Posted on 07/05/2013 9:59:02 AM PDT by Colofornian
And lo, it is written: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, nor thy neighbor’s seat… Unless that seat is being saved, apparently.
Wayne Dodge, 51, was arrested Sunday following a violent row at a Mormon church that reportedly started over seat-saving.
According to Deseret News, Dodge, a regular at the Meadows Ward LDS Church in Plain City, Utah, sat in a section of pews being reserved by a family who does not usually attend the ward.
“There [were] some seats that were allegedly saved, and there was a disagreement over whether they were saved or not… This continued to escalate throughout the day,” Weber County Sheriff Lt. Mark Lowther told FOX affiliate KSTU.
Police said the argument spilled out into the church’s parking lot and became physical. Punches were thrown, and after one man returned from cleaning himself up, Dodge allegedly struck him with his car, according to Deseret News.
Brett Ferrin, bishop of Meadows Ward told KSTU that about 400 people were gathered for a missionary farewell and a baby blessing. Many of the faces in the crowd were unfamiliar as a result. So much for loving thy neighbor.
Ferrin called the incident a “teaching moment”; Dodge might learn the hard way that lame as it is to save seats, it’s not worth felony aggravated assault charges. If convicted, Dodge could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to the Utah State Courts website.
I appreciate your candor with sharing this.
You are indeed a unique Mormon...one who doesn't feel the need to cover up everything.
(Perhaps that's also a tribute of your Baptist upbringing)
[At least I seem to recall you saying that you're a Mormon convert with such a background]
Well, you do raise an issue that can be more of a problem within Lds facilities for any gatherings.
If you look @ any given Lds parking lot, you will see more vans & other high-capacity passenger vehicles.
Larger families can make it more difficult to simply "squeeze" in where you can if you arrive "later" to a service/event.
Naturally, some larger families become turf-protective for this simple reason.
(Obviously, it didn't seem to readily apply to the perp in this situation)
(99% of boxers, upon losing, get up & fight again)
In the Baptist Church we just sit on the pew.
We were at a funeral of a young man who was killed in Afghanistan. Everyone knows the first few rows are reserved for family and military escort so we sat on the second row behind them and let some of his friends (our kids) sit on the row behind the reserved pews. There is this one woman (sorry, an insult to all women) who took it upon herself to reassign the pallbearers and order everyone around. No, she was no relation and no closer to the family or the young man than any of the rest of us. But, you know, there’s always one and she is it. Horrid creature. An officer asked politely for her to move back just enough for the family and soldiers to be seated but she jumped in his face and made a scene. A few minutes later another officer asked her to move and she proceeded to make an a** out of herself again. A total embarrassement. The military sat down but the family opted to sit in whatever vacant pews. So, there she sat like an island and on display.
Then, at the gravesite, she was all up with the pall bearers. She tore up the pall bearers’ friendships and to this day they haven’t mended. Horrid, horrid, evil monster.
There is no reserved seating unless the church says so. The “regular” did nothing wrong by sitting in the middle of an out of town family.
We call them MAVs - Mormon Assault Vehicles. One pulls up, to doors slide open, and out pops 8 mormons.
I’m thrilled that you have found something this substantive about the evils of Mormonism. Had she been a member of a ‘real’ religion, this clearly would never have happened.
large capacity.
one word,
magazine? Jez kiddin'! lol
...and whatever they do they better not start' reachin'?
Ouch. but hey, you started it with the assault jokes. one good joke deserves another, maybe two?
Where's humble? I might need some back-up on this one...
But lds are all such nice people
Being out-familied, I backed down right quick.
"Ok, ok lady. It's your pew". no problem lol -- "but why do ya'll sit in the back corner? I'm just try to sneak in and not be noticed."
slinking away, muttering maybe I'll make it out of here before anybody offers me a visitor's card [grin]
My point is that telling somebody they are not welcome to sit down because a seat is “saved” is rude. Now if the guy knew that the seats were taken so that a family could sit together for a rare special occasion that might also be rude. But in most instances this is not the case. Rather the “savers” are simply looking out for their own convenience.
And they will tell you so, early and often!
And so, what? Are you saying that when people say Mormons are "nice" or "good people" (the shoe on the other foot)...
...that isn't "substantive?"
Really?
Why do surface moral judgments about "good/nice" Mormons =substance; and good surface moral judgments about this not-so-nice Mormon is suddenly off-limits?
******************
You know, this whole episode caters to the liberal caricature that Hollywood especially loves to depict "Christians" as...
And so...when counterfeit Christians claim to be Christians, yes, their actions effect the reputation of all of us truly in Christ.
I mean even Mormons recognize this...
I just happened to be reading these past two days a quotebook of Mormon quotes from Mormon women.
One Mormon woman, Belle S. Spafford, said: "The individual behavior of each person who claims to be a Mormon affects the reputation of the Church as a whole, and influences the opinions of people with regard to the general desirability of the religion and its effectiveness in the lives of Church Members. (Original source: Relief Society Magazine, August 1942, p. 550)
Do you think this Mormon woman is wrong?
Mrs. Stafford went on in that article (p. 551) to say that "ALL" Latter-day Saints now have unusual and abundant opportunity to teach the Gospel in the most impressive and effective way--by living according to Church standards every day under all circumstances."
Note that she didn't say "SOME"...now did she?
Mrs. Stafford also wrote in Today's World, p. 62: "Latter-day Saints can remain composed, they can calm the frenzy of others..." [Or, I suppose, they themselves can be the frenzied one -- like this Mormon guy at a Mormon church]
Mormon women like Janette Hales Beckham claimed in this same book that "Our stakes and wards CAN provide a place removed from worldly influences."
(I s'pose the operative word there is "can"...)
Had she been a member of a ‘real’ religion, this clearly would never have happened.
Hey, I'm not saying Christians in Christian churches haven't gotten "territorial" over "their" pew; but the extreme actions of this Mormon guy puts the burden upon you to back up this statement...and show us examples of where this has occurred under the umbrella of a Christian church.
Thank you for your candor. I was following this story and I agree it was uncalled for.
I’m thrilled that you have found something this substantive about the evils of Mormonism. Had she been a member of a ‘real’ religion, this clearly would never have happened.
You mean the individual person have nothing to do with it?
You mean the individual person have nothing to do with it?
However what you and i see as religion may be different.
Ha! I hate it when people save seats. There’ll be this entire pew with three people sitting there and then you try to sit down and they say, “Sorry, these seats are saved.” Ack! Then the program starts and we're sitting way in the back with the front row still basically empty and then TEN MINUTES LATE here comes a parade of yahoos going up to the front and sitting in that row - making a spectacle and commotion. Come to think of it, they're just lucky I never punched anyone over this. Ha!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.