West Ridge Academy Missionaries Tutor With Love

[_Ray A]

What a madness to separate children from their parents during their most formative years.

It's time parents were called on missions to minister to their own children.

My three sons were not saints in their teen years. To put it mildly, I had the police at my door a few times, once at 1am. This is what young males do. They get into mischief. All of them ended up becoming boxers, under the tutelage of a heavyweight champion boxer who later became a police officer. One of my sons went on to become a professional boxer, and today is very close friends with that police officer.

I shudder to think how they may have turned out if we had sent any of them to a "correctional centre".

[_marg]

Remember, GoodK's core story is that he was shipped off there because he refused to attend seminary?

by the way as you probably are aware but may have forgotten the dad did post here through DCP and said his son was a good kid and he had high hopes for him and said something to the effect that God will not be mocked and when Eric accepts God and Mormonism, he'd welcome him with open arms. Those aren't his exact words but that's what I remember him saying in essence.

[_Ray A]

by the way as you probably are aware but may have forgotten the dad did post here through DCP and said his son was a good kid and he had high hopes for him and said something to the effect that God will not be mocked and when Eric accepts God and Mormonism, he'd welcome him with open arms. Those aren't his exact words but that's what I remember him saying in essence.

I must have missed that. Do you have a link?

[_marg]

I must have missed that. Do you have a link?

yes

[_Ray A]

If you missed marg's link, or didn't read it, here's DCP's post, the email he received from Eric's step-father:

Hi Dan:

I have followed this thread ("Why I am not a Mormon") and here are a few comments I'll make which you have my permission to post on that message board if you wish (though you certainly don't have to and I'm not asking you to do so for my sake):

1. What you did in alerting me to my son's post was in no way unethical. As one who teaches ethics at the college level I think I know something of the subject. There was simply no ethical breach involved here whatsoever and any and all posters who believe otherwise are fooling themselves.

2. My son's angst over your informing me of his post is a simple matter of him being exposed for something he did that he should not have done. He knows this, and I know this and I am confident that deep down inside he is ashamed of himself for mocking the priesthood (as he should be.)

3. As you and I have enjoyed a warm friendship for over 20 years now, I am grateful to you for having alerted me to my son's public posting. You did the right thing, I would have done the same, and I think, though they won't admit it, most everyone on that message board who condemns you would have behaved in like manner if they had any common sense or conscience at all. They will deny this, but that is beside the point.

4. While I normally do not spend time in forums of this sort, I have found the experience of reading through the various posts to be both hilarious and depressing. You, Dan, are hilarious with most of the things you have posted and I have had many a laugh watching you run circles around a bunch of bitter, angry people who think they've vanquished you and yet often betray a deep misunderstanding of your wit or your point. It's also depressing to read what some would consider to be their own contributions to reasoned discourse.

5. As to my relationship with my son, let me say that while I was disappointed in what he wrote -- especially in the fact that he did so in a public forum -- it in no way did any significant damage to our relationship. He is quite young and inexperienced and I think if and when he matures a bit in the next ten to twenty years or so, he will see things quite differently than he does at this time. (One would hope so.) He's not a fundamentally bad person and he's a lot more cocky in print than he is in a face-to-face encounter. This forum is one way for him to vent and work out some of the bigger questions he's wrestling with. I have high hopes for him long-term.

6. Finally, the purpose of this thread, which he titled "Why I am not a Mormon" is a farce. By that I mean that his reasons are a smoke-screen. They are an excuse. I won't confess his sins in public, but at the risk of stating the obvious, let's just say that if he loved God more than the things of the world he would be a very strong Latter-day Saint. As it is, the "world" has his attention at this time. I hope he will, in time, realize the path he is on has only brought him much pain, much sorrow, and much deprivation. God is at the helm and God will not be mocked. Eventually every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His Messiahship. And that includes my son and every self-professed atheist on this list. When he finally gets tired of sin, I think he will make the right decisions, repent, and return. And we will welcome him with open arms. And you and he will probably look back on this thread and have a good laugh together.

Your friend,

[_Ray A]

I won't confess his sins in public, but at the risk of stating the obvious, let's just say that if he loved God more than the things of the world he would be a very strong Latter-day Saint. As it is, the "world" has his attention at this time. I hope he will, in time, realize the path he is on has only brought him much pain, much sorrow, and much deprivation. God is at the helm and God will not be mocked. Eventually every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His Messiahship. And that includes my son and every self-professed atheist on this list. When he finally gets tired of sin, I think he will make the right decisions, repent, and return. And we will welcome him with open arms. And you and he will probably look back on this thread and have a good laugh together.

Is this why Eric was sent to the Gulag?

[_Danna]

... I am confident that deep down inside he is ashamed of himself for mocking the priesthood (as he should be.)...

...He is quite young and inexperienced and I think if and when he matures a bit in the next ten to twenty years or so, he will see things quite differently than he does at this time. (One would hope so.) He's not a fundamentally bad person and he's a lot more cocky in print than he is in a face-to-face encounter. This forum is one way for him to vent and work out some of the bigger questions he's wrestling with. I have high hopes for him long-term...

... the purpose of this thread, which he titled "Why I am not a Mormon" is a farce. By that I mean that his reasons are a smoke-screen. They are an excuse. I won't confess his sins in public, but at the risk of stating the obvious, let's just say that if he loved God more than the things of the world he would be a very strong Latter-day Saint. As it is, the "world" has his attention at this time. I hope he will, in time, realize the path he is on has only brought him much pain, much sorrow, and much deprivation. God is at the helm and God will not be mocked. Eventually every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His Messiahship. And that includes my son and every self-professed atheist on this list. When he finally gets tired of sin, I think he will make the right decisions, repent, and return. And we will welcome him with open arms. And you and he will probably look back on this thread and have a good laugh together.

Oh crap, do Mormon parents get taught specifically how to employ self-deception to preserve their fantasy world and avoid in depth, rational, examination of church and personal problems. This is the same "it's just a phase" attitude seen in my family.

I am sure that GoodK's path, like my own, will eventually lead to a happier more fulfilling life than is possible living in the artificial reality of Moism. Once you know it is a scam, it is as hard to 'rebelieve' Joseph Smith as it is to rebelieve in Santa. (Yeah, I know some people return for family or social reasons, but that is not the same as believing JSjr again)

[_Ray A]

The Mormon propaganda machine goes into high gear:

It's All About "Love".

Some have acted out as the result of a trying family situation; others have behavioral issues. Some have been involved with drugs and alcohol.

Capital offences, of course.

I'd like to know what Eric did that my sons didn't do in their juvenile years. And why he was sent to a "Mormon correctional centre".

[_Inconceivable]

What a madness to separate children from their parents during their most formative years.

It's time parents were called on missions to minister to their own children.

I shudder to think how they [my sons] may have turned out if we had sent any of them to a "correctional centre".

Thanks Ray,

I suck in various ways as a parent. My bride and I are finally getting to the place where we are recognizing that our kids are truly a reflection of our ability to nurture. We are doing something more about it.

Pawning our own children off to another rather than take responsibility for improving our own abilities to bless them is to forsake a sacred trust and stewardship.

When and if children return home from these reformitories the only thing that may have changed is the child - for better or worse. They pretty much have the same dumb ass, arrogant, unteachable parents.

No one ought to have a good laugh someday with their children about perpetuating stupidity.

[_ludwigm]

I won't confess his sins in public, but at the risk of stating the obvious, let's just say that if he loved God more than the things of the world he would be a very strong Latter-day Saint. As it is, the "world" has his attention at this time. I hope he will, in time, realize the path he is on has only brought him much pain, much sorrow, and much deprivation. God is at the helm and God will not be mocked. Eventually every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His Messiahship. And that includes my son and every self-professed atheist on this list. When he finally gets tired of sin, I think he will make the right decisions, repent, and return. And we will welcome him with open arms. And you and he will probably look back on this thread and have a good laugh together.

Is this why Eric was sent to the Gulag?

Yes.
Here are the keywords:

- As it is, the "world" has his attention at this time. [...] When he finally gets tired of sin, I think he will make the right decisions, repent, and return.
The "Ranch/Academy/whatever" (in China or Kampuchea these places was called Reeducation Camp) helps him to make the right decision.
Anyway, this is more human than Deuteronomy 21: 18,21 "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father ... all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die." Or the muslim murder cases I've sent on another thread.

- Eventually every knee shall bow before Christ and every tongue will confess His Messiahship.
The nonbowing knees well be broken, and the nonconfessing tongues will be torn.

- And that includes my son and every self-professed atheist on this list.
My opinion about this man is that [self censored, would fit to Outer Darkness].
This types burned Giordano Bruno. We know them all.