Having a Temple Recommend Doesn't Impress Me - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Indy Coug · 10-10-2007, 05:35 PM

Here are some very basic examples from my extended family, which has helped shape my opinion:

1. My brother-in-law's wife was verbally and emotionally abused by her mother. Her mom even got involved with arranging for her to be married in a polygamous family when she was around 14 to 16 years old. She ended up being taken by the state and placed into foster care. At least a couple other siblings also went into foster care. The cumulative abuse over the years caused my BIL's wife to suffer with depression and she ended up overdosing at the age of 22, leaving my BIL widowed and their 18 month old son without a mother.

Despite what her mother had done over the years and despite the fact that her other kids were still in foster care, she got a temple recommend and went to the temple and did the temple work for her daughter. My BIL was inactive and because of what his MIL did and the fact that the church allowed her to get a temple recommend, he has vowed he will never go to church again.

2. My brother's MIL has spent a lifetime of emotional and verbal abuse of her husband and children. She is literally infamous in the area where she lives. She continues to abuse his wife even after she's been out of the home for years. My brother, who is infinitely more mild-mannered than I am, has read her the riot act and temporarily cut off contact with the MIL. Despite the fact that the bishop, stake president, and hundreds of others that are aware of her act over the years, she continues to have a temple recommend.

3. My wife's sister got divorced from her husband after a couple of years of a terrible marriage. Her husband was into meth and other crap. After getting divorced, he beat her a couple of times over disputes about custody and how horribly he neglected his son when he would have visits. Despite that, he still somehow managed to wrangle a temple recommend along with his mother (who also is another real winner in her own right).

These 3 examples are all of people that were involved in sustained and serious wrongdoing and showed no signs of changing their actions. How or why they got recommends is beyond me.

10-10-2007, 05:35 PM	#1
Indy Coug Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Between Iraq and a hard place Posts: 7,569	Having a Temple Recommend Doesn't Impress Me Here are some very basic examples from my extended family, which has helped shape my opinion: 1. My brother-in-law's wife was verbally and emotionally abused by her mother. Her mom even got involved with arranging for her to be married in a polygamous family when she was around 14 to 16 years old. She ended up being taken by the state and placed into foster care. At least a couple other siblings also went into foster care. The cumulative abuse over the years caused my BIL's wife to suffer with depression and she ended up overdosing at the age of 22, leaving my BIL widowed and their 18 month old son without a mother. Despite what her mother had done over the years and despite the fact that her other kids were still in foster care, she got a temple recommend and went to the temple and did the temple work for her daughter. My BIL was inactive and because of what his MIL did and the fact that the church allowed her to get a temple recommend, he has vowed he will never go to church again. 2. My brother's MIL has spent a lifetime of emotional and verbal abuse of her husband and children. She is literally infamous in the area where she lives. She continues to abuse his wife even after she's been out of the home for years. My brother, who is infinitely more mild-mannered than I am, has read her the riot act and temporarily cut off contact with the MIL. Despite the fact that the bishop, stake president, and hundreds of others that are aware of her act over the years, she continues to have a temple recommend. 3. My wife's sister got divorced from her husband after a couple of years of a terrible marriage. Her husband was into meth and other crap. After getting divorced, he beat her a couple of times over disputes about custody and how horribly he neglected his son when he would have visits. Despite that, he still somehow managed to wrangle a temple recommend along with his mother (who also is another real winner in her own right). These 3 examples are all of people that were involved in sustained and serious wrongdoing and showed no signs of changing their actions. How or why they got recommends is beyond me.