Weird things you miss about Mormonism

[_Black Moclips]

Despite being done with the church, it will always be a part of my life is some respects. I'm not bitter about the church. I had a lot of good times in it, and had lots of fun with friends. Not to mention a majority of my family is still in. But the weirdest thing just happened. As I was resting upstairs in my room, my wife made a joke about something (the context is kind of dirty so I wont share) but my response included the phrase "trailing clouds of glory". After we were done laughing, I was laying there and that phrase kicked me into nostalgia land and I started thinking of Saturday's Warrior. I know it was a super cheesy musical from forever ago, but realized I still know almost every word of every song. I just laid there and started singing bits and pieces of each. "Who are these children coming down?..........coming down like gentle rain through darkened skies......" and "What'll I do.. if there comes a day...when I lose my way... what will I do?." Then I moved on to my favorite song "I take a paper in my hand....and with a pencil draw a man, a dream of what I'd really really like to be...." Over the years as my boys have grown into teens and pissed my off, I know multiple times I've unconsciously broken into song under my breath with "When he was just a little boy, things were different then....."

Anyway, tonight I kind of realized that I missed that about Mormonism - The old cheesy music that was such a big part of growing up in the church.

[_Sanctorian]

This is a tough question. I'm finding it hard to identify what I might miss about Mormonism that I can't find an alternative for. I still interact with all my neighbor friends on a regular basis. I still go to my parents house on general conference Sunday morning for breakfast. I still make fun of Boy Scouts. I still root for BYU.

Things I don't miss:

Garments
Tithing
Callings
Sunday block meetings
Mid week activities
Teaching primary
Feeling guilty
Feeling superior or special
Temple anything
Home teaching
Lame jokes to start a lame talk
Patriarchy


I actually just thought of something, I miss the crazy ass testimonies. The testimony singers. The saved my pet testimonies. The I could have cheated on my spouse but didn't testimonies. The I have a revelation for someone else testimonies. The travelogue testimonies. The crying so uncomfortably testimonies. People say some weird crap when you give them a platform to vomit their feelings.

[Guest]

There are a lot of things about the Mormon Church of my youth that I miss - mainly the caring adults who helped and guided and the good friends around my age with whom I grew up. More than 10% of the kids I went to school with (outside the Moridor) were LDS. We all had one another's back. As a group, we stood out academically and were well respected by non-Mormons in the rural farming community in which we lived.

Try as I might, I can't think of a single thing I miss about the contemporary Mormon Church - certainly not the weird doctrines or the morally bankrupt top leadership. Nowadays, I get a creepy feeling just being inside the local chapel to help my wife set up for a Ward dinner. On an individual basis, there are a few members that I consider friends (mainly because they are close friends of my wife).

There is also the member who stole my wife's cell phone, and the ones who repeatedly ask my wife for a ride to the airport (30 to 60 mile round trip, depending) or to take care of animals or to watch kids, as if that is her duty as a fellow member (and knowing that they will never be asked to reciprocate).

What I miss, if anything, is the LDS Church and its members of (many) decades past. Today, my feeling toward the LDS Church is one of strong aversion on pretty much every level.

[_reflexzero]

We used to break the fast with a potluck after 1st Sunday meetings in my little frontier branch. I miss my great-grandmother's spicy pickles.

We also rented a small community college building to meet in, and there was a vending machine in the room we had Sunday school. I spent many a Sunday as a kid scheming about how to get a chocolate bar without any money.

So I guess I miss the simple days before all the complexities of modern Mormonism crept into my life.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Honestly? I miss zero things about Mormonism, but I sure do love bitching about it!

- Doc

[_candygal]

This is a tough question. I'm finding it hard to identify what I might miss about Mormonism that I can't find an alternative for. I still interact with all my neighbor friends on a regular basis. I still go to my parents house on general conference Sunday morning for breakfast. I still make fun of Boy Scouts. I still root for BYU.

Things I don't miss:

Garments
Tithing
Callings
Sunday block meetings
Mid week activities
Teaching primary
Feeling guilty
Feeling superior or special
Temple anything
Home teaching
Lame jokes to start a lame talk
Patriarchy


I actually just thought of something, I miss the crazy ass testimonies. The testimony singers. The saved my pet testimonies. The I could have cheated on my spouse but didn't testimonies. The I have a revelation for someone else testimonies. The travelogue testimonies. The crying so uncomfortably testimonies. People say some weird **** when you give them a platform to vomit their feelings.

The best testimony meeting I ever attended was when a non-mormon went to the podium and gave everybody hell for not letting his son join the scouts....good one..cuz' he was right!!

[_candygal]

Shoot..I miss the Gold and Green Ball...the Road Shows..and your own Christmas Bulb on the ward Christmas tree..I miss the ward parties outside with homemade entertainment. And believe it or not..I loved the Sacrament Meeting sacrament songs..everyone of them were just beautiful..easy to play and beauitful to sing.

[_Sanctorian]

The best testimony meeting I ever attended was when a non-mormon went to the podium and gave everybody hell for not letting his son join the scouts....good one..cuz' he was right!!

I attended a New Jersey branch one time. A man got up and must have thought it was an AA meeting. He said, "hi. My name is ____ and I've been sober for 4 months" and sat down.

[_Chap]

Shoot..I miss the Gold and Green Ball...

Gold and Green Ball

In 1830 when the Church was organized, many Christian denominations were hostile toward recreation and play, particularly dance. However, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors advocated dance and participated in recreational dancing. Joseph Smith was a skillful dancer and enjoyed hosting dances in his home (Holbrook, p. 122). Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve "danced before the Lord" to the music of a small orchestra in the Nauvoo Temple after long days of joyous participation in temple ordinances (Hc 7:557, 566; Holbrook, p. 123).

The revealed doctrine that the body and spirit together comprise the soul tends to encourage physical activity (D&C 88:15). Early Latter-day Saints commended dancing as healthful to body and mind, but only when conducted in accordance with Church principles. Emphasis was on propriety, good company, and the spirit of praising the Lord. During their difficult trek west, the pioneers danced as "camps of Israel." President Brigham Young said "I want you to sing and dance and forget your troubles…. Let's have some music and all of you dance" (Holbrook, p. 125). Around the campfires they danced polkas, Scotch reels, quadrilles, French fours, and other figures.

In the West, the Saints continued to enjoy dancing. Brigham Young emphasized that fiddling and dancing were not to be part of formal worship (Holbrook, p. 131), and he counseled that those who cannot serve God with a pure heart in the dance should not dance. Under these guidelines, dance continued as an integral part of Mormon culture.

The Deseret Musical and Dramatic Society was organized in 1862, and theatrical dance soon became a favorite attraction. Worship services and social activities were usually held in the same place, although at separate times. This practice, which prevailed in the frontier "brush bowery," continues today in LDS meetinghouses, which typically feature a cultural-recreation hall, complete with stage, adjacent to the chapel.

In the early and mid-twentieth century, the Mutual Improvement Association sponsored recreational and theatrical dance training and exhibitions (see Young MenYoung Women). Gold and Green Balls were annual social events in each ward and stake. All-Church dance festivals held in Salt Lake City from 1922 to 1973 gained national recognition. After 8,000 dancers in bright costumes participated at the festival in 1959, a national news magazine described the Church as the "dancingest denomination" (Arrington, p. 31). In 1985, 13,000 dancers performed in the Southern California Regional Dance Festival with more than 100,000 viewing the two performances. Dance festivals continued at local levels from 1973 to 1990, when they were finally discontinued as major performances.

Interesting. So:

1. Who stopped the Gold and Green Balls in 1990?

2. Why?

3. Did anybody protest the decision at the time?

[_mentalgymnast]

1. Who stopped the Gold and Green Balls in 1990?

I think it was the Beatles/Elvis/Chuck Berry and the rock music genre and the associated dancing which went along with that kind of music that became the beginning of the end in regards to the traditional dancing that was part and parcel of the Gold and Green Balls. Most folks gradually lost the skills/ability to dance in the old ballroom fashion.

Too bad. Big time too bad.

When I was a teenager down in southern cal I would go to the West-Co-Monte dances (El Monte and West Covina stakes combined) and we would gyrate around out on the floor basically making fools of ourselves. How I wish that I had been taught and/or brought up to dance in the traditional ballroom fashion as a matter of course/normality.

Regards,
MG