bcspace wrote:Sometimes I go in thinking it will be boring this time, but I always come out with some new inspiration.
What was your latest piece of inspiration?
I hate the Temple. It's the most cultish ritualistic thing I've ever participated in. Everything about it feels wrong, the clothes, the handshakes, the secret names, the covenants that you agree to before you know what they are etc.
Ditto.
And everyone always talked about how much you learn. I never got anything out of it. It's just a story of mythology, and pretty poorly told at that. I think many church members claim it is an amazing experience because they are expected to say so. I know I did. I particulary hated the "I learn something new every time I attend" BS.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence - Hitch
bcspace wrote:Sometimes I go in thinking it will be boring this time, but I always come out with some new inspiration.
I can relate to this. There were times I felt inspiration after temple attendance. I do believe there is value in going someplace (whether the temple or nature or wherever) that you can block out the normal craziness of life and feel inspiration.
I did enjoy the quiet and the chance to reflect. I tried real hard to learn something new each time, but most of the time during the session I was bored. I always felt a little foolish (and then guilty for feeling foolish) wearing the temple stuff and always tired to change as soon as I could (and then felt guilty because I did). Also, at some point or another during the session, I would think of Fred Flintstone and the Royal Oder of the Water Buffaloes (and then feel guilty). Of course know I know why I thought of him.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. - The Dude
Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk - Tom Waits
GrandMoffTarkin wrote:And everyone always talked about how much you learn.
I used to hear that from people I'd attended with, but I'd always ask what they learnt. They could never reply. (bcspace may be along shortly to enlighten us in response to my question, but I doubt it)
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)
GrandMoffTarkin wrote:And everyone always talked about how much you learn. I never got anything out of it. It's just a story of mythology, and pretty poorly told at that.
I agree.
I remember thinking, "The Adam and Eve story....Seriously??? I looked forward to and waited my whole life for this?"
Then my next thought was, "And why does Satan have more screen time and a larger role than Christ? What's up with that?"
GrandMoffTarkin wrote:And everyone always talked about how much you learn. I never got anything out of it. It's just a story of mythology, and pretty poorly told at that.
I agree.
I remember thinking, "The Adam and Eve story....Seriously??? I looked forward to and waited my whole life for this?"
Then my next thought was, "And why does Satan have more screen time and a larger role than Christ? What's up with that?"
One of my first gripes was..."But why can't I sit with my wife?"
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)
Bazooka wrote:One of my first gripes was..."But why can't I sit with my wife?"
YES! This.
Really fun date night, right?
And then, when you got to hold hands, they made her cover her face....brilliant.
The endowment ordinance is as creepy as “F”.
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)
Bazooka wrote:What was your latest piece of inspiration?
I hate the Temple. It's the most cultish ritualistic thing I've ever participated in. Everything about it feels wrong, the clothes, the handshakes, the secret names, the covenants that you agree to before you know what they are etc.
Ditto.
And everyone always talked about how much you learn. I never got anything out of it. It's just a story of mythology, and pretty poorly told at that. I think many church members claim it is an amazing experience because they are expected to say so.
The non-Mormon radio commentator I mentioned, who watched the "Big Love" episode that included part of the temple ceremony, was certainly not "expected to say so," or at least he had no pressure from the LDS Church to say so. And yet, as I said, he cried over the beauty of the ceremony.
I think the temple affects different people in different ways. If you're ready to consider the possibility that it might be inspired of God, then it resonates with your soul. If you're not, then it seems foolish to you.
KevinSim wrote:The non-Mormon radio commentator I mentioned, who watched the "Big Love" episode that included part of the temple ceremony, was certainly not "expected to say so," or at least he had no pressure from the LDS Church to say so. And yet, as I said, he cried over the beauty of the ceremony.
I think the temple affects different people in different ways. If you're ready to consider the possibility that it might be inspired of God, then it resonates with your soul. If you're not, then it seems foolish to you.
This is a bit problematic don't you think? The radio commentator was referencing a Hollywood version of the ceremony with production music and ambience. It's the very reason you get emotional during a movie. Now would he say the same thing after watching the full ceremony on YouTube? Probably not.
The second part of your statement is equally problematic. How do explain someone that prepares themselves for the temple, believes it is inspired of God and expects it to resonate with their soul only to walk out thinking "that was it"?
