Ever since I have lived in Wyoming, when people find out I am a Mormon, I occasionally get asked the question: Are you a Jack Mormon or a good Mormon? I always answer with the question: What is your definition of a Jack Mormon? I usually get a few different definitions. From what I understand, the term "Jack Mormon" originated by a Popular Mormon boxer by the name of Jack Dempsey. Jack Dempsey was an world class boxer back in the 1920's. A phrase that he was famous for was: "I'm proud be a Mormon, but ashamed to be a Jack Mormon", hence the term "Jack Mormon" was born. The term "Jack Mormon" has been used throughout the years to refer to those of the LDS faith that don't live the teachings of the church. The question is what Mormon out there is able to live all of the teachings of the church? I would submit that if a Jack Mormon is a Mormon that doesn't live all of the teachings of the church, then we are all Jack Mormons. If I remember right Jesus was the only one who was able to live a sinless life. I know a few people that refer to Jack Mormons as those Mormons that may take a taste of alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Those are outward sins and hard to hide. What about sins that are easy to hide. Like Pride, Not loving our neighbor, Lying, Backbiting, etc. What if our sins carried a smell with them like cigarette smoking, say the more serious the sin the stinkier. I would rather be the guy that smokes than the lady that looks down on the guy that smokes. I would rather be the guy that drinks a beer at night than the guy that hates his neighbor. I would rather be the guy that drinks a coke for lunch than the lady that talks about how great she is because she doesn't drink coke. Or I would rather be the high school kid that drinks beer around the campfire with his buddies than the seminary council kid that sleeps around but would never hang out with the party kids because they are bad.
Lately I have thought about how judgemental people can be and it bugs the heck out of me. Take the lady from Provo (or Spanish Fork or wherever, I mean it's just an example), she doesn't break the word of wisdom, she doesn't drink Cokes, she doesn't watch TV on Sunday. She is perfect in her minds eye. She just cant believe that people would ever do such abominable things as drink Coke or watch TV on Sundays. Just Horrible. She, in her minds eye is perfect. And because she is without sin she is able to cast the first stone on those other heavy sinners who are with sin. She is the first to rush judgement and blackball people who sin outwardly because she lives so good. Her pride in herself makes Terrel Owens seem humble. If she could showboat every time she drinks sprite instead of a Pepsi she would. I mean it drives me crazy. I think that there are a lot of people out there that drive people, (who may have a little word of wisdom problem or may have a hard time with a few of the commandments) away from the church, just because they are so quick to judge and look down on those that may not be as good at keeping their favorite commandments. So my definition of a Jack Mormon is a Mormon who judges other Mormons who don't live the simple commandments that they are outwardly living. I think a Jack Mormon is a Mormon who makes others not want to be a Mormon because of how they live their life. That is a Jack Mormon to me. I hope I am not a Jack Mormon. The neat thing about Wyoming is I don't see a lot of Jack Mormons, I see a lot of good members of the LDS faith trying to live the best they can while helping others and loving others. Isn't that what it is all about? When Jesus was asked, What is the greatest commandment, he said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." I think that sometimes we get so caught up in the little easy things that we forget the important big things.
Lately I have thought about how judgemental people can be and it bugs the heck out of me. Take the lady from Provo (or Spanish Fork or wherever, I mean it's just an example), she doesn't break the word of wisdom, she doesn't drink Cokes, she doesn't watch TV on Sunday. She is perfect in her minds eye. She just cant believe that people would ever do such abominable things as drink Coke or watch TV on Sundays. Just Horrible. She, in her minds eye is perfect. And because she is without sin she is able to cast the first stone on those other heavy sinners who are with sin. She is the first to rush judgement and blackball people who sin outwardly because she lives so good. Her pride in herself makes Terrel Owens seem humble. If she could showboat every time she drinks sprite instead of a Pepsi she would. I mean it drives me crazy. I think that there are a lot of people out there that drive people, (who may have a little word of wisdom problem or may have a hard time with a few of the commandments) away from the church, just because they are so quick to judge and look down on those that may not be as good at keeping their favorite commandments. So my definition of a Jack Mormon is a Mormon who judges other Mormons who don't live the simple commandments that they are outwardly living. I think a Jack Mormon is a Mormon who makes others not want to be a Mormon because of how they live their life. That is a Jack Mormon to me. I hope I am not a Jack Mormon. The neat thing about Wyoming is I don't see a lot of Jack Mormons, I see a lot of good members of the LDS faith trying to live the best they can while helping others and loving others. Isn't that what it is all about? When Jesus was asked, What is the greatest commandment, he said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." I think that sometimes we get so caught up in the little easy things that we forget the important big things.
Personally, I wish we were all judged by our fishing skills, then I would have it made. :) Here are a couple of fish that I caught last week. (That Humility thing is a hard thing to live sometimes).
6 comments:
Pretty deep thoughts for an engineer!:)
Nice fish. Did you kill it or let it swim for another day?
FYI, the pictures are not of the same fish. Brock and I caught probably 6 each about like those and another 20 each that were smaller. Brock Got the big daddy that was at a rough guess over 6 lbs. Maybe bigger, it was hard to say. All fish lived to see another day. We didn't keep any of them.
...hmmm... I think you actually might have made sense for once.
I know a lot of "Jack Mormons," but like you said, there are so many definitions of it. No one is perfect, therefore, maybe we are all "Jack Mormons" or just trying to live our life the best we can-- I view it as the latter of the two. We all make mistakes.
Chel- When I start making sense to you or anyone,it is a good time to give yourself a thorough mental evaluation to make sure you havent lost it as bad as I have.
All- Another way to judge if you are a Jack Mormon is if you are a Democrat. (Thats right, I said it and I am not taking it back.)
I love, love, love it. Great thoughts, and it gave me a lot to think about.
Also, I'm glad fishing is not how we are judged. I wouldn't have a lot to look forward to after my time here...maybe we could be judged on how well we clean a toilet. I'd have life made.
miandmiksmom-Perhaps in the afterlife we will be stuck doing what we are good at. I would be catching fish, Rick would be pretending to catch fish and you would be cleaning toilets. For eternity. :) Thats a thought.
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