Saturday AM Conference Open Thread: Literary Edition

I am excited for Conference this weekend! I have always loved General Conference and General Conference Weekend. This weekend, I am particularly excited because a number of my friends from Mormon Studies and the Bloggernacle have agreed to join me for these open threads.

This morning we will be joined by Sheldon L., a doctoral student in English. He also teaches reading and writing at the university-level. He guest posted here at FPR a while back. Oh, and he is one of my favorite people in the world. I consider him to be a Mormon Thoreau.

Some ground rules for the open threads:

1. Be Nice.

2. Disagreement with the comments and talks is allowed…mocking is not.

3. This is a faithful..though liberal at times…Mormon blog. The threads will be conducted accordingly.

I look forward to everyone’s comments. I like Conference with friends.

158 Replies to “Saturday AM Conference Open Thread: Literary Edition”

  1. My general conference prediction: most everything said will be a rewording of everything said last year–which was a rewording of everything said the year before, which was a rewording of everything said the year before( which was a rewording of everything said the year before). In face one Seventy’s talk will be comprised almost entirely of quotations from President Monson’s talks from last year. That Seventy be the next Apostle.

  2. I don’t have one because I’m isolated in my office at the computer with a radio. But my kids chose “Jesus” so I think they are going to nail it with this NT talk.

  3. Prediction: There will be heavy ‘nacle criticism of LTP’s discussion of Sunday dress. That criticism will entirely miss the mark, because he has explained why dress matters, and doesn’t just state a fiat.

  4. Did they really announce a Fort Collins Temple? That would be the nearest temple to us here in Casper. We are 4 hours from Billing (our temple district) and also 4 hours from Denver. Fort Collins would be less than three hours. I wonder if it would be our temple district.

  5. I wish that in discussing following Jesus, there would be more emphasis in doing those things that Jesus was actually doing–feeding the poor and healing the sick. Based on these talks, it would seem that following Jesus consists of being evangelizing ascetics.

  6. Cool, Chris. I wonder if Casper will get a temple anytime soon. Does it seem like it could keep one busy?

  7. Chris, do we really need to be told on how to dress on Sundays? Was Jesus really that concerned with how we were dressed and how closely we followed a set of rules on the sabbath?

  8. Sheldon, the population of Wyoming is so small that I think the temples in neighboring states will be it for a while. There are rumors about the field next to our stake center…

  9. Narrator, if you are suggesting that keeping a part in your hair isn’t following Jesus, then you need to read your Bible again 🙂

  10. Contra Perry, Jesus’s whole point in Mark 2:27 was that they were missing the whole point of the Sabbath and had turned the Sabbath from a day of rest into a day of worship manifest through strict obedience to arbitrary interpretations of work.

  11. The overriding concern of Jesus was the souls of men and women. This doesn’t mean that he would never recommend a certain dress. He is the one who gave Israel the Law of Moses, after all. However, I don’t know if he would emphasize this over and over each time he teaches people.

  12. “Pain is a gauge of the healing process.” Um, no, pain isn’t a gauge of the healing process. The pain I felt for my kidney stone two weeks ago was not part of some healing process.

  13. I do think there is much power in connecting our pain with the pain experienced by Christ. I hope we can connect with the pain of others rather than dismissing it.

  14. Seemed to me that Elder Perry misread many words as he read from the teleprompter. Especially I hear him read “sacrament” instead of “Sabbath” when he quoted the scripture passage that asserts the Sabbath was not made for man.

  15. I’m not watching conference right now, so I’m a little lost. Cook is talking about pawing through someone’s purse? Whaa?

  16. “Eventually they found her receipts and looked at what items she had purchased: caffeine-free sodas–and then a return receipt for the sodas, which she probably returned after feeling the spirit and deciding that she did not want to appear to be participating in evil.”

  17. Steve, he’s talking about how rifling through your date’s purse is a great way to know if she is the right one.

  18. Chris,

    as long as women do not have actual church authority over men, the talks men give about women will always be awkward.

  19. Don’t judge working women or say they are less valiant. But then he talks about how they may have extenuating circumstances that we don’t know about. Doesn’t approve of those who are doing it because they want to. This will be discouraging for many.

  20. “LDS should be at the forefront, creating an environment in the workplace that is more receptive to women and men in their responsibilities in the home.”

    Sounds like Finland…

  21. “This will be discouraging for many.”

    Not to my thinking. It is a reminder that women’s proper behavior is circumscribed within the bounds of propriety — just as much as men.

  22. including children is something that makes me want to serve more. I want them to develop that sympathy Pres. eyeing talked of….a sense of justice.

    Not….going…to cry. I love Pres. Eyring. I want to hug him.

  23. Rexburg’s tsunami…a good thing it happened during the day or hundreds, maybe thousands, would have died.

  24. I’d be remiss if I didn’t stand to take thank my good friend Chris for this opportunity to comment. His efforts to reactivate me in the Bloggernacle will not go unrewarded.

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