Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - Changing attitudes about "worldliness" in the LC.

Freedom · 02-07-2015, 07:35 PM

Since I grew up in the LC, I can speak regarding my impressions over the years and what I have experienced more recently. I wasn't around in the "old days" so all I know about that is stories that people have shared here. I think in the past, a much more literal view was held regarding worldliness. I have read stories of worldliness associated with watching TV, going to the movies, etc. I hear they liked to bring personal possessions to the beach to burn. Nowadays I think worldliness is associated with anything that distracts people from going to meetings. I also think that things like movies are still viewed as worldly, although, no one is really going to care much if YP are going to the movies. Worldliness could be taken to mean anything, for instance, if someones job keeps them from attending a semi-annual training, they might be labeled as too worldly. In my experience there is a wide variation on how "legal" elders are. Some essentially forbid going to the movies and some turn a blind eye.

Growing up in the LC, I feel like I got it ingrained in me what is acceptable and what isn't. There is some type of boundary, and though I can't say what it is, it has definitely changed over the years. When I see some of the things that some of the YP do, I wonder how they get away with it. I know that I couldn't have gotten away with some things when I was younger.

I think that "officially" many things are still unacceptable. I was at a conference back in the mid 2000's where Minoru expressed his concern that some saints still had a TV in their homes. I thought to myself at the time that he was pretty naive. I still think that. It isn't some saints that have TV's in their homes now, it's many.

When there was the Great Lakes split, one of the issues that I remember the BB's making a big issue of was the YP who were starting to experiment musically by including drums, bass guitars, electric guitar, etc in meetings. The BB's claimed all this was worldly. Little do the BB's know, but pro-LSM saints have done the same thing in the privacy of home meetings. Essentially, there is a double standard, however, I think there is a line that saints know not to cross in a visible way.

I think that in order to successfully recruit new members, they have to publically portray an image of being more "relaxed" about things than in the past. They let college students get away with things that FTTA graduates won't get away with. I think a lot is situation dependent.

02-07-2015, 07:35 PM	#4
Freedom Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 1,636	Re: Changing attitudes about "worldliness" within the LC. Since I grew up in the LC, I can speak regarding my impressions over the years and what I have experienced more recently. I wasn't around in the "old days" so all I know about that is stories that people have shared here. I think in the past, a much more literal view was held regarding worldliness. I have read stories of worldliness associated with watching TV, going to the movies, etc. I hear they liked to bring personal possessions to the beach to burn. Nowadays I think worldliness is associated with anything that distracts people from going to meetings. I also think that things like movies are still viewed as worldly, although, no one is really going to care much if YP are going to the movies. Worldliness could be taken to mean anything, for instance, if someones job keeps them from attending a semi-annual training, they might be labeled as too worldly. In my experience there is a wide variation on how "legal" elders are. Some essentially forbid going to the movies and some turn a blind eye. Growing up in the LC, I feel like I got it ingrained in me what is acceptable and what isn't. There is some type of boundary, and though I can't say what it is, it has definitely changed over the years. When I see some of the things that some of the YP do, I wonder how they get away with it. I know that I couldn't have gotten away with some things when I was younger. I think that "officially" many things are still unacceptable. I was at a conference back in the mid 2000's where Minoru expressed his concern that some saints still had a TV in their homes. I thought to myself at the time that he was pretty naive. I still think that. It isn't some saints that have TV's in their homes now, it's many. When there was the Great Lakes split, one of the issues that I remember the BB's making a big issue of was the YP who were starting to experiment musically by including drums, bass guitars, electric guitar, etc in meetings. The BB's claimed all this was worldly. Little do the BB's know, but pro-LSM saints have done the same thing in the privacy of home meetings. Essentially, there is a double standard, however, I think there is a line that saints know not to cross in a visible way. I think that in order to successfully recruit new members, they have to publically portray an image of being more "relaxed" about things than in the past. They let college students get away with things that FTTA graduates won't get away with. I think a lot is situation dependent.