Discussions toward a better understanding of LDS doctrine, history, and culture. Discussion of Christianity, religion, and faith in general is welcome.
This of course is in clear violation of of President Packer’s “Unwritten Order of Things”:
Funerals could and should be the most spiritually impressive. They are becoming informal family reunions in front of ward members. Often the Spirit is repulsed by humorous experiences or jokes when the time could be devoted to teaching the things of the Spirit, even the sacred things.
When the family insists that several family members speak in a funeral, we hear about the deceased instead of about the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the comforting promises revealed in the scriptures. Now it’s all right to have a family member speak at a funeral, but if they do, their remarks should be in keeping with the spirit of the meeting.
I have told my Brethren in that day when my funeral is held, if any of them who speak talk about me, I will raise up and correct them. The gospel is to be preached. I know of no meeting where the congregation is in a better state of readiness to receive revelation and inspiration from a speaker than they are at a funeral. This privilege is being taken away from us because we don’t understand the order of things—the unwritten order of things—that relates to the administration of the Church and the reception of the Spirit.
Just one of many ways that the rules the members are expected to follow aren’t the same ones the Brethren follow...
"The truth is elegantly simple. The lie needs complex apologia. 4 simple words: Joe made it up. It answers everything with the perfect simplicity of Occam's Razor. Every convoluted excuse withers." - Some guy on Reddit called disposazelph
Meh. I strongly suspect that Boyd Packer was the only one of the GAs who actually believed that. I've been to many an LDS funeral and no one has ever paid that advice much attention - even when bishops ask them to.
I was once a cafeteria Mormon on a hunger strike. Have since found a buffet elsewhere.
Yeah, Packer probably hated birthday parties too. You're probably not even thinking about Jesus while you're blowing out those candles. And puppies. I'm pretty sure he hated puppies.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain
Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."
Man, I hated that Unwritten (aka Pharisaical) Order of Things talk. Heck, they didn't even follow the rules at Packer's own funeral! It's just about control, where Packer wanted to control things down to the very last minute they put you in the ground. What crap. I'm glad they talked about the good things Monson did in his life. That's how I want mine to go - although I hope someone has the stones to point out the moments I was an a-hole. That would be the one of the best unMormon funerals ever!
"And I don't need you...or, your homespun philosophies."
"And when you try to break my spirit, it won't work, because there's nothing left to break."
I remember Packer coming to a Stake Conference at my stake back in my waffling TBM days. Everyone went dead silent and stood while he and his wife sanctimoniously walked into the room.
I remember reading somewhere that little handicapped children were going to be exalted Gods--do to their mental handicap that didn't allow them to arrive at the age of accountability. It was clear, from those teachings, that such children were "spiritually advanced to the highest degree". And, no one ever stood up for one of those people being wheeled into the room. But we did stand for this racist homophobe who walked in, like he was some kind of king or something.
The whole thing gave me a double take. It was hero worship, even deference like one would give to a ... err....cult leader?
Creepy.
The whole "Unwritten order of things" is total bullsh!t.
The little factory foreman was certainly influential. The funerals I've attended prominently feature at least one talk that is little more than a missionary discussion for the nons in attendance. They sound more like a sales pitch.
Often the Spirit is repulsed by humorous experiences or jokes...
This part is crap. What kind of god is repulsed by humorous experiences and jokes?
Ah, I think I know. It's the kind who talks only in certain positive emotions, and therefore makes a bunch of arbitrary rules intended to suppress all other emotions. The kind who looks down on worship with clapping or guitars. The kind who thinks anger is always bad, despair always comes of iniquity, and laughter is a gateway drug. The staid, stuffy, and emotionally repressive god of Mormonism.
/rant
By the way, this "unwritten order" of funerals is actually written order. Handbook 2, section 18.6.4:
When a bishop conducts a funeral, he or one of his counselors oversees the planning of the service. He considers the wishes of the family, but he ensures that the funeral is simple and dignified, with music and brief addresses and sermons centered on the gospel, including the comfort afforded by the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection...
Funerals provide an important opportunity to teach the gospel and testify of the plan of salvation. They also provide an opportunity to pay tribute to the deceased. However, such tributes should not dominate a funeral service.
Often the Spirit is repulsed by humorous experiences or jokes...
This part is crap. What kind of god is repulsed by humorous experiences and jokes?
Ah, I think I know. It's the kind who talks only in certain positive emotions, and therefore makes a bunch of arbitrary rules intended to suppress all other emotions. The kind who looks down on worship with clapping or guitars. The kind who thinks anger is always bad, despair always comes of iniquity, and laughter is a gateway drug. The staid, stuffy, and emotionally repressive god of Mormonism.
/rant
By the way, this "unwritten order" of funerals is actually written order. Handbook 2, section 18.6.4:
When a bishop conducts a funeral, he or one of his counselors oversees the planning of the service. He considers the wishes of the family, but he ensures that the funeral is simple and dignified, with music and brief addresses and sermons centered on the gospel, including the comfort afforded by the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection...
Funerals provide an important opportunity to teach the gospel and testify of the plan of salvation. They also provide an opportunity to pay tribute to the deceased. However, such tributes should not dominate a funeral service.
Yep, another case of “do as we say, not as we do”. The rules are for the little people.
"The truth is elegantly simple. The lie needs complex apologia. 4 simple words: Joe made it up. It answers everything with the perfect simplicity of Occam's Razor. Every convoluted excuse withers." - Some guy on Reddit called disposazelph
