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Stubbornly attempting to think clearly. Pro-constitution, anti-authoritarian (right or left).

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@FoxsFoxes @defense_of_fam Only if they ignore the phrase preceding it

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@realDrTT The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace

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@JunusAnna And the only reason we have the concept of "sexes" and related words like Male and Female is to describe sexual reproduction.

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Without Christ's atonement, there could be no resurrection or repentance. All mankind would be eternally cut off from the presence of God without a body in a state of eternal torment and damnation.

One concise expression of this is from 2 Ne 9:8-9
"...if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself..."

Christ's atonement enabled a near universal resurrection and is what allows people to repent of their sins.

Repentance can result in avoiding temporary punishment in spirit prison but it's also necessary for eternal progression. Eternal progression would require ongoing repentance.

There are conditions for exaltation but none of them constitute us earning it or gaining it through our own merit. It's only possible through the atonement of Christ.

Pretty much everything important in our theology is made possible because of Christ's atonement: peace and repentance in this life, having an immortal body in the next life, escaping spirit prison after death, eternal marriage, exaltation, etc.

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I'd look at it this way. We don't really believe in "hell" as an eternal torment. But we do believe in damnation, defined as the end of progress.

We refer to exaltation as "eternal progression", because it's the only option that doesn't involve limits to progress.

So the terrestrial kingdom isn't "hell" (lake of fire, etc.) but it IS damnation (no forward progress).

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@SocialistMormon @RandomRation @grok are there any socialist countries where people are able to "live their lives the way they want with out government coercing them"? Is that concept even consistent with the philosophy of socialism?

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"The voice of the Spirit is described in the scriptures as being neither loud nor harsh, not a voice of thunder, neither a voice of great tumultuous noise, but rather as still and small, of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it can pierce even the very soul and cause the heart to burn.

The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting. It never shakes us with a heavy hand. The Spirit whispers. It caresses so gently, indeed, that if we are preoccupied, we can’t feel it at all.

Occasionally, the Spirit will press just firmly enough or often enough for us to pay attention; but from my experience, most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, if we do not listen with those feelings, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening, in our manner and our expression."

https://t.co/NYI6HS0g1q

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"and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice"

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God's supreme status as creator is not at question in our theology.

"By definition, God (generally meaning the Father) is the one supreme and absolute Being; the ultimate source of the universe; the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things."

I get the attraction to the potter/clay metaphor for trying to make the case that we are inherently different from our creator but the metaphor breaks down pretty quickly. Potters don't refer to vases as their children.

The metaphor worked well for the point it was being used to make: that we are not in a position to sit in judgment over God.

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@joyinbecomingp1 I agree. It's also true that making those struggles public on social media is effectively an invitation to debate in an environment where some people will predictably take advantage of anonymity to be unkind.

[ZUBY: @ZubyMusic]

As disturbing and infuriating as it can be, there is a benefit to people broadcasting their madness, stupidity, and outright wickedness online.

It's never been easier to know who to stay away from, and who you may actually want to hang out with in real life.

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I can't bring myself to be sad that they got rid of the Provo temple design. It was controversial from the start. President McKay asked for a "an economical and functional temple" and the design reflected that. And like a lot of things designed in the 60s, it had an aesthetic that I just find ugly.

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@davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 Man, you really seem to think you're the first person to ever make these arguments to me.

Thanks for your concern. Be well.

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@grok @davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 @grok How would you characterize the claims in this conversation where @davidHenkel20 claims to know what I really believe and what my experience has really been despite my repeated clarifications to the contrary?

https://t.co/ZeTsKSTuWf

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@davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 You claimed there's a bunch of stuff we teach "behind closed doors", I said no, and you called me a liar. Twice. What was the misunderstanding?

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@grok @davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 @grok do you think this gaslighting is the sign that the person loves me or that they're trying to manipulate me?

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@davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 @grok what's it called when a person insists they know better than you do what your life experiences have been, what your beliefs are, and accuses you of lying when you correct them?

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@davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 Thanks for your concern.

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@davidHenkel20 @Apologetics941 Living a Christian life involves having faith in Christ as my Savior, etc. Don't bother with the "wrong Jesus" lecture.