Food poisoning at a pot luck dinner caused more than 100 people to become sick following a potluck dinner at a Mormon church in Nevada. A local hospital in Logandale, Nevada has seen people coming in with symptoms of gastrointestinal flu all week long. The outbreak in the Moapa Valley area that has sickened dozens of people.
Pot luck indeed.
Question for TBM's to answer: 1. Did the congregation not bless the food? 2. Did the person blessing the food not do so correctly or were they unworthy to do so? 3. Did God want this congregation to suffer for some kind of learning experience? 4. Does blessing the food not work when the food isn't prepared properly?
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
I wouldn't put the church in the wrong. Somebody who prepared one of the meats, didn't washed his/her hands.
In one of Jack London's eskimo novel (I am on the spot to search it...), during a famous potluck, near all of the leaders were killed. The gastrointestinal symptoms were stabs by knife. No hospital action involved.
by the way the dailymail link is NSFW. The video starts wihout demand.
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco - To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei
Even as a TBM I used to think that saying "please bless this food that it might nourish and strengthen our bodies and any impurities might be removed..." was a pretty daft thing to say at the start of a church pot-luck. There was usually no amount of praying that would make the quality of the food nor the volume consumed something that would "nourish and strengthen" people.
These days when my kids say "grace" I encourage them to simply express thanks. I don't believe the prayer ever magically removed food poisoning.
Along with the prayer of gratitude, a familiar part of many LDS blessings on the food is the request to “bless this food that it might nourish and strengthen our bodies.”
Asking for a blessing lets our Father know that we are aware of the extent of his power and that we are willing and desirous to use it in building and perfecting our physical and mental powers.
The words of 2 Nephi 32:9 easily apply to the importance of “blessing” the food:
“Ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” [2 Ne. 32:9]
The word bless means to make holy, or consecrate to one’s good, or sanctify. One pertinent meaning of sanctify is to purify. This is a great promise for us today—to know that the food we eat can go beyond its regular nutritive power to bless us even more and give us added stamina to meet our required assignments and serve diligently in the kingdom. (“And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.” [D&C 89:20.]) This is being fulfilled every day as we see the limitless energy expended by our prophet, the General Authorities, Church leaders and teachers, and missionaries everywhere.
This does not mean we can be any less particular about the food we eat, the preparation in our homes, or the selection of foods when we eat out. There is much good information available. We should follow it closely.
It doesn’t mean that a blessing on the food should be used to erase our own carelessness or neglect. The Lord expects us to use common sense and plan well-balanced meals, keeping in mind the theme of moderation given in the Word of Wisdom. Then, the additional purification by the Father is an even greater personal blessing.
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
A little known fact - Just as Satan has control of the waters, he also has control over diarrhea. Just another thing the church has hidden from the members.
Red flags look normal when you're wearing rose colored glasses.
When ever I have attended pot luck ward socials I make sure I know which dish my wife has prepared and stick to it.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
Why would a God who gave a health code that did not teach the members to boil water to keep waterborne diseases at bay do anything to food over a silly prayer?
“If paying tithing means that you can’t pay for water or electricity, pay tithing. If paying tithing means that you can’t pay your rent, pay tithing. Even if paying tithing means that you don’t have enough money to feed your family, pay tithing." Ensign/2012/12
ZelphtheGreat wrote:Why would a God who gave a health code that did not teach the members to boil water to keep waterborne diseases at bay do anything to food over a silly prayer?
Because God was speaking as a 19th Century man with limited understanding?
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
This should be thought of as Saying Grace or thanking God that we have food on the table. The idea of imbuing food with magical or holy properties is part of the philosophies of Men.
Wonder if the food poisoning was the result of putting carrot shavings in the Jell-O salad?
moksha wrote:This should be thought of as Saying Grace or thanking God that we have food on the table. The idea of imbuing food with magical or holy properties is part of the philosophies of Men.
Wonder if the food poisoning was the result of putting carrot shavings in the Jell-O salad?