I GUESS I'M DENSE

I'M SURE YOU HAVE ALL HEARD:   Dumb as a box of rocks.  Guess that's me.  Well, maybe I'm not really dumb, just dense.  And some rocks are dense and some are not.  Scratching your head yet and wondering what I may be jabbering about.  Well, just quit scratching and I will enlighten you.   As I have mentioned in past posts, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  And happy to say so.  having said that here goes.

A few days ago, there was a post on facebook about an article that was in the March issue of the Ensign, a monthly magazine published by the Church.  That article is titled   "The Lord's Standard of Morality"  Written by Elder Tad R. Callister. Now, I have read books written by Elder Callister, and I like them. He is very articulate and I have very little trouble understanding what he has to say.  So, I was curious what he had written that had some people so upset.  Well, I have the magazine and I have read the article.  And it states exactly what the title claims.  The Lord's Standard of Morality.  Period. Maybe two periods..  But, several of those crying foul, (or is it fowl,  OK a little humor never hurts) claim that the article states that the way women dress cause men to rape them. Now, Elder Callister never said that.  He did say that the church teaches modesty in dress, for both males as well as females. He did acknowledge that men and women think different ( my wording) and that men can be stimulated by the immodest dress of women.  But, and here it is.  He said, men and women are also in control of their thoughts and actions and regardless of how women dress, men are responsible for their actions, and the dress of a woman does not give them the right for improper actions. His article mainly focused on the "Lords Standard of Morality" and quoted the scriptures multiple times. Any one who claims to be a student of the Bible, as well as LDS scriptures and Church leaders statements on this matter should not take offense in any way with this article.  But, apparently, some did.  And I have to wonder why.

On a related matter.  And another church.  Tonight on the news, there was a report of the Pope stating something like this. A paraphrase on my part.  He was speaking about the abuse of children by Catholic Priests. His comments, as reported on a national news network, was that there were other organizations that have abuse problems, and the Catholic Church was the only one that worked in a transparent manner and had charges against it and people speaking out against it.  Now, I understood that he was commenting that the Catholic Church acknowledged that they had a problem and were addressing it, his complaint was that other organizations, unnamed by him, were not being so targeted. However, there seems to be a backlash against him by members of the Catholic Church, beliving that he said he was not going to address this problem, and was going to ignore it.  And in the eyes of some, maybe many of the Catholic faith, they were losing faith in the Pope because of what they believe he said.

To reiterate what I said at the start of this post.  Guess I am as dumb as one. A Post, that is. I just don't see where any one on either of these articles could mis construe what was said.  Is it that they are trying to find something to be contrary about, or is it just that I am that dense.  And That's THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK