Daily Prompt: Truth or Dare

Daily Prompt: Truth or Dare.

Seriously? Is it possible to be too honest?

Let’s chew on some deliciously salty food for thought, shall we?

 

-Yes honey, that dress DOES make your butt look big.

-Actually potential mate who happens to be a single mother, I find kids to be irritating and gross.

-No, I actually find organic food to be a supreme waste of money.

-No darling child, I love you and your siblings all the same.

 

Honesty is NOT always the best policy.

I’m sorry, but in my personal world view, I find that occasionally there is a time where shading the truth, omitting facts, or flat out ignoring something is going to be the best option available. No questions asked, hands down.

If we lived in a world where everyone was 100% honest 100% of the time in regards to 100% of all the things, then I believe we would find a way to cope with it. In fact, I believe it would make SOME things better.

Examples? Of course I have examples.

-ANYTHING politically charged! I’d like to see what the president had to say if he couldn’t lie for a few days.

-Courting rituals! Is this a one night stand or is he/she actually looking for love?

-Poker? Actually, this would ruin poker, but I’m sure we could come up with a new game if we tried.

-Fast food advertising! I’d like to see a poster that actually showed what a taco bell burrito looked like when they used truth to sell it.

***SIDE NOTE!***

Taco Bell burritos actually look like they are advertised. It’s everything else that doesn’t look accurate. I mean seriously, how hard is it to screw up the sale of a tortilla.

Regardless, back to the rant.

 

Truth is subjective to the situation where it is used in our current society. My religious roots tell me that the ability to choose… to choose right from wrong, good from evil, or truth from fiction is essential to our trial and purpose to being on this earth. Taking away ones free agency is something that would defeat the entire purpose of being here.

So… truth or dare… it’s a valid question. I choose truth simply because it is USUALLY the easiest method.

But are there times where it’s not the best option? Absolutely. It’s just up to the individual to determine when those situations arise.

 

*** Secondary side note!***

Darling wife: No, that dress does NOT make your butt look big.

Former Potential Mate: I do ACTUALLY like kids.

Organic Food Hippie: Sorry, Organic food IS still a scam. Sorry. And get a haircut you dirty hippie!

Loving children: I do love you equally! Sometimes I like one of you more than the other, but I LOVE you equally! (Don’t hate! I believe there is a difference between liking someone and loving someone. Deal with it!)

Advertisement

Wait, Forever what?

Alright, while this one is religious as well, I’m going a slightly different direction with it. Please bear with me.

I was reading through a few of the Catholic creeds earlier tonight. Now, I have catholic friends. If my church didn’t exist, I would either be Catholic or Jewish. I have absolutely NO complaints with the Catholic church. I feel like I need to point that out quite heavily right off the bat.

This post is more or less an observation and my comments on the observation.

Okay, here we go.

Bob and Julie are dating each other. They decide to be good kids and abstain until marriage. (Good call guys!)
The wedding night comes.
They go to their hotel.
What happens next? Well, you don’t need to be a Rocket Surgeon or a Heart Scientist to figure that one out.

Yeah… That.
That’s EXACTLY what happens!
You know it. I know it. Bob and Julie know it. EVERYONE knows it. Hell, that little rocket liftoff probably takes place four or fives times in the next 48 hours. But I digress. I’m getting to my point. Almost there.

Now, every single married couple in the history of anything knows that this is what takes place. Now, additionally, most of us do this at least a few more times over the next 50 years of supposed marital bliss. Funny thing about that is this is where we get children.

Well, as I was saying, this is going to go back to the Catholic Creeds in a moment.
Let’s roll the clock back about 2,000+ years to the outskirts of Jerusalem. There was a pretty girl named Mary. She had a hot doggin slightly older boyfriend named Joseph. He had the looks, the hair (thick and curly), and a souped up donkey that he had just paid off. This guy had it all. Now, like any good couple, they were making the proper choice of waiting for the wedding night to do anything.
Well, an angel of the Lord comes along and says “Hey, Mary, guess what? You’re gonna be a mamma.”
Mary was a little thrown off but generally excited by this. Joseph was a tad thrown off, but after a little divine coercing, he agreed to the whole thing and was quite excited about being the father of the Messiah.

So, lets fast forward a bit. The little baby Jesus is born. Swaddled in linens, laying in a manger, and all the fun stuff we read about in the “My first bible” that seems to be in every single dentists office on the planet.
*Seriously, next time you go to a doctor or dentist, there will be one of those light blue books sitting on the table. I almost guarantee it!

Well, Jesus is born, and I don’t quite recall if it happened before or after the birth, but Joseph and Mary get married.
Lets go back a few lines in this post and you can see what Bob and Julie did.
That’s right, the exact same thing every other married person on the planet in the history of ANYTHING did…

Again, here we are.

And probably again within the next few days.

Or at least that is what nearly any person on the street would think.

Well, here comes the point. Thanks for following this far.

The Catholic church believes in a total of four major creeds.

The Athanasian Creed.
The Apostle’s Creed.
The Nicene Creed.
and the creed which caught my eye…
The Trentine Creed or The Creed of Pius IV.

The trentine creed was written in 1564 a.d.
It consists of 12 statements of belief that are akin to the 13 Articles of Faith that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses… except the Trentine Creed has some really off the wall stuff in it.

Number 8 is what caught my eye.

8. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the mother of God, ever virgin, and also of the saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.

Okay… I got it. God, Mary, Saints. Good people. Honor and Revere them. I’m on it.

But wait… The mother of God, EVER VIRGIN…

wait wait wait… WHAT?

Okay, I understand that we are talking about the Virgin Mary here, but COME ON….
Virgin birth is a tenant of most christian beliefs. I personally support the idea of the virgin birth. But EVER VIRGIN?

Do you really mean to tell me that after Cool Joe, owner of the souped up donkey and the thick curly hair NEVER got the chance to be with his wife?

All those trips to the temple, all those trips to jerusalem, all those years of raising a child, and he never once got to be with her?

/facepalm

I don’t quite think I agree with what Pope Pious the IV is trying to say here.

If this statement by him really holds any water (which I don’t think it does), then Joseph got the raw end of the deal.

Just saying.

-G

The Articles of Faith as a step ladder of knowledge.

I often frequent a certain discussion board online. http://www.mormondialogue.org in fact. I quite enjoy the often frank discussions among my peers. And while the conversations are usually friendly, too the point, and often derailed into odd little tangents that make your head spin, I have managed to learn a lot from this crowd.

Little things like why the Lord made the meat sweet to Lehi and his family. Can’t cook it because smoke from fire draws in bandits that will rape, pillage, burn, and eat your family in that part of the world. Just little gems really.

More than anything, I like the generally relevant conversation and friendly demeanor of most of the posters.

Anyways, a while back, I stumbled on a post made by a gentleman who goes by the name of PaPa. Now, while I don’t classify myself as being anywhere near as smart as these guys, he had made a post that seemed so perfectly sublime and insightful that I have shared it with members of my family, my congregation at church, and generally anyone whom I have had a religious discussion with over the last three years since it was written.

The post will be pasted below so that you can read it. But I wanted to make sure that everyone knew where it came from and that I didn’t author it. PaPa from Mormondialogue.org did. And hoo boy, he did a GREAT job in my opinion.

I hope you read it. I hope you enjoy it. And I hope you learn something from it. It’s always the little things that impress me the most and this did a fine job of doing just that for me.

Enjoy.

The Articles of Faith…A Flow Chart of Revelation:

In what is known as the Wentworth Letter the Prophet Joseph Smith listed what has come to be known as The Articles of Faith. These articles offer a flow chart of Revelation listing in order the fundamental doctrines and beliefs of the Lord’s Church in these Latter-days.

First… Joseph establishes that “there is a “God”, and that we believe that this “God” (or Godhead) is made up of three individuals that being…

1 We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

Second… Joseph teaches that because there is a God (in whom “we believe”) that we as his children are accountable unto him, accountable for our own sins and not for another’s.

2 We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

Third…because there is a God and we are accountable to him for our sins…that He “God” has provided a way to overcome those sins and be saved from the penalties of sin if we repent.

3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Forth…After establishing that through the atonement and obedience to the “laws and ordinances of the gospel”, he then establishes the first “principles and ordinances” of the gospel which are…

4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Fifth…Having established the “first principles and ordinances of the gospel” he reveals that God has given unto man the authority to officiate in the ordinances, and the means by which he is called and ordained…

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

Sixth…Joseph then goes on to list the organization and its structure which gives unto man that authority and the offices in which he is to act with that authority…

6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

Seventh…that within this established organization and because of the offices appointed therein the members of that organization can and do enjoy the following spiritual gifts…

7 We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

Eighth…Having established that there is a God and that his organization has now been established he (Joseph) then lists the scriptures that establish these beliefs, and the standard by which these truths are governed…

8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

Ninth…Having listed the scriptures which govern the church also goes on to establish that God will continue to reveal the requirements and additional standards and scriptures by which it to be governed…

9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

Tenth…he then teaches that all of these things are for the gathering of his people and that the same land upon which the church is established is the same land where God will build his kingdom upon earth from which he will govern all kingdoms…

10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

Eleventh…After establishing that there is a God and we as his children are accountable unto him, and the offices and ordinances have been established to carry out his purposes, we proclaim unto the world that these are our beliefs and that we worship God “according to the dictates of our own consciences”, and that we “allow all men to do the same”.

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Twelfth…After having established all of these things then we acknowledge that after making ourselves subject unto God’s kingdom (first) we then are reminded and commanded that we also have an obligation to earthly kingdoms as set forth in the scriptures…

12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

Finally…The standards of conduct by which we are bound to both heavenly and earthly kingdoms…and our hope for both.

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

In the above paragraphs, PaPa pointed out some very profound things concerning these simple things that I was taught as a child. I grew up memorizing these articles of faith. I grew up believing each and every statement. The kicker though was that I thought that they were just a smattering of teachings that covered lots of stuff. I had never built a correlation in my head as to how they tied together. PaPa did an AMAZING job in doing just that. Because of this, I have gained a stronger understanding of these simple articles. I had a greater respect for what President Smith put to paper. And I took the teachings contained in the Articles of Faith a little more to heart once I saw that there was a bigger picture behind them.

So, Kudos PaPa for pointing out this step ladder of knowledge… and thanks to anyone that took the time to read the entire thing.

-G

That’s what I said! I picked my words for a reason.

Okay, Genesis is an interesting book in the Bible. It really is.
A lot of good things take place in the Bible, especially Genesis.
However, I was involved in a debate with some people recently that angered me. Well, after the debate ended, I had calmed down, and I was reflecting on some of the things that had taken place in my life, I had a realization.

My opponent in the debate, was WRONG!

I know what you’re thinking; “Garen, how do you know your opponent was wrong?”
Well, here is my answer. I will give you a link and then explain what I noticed.
First, some back story.
People that are convinced that the earth was created in 6 days time (144 hours) are retards! Honestly, thats how I feel. Also, the 6,000 year old earth theory is retarded also in my view.
Allow me to explain. We were debating the age of the earth, and I was talking to people of both viewpoints. Now, after the fact, I had remembered something that I had learned in the temple with my wife in regards to the creation story, and for some reason, at that point in my life, the thought stuck out. Well, here I was 6 months later, and I was able to use what I had learned.

Now, the link: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gen/1
I want you to start by paying attention to verses 3 and 4. Dark and Light are referred to as “Day and Night”. Okay, so that’s how we got what we usually consider to be “days”. But, there was something interesting in the end of verse 5.
“And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
At first, I didn’t think that this was significant. But, it turns out it is. Here is how I know.
In verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31, this same verbiage is used.
Now, we could look at the theory of “1,000 years is a human day” and maybe try and make that fit, but I disagree.
In each of these verses, the period of time where this specific step of creation took place is referred to be the “Morning and Evening” and then given a number for the day. I don’t think that these days of creation are the same as the typical days that were created in verses 3 and 4.
So, how long were each of the days of creation? I don’t know. Does it matter? Not really. My salvation doesn’t depend on it. So, with this little tidbit of personal insight, it cleared up a few things for me.
-Is the earth 6.8 billion years old? It could be. We don’t know how long each day of creation was. Heck, each day could have been a different length in order to facilitate the creative needs of that step.
-Did dinosaurs exist? Possibly. We have the bones, so there is nothing to suggest that they didn’t. God may have had a purpose for them. But for the days of creation to do their thing, there may well have been time for them to roam the earth, get their bodies, and move on.
-Is the earth really only 6-9,000 years old? I’m guessing no, but then again, God IS capable of anything.

Anyways, with this idea that the days of creation aren’t set in to stone as is suggested by many in the evangelical reich, it eases my mind a little, and actually makes the validity of the scriptures and the temple a little firmer in my mind.

Hope this was worth your time to read.