- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
cwald wrote:
…Where I see the problem in the LDS culture, is we equate spiritual laws with CULTURAL laws. Many of the laws we stress and push in the LDS church ARE NOT spiritual laws at all – but cultural traditions – that do not yield spiritual blessings.
Yes, good point that I agree with in general. The twist I would add is they CAN be tools to assist in forms of spiritual growth if used properly. WoW, sabbath day observance, tithing, and all other forms of religious activities can be useful and good practices of self-control, almsgiving, even self-denial and penitence. The key is the motivation. It is proper and good when the motivation comes from within. The personal benefit will often be absent when the participant feels compulsion from some authority.
I understand how it can be looked upon as a flaw in LDS theology. I prefer to look at it as a misunderstanding in LDS culture – much like the old speculations around why blacks were not given the priesthood. Those speculations have been denounced, my hope for the future is that more of these cultural traditions will be corrected as well.
SilentDawning wrote:Patterns, on the other hand, talk about broad trends, with a significant amount of deviation within the pattern. It describes the movement of the herd in general, while ignoring the mavericks.
Orson wrote:Bill Gates and Warren Buffett clearly understand the laws of economics. The blessings of wealth that they have achieved are a testament to their obedience to those laws. The obvious error (to me) is when we attach economic prosperity as a purported blessing to spiritual laws. I would say spiritual laws yield spiritual blessings, economic laws yield economic blessings, health laws yield blessing of health (these laws I only wish we could fully understand), while knowledge of physical laws will yield physical achievements, etc.
Thank you for this perspective. Part of me bristles at the suggestion that personal righteousness does not bring personal blessings yet tribal or even national righteousness will somehow result in tribal/national blessings. It just seems like a cop-out that if you widen the perspective enough you blur the details until you are just seeing shapes in the clouds.
But if looked at as a pattern or bell curve following natural results then it only makes sense that a populace with high work ethic, highly skilled/educated work force, where ingenuity is encouraged, etc. etc. would be a force to be reckoned with economically. This still wouldn’t equalize factors such as natural resources and strategic location, but if everything else were equal it should work.
FYI, my dad read that Warren Buffett has around 20 metal filing cabinets in his house. My dad has 10 and wonders if he should get more. Talk about ascribing material blessings from following the wrong law.
😆 This post came to mind today for some reason, so I am bumping it up for the newer participants to read. I hope it helps someone, somehow. Bumping up this post again, since I provided the link in another thread.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.