Unequally yoked


Does anyone else think that Cammie married far below her spiritual potential by marrying Jonathan when she got back from her mission? Even though he did sort of get his life together there towards the end, the fact that he was worldly oriented to begin with (not to mention being divorced) should have raised red flags all over for her. She seemed to take the gospel and the commandments much more seriously than he did. She could have been setting herself up for a mighty big let down someday. I guess you could argue that he had "repented" of the negative things in his past, but then should a prospective marriage partner never pay attnetion to a person's past when they claim to be repentant? What if he had been divorced three times and accused of molesting kids? How much do you ignore? I think Cammie could have done much better for herself.

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Sounds like your being horribly judgmental. Would Jesus judge him? Nope. But you certainly did. Good job being a poor Christian.

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My main point was, do you just bury your head in the sand (in an effort never to judge) and believe someone hook, line and sinker when they say they have repented? Regardless of what they have done or how many lives they may have destroyed? Or does Heavenly Father expect us to use the brains and good judgment he has blessed us with? And yes, Jesus WILL judge him someday. In fact he is judging him every minute. How else do you think the righteous prosper and the wicked are hedged up in their progress? By ongoing judgment on the part of the Lord. But for us mortals, the scripture does not say "do not judge", instead it says "judge *righteous* judgment". We have to judge. There's no way to avoid it. Heavenly Father expects us to judge, but to do it in His way, as He would do it.

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Remember, he had eighteen months (during her mission) to turn his life around.

Apparently, he did that as he was the Elder's Quorum President in the final scene. In the sequel, The Singles 2nd Ward, the character has just been released as a bishop.

So, if you do not believe in repentance and the opporunity for change, what are your feelings about Paul and Alma the Younger?

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My only reply would be to repeat a portion of what I said in my first post. Should a prospective marriage partner NEVER pay attention to a person's past when that person claims to be completely repentant? Should they just walk into such a marriage completely on faith? Don't some repentant people sadly return to their former sins? Especially if they were serious, chronic and malignant in nature? What are the risks involved? What if he had been divorced three times and accused of molesting kids? How many red flags do you ignore? Isn't this why God gave us a brain? To study it out in our minds? Is it a faith issue? Or is it a common sense issue?

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Each person will have to make their own decision, but at a fireside a few years ago at the U of U institute Elder Maxwell made a very specific point that you shouldn't hold past transgressions against those you date (or marry). That is of course predicated on the fact that they are indeed past transgressions, implying full repentance, change of heart, and forgiveness.

I can understand if a person feels they are not compatible with such a person, and believe personally it is a difference in spiritual maturity level, the one holding former transgressions against the other not being spiritually mature enough to look past it and in their own way "forgive" that person. The bottom line is we all make mistakes, obviously some are much more serious than others. No-you don't completely ignore them, especially serious issues (relationship baggage/children, jail time, addictions, etc.), but the important thing to consider is what is the person like "now".

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The problem I have with your OP is lumping personal destruction with child molestation.

If someone truly repents and is moving forward honestly, the past is a scar that he/she has to live with for the rest of their lives. That doen't mean they can't ever be a good person. My convert husband gave up beer and coffee. I certainly don't hold that he did those things against him.

Child molesters can repent and ask forgiveness all they want but that doesn't change the fact they are child molesters and should never be trusted.

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Again, I'm sorry to disagree with you, and please believe me I'm not attacking you. Don't take it personal.

So, according to your post and what you say about repentance, there si no point in repenting and converting to the church? Are we converts no trust worthy? God gave us free will to learn from our mistakes. Once we do, we repent and turn our hearts to The Lord. And we do it on our free will and inspired by The Spirit, not being obligated by anybody. I did. I even found better members among the converts than among those who were born into the covenant, and I've found many ex-addicts and ex-cons who have blossomed into useful persons thanks to their true repentance and having joined the Church.

God gave us free will, repentance and a second chance. Why humans can't do the same? Why are we so intolerant to others? Why are we still so racist? Why do we hace to be as judgmental about others? Let's judge ourselves! Let's keep up the good work and spread the Gospel! May our Heavenly Father bless you, brother, and find that peace you are certainly looking for.

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"I guess you could argue that he had "repented" of the negative things in his past, but then should a prospective marriage partner never pay attnetion to a person's past when they claim to be repentant? What if he had been divorced three times and accused of molesting kids? How much do you ignore? I think Cammie could have done much better for herself. "

I think the main thing is, just be wise, pray about whether or not to marry someone, maybe counsel with your bishop. Because, yes, it's true someone could claimed to have repented and entirely given something up when they haven't. But, if they have honestly repented, well if God forgets their sins, why shouldn't we? That's why it's importance to seek guidance from the spirit, if it's a bad idea to marry them, hopefully you will get a confirmation of that.

"Does anyone else think that Cammie married far below her spiritual potential by marrying Jonathan when she got back from her mission?"

But it's not like we're in a big spiritual competition. In the end, I think their goals were the same and that's what matters. Like someone, said, he had 18 months while she was on her mission. Near the end of the movie, he has sort of a spiritual experience when he drives into the mountains. I think that was the beginning of him really turning his life around. And later on, he's called as the Elders quorum president and then a bishop. I'm not trying to say that having a big leadership callings means someone is perfect, but stake presidents/bishops pray about who to call to these positions and if Jonathan was totally unworthy to be elder quorums pres. or bishop, he wouldn't have been called. And I'm sure Cammie wasn't perfect, I'm sure she'd made mistakes too (if we're considering her as a real person), but that wasn't the focus of the movie.

"Even though he did sort of get his life together there towards the end, the fact that he was worldly oriented to begin with (not to mention being divorced) should have raised red flags all over for her."

But, everyone is worldy-oriented at some point in their lives. If you turn someone down because they once got caught up in worldy things, you're going to have very limited choices. I'm not trying to attack you or anything, but this statement seems to be saying that repentance doesn't matter, it's like saying "even if he did repent, he still sinned in the first place." It just defeats the whole purpose of repentance. And just because someone is divorced doesn't automatically mean they have a big problem. In Jonathan's case, it looks like his wife just got up and left HIM. He would have been willing to continue the marriage.






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[deleted]

No Cammie wasn't perfect. She made fun of the girl who asked Jonathan to preference and seemed a bit rude/stuck-up at times. Of course, she can repent and change too, but just saying, NEITHER of them were perfect.

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I agree.

The OP is totally off base. Cammie was too uptight and judgmental and Jonathon was more relaxed which could be good for her. She definitely wasn't perfect.

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[deleted]

Wow -- you've really drunk the Kool-Aid haven't you? Judgmental prig.

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Cram it churchy.

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