vaguely-heavenly-things - Tumblr blog

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we're a "peculiar people"? So I'm NOT like other girls!

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Our Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.

Joseph Smith

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@ all the religious queers who follow me (or don't lol), y'all should reblog this with what your favorite part of your religion is. it could be a particular ritual, an item, a belief within it, an experience you had, anything!

we should share some good against all the bad that we get <3

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I remember being upset when I Am a Child of God changed "Teach me all that I must know" to "Teach me all that I must do". That's what I grew up with and I didn't want a change.

But then I came to understand. It takes more than just knowing something to return to God's presence.

Someone pointed out that "Satan knows everything necessary to return to God's presence. But that knowledge isn't going to save him, because he's not doing anything with it."

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My Wife told me it was Pioneer Day

You'd think I have a lot to say (I'm a descendant of Pioneers, who is pretty outspoken about Church History & Mormon Holidays)

But I'm tired. So, I'm just gonna say Happy Pioneer Day. To the Descendants of the original Pioneers, to the Modern Pioneers, and everyone in between

Here's an Pioneer Handcart from a book my Grandmother gave me ("Mormon Origami" by Todd Huieken)

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Hey you're mostly correct with your addition to the mormon post, I just want to point out that male child abandonment is specific to fundamentalist LDS members. The mainstream church doesn't do that, they just turn a blind eye when the FLDS do.

Thanks for the clarification, anon. Assuming you see that I replied, or that someone with more precise knowledge on the subject sees this, do you think you could send another anon/reblog this expanding on the differences between the FLDS and the LDS? In the Mormon world, what defines a Fundamentalist? Are there changes in LDS doctrine and practice that have been made that have divided the two, or is it more related to differences in interpretations? And are these differences perceived as schismatic or otherwise a source of conflict between FLDS and LDS community members?

None of my questions above are rhetorical or sarcastic. I am sincerely inviting you, or someone as knowledgeable or more, to expand on the subject so interested readers can learn more about the realities of the FLDS and LDS communities outside of what news outlets discuss and commonly confuse and conflate. On my part, pretty much every non-LDS or FLDS member I've met (meaning most people I've met in general) has never heard reliable, clear explanations about where the two denominations separate or why.

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I mean...in Swedish, they usually begin talks in Sacrament meeting with "dear siblings"/"beloved siblings" so i don't see why not Sibling can be used as a title too. :)

Hey what would you call an adult in the church whi is nonbinary? It wouldn't be brother or sister so would it be sibling or something else

This is a really good question that I've regrettably never considered.

Let's try a few out.

"Sibling" comes to mind first. Sibling Smith? It does fit with the brother/sister terminology, but I'm not sure if it works as a title? That might just be because I'm not as used to "Sibling Smith" as I am to "Brother/Sister Smith".

"Saint Smith" fits with the "Latter-day Saints", but I worry that it's a bit to ostentatious? It feels like a comment on their righteousness. Brother/Sister has a more humbling aspect. More like "we're equals here".

"Fellow Smith" Feels very old school Quaker. Maybe too old school?

"Friend Smith" good for expressing that we like them, but kind of implies they exist outside the family

"Cousin Smith" keeps them in the family, but kind of makes them more distant family.

"Comrade Smith" getting members to embrace nonbinary members AND imply that capitalism isn't God's gift to man might be a bridge too far. For now.

There might also be some non English words that are much better suited for this we could adopt, but I don't know them.

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me seeing this warning box knowing FULL well that i'm gonna click "view post" anyways and get sad

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I rarely use this account and just came back to a bunch of church reblogs

Tumblr is such a safe space because ohhh boy was I expecting a whole load of hate. I'm a queer convert Mormon girl and I get it from every end of the spectrum so it was super fun coming on here and seeing people who have the same views and experiences as me.. God loves us all as we are and he made us as we are and he knows and loves that we do what makes us happy even if that's what people like to hate others for. And I know that and I wanted to share that with u all. Anyway I just came back from girls' camp it was awesome

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Kinda a shit post but I’m curious what y’all think

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For those who don’t know, the Words of Wisdom were considered advice until somewhere around the Prohibition era.

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I recently got the Oxford "Annotated Book of Mormon" from the Library, and I love it

Reading "Come, Follow Me" this week, I found an interesting polarity "Faith-Skepticism"

In Alma 30, we read about Korihor, in 31, the Zoramites. And, in the original chapters, 30 & 31 were in the same chapter, indicating a connection between them

Korihor represents Extreme Skepticism (yes, I know, he never disbelieved, but that was his philosophy), while the Zoramites exhibit Blind Faith

This may be controversial, but Skepticism isn't a bad thing. God created us as rational beings, to think about things. He didn't create rationality so we could ignore it. Science is rooted in skepticism (I'm not sure if this is right, so I'll test it vigorously)

Skepticism is only negative when it prevents one from actually applying Faith. The Lectures on Faith make it very clear that Faith is an Action, not merely a belief. Next Week, we read one of the most important sermons in the Book of Mormon (Alma's Parable of the Seed). He makes it clear that we can only see the affects of the seed if we nurture it, and let it grow

Many Scientists were also Men of Faith (such as Heisenberg, or Newton). Even those who weren't religious didn't outright deny the possibility. For example, Darwin was active in his Church while writing "On the Origin of Species," said until his death he didn't know if God was real or not, but wasn't going to assume he's not there (and he once told a group of atheists that it was folly to say God didn't exist, because you can't know)

The idea of Science being anti-god is only so popular nowadays because of people such as Dawkins, who (like all too many people, religious & atheistic) don't understand what Faith actually is

On the other hand, there is Blind Faith. The Zoramites had faith, that is for sure. The Zoramite Prayer only consists of Thanks, and no requests. But what did that Faith lead them to? It led them to Pride (we're unconditionally saved, you're unconditionally damned). It led them to neglect & even condemn the poor (similar to the "Seed Faith" we see, especially with Televangelists). It eventually led them to War, because of their blind hatred for an "other" they had created (which is sadly too common in the Modern Church, be it with the LGBT Community, Liberals, or even Beards (yes, there is a story behind that. And yes, I do have a glorious beard))

So, what did Mormon want us to learn? We have 1% of the records he had, and even then, they're abridged. Everything in the Book of Mormon has a reason to be there.

I think he wanted us to acknowledge that humans have Polarity inherent in us. We have to learn how to balance that polarity if we are going to be healthy & happy. We can't let either Skepticism or Faith lead us. We need to test the "Seed of Faith," and see if it is good. We can't let Faith overrule us (and inadvertently let Wicked Seeds infest us), and we can't let Skepticism overrule us (refusing to test any seeds)

If we see a beggar on the street, Skepticism can lead us to help him ("what's God going to do for him"). If we are that beggar, Faith can allow us to accept the charity they need ("God sent that person to help, so I'll accept their help"). These are two opposing forces, but they both lead to God's Will being done (charity being given). We need to learn how to balance, and when to express each attribute

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some church poetry