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	threegoldfish 2008-07-31 05:58 pm UTC (link)
	So far as I know, to most non-religious people and more accepting denominations, yes. However, there are a number of denominations (a lot of Evangelicals) that go "Oh hell no." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sithwitch13
2008-07-31 06:04 pm UTC (link)

Back when I was dating a Mormon, one of the women in choir with me used to try to get me to convert him because "They aren't really Christians! It's a cult!" and was unhappy with my answer that I hated it when people tried to convert me so I was going to give him the same courtesy. Now if only he'd extended that same courtesy back :-/

But anyway, she had some idea about space aliens and God not really existing or something. I'm pretty sure she got Scientology and LDS confused.

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	dreamer_marie 2008-07-31 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	Don't good Mormons get their own planet when they die? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	twoiskewl 2008-07-31 06:53 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah if you're a good Mormon you become a god yourself when you die, I believe. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	snacky 2008-07-31 07:13 pm UTC (link)
	I once saw a movie at a Mormon temple about what happened after you died. Heaven looked like a celestial bus station, is all I'm saying. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cal 2008-07-31 08:11 pm UTC (link)
	Defending Your Life has an remarkably similar sequence. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rhosyn_du 2008-08-01 11:51 pm UTC (link)
	My understanding is that's true only if you have a penis. This understanding is based on a conversation I had over ten years ago, though, so I could be totally off-base. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lyssa 2008-07-31 08:10 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, and the guys get multiple wives to bear them spirit children for all eternity. Well, that's if they bring their wife through the veil, anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sithwitch13 2008-07-31 08:31 pm UTC (link)
	I seem to remember the ex-BF telling me, "If we get married here [the Temple in Utah, I think, though I was reading or watching TV or something at the time] it means we're married for all eternity! Isn't that great?" And then he got mad when I told him that I was only seventeen and didn't want to be married anytime soon. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	skeleton_key 2008-07-31 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	There's a bazillion and two mormon temples in Utah, let me tell you. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sithwitch13 2008-07-31 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	This one was really big and he was making a big deal about the pillars. Or something. I seem to recall "moonstone" being mentioned and thinking of the plenary arches and Dogma for some reason. Anyway. I'm now happily married to an agnostic who has never once told me that I was compromising his connection to God. ~~My issues, let me show you them.~~ (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

skeleton_key
2008-07-31 09:59 pm UTC (link)

That would be the Salt Lake Temple, then. (Had to look it up.)

I grew up in a mormon family. :/

Copied from a temple information site:

Earthstones. The earthstones, located at the base of each buttress, represent the earth—the "footstool of God." Although the earth is currently a telestial kingdom, it will transition to a terrestrial kingdom at the coming of the Millennium; and at the end of one thousand years, it is destined to become a celestial kingdom.

Moonstones. Located directly above the earthstones, the moon is depicted in its various phases around the temple. The changing moon can represent the stages of human progression from birth to resurrection or represent the patron's journey from darkness to light.

Sunstones. Located directly about the moonstones, the sunstones depict the sun—a symbol of the glory of the celestial kingdom.

wtf. I did not know about this.

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skeleton_key
2008-07-31 10:01 pm UTC (link)

Wait, there's even more:

Cloudstones. High above the sunstones on the east center tower are two clouds with descending rays of light (originally planned to be one white and one black with descending trumpets.) The parallel of this symbolism is found in the Old Testament. Once temples were dedicated in ancient Israel, they were filled with the "cloud of the Lord." At Mount Sinai, the children of Israel saw this cloud as both dark and bright accompanied by the blasting of a trumpet.

Starstones. Six-pointed stars represent the actual stars in the heaven. Upside-down five-pointed stars represent morning stars, compared to the "sons of God" in the scriptures. The large upright five-pointed stars may represent the governing power of the priesthood while the small upright five-pointed stars may represent the saving power of the priesthood for those who attach themselves to it.

Big Dipper. High on the west center tower is a depiction of the Big Dipper, a constellation used by travelers for thousands of years to find the North Star. It is an appropriate symbol for the temple where patrons come to get their bearings on the journey home.

Handclasp. Each of the center towers features a pair of clasped right hands identified as the "right hands of fellowship" cited in Galatians 2:9. In Jeremiah 31:32, the Lord uses the handclasp to denote covenant making—an act at the very heart of temple worship.

All-Seeing Eye. Located atop each of the center towers of the temple is the all-seeing eye of God, which represents God's ability to see all things.2

....okay, why did I never learn about this weirdness in church?

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tofuknight, 2008-08-01 12:28 am UTC

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skeleton_key, 2008-08-01 02:29 am UTC

	dreamer_marie 2008-08-01 02:11 pm UTC (link)
	That's nothing: when I was 18, my boyfriend had already set the date for a wedding I had not agreed to. It was supposed to be a few weeks before a presidential election in which he wanted to run. His reasoning was that people would vote for him because he was getting married. Dumping him was one of the best things I ever did. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sithwitch13 2008-08-01 02:16 pm UTC (link)
	o_O Holy crap, dude. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	agent_hyatt 2008-08-01 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	Presidential election...? How old was he?! If he wasn't at least 35, he wouldn't have been able to run, and if he was, what was he doing marrying a teenager? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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dreamer_marie, 2008-08-03 05:23 pm UTC

	skeleton_key 2008-08-01 02:35 am UTC (link)
	raises hand I had to live through 16 years of the mormon church. They never actually taught that to us. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

lyssa
2008-08-01 05:32 am UTC (link)

Bringing your wife through the veil I've heard referenced in Carolyn Jessop's book Escape, and in numerous stories on Recovery from Mormonism, a huge collection of ex-mormons who pretty much talk about their problems with both the faith and leaving it, and many of them have done a lot of digging into Mormon theology. The whole veil thing is a part of all the temple weddings I've ever heard of.

Not to say you're lying at all, but I swear I've heard it from sources I believe. I just don't want you to think I'm talking magic Mormon smack that's in vogue >.>

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	skeleton_key 2008-08-01 04:08 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, nononono. I know about the veil thing, of course. I meant the multiple wives thing. I certainly know about both, they just didn't teach us about the second. They didn't tell us a lot of things. Gah, I am glad I'm out. I have nothing against mormons. Hell, my mother is one. shrugs (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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lyssa, 2008-08-01 07:02 pm UTC

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skeleton_key, 2008-08-01 07:43 pm UTC

	skeleton_key 2008-08-01 02:33 am UTC (link)
	Kind of, yes. Kolob If I remember right, one day on 'Kolob' is 1000 years here. No, I don't get it either and I used to be mormon. Not anymore. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ladybirdsleeps 2008-07-31 07:03 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, but they do the same thing to Catholics. ("Idolators sucking on the teat of the WHORE OF BABYLON!" and other such charming arguments.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	chaimonkey 2008-07-31 07:44 pm UTC (link)
	But she's such a pretty whore. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seiberwing 2008-07-31 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	They say it like it's a bad thing. I mean, if it was good enough for Jesus... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bienegold 2008-08-01 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Ah, good times. I grew up Presbyterian (and not one of the wacky break-off sects), and my brother and I got hassled because my dad was originally Catholic, even though he was a member of the church. Trufax. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	brown_betty 2008-07-31 10:02 pm UTC (link)
	Oh man, I've been in a variety of pretty liberal (ie., "Of course Catholics are Christians! Why would you ask such a thing!?") churches, and I gotta say, the consensus there is pretty much "Oh hell no," but with an attempt to sound less horrified by the implication. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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