Posted on 04/15/2010 8:56:50 AM PDT by T Minus Four
Think of the Salt Lake Temple as a designer bottle holding a one-of-a-kind fragrance.
Think of the gardens and buildings of Temple Square as bubble wrap around that container.
Think of the City Creek Center to the south, the Church Plaza to the east, the Conference Center to the north, and the Family History Library and Church History Museum to the west as a firm, sturdy box around all of it.
When something merits that much protection, you have to figure rough bumps and bounces are coming down the road.
I get a feeling the LDS Church sees turbulence ahead -- nasty weather -- and it is making preparations.
It's not about being defensive and keeping things out.
It's about being protective and keeping precious things safe.
When the chilly winds blow, forest creatures gather all that's life-sustaining about them.
Horses in the fields cluster together to stand against the hail.
I feel the LDS Church battening down the hatches for bad weather.
The Tabernacle Choir, which was performing musical versions of Robert Frost poetry and other secular works, now releases CDs filled with songs of faith, assurance and the need to rely on the Divine.
I feel protection is the point behind the long row of sentries -- those Mormon temples -- that stand along the Wasatch -- the new Brigham City temple, new Payson temple, the new remade Ogden temple and all the others.
I feel protect precious things is the point of the new mission statements of LDS businesses, the point for books that are picked for publication and the lessons selected for manuals.
Part of the world would divide and conquer.
The church would gather and protect.
Something uneasy this way comes. Not a vilent clash as in Jerusalem -- where cultures fight openly. We won't be seeing stone throwers in the streets of Salt Lake City.
The battle here won't be about territory.
It will be about choices -- about the advent of a bolder, more self-indulgent popular culture.
The church can see the writing on the wall -- often literally.
And graffiti on the temple will never do.
It's time -- as the old hymn has it -- to "safely gather in, ere the winter storms begin."
The plan is not to force people away.
The plan is to keep what's on the inside safe from harm.
And if that means putting up ramparts and watchtowers, so be it.
Even heaven, if you believe the stories, is a gated community -- not to keep people away, but to safeguard the gentle hearts of those who dwell there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com Jerry Earl Johnston chronicles his take on the Mormon experience in his column “New Harmony,” which appears on MormonTimes.com on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Losing members???
- - - - -
Faster than you can imagine. According to an acquaintance (we have some mutual friends) who worked in the name removal office, they had a hard time keeping up and that office was the fastest growing.
when I left in the early 1990’s the rumor was about 1200 name removal requests, as of 2001 or so the number was about 40,000. But since the LDS does not release official numbers, it is difficult to pinpoint the loss.
They do admit to a ZERO percent growth rate which means that those leaving every year are close to the number of converts plus children born in the faith.
Add to that that many people don’t even bother with the name removal process. When I was in grad school I knew 14 other former Mormons and I was the ONLY one who went through the name removal process. Only one was ex-communicated (before name removal was allowed). The other 12 just simply quit going. The LDS church does not ex-communicate for non attendance so those 12 were still counted as members of the LDS church and will be until 110 YEARS (!) after their birth date. Someone born in 1970 who leaves the church as a teenager but doesn’t go through the name removal process (which can be a hassle), will be counted as a member of the LDS church until the year 2080 regardless of when they died, if no ‘temple work’ is done for them post-mortem.
All of this shows that, contrary to what the LDS ‘party line’ is they are not the ‘fasted growing church’ NOR do they have 14million members who are ‘active’. The actual number is MUCH lower and thus LDS,inc. has gone on the defensive in order to keep membership.
ping to #21
Those of us who live in Utah might be aware that there is some controversy about the LDS CHurch buying up property around the temple in Salt Lake City. They are building a large commerce center of some kind - shopping, apartments, restaurants.
I’m not sure how this fits in with the article claiming they are establishing a “buffer zone of protection” unless they plan to exclude non-LDS from living, working and shopping/eating there.
There is some bitterness among the locals who mourn the loss of the historic downtown character, the mom-and-pop stores and eateries which will lose their leases and be razed to make room for this.
Not sure about all the politics of that...
Of course you would post that link.
Your Mormonism depends upon a denigration of all Bible translations, especially those that would make actual Christianity more accessible and understandable to the common people.
Did you know that the NIV contains records that were not available to the King James translators and so it is a more complete translation of extant earlier New Testament translations?
Of course you didn’t. Your Mormon Church would NEVER actually tell you the truth about the NIV, would it?
Actually, I posted it from his own posts. Have a great day!
Cousin Jerry Earl waxing poetic again.
How is that?
Shades of Adolph Hitler...
A bunker...
There are literally hundreds of inactive, non-believing Mormons among my associates, who haven't taken the time to formally remove themselves.
At my daughters wedding, there were 150 former-Mormon guest who didn't believe in Mormonism and laughed openly about the inanity of the beliefs of the sect but remained on the ‘official’ rolls of the Church.
Less and less Christian and more and more cultish.
The link? From whose posts?
Make yourself clear please.
I could name several dozen off the top of my head. Probably know many more but it never came up in conversation.
You have such an interesting family ;)
What?
And by “New Records” do you mean scripture not found in the KJV of the Bible. Wow! You mean, that particular version of a collection of work’s by Prophet’s over time, was not the COMPLETE doctrinal record over time. Of course, ANY Biblical SCHOLAR knows that ANY collection of books that make up a modern Bible don’t include the FULL record, or they’d easily be able to point to the Book (Epistle actually) that would make up 1 Corinthians, since “1st Corinthians” is actually a subsequent letter, and not “1st Corinthians” after all. Ergo, there are more and more texts not included in the Bible. The Bible is true, as far as correctly translated, and there are many translations, and not all of them correct.
The incomplete collection of works which are compiled into our current version of the Bible (And yes, some books were taken out, some added over the centuries, this is FACT, look it up), makes up scripture, but it is incomplete. You’re welcome.
And the retreat occurs...
Epic.
>>Losing members???<<
If that’s the way you want to see it.
Personally, I’m seeing the handwriting on the wall. I’m seeing people being watched and arrested for their conservative beliefs. You may not like the LDS but they are conservative.
If they can arrest 9 guys for believing in Revelations, prepping for the oncoming storm and playing soldier in the woods here in MI, any one of us conservatives could be next. (I have yet to find any proof that those guys are guilty of sedition)
I’m building my own walls and I’m not LDS.
Bless you too :)
That's a very good question, and I'm afraid there is no real easy way to answer. I've read accounts that say church membership is slowing, but other sources say we are growing. In fact, it is projected that we will approach the 200 million mark by century end.
(written in 1999)
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