Niiiiiiiice…

{click image to be taken to original source}

No commentary from me on this one, at least not today. Just know that I’m smiling as I type this. :D

Seen & Overheard

{a round-up of tidbits I’ve come across on the internet}

I read the following on an Exmo forum the other day:

When I hear a TBM say "People only leave the church because they are offended" I really want to stop them short by saying "wow - that's an awful thing to say about your church. Are people so offensive in your church that they can turn half the members away from God with their behavior? What kind of church do you belong to, anyway, that drives away members in such numbers? What do they teach the members that makes them so offensive to others? You don't hear other churches claiming that they are so offensive they are losing members in droves. That's really a sad situation.

The official church website says:

• Remember that “a soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). It almost never helps to argue or contend with others regarding your beliefs or to become defensive or belligerent. Just share your stories in a kind and gentle way, remembering that not everyone will agree with what you say—and that’s okay. Remember to respect others and their opinions.

• Be friendly and polite, even if you comment anonymously. Act like you would if you were talking to your next door neighbor. How you comment may be just as important as what you say.

A friend on Facebook had this as a status in celebration of the lunar landing anniversary:

“We will never get a man into space. This earth is man’s sphere and it was never intended that he should get away from it…The moon is a superior planet to the earth and it was never intended that man should go there. You can write it down in your books that this will never happen.” May 14, 1961 – Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr

An online friend said this on his blog:

Well duh, we shouldn't allow gay people to marry or adopt or have kids because OBVIOUSLY gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only ever raise straight children.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tonight we’re giving the podcast-interview-thingy another go. Hopefully everything works out this time.

I’m Not Buying It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not buying their story. And here’s why:

1. It took them a week to release their version of events (even in the face of outrage and protests over the incident). If it really takes that long to write three short paragraphs to tell the “real story” then you might want to fire everybody in your PR department. The guys you detained managed to tell their story within 24 hours and they don’t even have a PR department.
2. If they had “obviously been using alcohol” (a single beer according to other side) why weren’t they charged with public drunkedness or whatever charge Utah has for drunk, “belligerent, lewd, profane” individuals?
3. This press release makes them look absolutely faultless. The other side isn’t pretending to be perfect. They admit they cussed at the guards after being treated the way they were treated. Nobody is perfect. Stop pretending you didn’t do anything wrong (still waiting for more info on if the guards did, in fact, illegally detain the two men and if so, when will they be charged?).
4. They don’t exactly have a history of telling the truth when the truth is “not useful” for them.

Are there any witnesses? Where are they? At this point I’m inclined to believe the first story from the men detained, rather than this press release from the organization that can’t stand to look bad.

Here’s the thing. If you don’t want to let gay couples hold hands or whatever on your property then COME OUT AND SAY IT. You have a right to be that way (I think it’s mean, and bigoted, and over the top but it IS your property). Don’t play stupid games. Don’t try to tell me NO PDA whatsoever is allowed on the grounds (because that’s a LIE and you know it). And don’t pretend you’re gay friendly. As an organization you are NOT gay friendly and never will be. It doesn’t matter how many of your members as individuals are open minded and tolerant. As an organization you are not friendly to gays. You have leaders who suggest parents refuse to let their gay children bring their partners home for the holidays or introduce them to their friends. You used electric shock therapy on gays at BYU until the 70s (hmmm…the 70’s were big for change, eh?). You’ve treated gay students at BYU like criminals. So yes, you have every right as a religion to teach that homosexuality is all kinds of filthy and immoral. But you can’t have your cake and eat it too. So don’t think you’re fooling anyone into believing you’re gay friendly while teaching that crap.

Aaaaaaand I can’t write a post on this topic without throwing on this link:

http://www.affirmation.org/

That is all.

PS: The interview thingy got postponed. So it will be a while before I have links for ya’ll.

Mormon Expression

The husband and I will be participating in a discussion tonight with Mormon Expression (Mormon Expression is on Twitter). I'll be sure to provide links once the podcast is available.

In the mean time you can read about Mormon Expression in this Examiner article.

And my apologies for the sporadic posts. My main blog takes up almost all my leftover time after taking care of the mini-me. But I'm not abandoning the blog. And I am brainstorming some new posts. So stay tuned!