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This was being discussed on another forum and I thought I would see what our thoughts were over here – certianly we will have a different perspective on StayLDS on how this relates to our continual struggle to stay involved. I think this guy makes a valid point – and this is probably one of my toughest issues with the LDS church today.
Quote:Growing up in the church I remember the Samuel scripture getting quoted lots and thinking that the church was really teaching me to not focus on the outward appearance to of others. Now I’m not so sure.
A couple Sunday’s back (not sure what the lesson was on) the teacher made reference to the whole 2 ear-rings thing. She said that it was to help individuals not to focus on the outward appearance but to be more focused on their inward state. I remember thinking how ridiculous that was (I have two pairs BTW) and how it in fact makes people have more focus on appearance. Then DB did his beard post and it just got me thinking. We hear stories about the “tattooed” man who seemed scary at first but then turned out to be nice or the long haired man with the beard who became the clean shaven bishop; and these stories are used to teach us not to judge. So we shouldn’t judge people by their appearance because you never know who will turn around and end up “following the straight and narrow” in the end??? Confused.
Does the church actually teach people to look on the outside appearance but then make the members think otherwise? And then on top of that make members feel bad when the do what they’ve been conditioned to do?
I see many of the Pharisaical tendencies that Jesus had problems with in the LDS church today. We are so similar to the jewish religion. The Jews have 613 commandments. That is nothing compared to what we are asked to follow. Most of our “commandments” are focused on outward appearances, and to be honest, I’m not sure who is to blame. It seems to me that we (the LDS membership) did this to ourselves. LDS members depend on spiritual welfare from the leaders – to tell them exactly what to believe, how to act and what to think. MOST of the membership NEED to be told.
Take the earring for example. I’m thinking 85% of the active membership were THRILLED that GBH received “revelation” on this issue so they would have the “right” answer to help them get to the CK, because they were unable to use logic and common sense, and their own “revelation” to figure it out for themselves. It’s very unfortunate.
I have been to church the last fortnight, despite heavy snow. But I was not wearing a suit and tie – why would I when I can’t use my car, and was wading through snow? I had to walk several miles to get there. But last Sunday, it was funny watching who shied away from me, because most were wearing suits. More fool them if they wish to wear a suit and white shirt in freezing weather. The previous Sunday I was one of the few that made it in (we had sacrament meeting only) – and one of the more judgmental people was complaining in fast and testimony he couldn’t get in. Well, I did… This is one of my biggest frustrations about the Church; I think too many members have become almost exactly like the Pharisees in terms of thinking they are righteous and mostly worrying about trying to look “righteous” to other members mostly based on the strict observance of a long list of traditional rules and rituals. The problem is that many of these traditional rules and rituals just don’t look like they really have much of anything to do with loving God or your neighbor or any half-way credible definition of true ethical behavior for that matter. If you break some of these petty rules like drinking a cup of coffee why should anyone including God really care that much about it either way? It just doesn’t make any sense, but we continue to insist that things like this are so important that God will condemn anyone that doesn’t repent of these supposed sins simply because that’s the tradition we are familiar with.
Yes, this is a huge issue in the Church – and, yet, I don’t want to get rid of all appearance-related “standards” in the Church. I like the idea of dressing up a bit for church – not necessarily a full suit and tie, but also not jeans and a t-shirt or even shorts, flip-flops and a tank top (which I have seen MANY times on MANY people at other churches). I don’t know exactly how I would draw a line, frankly – but I do like the concept and principle of there being a line (at least for those who are regular, longer-term attendees).
There was a wonderful concert tonight in our meetinghouse by the Young Women. It was held in the chapel, so we were asked to attend in “Sunday dress clothes”. Most of the men showed up in suits, white shirts and ties; I was in dress pants and a long-sleeved, blue shirt without a tie.
The thing is, seriously, I don’t think anyone had a conscious thought about trying to look good, necessarily. I think it simply was subconsciously attempting to dress “appropriately” for the time and place – which, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing at all.
So, yeah, I’m actually conflicted a bit on this general topic – even as I believe STRONGLY that it really is a huge issue that needs to addressed.
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