The 2000 Stripling Warriors
Post Sept. 11
- DISCLAIMER
- PURPOSES
OF MISSIONS
- My
first missionary interview
- Why
are you here?
- To
gain a personal testimony and save yourself.
- Gain
a testimony which is rooted in Christ, not the Church Culture
- THE
GOSPEL IS UNCHANGED BUT THE CHURCH DOES EVOLVE
- Abandonment
of circumcision challenged Hebrew orthodoxy
- Admission
of gentiles by baptism faced opposition
- Return
of “Zion’s Army” and loss of Missouri temple site left disillusionment
- Teaching
and later abandonment of polygamy brought apostasy
- Admission
of non-Israelites to the priesthood met with cynicism
- Abridgement
of temple ceremony prompted criticism
- 2000
STRIPLING WARRIORS
- Rose
to meet a challenge unknown to their parents’ generation
- What
was a righteous choice in a previous circumstance wasn’t the moral
imperative later (‘thou shalt not kill’ vs. ‘slay him’ as Nephi
discovered)
- Their
parents’ paradigms were the wrong ones for them
- They
had a strength in the gospel firmer than the comfort of their society
- YOUTH
FACE NEW CHALLENGES UNSEEN IN PREVIOUS YEARS
- Society
changes, the devil adapts, the church evolves to meet it
- A
personal testimony is critical when rapid changes outside the church may
require cultural adaptation within
- Being
accustomed to a culture is not the same as having a conviction of Christ
- SEP.
11 MARKED A NEW CONFLICT OF CIVILIZATION WHICH WILL REQUIRE A
RE-EXAMINATION OF OUR OWN CULTURE
- LDS
Church has strong ties to Victorian England
- Its
interpretation of chastity reflects this fact
- Girls
are taught to dress modestly and often told not to “become a temptation
to the men”
- This
logic is used to oppress women in Muslim cultures
- Circumcision
(preputialectomy) is accepted blindly
- It
was abandoned as a requirement 2000 years ago
- Exposing
the gland to constant stimulation provokes sexual pre-occupation and
activity including increased masturbation
- Female-genital
mutilation is becoming a global political issue
- Its
presence in our culture will become an issue of human-rights and must be
separated from doctrine and morality
- TESTIMONY
(If you’ve got one and haven’t totally screwed this up)