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Talking to God (10 unread)

Goodbye

Posted: January 6th, 2010, 8:28am EST by Gunner

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This blog served its purpose long ago and I'm off to other pursuits in life. I've talked to and become friends with some great people along the way and I hope you all have a good life.

See you later friends.
Greeting to our new guest from Salt Lake City

Posted: September 20th, 2009, 9:24am EDT by Gunner

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I was a little surprised to see activity on this blog. As you can tell from the updates I had pretty much walked away after having my say, but you know the old saying.
They can leave the church, but the church members can't leave them alone
So I was very surprised to find in my inbox comments to old posts. Comments that had a juvenile nature to them. I then realized that I was dealing with a TBM. One of those members who say apostates will never let the church go, but then troll forums, and blogs and post comments that border on the...infantile. Then in a masturbatory way feel like they have accomplished something of note...like roll a 18 on a 20 sided dice, or touched boobies during the prom dance.

Oh well. Have fun. Not sure what you feel you will accomplish here with your comments. They simply make you as a TBM look bad and justify the growing view that it is the members who follow after and cause much of the grief for postmormons. You really are a poster child for our cause.
This above all: to thine ownself be ...

Posted: July 6th, 2009, 6:02pm EDT by Gunner

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This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
TR interview--part duex

Posted: June 8th, 2009, 2:05am EDT by Gunner

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Dangit. I just found that temple recommends are two years, so with all humor intended I guess I need to do another since the last one.

1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?
Not anything you would consider faith or a testimony...so no.
2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?
Ditto
3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?
A simple no on this one.
4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?
No.

Okay. I will admit that it's not looking good, but the questions are short and demand a simple yes or no, and honesty is important.
5 Do you live the law of chastity?
Well wiki says this about the law of chastity.
In order to be a member of the LDS church in good standing one must refrain from adultery, fornication, masturbation or sexually inappropriate thoughts
So I guess this one is a no....according to their standards...remember. Honesty people.
6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?
I relate to my family in an honest manner, but how I relate to them and it being in harmony with the teachings of the church cloud the issue. I guess I'll ask for this question to be rephrased.
7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Yes. Hot damn I answered yes on one....damn. I just noticed that this would be counted as a bad answer.
8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?
No.
9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?
Yes. A nice non-doctrinal and human question with a human answer. Yes. I try to be honest.
10 Are you a full-tithe payer?
No.
11 Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?
No.
12 Do you have financial or other oblgations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?
No obligations so I'm cool here. I'm impressed with this question. a very morality based question in today's society.
13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?
No and No. a two-fer
14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?
Misdeeds yes, but not to a priesthood authority. Nope.
15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?
Odd one. I do feel moral and like I try to be good without the facade of living an artificial set of rules brought down by a person of questionable character...but as I have no desire to "participate in temple ordinances" I'll skip this one.

Well this is how the church decides if you are a worthy person to enter their temples. I always wonder how honest people are in answering these questions.
A laugh for the day

Posted: June 1st, 2009, 2:33am EDT by Gunner

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VERY ADULT

VERY ADULT

Not for those who have no sense of humor
A small item to think about

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 4:09am EST by Gunner

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From a Slate article...with video.
After reading about the genocides, the plagues, the murders, the mass enslavements, the ruthless vengeance for minor sins (or none at all), and all that smiting—every bit of it directly performed, authorized, or approved by God—I can only conclude that the God of the Hebrew Bible, if He existed, was awful, cruel, and capricious. He gives us moments of beauty—such sublime beauty and grace!—but taken as a whole, He is no God I want to obey and no God I can love.

When I complain to religious friends about how much He dismays me, I usually get one of two responses. Christians say: Well, yes, but this is all setup for the New Testament. Reading only the Old Testament is like leaving halfway through the movie. I'm missing all the redemption. If I want to find the grace and forgiveness and wonder, I have to read and believe in the story of Jesus Christ, which explains and redeems all. But that doesn't work for me. I'm a Jew. I don't, and can't, believe that Christ died for my sins. And even if he did, I still don't think that would wash away God's crimes in the Old Testament.

The second response tends to come from Jews, who razz me for missing the chief lesson of the Hebrew Bible, which is that we can't hope to understand the ways of God. If He seems cruel or petty, that's because we can't fathom His plan for us. But I'm not buying that, either. If God made me, He made me rational and quizzical. He has given me the tools to think about Him. So I must submit Him to rational and moral inquiry. And He fails that examination. Why would anyone want to be ruled by a God who's so unmerciful, unjust, unforgiving, and unloving?
The article also includes a small video that is part of the theme for this view.

I guess the question is. Have you truly examined your faith?
a funny take on Prop H8

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 5:12am EST by Gunner

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See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
Well said

Posted: November 12th, 2008, 3:19am EST by Gunner

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worship was one of the first steps for me

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 2:38pm EDT by Gunner

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I don’t get worship services. I use the term most people use to describe the Sunday morning activities that somehow has become a required performance for the deity of your choice. Worship. In an odd way I get bothered even saying the word.

The common belief in god is that he is our father and we are his children. Short of debates over this relationship I’ll use this one as the base for this writing.

Now short of an underground breakthrough in Petri dish technology and gene splicing, all of us have a father. While maybe dad is a stretch on some, the term father can be used as a generic. It sounds better then ‘sperm donor’ to describe the person who donated at least half the genes in your chromosome matches.

Now the big father in the sky is supposed to be many things. A dad, a guiding force in our lives, the creator, but the one that gets me is the term father. We are his spirit children are you hold to the Christian faith, and he is dad.

A small question arises. In a normal father/son relationship think hard and ask how many of them require that a person regularly worships in a set way to prove their love for their father? A relationship that demands absolute love from you, and a strict policy of following every law given to you (through people who say they talk for your father) or else you might be written out of the will?

Now is this a father/son relationship that you would find acceptable to live with?

Now a second question to ponder. What if every week you not only have to worship him, you have to resign a contract saying that you will keep following those rules? Now this contract is so important that your siblings might look down upon you if you don’t re-sign.

Would that pressure to re-sign seem proper? Then why do you do it?
The Sacrament is viewed as a renewal of the covenant made at baptism
Now we are getting to the crux of why I have always had issues with regular Sunday services. A father is to be loved. A father is to guide you until you can make your own choices in life. A father does not demand regular adoration/worship as a sign you love him, and a father does not require you to resign contracts of conduct and belief.

An easy out is to say that sacrament is symbolic. Nope. If it is symbolic then why are members who have been disfellowshipped asked not to partake? If it is not a resigning of the contract, then it should be allowed to all members in the church.

I was reading recently some translated Latin works recently by Aquinas and came to the conclusion that ‘God’ and ‘father’ should never be used together. Their meanings have so little to do with each other. Maybe you can feel that there should be a connection, and I would hope there is as I will explain, but in act, deed and requirement the two words do not come close to overlapping in a VIN diagram.

Now that word I used. Hope. You might be surprised but I’m not such a calloused individual that I could not find in me an inkling of a desire that there would be a ‘father’ figure as a creator that is watching over us, and at times guiding us. There would be a beauty in a supernatural loving god that wants us to become all that we could and embrace us after we have lived the good life.

Sadly there is a slight problem with that. The image of god that is put forth in the bible and other writings is far from the father figure. A fine example would be Abraham and the fact that god ordered him to sacrifice his son.

Now there are three ways to view this. The one normally viewed by Christians that I will skip over as it needs not be repeated, and two others.

In view two the idea of a sick twisted god comes forth. In it we seem to have a god that demands loyalty tests to see how far a person will jump, then right at the end when the heart has been torn from Abraham's chest due to the suffering at what is required a voice says “Let him live…”. Now why require an act of faith if god is all knowing? Why was god not be able to look into the soul of Abraham and know that he was a true “on his knees” follower. If your god is all knowing, then there was no need for this barbaric act to even be contemplated.

The other side is if god is NOT all knowing, and he requires these tests to find if you are a true cool-aid drinker. If god is not all knowing then how do we find it possible to call him a god?

I look into the bible and see that with a basic knowledge of right and wrong that there is much wrong.

Now back to worship.

God is flawed…if he is real. God is an insecure deity to require worship and new contract signings.

I cannot find it in myself to call this deity a god, or one worthy of worship.

Sunday worship is one of the stranger items that made me think about my views of god. It is easy to hunt through old books and find issues in the LDS church. I’ve never been a person to delve into the gamesmanship of doctrinal and historical debates.

I started looking at the basis of the relationship. Is this a healthy relationship, or is it a one sided relationship that is harmful? I found it lacking in quality and meaning.

If God is to be worshipped then he is not a father figure. If he is a father figure then he cannot be worshipped. Right now the standard Christian doctrine is one of worship…and that is bothersome, if not offensive, to me.

You might think that I am taking the word 'worship' and reading into it much more then there really is. Even the quickest google search says that worship is a form of showing love. In life if you are required to show love...then is it?

In my last post I mentioned that I had ‘fired god’ in my life. I figured for those who read this blog and never ask me why I no longer believe or what I do currently believe, that a slightly angry post should be followed by a post with a bit more depth.

I did not over a hard weekend decide to stop looking upwards. I did not find it easy to say 'no' to the idea of a father/god. It took a lot of introspective years to say that the current idea of a father/god is simply wrong in my view.

I did not study anti-Mormon literature or anti-Christian literature to end up at the place I am in. I simply asked if it was all ‘good’ and I could not say it was. I wasn’t lazy and used my natural grumpiness to justify it. I came to a realization that for me, the idea of the Christian ‘norm’ was wrong.

I cannot in good conscience say that I am a Christian in the traditional sense…but I’m not sure I need to label myself.

I’m me

I’m a moral person

I’m ethical

I’m a good husband

I’m a good son

I’m a good brother

I’m just me and I love you all no matter how you might feel about me in my place at this time in life.

Was I angry sounding before in many posts? Hell yes. When a person finds that they’re in a bad relationship they get upset and bothered. Time passes is all I need to say.

Now I find myself in a good place.

Home.
A laugh for the soul

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 7:30am EDT by Gunner

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It should be noted that loud laughter is required and evil if avoided.

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Talking to God (10 unread)

Posted: January 6th, 2010, 8:28am EST by Gunner

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Posted: September 20th, 2009, 9:24am EDT by Gunner

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Posted: July 6th, 2009, 6:02pm EDT by Gunner

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Posted: June 8th, 2009, 2:05am EDT by Gunner

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Posted: June 1st, 2009, 2:33am EDT by Gunner

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Posted: March 6th, 2009, 4:09am EST by Gunner

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Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 5:12am EST by Gunner

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Posted: November 12th, 2008, 3:19am EST by Gunner

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Posted: October 1st, 2008, 2:38pm EDT by Gunner

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Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 7:30am EDT by Gunner

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