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lilliesofinspirationvalley · 2 years ago

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I’ll be up front, a lot of this is gonna be from my brainstorming for an SE rewrite I’ve been working on for awhile now… *but* I think Ohkubo’s works (especially Soul Eater and Fire Force) have a lot of unspoken religious themes that I think are very fun to explore.

First things first, I definitely think that while Death is indeed a death deity, he’s not the only deity in the SE world. Christianity (and likely Judaism and Islam by extension), Buddhism (and Hinduism by extension), and Shinto are all referenced in one way or another. Examples include:

Grigori souls are literally seen as “angels in human form” and angels are predominantly an Abrahamic religious thing

Excalibur is literally called the “Holy Sword” and I definitely think this concept of “holy” is very separated from Death

Saint Maria Novella (where we first meet Crona and Ragnarok), which is a legitimate, real world church in Italy

Asura is literally named after a demon from Hindu/Buddhist mythology, and his sealing shrine is very clearly based on Japanese shinto shrines

Many of the supernatural beings we see are connected to mythology. Excalibur’s fairies (and fae as a whole) are heavily correlated to Pagan practices (which is an umbrella terms for many pre-Christian cultural beliefs/faiths).

Shinigami themselves are essentially a combination of Japanese (Shinto/Buddhist) concepts and the Westernized Grim Reaper (which, along with other personifications of death, appeared around the middle ages, and as such were highly connected to Christianity)

Fire Force is unfortunately not… good. Like Soul Eater, it has a lot of potential, but none of it is realized due to Ohkubo’s incompetence/being gross. However I am absolutely fascinated by it’s concepts. This will naturally be a discussion with a ton of spoilers, but I’ll tell u now I’ll explain it in a much more concise way than FF actually does.

So, the big thing in Fire Force is this concept of “Adolla” aka a realm containing humanity’s thoughts and perceptions on everything (such as people’s reputations or opinions on religion for example). The primary antagonist for FF is known as the Evangelist… which by the name alone, is a personification of the religious trauma— I mean the harmful aspects of religion… specifically Christianity. The Holy Sol Temple (and it’s associated Fire Brigades) and the White Clads are all connected to the Evangelist— White Clads because she’s literally their leader, and HTS because… it’s heavily inspired (if not a different font) by Christianity (the nuns, churches, baptism/washing sorta rituals, prayers). As we know in the real world, (toxic) Christianity is incredibly extreme and infectious (I say this as a queer Christian myself especially).

The canonical ending to FF is Shinra resonating with his family to become a deity of sorts, creating a shinigami/death deity (it could be SE’s Lord Death, but it could also be like… a great-great-*great* grandfather or something idk) and… somehow starts a hero organization and continues the world in a modern setting? Despite SE having canonical history relating to medievals times and shit??? So yeah, I’m scrapping that. The third Cataclysm does happen and all the FF characters die… but Shinra and the others are able to restore the world by providing it with real versions of human concepts… such as magic, fantastical creatures such as monsterfolk and fae, and various deities who usually interact with their own smaller communities (mainly the ones who created/worship them).

So, Lord Death is this interesting case where people do view and worship him as a god, but I also think it’s incredibly easy for people of different religions to mold LD to fit into their prexisting beliefs (the general case being he helps collect souls for them to pass into the afterlife, and hunts down/punishes corrupted souls to prevent them from harming everyone else). This way, it would not only make sense why the entire world is able to work with Death despite clear indications of different cultures and beliefs (besides the whole thing of being a death deity with a ton of power/influence)… because the concept of death is universal (especially in a world where souls are literal).

Cases like Justin are likely a combination of both “legit Lord Death religion” but also “super intense Christian family view Death as a related saint of sorts or something”

What's tha name of the religion in Soul Eater?? What's the religious scene in general? Lord death is like... God, and a number of religious depictions revering him look like they're a rebrand of western Christianity and Catholicism. What would that religion be called? Deathism? Morbidity?? ALSO, there are religious images that look like they revere the Kishin in place of their god--so like, Kishinites or something, right??

#soul eater #Lilli Rambles

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robotslenderman · 4 years ago

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I have Thoughts on engaging bigots, inspired by this Reddit thread. Not the article itself, but a quote from it:

Before any attempt at “unity” [with Trump voters] can be made, there needs to be a reckoning, an acknowledgment that so many of Trump’s actions have been unconscionable and do not align with societal ideals that claim to value all life. Building bridges with people who share Trump’s views sends a clear message that you are willing to keep the peace at the expense of the dignity and well-being of those with less power and privilege.

This is key.

When an allo person tells me to be kind to aphobes, they are telling me that I should put myself through pain, humiliation, trauma and emotional abuse.

When a white person tells a PoC to be kind to racists, they're asking the PoC to put themselves through pain, humiliation, trauma and emotional abuse.

This goes for every majority that tells a minority it's their job to be kind to bigots.

This is not the minority's job.

It is the ally's job to do the emotional labour of working with the bigot with patience and understanding, with a caveat:

They must walk the line of doing it in a way that clearly condemns the bigotry and upholds the dignity of the minority they are defending.

What do you know? You can do BOTH! You can reach out and educate kindly AND do it in a way that supports minorities instead of enabling bigotry!

Make it clear what they're doing is not okay, but try to do it in a way that shows a little compassion, if only to avoid reinforcing their persecution complex so that they're more likely to change their minds over the long term. If only to avoid them seeking that same compassion from other bigots.

I am female.

I don't want allies to tell misogynists to go fuck themselves. I don't begrudge it from other women or myself, because we have to protect ourselves, but allies don't have that excuse.

The goal of a true ally is to root out bigotry, and nobody ever stopped being a bigot because they got shouted to death. By shouting down misogyny instead of disarming it, the ally is taking the easy way out and doing it in a way that reinforces it in the long term by reinforcing the misogynist's belief that they are being victimised. The ally is trying to make themselves look good at the expense of women.

We have the right to defend ourselves in whatever means we have to. Do not make the mistake of thinking that an ally attacking someone is at all the same.

This is a sin I have committed many times. But the truth is, unravelling bigotry and banishing it is long term work. The short term satisfaction of an ally telling a bigot to go fuck themselves is overshadowed by the fact that the bigot will seek out validation in places that are far more malicious to women than the ally.

"Hey, I understand you're worried a woman will falsely accuse you of rape, but in reality only a very small percentage of actual rapists are ever convicted, and a lot of rape survivors report being isolated and not believed."

This is a statement that does two things - it acknowledges the misogynist's genuine fear of the harm they perceive women to be capable of, which goes a long way, while defusing it with truth.

Will the bigot instantly stop being one? Of fucking course not. This is long term, this is hard work. It is exhausting, not rewarding. This is about planting a seed and reducing the necessity the bigot feels of seeking out other bigots for acknowledgement of their false fear. This shows the bigot that their opinion is not okay, but in a way that they are more likely to be responsive to.

That is a discussion that would traumatise women to have, or more likely reinforce existing trauma.

This is where allies come in. I am a minority in some ways, an ally in others. One thing we can do as allies is show the patience and understanding that would exhaust or traumatise minorities to have to display for themselves. That way, we can plant seeds that are more likely to come to fruition over the long term instead of feeding the feeling of persecution within the bigot.

But again - it must not come at the expense of the minority. If you show too much compassion or understanding you risk reinforcing their bigoted views. The intention is to show that yes, we acknowledge that you have are afraid, we are not ignoring your fear, but what you're doing is still not okay despite that fear.

I believe that most bigotry comes from fear and ignorance, not genuine malice. I don't think that most men who promote more men than women actually hate women or think we're incompetent, I think he does it because it's what he's been conditioned to do without thinking twice. I think he's been conditioned to be more critical of women than men, if you'll excuse my binary example. That's not hatred. That's just a problem he needs to fix.

But if another man shames him for hating women, does it help women more that that man now feels defensive? Or does it just make the "ally" feel better, feel morally superior, without actually putting in the work the ally could have done of showing the first man that he's promoting less capable people because he views women through a different lens he's been conditioned to have? The man who promoted the men over more capable women isn't reflecting on his actions, he's occupied by the fact someone thinks he's something he's not. That man "knows" he doesn't hate women, he just didn't think about what he's doing, and now he's being demonised for a motivation he truly doesn't have without being equipped with tools to dismantle his own biases.

I truly believe a lot of bigots have genuinely good intentions, but in the wrong direction. Many misogynists are genuinely afraid of us women and think they are truly doing the right thing by standing up for men, but their fault is in not sympathising with our fear. So when a man calmly explains rape statistics and how rare conviction for rape is to a misogynist afraid of women "crying rape", I appreciate it because he's defusing that fear in a way that shows that he wants to tackle the problem from his fear-based perspective without giving it enough understanding that the misogynist feels vindicated.

Let's say I'm in a group of people, and there's a misogynist and a male ally. The misogynist says something shitty.

If the male ally just tells the misogynist to go fuck himself and leave, it makes me afraid that the ally is just performing his allyship, that he just wants to look good to women. It makes me feel safer in the short term, yes - but am I really safer if that misogynist then goes to other misogynists and claims he's being victimised?

If the male ally says something like "hey, I understand that you (were just making a joke and wanted to make people laugh/are afraid that good fathers will lose their children to abusive mothers who will hurt the children/are worried your life will be ruined and you'll be helpless to stop it if a woman accuses you falsely of rape), but (your joke is really hurtful to women/this is caused by women being shoehorned into a role as mothers/many rape survivors say that they lost friends because people didn't believe them). I understand you had good intentions but what you said isn't okay and if you keep saying that then I don't want you to join us."

Then that accomplishes several things:

It validates the bigot's belief that they are someone with genuinely good intentions

It gives them a graceful "way out" of their bigotry, increasing the likelihood feel supported to bow out of it - "yeah, I did just want people to laugh but I guess it landed badly!" (Not great, but better than a double down.)

It shows support to women and upholds their dignity by acknowledging the remark's impact on them, and that the male ally isn't okay with it.

It makes the misogynist more likely to confide his misogyny in the future in someone who won't reinforce it, but will instead take it apart piece by piece without reinforcing any persecution complexes.

If the misogynist genuinely made a fuckup, they're not going to think that they're thought of as scum of the earth for a genuine mistake.

Will they always react graciously? No.

Is this guaranteed to show a positive short-term result? No.

Is there always a chance they'll go back to a bigoted echo chamber anyway to complain about how horrible the male ally was? Yes.

But damn, I'd be impressed with the ally for actually doing the emotional labour of reaching out to a bigot with kindness so that a woman doesn't have to.

I don't want bigots to be friends with only bigots, that just makes things worse for me later. I want bigots to be friends with my allies, not other bigots, because it means that one day that bigot can be an ally instead.

Is this a one size fits all solution? Fuck no. There is no one solution to discrimination and this certainly isn't it. This isn't about asspatting rapists, murderers, or people calling for violence. Punch the Nazi, kick the rapist, boycott that company. If someone doubles down even after you've shown good faith, that doesn't mean you should continue to give them an opportunity to gracefully back down when they're clearly not interested. Use your head, give them an opportunity, but acknowledge they might not take it.

But even people who might not show signs of listening today might be mulling over what you said later on. Slam the door if you have to, but let them know that they can knock again later. Better that you listen to this shit than the minority it will traumatise.

If you absolutely have to choose between being kind to a bigot and supporting minorities, always show support instead of kindness. But a lot of the time people think you have to choose one or the other when you don't actually have to, and this is reinforced by people who want to do what's easier. Emotional labour is HARD.

This is about allies actually doing the work of an ally over the long term by condemning bigoted actions in a way that shows that you, the person who did something harmful, are welcome among us as a person if you stop committing harmful actions. We don't have a problem with you, we have a problem with the thing you said or did. You're going to think we want nothing to do with you if we say you're a shitty person who hates women, but if we say you're a good intentioned person who fucked up, well, clearly we're okay with you just not the mistake you made.

Think of it as a carrot and stick approach. Us women venting or lashing out to defend ourselves is the stick. Allies are the carrot. Let us do the short term work of surviving and demanding. Let allies do the long term work of smoothing ruffled feathers and letting others know that they have nothing to fear from us.

Do the work so we don't have to hurt ourselves because you don't want to help us in a way that isn't as easy as telling someone to go to hell.

#Dusty has opinions #long post #sexism #bigotry #I'm gonna regret this hot take aren't I

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brytning · 5 years ago

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For Mormons

Most of my followers likely know that I was raised Mormon. If you'll indulge me a bit, I want to share some resources with other Mormons that I've found really meaningful over the past year as I've grown:

By Common Consent - There's a pretty wide variety of topics on this Mormon blog, but I find it valuable for the Come Follow Me lesson posts every week. The posts accompany the church manual's schedule with extra insights if you want to do a deep dive in your personal study. (My husband also finds it helpful in teaching his Sunday school class every week!)

Mormon Sex Info podcast - If you're Mormon, it's likely the amount of healthy sex education you had as a young person was zero to none. In this podcast, LDS sex therapist Natasha Helfer Parker teaches some really vital information for having a healthy sexuality, especially for married women. She takes a tasteful and practical approach to answer everything you've always wanted to know but been too afraid to Google.

Gift of the Mormon Faith Crisis podcast - If you're Mormon, it's extremely likely that you know someone who has left the church or is going through serious struggles while still in the church. Maybe you're that person. This podcast is hosted by three mental health counselors who provide positive and practical advice for navigating this phase of life and having more compassion for people who do. No matter where you are on the spectrum of belief or orthodoxy, their discussions are always thoughtful and respectful.

"Mother's Milk" by Rachel Hunt Steenblik - I've probably posted about this book before, but it's an absolutely lovely collection of poems exploring our relationship with Heavenly Mother. Whether you've been highly interested in learning more about Her or never given Her much thought, I hope these heartfelt poems and illustrations spark your curiosity.

LDS Equality Project - Mormons want the church to be as safe and welcoming as possible to everyone, and there is room for improvement. This Instagram account gives great tips to incorporate small but meaningful changes in your words and actions that will help make church a safer place for people who don't fit the mold.

Beauty Redefined - I originally wanted to recommend this organization for people who work with young women, but really it's an amazing resource for everyone. These Utah-based researchers help teach people, especially women, how to have a healthy body image. They teach that bodies aren't objects to be looked at but gifts to be lived in and loved and taken care of. No matter your gender or age, you're sure to learn something valuable.

Other translations of the Bible - Let's be real, the King James version of the Bible can be extremely difficult to read. I'm so glad that I discovered the value of other translations in the past year. The translators don't just convert the KJV into modern English---they revisit the original Hebrew and Greek to see what would be most equivalent to modern English. I like to study a few different versions side by side and see what I learn. My favorites right now are the NSRV, the NIV, and The Message.

What’s been meaningful to you recently and helped you grow? Feel free to add to this list or make your own! I will reblog and keep it updated if you feel like sharing!

#church #mormon #lds #podcast #mormon faith crisis #bible study #poetry #come follow me #equality #tumblrstake

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e-jom · 5 years ago

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In this episode in his “I spend a day with” series, Internet Personality Anthony Padilla sits with Ex-Mormons and interviews them about their experience living as a member of a Mormon community and their reasons for leaving.

A “Mormon” is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS Church for short. Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 New York, the LDS Church upholds many religious beliefs that were influenced by Christianity, such as the Holy Trinity, but are largely disputed to be an expression of Christianity due to the differences in these beliefs. Mormons make up about 2 percent of the US population and have been growing in numbers and political influence for the past few decades. Mormons are known to consistently hold conservative moral and political values, which have led some members with more liberal mindsets to question their place in the community.

While this video may not be the most academic work in delving into the practices and philosophies held within a religious community, Padilla’s interview lends a voice to ex-Mormons. He brings attention to the issues of those who have felt marginalized and shamed within Mormon communities and provides insight as to how the LDS Church deals with these people.

One important topic these interview covers are the strict practices and rigid rules the LDS Church imposes on its members. As explained by the interviewees, Mormons are expected to conform to an intensely conservative religious lifestyle; they are expected to hold daily family prayers, go to church every Sunday, and be active member in the LDS Church community. If a Mormon were deviate from these practices, they would be judged harshly by their families and community. In these interviews, the ex-Mormons bring up homophobia in particular within the Mormon community and the backlash they faced for being gay.

A detail worth noting is the mention of the LDS Church attempting to rebrand their members away from the term “Mormon”. Just as discussed in the class textbook Religion and Politics in America by Robert Fowler, most major religions “have had to adopt evangelical strategies to survive in the American religious marketplace.” Historically, public opinion of Mormons hasn’t been the most favorable; as pointed out in Chapter 3 of the textbook, Mormons in the 19th century often faced severe and deadly persecution due to their beliefs and practices, such as polygamy, that “clashed with the broader American culture.” The LDS Church learned from these experiences and have since been become a thriving and highly organized group with a noticeable political influence. But as more liberal activist movements have taken place throughout the US in recent decades, it makes sense for the LDS Church to want to separate from associations of their more conservative history in order to appeal to a younger, more liberal-minded demographic. Another reason for this push, as pointed out by one of the interviewees, is to make the religion appear more based in Christianity even though most of the Christian community does not consider the LDS Church an expression of Christian faith. This aligns with the goal to expand in numbers as the majority of the US population practice some form of Christianity (73 percent, according to the Fowler textbook); it’s easier for Mormons to recruit people to their faith if it appears similar to what people already practicing.

#RELS390B

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flowerboysandramyun · 7 years ago

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“My boy, you always keep your eye on the president of the church and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.”

I never discuss my personal life on here, certainly not my upbringing or anything in such detail, but having reached 600 followers, rather than share a few mundane facts about myself, each somehow related to kpop, I thought I’d give a little insight into what my life has been like outside of being just an anonymous, obsessive fangirl online (even if no one gives a damn haha).

To put it plainly, I grew up Mormon.

For those who don’t know, it’s a denomination of Christianity that’s based out of America, with added teachings and scripture from its founder, Joseph Smith. While it looks like a normal Christian faith on the outside, it’s one of many organized religions that may have some good intentions, but ultimately ends up severely damaging many of its members. For the extremist (or even just the rationalist), it can be called a cult. For the believer, it’s the indisputable truth.

The quote that I used to title this post is one of the sentiments that made me question the validity of the LDS’ truth claims. Throughout my upbringing, there was a strong, underlying theme regarding critical thinking and asking questions: DON’T. Just ‘obey’. Church leaders are thought to speak for God, so it’s an incredulous thought to disbelieve the words of church leaders. Going against what everyone believes to be the truth is, of course, often a decision that will get you berated, ostracized, and alienated.

One doesn’t simply stop going to church in the LDS faith. You don’t just become a casual church-goer either (or as devout members like to say, a ‘cafeteria Mormon’, picking what doctrine they want to follow, and what doctrine to discard). You’re either all in, or all out when it comes to Mormonism, which is why the term ‘leaving’ is applied to disconnecting yourself from the faith. You have to leave. You have to risk your friends and family. You have to choose to officially resign (removing your personal records/information) from the church entirely, and lose many people from your life along the way because they don’t accept you and your decision. Ultimately, there is nothing casual about Mormonism and the way that it affects your life, despite what many devout members might say.

For a little more background, the Mormon church believes in variety of things that no longer sit well with me. One of the most important things being the LGBTQ community. The church has expressed time and time again their sort of twisted ‘love the sinner, but not the sin’ mentality, which is really just a sugarcoated way of saying ‘be nice in public, but have shitty opinions and feelings toward those people on your own time’. Then, of course, there’s the history of the church—forced polygamy, a bloody massacre against non-believers in the time of the early church, racist beliefs and doctrine, messages that are damaging to sexuality, gender identity, and self-esteem (like the purity of virginity, or rigid gender roles). The founder himself had up to 40 wives, one of whom was 14. The temples built by Mormons (and only for Mormons) require special clothing and in-depth rituals that symbolize blind faithfulness to the church. Hell—Mormons can’t even drink coffee because… well. There really isn’t a good reason. That’s just there for ‘uniqueness points’.

Growing up, this twisted version of Christianity was my truth. It has been for generations. But as I entered college and (to ironically make this all more relevant to this blog) became interested in other cultures, namely Korea, I started to realize how small my worldview was. I met all kinds of people, in real life and online, who had never heard of my religion, who were living a life based on an entirely different set of beliefs and nuanced facets of culture. Even within the fandom, I saw how much of a dot on the map me and my experience was. And while it would be a nice wrap-up to say that that’s what ultimately caused me to abandon Mormonism, it was only one of many factors. But regardless, it’s something I’m insanely grateful for.

Anywho, to leave this all off on a positive note, I would just like to say that if you’re struggling with something in your life, something you’ve been raised with and always thought to be true but still have nagging doubts, you’re not alone. Even the random tumblr blog that you follow for cute pics of BTS has a weird-ass story to share, and empathy to give, so don’t ever feel like you have to bear something alone.

In the words of our boys, love myself, love yourself<3

#personal #bts #long post #super random and way too personal idk man #600 followers!!!!#<3 #exmo

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alondrahdez-rel390b-blog · 6 years ago

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This article discusses a controversial policy that was set in 2015 that labeled Mormons in same-sex marriages apostates and did not allow their children to be baptized. The church was making the decision for Mormon’s in a same-sex marriage to abandon their religious beliefs and taking away their children’s rite of passage for membership in the LDS Church and eternal salvation.

This past month the LDS church reversed this policy, where married LGBTQ Mormons are no longer labeled apostates and their children can be baptized. Although their children can now be baptized in the LDS faith, the teachings about same-sex relationships will remain the same.

“they are put on slightly more even footing with straight couples: “Immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way,” Oaks wrote in the announcement. Children living with these couples can be baptized, as long as parents know that they will be taught that LGBTQ relationships are wrong.”

The LDS church is known for having more conservative views on marriage and family values. I found it interesting that they would reverse the policy based on what I knew about their views on same-sex marriage. I was also interested in how the LGBTQ community reacted as some had left the church because of the policy. Tom Christofferson, an openly gay member from the LDS church stated, “For other LGBTQ Mormons, “my hope is, now that [the policy has] changed, they will consider rejoining and worshipping with us and help us to keep moving forward.”

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journeywithgcaf · 5 years ago

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On Future Things: Evangelicals vs Mormonism

The second area of difference is in the earthly geographical kingdom of Christ during His second coming, the Mormons believe that this earthly reign of Jesus will be in America. The main reason for this belief is the idea that they are the “10 lost tribes of Israel” who got lost when the Assyrians conquered them. According to their official website, “The ten tribes of Israel made up the northern kingdom of Israel and were carried away captive into Assyria in 721 B.C. At that time they went to the “north countries” and became lost to the knowledge of others. In the last days they will return.[3]” Many scholars today agree that the belief of the 10 lost tribes of Israel is a myth. The simple reason for this is that there are still many Jews today who are very much concerned with genealogy, and thus are able to trace their lineage to the 10 tribes. In fact, the book of James 1:1 states that this letter was written to the 12 tribes of Israel who were dispersed. To think that the 10 tribes are still lost until today is just absurd. Article by: Corregidor “Jay” Catane, Jr.

I grew up with three older brothers and our relationship then is best described as competitive. It wasn’t until we were all in our late 20s and mid 30s that we grew to maturity and started to value each other’s uniqueness. As we got closer as brothers, I also got a taste of their world and the friends with whom they were hanging out with. One of them used to spend an inordinate amount of time with members of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints.

I was not alarmed at first because I knew that my brother is not the type to be easily swayed by religion; however, as time went by and as I got to know more of the Mormon ways, I realized that he was playing with fire. I talked to him about it and he assured me that he will never be converted to their religion, but his closeness to those people was telling me otherwise.

Mormonism in the Philippines

As of the year 2018, there is an estimated 750,000 members of the Mormon Church here in the Philippines[1]. These members are located in major cities of the Philippines with church buildings that epitomizes excellence in architecture and beauty. This is one of the reasons for my decision to compare the beliefs of the Evangelical faith against that of the Mormons, especially regarding future things. However, the main reason for writing this article is more personal, it’s to help my brother understand his situation and to hopefully give some of his close friends a better understanding of Christianity, instead of the other way around.

Generally, evangelicals often view the Mormons as a cultic group with which they should have no connection whatsoever. In a way, this is also the kind of animosity that the usual Mormons have toward other groups. In the book How Wide the Divide?, scholars Craig L. Blomberg, from the evangelical side, and Stephen E. Robinson, from the Mormon side, exhaustively discussed some of the major issues that divide the two groups. They both discovered that there are many essential things that Christianity and Mormonism agree with, but at the same time there are also a lot of disagreements, particularly on the areas the Bible does not speak about. Many of these disagreements are in the area of the spirit and life after death (Blomberg 1997, 189-196).

Comparison Table

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints call themselves Christians or followers of Christ, but many mainstream Protestants and Evangelicals call them a cult or a heretical group. Indeed, there are many beliefs that this group have that are similar with Evangelical Christianity. When it comes to death and future things, both belief systems recognize life after the grave. This life after death comes in stages. First, the soul will leave the body of a person in a state that awaits for the resurrection (Phil. 1:23-24, Lk. 9:31; 2 Tim. 4:6). During the resurrection, Jesus Christ will give the righteous a body that is glorified, perfect and immortal (Rev. 20:4-6). These beliefs are common for people who value the Bible as the Word of God. However, there are huge differences in beliefs for both groups on the specifics of the events that were mentioned.

Soul Sleep or Immediate Judgment

First is in the area of the condition of the soul after death, the Mormons believe that baptism for the dead[2] plays a vital role on where the soul of the dead will reside prior to the resurrection. During baptism, there are many rites that are done to the dead body while the soul of this dead person is in a state of active self-awareness (Davies 2003, 96). This teaching of the active and conscious state of the soul is taught in one of their holy books called Doctrine and Covenants, Section 138.

For Evangelical Christians, the text of Hebrews 9:27 is held on to which says, “And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment”. After being judged, the souls of the dead are sent into an intermediate state. The Hebrew word Sheol is sometimes used in the OT as a place where the souls of the wicked are sent (Prov. 5:5, 15:11; 15:24), while the righteous are sent to paradise where they enjoy the presence of Christ (1 Thess. 4:16).

Earthly Reign of Christ

For Evangelical Christianity, the books of Isaiah and Revelation clearly state that the earthly reign of Christ during His Second Coming is in the restored Jerusalem. This is the only holy city mentioned in the Bible and to interpret it as America violates many exegetical processes.

The Final State

The third and fourth differences can be discussed together since they both talk about the final state of the believer. The Mormons believe in 2 main places where people are sent to during their eternal state. They call it the outer darkness and the heavenly kingdoms which the evangelicals regard as hell and heaven, respectively. For the Mormons, the outer darkness is a place of torment for Satan and his demons together with their extremely wicked and apostate members. Everyone else will go to one of the three heavens. The lowest is the Telestial kingdom for the wicked in the world. The next is the Terrestrial kingdom where the honorable people will go including the “lukewarm” Mormons. The highest kingdom is the Celestial kingdom where the faithful Mormons will go with hopes to be exalted and become a god. This belief can be considered as universalism because out of the billions of people in history, only a handful will go to the Outer Darkness and the rest will be in one of the three heavenly kingdoms.

This belief is contrary to the Bible. Matthew 7:13-14 gives a picture that the belief of universalism is contrary to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus says that there will be many who will enter the road to destruction and only a few will find the narrow road. The Bible also qualifies the kind of heaven that is the abode of God now, and the new heavens and new earth which is the eternal place of the righteous. This has always been a common misconception, even among Christians. The eternal state of the children of God is to enjoy the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth. The Bible did not classify this place into three kingdoms. It is not consistent with God’s character to have separate kingdoms for the faithful and the even more faithful.

What Eternity Looks Like

The fifth area of difference between these two belief systems is the kind of eternal state that a righteous person will have. Mormons have this belief called “exaltation”. McKeever and Johnson describes this belief as, “The ‘exalted’ Mormon male, like all gods before him, will supposedly go on to populate his world, just as the God of Mormonism populates this one.” (McKeever and Johnson 2000, 171). The ultimate goal of an LDS believer then is to attain godhood as that of Elohim. For Evangelicals, this belief is totally unbiblical and out of this world. The book of Job, especially in chapters 38-41 wherein God was talking to Job explicitly, says that man could not even begin to understand the depths of God’s being. This doctrine is described by Wayne Grudem as the incommunicable attributes of God which infinitely separates man from Him.

The Mormons usually refer to Genesis 1:27 as a point of reference, it is where the Hebrew word tselem is used. Context alone would tell us how absurd it would be if the word “image” is interpreted as “clone”. The image here talks of man’s ability to have dominion over creation as God also has dominion over it. We are not clones of God.

The Evangelical Christian’s belief in the eternal state is based on Revelation 21, which states that he will live forever with God, enjoying and worshipping Him. In that place there will be no more pain, sorrow, and sin. Everything will be made new and to describe it in detail is both inexpressible and incomprehensible.

Conclusion

As I write this article, I have come to realize that what separates genuine Christianity from Mormonism is the fact that they have other books which they consider as having divine origin. These books combined with the Bible makes their belief mythical, inconsistent and absurd. I also noticed that these books that they added with the Bible expounds on some areas which the Bible is silent on. Areas like baptism of the dead, specifics about heaven, etc. As these books try to explain all these, their doctrines have delved into the strange or bizarre, which then justifies labelling them a cult.

These arguments are just a few of the warnings for Jesus’ church to be on guard as we encounter Mormons here in the Philippines. Being labeled as a cult simply means that they are not Christians but people who preach and teach a different form of Christianity, having a different gospel. Further research can be made in understanding the core message of the Mormon beliefs but the book of Romans 16:17 warns us against those who teach a false gospel saying, “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.” Pastors and leaders of the church are called by Paul to “shepherd the church of God” against them (Acts 20:28).

Finally, my brother is in another place now, away from these dangerous influences, but I need to get this warning across. A warning that he needs to hear. A warning that many should hear.

[1] Church of Jesus Christ Temples, “Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple”, https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/ cagayan-de-oro-philippines-temple/, (accessed April 15, 2020).

[2] Also called vicarious baptism or proxy baptism, referring to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead(i.e., a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person).

[3] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Guide to the Scriptures, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/israel?lang=eng (accessed March 16, 2016).

Bibliography

Blomberg Craig L. Stephen E. Robinson. How Wide the Divide?Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Church of Jesus Christ Temples, “Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple”, https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/cagayan-de-oro-philippines-temple/ (accessed April 15, 2020).

Davies Douglas J. An Introduction to Mormonism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Grudem Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

McKeever Bill, Eric Johnson. Mormonism 101. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Guide to the Scriptures. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/israel?lang=eng (accessed March 16, 2016).

Corregidor “Jay” Catane, Jr. is a teacher-pastor of Golden City Alliance Fellowship. He has served the body of Christ though the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines for 11 years. Theologically and biblically equipped in Ebenezer Bible College & Seminary and the International Graduate School of Leadership.

#JourneyWithGCAF

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fusion360 · 1 year ago

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Joseph Smith Wives: Joseph Smith Polygamy

Joseph Smith Wives: Polygamy and Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, played a significant role in shaping the beliefs and practices of the LDS faith. Among the aspects of his life that generate curiosity and discussion are Joseph Smith Wives and Joseph Smith Polygamy. In this blog post, we will embark on a journey to explore the history of Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages, shedding light on the lives of the women involved and their impact on the early days of the Mormon movement.

Background

To understand Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages, we must delve into the early history of the Mormon Church. During the early 1830s, Joseph Smith received revelations that introduced the principle of plural marriage as a commandment from God. It was a challenging and controversial practice, even among early followers of the faith.

Types of Polygamous Marriages

Joseph Smith entered into different types of polygamous marriages. These distinctions help provide context and shed light on the complexity of the practice.

1. Eternity-Only Sealings: In this type of marriage, the emphasis was on the eternal aspect rather than a physical or earthly relationship. It means that a woman and Joseph Smith would be sealed together for eternity in a spiritual sense, but there might not necessarily be a marital relationship during their mortal lives. This concept might seem unusual to those unfamiliar with Mormon beliefs, but it was considered essential for building eternal families in the afterlife.

2. Time-and-Eternity Sealings: This type of marriage includes both the temporal and eternal aspects. It involved a marital relationship in mortality, where the couple lived together as husband and wife. The marriage was also sealed for eternity, ensuring their union would continue eternally. These marriages were seen as binding not only in this life but also in the life to come, reflecting the belief in eternal progression and family bonds.

It's important to note that these distinctions highlight the unique perspective and religious beliefs within the context of the Mormon faith. For those unfamiliar with these teachings, the concept of eternal marriages and the significance placed on the eternal aspect might take time to grasp. However, understanding the different types of polygamous marriages helps provide a clearer picture of how Joseph Smith and his followers approached the practice.

Reasons for Practicing Polygamy

Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy was deeply intertwined with his understanding of divine commandments and the restoration of ancient principles. It is important to note that the primary motivations behind Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages were not driven by lust, power, or control, as some critics have suggested. Rather, they were based on his understanding of spiritual and religious obligations.

1. Religious Convictions: Joseph Smith and his followers believed they were restoring ancient principles and practices that had been lost or corrupted over time. They saw polygamy as a divine commandment, a practice God had authorized and sanctioned in the past. From their perspective, practicing polygamy was an essential part of living according to God's will and fulfilling His commandments.

2. Eternal Families: Mormons place a strong emphasis on the concept of eternal families. They believe that marriages performed with the proper authority and sealed by priesthood power can extend beyond mortal life into the eternities. Polygamy, as practiced by Joseph Smith, was seen as a way to create and strengthen eternal bonds among families, ensuring that relationships and connections could continue beyond death.

3. Restoration of Priesthood Authority: Mormons believe that the true priesthood authority was restored to the Earth through Joseph Smith. This authority included the power to seal marriages for eternity. By practicing polygamy, they sought to demonstrate their commitment to restoring ancient religious practices and reestablishing the original teachings of Jesus Christ.

It is crucial to note that these reasons are rooted in religious beliefs specific to the Mormon faith. From an outside perspective, these motivations may still raise questions and prompt further discussion. The complexities and controversies surrounding polygamy within Mormon history require careful examination and understanding of the cultural and religious context in which it was practiced.

The Women

Joseph Smith had several wives, each with unique backgrounds and experiences. Their decisions to enter into these marriages were personal and varied. Some women were already members of the church and held strong testimonies of Joseph Smith's prophetic calling. Others joined the faith and formed connections with Joseph Smith later on. These women were integral to the early days of the church, providing support, sharing testimonies, and contributing to its growth.

While it is important to respect the privacy and individual stories of these women, we can highlight a few notable examples. Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith's first wife, played a significant role in the early church and supported her husband despite her struggles with polygamy. Eliza R. Snow, another of Joseph Smith's wives, later became a prominent leader, poet, and advocate for women's rights within the church. Their stories exemplify the diversity of experiences among Joseph Smith's wives.

The Controversy

Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy has been controversial throughout history. Criticisms, misunderstandings, and misconceptions have surrounded this aspect of the LDS faith. Engaging in respectful dialogue and seeking accurate information from credible sources is important when discussing this topic.

The LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of polygamy in the late 19th century, and it is no longer a part of our religious teachings or practices today. However, the legacy of Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages continues to be a subject of study, discussion, and personal reflection within the Mormon community.

Conclusion

In concluding this exploration of Joseph Smith wives, we recognize that this topic is complex and sensitive. It is essential to approach it with understanding, respect, and a commitment to learning and growth. The lives of the women involved in Joseph Smith polygamy marriages contribute to the rich tapestry of our faith's history. By acknowledging their experiences and understanding the context in which these marriages occurred, we can gain insights into the challenges and triumphs of the early church.

Whatdomormonsbelieve.org and churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist provide detailed insights into various topics, including blacks in Mormonism, Joseph Smith and Polygamy, and women in Mormonism.

#joseph smith polygamy

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belladib123-blog · 5 years ago

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Mormons and the Republican Party

In February of this year, both the Senate and the House of Representatives joined to vote on the possible impeachment of President Donald Trump. One vote in particular came as a shock, as senator Mitt Romney became the first U.S. Senator in history to vote against party lines in favor of Trump’s impeachment. His decision, as he stated, was based around his faith and set of beliefs within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As discussed in this article, the Mormon community and U.S. politics, in particular the Republican Party, have a long history.

After Mitt Romney discloses his beliefs, evangelical Christians on Fox News critiqued his decision and even mocked his faith. This type of rhetoric from members of the Republican Party toward the Mormon community is not new. For years the Republican Party has obtained and held onto the votes of the LDS community, however have not accepted their beliefs. In a sense, while the LDS community does the Republican Party a favor by supporting their political beliefs, their own religious beliefs are being diminished and even ridiculed. In 1904, a Utah junior senator and member of the LDS community, Reed Smoot, attempted to hold a seat in Congress. After much deliberation, it was decided amongst Smoot and Senate Republicans that if Smoot could convert his fellow Utah Mormons to the Republican Party, they would no longer call upon LDS leaders to answer questions about their faith. Over time, the community became more Republican, some opposing integration and the civil rights movement, while supporting Republican party candidates for president. Members of the Republican Party were in agreement that Mormons were great assets to their campaign, however they were not Christian. As the article states, “The Republican Party may not take Mormon beliefs very seriously, but it does count on Mormon votes.” This one-sided relationship will continue to take place until the Democratic party outwardly adopts and supports their faith. Now, however, more of the rising generations of Mormons are liberal, with many opposing Trump.

All of this relates to our discussions in class regarding religions following along certain political party lines, and in particular the Mormon community’s beliefs. To support the article’s assumptions, our textbook states that the LDS community is indeed one of the strongest Republican voting blocs, due to them sharing the same cultural conservatism as the evangelicals who dominate the Republican Party. We learned that both Mormons and evangelicals have conservative moral values, larger families, and high levels of religious practice. Because of this, it is clear as to why the LDS community have been noted as routinely fiving three-fourths of their votes to Repbulcian candidates. Not to mention most Mormons in Congress are in the Republican party.

This history between the LDS community and the Republican Party is very intriguing to me because I had never read about it in depth before. Though there is no direct importance in my life, it will be interesting to see if other political parties attempt to obtain the Mormon vote, since they are such a large demographic of voters.

https://religionandpolitics.org/2020/02/11/mormon-votes-are-valued-too-often-mormon-convictions-are-not/

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seekingheavenlymother-blog · 6 years ago

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While I no longer remember the exact words my house mate said to me on that day, I remember her fervor. As she sat perched on the edge of her bed, expressing her sadness that not everyone knew they had a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who died for them, I thought of my Mother – the Heavenly Mother, so unknown and oft-ignored, yet so powerful and vitally important to my testimony. It was that testimony that had brought me to this point, serving as a missionary in Santiago, Chile. I had chosen to serve a mission for many reasons, but among them was my belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ as the most empowering, ennobling force for good in the world. A key element of its empowering nature is found in the belief that godliness and divinity is not only for men, but for all of God’s children, as reflected by the existence of Heavenly Parents. To leave out one of our Heavenly Parents is to lose one of the most beautiful truths the gospel contains – and yet, this omission occurs often.

It is hard to say at what precise moment I became aware of my Mother’s existence. It certainly did not occur in my Primary classes, where we learned about the all-male Godhead. It also did not come from my years in the youth program, where all the young women recited every week about their identity as daughters of a Heavenly Father. The only clue I have as to the beginnings of my awareness is a piece of wrinkled paper I found among my childhood things. On the paper is drawn a family tree. It lists my immediate family and extends off into other beloved relatives. At the top is listed, “Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, and Jesus.” In my rough, childhood handwriting, I found the beginnings of my testimony of my Mother. I remember that as a young child, I asked a relative about my Heavenly Mother and was told that she was too sacred to discuss. This standard, doctrinally incorrect response given to questioners who go seeking for traces of her was acceptable to my young mind. For years, my thoughts of her dimmed to a dull awareness in the back of my subconscious. I testified from the pulpit of the Father and the Son; I celebrated their plans for me as outlined in my patriarchal blessing. For a long time, I was happy without answers. I was complacently content.

It was when I was fourteen that my journey truly began in earnest. I did my Faith project for the Personal Progress program on the priesthood. I wanted to confront the controversial questions regarding women and the priesthood head-on, especially since gender issues had begun to appear in my life during my early adolescent years. I compiled a binder, overflowing with documents, that contained everything from scripture references to blog posts on the subject. I felt satisfied. At that time, I still did not recognize my hunger for Mother, but I had already begun my search. I had studied priesthood because I wanted to understand power, and in order to understand power, I needed to know its source. Therefore, questions regarding the priesthood, church policies, gender roles, and all other doctrinally-based discussions related to womanhood were all stepping stones in the journey.

At sixteen, I again became conscious of my questions while in the car with a friend whose husband had left the LDS Church. She did not know everything about our religion, but she knew a lot – and she definitely knew why her husband had left years before he married her. She never told me exactly why, but I came to understand that it had something to do with equality. She asked me questions about temples and gender, but I did not have answers for her. As I myself had not been endowed, I did not know what happened in sacred temple rituals or if any of the rumors she had told me were true. I was unsettled, uneasy, and concerned. Again, questions filled my mind about power and the worth of women.

At the age of seventeen, I was looking for answers to these questions when I found my Mother. She was tucked in the pages of a piece reconciling doctrines related to women and ideas of equality – it was a faithful feminist theology. Mother was an integral part of it, and I rejoiced. I came to see her as the counterpart to Father – which she literally is, of course. Rather than simply try to understand what power men had and why I did not have it, I began to think in terms of my own power as a woman and where it came from, as well as how it could be manifested. My journals filled with pages seeking for knowledge and explanations. I drew, I diagrammed, I outlined. More than anything, I was happy. I had a Mother and a Father, and they loved me.

It was at age eighteen that everything shifted once more. I had just started college, and I was seeking to find my path in the world. The experiences of new people and new places opened my mind to bigger problems than I had encountered at home. The answers that had once seemed satisfying were now inadequate. If women had a Mother and were empowered to become like her, where was the power and where was the Mother? I felt a physical ache that would not go away. I cried and prayed and pleaded. Were men destined to become gods, but women destined only to be priestesses and helpmates? Where were the answers?

As I look back now, I blush at my impatience. So many other questioners have spent years and lifetimes asking and suffering. Much of their work that was born out of their struggles was essential to me as I began my own search. After three weeks of nausea and confusion, I was blessed with a measure of peace. I say only a measure, because to come to the awareness of the Mother and then see how forgotten she is by her children, one is never fully at peace again. Nevertheless, this measure of peace did come, and it gave me the strength to push on. It did not bring me all the answers, but it strengthened my convictions enough to motivate me to search for them. Re-established firmly in my mind was the truth that equality is innate – men and women, my male counterparts and I, the Father and the Mother. The two halves must be equal, for everything has its balancing force. To weaken and degrade one half was to endanger the whole. Yet, now that I had my convictions firmly in place, the questions were even more pressing. If they were equal, why was she absent? Where was she? What had happened?

Just as I had done for my Faith project years before, I began to search. I found blog posts and poems and articles and artwork. At about this time, the Church published an essay about Heavenly Mother, and I rejoiced. I devoured it, I shared it, and I celebrated it, but I did not pause. I displayed quotes from church leaders on my dorm room door that gave evidence of her existence. I shared copies of the essay with every woman in my hall. I began to include the words “Heavenly Parents” in every single testimony I bore from the pulpit. I continued my search for her as I prepared to serve a mission. As I boarded the plane to the Mexico City Missionary Training Center, I carried a copy of the Heavenly Mother essay in my luggage. For me, it was more than just a reminder of her existence; it was also a reminder of who I was, what I could become, and the testimony I had that motivated me to serve.

It was in the early part of my mission in Santiago, Chile that I sat and listened to that eager house mate, so anxious to tell the world of her Father and Elder Brother, but so wholly apathetic to the presence of her Mother. Her testimony, though beautiful, grated against my heart, reminding me of the absence of my divine counterpart. Though I had found her, it seemed that few others were even searching.

It was months later that my companion, the young missionary I was training, bluntly and loudly told me that Heavenly Mother was important, but Heavenly Father was God. Eve was subject to Adam, women were subject to their husbands, and that was the way things were. Her proclamations were so bold, so disturbing, and so deeply painful. It was so odd to hear such an empowered, fiery young woman declare with resolve her subordinated status, both here on earth and in the eternities. No matter what I said, she would not hear me, would not listen, would not feel what I felt. She made it clear that she had no interest; she was convinced that there was nothing to be known about our Mother. The reaction I received from her was the most painful rejection of my mission – far more heart-wrenching than any door slammed in my face.

Despite this painful experience, I persevered in my journey. I continued to keep copies of the Church essay with me, as it was the only Church approved resource about Her that I could find. I had copies of it in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. I was ready to present it to any fellow missionary that showed the least bit of interest in knowing their Mother. Eventually, I was inspired to share knowledge of Heavenly Mother with a few members as well – most of whom were converts and had never even heard of her before. As I did so, I kept reminding myself: “if not now, when? If not me, who?” How else would they come to know their Mother if I did not share? Most of my experiences were overwhelmingly positive. While a few members showed disinterest, most responded with joy, happiness, and surprise that they had not learned of her before. It seemed to them that knowledge of her was important and inspiring.

At about this time, the Church produced a new missionary pamphlet about families and temples. The opening paragraph talked all about our Heavenly Parents. It was the first missionary resource outside of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” to even acknowledge her existence. It was a valuable tool for me in my efforts to spread knowledge of her. I quoted the opening paragraph in a Church talk, and I used it for my spiritual thought after meals with members. I gave copies of the pamphlet whenever I could and urged members to study it with their families. While I still spent most of my days testifying of only the Father and the Son, the moments of my mission when I spoke of my Mother are the ones that changed me the most.

After eighteen months of service, I completed my mission. The year that followed was filled with more searching, questioning, and learning. More books had been published, filled with poetry and light and love for the Mother, since I had last been home. I eagerly tore through the pages, finding others who, like me, had felt her absence and longed for her presence. As I sought for direction about how to continue with my life, I realized that I wanted my search for my Heavenly Mother to be a central part of it. I wanted to help others who questioned their power and worth as women to come to know her. More than anything, I wanted to discover why she had gone missing from our collective memory and testimony as a Church, and thereby find a way to restore her to her rightful place in our religious understanding.

Almost exactly a year after my return home from my mission, I agreed to do an interview with a student researcher on Latter-day Saint cultural beliefs about Heavenly Mother. It was in that interview that I came to an incredible realization. As I explained to her my way of connecting to Heavenly Mother, a phrase fell out of my mouth that took me by surprise. “For me, research is a form of worship.” As I heard myself say the words, they rang true. Heavenly Mother is not explicitly mentioned in any official ordinance, any frequent practice, any corner of our temples, any page of our canonical scriptures, or any element of our normal, everyday experience as Church members (outside of an occasional reference to Heavenly Parents). However, my act of seeking for her in each of these places and in the voices of other disciples had become my act of worship and adoration. Research – the act of seeking information, recording it, analyzing it, and searching for more – had become a habit to me when it came to my Heavenly Mother. I never stopped searching, seeking, or asking. I never let a setback stop me. I had come to know of my Mother, and I would never let her go.

As I reflect back on my house mate who so boldly proclaimed her love for the Father and the Son and her desire to serve a mission to share her knowledge of them, I now feel a bit of gratitude along with my pain. I too love the Father and the Son and seek to share my knowledge of them. That was part of the reason I chose to serve a mission for eighteen months. I recognize in myself the same feeling she had – but for me, it is not only for the Father and the Son. It is for the Mother, too.

Though I no longer wear a name tag, have no official mantle, and have been given no formal call to serve by my Church, I find myself once again on a mission. This is a mission for my Heavenly Mother. I bear her image, I carry her spiritual DNA, and I have the potential to one day become like her. I am her daughter, she is my Mother, and this is my lifelong calling. While I will also spend my life proclaiming the truth about my Heavenly Father and my elder brother Jesus Christ, I recognize that in those missions I am joined by the millions. In the mission for my Mother, those of us who serve are far and few between. Yet, we are persistent. We believe that by questioning, we have received answers; by searching, we have become enlightened. Now that we have been given the gift of knowing, we cannot – we will not – turn away.

The doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed powerful, transformative, and uplifting. It is for everyone, always. There are no exceptions to the plan of God – it is for all. However, I have come to know that we cannot harness its full power unless we include our Mother in our doctrinal consideration. Learning to live like our Heavenly Parents requires coming to know both of them. The pathway may not seem obvious – Heavenly Mother is not found in manuals or Church magazines. However, it is in taking the unseen path that we learn to rely upon the Spirit. It is in following the questions of our heart and soul that we find what our true mission in this life may be. In my searching, I found not only my Mother, but also myself. I learned why I am here, at this moment and in this time.

I have been called to serve by Her. Her truth, Her existence, and Her love I will proclaim.

#journey of faith #kayla bach #lds #mormon #the church of jesus christ of latter day saints #tumblrstake #heavenly parents #heavenly mother #seeking heavenly mother

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republicstandard · 6 years ago

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Racial Profiles: Nick Griffin

In a departure from our profiling of “up-and-coming” thinkers on the Right, we had a chance to catch up with the prolific and immensely inspiring Nick Griffin, who’s been fighting the good fight for longer than many of our readers have been alive. Miraculously, he’s still not been banned from Twitter—you can follow him @NickGriffinBU. He's also on Gab. Read on and learn, young guns!

In ten words or less, describe your political persuasion.

Radical ethno-nationalist, distributist, Christian traditionalist and anti-globalist.

How and when did you become aware of the “Jewish Question”?

In theoretical terms, through reading the monthly issues of John Tyndall’s magazine Spearhead in 1975 when I subscribed to it having joined the National Front late in 1974, age 15. Then the local NF organizer lent me Frank Britton’s Behind Communism. In practical terms, when I was at Cambridge University and debated Daniel Janner, the son of the later disgraced child-molesting Labour politician Greville Janner and a fervent Zionist. Janner told lies with such arrogant confidence that when I analyzed the discussion later I realized that there was indeed a gulf and deeply ingrained difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’.

What figure has been the greatest influence on the development of your political/ideological beliefs?

No-one individual. My ideology was hammered out as part of a small group of radically-minded young members of the NF between about 1978 and 1983. We read voraciously and discussed, rehashed and took on board the ideas of a number of earlier figures.

Most influential of these (in no particular order) were the distributists G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, the former Communist-turned-Catholic Douglas Hyde, Romanian leader and martyr Corneliu Codreanu, NSDAP socialists Gregor and Otto Strasser, the early English radical patriot William Cobbett, Dr William Pierce of the National Alliance, the Canadian left-nationalist John Jewell, the prolific revisionist historian Mike Hoffman; English self-sufficiency guru John Seymour and several slightly earlier NF leadership figures, particularly the radical wing of the National Party splinter group and Richard Verrall. And the book The Resistible Rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose French liberal author quite unintentionally showed me the only possible road for a last-ditch effort to achieve a political solution.

What are some other influences on you personally but perhaps not politically?

Clichéd of course, but life in general! More specifically in terms of people: My paternal grandfather, who was a veteran of the entire First World War; my parents, who met just after the war at a Communist meeting they’d gone to in order to heckle; five years at a minor English public school (contrary to rumours, there was no hint of buggery there!) when the UK education system still worked and some of the masters were WW2 veterans or otherwise inspirational teachers.

My wife, who I met when I was 18 and she was 15, so really we grew up together; Ron Creasy, a grand old chap who was the only elected councilor of Mosley’s British Union and with whom I spent a number of late evenings while still a young activist sipping whisky and discussing his long and eventful life; my university boxing coach Johnnie Newman.

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. Being prosecuted for Thought Crimes three times. Jim Dowson, the Northern Irish pro-life campaigner and the man who really brought home to me both the crucial role of business organization and money in effecting change and the absolutely core issue of our own catastrophically low birthrate in the ‘Great Replacement’. And my friend and comrade since he arrived as a political refugee from Italy early in 1980, Roberto Fiore, now leader of Italy’s Forza Nuova.

Are there any up-and-coming thinkers or activists who have impressed you and are worthy of greater attention?

Frankly, I think that most of the Alt-Right ‘thinkers’ are shallow and inexperienced, while ‘intellectuals’ and philosophical waffling have always left me cold. The inability of so many of our people to discriminate in favour of the good, decent and sane, and instead to put on pedestals a variety of pro-Zionist shills, obvious nut-job neo-Nazi cranks (I wrote well in advance that Charlottesville was a blatant trap, but even some good people in the USA marched straight into it) and self-confessed homosexuals is particularly unimpressive.

That said, I very much like the work of Julian Langness, while I check The Saker’s pro-Russian and anti-globalist blog every day, along with the Unz Review. I’ve recently found the blog writings of the US-based Christian nationalist Steve Turley, while from the other end of our ‘North’ I pay close attention to Russian Faith and Russia Insider.

Who else is out there fighting the good fight?

On the JQ, of course, one has to tip a hat to Prof Kevin MacDonald and Dr. David Duke. Ron Unz deserves praise as the current leader of a small band of ‘righteous Jews’ whose work in spreading the truth puts most self-proclaimed ‘Nazis’ to shame. I greatly appreciated the stubborn optimism and fantastic work-rate of British Movement veteran Mike Walsh.

I thought that the musical work of Paddy Tarleton and Byron de la Vandal was particularly important, so it’s a real pity that Paddy is at present tied up with family issues and that Byron lost his bottle when he was doxxed.

It dismays me that at the height of the BNP challenge to the liberal British state we had over 800 individuals who voluntarily doxxed themselves by standing as candidates in their own (overwhelmingly working class) communities in one election alone, but that the new generation of middle class ‘activists’ and ‘thinkers’ seem to be scared of their own shadows. Anyone who stands up under their own name has my respect.

At a state level, Viktor Orban of Hungary is clearly a historic leader (despite his apparent over-eagerness for a relationship with Israel and his government’s decision to ban me from the country for organizing a conference against George Soros!)

Vladimir Putin is clearly a providential figure and towers above all the other national leaders of this century, although his reconstruction of Christian Russia is still very much incomplete, apparently due to his caution with regards to the liberal nationalist/pro-Zionist fifth column in Moscow and his failure to grasp the fiat money issue. There again, he knows his people and situation a million times better than any of us do, and is surely aware of the grave danger posed by an over-hasty revolutionary change.

I’ve got a soft spot for the Philippine’s Roddy Duterte, but the non-white leader who puts all of us to shame with his insight, political and organizational skills, and utter fearlessness is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Finally, of all the world figures the bravest, and the one whose steadfast courage has done most to block and reverse the previously apparently unstoppable creep of globalism is President Bashir Al Assad of Syria.

In terms of non-state actors: Literally everyone in the Anglosphere who contributed to turning social media into a giant publicly-heard echo chamber for ‘conservative’ ideas has helped to reshape history – if only by causing much chaos with Brexit and the election of Trump that the globalist advance was disrupted long enough for the advocates of a multi-polar, sovereigntist world (principally Russia, China, Iran, and Syria) to organize an effective block against the vested-interest-dominated ‘West’.

The fact that the post-Charlottesville Purge has at present smashed that influence cannot alter what it achieved in that brief moment in time.

Various nationalist leaders in Europe are inspirational in their efforts and achievements against massive odds. My old friend Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marion Kotleba in Slovakia are from different generations but cut from the same larger-than-life material. László Toroczkai is a class act in Hungary. I’ve known and liked successive leaders of Germany’s NPD (the real nationalists, not the fakes and cowards promoted by the ‘counter-jihad’ Zionists), but the new one, Frank Franz is particularly worth watching.

He has understood the impossibility of advance along an electioneering road blocked by safety valve parties and is working to convert the party into a practical, grass-roots organisational and educational machine designed to prepare the German people for the now – thanks to Merkel and Soros - inevitable future in an era the likes of which we have never seen before.

Are there any particularly destructive elements within our ranks you’d caution readers to avoid?

Absolutely! Most dangerous and almost omnipresent right now are the counter-jihad Zionists. A small group of Likudnik billionaires is literally pouring money into trying to capture and manipulate nationalism and resistance to mass immigration and to drive us into a clash with the (admittedly deeply unlovely) Islamists.

Not because they’ve belatedly realized that Jews may need a European lifeboat, but because they want us all fighting mad enough to go to war against Iran (the Muslims actually doing more to fight Wahhabi Islamist terrorism than anyone in the West). And because they want chaos and hatred in the West so as to herd their lesser brethren to Israel to help swell the population and turn the millennialist crackpot Yinon Plan into reality.

In a deeply unhealthy symbiotic relationship with the Zionist manipulators are the Nazi fetishists, whose political necrophilia is a total dead end. They are of use only to the far-left who use them as excuses to recruit and solicit donations, and to Zionists looking for bogeymen to scare Jews into emigrating to Israel.

The ‘White Sharia’ concept is especially dangerous. In terms of isolating nationalists from the general population, it reinforces the old demonization of National Socialism with the anti-Islamism that is now so strong among people who have come of age since 9/11. Its ugly contempt for and fantasy aggression towards women makes it a mirror image of what its own proponents decry as (((feminism))). And it is potentially the gateway drug for conversion to actual Islam, which is a problem we’re already starting to see on the fringes of the movement. But out of the ‘genuine’ nationalists capable of leading good youngsters astray, the most dangerous to individual young patriots are undoubtedly the homosexuals and those willing to tolerate and excuse them. The predators using MGTOW to turn genuine concern about feminism into a tool to deepen the ‘sex war’ and push impressionable youngsters into giving up on girls are especially reprehensible.

The truth is that there are huge numbers of ordinary, decent girls out there who just want a good, strong young man and a traditional family. But they won’t have any interest in pencil-necked computer-game playing nerds who spout hatred of women, or shallow ‘pick up’ artist degenerates, who advise looking for sluts in nightclubs and judge all girls by the standards of their own female counterparts.

Let me use an analogy: If you’re a hunter and you want to bag a deer, you go to the forest. You might find a pig there, but you may also find your deer; if, on the other hand, you go to a pigsty, you really shouldn’t complain when you only find pigs.

Young men rightly worried about the ‘Great Replacement’ need to drop both the ‘sour grapes’ rhetoric about women encouraged by intellectual freaks and pederasts and the sordid one-night stands and generally empty boasts of the pick-up artists.

If there aren’t enough young women on the Alt-Right scene, then single nationalist males would do far better to join a church and look for them there, because for all the faults of the heretical and ignorant dispensationalism that sadly dominates so much of Western ‘Christianity’, that’s where traditionally minded young women are most easily found. You’ll not find them at university, that’s for sure!

Ranting on social media about the ‘Great Replacement’ and the 14 Words is no substitute at all for having children of your own. Not one, at some probably unreachable point in the future “once our careers are established”, but three and counting by the time you’re in your mid-twenties. Anyone who tells you there’s another way to save our race – or to have a fulfilling life at a personal level - is either a fool or a charlatan.

Of course you “can’t afford children”, so what? That’s been the reality of the human condition from before the start of history, but before the availability of contraception, everyone had children anyway. Necessity is the mother of invention.

If you’re reading this and you’re past your mid-twenties and both straight and childless, you need to sort your life out and set about putting it right – NOW, because if you don’t you’re part of the problem, and because you’ll regret your lazy, short-sighted selfishness for the rest of your increasingly sad, lonely and pointless life if you don’t.

That’s even more true for your female readers, for whom even mid-twenties is getting late; by the time you hear the ticking of your biological clock, it’s five to midnight for your chances of having children.

That’s probably going to offend or anger quite a lot of people reading this. But it will also make some of them think, and a few of them do something about it. Which will be what makes interviews like this really worthwhile in the long term.

One of the things I was prosecuted for ‘incitement to racial hatred’ for in my first trial nearly 25 years ago was a spoof advert entitled ‘Wanted: More White Children’, which went on to advise the young audience along the lines of “So stop being a boring bastard who only does political meetings, sometimes you need to put your jackboots back in the wardrobe, go out and cop off”. Seven grandchildren later the only thing in that message I’d change is ‘political meetings’ to ‘computer games and chatrooms’.

What is your impression of Donald Trump?

Typical Ulster-Scot and a genuine Alpha male. One of Nature’s natural loose cannons. He seems to be a mixture of deep robber baron cunning and instinctive power player, and extraordinarily naïve and easily-manipulated boor.

So much he does can be read in several very different ways. To give just one example, his expensive but essentially symbolic missile blitz of Syria on behalf of Israel and its Al Qaeda proxies after the poison gas hoax that had MI6 fingerprints all over it.

Was it the deeply pathetic act of a strutting, pig-ignorant fool dancing to his Masters’ tune? A cynical, short-termist maneuver to get the Zionist media off his back for a few days? Or a very clever piece of political theatre which made him look decisive, convinced the military-industrial complex that he’s really their man, and left the Syrians and Russians free to get on with the job of undoing the results of Obama’s Operation Timber Sycamore – the biggest and most evil gun-running operation in history? Other benefits could have included showing the NATO military-industrial complex that their Cruise missiles are obsolete and overpriced fireworks, and strengthening his hand in dealing with North Korea.

I really don’t know!

Perhaps one day we’ll be able to reach a firm conclusion. For now, we should just be grateful that our combined social media power got him elected. Because at the very least it plunged the USA into a political civil war bitter and chaotic enough to give the free world (Russia, China and Iran, and the nations gravitating towards them) time and political space in which to build their military, economic, financial, cultural and ideological alternatives to Washington and Wall Street.

Is it possible for the Right to get its act together, or are we doomed to perpetual in-fighting, egotism, and of course infiltration?

Those three are inevitable and, as you suggest, immensely damaging. But your question itself misses the key point: The demographic shift (in which our rapidly approaching population crash is as important as ‘their’ immigration and relatively high birthrate) is so catastrophic that there is no possible political solution. That ship sailed getting on ten years ago now; there is no way back this side of the coming civilizational collapse “on a par with the collapse of the Roman Empire”, to quote the warning of British military intelligence spokesman Rear Admiral Richard Parry in 2008.

Fantasizing about what would happen if “we get our act together” or working out perfect theoretical manifestos for “when we take power” is worse than useless. This is not a ‘black pill’, not least because I’m not gloomy about the future at all. Our people will not ‘wake up’ and vote their way out of trouble, they will be woken up by pain, and plenty of it. Then they will start to fight back. At which point the end result will be beyond doubt.

We will never again bestride the world, not least because China has reclaimed her place in the world as a great alternative civilization, but we will take our lands and our destiny back into our own hands. Think of it as the ‘steel pill’ instead: We will win, but there’s no easy way to do it. If you think there is, or if you find the idea of being ‘doxxed’ worrying, you need a reality check, because History is back on the roll, and the pages of History are not written in ink, but in tears, sweat and blood.

The soft liberal consumerist suicide society that is killing our race is going to choke on its own excrement. All sorts of beautiful parts of our collective European heritage will, unfortunately, be taken down with it, and there will be a hundred years of chaos, hardship, and war before our people breed enough young warriors to take back the Lost Lands and enough young women to populate, farm and hold them.

Your generation (I’m writing this of course for your young readers, because it’s young men in their teens and early twenties who make history) are fated/privileged to be the ones to have to draw and hold the lines in enough places so that YOUR sons and daughters – the ones who will be born to conflict and know nothing else – have secure bases from which to launch Reconquista 2.0.

What do you see for the future of Britain in particular, but Europe more generally?

See above! Western Europe, including Britain, is past the point of no return. It’s a re-run of Rome, apart from the fact that this time the barbarians don’t have the capacity to build a new civilization among the ruins. We’re back in A.D. 405.

There is still hope for a relatively painless way back from demographic disaster for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, but even they will shrink to 20% of their present population and in due course be overwhelmed by an African tide unless they take the Orban example as the starting point rather than the actual solution.

They need much more than fences. They also need to ban abortion, make contraception a dirty word, welcome young ‘white flight’ refugees from the multi-way civil wars and ethnic cleansing that will engulf the West, and sort out their economies so they work to benefit those who work rather than the parasitic banking system, industrial capitalism or the drones who hand out or live on welfare.

What about the rest of the West?

On the same downward spiral as Western Europe. But the vast amount of space in the USA and its gun-owning tradition means that there has to be a possibility of Balkanisation and the creation of ethno-states. Whichever way it happens, the future belongs to the people (by which I mean individuals, families, communities and religious groups, not entire nations) who organize themselves to have large numbers of children and rear them to be true to their values.

What occupies your free time? Do you have any future projects in the works? What does the future hold for Nick Griffin?

I’m renovating a house right now. My main relaxation is cooking. I’m partial to real ale, folk music, long walks in beautiful places and time with our grown-up kids and grandchildren.

I’ve just finished writing a detailed 30-page account of the way in which the liberal Big Tech clampdown is not just an assault on free speech but also an effort to defund and break the economic back of the ‘right’.

The recently announced White House draft Executive Order opening an investigation into the censorship purge is welcome, but it will miss the mark if measures are taken only to secure abstract rights of free speech, without simultaneously dealing with politically motivated denial of business services. My next job is to work to get it into wide enough circulation for the warning – and the positive proposals – to reach the people who need to see it.

I’m working on a pair of books. One about what the future holds and the likely course of the 100-year war of resistance and reconquest that is our only road back, and one of practical advice for young nationalists and concrete proposals for practical things that can be done.

Too many people seem to think that we only have a choice between totally futile electioneering, taking up arms and getting crushed like gnats by the liberal surveillance state or holding endless waffle shop conferences where we preach to the converted and congratulate ourselves on being so much cleverer than the sheeple.

The truth is that there is a huge amount of really constructive work to be done in all sorts of fields and that the ‘sheeple’ often have a lot more common sense than self-proclaimed intellectuals.

The message I’m working on is still a bit ahead of the times, but history is moving so fast now that a vanguard minority is pretty much ready for it now.

Unchangeable demographic and political realities mean that we are in the first days of a totally new era. Nothing can stop our peoples in the West becoming minorities in their own homelands, facing something between perpetual discrimination, dispossession and low-level ethnic cleansing at one end of the scale and full-blown ethno-religious civil war at the other. Wherever we find ourselves along that scale, one thing is for sure: Everything will be changed, utterly changed. But we will still be the largest minority in a society of minorities, and the sooner we develop tactics and institutions designed to help future generations secure their rights and long-term survival, the less painful and destructive it will all be.

I’ve spent the last several years thinking this all through and discussing with a small group of very experienced colleagues what it all means and where we can and must go from here. The more I’ve studied the issue the more I have recognized both the way in which the old ways are totally out-of-date and unfit for purpose and the huge potential for a completely new way of doing things.

My firm belief is that Nick Griffin’s long-term influence will not be anything I’ve already done, but what comes next. First will come the theory, and then the organization to begin practical experiments and begin to build the political resistance from which will spring the Return of the White Man.

from Republic Standard | Conservative Thought & Culture Magazine https://ift.tt/2Els7qL via IFTTT

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investmart007 · 7 years ago

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SALT LAKE CITY | Mormons grapple with race 40 years after ending black ban

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/sepQ17

SALT LAKE CITY | Mormons grapple with race 40 years after ending black ban

SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon church on Friday will celebrate the 40th anniversary of reversing its ban on black people serving in the lay priesthood, going on missions or getting married in temples, rekindling debate about one of the faith’s most sensitive topics.

The number of black Mormons has grown but still only accounts for an estimated 6 percent of 16 million worldwide members. Not one serves in the highest levels of global leadership.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has worked to improve race relations, including calling out white supremacy and launching a new formal alliance with the NAACP, but some black Mormons and scholars say discriminatory opinions linger in some congregations from a ban rooted in a belief that black skin was a curse.

In a 2013 essay , the church disavowed the reasons behind the ban and condemned all racism, saying the prohibition came during an era of great racial divide that influenced early church teachings. Blacks were always allowed to be members, but the nearly century-long ban kept them from participating in many important rituals.

Scholars said the essay included the church’s most comprehensive explanation for the ban and its 1978 reversal, which leaders say came from a revelation from God.

But it didn’t include an apology, leaving some unsatisfied.

“A lot of members are waiting for the church just to say, ‘We were wrong,'” said Phylicia Norris-Jimenez, a 30-year-old black Mormon and member of the grass-roots Black LDS Legacy Committee, group of women who are organizing a conference Saturday in Utah to honor the legacy of black Mormon pioneers.

Norris-Jimenez said non-black church members still struggle with how to talk about the ban or understand the pain it causes. She said the anniversary celebration honors something that should have never existed but that it’s a good gesture and hopefully leads to more discussions about race.

A fellow group member, LaShawn Williams, said she finds comfort in her belief that the ban was a “policy of people, not a policy of God,” made during a racist time.

She and her three children are the only black members of her congregation in Orem, Utah, and she tries to talk about race issues regularly with the teenagers she teaches in Sunday school.

Williams, an assistant professor in social work at Utah Valley University, would like an apology.

“If we preach repentance, we should definitely embody it,” she said.

The theme of the anniversary celebration in Salt Lake City is “Be one,” a reference to a Mormon scripture. Top church leaders will deliver a message, and Gladys Knight, one of the most famous black Mormons, will perform.

“This is a call to the entire church, and by extension, the entire world, to let go of prejudices and come together as one unified family,” said Ahmad Corbitt, a church employee who led the effort to organize the event.

Corbitt declined to address a church apology, saying the faith is focused on a forward-looking approach to unity.

Darius Gray, co-founder of the Genesis Group that supports black Mormons, said the church and its doctrine aren’t racist but racism lingers in the faith as it does in society.

He said he’s been plagued by calls from Mormons concerned about how they’re being treated, which he attributes to a rise in racism in the U.S. since President Donald Trump was elected.

He said he wouldn’t be opposed to an apology for the ban but that he’s more interested in helping the faith make progress in rooting out racism. Gray, who helped plan Friday’s event, said it’s a step toward healing.

“An apology is here today and gone tomorrow,” Gray said. “More significant is what an organization does long term. The LDS church has been moving forward and changed its paradigm in massive ways.”

The Utah-based church doesn’t provide ethnic or racial breakdowns of its members, but independent Mormon researcher Matt Martinich said those of primarily African descent account for about 6 percent of worldwide members.

In the U.S., blacks account for about 1 to 3 percent of 6.6 million Mormons, according to Pew Research Center surveys done in the last two decades.

It’s not the only faith that struggles with a lack of black members in its U.S. congregations: The United Methodist Church, Catholic Church and Judaism also have similarly low rates, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center study .

Mormons probably shouldn’t wait for a rare apology from church leaders, said W. Paul Reeve, a Mormon studies professor at the University of Utah. The church seems to be trying to walk a tight rope by disavowing past beliefs while not apologizing for the ban to avoid members questioning other doctrine they think should be changed, he said.

“What else are they wrong about? Are they wrong about gay marriage? Are they wrong about female ordination?” Reeve said. “If they got race and the priesthood wrong, what else could they be wrong about? I think that’s part of the fear.”

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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#black ban #Mormons grapple #race 40 years #Salt Lake City #TodayNews

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crosspointblog-blog1 · 7 years ago

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Why Do Christian Singles Find Dates at Christian Dating Sites?

Our top 10 list below summarizes precisely what we think about to be the perfect Christian Relationship Sites.

1. Christian Mingle

Discovering somebody who is best for you who likewise shares your faith could be difficult nowadays. Not too long ago, on-line relationship providers and websites have sprung up to present religion-based courting providers to discriminating songs seeking to uncover a match in love and religion. Christian Mingle is among the many largest and most most popular of such providers, with a range of fantastic features for helping members discover somebody good. Christian Mingle belongs to the Glow Community.

2. Large Church

BigChurch.com is a leading Christian Relationship Internet site and solely instantly misses out on the number one position in our rankings. It's a particularly simple to use website with nice offers of remarkable features. The search facility is especially good with a really complete listing of search parameters. The search engine outcome produce good-sized images in addition to the last time each member was on-line. This latter attribute is an excellent method to see simply how energetic the members in your area.

three. Christian Cupid

Corinthians 13:7 -eight So reads the message on the Christian Cupid homepage, and it is this robust, real religion in the power of love that provides Christian Cupid the sting over most of its rivals on this classification. The web site is committed to bringing pleasure to Christians all over, and takes discovering love as seriously as you are taking your faith.

four. Christian Espresso store

Christian Coffee store presents a satisfying on-line relationship experience in an excellent-fashionable, specific setting with an important neighborhood really feel. The joining charges could seem costly at first in comparison with different Christian dating sites, nonetheless you may get free time by recommending pals.

5. Catholic Match

Catholic Match is a severe Catholic courting web site, dedicated to Catholic songs who want to discuss websites of Catholic life while looking for their soulmate - their heading is: Develop in faith, fall in love. The excellent neighborhood christen dating, feel created by the magazine, speak and online forums affords real depth to your experience on Catholic Match - there is a genuine opportunity to meet comparable Catholics from worldwide and share your views on religion and life.

6. LDS Mingle

LDS Mingle is a great website with a basic however smooth layout created for Latter Day Saint singles to fulfill, talk to and perhaps date new like-minded visitor. There is a massive member base in the UNITED STATE, with plenty members from the UK, Canada, Australia, and world wide. Unlike other dating websites, LDS Mingle doesn't have an choice of membership plans from which to decide on, you both have a paid membership or a free membership.

7. Single Christian Community

Single Christian Community is a friendly and inviting website, with a fundamental, consumer friendly design, with hundreds of members from the UNITED STATE, Canada, UK, and all through the world. It was begun by a terrific Christian man who needed to deliver happiness to varied different Christians by serving to them find their perfect companion, and it's now celebrating 15 years of successful match-making, making it among the longest-established Christian courting websites on the web!

8. Catholic Mingle

In case you're seeking to fulfill like-minded Catholics with standard worths, then Catholic Mingle is the situation for you! The enticing design is straightforward to browse, and there are literally thousands of members from the UNITED STATE, in addition to nice offers of members from varied other nations everywhere in the world. The web space is implausible, with plenty of fascinating conversations happening within the message boards

9. Christian Connection

Christian Connection was established in October 2000, and since its launch has had over 300 efficient marital relationships, and hundreds more vital brand-new relationships! Christian Connection is a UK- and Eire-based mostly website, which is fantastic when you keep in the UK, particularly as numerous of the various different Christian courting sites have a majority of USA-primarily based members. The website is simple and enticing to browse, and the associated fee-free 5 day trial signifies you possibly can enjoy full entry.

Corinthians 13:7 -eight So checks out the message on the Christian Cupid homepage, and it's this sturdy, honest faith within the power of affection that offers Christian Cupid the edge over lots of its rivals on this classification. The web web site is dedicated to bringing pleasure to Christians throughout, and takes finding love as seriously as you're taking your faith. Christian Cafe offers an satisfying online courting experience in an excellent-stylish, particular person setting with a beautiful neighborhood feel. The signing up with charges might appear pricey at first in comparison with other Christian relationship web sites, but you will get freed from value time by advising pals.

The first decision that you simply make as a Christian when you determine to date on-line is clearly to use a Christian dating site that can assist you in your endeavour to find a companion on-line. That's an incredible resolution in itself. But do you've any concept about the Christian relationship web site that you're about to spend your helpful dollar on? There are probably hundreds and 1000's of Christian web sites accessible on the internet in the present day and the number is only increasing day by day.

Naturally with so many options obtainable on-line one cannot blame Christian singles for being perplexed about which web site to make use of for their dating sojourn. So what are the factors and features which would contribute to making a web site a very good one to take the courting trip? Listed below are a couple of pointers that you just would possibly want to pay attention to to keep yourself in good stead while taking the highway to online courting.

So what ought to a good Christian relationship web site be like?

1. A reputed Christian dating website is obviously one which has been around for a very long time and as such may have giant database of relationship individuals on its rolls. Being in the business for lengthy, points to the efficiency of the location and the ability to maintain within the business of on-line dating for a very long time. A site's age is therefore a good issue to resolve upon.

2. A great Christian relationship web site will in most likelihood present some freebies for members to have it easy on their service firstly. Such freebies embrace a free registration with out cost. When you do a free registration you might then have the chance to flick thru some member profiles and particulars. Nonetheless to contact such members you might must go for a paid membership on such websites which is the norm.

3. Most good websites in the courting niche present a window which will help you to pick out not only amongst gender, and share similar beliefs and values but in addition check whether prospects come from your local area. When you are dating you would favor someone closer to your space of residence quite than somebody on one other continent which could be good for friendship on-line but not necessarily for a dating relationship. A good courting web site will subsequently have a wide database which will in most cases extend to your neighborhood.

4. Good relationship options on some better sites provide you with better control on your private settings. Your privateness being very important, you must deal with those websites which give you the capacity to manage your identify, e-mail, cellphone number and many others. Anonymity is important in chat rooms and such areas where you don't want strangers on the net to know you right away till you might be comfortable with them. Good dating sites will provide you with such controls.

Such courting sites wouldn't have a historical past of selling personal info of their members to other relationship websites or to telemarketing folks. Often you will come to know of such mischief solely after you subscribe and get to comprehend it the onerous manner. If such a factor happens, simply exit the positioning and start with one other one afresh.

Many Christian dating websites have sprung up everywhere in the internet in recent times, and lots of of them are gaining recognition actually rapidly. The reason for that is that many Christian adults and youngsters are in search of life partners that share the identical faith beliefs as they do.

And since most other general relationship sites do not ask for his or her members to specify their non secular beliefs to be able to prevent any forms of spiritual discrimination, it has grow to be more and more tough for individuals of the same faith to seek out one another by courting websites.

I consider that's the principle motivation behind Christian relationship sites, and if you happen to're right here reading this article, likelihood is you're a Christian who's trying to look for a Christian date on-line.

In that case, then here is a quick guide to Christian relationship sites.

Locating Christian Relationship Websites

Like I stated earlier, Christian relationship websites are gaining reputation quick, and many of them are bobbing up all around the web actually quick too. So fireplace up your favourite search engine (google for example) and key within the search phrase "Christian courting websites". You must find loads of search results.

Go for those that are on the top of the search list. They should be the most popular and reliable ones that you should use.

Looking For Ideal Singles

Most Christian relationship websites don't require membership charges on the level of join, so all you must do is to simply enroll and refill some primary details about your self. When you're achieved, you may be given entry to other Christian singles in your area and you can start trying through their profiles.

One effective thing you are able to do is to put up photos of yourself (be sure to take good shots of yourself as a result of first impressions are necessary) and share about your interest, goals, objectives and ambitions in your profile in order that different like minded singles can locate you.

And better of all, you can do all that with the peace of mind that everybody you talk to will have the identical non secular beliefs as you.

Utilizing Their Special Providers

A few of the good Christian relationship websites provide extra providers and features for their members, resembling relationship counselling must you need to learn how to date in a method that will help Christian beliefs.

And for those who ever find yourself uncertain as to who's right for you, additionally, you will discover useful information teaching you how one can find the fitting partner either up to now or to cool down with. That means, you wouldn't have to waste time second guessing what to do or who to date.

Also, to make issues simpler for members, some sites additionally supply online chatting, blogs, instantaneous messaging, picture sharing and a wide range of other features to make it even easier for you to know potential singles extra shortly and easily.

With Christian courting websites gaining popularity, the difficulties related to finding an excellent Christian mate is a factor of the previous. Start by discovering an excellent web site, and then placing your self on the market with a effectively written profile to draw like minded singles. And for those who ever need extra help, you may additionally discover them out there on the identical sites.

Are you searching for a high quality Christian courting website? If the reply is sure, I can inform you that you are not alone. Choosing an important courting website to satisfy Christian singles shouldn't be a simple activity. There are many Christian matchmaking sites to choose from, but with time and patience it is possible for you to to look by way of the internet for the perfect relationship website. You simply must know what you want out of the location. If you're new to the online relationship world listed here are just a few ideas to help you along.

1. Not all Christian relationship web sites are run by Christians. Before you rush into signing up do a little research on who they are and where they came from. Some Christian sites are solely Christian in title, and infrequently have another firm behind the scenes. I'm not saying that you simply will be unable to find Christian love at one of these websites. You just may not like the opposite websites that this firm runs.

2. What do you get free of charge? For most people cash is at all times a deciding factor in any buy. Simply bear in mind the saying "You get what you pay for". If cash is tight by all means search for a free web site to fulfill Christian singles. Most free website won't provide you the same assets that a paid website will. There are very superior Christian matchmaking programs constructed into most pay sites. If you would like a Christian courting site with proven results then a paid web site is unquestionably the best way to go.

three. Learn the reviews and success tales. All Christian relationship sites will offer success tales for members and non members. You should take note of these success stories, but in addition to exterior critiques. Somebody has already used the Christian relationship website you have in mind. You will discover info from buddies, household, and blogs. The data is there to make an informed decision.

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