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Religion & Spirituality > Churches & Organizations The Book of Mormon: 3 of 28
I find it hard to disagree with Mark Twain's assessment of the Book of Mormon. He acquired it on a trip to Utah and described it in Roughing It as "chloroform in print." Most people may think Twain the cynic is guilty of a comic exaggeration here but few people have actually read its pages. The one thing that always seemed s... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Bible Study Why is the Bible boring: 7 of 35
I admit the Bible is difficult to read at times. I'm almost convinced that the story about the talking donkey in Deuteronomy got inserted by a writer bored with all the Jewish laws that had been recorded to that point. However, the articles so far have focused on the book and its value as a religious text. Why do we not cons... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Churches & Organizations Everybody has a God, not just the Christians: 1 of 5
There are two ways of thinking about this. One is from the perspective of a person who comes from a faith that is not Christianity who rightly realizes that Chrsitianity does not have exclusive ownership to a higher power and the second is someone - also religious - trying to point out that God believes in the non-religious ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Doctrine & Issues Is it really a good thing to not have paid clergy: 3 of 7
People think it's a wonderful thing if a church does not pay its clergy. The Mormons often tout this as one of the advantages of their particular denomination. In fact few positions in the Mormon Church are paid, but is this a good thing after all? The second line of the hymn I took this title from goes, "No toil nor labor f... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Beliefs & Culture Satan's necessary role in providing challenge: 1 of 1
Is it me or has the devil Satan himself been unfairly maligned throughout the centuries in Christian and Islamic thought? Judaism discarded Lucifer as an actual entity perhaps because they realize God created evil as well as Isaiah Chapter 45 verse 7 does indeed tell us. But even in Christian theology does he not play a vita... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Elections Archives Is America ready for a Mormon president?: 7 of 13
People objecting to Mitt Romney often do not have a valid reason to do so. I personally have reservations about voting for a Mormon, but I will not vote for a person simply because the person is Mormon. It is well-known that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as it exists today can produce men of outstanding mor... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Spiritual Life Happiness is never guaranteed: 5 of 8
I admit I do not trust anyone who promises me happiness eternal. It is not that I have something against this concept, but such an idea always comes with the surrendering my free will to their notions of right or wrong and to me freedom is more important than obedience. Perhaps that is why I made such a lousy Mormon. It may ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Bible Study The Bible and its interpretation: 38 of 60
It is easy to forget that there is a middle ground when it comes to interpreting the Bible. If it were not a religious text, sadly, the divide would not exist. It is important to understand why histories were written in the ancient world before beginning this discussion. That is, if we all assume the Bible is historical. (I'... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Thoughts on God Can you make God change his mind?: 15 of 23
Whether or not you can make God change His mind is not really the question, as no one can make anyone else change their mind. The question is can the God of the Old or New Testament ever change his mind and the answer to this question is yes. We all are familiar with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yes, it does not turn out... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Doctrine & Issues Gay rights and the Christian church: 97 of 141
I do not necessarily feel the need to weigh in on this but after seeing the ratings go through it it seems there was quite an invective on the side of homosexuality being a sin that the writers forgot to make their points coherent. Admittedly, I'm not a big stickler for grammar on the net, but in a discussion like this comin... More..