What is the “right way”? An expose on love.

[Dusty Wanderer]

I’m struggling to find the verse in the BoM that prophesies that in the last days many shall say that there is no sin? Does anybody have a reference to that prophecy? I was pretty sure there was a verse outside of Levi’s discourse that talked about this.

RW, is this the one you were thinking of, 2 Nephi 28:

22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

[Reluctant Watchman]

I’m struggling to find the verse in the BoM that prophesies that in the last days many shall say that there is no sin? Does anybody have a reference to that prophecy? I was pretty sure there was a verse outside of Levi’s discourse that talked about this.

RW, is this the one you were thinking of, 2 Nephi 28:

22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

I believe I had something slightly different in mind, but this one also works great. Thanks!

[FrankOne]

I've realized that my posts on morality are not clearly relating what I intend.

The Holy Spirit dictates true morality. Very few can follow the Holy Spirit in this because of personal bias and desires. Justification goes left, right, and sideways.

Christ tried to set forth what "morality" means, but there are few that can accept it, so it becomes twisted toward personal perspective and then justified.

We do have the right to do as we will, but consequence will follow on many levels.

Universal law does punish. We cannot avoid getting what we deserve.

and what actually is "sin"? Sin is a word shared by all religions and applies to the perception of each man in regards to the God that he worships. His God creates rules and the violation of those rules is "sin". Each religion differs so each definition of sin differs.

Each man thinking that his understanding of sin is the valid one, with no exceptions! Every single religious man thinks that his personal definition is right! Even within the same religion there are major differences between members of what sin is.

The work of all men is to put all subjective judgement aside and learn directly from the Holy Spirit and none else. Who will do this? I certainly struggle with it. A book can't teach morality nor can any man. Words convey very little. The Holy Spirit gives the experience of truth.

well... that's my take on it anyway.

[Serragon]

Where the heck are the parents?!

….Working… double incomes to make ends meet…

Perhaps, but I know a lot of dual income homes where those kids would never get away with that. I think it is more of a parenting issue than a two working home issue.

Don't forget.. there is a place in this church for everyone.. even those who climb and jump on store shelving.

One thing I have noticed over the last decade or so is the reluctance for leaders to do or say anything that might make a youth feel uncomfortable. There seems to be this fear that if you have standards that must be met to participate in activities, you might lose someone forever. Things that would never have been tolerated when my older kids were in mutual are now standard practice.

[Wolfwoman]

Someone tried to tell me that it was the loving thing to do to give alcohol to an alcoholic bum. Nope. That’s not real love.

As a missionary, at a man's door, we were denied an offer of a message of Jesus Christ and before we left asked if there was anything he needed, anything we could do, and the man replied, asking if we had a cigarette.
My companion laughed and said no, turned and we left. Not far from the man's house I saw an unburned, clean, recently dropped cigarette, which, despite all objections, I retrieved and delivered to the poor suffering smoker, much to my companion's chagrin.

Well, follow the spirit.
I don’t see it as the same situation as giving an alcoholic a drink though.
1. You don’t know how much alcohol the guy has had to drink today already. People can and do die of alcohol poisoning. Your gift to him could put him over the edge so that he dies.
2. Alcohol messes with people’s consciousness. Cigarettes do not. The alcoholic has messed up his brain so much that he’s homeless. The guy in your story was not homeless, and he still had all his mental faculties as far as we know.

You giving the guy one cigarette could be likened to giving someone a donut or a soda. Not the best for their health, but they probably won’t die from it today. It may be questionable if it is truly charitable to give him a cigarette, but follow the spirit on a case by case basis. Would you give a heroin addict heroin? Or a cocaine addict cocaine? We gotta use our brains as well as our hearts.

It would be more loving to give the alcoholic some food, a hotel room or a place to shower and sleep. And try to get him off the streets if he is open to the idea.