Since my husband is TBM, he will obviously push hard for my son to be ordained. My son goes to church with me half the time and with his father half the time. Ultimately it will be my son's choice, but in the next 18 months I have a feeling the pressure is going to get really strong from the TBM side for him to be ordained.

I haven't read much about the priesthood restoration.

Are there any books, articles, or tips that I could share with my boy?

Also - just telling me to tell my son that it's all made up fantasy isn't enough. I need facts (or at least church facts that contradict themselves).

I think you should share some things, tell him it's his decision, then make sure not to pressure. He will see the frantic craziness of the TBM pressure vs your gentle waiting.

If his priesthood interview with the Bishop is uncomfortable enough, then he might refrain from continuing that route -- if you do a good job of letting him know that he HAS the right to just say NO.


After all, how happy will he be to discuss his sexual habits with some old fogy?

Oh yes indeed. Chapter 7 of Grant Palmer's: An insider's view of Mormon origins. I highly recommend purchasing the book online through amazon.com or wherever, however, Chapter 7, which discusses the restoration of the priesthood is available to read online for free.

http://signaturebooks.com/2010/11/excerpt-an-insiders-view-of-mormon-origins/

This link contains the intro and chapter 7 of the book, so everything you'll need on the subject is right there. Excellent scholarly research on the subject.

I should add, that I read this early on in my research of the truth about TSCC, and whatever residual testimony I had left in the church, when I read this chapter, POOF, was gone! Especially in that of the priesthood and restoration. After reading that, I couldn't stand to listen to anything priesthood or Joseph Smith in church and I had to stop going.

See if you can get him to talk to you about the pressure he feels. He's old enough to understand that people want a piece of him, and want to control him. He should be able to dissect their behavior and compare it to peer pressure in other areas of his life. Ask him how he would try to convince someone to do what he wanted them to do.

I wonder if the details of priesthood restoration would be as interesting as asking him to describe God and why God would want a lot of rules and titles for people.

So 10 years old...

Have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ac_fLUHiBw

You could potentially watch appropriate sections with him and discuss it.

You could talk to him about Nephi & the brass plates and that it was wrong from Nephi to murder Laban. If God needed the plates he didn't need Nephi to murder someone and that hearing voices in our heads is never an excuse to kill someone or do anything else bad. When he agrees help him understand that the Book of Mormon can't be true then.

You could explain why the Jaredite barges are completely impossible. You can't fit enough food for that long, the air would not ventilate, the 8 barges wouldn't stay together, etc.

You could explain that when Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon that not nearly as much was know about the Americas as there is today and that as we learned more it proved Joseph Smith made it up: horses, barley, DNA evidence, etc.
http://mormonthink.com/book-of-mormon-problems.htm

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Now to think out loud:
I have a 10 year old son as well. I have a TBM wife. One of the real concerns I have is that with my kids having parents with different religious beliefs my children are caught in the middle. It's a challenging thing. I don't want to make a difficult thing worse by making my kids feel like they have to choose between Mom or Dad.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2012 12:41PM by bc.

I did supposedly get the gift of the Holy Ghost. It would have been nice if someone had told me ahead of time not to feel bad if I didn't feel a thing. And that it was all pretend.

It might cause problems in your marriage if you took THAT strong of a stance, and you do have some time before he's 12. Hopefully things will change. But if the time comes and he's ordained, at least tell him that if he doesn't feel the "power", he doesn't need to pretend, and it's not his fault.

But do talk with your husband and make it clear that pressure is not acceptable.

I would look up all references in the New Testament that refer to how old the priesthood were. They certainly were not 12.

Priesthood Restoration article at mormonthink....
http://mormonthink.com/priesthood.htm

Executive summary -- it never happened, and nobody
spoke or knew about it till years later when they
changed older 'revelations' and added stuff about
the 'Priesthood Restoration' to the D&C...

In a couple of years he is going to discover boobies. The church will try to make him feel uncomfortable about that. You need to let him know it is natural and nothing to feel ashamed. I'm not saying to give him porn, or anything like that, but let him know that what he does with his own body is his own business.

In time, he will realize that the Mormons make him feel like crap, and Mom's people make him feel good. It will make his decision easy.

Right now, all church is, is a place you go and sing songs about Jesus and Joseph Smith. He hasn't been hit with the shame train yet.

If it will make you feel better, one of the reasons the Morg hates mixed faith families, is because they do such a horrible job competing for the children.