| Subject: | Reader Comment in the Ensign - Mormon Church Official Magazine Oct 2003 |
| Date: | Oct 28 13:15 2003 |
| Author: | PhilosopherExMo |
| I had to share something with y'all and get your
opinions. I was at my parents house this weekend and bored, so I flipped
through the Ensign. (You know you're a Mormon if the only magazines you
have in the house are Ensigns.) I think it was the October issue. If anyone has the October ensign laying around, would you mind posting the actual text? I'm going to really paraphrase here. Anyway, in the back they have letters and comments from readers and there was one that basically said that this guy and his wife felt like heavenly father was labeling them bad parents since their children were not born mentally retarded. They came to this conclusion after hearing that only those parents strong enough to handle the challenge are blessed with mentally challenged children. This guy started to feel really bad since his kids were "normal" until the holy ghost reminded him that one of his kids was an apostate and that's even worse than being mentally handicapped. My mouth actually dropped open when I read this. Apparently to the morg mind the more screwed up your kids are the better parents you must have been? And jealousy is a natural reaction when you encounter the parents of a handicapped child? Can people really be this self-centered? I thought in order to reach that level of self-absorption you had to be a cartoon character. I didn't know it was humanly possible. Philo |
| Subject: | Re: Reader Comment in the Ensign |
| Date: | Oct 28 13:26 |
| Author: | Mari |
| Mail Address: |
| Just when you think you've heard it all.... This
church is making people crazy! |
| Subject: | Must be a misprint |
| Date: | Oct 28 17:02 |
| Author: | Secular Priest |
| Mail Address: |
| Tell me this is not a true letter.
[It is a true letter see text further in this thread] Have we as a
church gotten to this level? No wonder I am inactive with this type of thinking taken as "normal." How sad. Makes me weep. |
| Subject: | Re: Reader Comment in the Ensign |
| Date: | Oct 28 13:32 |
| Author: | Dumpster |
| Mail Address: |
| I'd be interested to see that too. The CHI directs
ecclesiastical leaders not to speculate on why children are born with
conditions like mental retardation or why they are born into particular
families, so it strikes me as a little odd that they would publish this
letter. It's not only the LDS who see kids with exceptionalities as a
blessing to a family. We still occasionally get comments from non-LDS
people about how we must be really special people to have two kids like
ours. It's annoying to hear that, which I suppose is why the CHI tells
the leadership not to do it. It could be that only a Mormon would think
himself cursed for having typical children. That is truly warped. |
| Subject: | Here is the letter. |
| Date: | Oct 28 13:47 |
| Author: | Dumpster |
| Mail Address: |
| "Entrusted with Her Care" in the July 2003
Ensign caused me to ponder about "special" children being sent
to parents who can handle their challenges. I always wondered if, since
all three of our children are free from mental and physical defects,
Heavenly Father didn't trust me and my wife with a challenging child.
Then I heard the still, small voice whisper to me: "What about your
oldest son, who isn't attending church right now? I've entrusted to your
care some of my precious children who need parents who can lead them
back to my presence, which might be as big a challenge as coping with
Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy." A powerful message for parents
of physically and mentally "perfect" children who are wayward
at this point in their lives. Larry Beck Tigard, Oregon Let the deconstruction of Larry begin! |
| Subject: | How incredibly sad. This man reminds me of the... |
| Date: | Oct 28 14:08 |
| Author: | TheMollusk |
| ...little girls on the sleazy tabloid talk shows
that want a baby simply because they think they can handle it. It's a
status symbol. Something to prove your worth and capability. People with that mentality, and the ability to reproduce, frighten me. |
| Subject: | This idiot is beyond belief - and the Ensign PUBLISHES his letter? n/t |
| Date: | Oct 28 15:23 |
| Author: | Get me OUT!!!! |
| Subject: | Oh.....My.......God!!!!! His parents were obviously very valiant to be entrusted with this retard. |
| Subject: | Oh My God |
| Date: | Oct 28 18:07 |
| Author: | xmormon |
| That is the worst letter I have ever read. What kind
of parent thinks dealing with a apostate son is the same as dealing with
a Down Syndrome kid or one with Cerebral Palsy? I think the first 30 or
60 days is all a family really hurts when they learn of a son or
daughter, then they just get over it. A parent with kids with real
problems deal with them their whole lives. The lady is a horrible person.
She sounds like a Mormon though. What a dumb letter. |
| Subject: | NO...No...No...Somebody....Pulleeeeeeeeze... (little cussing) |
| Date: | Oct 28 23:51 |
| Author: | Merilynn |
| Mail Address: |
| Please, please, please, please tell me that I never
really belonged to that totally mind-f*cking, f*cked up, sick, sick,
sick cult! Oh, never mind...don't tell me, I don't want to know. GAWD! Even if the publishers of that rag don't agree with that opinion, WHY would they publish something like that? Why-oh-why-oh-WHY????? Oh, my parents must be soooooo worthy. They now have an apostate daughter. Actually, they've been worthy all along--I, for one, will admit I must have been mentally disabled to have fallen for that bullshit for 45 years. |
| Subject: | Re: Reader Comment in the Ensign |
| Date: | Oct 28 13:55 |
| Author: | Micro |
| Mail Address: |
| I read it. I was stunned as well. |
| Subject: | Even when a TBM is perfect, they have to feel like something's wrong with them. Sad... |
| Subject: | Re: Reader Comment in the Ensign |
| Date: | Oct 28 15:01 |
| Author: | Ladybug |
| Mail Address: |
| Wow! How sad. Can't even appreciate having a
healthy, normal child. And to suggest that a child not going to church
is the same as having to deal with a child with a chronic illness or
disability is lame. I would gladly let my son stay home from church if
his Down syndrome could be lifted. Although, I suppose that would be
considered selfish since he is a "shoe in" for the CK right
now. |
| Subject: | Re: Reader Comment in the Ensign |
| Date: | Oct 28 15:01 |
| Author: | rain-mom |
| As the parent of a now deceased, severely disabled
daughter, I'm utterly disgusted that someone would feel
"unworthy" by having only "normal" children. I also
have a "normal" son. While I can say that having my child in
my life for 7 years was one of the best & most rewarding experiences
of my life; it was also difficult beyond the ability of common words to
express. The experience of having a person completely without guile in
your life is fantastic. But, the Mormons don't have a patent on this
experience. Having never been TBM I was always told that Emi's life was to teach me to be "closer to our heavenly father". In reality, her existence in my life caused me to see the unvarnished truth about the way the disabled & those closely associated with them are treated in our society. Sweet, tender words outside of the workplace; harshness, dishonesty and little or no empathy in the workplace. I'm surprised the CHI doesn't encourage members to express the notion of "Heavenly father's most special spirits" because I heard that ad nauseum for years. (NEVER in the workplace.) I wish it WERE true, but being an atheist now I think it's just another of many unanswered questions about life. |
| Subject: | This pisses me off ...... |
| Date: | Oct 28 15:38 |
| Author: | Nora_AZ |
| Mail Address: |
| I work in a teenage girls group home. A few girls
there are mentally challenged. One of these girls (she's now 21 but has
been the group home since she was 11) comes from a very LDS family. She
is too much for them to handle so she is now a ward of the State so they
wont have to cover her medical care or her basic needs. The state does
all of this. What a good fine upstanding Mormon family this is though. Mom and Dad visit her every other weekend for an hour with her brothers and sisters. What a fine example on how to deal with a family member these parents are giving their other children. They have NEVER come to get her on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and this year failed to even acknowledge her birthday. |
| Subject: | Am I reading this right? |
| Date: | Oct 28 15:51 |
| Author: | Apparently Mentally Challenged |
| Mail Address: |
| Mormon + "challenging child" = trusted by
Heavenly Father Mormon + apostate child = trusted by Heavenly Father Mormon + "normal" child = NOT trusted by Heavenly Father Mormon + apostasy = mentally challenged |
| Subject: | What about "free agency?" |
| Date: | Oct 28 16:01 |
| Author: | Dumpster |
| Mail Address: |
| You know, Larry's still small voice gave him some
false doctrine, so it must have been of the devil, right? I mean,
Heavenly Father
gave him a kid who would become apostate so Larry and wife could bring
him back into the church. That kid evidently had no choice regarding
whether to apostatize or not, which means he had no agency, which means
that Satan's plan was in effect. Stay away from Larry. He's evil! |
| Subject: | family...isn't it about time? (language) |
| Date: | Oct 28 17:47 |
| Author: | MollyNoMore |
| Well, unless of course you have apostate kids, in
which case, treat them like the mentally deficient humanoids they really
are. Nice message. |
| Subject: | If this person wanted a disabled child, why not adopt one? |
Recovery from Mormonism - The Mormon Church - www.exmormon.org |