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September 1st, 2006 by Giuseppe | Filed under Mormon.If you're new here, read more about the More Good Foundation. We help members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church) share their beliefs on the Internet. Learn more about what Mormons believe or talk with Mormons at LDS.net.
Richard sent me this information today. It is about a “seminary mom” who is about to shut down his blog created to share seminary resources on the net with other seminary teachers. She will shut down his blog “out of obedience”.
Obedience is a great thing, and I don’t know the details of the decision and therefore I can’t really comment on it, but in general I want to express my feeling about this story.
We are trying to make the internet a better place for people by having “more good” stuff. If we start shutting down the limited amount of good stuff that is out there, who is going to dominate even more the Internet and perhaps laugh at us? Do we like to shoot ourselves in the foot all the time?
The More Good Foundation is about spreading the good news of the Gospel on the Internet. With so much trash out there, why are we so concerned about tearing down the good things?
Times are changing… tools are changing, perhaps we need to realize it better.
Seminary mom, I am glad you are not shutting down your site but you decided to simply switch from a seminary blog to a new one that “will have motivational resources that will help you refuel for working with the Lord’s priceless youth!”
We commend you for you good effort! I am sure you didn’t do it with such a purpose, but perhaps your shutting down and opening again is creating some publicity for you!
This is interesting, unsurprising, and unfortunate for seminary teachers. I recall being a full-time (married) post-grad student teaching an early morning seminary class. I relied heavily on the electronic versions of the CES manuals, as well as one of the excellent seminary websites to assist me in preparing my lessons. I was sure to discard any ideas or interpretations that I didn’t agree with, but was more than happy to draw on the ideas (why reinvent the wheel?). I don’t know that I could accept a similar assignment again without those non-official resources to draw on.
Having said that, I must congratulate that site owner for her obedience. I’ve been in a similar situation in the past - having had to remove a positive LDS themed site at the request of my Area Presidency, (and this before the no unit website policy) for no obvious reason.
People are blessed when they obey, but it is our duty to help those who make decisions (and ask others to obey) to have all the facts in front of them so that we can have a clear conscience that we did our part.
Thank you for your support, everyone. I did shut down my blog, because I was asked to by an individual at CES. A hard decision, due to the amount of emails I kept receiving expressing appreciation for the blog. But I think of the expression, “better to hearken,” and know that I am at least expressing that sentiment.
Thus, I’m pouring my efforts in a different endeavor to help people. I have a new book coming out, called, “Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers,” in addition to other resources for adults in the church who work with teens. And I’m excited about all this. So that helps.
Warmly,
“Seminary Mom”
aka C.S. Bezas
Hey, “Seminary Mom”. We would love to have you contribute to our website at ldssundayschool.org, and since I am not a seminary teacher, I have great hopes that I will not be a big enough fish to worry about having it shut down. We would love your input, and hope you find our website helpful.
Yes, ldssundayschool.org is a brand new site but already it is looking very good. It will be a great site for any Gospel teacher.