The lowdown on us Mormons... (move, catholics, teaching)

[kaytidid]

Originally Posted by irman

As they say in many circles ...
The secret of a long happy marriage is ... *Yes Dear ...*

LOL..too funny. My DH says he learned that VERY early on...like when we were 14 and started dating! After all, if momma ain't happy...

[t.ruf]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

By the way, don't put too much stock in what that book has to say. I read part of the first chapter when it first came out, and found so many inaccuracies within the first few pages that I decided not to bother with it. The mistakes I found were insignificant, but it made me wonder to what degree the author was really interested in getting his facts straight.

Thanks for the heads-up. It's supposed to be as objective as possible for being written by someone who is not in the church. That said, I'm not sure if there is such as thing as true "objectivity." I am also reading Mormonism for Dummies, written by active members of the LDS church. Easier and lighter reading, but with great information.

[t.ruf]

Originally Posted by irman

-- my PERSONAL opinion ...

My wish is that we need to stop to put people into *groups*, and that includes *race* also. Doing this is only a political thing, and only will work in that realm.

In normal life, we are all very similar, with similar *problems*, and dealing with those problems the same way. Most of us succeed, and some fail, but we are all here to do the best we can, and no religious background is going to help there.

Irman out.

Understand the sentiment, but this thread is "The Low Down on us Mormons" and invites people to ask questions about that particular group. Not trying to offend or stereotype, just curious about what it's like to be a Saint and discover the similarities and differences.

[t.ruf]

Originally Posted by irman

As they say in many circles ...
The secret of a long happy marriage is ... *Yes Dear ...*

lol! And I've heard that the three magic words every husband longs to hear from his wife aren't "I love you" but "You were right."

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by t.ruf

Thanks for the heads-up. It's supposed to be as objective as possible for being written by someone who is not in the church. That said, I'm not sure if there is such as thing as true "objectivity." I am also reading Mormonism for Dummies, written by active members of the LDS church. Easier and lighter reading, but with great information.

There is definitely no such thing an objectivity when someone is writing about religion. Almost all of the available books appear to fall into one of three categories:

1. Those written by the journalistic "outsider" (the one you're reading falls into this great). Some of these are more objective than others, but they still miss the mark because the author, no matter how hard he may try, is going to be approaching his topic with skepticism, cynicism, and with a desire to make the reader end up wondering, "How could any same person be a part of that faith?"

2. Those written by former members of the Church or other "professional anti-Mormons" (yes, there is such a thing) whose desire is to embarrass the Church and its deluded masses, the mind-less sheep who are said to believe all sorts of doctrines, explained in such a way that no true believer would even be able to recognize them.

3. Those written by Mormon apologists, church leaders or LDS scholars. They're not even directed to people who are not members of the Church. Their objective is to strenghten the membership. Some of them are very good, but many are, in my opinion, rather trite. They use language that only the faithful can understand and are essentially useless to someone looking for the facts.

"Mormonism for Dummies" is actually pretty good. Another I book I simply cannot recomment highly enough is called "Latter Days." It's by Coke Newell. You'd have to order it from Amazon more than likely, because it was published in 2000 and in now out of print. It's written by a Latter-day Saint who converted in his early 20s and is now with the Church's Public Affairs Department. Is it biased? Yes, to some degree. As I said before, I think it would be impossible for a book on religion to be entirely unbiased. It's not preachy, though, and it's not a whitewash of LDS history. It's actually about half doctrinal discussion and half history. It is so well written that I could hardly put it down. And it was written with the non-LDS audience in mind.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

There is definitely no such thing an objectivity when someone is writing about religion. Almost all of the available books appear to fall into one of three categories:

1. Those written by the journalistic "outsider" (the one you're reading falls into this great). Some of these are more objective than others, but they still miss the mark because the author, no matter how hard he may try, is going to be approaching his topic with skepticism, cynicism, and with a desire to make the reader end up wondering, "How could any same person be a part of that faith?"

2. Those written by former members of the Church or other "professional anti-Mormons" (yes, there is such a thing) whose desire is to embarrass the Church and its deluded masses, the mind-less sheep who are said to believe all sorts of doctrines, explained in such a way that no true believer would even be able to recognize them.

3. Those written by Mormon apologists, church leaders or LDS scholars. They're not even directed to people who are not members of the Church. Their objective is to strenghten the membership. Some of them are very good, but many are, in my opinion, rather trite. They use language that only the faithful can understand and are essentially useless to someone looking for the facts.

"Mormonism for Dummies" is actually pretty good. Another I book I simply cannot recomment highly enough is called "Latter Days." It's by Coke Newell. You'd have to order it from Amazon more than likely, because it was published in 2000 and in now out of print. It's written by a Latter-day Saint who converted in his early 20s and is now with the Church's Public Affairs Department. Is it biased? Yes, to some degree. As I said before, I think it would be impossible for a book on religion to be entirely unbiased. It's not preachy, though, and it's not a whitewash of LDS history. It's actually about half doctrinal discussion and half history. It is so well written that I could hardly put it down. And it was written with the non-LDS audience in mind.

You make some good points about religion books.

[t.ruf]

Thanks! I had to giggle: There are two books in Amazon called Latter Days. I did finally find the one you referred to, Katzpur. And it's still in print. Let me get through the Dummies book, and I'll see if I have any more brain cells left for more reading. I'm glad the Dummies book is pretty good.

I attended a Relief Society's Girls Night Out last night. Had lots of fun, met some really nice women, and had no need for a designated driver! I wasn't sure what the dress code is for Mormon women outside of church, so I decided to be safe and wear a dress. They all wore pants!

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by t.ruf

I attended a Relief Society's Girls Night Out last night. Had lots of fun, met some really nice women, and had no need for a designated driver! I wasn't sure what the dress code is for Mormon women outside of church, so I decided to be safe and wear a dress. They all wore pants!

LOL! Well you should have posted on this thread before making your decision! Here's your basic rule of thumb, and I'd say it will work 90% of the time. On Sundays, women wear dresses (or skirts and blouses). Period. That's here in Utah in regular LDS wards. I'm attending a small Hispanic branch right now, and even though it's in Salt Lake City, pretty much anything goes. The people are mostly lower-income Hispanic people, many of them unemployed, and quite a few of them illegal immigrants. We want to encourage them to come to church, no matter how they're dressed. We get a wide range of clothing styles and it's all good.

On any day other than Sunday, if an activity is to be held in the church building but in the Cultural Hall as opposed to the Chapel, you'll find a mixture of pants and dresses. If it's to be held in the Chapel, women will wear dresses.

If it's to be held anywhere else, like a restaurant, movie theater, park, etc. most of the ladies will likely be wearing pants.

[irman]

Originally Posted by t.ruf

Understand the sentiment, but this thread is "The Low Down on us Mormons" and invites people to ask questions about that particular group. Not trying to offend or stereotype, just curious about what it's like to be a Saint and discover the similarities and differences.

Yes, and I agree with you also. but ...
It is sad that the Original Poster wrote the title in that fashion:
The Low Down On Us Mormons ....
That is a pretty lousy title for a subject, when you find out what it really implies .....

Just too bad that some expressions are used today without realising what the implications might become .

Originally Posted by t.ruf

I wasn't sure what the dress code is for Mormon women outside of church, so I decided to be safe and wear a dress. They all wore pants!

Funny observation about dress code ...

Yes there is a dress code for all LDS members, and thus also for students attending BYU ..
I concluded that they (BYU students) do not know where their knees are ....

I also agree with Katzpur, that it does not mean anything what a person wears, while attending church sponsored functions. It all depends on what that particular person has that looks the best for that occasion, and thus who are we to judge what is appropriate and what is not ?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by irman

It is sad that the Original Poster wrote the title in that fashion:
The Low Down On Us Mormons ....
That is a pretty lousy title for a subject, when you find out what it really implies .....

Jeesh, thanks a lot.