Comments on: Conference Kudos

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:55:13 +0000

I enjoyed conference quite a bit. There was one thing that made me laugh a little. Boyd K. Packers talk on Sunday morning. He said that there were people who say they could have endured many trials if there was the continual flow of revelation/scripture as there was in the early days of the restoration. He then tried to say how much revelation there had been recently and launched into this long explanation regarding the cross referencing, etc. in the LDS scriptures. So, I wondered – everything since Joseph Smith has just been footnotes then? His explanation seemed to strengthen the claim of less revelation to the church now instead of weaken it.

By: annegb

annegb — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:50:07 +0000

John, I don’t like excluding anyone. It’s just that it’s got to be really scary to pray at general conference and perhaps he was just scared and brain dead. I would be. It’s hard to be PC when you know millions of people are watching you. Think how hard it is just to pray in church.

I would rather give a talk.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 11:56:19 +0000

I guess I don’t see praying for armed forces as bad–they are in serious danger. Whether or not we agree with the cause, we can agree that good people are in harm’s way; and we can be concerned about that. I think the only people that might not feel like praying for the safety of the troops in Iraq are those trying to kill them. Anyone else–even those who are adamantly opposed to the US being in Iraq, should be able to (and, I believe, many of them do) pray for the armed forces there. Remember–many of the troops don’t want to be there.

By: river stone

river stone — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 05:29:05 +0000

Steve,
It is so nice that we have the words of prophets and apostles to use to belittle and invalidate other members honest thoughts and feelings. Sorry for the sarcastic tone, but I find this a very manipulative practice. I think it better to ‘liken scripture (conference talks) to ourselves’.

I personally think John brings up a good point. Shouldn’t we all strive to be more sensative to other world views and the fact that the gospel is about what brings us together? When we talk about these things we become aware of them, and John is right-anything to do with the Iraq war is a hot bed even within the U.S. and the church.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 16:37:01 +0000

As an interesting aside, the Temple workers here in Seattle are instructed to strip all language from temple prayers that involve the military or armed conflict as we have a regular international visitors. In a way, it is kind of sad.

By: john fowles

john fowles — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 16:18:07 +0000

Yes, sorry, it is overly critical and nit-picky. Of course, he can pray for whatever he wants. He would probably be horrified if someone pointed out to him how praying for American troops might appear to non-Americans, which category, if I am not mistaken, comprises the majority of the membership of our church (or at least equal parts).

By: annegb

annegb — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 07:20:03 +0000

J. Stapley, I’d like to read that thread. Go for it.

I missed almost all of conference, but if I was asked to pray in conference and I didn’t plan my prayer, and I got up there and thought, “Oh crap, I’m on television before millions of people,” I might have not thought of political correctness.

He was in Salt Lake, I’m assuming he was American. It’s a forgiveable lapse. We all want the best for our servicemen. Screw the rest of the world.

Yes, I’m kidding in that last part. But hopefully, compassionate, sensitive people could see that if he were from Thailand, he would have prayed for the victims of the Tsunami. Were he not polished. Geez, nitpick, why don’t you. Whoever did it. I forgot already and I don’t want to scroll back up.

By: matt witten

matt witten — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 02:02:16 +0000

I also really enjoyed Elder Oak’s Talk, as well as Elder Nelson’s. It made me long for the footnotes.

By: matt witten

matt witten — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 02:01:21 +0000

I pray for the US, Australian, Iraqi, Philippino, Brazilian, Canadian, Polynesian and African Soldiers, currently on alert in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sudan, Thailand, Fiji, and other places in the world. Why is it that some people are so ethnocentric and always think they are the ones being spoken about?

By: john fowles

john fowles — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 22:21:24 +0000

I try to be in harmony with church leaders as admonished there. It is just that praying for the armed forces in an international priesthood meeting struck me as unnecessary and possibly alienating.

Praying for relief from a drought in Utah, however, does not invoke the same feeling for me because it is an apolitical issue, even if ethnocentric in a regional sense (i.e. focusing on Utah’s problems when just as bad or worse is happening all over the place where there are members).