I missed a lot of the details of what happened in Boston (since I was on a nearly Internet-free vacation in Austria), but from my blog reading this morning, I find another national tragedy, and another round of discussion of gun legislation. Apparently, some simple points like background checks (widely supported) have been obstructed to death. Some blame the NRA, while others argue the problem is simply that Americans are complete morons:
It is emotionally satisfying for various liberal hacks and politicians to blame ideology and pressure groups for the failure of gun control in the Senate. But the reality is that Americans increasingly feel safe with a gun in the home and see it as a viable means of self-defense.
Apologies in advance for that one, but — while I’m a big believer in listening and understanding alternate perspectives — after X years of hearing half the mainstream media focus on issues like whether Obamacare includes “death panels,” I’m not convinced that meeting your opponent halfway always helps. Maybe sometimes it makes sense to be appalled. Not that I’m giving top marks to Obama or anything, I’d just prefer to focus on serious criticisms like drone attacks (this last link brought to you by Kuri’s recently revived roundup).
That reminds me that the biggest theme this past week involved slices of life experiences. Kuri is returning to us after a close call with a stroke. Chandelle is taking things in a new direction after concluding that her earlier system was broken. “So says me” is deciding whether to call herself a survivor while joining a slutwalk. My bro-and-SiL found a new house. Plus some day-to-day family moments.
The discussion of female ordination is still going strong (as I imagine it will be for some time). The Mormon Child Bride argued against hobbling women to compensate for their advantages (motherhood) over men. Fortunately, the “compensating for motherhood” argument is no longer necessary since the BYU Reproductive Biologists discovered the priesthood gland.
Then there were plenty more great discussions of Mormon culture and doctrine! Alan Rock Waterman says Wilford Woodruff’s Pants Are On Fire!! Bennion analyzed the CoJCoL-dS’s growth numbers. Expert Textperts provided some interesting historical information on how pageants helped shaped LDS racial identity. Creeksalmon explained how the Bible disproves Mormonism, and Alex showed that Mormon practices don’t always align even with their own scriptures.
And when you know that the church is full of it, but you want to stick around anyway…? Sure, why not, but please don’t pat yourself on the back too hard. Consider the parable of the dog-poop casserole:
Now if you frequently made such a casserole and you didn’t know it had the 1/2 cup of dog poop but you served it up anyway, and no one even knew it had been contaminated or read the labels, then it would probably continue to taste good. You’d create a tradition that everyone believed was good, therefore, why mess with tradition. You’re not lying if you don’t know you’re lying.
What if someone, maybe a nutritionist or some other nut job told you that there was MSG in the soup, hormones in the hamburger, and that they make tater tots from the cut off spoiled chunks of potatoes at the Ore-Ida plant and they bleach them with food bleach to look nice and white, AND that the onions were grown in sewage fertilized fields in California AND that there was 1/2 cup of dog poop in it?
Well of course discredit the nutritionist!! She’s just a naysayer and negative Nellie and probably don’t even say her prayers.
Now what if YOU actually read the labels, studied the Ore-Ida processes, and saw them spraying reclaimed water from sewer treatment plants on the onion fields, and actually knew the person that had slipped the 1/2 cup of dog turds in the mix? If you served it up then, boy howdy, you’d be a regular bastard. If you knew all that for sure and still served it up for dinner with a big cheesy smile on your face, well what does that make you?
Now, to wrap up, I’d like to mention this Brigham Young Dramatic Readings project which you might be interested in helping out on. Plus a couple of fun pieces on garmies and mishie antics!!
Have a great week!!