Satan in the Mormon understanding.

This one Caught me off guard, not because I didn't know that it was what Mormons theology taught but because I had actually never heard one talk about it.

 It was Satan's plan to make sure everyone had it easy and that everyone would be guaranteed a win. 

What I did Today

Wow, that is all I can say at first, I mean wow. See I am one of those people who has read more philosophy then the average person, I think I can say that without being dishonest. I mean I am far from a philosopher, all my philosophy was philosophy of Religion and all taught by the same professor so it is not the most impressive philosophy education but it is something. and they were all graduate level so that has got to count for something right?  This statement just causes a huge explosion in the problem of pain and suffering category of philosophy.

Okay basic Philosophy lesson time- the Problem of pain and suffering centers around a simple question. why do good people suffer? basic stuff I mean Job, quite a few Psalms ask this question, and Solomon deals with this as well in Ecclesiastes. Now here is the argument. For God to be truly worthy of worship he must be all powerful and Good. If God is good and all powerful then there will be no suffering. because A. God is good and therefore would not want his creation to suffer, and B. He is powerful enough to keep people from suffering. there is suffering so either God is not all Good or all powerful. If he wants to keep his creation from suffering but has not the power to stop suffering then he is not worthy of worship because he is not all powerful. If he is all powerful but does not stop suffering then he is an evil God and not worthy of Worship.

Okay I know that there are many arguments about why the premises are wrong it fails to take into account sinful nature, free will, and other things but that is not the point. The point is that this statement that What I did Today is making is saying that Satan is not the source of our pain and suffering. he wanted to do that which the philosophers say that God should have done which was make it so all people always choose the right, good, and noble thing all the time. They say that a truly Good God then he would make a world where people would always choose the good so no one would ever suffer, or need to suffer. Particularly if it is truly God's will that all be saved. this statement makes it seem that Satan wanted to stack the deck in our favor and God decided to stack the deck against us.

This to me says that God is a God who has the power to allow his creation to never suffer but refuses to make use of that power, more so that God is making us suffer on purpose. That really makes the God of Mormonism out to be a rat bastard.

Lack of Compassion, Charity, and Love

So Amy wrote an interesting post a couple of days ago that is just full of things I want to talk about. So I am going to type up a series of posts on the topics that come up from her post and from the people who commented on her post. The whole things started when Mormon Mommy Blogs announced that she was taking questions for the President of the Relief's Society, an organisation of women in the LDS Church. a lot of women jumped at this and asked questions ranging from why don't women have the priesthood, to how can i fight the guilt I feel for having to work instead of staying home with my kids, to I really have a lot on my plate does it have to be a requirement for me to do X, Y, and Z? I read through the questions and thought you know 

I feel bad for these women. Like this one a women's Son has been convicted, she wanted the ward in the area to be there for her son and help him get through this trying time, instead he was excommunicated. another women has three children and she wants one more but she is struggling with the fact that her husband doesn't want any more and the people at church keep asking her when she is going to have another. a women asks why she and her husband can't be sealed to each other even though they have done everything that is required of them. another women talked about how she felt guilty for having to work outside the home and couldn't be home with her family. 

It seriously looked to me like these where women in the church that were hurting and they really had very few places to turn. 

I found this post through Amy's Blog 'My Infernal Journal' and I I was surprised to see her reaction post. It was a post about how these women needed to just stop being so whiney, and how they were acting like they expected their lives to be trouble free because they were part of the church. How dare they complain about things. she was venting and I get that but then this was followed by comments that were agreeing with her and patting her on the back, kind of a "you tell um." It's like these women can possibly have something that they are going through, they can't possibly be anything but a bunch of complaining bitches. There was no compassion, no Charity, no love for these women. I may believe a lot of things that are not good about the Mormon religion. Yes I think that it is heresy. but my experience with Mormon people has always been that they are the most loving and 'christian' people. So this kind of came as a shock to me from a Mormon mommy blog that I mostly lurk on. Grant it now she knows I lurk there...opps. It really made me thankful that the Church I go to is full of people I can go to if I am struggling and they will listen. They know what I struggle with and even if I don't get better at the rate they think I should they still love me. 

Besides this there were other topics that came up that I will take a post for each to talk about. Women and the priesthood, the purpose of the church, Happiness and Truth, responsibly of Church Leaders, Satan in the Mormon understanding. 

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.