Re: Temple attendance, temple recommend, temple, temple temple!
Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2023 10:58 pm
I walked through the celestial room and knelt at the alter with my sibs and parents as we were all sealed together when I was about 13 years old. I saw the weird hats and clothes, but didn't think too much about it because it felt nice that we were all together and it had been a really long wait with little kids in the nursery. The whole thing was kind of a blur, but we were so focused on the joy of being a "forever family" that the weirdness didn't sink in. At least not with me.nibbler wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:46 pmThe people in attendance of a sealing aren't even in temple clothes, just Sunday dress with little booties. I guess the reason they don't open it up to members in general (which is still too restrictive IMO) is because the couple is in temple clothes and they do one of the secret handshakes.
When it comes to the public, I think they really do have to ease people into being introduced to the temple clothing. You can't just cold water splash that in the face of uninitiated people. The clothing is weird. Period. People really would talk if they saw the clothing for the first time and they were outside the context of being locked into an ordinance that's required for their wedding or mission.
The handshake is the handshake. They probably should rework that whole thing such that it's no longer done at all or no longer secret.
Here's the thing though, they currently let children that are not endowed be sealed to their parents in a live parent/child sealing ordinance. IIRC that ordinance has the exact same issue of temple clothes and handshakes. Maybe they're banking on little children forgetting all that stuff? The point is that if unendowed children can take part, why can't the unendowed, non-TR card carrying members take part in a simple sealing?
What's the harm in simply witnessing the event? The orthodox might say that non-TR holding people in the temple would defile it but there are plenty of people with TRs that do that. I think one principle reason is that it's weird and it might scare some people away from the only carrot the church has to dangle.