh it does seem so silly. God couldn't just have Mormon write in English, he couldn't just have a direct revelation given to a prophet, he couldn't himself write truth on a mountain or something, he couldn't have real archaeologists discover the records of ancient people... he put some magical stones on the ground to assist treasure hunters, that would be placed in a hat where magic words show up for those who have faith the rocks are magic.

It just really does seem a little much for a powerful God. :-)

~dancer~

[_Sethbag]

I'm not saying it can't be true... Anything may be true but my gosh it does seem so silly. God couldn't just have Mormon write in English, he couldn't just have a direct revelation given to a prophet, he couldn't himself write truth on a mountain or something, he couldn't have real archaeologists discover the records of ancient people... he put some magical stones on the ground to assist treasure hunters, that would be placed in a hat where magic words show up for those who have faith the rocks are magic.

It just really does seem a little much for a powerful God. :-)~dancer~

Oh Truth Dancer, this little paragraph was pure gold. You captured perfectly the silliness of it all. I'd almost pay $20 to get Keene to make it so we can have longer siglines, just so I could put this one in my profile.

The big irony is that most LDS would probably think this was silly too, if they didn't know that this is exactly what Mormon God is supposed to have done, or if it were some other religion claiming that this happened to their founder. I'd bet dollars to donuts you could take a bunch of incoming BYU freshmen and describe to them this exact scenario, but remove the name Mormon and fudge just enough to hide the fact that it was Joseph Smith who found the magic rock, and I would all but guarantee you a large majority of the people would say this is an absurd, silly scenario.

[_the road to hana]

You don't understand the purpose of life, beastie. And you don't have the eternal perspective. These 70-80 years of mortal life are a snap of the fingers. Any thing which people have to suffer and endure through no fault of their own will be made up to them in the next life. I know you don't believe that. Sad.

It will be even sadder for you if you spent most of it following a fraud.

This is the beauty of the gospel. The precepts taught lead to a good, moral, life which leads one to become more Christ-like. Following these principles makes for a very happy and satisfying life in this sphere of existence. And by anyother religion's standpoint, we will do well on the other side, not matter who is right.

Really? Taking other people's wives is moral? That puts someone in good stead for the other side? Defrauding them of money is moral? Presenting to them a falsehood is moral?

You don't think other people who are non-LDS are in good shape for the other side, unless you do proxy baptisms and confirmations, etc., for them. What if you're completely upside down, and there was something you were supposed to have, but didn't, because you were LDS?

Your brain doesn't extend that far, I appreciate. But you don't believe everyone is OK for the other side, no matter what, so you shouldn't necessarily think that about yourself.

[_beastie]

The big irony is that most LDS would probably think this was silly too, if they didn't know that this is exactly what Mormon God is supposed to have done, or if it were some other religion claiming that this happened to their founder. I'd bet dollars to donuts you could take a bunch of incoming BYU freshmen and describe to them this exact scenario, but remove the name Mormon and fudge just enough to hide the fact that it was Joseph Smith who found the magic rock, and I would all but guarantee you a large majority of the people would say this is an absurd, silly scenario.

This reminds me of an old thread on Z (that I can never find through the search engine) in which a believer of the translation of the Sealed Portion of the plates shared his belief with TBMs. Quite a few ridiculed his claims, and openly pronounced them laughable.

[_charity]

You don't think other people who are non-LDS are in good shape for the other side, unless you do proxy baptisms and confirmations, etc., for them. What if you're completely upside down, and there was something you were supposed to have, but didn't, because you were LDS?

Your brain doesn't extend that far, I appreciate. But you don't believe everyone is OK for the other side, no matter what, so you shouldn't necessarily think that about yourself.

You are a lousy mind reader, hana. And you have a short memory, too. At least for what I have said on other threads.

I actually think almost everybody is okay on the other side. Everybody gets to be resurrected. And I believe everybody goes to the kingdom they will be happiest in.

The only group which ends up not okay in LDS theology are the sons of perdition. But I think that is a small group, relatively speaking. These are the extreme apostate. Deny the sun is shinging in the sky while they are looking at it type of apostate. Not an inactive, not the common garden variety ex-Mormon. The flaming apostate.

But back to the majority. God knows us all down to our teeniest little thoughts. While the scriptures talk of the judgement as though it is a great Judge sentencing every to a place, maybe not of their choosing. I really think it is more that we will go to where we will be the most comfortable. Those who would not be comfortable around Joseph Smith don't have to be where he is. Thos who thought all Mormons were idiotic, blind faith driven sheep wouldn't be happy hanging around with Mormons. I really think the afterlife is a "birds of a feather flock together" kind of place.

To restate, just so you will not make the wrong assumption again. I think almost everybody is going to be exactly where they will be the happiest. That is heaven to me.

[_the road to hana]

Those who would not be comfortable around Joseph Smith don't have to be where he is.

Thank God.

To restate, just so you will not make the wrong assumption again. I think almost everybody is going to be exactly where they will be the happiest. That is heaven to me.

You think the afterlife is being tailored to your specifications? You think it, so therefore it will be? All the plural wives of Joseph Smith in one place, and everyone else in another?