My two sons attended a "special" fireside with Elder Rasband on Saturday. It was to be a Q&A for the regional youth. My son said that Rasband started off saying that did not want any questions about "challenging historical or doctrinal issues." As expected, the only questions that were asked were ones like "How can I better prepare for a mission?" and "How can I dress more modestly?" and "How can I fit scripture study into my busy schedule?". This infuriates me to no end. A supposed apostle of the Lord, who knows damn well about the issues and the lies, telling my kids and countless others that those topics are off limits. The silver lining is that I got a chance to talk to my sons about those challenging historical and doctrinal issues.

Fluff. Let's just talk about the fluff. Kid's are not stupid. They got the underlying message and fears. Rasband shot himself in the foot if he thought otherwise. How did your sons react and what were the topics you addressed with them?

I have been very upfront with my kids about what I view as inconsistencies, lies and outright false doctrines of the Church. They know all about the "challenging historical and doctrinal issues." I asked my oldest son what question he would have asked if he had a chance...he said he would have asked why Joseph, after supposedly receiving the sealing power, sealed himself to over a dozen women before sealing himself, years later to his wife and children. My other son chimed in and said he would have asked why the plates were even necessary if Joseph got the Book of Mormon word for word from a rock in a hat. My boys rock.

Excellent questions.

"Everybody tape your mouths shut. Good! You are now free to ask the leaders any questions that are troubling you."

Pathetic!

If I were a bold youth, I would have asked:

"How can we get the General Authorities to address our questions about church history/ doctrinal issues? I've heard about some of them, and I don't know where to look for answers. It seems like the prophet should have some answers for us. If we can't ask YOU, who SHOULD we ask?"

That's excellent! ^

Yeah, I was wondering too whether the question "Why do you not want any questions about "challenging historical or doctrinal issues" was off the table too.

"How can I better prepare for a mission?"

"Elder Rasband, how do I better prepare myself for my mission when an investigator hits me we with Joseph Smith's many wives, the rock in the hat, the contradictions between the BoM and later doctrine, conflicting First Visions, paying tithing instead of buying food, and a hundred other things that make us look like a lying cult??"

TJC
Were you surprised?

Not surprised at all. I find it funny that they now have to preface their Q&As with these sort of caveats. The youth aren't stupid. Those that have questions will see the emperor in all his nude glory and loudly declare him buck naked.

I am so glad that my children and grandchildren know nothing of Mormonism (other than it's fucked up) and will never be subjected to assholes like Rasband and his gang.

RB

TJC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
As expected, the only questions that
> were asked were ones like "How can I better
> prepare for a mission?" and "How can I dress more
> modestly?" and "How can I fit scripture study into
> my busy schedule?". This infuriates me to no end.


How can I better prepare for a mission? Give up everything you enjoy doing, pick an arbitrary dictator and do everything he says, down to what flavor of toothpaste to use, and harass strangers about The Gospel.

How can i dress more modestly? Wear a damned burka.

How can I fit scripture into my busy schedule? Give up sleep.

What drivel! Even I could answer those questions. Apparently it's far too much to expect an Apostle of the Lord to handle a difficult doctrinal question.

Back in the late 70's I was a Clothing and Textile major and I was enrolled in her "Selection and Care of Clothing" class. A good chunk of the grade was the completion of a project that required the careful selection and organization of a huge number of textile swatches. It was a lot of work and I was glad when I finally handed it in. A few weeks later the professor called me up to the front of the class and said my swatch book was missing. I told her that I had handed it in. She looked at me suspiciously and said she didn't have it. I was rather panicked as it seemed we were at an impasse and I really didn't know what I was going to do since it represented a whole semester's worth of work and there was no way I could redo the project. After about a week and half of sweating it out she approached me and said-quite casually that she had found it in the back seat of her car where her kid had been playing with it. The whole thing made me rather uneasy since it was difficult for me to shake the idea that out of a whole class of Mormons, the only project that got lost in the back seat of the professor's car was the one "nevermos". It was also my first run-in with unruly Mormon children andcareless parents. Somehow I could never bring myself to dislodge the notion that there was something wildly irresponsible and downright unseemly about stashing college work in the back seat with a two year old.

For those wondering, BYU no longer has a "Clothing and Textiles" department. I found this out a few years ago while trying to get a course description on a few classes I wanted to transfer to another university. I explained what I was trying to find out to the operator and she transferred my call. The voice on the other end said "laundry".

You forgot to ask about Mark Hoffman and discernment in the ranks of the GAs.