"The Doctrine of Belonging"

[Luke]

Silly concepts like “belonging” (which doesn’t mean anything) just become totally irrelevant when you have what God actually wants—a group of people genuinely converted to Jesus Christ advancing towards the common goal of Zion. You’re either in that category, or you’re not. I quite like how simple it is.

[TheDuke]

Gad: I agree with you on the wokeness. My point is that being accepting of people being diverse is a good thing. Having to accept their ways (good or bad) is different than just accepting them a people. And accepting bad behavior as is being garnered by the woke crowd is bad and often evil in its intent.

However, I have been a bit odd all my life. I'm naturally (extremely) gifted in logic and engineering. And I am way out of gifts on the artistic, language, touchy-feely stuff. And I'm a Mormon, so I have (too my friends and associates mostly engineers and scientists) been way out there in my beliefs of not only morals and drinking and drugs and such but also about climate change, evils of government, and belief in god and his wonders. So, I'm all for inclusion. Just not woke inclusion to allow sin and depravity to become a norm.

[Subcomandante]

The Church is becoming less and less American. That is a good thing.

Hola Babilonia

It's just the facts of the matter. American membership as a percentage of worldwide Church membership is decreasing. The increases right now are in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

To one person that thinks that America is the greatest country on the earth, that might be distressing. But God knows better.

[Pahoran]

I feel like this "doctrine" of belonging is similar to the appeals to "be kind" that I have been hearing more lately. When people talk about being kind these days it seems like it is often an excuse to silence truth tellers by telling them they are not being kind by focusing on the truth.

It reminds of of a video I saw of Elder Renlund when he said, "Wearing a face covering is a sign of Christlike love for our brothers and sisters."

In my mind, the doctrine of belonging, the big new focus on kindness and this statement about masking all fall in the same bucket to me - coercing and pressuring people to be more concerned with not offending Babylon and less concerned with living and speaking truth.

[Reluctant Watchman]

The Church is becoming less and less American. That is a good thing.

Hola Babilonia

It's just the facts of the matter. American membership as a percentage of worldwide Church membership is decreasing. The increases right now are in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

To one person that thinks that America is the greatest country on the earth, that might be distressing. But God knows better.

I said nothing about numbers, but about embracing Babylon. Funny how you took that in a different direction.

Oh, and btw, I’m of the opinion that one reason church membership is growing outside of the US is because so few have access to study what the church actually teaches and many of the more unsavory aspects to church culture. People gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and are conned into believing that the church leaders of our day hold some parallel to Joseph.

[Subcomandante]

The Church is becoming less and less American. That is a good thing.

Hola Babilonia

It's just the facts of the matter. American membership as a percentage of worldwide Church membership is decreasing. The increases right now are in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

To one person that thinks that America is the greatest country on the earth, that might be distressing. But God knows better.

I said nothing about numbers, but about embracing Babylon. Funny how you took that in a different direction.

Oh, and btw, I’m of the opinion that one reason church membership is growing outside of the US is because so few have access to study what the church actually teaches and many of the more unsavory aspects to church culture. People gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and are conned into believing that the church leaders of our day hold some parallel to Joseph.

Internet is widely available outside of the United States. It is not like people live in adobe houses with men in sombreros sipping on a tequila sitting underneath a cactus. Or a black-skinned person living in a neolithic hut in East Africa.

A lot of the stuff against the Church is pretty much well known no matter where you go. Sometimes it is packaged differently. Yet the Church grows there in those areas...

I have another hypothesis...the gentile Church is falling down along with its members because a generation of geniuses that founded the United States, has slowly given away to a generation of idiots.

[madvin]

... It is not like people live in adobe houses with men in sombreros sipping on a tequila sitting underneath a cactus...

Now that sounds inviting...

[Reluctant Watchman]

Internet is widely available outside of the United States. It is not like people live in adobe houses with men in sombreros sipping on a tequila sitting underneath a cactus. Or a black-skinned person living in a neolithic hut in East Africa.

A lot of the stuff against the Church is pretty much well known no matter where you go. Sometimes it is packaged differently. Yet the Church grows there in those areas...

I have another hypothesis...the gentile Church is falling down along with its members because a generation of geniuses that founded the United States, has slowly given away to a generation of idiots.

Sure, people have the internet, but they don't have the generational abuses and culture that's been created.

The US/Gentiles will fall because of their wickedness, and yes, part of that is due to their ignorance.

[blitzinstripes]

The Church is becoming less and less American. That is a good thing.

Hola Babilonia

I.E., more WORLDLY.

[Reluctant Watchman]

The Church is becoming less and less American. That is a good thing.

Hola Babilonia

I.E., more WORLDLY.

“Good global citizens”, said no freedom-loving person ever.