So let me preface this by saying first that I do believe in the teachings and the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that members are generally a happy group with high moral standards and frankly it is a breath of fresh air compared to what is going on in this world. I love seeing teenagers who have an innocence about them and families just striving to find some kind of safe haven in their homes from the crazy world around them. I like the culture for the most part..BUT there are some things that make me feel..well..crazy? embarrassed? Like I want to punch someone in the face bc of the amount of cheeziness Im feeling at the moment?? I dont know. I cant put my finger on it. Maybe its just the "rebellion" that is in me. Let me give you examples:
First, there are some hymns that the latter day saints like to sing that make me nuts! ie:
"As Sisters in Zion" lyrics: "As sisters in zion, we all work together, the blessings of God on our labors we keep, We'll build up his kingdom with earnest endeavor, we'll comfort the weary and strengthen the weak". I dont know exactly what it is about this hymn that makes me crazy, maybe its the tune, maybe its the cheeseball lyrics.. whatever it is, everytime it is sung I cringe in my seat.
2. "Put your shoulder to the wheel" chorus: Put your shoulder to the wheel, push along, do your duty with a heart full of song, we all have work, let no one shirk, Put your shoulder to the wheel.
first of all, What wheel?? second, "do your duty with a heart full of song.." what are we Snow White??? And then, "Let no one shirk." what the crap is "shirk" is that even a word?? What if I said to my kids. "Soyer stop your shirking and clean your room!! C'mon Oliver, put that shoulder to the wheel!!" Or is it that I would say "Soyer, quit shirking!" either way, Lame. They would roll their eyes at me, which is exactly what I would want them to do If I ever said that to them.
3. "In our lovely Deseret" some lyrics: "That our children may live long and be beautiful and strong, Tea and coffee and tobacco they despise, Drink no liquor and they eat but a very little meat, they are seeking to be great and good and wise.." Okay.. so I get that the teachings are to refrain from things that could damage the body, but do we seriously need to sing it exuberantly in a song?? That is just embarrassing.
There are others.. and I will stop mentioning them.
There are others.. and I will stop mentioning them.
Other things that make me crazy in the mormon culture... and a few of these I have mentioned before but are worth mentioning again..
1. Denim skirts
2. Holiday sweaters with matching jewlery
3. Mini vans with stick figure families on the back of them
4. scrapbooking..
5. "cute" little wooden crafts and bows on everything
6. jello
7. bad silk flower arrangements in the home and at every lesson they teach.
8. BYU fans that only like BYU bc it is affiliated with the church {oh no you didnt!! .. oh yes I DID!} calm down Stacie and Kathryn, Im not talking about you.
OKAY OKAY, I will stop. I just had to get that off my chest.
it's a historical fact that Joe drank tea, coffee and was rebuked by Emma for having to clean up behind the boys after they luged tobacco all over the place, (oh yes I DID!) So yes, i agree, embarrassing lyrics - and false doctrine! (yes i DID - again) and it felt good. Now quit shirkin'! Funny post BTW. PS, this message is from the Historical Book Reading Society - Not Heidi. I was instructed to put this disclaimer on. If you would like to meet with the Historical Book Reading Society for some selected light readings, we meet every other tuesday night at the Lion's House.
ReplyDeleteHey Heidi, the Church didn't begin to push the "Word of Wisdom" until the 1930's. Brother Joseph drank and enjoyed Wine. However, to claim that a Church teaches false doctrine for outining a plan of healthy living sounds more like justification for poor decisions than anything else (oh yes I did!).
ReplyDeleteumm, is that Gary or Heidi?? its really hard to tell these days...[OH HELL YES I DID!!]
ReplyDeleteseriously Lysa? You have to ASK that? I am offended.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I love you.
ReplyDeleteHey. I have a really cute denim skirt that I wear to church. I am so offended!
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks Gary, for your useless piece of info. (you are a "shirk-er")
ReplyDeleteAgree with #8 - thanks for not lumping me into that group.
Long denim skirts, right? Cuz I have a denim mini and if you're trying to tell me it's cheezy...
ReplyDeleteDo you ever watch the funny mormon movies like RM and the like? RM is about my favorite movie because it makes fun of all the quirkies about our culture. The mom is making an ice sculpture in the back yard for her RS lesson the next day. The son is sleeping on a bed made out of food storage. His girlfriend got engaged right before he got back from his mission because he "got home two weeks earlier." You would love that I actually took that movie to my in-laws house, turned it on in their living room and watched it laughing my head off at it. (They are non-diet coke drinkers as well.) They were totally offended by it. Torturing the in-laws gives me great satisfaction. Anyway, if you haven't seen RM, Son's of Provo, etc. You gotta see them. Then let's talk about our favorite parts! (have I told you you're my favorite person in the world? Don't worry, I'm not going to write a song about it.)
Of course I mean long denim skirts...or the denim jumpers with embroidered nonsense on them. And I will go rent those movies bc I know I will laugh. And I LOVE that you tortured your inlaws with it, that is hilarious! You Rock.
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad that there are so many religions to choose from, including no religion, if one chooses. When we die (and we're all going to), I think we'll be pleasantly surprised to find that no one religion was the only right one, and no one religion was wrong. Us little humans is awfully arrogant.
ReplyDeleteso...are you the most humble of us all?
ReplyDelete