I'm leaving this message board

[David13]

I enjoy the different perspectives here. I would never desire anyone to be silenced. What better way to test my own beliefs, assumptions, and biases than against those of others? There have been many times I have been in the process of writing a response to a post only to delete it part way through because I discovered something beautiful and true in what they had said and something ugly and false in my own belief. There have also been times when I have felt my belief to be confirmed.

It can be uncomfortable though. I understand why sometimes people want to be surrounded by those of like mind and spirit. It is a vacation from the hard work that is required for spiritual self-improvement. There is nothing wrong with a vacation from time to time, but when it becomes your main pursuit in life you will stagnate.

And perhaps, on the contrary, when you get around, and surround yourself with like minded people, you grow more. You are able to advance based on the advance state of development of the things you all value the most.
And maybe when you are in a hodge podge of contention, off the wall nonsense, and other useless stuff of "diversity" you stagnate.

Who knows for sure? Do you?
dc

I agree that there is value in being around those with the same beliefs and ideals. I prefer that myself. There is plenty of growth that can happen there. But at some point, you need to test those beliefs. In order to do that, you must be able to hear and measure the beliefs of others. If you do not, you will most definately stagnate and reach a limit to your growth. This is the pattern of the plan of salvation. We must be tested.

The church and the gospel provide a firm foundation in doctrine and principles. They have the keys to organize the work. But at some point we must be able to take those principles and ideas and make them our own. I find this site a wonderful place for the exam to determine if our understanding is sound or lacking. As a consequence, I have found my understanding to be faulty more often than I ever would have suspected.

Our tests are individual and personal.
I don't need to go to the Catholic Church to find out if I believe the Book of Mormon to be true.
I don't need someone to tell me it isn't true to know if I believe it is true or not.
Our knowledge of the Gospel is like growing flowers in a garden. We can grow the same flowers, but weeds detract from the growth of the flowers, they do not teach the flowers anything, nor enhance them in any way.
Many of the weeds stifle and choke out the flowers. The weeds take over and destroy the flowers.
Diversity of culture gives you a lowest common denominator, not exaltation.
I learn here from those deeply and faithfully rooted in the Gospel, not from the apostates.
I'll stick with the flowers. You can have the weeds.
dc

[Rose Garden]

I enjoy the different perspectives here. I would never desire anyone to be silenced. What better way to test my own beliefs, assumptions, and biases than against those of others? There have been many times I have been in the process of writing a response to a post only to delete it part way through because I discovered something beautiful and true in what they had said and something ugly and false in my own belief. There have also been times when I have felt my belief to be confirmed.

It can be uncomfortable though. I understand why sometimes people want to be surrounded by those of like mind and spirit. It is a vacation from the hard work that is required for spiritual self-improvement. There is nothing wrong with a vacation from time to time, but when it becomes your main pursuit in life you will stagnate.

And perhaps, on the contrary, when you get around, and surround yourself with like minded people, you grow more. You are able to advance based on the advance state of development of the things you all value the most.
And maybe when you are in a hodge podge of contention, off the wall nonsense, and other useless stuff of "diversity" you stagnate.

Who knows for sure? Do you?
dc

I agree that there is value in being around those with the same beliefs and ideals. I prefer that myself. There is plenty of growth that can happen there. But at some point, you need to test those beliefs. In order to do that, you must be able to hear and measure the beliefs of others. If you do not, you will most definately stagnate and reach a limit to your growth. This is the pattern of the plan of salvation. We must be tested.

The church and the gospel provide a firm foundation in doctrine and principles. They have the keys to organize the work. But at some point we must be able to take those principles and ideas and make them our own. I find this site a wonderful place for the exam to determine if our understanding is sound or lacking. As a consequence, I have found my understanding to be faulty more often than I ever would have suspected.

Our tests are individual and personal.
I don't need to go to the Catholic Church to find out if I believe the Book of Mormon to be true.
I don't need someone to tell me it isn't true to know if I believe it is true or not.
Our knowledge of the Gospel is like growing flowers in a garden. We can grow the same flowers, but weeds detract from the growth of the flowers, they do not teach the flowers anything, nor enhance them in any way.
Many of the weeds stifle and choke out the flowers. The weeds take over and destroy the flowers.
Diversity of culture gives you a lowest common denominator, not exaltation.
I learn here from those deeply and faithfully rooted in the Gospel, not from the apostates.
I'll stick with the flowers. You can have the weeds.
dc

You are right. However, when you need to explain why it is that you accept the Book of Mormon as true, you learn a whole lot of new things as well.

[Rose Garden]

I'm glad you're back.

[FTC]

Concerning the Ads on this site. And pretty much most every other site out there.
The Ads are generated from your browsing history. Its what you've been looking at around the internet. It has nothing to do with BrianM, and everything to do with how "Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited" is coded, along with how the browser you use is coded. And there is nothing that can be done about it. I doubt BrianM is going to recode phpBB, nor make one of his very own. Nor is he, nor anybody, going to recode how common browsers function. Websites scrape your browsing history, and use your history to make ads that are programmed to be closest to your browsing activities. If you're getting gun ads, you've been browsing gun websites. Anti-Mormon ads, you've been browsing sites that have ties to anti-Mormon. Skimpy clothes - STOP LOOKING AT PORN.
Its easy to test this stuff. Go over to eBay and search for something. Then watch ads for that show up in websites.
If you're going to be on the internet, and use popular browsers, you just have to accept it as the nature of the beast. If you don't like it, you have to leave the internet.

[BeNotDeceived]

Searching OTEC and/or excise tax on SSBs seems to go unnoticed by big brother, near as I can tell.

[Yahtzee]

Yeah, I'm getting VA home loan ads. Not looking to move or refi, definitely no veterans in my household. My latest searches were homeschool related.
Maybe a high number of veterans homeschool? I can't figure some of these.
I'd venture that many who do searches for pro lds related topics are targeted by anti Mormon sites though.

[Rose Garden]

The ads are tied to your browsing history but they aren't pinpoint accurate. It's not unusual to get anti-Mormon ads on a pro-LDS site. The computer just sees "Mormon" and pulls up anything Mormon. The site owner has nothing to do with what individual ads show and it is different for each user.

It might be of interest to some of you but it's not just online activity that shapes your ad viewing. Yesterday I went to a car sales lot. My phone picked up where I was at and asked me if I wanted to post pictures. Next thing I know, car ads were showing online. Yeah, that's a touch disconcerting....