Definitely an idea whose time has come!
Stan Beale suggested a T-shirt idea which I thought was great and would go right along with some other great ideas for ‘naclewear. We already have some T-shirts out there, like the BoH inspired shirt above, and I came up with the following items, which should sell like hotcakes. Feel free to add your own ideas for the gift shop in the comments.
President Obama has recently announced that the federal government will no longer defend legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which allows states to decline to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The President’s decision was based on a recommendation from the DOJ that the law is unconstitutional. GOP, and some democratic, lawmakers have lambasted the President’s decision as a dereliction of his duty, saying that it’s up to the courts to decide what laws are unconstitutional and that the executive branch must defend the laws passed by congress regardless of its opinions about the laws’ constitutionality.
This comes at a time when the tide (to me at least) seems to be turning more in favor of same-sex marriage and against the patchwork of laws (like California’s prop 8) which prohibit it. The Church has been fairly silent on this issue for some time now. What do you think? Are we at the point when same-sex marriage is going to begin to see more widespread acceptance? Is the President’s decision correct? Should the Church weigh in on this issue again, and if so, how?
For as long as I can remember, our sacrament service has included organ music that is played at the conclusion of the sacrament, during the time that the deacons and priests are returning to their seats. I don’t know how wide-spread this practice has been, and I never even knew what it was called, until this past Sunday when the practice was abruptly discontinued, apparently due to a change in the CHI, which now prohibits it.
The bishop announced the change, calling the music “sacrament postlude music.” He professed a certain lack of understanding about the reason for the prohibition, but said that the ward was discontinuing the practice anyway, out of obedience to the clear requirements of the CHI. He speculated that possibly the music was seen as an interruption of congregants’ ability to continue to feel the spirit of the sacrament, by unnecessarily marking a conclusion to the ordinance where none was necessary or intended. But that was only speculation as no reason for the change has been announced or is likely to be forthcoming.
Is this a big deal? No, not really. You would have to be a pretty observant participant in our worship services to really notice the change, but it’s significant to me and, more importantly, I don’t like it. I don’t know if my dissatisfaction is based on the fact that I will miss the little musical interlude or because I really don’t like mandated changes that are unexplained, but whatever the reason, I find myself irritated by this.
What are your thoughts? Did your wards have this practice and, if so, has it been eliminated? Have you heard, or do you have any additional explanation beyond what I have stated above? What’s going on here?
• There are too many faithless Mormons paying tithing
• Jmax writes one of his signature stupid posts
• Both appropriate sarcasm and intelligent counter-argument ensues
• Most of it is deleted
• Aaron B. Cox disguised as Jmax responds
• Jmax is M*’s friend so he’s allowed to call people hypocrites
• Blah…
• Geoff B reminds us (as do the Greg Olsen paintings on the wall) that M* is not our living room
• Seriously? You are going to edit THAT comment??
• If you don’t like America (or M*) JUST LEAVE!!
• Fondue with the Tanners
• Blah….
• Scripture as bludgeon
• DKL
• Those who call themselves Christians
• Blah…
• Blah…
• Chain of events inspires Rusty to write something for the first time in forever
• [yawn] Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…
This depresses the hell out of me.
After reading this story, I began to wonder what the 2012 campaign will be like if Romney and Huntman are both running. If both run, as seems likely, it will be the first time that two members of the Church will be in the race for president with a realistic chance to win. UPDATE: Here’s an interersting graphic. (more…)
