Quote:
Quote by: rez  You, my friend, are stuck in preschool.
I think you are one of those newer members that don't know proper etiquette |
Heh, funny that you take upon yourself to talk of "proper etiquete." You are exactly known for that. You see the irony, here?
The problem with you guys, Rez and Zhavric, is that you expect everything NOW. You guys post a ton of questions, some valid, some ridiculous, and expect all of them to be handled right now. It would be much easier to debate if you would give a few topics instead of ten pages worth. No one feels like reading that much, let alone responding to it all.
Here are a few answers. I don't recall who posted each one, but we'll do what we can to get to as many as possible.
1.) Women--Women have every right to serve missions, just as men do. No one tells them not to. I know a ton of women that served missions. However, as was stated earlier, men are
expected to serve missions, while women are
able to. As was already stated, men grow a lot on their missions, which help them "catch up" to the naturally more obedient and righteous women.
2.) Doctrinal "changes"--Many ideas were brought up as "changes" to the doctrine. The context with each must be understood. Just because a doctrine may not be practiced does not mean it is not believed. Just as the Law of Moses was changed when Christ came, some commandments exist depending on their need. Example:
a.)
Polygamy--We do not consider polygamy wrong, even though we do not practice it. Nor was it ever practiced the way people generally think of it. Less than one percent of church members practiced polygamy, even when it was recognized in the church. Polygamy has nothing to do with getting action from lots of women. You see, many men died in this time period. Due to wars, persecutions, illnesses, and the like, much of the membership of the early church was made up of women. So men took multiple women, to help those who had been widowed or had no chance to find a husband. Thus he had the responsibility to provide for the well being of all such women and their children. This also allowed for women to have a connection with the priesthood, though I won't expound on that now.
b.)
The Adam-God theory--This was never taught or believed in the church. This came from a mis-understood statement made by Brigham Young about Adam's Godhood. As we believe any individual had such potential, it is not unreasonable to believe Adam could attain such a state. If needed I can find the quote and explain the mis-understanding.
c.)
The United Order--The United Order is another doctrine of the church, that is simply not practiced at the present time. The idea is that church members help each other stay out of poverty. Everyone gives all that they have to the United Order, then things are redistributed depending on the needs of each family. Obviosly, a family with more children or health problems would receive more than another family, because their need is greater. However, not all members at the time could handle this system, and it was "discontinued" until the time when we can live it. It was not useless, though. the temporary practice of the Order taught the members much, and allows current members to know what can be expected at a later time, perhaps not until after this life.
That's all I'll attempt for this post. If there is any specific concern, let it be known, as it could take a while to address them all.