Oct
18
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
It is a big deal for a member of the LDS Church to walk away. It’s not like simply changing pastors or switching to a more convenient worship service. The LDS Church is not just a place Mormons go on Sundays. It is the central mechanism by which they regulate, plan, and live their lives. On top of being the place where Mormons go for religious instruction, the Church is also the main source of a Mormon’s social connections; the means by which Mormons perform community service; and even a place where Mormons who are struggling financially can obtain food and monetary assistance.
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no comments | tags: baptism, Conformity, Covenants, LDS Fraud, LDS legalism, LDS Social Circles, LDS social pressure, orthodoxy enforcement | posted in List Item 01, List Item 04, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
15
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
When I was a BYU student, one of my professors was a fundamentalist-leaning member of the LDS Church. He took very seriously everything that LDS prophets have taught, from the beginning of the movement to the present. And LDS prophets have taught a lot, particularly in the beginning. Back then, they were real micromanagers, with an opinion on everything, and the expectation that their directions would be obeyed as the Word of God to His People (see e.g., this 1877 sermon, which is full of prophetic advice on domestic matters, including how to properly bake bread and feed children).
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no comments | tags: Brigham Young, doctrine & covenants, FLDS Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, Larry King, LDS PR, Mormon fundamentalism, polygamy, prophets, revelation | posted in List Item 01, List Item 07, List Item 11, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
8
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I was born and raised a Mormon, in the LDS Church. At 19 years of age, I volunteered to be a missionary for the Church and was sent to a foreign country to spread the Gospel for two years. Upon returning home, I was fully committed to Mormonism. I believed that its doctrines were literally heaven-sent, and that it was the one pure source of philosophical, spiritual, religious, and even secular Truth in this world. I liked Mormon social institutions and the support they provided me as I followed the path of Truth. I felt lucky to have been born a Mormon.
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2 comments | tags: BYU, Conformity, criticism, general authorities, Jeffrey R. Holland, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 11, List Item 18, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Stories
Oct
1
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
The name of this blog is derived from an LDS hymn called A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It describes a series of encounters the narrator has with a wretched beggar, in which the narrator helps the beggar, and the beggar (or the act of rendering the service itself) somehow gives something valuable back to the narrator. In the end, the beggar turns out to be Jesus.
What lesson does this song teach? Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, LDS Hymns, LDS Social Circles, Mormon History, New Testament, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 05, List Item 07, List Item 08, List Item 09, Mormon Culture, Mormon Stories