Twilight and LDS

with the Latest Twilight movie now in theaters there is a lot of stuff on facebook and other places about how awesome the movie is, how people waited in line to see the show, how great the books are.

Me? I think the books are good only if they are printed paper is thin and soft. though if I am ever lost in the woods I would be very happy if I was with someone who had these books on them. with their size they will be great for getting fires started. -no I am not advocating the burning of books that is wrong, so is censorship. I have a rant on these books, but it has little to nothing to do with the topic I would like to talk about. that rant is much like my friend's rant about why the spear is the best weapon ever invented by man kind, it mostly has to do with how much scotch has been consumed. -however if you ever get the chance to hear why the spear is the greatest fucking weapon ever listen closely it is one of the best rants of all time. I will probably post my I hate twilight rant somewhere someday, but not here.

Sometimes people like to latch on to the fact that Stephanie Meyer is Mormon when they go after the books, the thing is most these people are blaming her religion on why her books are misogynistic. This completely misses the point however. But hey because I'm on the subject let's look at why this might be.  Well for the most part that all centered around the fact that the story centers around a girl who basically has no world except that which revolves around a guy. oh and there is that crazy pregnancy frustration by Rosalin and the werewolf chick.  What is the connection to Mormonism? Well probably because of the history of polygamy, the fact that women can't get to the highest level of heaven without being married, and that heaven is pretty much being pregnant, oh and they are excluded from the priesthood (though really that is how most religions are or were).... Sorry that is all I have on that topic. except to say this, those that try and make this the point of the twilight is Mormon propaganda have a very shallow understanding of Mormonism.

The real reason I see a connection is in the family of the Cullen. See one of the most important parts of the Mormon faith is family, families being together forever. the temple system is all about making it so that families can get to be together for all of eternity on their own little planet. Children are sealed to their parents, couples are sealed to each other all so they can be together forever. It is sometimes very comforting, I know a couple of mothers who have lost they children and it is comforting to them to know that they will be reunited with their lost loved ones. or that their little babies are now angels watching over them.

So here enter the twilight saga. Bella is from an extremely  broken family. she can't bring herself to call her dad by anything other then his first name, her mother has not problem leaving her daughter to traps around the country with her professional Baseball player. Then she meets the Cullens family. They are happy they are committed to each other, forever. Becasue they are Vampires they will get to be young and beautiful and together for-e-ver.

And I think that that might be why these books are so popular. Their literary merit is the same as something I scrapped off my shoe, The Heroin has the dept of a mirage in the desert, and the evil that must be conquered is as evil as the bully stealing lunch money on the play ground. But the commitment of the cullens is what the attraction is.

That is where the connection is. and concide

The Chastisement of St John!!!!

(I have a Mormon cousin who is really good at pushing my buttons, and I am really good at pushing his. From here after I will refer to him as st John after st. John Rivers from Jane Eyre.)

Crack. A ruler snapped across my shoulder,"Stop smiling," said st John in his even tempered voice, "You poor apostate, were you not taught the simplest of lessons? I must ask that if you can't say something nice please don't say anything at all." he reached for the dunce cap, "Now go sit in the corner and contemplate why you should never ridicule those who follow the true way." 

As soon as his back is turned, I stick out my tongue, the other children laugh but he doesn't catch me this time. 

(So what really happened, st John's wife -I'll think up a good alias for her soon- did a review of a book. the only bad thing she could say about it was that there was some swearing in that had turned her off at first. she also said that if it had been her book she would have blacked out the swearing. I thought this reaction to noty words was amusing and said in a reply, "I think it is silly how up tight you are about language ;)" you see I added the winky face to say I'm not mocking you, you just made me smile. St John comes on and says "the only thing silly is ridiculing someone's beliefs before sharing your own, if you can't say something nice please don't say anything at all... just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean it is silly or up tight." what I wanted to say in response was, "Fuck you, that is way more means spirited then anything I said." But then I thought some more and changed from being angry to being hurt, because he decided to walk up and verbally smack me. What is really sad is that he used to be one of my best friends. *sigh* the lose of his friendship is do to my forgetting that I have to be cautious about what I say.)

Hi My Name is Deseret

there is an area of Mormonism.org where they have had several member post up a little thing about themselves. it generally says Hi my name is X, a little about me, Why I am a Mormon, and how I live my faith.  It is very interesting and I thought I Do something like it here. So....

Hi My Name is Deseret... yes that is a pen name.

About Me... I am a seminary graduated, I love to read, and write. I some day hope to become a novelist. I live with my husband who I met in seminary. we are newly weds and are still trying to get on our feet and figure out what this whole marriage is all about. I work at a low paying, low expectations job to try and keep our bills paid.

Why I am NOT a Mormon...I was raised just outside the Mormon faith my father was a very lax Mormon when he met and married my mom and by the time I was 4ish he decided it was time to leave the Mormon church so he had his name removed from their books. Thus we are one of the few people at our family gatherings that are not Mormon. In watching and learning about Mormonism I have found that i have five objections to the faith:  1. I have a historical problem (both with their history and their view of church history as a whole.) 2. A Sacramental problem (their understanding on what a sacrament is) 3. A Christological problem (basically a problem with he way they view Christ) 4. A theological problem (they have adopted many heresy that the early centuries of the church dealt with) and 5. A Philosophical problem (particularly on the problem of evil.)

How I live my faith... I go to church every Sunday, pray every morning on my way to work (well most mornings sometimes I don't) I meet with a bible study, I read the bible every day. and in general ask God daily to Help me learn to not take or give offence.

Deseret Log 1

Today is the first day of my new Assignment, to ask questions and find answers of the Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons. I am the Deseret Sleuth, and there are just some questions I want answers to. Questions about the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Some of my questions are about the theology, history, and doctrines held by the Latter Day Saints, others will be of a more frivolous nature. Simple questions that are raised because life has anomalies which are a quandary inlight of some of those doctrines. The frivolous questions are honest questions not meant to be obnoxious, or rude. I hope any and all of my readers will be courteous and that you are a good mixture of people who are both Latter-Day Saints and Non Mormons.