noj94 : The 'other' Mormons, the RLDS split away after Joseph Smith died - Emma and a few others thought Joseph III should be the next prophet, not Brigham Young. So Emma and Co split off and did their own thing, forming a Church that was lead by biological heir, not by who was senior in the Quorum of the 12. I think they had to do some fast talking in regards to the Book of Mormon a while ago to be accepted as an 'official' 'Christian' church  by the Vatican. 

Sort of. I was utterly exhausted - I was doing laundry at two am-ish, and fell asleep. Oddly enough, I didn't black out when I broke my collar bone. Strange that. Pity two. Breaking a collar bone HURTS. I don't recommend it - break a leg, break an arm, but for the love of any sanity, don't ever break a collar bone.  

Bintsy :

Okay, let the Mormon take a whack at this. 

The first thing to understand is that the Church (the main 'LDS' Church) is NOT A CULT. Well, it is, but by the definitions on Webster, so is almost every other religion I've ever heard of. The two Other LDS Churches - the FLDS and the RLDS are not part of the Church - they have their own beliefs and ways of doing things are have changed quite radically over the years - the RLDS Church is now known as the Church of Christ. The RLDS thought that the second LDS prophet should have been Joseph Smith's son - he was the first prophet. The FLDS still recognize polygamy as a practiced doctrine, which the LDS do not. That is, we accept it as doctrine, just one that we don't use any more - like burnt offerings. We make up for this with other things, like tithing (10% of all legally/honestly acquired money - gotten via stealing/ gambling will be returned. It's been done before). 

Now, as for the Mormon version of the afterlife, there are four levels. There are three Levels of heaven (it's been said that a man would kill to attain the lowest level), which people will be placed in after the Second Coming (when the Lord walks the earth again) and a place called Outer Darkness. OD is a place where only the people have completely turned away from the Church go - like is President Monson - our current leader - was to utterly deny the Church, the idea is that he would die before he could say anything, and that he would go to Outer Darkness. Same with anyone who absolutely knows that the Church is true. 

Now, Mormons are Christians. Really, we are. We believe in the Trinity, just in a different form. The official doctrine is that the Father, His Son, and the Holy Ghost are all their own beings, with different bodies. We also believe in the Bible - so long as it is translated CORRECTLY. I mean, really, how many translations has the thing gone through? But we do have other doctrines - the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. 

Now, the point of this long, rambling statement was to prove that, yes, we ARE Christian, and that, yes, we do think we will be saved, barring some extreme circumstances that most people will never face. Also, we the masters at casseroles and disaster preparedness. 

I think I'd love to dress up as a god. Not God, capital G, but as a Greek/Roman/Japanese god. Maybe a Shinigami. Just to see who I could freak out. Maybe I could be a female Ares. That could be lots of fun.

AuraBlaze :

My grandmother is thinking about giving me one of hr cats. I'm thinking about it, but Jamie (the dog) isn't big on cats - we like to say he has Post-Traumatic Cat Disorder.  

Being in an orchestra is interesting, like being at a family reUNION. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. My class, the Juniors are very chatty. The Sophomores seem to be even worse. But I did tell my stand partner (one of the aforementioned Sophomores - he goes by Cookie, by the way) that I was a psychopath, so I think I'll have fun scaring them.

It's a lot of playing, and you don't like all the songs, but to make up for it, you get to do some wonderful ones. We're doing Pirates of the Caribbean right now, and a song called Gathering Storms - It's part of an American Suite. 

KlawedFlaw :  

Wait, stealing a ten dollar bill is as bad as blasphemy, which is as bad as rape or murder? How can you rationalize that? Really, how? I was raised as a Mormon, but I always enjoy hearing about other peoples takes on religion. 

tabbikatt13 :

What I think needs to be taken into account here is that one of the shooters, I don't remember who, had obvious mental problems, and that his parents had tried to get him help, but were unable to - this came out in the aftermath. The bulling was also extreme to the point where fecal matter was thrown at them (forgive my lack of credible sources, but I have issues with anyone who would mess with that Wikipedia page). Also, I don't think this was the odd name-calling, or jock running into them. I'm pretty sure that this was cruel, sustained bullying that went on and on and on, and that it drove them halfway to madness. Of course, they had other issues, but I do think that some of the blame for such tragedies belongs with those who cause such trauma that a person starts to think that suicide was the only way out, and that they might as well take out some of the people who tormented them, if not actively, then by laughing at the jokes, or by not helping them. But then again, having never lost anyone to a shooting like that, I question my judgement, just a little.

Hi, my name is ENTER THE STARGATE, and I came here on Seimika's advice, which I really appreciate, because I love Zelda games, and all can play is Oblivion right now. Kind of sad, no? 

So, I'm 15 years old, I'm in my school orchestra as a viola player, and my family is really just myself (obviously the most important part), my mother, and our dog, who is an idiot in the lovable sort of way. Well, I'm off to play Zelda, it's been to long! 


Ciao,

ETS