A scrum is a brutal shoving match in rugby to decide possession of the ball. It requires every ounce of strength, just like life. Welcome to my online rugby pitch where we don't shy away from tough questions.
"I never told my own religion, nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I have ever judged of the religion of others by their lives....For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be read."
--Thomas Jefferson
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come" -- Joseph Campbell
"The most distinctive mark of a cultured mind is the ability to take another’s point of view; to put one’s self in another’s place, and see life and its problems from a point of view different from one’s own. To be willing to test a new idea; to be able to live on the edge of difference in all matters intellectually; to examine without heat the burning question of the day; to have imaginative sympathy, openness and flexibility of mind, steadiness and poise of feeling, cool calmness of judgment, is to have culture." - A. H. R. Fairchild
The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.
- Gloria Steinem
Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man. - Bertrand Russell
If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books … We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. – John F. Kennedy
There is no room for self-expression in the priesthood.
- Elder David Bednar
My true religion, my simple faith is love and compassion. There is no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine, or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are--these are ultimately all we need.
-The Dalai Lama
Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.
- Cesar Chavez
It is not the mind of heretics that are deteriorated most, by the ban placed on all inquiry which does not end in the orthodox conclusions. The greatest harm is done to those who are not heretics, and whose whole mental development is cramped, and their reason cowed, by the fear of heresy.
- John Stuart Mill
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie
2 comments:
You're right! That was quite the amazing read...
To learn of the Pres. McKay, Elder McKonkie, Bro. England history was quite fascinating!
How often have you heard in a testimony that no matter where you go the "church is the same"? And it is usually said with such a sense of relief or comfort.
I understand the reason for correlation in a global church as headquarters tries to keep a grasp of its members, but to go to a little branch in India and see the sameness (sterile-ness) when so much color and expression of life and spirit is around you on every corner, and you find yourself sitting with the branch president and just the two of you sit in your white shirts and ties and read the same quotes from the same priesthood manual, is more than disheartening.
Rob, I was blown away by your positive rave over my blog, Pure Mormonism. Thank you SO MUCH for the kind response.
FYI, eventually I'm going to weigh in on the Prop 8 thing with a review of the film "8: The Mormon Proposition" in a month or two (I only write once or twice a month). Some of my readers have wondered where I stand on the controversy, so I guess it's time to reveal myself.
Spoiler alert: I think Senator Buttars is an awful, AWFUL excuse for a human being.
Again, thanks for your kind and ethusiastic words. People like you have really given that piece legs, and I've been caught by surprise at how much it has been resonating.
Post a Comment