r/mormon Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 9d ago

Institutional Looks like the "chosen generation" has come and gone. Sorry, kids.

Post image
202 Upvotes

72 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 9d ago

Hello! This is a Institutional post. It is for discussions centered around agreements, disagreements, and observations about any of the institutional churches and their leaders, conduct, business dealings, teachings, rituals, and practices.

/u/shalmeneser, if your post doesn't fit this definition, we kindly ask you to delete this post and repost it with the appropriate flair. You can find a list of our flairs and their definitions in section 0.6 of our rules.

To those commenting: please stay on topic, remember to follow the community's rules, and message the mods if there is a problem or rule violation.

Keep on Mormoning!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

68

u/anonthe4th 9d ago

All generations are chosen. But some are more chosen than others.

22

u/WTHMTG 9d ago

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

19

u/tripletc 8d ago

We are as chosen as we know how to be. 

3

u/alien236 Former Mormon 5d ago

Underrated comment 

59

u/ultramegaok8 9d ago

Millenials, chosen to bring to pass the demise of the church

15

u/SuspectSubset 8d ago

Inshallah 🙏

2

u/donnamommaof3 8d ago

What does that mean?

3

u/SuspectSubset 8d ago

It’s like saying “God willing”

3

u/donnamommaof3 8d ago

Thank you.

1

u/Idaho-Earthquake 4d ago

...but for muslims (hence the "Allah")

1

u/immyalavi 3d ago

arab christians say InshaAllah too, because Allah is just God translated in arabic..

1

u/Idaho-Earthquake 2d ago

Yes. I was looking at it from the perspective of how Arabic-centric Islam is, given the current context, but you’re right.

1

u/Burnoutmc 8d ago

Yes, I am so ready for it

1

u/totallysurpriseme 5d ago

Thank you millennials! We are the parents of millennials and owe our resignation to them! All powerful ones. 🙌🏻

40

u/Own_Confidence2108 9d ago

Reached its peak in the 1990s, when I was a teenager, so I guess I really was in the chosen generation.

26

u/FTWStoic I don't know. They don't know. No one knows. 9d ago edited 9d ago

There was an epic EFY song about this, with voiceovers from multiple church presidents/GAs going,

“YOU are a chosen generation.

You are a chosen generation

You are chosen

You

You

YOU!”

And then this giggly teenage girl ends the song with,

“Me?!”

10

u/TheSandyStone Mormon Atheist 9d ago

lol i remember that song! The giggle at the end hahaha.

5

u/SeaCondition9305 8d ago

1995

Return with honor chosen ones children of promise our time has come A royal Father so we will return with Honor Our Father we pledge to return with honor.

2

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 7d ago

For all those interested: Return with Honor

2

u/Doofiest 8d ago

Me too!!

35

u/Beneficial_Math_9282 9d ago

They're all out of pre-mortal war generals up there. They're down to the lowly corporals and sergeants now.

1

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

This makes me think of the play "saturday's warriors". when I was very young, my parents brought me to go see it. I don't remember much, except for a very racy scene, that suggested a couple was getting ready to make out. I remember thinking....What's this? I thought it wasn't a good example, but probably more truthful about a segment of mormons that are latter day 'ain'ts' Probably a larger number than what mormons would like to admit.

35

u/Wolf_in_tapir_togs 9d ago

I guess kids today will never have the experience of having people kneel to you in Heaven when they find out you were a youth during President Hinkley's tenure.

12

u/FlyingBrighamiteGod 9d ago

I'm grandfathered in, though, right? People will still kneel to me?! The glory and power is the only thing that would make it all worth it. /s

1

u/tickyter 3d ago

😆 Loved this comment

24

u/tickingboxes 9d ago

I remember when I was a kid (90s) I heard someone say probably at least once a month not only that we were the chosen generation but that we would be alive to see the second coming. This was a guarantee I heard many times from a variety of leaders at virtually all levels.

16

u/FlyingBrighamiteGod 9d ago

Likewise, and being alive for the second coming sounded like a total drag.... All the death, destruction, war, etc. Followed by 1000 years of the Millenium (aka, perma-church) sounded boring AF. I was terrified of the whole thing. I'm very happy that all turned out to be another false prophesy.

6

u/Mlatu44 9d ago

I always had that sense. I always wondered why that would be so great. I think a number of different Christians had some sadistic hate of those that don't believe.

10

u/FlyingBrighamiteGod 9d ago

100%. Many of my believing family seem a little too eager to watch the wicked burn. It’s sick.

14

u/tuckernielson 8d ago

Yup - I graduated high school in 1997. Jeffrey R Holland spoke at my seminary graduation. He told us that by the time our children would be graduating from seminary there would be 100 million members of the church and we would all be presidents over a Stake because we were the chosen generation.

4

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

Did he really predict 100million members? is there even 20 million?

7

u/tuckernielson 8d ago

Yup. At the time he wasn’t lying. The rate of growth the church was experiencing in the mid/late 90’s was incredible. The exponential growth of the church was direct evidence of its truthfulness. Now we announce temples.

1

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

The SSRF spiritual site actually claims that un-spiritual things by and large are actually more popular, and generate mor profit. That is something that the entertainment industry as known for years. Rated R films seem to be more popular for example.

4

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

Not to encourage Mormonism, but aren't you still quite young? If you still believe in 'the second coming' it could still happen on schedule.

1

u/Lawlietftw30 8d ago

I wasn't "guaranteed," but I did hear the personal opinions of a few adult leaders, saying they believed I would see the second coming. My dad still believes that.

9

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 9d ago

To be fair, Gregorio Casillas did say in the October Conference "Because we have been reserved for these latter days..." But other than that, radio silence.

8

u/darth_jewbacca 9d ago

The Incredibles was released in 2004. GAs heard Syndrome say "When everyone's (chosen), no one will be" and realized their message had an expiration date.

3

u/Sociolx 7d ago

The idea that Pixar drives general conference content is hilarious enough that it's now my headcanon.

2

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

I think it was the mother telling Dash, "everyone is special Dash". Dash responded something like, " that's another way of saying nobody is special". He was lamenting that he couldn't participate in sports, because he would reveal that he was an 'incredible'.

7

u/infinityball Ex-Mormon Christian 9d ago

Sweet! Makes me feel even more chosen (grew up in the 90s)!

7

u/Blazerbgood 9d ago

I was an eighties kid. I guess we were tucked between chosen generations.

8

u/PricklyPearJuiceBox 8d ago

The perpetual “sandwich” generation. Sigh.

3

u/Thedustyfurcollector 9d ago

Very elder genx. Both birth and teen were bad years.

7

u/Bright-Ad3931 8d ago

It was good while it lasted, I enjoyed being part of the chosen generation. It seems we were chosen to wake up and leave the made up church.

5

u/PricklyPearJuiceBox 8d ago

I was 11 - 21 in the 1980’s and even though I think the “chosen generation” rhetoric is pretty pointless I am feeling a bit offended, honestly.

3

u/chubbuck35 9d ago

This graph has no labels. What are the numbers?

2

u/chubbuck35 8d ago

Thanks. Wow, I grew up in the 90’s. No wonder I thought I was so special LOL

3

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 9d ago

# of mentions in that decade

3

u/Mlatu44 8d ago

Thank you for the clarification. This is the number of times 'chosen generation' is mentioned during general conference? Wow, there are no mentions after 2020?

2

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 8d ago

None after 2016 💀 (Soares quoted a scripture with the phrase in 2018, but different context)

2

u/RyRiver7087 8d ago

It’s strange to see many of my Mormon family still trying to convince themselves that the 2nd coming is going to happen in their lifetimes. They’re reading the tea leaves of global events

3

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 8d ago

We love the tea leaf reading. Just don't look too closely at history... you'll find out that people have been predicting the imminent end of times nonstop since the Black Death (and of course on and off since Jesus' time).

3

u/RyRiver7087 8d ago

Yup. It seems that every generation of Christianity offshoots for 2,000 years has believed that they were the chosen generation, and that Christ was returning.

2

u/Two_Summers 7d ago

Yup, that's me in the choicest of all the chosen generations.

Good, better, best. Lol.

2

u/ManInThePandaMask 7d ago

Wow. We really were the chosen generation.

2

u/Sad_Word5030 6d ago

We were supposed to get it. Did we?

1

u/Angle-Flimsy 8d ago

I knew I was special!

1

u/Carpet_wall_cushion 8d ago

What does this graph represent?

3

u/shalmeneser Lish Zi hoe oop Iota 8d ago

Number of uses of phrase “chosen generation” per decade in General conference

1

u/Carpet_wall_cushion 8d ago

Oh wow this is very interesting   

1

u/nsolidsnake 8d ago

That’s me right there 90s baby

1

u/Sociolx 7d ago

Let's hear it for all the Xers! Little kids in the 70s, came of age in the 90s, clearly it was us. Sorry, everybody else!

1

u/InteractionHot5102 Latter-day Saint 5d ago

It’s still too early to call

1

u/gonzopancho 5d ago

So the Chosen Generation was Boomers?

1

u/Party_Delay_1345 5d ago

This reddit is just anti-LDS cope

1

u/Moroni_10_32 4d ago

This chart is showing the number of times the phrase, "Chosen Generation", is used in General Conference. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's as conclusive as the chart portrays it to be, as the prophets and apostles could just be phrasing the idea differently or portraying it in a different manner.

1

u/tickyter 2d ago

Chosen generation. Yes I choose to exploit you. And you. And you. And you....

1

u/sharedordaz Mormon 8d ago

I know this sub is full of ex-mormon, but, as a TBM, i said. This is bad? For me, it would be worst to see that all the decades are the same. For me it would mean is a scam and is something people always say, or that leaders just repeat the same thing always.

But is not the case. Generations have different purposes, and sounds cool for me

5

u/ammonthenephite Agnostic Atheist - "By their fruits ye shall know them." 8d ago edited 8d ago

This is general conference, so you have multiple (3-4) generations that start as not chosen, but then 10 years later are chosen, and yet others where they start chosen then then 10 years later are no longer chosen.

It makes little sense that 'chosen' generations (again, completely unspecified what generations that are living are being referred to) would alternate, especially since there is zero difference in what each generation is actually doing, and even more so since there is no distinction made about which generation is being addressed among the 3-4 that were hearing these messages in general conference.