Mandy

http://www.youtube.com/MormonMessages



President Dieter F. Uchtdorf invites us to rely on the Spirit and use our divinely inherited ability to create things of substance and beauty. Read the entire address here: http://bit.ly/3PS9ZM

Jeff Bennion finishes his piece by covering the shortcomings of evolution theory - http://www.mormonmentality.org/2009/02/24/is-darwinian-evolution-just-a-theory.htm

And his views on Intelligent Design - http://www.mormonmentality.org/2009/02/28/is-intelligent-design-a-theory.htm

http://www.mormonmentality.org/2009/02/20/support-for-darwinian-evolution-in-lds-scriptures.htm

Interesting article.

Disclaimer - While I have tried to provide references, I am not a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am a life-time member of the Church and a graduate student studying to be a professional counselor. If you wish to cite this article, the format is:

Doerr, A. (December 18, 2007) "Possession and Exorcism in the Latter-Day Saint Culture". Retrieved on (insert current date) from http://ldsconnections.livejournal.com


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The subject of possession and exorcism is a sticking point between many mental health practitioners and religious sects. While Latter-Day Saints (aka "Mormons") do not deny the possibility of possession, it is considered a rare occurrence and is rarely discussed. Because of this, it should be remembered that many Latter-Day Saints are converts and may still have some of the beliefs of another religion in this area. To understand the LDS view, it is necessary to understand the religion's view on mental health, the definition of being possessed by an evil spirit and its theory on the process of possession and exorcism.

The official stance on mental illness is that it is a disturbance in thinking or behavior that interferes with a person's ability to deal with the normal stresses of life. To quote Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Quorum of the Seventy, "Some blame their problem on demonic possession. While there is no doubt that such has occurred, let us take care not to give the devil credit for everything that goes awry in the world! Generally speaking, the mentally ill do not need exorcism; they require treatment from skilled health-care providers and love, care, and support from everyone else." (Morrison, 2005, ¶ 10)

Being possessed by an evil spirit can mean anything from letting one's worst desires and drives control one's actions to being actually possessed by a foreign spirit that never had a physical body of their own. Obviously, only the latter would require an exorcism. The former requires mastering those desires through diligence and repentance, with the support of those who care. The belief is that one can only be possessed by an evil spirit of either type if they allow entry through lack of attending to one's personal spiritual well-being. (Cave, 2003) Latter-Day Saints are counselled to treat these people with love and tenderness to encourage them in their efforts to grow spiritually. (Oakes, 1996)

As for the rare exorcism, it is simply a blessing given by a Melchizedek priesthood holder, commanding the evil spirit to depart. If it is not successful, then it is because the priesthood holder has not prepared himself enough spiritually. (Romney, 1982) Under no circumstances is the possessed person subjected to physical abuse.



References

Cave, V. (March 2003). “Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Empty House,” Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints : Salt Lake City. Retrieved on December 18, 2007, from http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=aa9476e6ffe0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1


Morrison, A. (October, 2005). "Myths about mental illness." Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints : Salt Lake City. Retrieved on December 18, 2007, from http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=a9e72ee01e31c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1


Oaks, D. (October 1996). “Sins and Mistakes,” Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints : Salt Lake City. Retrieved on December 18, 2007, from http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=5a9bdbdcc370c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1


Romney, M. (July 1982). “The Blessings of the Fast,” Ensign. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints : Salt Lake City. Retrieved on December 18, 2007, from http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=14e4aeca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism online:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/Macmillan/

An excerpt from post of mine from a debate about validating matters of faith sceintifically....


First off, the brain is not wired to know truth. It can only recognize patterns and consistencies. If you've ever been to a lecture on how the brain translate stimuli into what we perceive, you would think at least four times before actually relying on them to tell you the truth. The brain is also lazy. It plays a lot of "fill in the gaps" to make life easier on itself.

Second off, patterns and consistencies can be very opened to personal biases and interpretations. I know I just said the brain was lazy, but the truth is there is just not enough time to process everything, so it compensates by discarding anything that it deems unimportant or improbable. This bleeds over into the cognitive processes too.

In short, from a scientific view, nothing can really be known because humans are physically not capable of knowing anything completely. We can only conceive of the most likely explanation that we can accept based on our own set of internal rules.

Test your knowledge of the Book of Mormon:
http://www.jamesfullmer.com/game/

For the past few months, I've been considering the different views on the subject and been trying to figure out where I really stand on the matter. From what I've seen, most people take one of two stances:

1) Killing anyone is wrong. The death penalty makes a murderer of the state.

2) People who kill should forfeit their lives as punishment for their crimes.


I disagree with both.

I define murder as shedding innocent blood. So if someone is guilty of a crime worthy of death, then killing them is not murder. (I will get to what I consider "a crime worthy of death" a little later.) And throwing up the fact that it costs more to keep someone on death row than to keep them imprisoned for life is dishonest because what we are actually paying is not killing them, but the appeals process we have set up to keep our collective conscience clean. Now, I have no idea what a clean conscience is worth in dollars, so I'm not sure I am against this, but I do think that we should be more honest with ourselves and admit that the reason we are paying so much is to make us feel better, not because it costs more to execute someone.

I don't buy into this punishment thing. In my mind, you need to give people a chance to repent of their sins, unless they show signs of being a continued danger to innocent people. Our criminal justice system does not care much about repentence, but sadly, it gives more of a chance for forgiveness than most people I know.

What this means is that if someone is likely to kill innocent people again, then they are a danger. The fact they are mentally impaired or young does not mitigate the fact unless there is evidence that they can change their endangerment to society. The bottom line is public safety. Emotional desires should not have any bearing on the matter.

I watched a forensic TV show about serial killer Charles Ng. In it, I saw the sister of Paul Cosner express rage over the fact that while Ng had been convicted of several murders, her brother's was not one of them listed. This is totally irrational as far as I'm concerned. The man was already convicted of enough murders that he would never see the light of day, having one more added to the list won't change that. It won't make her brother's death make more sense. It won't bring him back to life. And reading the scriptures, it won't make his spirit rest any more in peace.

There is a reason why God states "Vengeance is mine" (Rom. 12: 19). Vengeance is God's territory. He can take care of it much better than anyone else. I am personally of the opinion that you either pay for your transgressions in this life or the next. Making someone pay for a transgression in this life creates the chance for inappropriate punishment. And if you judge wrongly, you will be held accountable for it (Lev. 19: 15; Matt. 7: 1 & 2). So, I do understand the desire to put in safeguards against accidently condemning an innocent person to death.

(I also think that it's possible that if you punish someone for something in this life that it can absolve God from doing it in the next. I believe God is a just personage and doesn't believe in double indemnity.)

In general, I am against killing people, except where it comes to removing an immediate or definite danger to other people's lives. In that case, I don't have any real objection to the matter. In fact, I could probably pull the trigger myself if I thought it was the case. I wouldn't be proud of the fact and it would probably bother me some, but I would do it. I do believe that we have a duty to protect the innocent and if we don't, then we are also guilty of the crimes against them.

However, I also believe that if we do the best we can with the knowledge we have, God will be understanding and merciful to us. (2 Nephi 25:23, Heb. 4: 12.)

Another place where things get sticky for me is the concept of allowing people to repent. There are scriptures that say that if someone knowingly takes an innocent life, they must pay for it with their own blood to make their repentence complete. My institute director once threw that out for discussion to us once. From what we determined, hanging or poisoning someone for murdering someone else was probably the worst way to kill them because it doesn't give them a chance to pay for their transgression correctly. We were more inclined to a firing squad where all but one or two of the shooters had blanks, so they could believe that maybe it wasn't their shot that did the actual killing. We then decided that God being merciful would probably find a way to cause some blood to be shed of a repented murderer in the case of hanging, electrocution or lethal injection. Of course, this was based on the assumption that it was the willingness to have one's blood shed for the crime that was most important and not the amount of blood shed. In which case, a nose bleed would satisfy the requirement.

In conclusion, I am not against the death penalty, but I am against the way we approach it. As for the practical application of my opinion on the matter, I really haven't been able to work that part out yet.

2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.
3 Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.

I don't remember this being one of the highlight scriptures I studied when I was in Seminary. However, I am quite fond of couple other phrases in the same section because they give some of the guidelines for receiving information from God.

From D&C 8:1 - ...surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge...

From D&C 8:10 - Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.

In the Section 9, there are even better guidelines:

7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong...

This was given specially to Oliver Cowdery, but I have found that sometimes when after I study it out and then try to ask God in prayer if it's a good idea, I will lose the ability to state the choice I made. I can have it written out in very clear and concise words, but when I try to ask God, I can't get the words to come together. And if I try to force it, I become mentally unfocused until I decide to either study more or choose another option. This I believe is my version of "a stupor of thought".

Likewise, I have had moments when I've made a decision when I suddenly experience an infusion of energy into myself, like every cell of my body is saying, "Yes. This is right." This I consider my verions of "your bosom shall burn within you".

But sometimes, I don't feel either things and I realize it's one of those time where it doesn't really make which way I do things as long as I actually do something. Or I get the feeling that I am being impatient and should wait. I remember one time, while asking if I should take a certain action, I heard in my mind the words "not yet".

And sometimes the answer is just "no". Many people don't understand that "no" is still an answer to a prayer. They think of God as a genie who grants whatever we want, when we ask for it. And then they get angry because they didn't get what they what. That makes so much sense - treating the ultimate being of the universe like a slave, like a spoilt little child.

I've always found that what God has planned for me usually pays off much better than what I usually come up with. It's taken me a long time to accept the career path I am finally on. I've considered it several times in the past, but decided against it because of my family. Until a few years ago, I never even considered running it past God. And it weren't for some of the things I've gone through in my life, I still wouldn't have asked him about it.

But I'm glad I finally did.

( While I was studying for an Art History test, I had an epiphany. )

Both of my children are in Seminary this year and I decided to write something about a Seminary scripture reference they are studying this year every Sunday. Since this year is church history and the Doctrine and Covenants, I will start with D&C 1:37-38.

37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.

38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.

Not really much to expound upon in this straight-forward scripture. Pretty much the same thing you find in Isa. 34:16, John 5:39, Alma 33:2, 3 Ne. 10:14, Matt. 5:18, 2 Ne. 9:16, etc. Basically if God says it, either through his own voice or a prophet, he means it.

While I can't expound on the scripture itself, I can give some of my experience with people who try to wiggle around this. Many times in my life, I've had people try to get me to tell them that doing something contrary to the commandments is okay. I'm not talking about people who reject the scriptures - I'm talking about people who claim to believe them and then try to convince themselves they can break or bend a few for their own convenience and for some reason seem to believe that if they can convince me that it's okay, then God will agree and everything will be hunky-dory.

Last I checked I wasn't the God of this world. Convincing me won't do your eternal soul a whit of good. I am neither the final judge nor do I have any input in your final judgment. I am not your mediator. His name is Jesus Christ. You know, the guy who bleed in Gethsemane and died on a cross with nails in his extremities. You have a problem with something, then you need to get down on your knees and talk to him about it, not me.

Why? Because first, it's His job. Only He has that authority. Talking to me about it is like asking a homeless person to clear a parking ticket off your record. Second, I'm not interested in helping you hack your way into Heaven. I don't believe there are hacks for salvation and I have better things to do with my time. Third, if you do ask me, I am going to assume you want a doctrinal answer and that is what I am going to give you. If you already know that what you're doing is wrong, then there's no point in rehashing everything. You need to face up to what it is you really want in life and accept the consequences for that desire. Now if it's something you're not clear on, then sure I'll discuss it with you. I'll even be understanding about the whole thing. But if I know that you know better, then I'm not going to be very patient with you. I have problems and flaws of my own. I will not add aiding and abetting you to that list.

Will only Mormons be able to go to the Celestial Kingdom?

Well, the best summary of the answer is something I once heard in a conference talk - Heavenly Father puts people where they will feel the most comfortable. Similar to not being able to bear the full glory of God without being transfigured. D&C 88 covers it some. Also, we are told that those who are of the celestial will minister to those of lower degrees degrees of glory - D&C 76: 87 & 88.

If you live up to certain standards, you probably won't feel that comfortable being around people who either didn't meet or exceeded those standards. I see this even in this life. Many people are uncomfortable being around others who are living a higher standard, even when that person is one of the sweetest around, because of their own personal guilt and/or envy.

Not that I am perfect, because I am far from that, but I do manage to maintain some level of standards. And I have lots of friends who don't have those same standards who are okay with me. But we don't spend a great deal of time with each other. I can imagine that it would be very hard to live next to someone who is excelling for the rest of eternity. I know I would be saying within myself that I didn't deserve to be next to this person after a while.

I think the main decisive factor will be our behavior and because we will have a perfect knowledge of our own behavior on the Day of Judgment. So even though servants of the Lord will do the actually judging, we will practically sort ourselves. We will have no doubt where we belong and it's not like we will need to be thrust into the kingdom of glory we belong in.

Now, let me add that people who can't stick to progression in this life to the end, probably wouldn't do it in the next either. I have met good people who are happy just where they are and don't want to become more. To be constantly progressing would not suit them at all. For someone like me, it would make me totally bored. However, I still think I need to prove that I am worthy of continued eternal progression.

As for being Mormon, the only thing is that we have the ordinances for it. We do temple work so those who don't have access to those ordinances can have them. We've been told that in the Millenium, all this will be worked out and the temples will be busy with this work. So, it doesn't matter if they are a member of this church in mortality or not. They will get the ordinances they need. And that won't make them Mormons. "Mormon" is a nickname. "Latter-Day Saint" is just a phrase to distinguish us from the Saints of the past. We will all be Zion.

( RSVP and Wesleyan Quadrangle )

I decided to try and explain how Mormons address each other at church.

Now, the short answer is: Males are called "Brother" and their surname and females are called "Sister" and their surname. And this convention will serve you well, because with rare exception no one will take offense at it, since it is the default protocol among us.

( Now, the murky reality. )

Interactive Church Music Player

This interactive web page allows you to view, listen to, transpose, and print the LDS Church hymns and children's songs. (Expect a few where it would violate copyrights.) It's great because it will play the notes and highlight them so you can sing along. You can even learn the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts. Or you can hear someone sing it. You can control the tempo and key. You can start the music from any part of the song by just clicking on the area.

( Something I wrote a few years ago... )

Made by aeolianafay





Quote: "You are not a physical being having a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being having a physical experience."

Joseph Smith

April 7, 1844

Nauvoo, Illinois



"If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves."

( same notes as the last entry - won't post the comparisons and future goal because while I printed them out, they weren't saved to the file - you don't want to read them anyway )

( It's not extensive - if it was extensive, it would have been too long for the assignment. Some of this came from other entries in this journal. I may go back some day and expand things. )