marg wrote:It's just so unbelievable the wasted time and energy people spend on religion.
Yup. And yet it is so completely human. Most people have been wasting time on religion for the past 50,000 years or so. It just goes to show that while humans are capable of reason, they are not rational.
One of my favorite quotes is from Men In Black: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals.
If there's one thing I've learned from this board, it's that consensual sex with multiple partners is okay unless God commands it. - Abman
I find this place to be hostile toward all brands of stupidity. That's why I like it. - Some Schmo
Long ago there was a time I might have said it would be nice if it were true. That was probably based on the comparatively earthly afterlife options Mormonism gives. Now I absolutely would not want it to be true. It would be like a horror movie if it were.
Over the weekend I watched a lot of youtube clips on astronomy, the LHC, stuff like that. Lots of really fascinating pictures and incredible theories. Now, imagine the next generation space telescope penetrating deeper, and discovering the universe is filled with planets, humans roaming all over and Mormon chapels and temples everywhere. An entire universe filled with trillions and trillions of chapels, brainwashed masses wearing white shirts, singe earrings, and carrying around artificial leather scripture cases. It would really wreck everything if the Church were true.
Lou Midgley 08/20/2020: "...meat wad," and "cockroach" are pithy descriptions of human beings used by gemli? They were not fashioned by Professor Peterson.
LM 11/23/2018: one can explain away the soul of human beings...as...a Meat Unit, to use Professor Peterson's clever derogatory description of gemli's ideology.
Runtu wrote:And by the way, that San Diego temple is a hideous monstrosity. It looks like something you'd find in that trench in the Death Star.
That's funny, every time I see a picture of the San Diego temple I wonder where Superman is.
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
Scottie wrote:One of my favorite quotes is from Men In Black: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals.
Word.
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
While I had friends when I attended the church, I realized after I left the church just what kind of friends they really were. Our relationship depended on mutual belief, not mutual respect.
I cannot remember a single moment since I stopped attending that I actually missed it. Whenever I hear that people do, I'm amazed. It's not that I doubt it, it's just that their experience with it must have been so much different from mine. Being a member was always a source of shame for me. The people always seemed a little "off" to me. Last thing I wanted was to be known as "one of them."
And I've never once wondered if I was wrong about it not being true. I have a much harder time remembering a moment when I thought it actually was (other than when I was really, really young).
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Some Schmo wrote:And I've never once wondered if I was wrong about it not being true. I have a much harder time remembering a moment when I thought it actually was (other than when I was really, really young).
Very interesting, Schmo. I can really sympathize with your post, but I think the nuances of my experience are different. I do not wonder whether I am wrong about the LDS Church being true in the generally accepted sense. On the other hand, it seems to me that there is value in there that is true.
I really don't care in the end whether God exists or the Church was restored, because I have no way of knowing these things, and I don't think it ultimately matters when it comes to determining how I behave in the present, except in the most superficial ways. What got to me was the emphasis on superficiality in general. Holding things of little value as being super damned important. I couldn't take it.
As for remembering a time when I thought it was true--in my case it is quite disturbing to me that I hardly feel a difference between these two times except that now I am so much more comfortable in my own skin. I don't have to wonder why I am listening to an elderly gentleman prattle on about double piercings and getting so annoyed while everyone else thinks it is a message from on high.
“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”
I don't miss LDS culture in the least. I'm glad to be rid of it.
However, there are some LDS concepts that I like (although I don't believe they are true):
1) Eternal progression - Seems to me that a loving god would want us to progress and grow and become gods ourselves. Sorta like I help my children grow and learn with the anticipation that I'll send them off to live on their own some day. I think it's both a joy and a duty to help them become self-sustaining, productive, and happy in their lives.
2) Degrees of glory - A much better concept than the heaven/hell model of traditional Christianity. The idea of a burning hell for "sinners" is completely incompatible with the idea of a loving and just god.
"There is no shame in watching porn." - why me, 08/15/11
"The answer is: ...poontang." - darricktevenson, 01/10/11
Daniel Peterson is a "Gap-Toothed Lizard Man" - Daniel Peterson, 12/06/08
