An evangelical live-blogs General Conference — Sunday Afternoon Session

I’m back, but I am so running out of steam. I’ve sat through all this conference and I have to go to my evangelical church afterward, and I can’t miss it since I missed it the last two weeks.
/exhausted
There’s also a live-blog thread over at By Common Consent which will probably be more interesting than mine, but I’ll do my best.
Steve Evans at BCC has posted some pictures of the Conference protesters with audio. This was my favorite one:
I’d be all over that.
Oh good, MoTab is up again. That means I get to play Where’s Waldo Huntsman.
Nope, didn’t spot him this time.
So I’m noticing that the opening and closing prayer has so far been offered by a man each session. Are women not allowed to offer the prayers at Conference? Do I need to add another thing to my ever-growing list of “gender rules in Mormonism that annoy the crap out of me”?
Okay, Dallin H. Oaks is up. That is one of the GAs my old pastor has met.
I’m not really getting how Oaks reckons that Latter-day Saints are “unique” as a group in fulfilling the Scripture he cited. Evangelicals, for example, don’t have a lay ministry or a missionary program quite like the LDS one, but we have tons of ways of serving others.
I don’t think that it’s necessarily “selfish” for a couple to not rear children, either. Some people find that they’re called to serve God in other ways.
“You can’t be a lifesaver if you look like all the other swimmers on the beach.” Nyuk, nyuk.
Uh-oh, a C.S. Lewis quote! The folks at CARM are going to be pissed.
While I disagree with a few quibbles, so far I think this is a good talk.
Now we have David A. Bednar. Another temple talk?
Ill-advised criticism of the temple from some within the church? Uh-oh, liberal Mormons, methinks you’re in trouble.
What sort of protection is he talking about that temple covenants are supposed to bring? I mean, anti-Mormons regularly mock Mormons for supposedly thinking garments physically protect them. Just some sort of spiritual guard against the world?
Gary E. Stevenson is speaking. Seth, I saw your comment at BCC and you’re mean.
José A. Teixeira speaking now. I even got the accent in his name.
Wait, General Authorities need GPS?? I thought they had bat-phones to God.
F. Michael Watson speaking now.
“It may contradict your political views.” I think they’re going after you anti-Prop-8 Mormons.
Time for L. Tom Perry! I used to work in your special collections, Elder Perry. It was an awesome job.
Oh hell no, not a missionary talk. I’m in trouble. Now I’m gonna get, like, four friendly offers from members in my husband’s church wondering if I “need anything” this week.
Now Monson is up. Oooh, I think I feel a blogger slam coming up.
Here it comes, Bloggernacle…
When Monson talks about pornography on the Internet, “The Internet is for Porn” from Avenue Q pops into my head.
Guess not, Bloggernacle. You live to fight another day.
Well, thanks everyone for hanging out with me. I gotta get ready to go to my church now. Until next time…

Comments

An evangelical live-blogs General Conference — Sunday Afternoon Session — 44 Comments

  1. The huggers are definitely the best dressed anti-Mormons I’ve seen in my life. Certainly a lot classier than some of the other ones. Do they expect to hug the demon spirit out of us?
    I’m actually surprised, Jack, that more Evangelicals haven’t asked these guys to stop. They make us think all Evangelicals are poorly dressed, poorly educated, haters. Luckily Jack, you’re the opposite of these. And I’d rather assume that more Evangelicals are like you than “Blind Prophet” man. Maybe pass the word on…
  3. There’s an evangelical group called “Standing Together Ministries,” MadChemist. One of the things they do on Conference day is stand outside near where the Protesters stand, offer cookies and juice and donuts and wish Conference goers well. The direct goal isn’t to proselyte, it’s only to counter the negativism of hostile evangelical street preachers. So I’m not the only one.
  8. There was a guy at the Hill Cumorah Pageant who was there just to counter the negativity. All these anti-Mormons were there yelling stupidities—”God hates you!” “You’re going to hell!”—and this guy just stood there saying, “No he doesn’t. God loves you. God loves everyone. God will always love you.” What a totally classy guy.
    Oh, and I guess that with “O My Father” being sung in Conference, it’s time for me to get with the program….
  9. It’s not one of my shining favorites, but it’s a good quote.
    The quote I used in my theosis article from “Man or rabbit?” is my favorite quote from Lewis. I also like…
    “Nothing can deceive unless it bears a plausible resemblance to the truth.”
  15. My favorite quote from C.S. Lewis:
    The people who keep on asking if they can’t lead a decent life without Christ, don’t know what life is about; if they did they would know that ‘a decent life’ is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear—the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.
    I like this quote, because it combines deification with implied animal cruelty!
    Okay, I’m not really pro-animal-cruelty. I just like talking about it to annoy the PETA crowd.
  16. I wonder if Elder Oaks is aware that a version of that C.S. Lewis quote is actually a frequently used anti-Mormon chestnut.
    “You guys believe in becoming gods! That was what Satan was selling!”
  22. Perplexing as in “disagreeable” or “troubling” or “incongruous”?
    When I get a chance to really listen to Conference (i.e., kids in bed), I’ll listen with you in mind.
  23. How do I put this…
    I’ve certainly come to the conclusion that I don’t think temple ordinances are inherently evil, Satan-inspired, creepy, etc. I’m embarrassed to admit how long it’s taken me to shed that part of the mentality I took on from my brief time as an anti-Mormon, but with no one willing to discuss things with me and explain them to me, I had no opportunities for catharsis. I don’t trust people enough to take vague assertions at face value.
    And the things I’ve heard from you, Rob, Katie and even Huntsman back in my BYU days have me convinced that God can meet with people in temples and grant them powerful spiritual experiences, even if I think those rituals are superfluous in the grand scheme of things.
    But there are still things about it that I don’t like, and I don’t think even you or Rob could fix that for me no matter how specific you got. Suffer it to say though that I’m more appreciative and understanding of the place the temple holds in the lives of Latter-day Saints.
  24. What is it that freaks you out so bad? Is it the secrecy? The idea of needing all these extra ordinances for salvation? The work for the dead aspect? (Something else?)
  26. FWIW, and I know it’s late.
    Oaks wasn’t trying to piss of anti-Mormons, but he was circumventing them. Serves the anti’s right though. After 170 years of doctrine about LDS theosis they still try and portray LDS theosis as “God replacing” vs “God given” that Mormons actually believe. Mormons believe we can be made god by grace, and nothing in the CS Lewis quote contradicts that.
  29. Well put. I don’t fault anyone for instinctively viewing the temple negatively—there are enough spooky religious cults out there to be suspicious of secrecy. Add to that all the falsehoods antis spread about the temple and it just gets worse.
    Eventually, however, I expect people to either drop beliefs they really know nothing about, or to become informed (aka, “grow up”).
    I also don’t fault informed people, such as you, for still not liking the temple; you have no testimony of it or of the things that would lead one to it. But I’m glad that you can respect what it means to us, and our right to cherish to it.
  30. Jack,
    I would add to BrianJ’s comment, that I respect you because you try and understand instead of just condemning. Isn’t it funny how your respect just leads to further reciprocation of respect?
  34. Take ‘em up on it! Get them to watch the kid while you and your husband go snog in a darkened movie theatre or something.
    NOTE: snog is quite possibly my favorite word in the entire universe
  37. There’s a Trigun version of “The Internet is for Porn” on YouTube with Vash singing the Trekkie part, but I would feel sacrilegious if I linked to it on a thread about LDS General Conference.
  43. Two relevant comments, Jack.
    First, there was a woman in one of my areas that refused to listen to the women speakers because she didn’t think they said anything substantive.
    Second, after Elder Oaks’ comment about the couple who thought a dog would be less trouble than kids, my wife said, “When they complain about living in a cardboard box in heaven, God will respond, ‘I thought it would be less trouble than a house.’”
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