The Role of Happiness and Sacrifice

[Anonymous]

DA, I have no problem with almost all of your comment, and I even agree with some it completely, but . . .

Please refrain from characterizations like “grumpy old men” for the apostles and prophets. That’s just not our tone here – and it’s inaccurate, as well.

[Anonymous]

Old-Timer wrote:

DA, I have no problem with almost all of your comment, and I even agree with some it completely, but . . . Please refrain from characterizations like “grumpy old men” for the apostles and prophets. That’s just not our tone here – and it’s inaccurate, as well.

Sorry about that Ray but this whole topic really touched a nerve and I got carried away mostly because I think this attitude of expecting so much sacrifice out of members as a general policy has really gotten out of hand and I just don’t think it’s going to be good for the Church and most members over the long run. For example, listen to what Gordon B. Hinckley had to say about the competition (other churches):

Quote:

“I don’t think we’ve retrograded across the world. I think there are many good people everywhere. And our appeal is to those people. We don’t down grade any Church. We don’t speak disparagingly of any Church. We simply say to people of other Churches, bring all the good that you have and come and let us see if they if we can add to it. Now that’s all there is to it.”

Well suppose people actually do this and try to see what good the LDS Church will add to their lives and then it looks to them like the main thing that has been added from their perspective is mostly just a heavy burden that looks like the cumulative by-product of 180 years worth of Mormons assuming that their prophets are always right.

Personally I think many atheists and agnostics are actually good people too but asking them to basically have faith in fallible men that have repeatedly proven to be inconsistent and unreliable and that also want to tell them exactly what to do and believe is just not very realistic. There are actually many Christians that have gone through an atheist/agnostic phase but it seems like this kind of transition isn’t nearly as likely or painless with the LDS Church simply because of the heavy demands, inflexible hard-line doctrines, authoritarian organization, whitewashed history, denial of scientific evidence, etc.

[Anonymous]

Had a situation a few months ago when our Bishop told my wife that he’s been giving me a break for a while, but that “it won’t last forever”….implicit in that statement is that it’s not really my call how busy I am in the Church or even in my life. Now, I realize that ultimately I can say “No” if I want to — although it can be awkward when you’re one of the few people eligible for certain callings for various reasons. But I think there are times when our hard work/commitment is assumed — and regardless of our circumstances. I’m of the mind that I have to WANT to make the sacrifices in the future, and I suppose if there is awkwardness or further damage to one’s reputation in saying “No”, I will have to take the hit….

[Anonymous]

I’m going to start a new thread with some interesting quotes that were cited in the Stake PEC training in my stake this month. They relate to this topic, and they are fascinating coming from current apostles very recently.

[Author]

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