Hostility as a part of life

Posted on September 30th, 2008 by -L-

Sometimes there’s a stark contrast between the world I meet online everyday and the one I meet in person.  In person I help cure cancer, I’m a very quiet person, and my family life is filled with peace and happiness.  Then I open my browser and I feel like I’m on the front lines of a battle in which I’m only a partly willing participant.  Presidential politics hound me every day with their hyperbole, accusations, and character assaults.  News of the economy disturbs my piece.  And, of course, online personalities occasionally send me the opposite of well-wishes. :-)

The interesting thing about such hostility in the world is that it’s a fine mixture of well-intended principle and poorly-intended rhetoric.  Telling the difference is a challenge I think few are really up for.  Regardless, the point of this post is to discuss another interesting bit from the Divine Institution of Marriage, that online explanation of why the church has been active in opposing gay marriage.

Profundity

Posted on September 28th, 2008 by Kim Mack

Someone once said, “Profundity of thought belongs to youth, clarity of thought to old age.”  I never believed that quote.  But as I have been sitting here for the last half hour, wondering what to post here, I realized something.  I am no longer profound.

Changing with the season—new look, new authors, and comment policy update

Posted on September 27th, 2008 by -L-

If you’ve visited before the last few weeks, you likely noticed a few visual changes on the blog. The group of authors talked a bit several months ago about changing the look of the blog, but nothing ever came of it then. I finally just decided to freshen the colors, if not the whole look. I hope you like it.

Eschatology… yeah, I didn’t know what I meant either

Posted on September 27th, 2008 by Mark

As he describes his research to me, I’m entranced. Or maybe just ignorant. Here I am, a native speaker of English, and I don’t know the meaning of several of the words that my Iranian friend is using to describe his work with the Religious Studies Center at the local university. We often see each other on the bus, and he is eager to practice his English and get feedback. So I do my best to provide it.

“It’s good,” I say. Then pause. “But I have to admit: I don’t know what eska-whatever means.”

“Eschatology?” he asks. Yeah, that.

Media Blitz

Posted on September 27th, 2008 by Ty Ray

Events over the last few weeks in California and Arizona concerning the proposed state constitutional amendment, as well as Evergreen’s recent annual conference, have provided for a continued firestorm of media discussion. The following is a heavy sampling of some of the news media and bloggernacle discussions taking place:

The Key to My Peace

Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Rex

I’m sad today at the passing of a friend whom I did not know well because of distance, but who impressed me beyond words with his kindness and willingness to go more than the one extra mile Jesus enjoined us. If asked, I think he would have gone a thousand extra miles, and sometimes without even being asked. Such passings always remind me of the most important aspect of my approach to life.

Bloggernacle Blitz

Posted on September 25th, 2008 by Ty Ray

Discussion of Church involvement in political measures regarding gay marriage in California, Arizona, and elsewhere has fed continued dialogue among Latter-day Saints both where political initiatives are taking place and abroad. The place and meaning of tolerance and viability of race-orientation have come up as additional themes of interest to Latter-day Saints. The following is a heavy sampling of some of the news media and bloggernacle discussions taking place:

New Book: ‘Setting the Record Straight: Mormons & Homosexuality’

Posted on September 21st, 2008 by Ty Ray

Mormons & HomosexualityBeginning in late 2006, Millennial Press & Distribution started releasing a series of books that was intended to clarify various issues within the Church. In something akin to the Oxford University Press A Very Short Introduction series (which includes the titles Mormonism, by Richard Bushman, and the upcoming The Book of Mormon, by Terryl Givens), Millennial Press is publishing a Setting the Record Straight series.

The series started with Mormons & Masons in 2006 and was soon followed by Blacks & the Mormon Priesthood, Mormons & Polygamy, Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet, and The Book of Mormon in fall 2007, and then again by Mormon Temples, The Word of Wisdom, Emma Smith: An Elect Lady, Joseph Smith: Presidential Candidate, and Mormon Fundamentalism in early 2008. The fall 2008 docket includes Mormons & Science and, yes, the one that addresses the issue that brings us all here together today: Mormons & Homosexuality, by A. Dean Byrd.

The book description reads:

I Set My Sail

Posted on September 19th, 2008 by Rex

This is something I wrote a few years ago as I pondered my journey out of same-sex behavior into temple marriage and fatherhood. I keep traveling on, but that one destination is one that seemed impossible for so long. Now it’s a memory and new destinations await.

My first husband

Posted on September 18th, 2008 by Winston Smith

There is a verse in Hosea that speaks to me deeply. Hosea and his family became a metaphor for Israel and her relationship with the Lord. Hosea declares, speaking of an unfaithful wife: “She shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them; then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.”

I relate to this too well—at the time when I decided that I wanted to become more exploratory of my feelings of same-gender attraction, I began to consciously chase after my illusive vision of a dream-man who would fulfill the longings I felt. Chasing that hope of the one perfect man to be my fulfillment led, predictably, down an ever-intensifying road of pursuit that was simultaneously a journey away from a life of principles. Maybe I would meet him at the next club, on the next website—it became a more and more consuming fantasy to find him.

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