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The church made a statement this week about the Mexico earthquake. The first line has me concerned. Quote:With the rest of the world, we are deeply concerned about the many natural disasters that have occurred around the globe in recent weeks.
First, I’m not sure I see more overall disasters than usual, although it does seem there has been a cluster including the hurricanes, the western wildfires, the Mexico earthquake, and the Sierra Leone mudslide (in which several members died but it seemed to get little attention).
I’m probably just being paranoid, but we have a few end of times types in my ward and I am not looking forward to tomorrow in light of the above statement. We have a bona fide prepper in our ward as well some others who believe the second coming is happening any day (and have believed so for years). Some of them were told in their patriarchal blessings they would see the second coming in their lifetimes as apparently there was once a patriarch that often promised that – many of those have died off but there are still some left.
So I’m glad it’s not fast Sunday, but I do expect that this will probably be mentioned in priesthood. We had an “interesting” discussion last week about canonization of the Proclamation on the Family. I’m sure I’ll survive and I’m hoping the more reasonable and level headed HPGL is there.
The full statement is here:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-issues-statement-on-mexico-earthquake ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-issues-statement-on-mexico-earthquake I’ll admit the thought has crossed my mind. The stage has been set for a good, long while now. The end of the world seems to come around every year or two. The saints thought it would end shortly after they were kicked from Navoo. Then again with the civil war… WW1…
WW2…
The Cold War…
September 11th…
When the “Nephite” calendar ended back in 2012…
When gay marriage was legalized…
When ISIS was formed…
I don’t believe in any prophecy or patriarch who has predicted the end of the world; mostly because prophecies have had a bad track record, in my experience. It’s too easy to redefine or shift blame when they don’t come true. I do believe the damage we’ve done to the environment is going to come back to haunt us. I do believe that our modern society is too dependent on a few fragile systems (transportation, computers, electricity), to take much of a hit. And as long as there are nukes, it’s only a matter of time before someone pushes the button. And one day, our own personal world will end. Everyone dies. We never know when, or how.
Frankly, it doesn’t really matter when the “world ends”. What matters most, is what we decide to do today. Are we kind and charitable? Are we willing to help those in need, if we are able? Do we admit when we are wrong, without excuse? Do we forgive? Do we build brigdes? When we die, will we die happy?
Matthew 6:34 wrote:Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take athought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
I think you are reading more into it than it warrants and that it intended. There have been a flurry of highly-visible, catastrophic events recently – including some (like the fires in Montana) that aren’t getting much coverage due to others that are impacting more people. There are going to be a LOT of homeless people soon who previously could have helped disaster victims. It is a serious issue.
Old Timer wrote:
I think you are reading more into it than it warrants and that it intended.There have been a flurry of highly-visible, catastrophic events recently – including some (like the fires in Montana) that aren’t getting much coverage due to others that are impacting more people. There are going to be a LOT of homeless people soon who previously could have helped disaster victims. It is a serious issue.
I agree with Curt. I don’t think it’s an allusion to the end of times. They are simply acknowledging their concern and compassion, as well as reporting on the condition of missionaries (members conspicuously absent from the statement?) in Mexico.
I think the earthquake in Mexico was the worst they’ve had in a century. Which means to me, that these things happened before too, perhaps we know more now and perhaps many are happening at the same time highlighting them now. I am fully anticipating many comments at church about it, because that is what church going folks do. From their point of view, they have stories in their minds about all this. It’s what they do.
I don;t think they were making an end of times statement either. But that doesn’t mean those who are more prone to believe the end is near don’t interpret it that way. I think my ward is a little more on the unusual side in this respect, especially with the small group who believe the end is near anyway. On the other hand, the majority of them don’t use tech and are probably unaware of the statement – which does bring up a point that could be made. If the main way the church communicates now is through technology, how are you supposed to heed the prophet’s warning when it does come if you haven’t heard because you’re anti-technology? Technology was mentioned in last week’s PotF discussion. One of the questions asked by the guy who is probably the most anti-tech was if anyone had recently bought new scriptures because he expected the PotF was now part of the D&C. It was pointed out that there is a process for adding to the D&C and it involves sustaining, but it was also pointed out that additions to things now appear first in the online versions and Gospel Library. There was a lot more to that discussion, some of which I wish I could put behind me quicker, but the ignorance is sometimes astounding.
I suppose in a way what I was really looking for here were some strategies of defending the idea that this statement is nothing more than what it is. I don’t think it’s allusion to the end of times, either, but then I don’t take everything said by the leadership as literal scripture as some in my ward do.
It is good to get ideas here, and equally good to practice using them with others in the ward to see how well you can explain it. Ray’s words and how to parse what it says vs what people are infusing meaning into it, is a good thing to practice. It’s a good skill to have. I’m still practicing and find since I am not good at it all the time, I sometimes keep my mouth shut and pick my moments and try to build social capital when others get into superlative mode at church.
I think the demise of human society may be a long one – probably started with the industrial revolution and the two world wars. The invention of the atom bomb was a pretty serious development too. I would say we have been in pretty deep water since at lesst then.
Other things we see creeping in are total surveillance and complete corporate control of money as cash gets abolished.
Quote:I suppose in a way what I was really looking for here were some strategies of defending the idea that this statement is nothing more than what it is. I don’t think it’s allusion to the end of times, either, but then I don’t take everything said by the leadership as literal scripture as some in my ward do.
I think the a simple, “That’s now it sounded to me” or “When I read it I didn’t get that idea”. It’s kind, gentle, and honest. From there you can mention your interpretation or at least leave them some room to back up and consider what they thought.
That’s my .02.
Our stake high council meetings yesterday morning discussed the signs we are seeing…and how members of our stake should be aware of it. “Clearly, it’s getting closer to the end” was the statement made. I am sure many religious people (in and out of our church) filter the current events through that lens. It’s what they do.
Quote:I am sure many religious people (in and out of our church) filter the current events through that lens. It’s what they do.
About 6 months ago I lost the Daughter of the Year Award over this one.
My dad made some remark (pre-election) on “This was the end of days.” It hit a nerve. I tried to be civil but I just started listing all the other “ends of days” we have had. Neither parent was pleased.
Realizing that neither side was willing to budge. I shrugged and said, “I don’t know, sometimes I mix things up.”
For the most part I can have pretty good discussions with them – I llama well in those moments. But this was a no win. Knowing that we would all die before the end of days it seemed worthless to continue the dead end debate.
As the Buddha suggested, just let it float by.
I only heard it in a hallway conversation that I was literally passing by and not a part of, so I just continued to pass by. There’s still next week. I did get the chance to say I didn’t like the “If the BoM is true, then JS is a prophet, etc.” in HPG though. I said if that’s correct then the opposite could be true for those who have never gotten a witness of the BoM or those who question or doubt. I then asserted that is is very possible and probably better to have a testimony of each thing on its own, which was very well accepted.
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