For details on how and when "The Church Formerly Known As Mormon" sued Jerald and Sandra Tanner over their use of "The Handbook" click here "Church Sues Tanners."
My daughter was baptized last year. We had no problem planning this ourselves.. She could really care less about going to church(one year later)--she finds primary sooooo boring.."all we do is sit, sing and agree with the teacher".. I find it interesting that I am considered inactive(I have asked "questions" that were not appropriate), and now the missionaries keep showing up to "teach" us the "basic" truths. I am a forty year-old mom that grew up in the church. If I didn't know the "basics" by now--who would?
Also, I really want to know why it is o.k. to assign my husband as a home teacher to a 22 year-old single woman? I find this most offensive of all..my husband agrees and thinks it is weird. Shouldn't the rs visit this woman? Can't the bishop go? I agree with a previous contributor..I think they are secretly trying to re-establish polygamy to "up" the numbers..
Maybe you should open a new section of this website for "inappropriate" behavior of home and visitng teachers?
We have a couple of women in our ward that are rumored to be gay--they were seen
reading poetry to each other at the local park. But since they are long-time members--everyone looks the other way..
Another Kiddy Baptism Horror Story
A neighbor girl will turn 8 in February. Her folks are semi-active but trying to get back to full activity. Parents started putting together plans for baptism on the girl's birthday. After contacting out of town relatives and confirming that they adjusted schedules to attend, the Bishop was notified of the plans. The Bishop informed them that the birthday didn't fall on the newly designated Stake baptism day for the month. Therefore, the plans would have to be delayed for a full month. The explanation given was that because there were over 100 baptisms last year, the stake wanted to gain some control over this "unsatisfactory" situation of having to waste so much water!! A few days later, the Bishop decided he'd better tell the parents "the rest of the story." Grandparents of the young girl (parents of her biological dad) had already made arrangements locally for the girls baptism without the knowledge of her parents!! What a CROCK!! This latest effort to gain control over the activities and efforts of ward and stake members seems to be going over the heads of about 95% of the local members. Other control efforts involve
designating Family Saturday's and Family Sunday's every month to be treated just like FHE Mondays. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. - 12/13/2002 - from DanO
I really want to know(and of course-no one will tell me)if it is appropriate
for my 42-year-old husband to be a home teacher to a 24-year-old single
woman?? With all the weird affairs going on in the church-this seems like they
are trying to set him up!!! - 10/25/2002 - anon
Yes its a common practice for someone who is a High Priest to home teach single women. Its also required for these Home Teachers to bring their companions with them. High Priest can be assigned to home teach with their wives which is pretty cool. So if this is a concern for you and your hubby I would recommend that either you request a change or request that the both of you be assigned as companions. Unless you have a power tripping High Priest Group Leader this request is as simple as making it.
- 04/28/2010 - yearight@hahahaa.com - Active Mormon Here
Here is a short BYU paper I wrote:
The title of this paper is actually a heading under the sub-section of Medical and Health Policies in Chapter 18 of the church's General Handbook of Instructions. The rest of this paper is taken directly from the handbook except for my comments, which are in
blue brackets.
Many community resources provide effective help for members who suffer from social or emotional problems. However, some groups [the LDS Church] that purport to increase self-awareness [Who Am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from?], raise self-esteem ["you're of infinite worth"], or enhance individual agency [the ultimate freedom is a complete surrender of your will] advocate concepts and use methods that can be harmful [blind faith, revisionism, doublespeak, Authoritarianism, supremacy, delusion, fear, guilt, etc.]. Some groups falsely claim Church endorsement, charge exorbitant fees [tithes, offerings, opportunity cost of time, and your very life if necessary!], and encourage long-term commitments [how about forever?]. Some intermingle worldly concepts with gospel principles in ways that can undermine spirituality and faith [How about race issues to name one?].
These groups tend to promise quick solutions to problems that normally
require time and personal effort to
resolve [the Mormon recipe for happiness - fast and
pray, study scriptures, attend church, take sacrament, Temple rituals,
pay tithing, obey, obey, obey]. Although participants may experience
temporary emotional relief or exhilaration, old problems often return,
leading to added disappointment and despair.
Page 156
Church members should not participate in groups that:
1. Challenge religious and moral values [The Church
constantly has a force of over 50,000 volunteers
challenging the religious and moral claims of others daily] or
advocate unwarranted confrontation with spouse or family members as a
means of reaching one's potential [Elder Scott said
on campus this semester that marriage is second in importance only to
your membership in the Church. What about Christ's sword of Truth that
divides the family? Those who leave family associations to adhere
to the Church are the heroes of conversion stories]
2. Imitate sacred rites or ceremonies [like the
masons, who stole the endowment from the ancient Mormons. The Boy Scout
program needs to go according to this definition too. Now I have grounds
to refuse attending my own Graduation rites at BYU]
3. Foster physical contact among participants. [Like
thousands of hugs and handshakes. This may be the
reason that the intimate embrace of the Five Points of Fellowship was
dropped from the Temple ceremony]
4. Meet late into the evening or in the early-morning hours. [Early morning seminary,
Priesthood session, executive meetings, family home evening, campfire
testimony meetings, and the many other church meetings that consume time
early in the morning and late in the evening]
5. Encourage open confession or disclosure of personal information normally
discussed only in confidential settings. [Worthiness
interviews, confessions to Priesthood Authority]
6. Cause a husband and wife to be paired with other partners. [Like home teachers
and visting teachers. How about the separation of husband and wife to
different classes (priesthood, relief society) and separation into
male and female groups in the Temple (the veil involves a more intimate
'pairing')?
Church leaders are not to pay for, encourage participation in, or
promote such groups or practices. Also, Church facilities may not be
used for these activities. [Why is the Church so afraid
of its own practices?]
There are two mis-statemtents in this secionon your site:
children of record are to be baptized on the evening of the last Saturday of the month
That may have been a Stake decision, but it is not in accordance with the handbook of the day or of today.
- 07/06/2008 - Darryl
Post your comments in this text box.
Torture the little children who come unto me and make them suffer, for of such
is the Kingdom of Morg
In our
ward far from Utah, the baptism of a child is a big deal. The baptism
symbolizes, for the church community, the difficult but hopefully successful
transmission of our beliefs to the next generation. These baptisms are a cause
of great celebration, in the form of a ward party with the parents acting as the
hosts. They are our best attended and most successful activities and they are a
rare event.
The first child to turn 8 yrs old under the new policy was
from a rather inactive family who didn't hear the announcement. They planned a
pretty extravagant reception after the simple ceremony and invited many
relatives, some non-members, who bought plane tickets to fly in from around the
country. They were taking the baptism as an opportunity to get their own act
back together in the church. About a week before the event, the Bishop called
them in and cancelled it. Their child would be baptized later in the month as
directed in the Handbook. This family stormed out of the church, the little girl
in tears, fully believing she was on the path to hell. They have not been back
to church since then and refuse to talk to home teachers, etc.
The
missionaries were teaching a divorced woman with 5 children. The family agreed
to get baptized on the 8th birthday of the 4th child. Would our Bishop let this
child get baptized with the rest of her family? Nope, she had to wait until the
end of the month. So the rest of the family deceided to wait for her. Then I
guess they deceided to wait for #5 who is only 6 years old because they never
did get baptized.
Who will soon forget the first successful baptism of a
child under the new policy, on HALLOWEEN NIGHT! Many children came in their
costumes and the kid who got baptized wanted to go trick or treating in his
white cloths as a wet angel. His strict TBM mother could not have been more
embarassed by the fiasco. The baptism blended into the ward Halloween party
which wasn't well executed.
And the next kid was the last of a large
litter. The parents were so busy with the Holidays that they forgot the baptism
and just skipped out of it, TWICE!. First in November (Thanksgiving), then again
in December (week after Christmas). The Bishop was trying to get away from the
big extravagant parties by planning the baptisms himself. He lined up a couple
of speakers, the music, witnesses, etc., filled the font. And the family with
the 8 yr old kid didn't show up. You could lay the blame for this at the feet of
the family, not the Bishop. But you know what? We never had this problem before,
when the family planned the event, regardless of how flakey or inactive they
might have been.
A winter storm shut the city down on the last week of
January and they made the poor little shit wait for yet another month. Remember
the old favorite primary song: "I can't wait until I'm eight..."?
The
next episode transpired some months later when two kids, both born the same
month didn't want to have their baptisms together. This was no small childish
selfishness. No. Older siblings of one child had committed acts of violence
against members of the other family. The Bishop and the Law ended up on opposite
sides of this feud and after a non-conviction at a criminal trial, a rather
nasty lawsuit was settled for some tens of thousands of dollars. I think it is
remarkable that both families still come to the same church at the same time.
Forgiveness is one thing. But did they have to baptize their children at the
same time, in the same meeting, and in the same water? Both backed out. Convient
excuses were found (dad out of town). One was baptized a month later, the other
two months later. The Bishop was not amused.
One mother in our ward got
so hacked off that she deceided to not allow her daughter to be baptized on
Saturday until she is old enough to be classified as a non-member. Then she can
whiz through the missionary lessons and get baptized as a new convert any time
she pleases. At age 12 or 13 if necessary. The Bishop says it won't happen. Not
as long as he is around.
Finally there is the family who went back to
Utah to celebrate their child's baptism with relatives there. Our local Bishop
wouldn't give his permission which is technically necessary. But they found a
Utah Bishop of a relative to sponcer it. And since they were from across the
country (and the relative was the Scoutmaster and threatened to quit unless)
they were able to get him to allow them to do it on their own terms. Of course
our local Bishop does not recognize this as a valid baptism and the parents
refuse to repeat the ceremony at the designated time. The 8 yr old knows that he
has been baptized, he can remember it. So far all the children of the Primary
also agree that he has been baptized. The Bishop tried to embarass the boy in
primary while his parents weren't around to defend him by showing up unannounced
and explaining to all the children why his baptism was invalid. But it backfired
and the other children came to his rescue. They chanted, "Bishop's a liar.
Bishop's a liar" as he retreated and the women tried to slap them
back down.
What I find most remarkable is the level of hypocracy between
the children of record baptisms and the new convert baptisms. The church wants
to have such a tight leash on the members and how/when they baptise their
children. You would think after raising the kid for 8 years that the parents
might be able to plan a simple baptismal service and the church leaders could
just stand by to help as needed. But new converts? All it takes is an interview
with an adolescent missionary pair hyped up by all the high-pressure sales
tactics and you're ready to be dunked. Anytime. Anyplace. The sooner the better
before you change your mind. Convicted criminals. Illegal immigrants. Residents
of the insane asylum. Pedophiles. It doesn't matter. Some of these new converts
are so ill-prepared that they go inactive before the weekend rolls around and
they can be confirmed in Sacrament Meeting. This creates a new statistical
catagory for the ward clerk even more distinguished than the old Adult
Aaronic status: BAPTIZED BUT NOT CONFIRMED!
I do hope that
his latest little era of tight control of Baptismal Services will soon end. A
generation of children is growing up in the church with the early realization
that their eternal salvation is not as crucial as arbitrary programs of the
church and the petty tyrannts who (can't) run them. I will leave it to the
reader to guess which one of the little vinettes above is autobiographical and I
will leave you with this redaction of an often quoted verse of scripture:
Torture the little children who come unto me and make them suffer, for of such
is the Kingdom of Morg.
The Church Condemns Itself in its Own Handbook!
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