I was stumbling through the web today, when I came across this scathing criticism of J. K. Rowling written by Orson Scott Card, a science fiction writer whose works I have read much of.
The criticism is fairly interesting, though, not particularly well written, which is contrary to what my expectation would be, but it gets the job done. (And it makes me wonder, with all the talk of plagiarism and citing sources... did he ever make it explicit that he'd written an allegory of the Book of Mormon in the Homecoming Saga.)
Zipping looking around a bit more on the site of the newspaper the article was written for, I found another bit of political commentary in which Card criticizes pretty much the entire industry of Journalism for their double standard of covering up the lies of Democrats while vigorously digging through garbage to find dirt on Republicans.
I must say, he's right. I refuse to buy newspapers because he's right. I was also surprised to hear it coming from him. I always considered him to be on the liberal side of the spectrum... for a Mormon, though I based this opinion on nothing more than his works of fiction and some hear-say. It's good to read something by him like this and find that it's largely very sensible (an antonym by Liberal-Democratic, in this usage).
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The criticism is fairly interesting, though, not particularly well written, which is contrary to what my expectation would be, but it gets the job done. (And it makes me wonder, with all the talk of plagiarism and citing sources... did he ever make it explicit that he'd written an allegory of the Book of Mormon in the Homecoming Saga.)
Zipping looking around a bit more on the site of the newspaper the article was written for, I found another bit of political commentary in which Card criticizes pretty much the entire industry of Journalism for their double standard of covering up the lies of Democrats while vigorously digging through garbage to find dirt on Republicans.
I must say, he's right. I refuse to buy newspapers because he's right. I was also surprised to hear it coming from him. I always considered him to be on the liberal side of the spectrum... for a Mormon, though I based this opinion on nothing more than his works of fiction and some hear-say. It's good to read something by him like this and find that it's largely very sensible (an antonym by Liberal-Democratic, in this usage).
Email to a friend
This is the first in a series of posts I'll be making with analysis of the arguments in support of this year's Proposition 8. At least 4 are planned in the series. The idea is to dissect some of our own arguments in favor of prop 8 and to discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Who is likely to care about the arguments, what fictions do we need to avoid appending to the arguments in order to keep ourselves on solid ground, and how fundamental are the issues addressed by the arguments. What misunderstandings do the arguments address, and what other misunderstandings still remain to be addressed?
Schools Will Force Same-Sex Marriage upon Our Children
This is a fairly solid assertion, though it is often denied by those in favor of same-sex marriage. The fact of the matter is that ample precedent exists both in Massachusetts and California to demonstrate that there are legal teeth to the argument.
Of course, the schools that are spoken of are public schools, but that covers a lot of schools. Opt-out laws exist for "comprehensive sex education", but teaching about gay marriage does not necessarily count as sex education. Though, I suppose that precedent probably exists, even without same sex marriage, for teaching students about the "practical" aspects of homosexuality, since we're being so tolerant and want to consider such relations on par with heterosexual relations. Such instruction would certainly be part of that portion of education that could be opted out of.
Anyhow, the argument, per my understanding has never been one of an objectionable sex education curriculum, but rather one of an objectionable philosophical indoctrination.
There are two down sides to the argument.
The first is, that it is possible to frame a rebuttal which is technically accurate , but obscures the reality of the argument's assertion. It has been often noted that schools are not all required to teach about marriage.
What the argument fails to mention is that although schools aren't required to teach about marriage, necessarily, opting in to California's sex-ed curriculum does necessitate teaching about marriage. Even further, the existence of same-sex marriage as a legally sanctioned practice gives school officials license to teach about it, and they have done so. Parents did not have the right to opt out, which is really the bottom line.
The second downside to this argument is that the number of people who care is dwindling. If you accept same-sex marriage as a legitimate form of marriage in your own personal philosophy, then why do you care if children are taught your philosophy? Moreover, if you accept same-sex marriage as a legitimate form of marriage, you might also conclude that those who disagree are bigots, and indoctrinating their children away from that supposed bigotry probably sounds like a good idea. Those who might be persuaded; that is, those who have a philosophy open to same-sex marriage and are conscious of the principle that parents have the primary responsibility to teach there children (and that we do a dangerous thing when we usurp this responsibility), well, they're rather rare.
You see, Californians are very confused about marriage. They don't very well know what it is, what it is for, what the responsibilities of married people are, and many related matters. I was surprised to hear a coworker express that idea to me rather directly. He said simply that he wasn't sure he knew what marriage was. When he got to the voting booth, he was conflicted. I don't know what he did, but I know that there are people who are confused on this point. They're the people who give this argument teeth. Their philosophy is open to both sides of the issue and they don't necessarily think parents are evil for not accepting same-sex marriage.
A key concept here that needs to be highlighted is the right and responsibility of parents to protect their children both physically and mentally from the harshness of the world and prepare them to survive in it. As is clear from the failure of proposition 4, and other past propositions like it, Californian's are not clear on the role of parents and are very strongly affected by the parent-child struggle paradigm which is so often portrayed in the popular media.
One key to saving the family will undoubtedly be the reinstatement of parents as the guardians of their homes and the protectors of their children.
Fortunately, I think that is an idea that is not taboo to communicate, and so we must communicate it in whatever way we can. It is not forbidden to say this in schools yet. It is not forbidden to say this at work yet.
Further, we must mend whatever hostility exists and express appreciation for each other across the generations. There must be a "welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children" and it must be apparent to the world.
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The Assertion
Schools Will Force Same-Sex Marriage upon Our Children
Basis
This is a fairly solid assertion, though it is often denied by those in favor of same-sex marriage. The fact of the matter is that ample precedent exists both in Massachusetts and California to demonstrate that there are legal teeth to the argument.
Of course, the schools that are spoken of are public schools, but that covers a lot of schools. Opt-out laws exist for "comprehensive sex education", but teaching about gay marriage does not necessarily count as sex education. Though, I suppose that precedent probably exists, even without same sex marriage, for teaching students about the "practical" aspects of homosexuality, since we're being so tolerant and want to consider such relations on par with heterosexual relations. Such instruction would certainly be part of that portion of education that could be opted out of.
Anyhow, the argument, per my understanding has never been one of an objectionable sex education curriculum, but rather one of an objectionable philosophical indoctrination.
Weaknesses
There are two down sides to the argument.
Denial
The first is, that it is possible to frame a rebuttal which is technically accurate , but obscures the reality of the argument's assertion. It has been often noted that schools are not all required to teach about marriage.
What the argument fails to mention is that although schools aren't required to teach about marriage, necessarily, opting in to California's sex-ed curriculum does necessitate teaching about marriage. Even further, the existence of same-sex marriage as a legally sanctioned practice gives school officials license to teach about it, and they have done so. Parents did not have the right to opt out, which is really the bottom line.
Who Cares?
The second downside to this argument is that the number of people who care is dwindling. If you accept same-sex marriage as a legitimate form of marriage in your own personal philosophy, then why do you care if children are taught your philosophy? Moreover, if you accept same-sex marriage as a legitimate form of marriage, you might also conclude that those who disagree are bigots, and indoctrinating their children away from that supposed bigotry probably sounds like a good idea. Those who might be persuaded; that is, those who have a philosophy open to same-sex marriage and are conscious of the principle that parents have the primary responsibility to teach there children (and that we do a dangerous thing when we usurp this responsibility), well, they're rather rare.
You see, Californians are very confused about marriage. They don't very well know what it is, what it is for, what the responsibilities of married people are, and many related matters. I was surprised to hear a coworker express that idea to me rather directly. He said simply that he wasn't sure he knew what marriage was. When he got to the voting booth, he was conflicted. I don't know what he did, but I know that there are people who are confused on this point. They're the people who give this argument teeth. Their philosophy is open to both sides of the issue and they don't necessarily think parents are evil for not accepting same-sex marriage.
Fundamental Concepts
A key concept here that needs to be highlighted is the right and responsibility of parents to protect their children both physically and mentally from the harshness of the world and prepare them to survive in it. As is clear from the failure of proposition 4, and other past propositions like it, Californian's are not clear on the role of parents and are very strongly affected by the parent-child struggle paradigm which is so often portrayed in the popular media.
One key to saving the family will undoubtedly be the reinstatement of parents as the guardians of their homes and the protectors of their children.
Fortunately, I think that is an idea that is not taboo to communicate, and so we must communicate it in whatever way we can. It is not forbidden to say this in schools yet. It is not forbidden to say this at work yet.
Further, we must mend whatever hostility exists and express appreciation for each other across the generations. There must be a "welding link of some kind or other between the fathers and the children" and it must be apparent to the world.
Email to a friend
19/11: Jasher is a One-Way Roller
As of this last Saturday, Jasher has been able to get from face-down to face-up on his own.
Ephraim, on the other hand, seems to have had trouble retaining his alphabet and I've been struggling to find ways to engage him. His talking improves daily though and he's starting to gain some control of the mouse (using a touch-pad). Also, on the positive side, his interest in books is increasing, and I can sometimes even get him to listen to a story all the way through. (We read "The Alphabet Book" last night, but he took over after the letter P. :-{ )
I can thank Grandma Castillo for giving his interest in books a jump-start. Sometimes other friends and family have more power to reach him than we do as his parents. (This, of course, is normal.) I recall it was Grandma Cox who gave Ephraim his alphabet jump-start when we were struggling to get him to retain 'A' and 'B'.
Once Ephraim's mouse skills improve to the point that he can click on things, a host of educational software opportunities will be open to us.
I installed Civilization IV (gift from Nick last Christmas) on my laptop recently, hoping the laptop would handle the animation better than Cassey's computer had. It require a couple of patches, but it has been performing beautifully. (There's a slight intermittent slow-down in the animation, but it's no longer jumpy, and is quite pleasant to watch.) The most recent patch apparently also allowed the game to run on wide-screen laptops, which was one of my primary concerns that had prevented me from trying it earlier. (My laptop had always baulked before whenever a program would try to run in full-screen mode.) Ephraim loves the opening animation and the menu, which actually became a catalyst for his experimenting with the mouse. Apparently that big game cursor caught his attention better than the other cursors he's seen. He doesn't know yet how to continue once his finger has reached the edge of the pad, but I try to do a little coaching, and I'm sure he'll come along. I actually started a game last night on the tiniest map possible and Ephraim was delighted with all of the animated animals on the map. He was constantly having me go back to a place where he could see fish in the water, and he even took over the mouse for a bit and discovered how to move around the map by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen. (I don't think his mouse skills are good enough to make that easy for him to do, but he definitely understood that he was the one making it happen.)
Ephraim also seems to have learned how to pull a DVD out of the tray without getting his fingerprints on it. Whenever he pulls out a DVD now, he does it like I do, and inserts the tip of his index finger through the center. (I got upset with him a few times for doing it the wrong way.)
Email to a friend
Ephraim, on the other hand, seems to have had trouble retaining his alphabet and I've been struggling to find ways to engage him. His talking improves daily though and he's starting to gain some control of the mouse (using a touch-pad). Also, on the positive side, his interest in books is increasing, and I can sometimes even get him to listen to a story all the way through. (We read "The Alphabet Book" last night, but he took over after the letter P. :-{ )
I can thank Grandma Castillo for giving his interest in books a jump-start. Sometimes other friends and family have more power to reach him than we do as his parents. (This, of course, is normal.) I recall it was Grandma Cox who gave Ephraim his alphabet jump-start when we were struggling to get him to retain 'A' and 'B'.
Once Ephraim's mouse skills improve to the point that he can click on things, a host of educational software opportunities will be open to us.
I installed Civilization IV (gift from Nick last Christmas) on my laptop recently, hoping the laptop would handle the animation better than Cassey's computer had. It require a couple of patches, but it has been performing beautifully. (There's a slight intermittent slow-down in the animation, but it's no longer jumpy, and is quite pleasant to watch.) The most recent patch apparently also allowed the game to run on wide-screen laptops, which was one of my primary concerns that had prevented me from trying it earlier. (My laptop had always baulked before whenever a program would try to run in full-screen mode.) Ephraim loves the opening animation and the menu, which actually became a catalyst for his experimenting with the mouse. Apparently that big game cursor caught his attention better than the other cursors he's seen. He doesn't know yet how to continue once his finger has reached the edge of the pad, but I try to do a little coaching, and I'm sure he'll come along. I actually started a game last night on the tiniest map possible and Ephraim was delighted with all of the animated animals on the map. He was constantly having me go back to a place where he could see fish in the water, and he even took over the mouse for a bit and discovered how to move around the map by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen. (I don't think his mouse skills are good enough to make that easy for him to do, but he definitely understood that he was the one making it happen.)
Ephraim also seems to have learned how to pull a DVD out of the tray without getting his fingerprints on it. Whenever he pulls out a DVD now, he does it like I do, and inserts the tip of his index finger through the center. (I got upset with him a few times for doing it the wrong way.)
Email to a friend
13/11: Learning Middle Egyptian
For a little while now, I've been learning Middle Egyptian. (When did I start? Some time this year. About the middle of this year, I think.)
In some ways it feels like when I was learning Portuguese. The rules of languages are always so nuanced that it's hard to get a firm grip on, yet somehow I make progress. The book I'm using is one I received as a gift some time ago, and I'd started into it before, but that was probably when I was going to school. Now that I have a regular job and a metro commute, I have a perfect scenario for doing some concentrated study, and it has been fantastic.
The explanation of the grammar is exceptionally thorough and well structured. It's also very modern. I have a reprint of an old grammar as well, but it certainly couldn't compare well. I'm between chapters 17 and 18 currently, out of 26 chapters. That is, I'm doing exercises to practice the stative, and I'm starting into the Middle Egyptian perfect.
Despite all of the various signs, and the irregularities of spelling, the language comes along. A couple of coworkers have asked how I can make sense of all the symbols, and I've tell them it's not any weirder than Chinese, and people learn that just fine. It seems to put things in a bit of perspective. (Though, I imagine they consider Chinese only slightly more approachable than Middle Egyptian.)
Personally, I think reading Middle Egyptian will probably prove much easier than writing it, though I may be wrong. Writing Portuguese never seemed like much of a challenge, though, unlike most, I found speaking easier than understanding, so constructing ideas in coherent Portuguese wasn't a problem. I have no guide for correcting any Middle Egyptian sentences I might construct, which may explain the apparent difficulty. Perhaps, all the same, it will disappear.
I don't have a lot of Middle Egyptian material to read, though I do have the Book of the Dead. If everything goes according to plan, I'll definitely need to get a better dictionary and an exercise book... eventually. (I'm sure The Book of the Dead will keep me busy for a while.)
Email to a friend
In some ways it feels like when I was learning Portuguese. The rules of languages are always so nuanced that it's hard to get a firm grip on, yet somehow I make progress. The book I'm using is one I received as a gift some time ago, and I'd started into it before, but that was probably when I was going to school. Now that I have a regular job and a metro commute, I have a perfect scenario for doing some concentrated study, and it has been fantastic.
The explanation of the grammar is exceptionally thorough and well structured. It's also very modern. I have a reprint of an old grammar as well, but it certainly couldn't compare well. I'm between chapters 17 and 18 currently, out of 26 chapters. That is, I'm doing exercises to practice the stative, and I'm starting into the Middle Egyptian perfect.
Despite all of the various signs, and the irregularities of spelling, the language comes along. A couple of coworkers have asked how I can make sense of all the symbols, and I've tell them it's not any weirder than Chinese, and people learn that just fine. It seems to put things in a bit of perspective. (Though, I imagine they consider Chinese only slightly more approachable than Middle Egyptian.)
Personally, I think reading Middle Egyptian will probably prove much easier than writing it, though I may be wrong. Writing Portuguese never seemed like much of a challenge, though, unlike most, I found speaking easier than understanding, so constructing ideas in coherent Portuguese wasn't a problem. I have no guide for correcting any Middle Egyptian sentences I might construct, which may explain the apparent difficulty. Perhaps, all the same, it will disappear.
I don't have a lot of Middle Egyptian material to read, though I do have the Book of the Dead. If everything goes according to plan, I'll definitely need to get a better dictionary and an exercise book... eventually. (I'm sure The Book of the Dead will keep me busy for a while.)
Email to a friend
When this whole Proposition 8 thing started up, I thought I understood why the Schwarzenegger sided against it. In my mind, he simply cared very little and wanted to maintain the status quo. Now that it has passed and he's come out against it, declaring a hope that it's overturned by the supreme court, I must say that I'm profoundly disappointed. More than that, however, I also read that our Governor has now denied that California has a spending problem and insists we have an income problem.
What kind of a conservative does he think he's pretending to be?
I was curious, so I went looking for his voting recommendations. You can visit the link to see the recommendations for yourself, but although I've been much impressed by his positions in the past, I'm underwhelmed in this instance.
At least he advocated a "Yes" on proposition 4.
Anyhow, while the Governor's first term in office earned him my respect and my vote, I'm afraid he'll need to earn those back again.
If you want my vote, don't suggest for Republicans "not to get stuck in ideology". It sounds to me like a code word for abandoning our principles. What sets us apart and identifies us as a party if not our principles or our ideology? Without ideology we are a force for nothing. We are not an organization that acts, but are merely an automaton of public opinion and moral decay, good for nothing more than to be tossed about on a sea of decadence, and to me, a Governor who sits on the fence in this manner is dangerous indeed.
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What kind of a conservative does he think he's pretending to be?
I was curious, so I went looking for his voting recommendations. You can visit the link to see the recommendations for yourself, but although I've been much impressed by his positions in the past, I'm underwhelmed in this instance.
At least he advocated a "Yes" on proposition 4.
Anyhow, while the Governor's first term in office earned him my respect and my vote, I'm afraid he'll need to earn those back again.
If you want my vote, don't suggest for Republicans "not to get stuck in ideology". It sounds to me like a code word for abandoning our principles. What sets us apart and identifies us as a party if not our principles or our ideology? Without ideology we are a force for nothing. We are not an organization that acts, but are merely an automaton of public opinion and moral decay, good for nothing more than to be tossed about on a sea of decadence, and to me, a Governor who sits on the fence in this manner is dangerous indeed.
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09/11: Yucky Chalk-It
After church today I and Jasher, and Cassey and Ephraim, met in the hall at the back of the Chapel. Ephraim went and sat on the first step on a nearby staircase and told me to "sit" next to him. I did so, and Cassey took Jasher.
Cassey, of course, wanted to leave, and soon headed to the car, but Ephraim required either some forceful intervention, or some convincing. I went with the latter route and offered a bribe. The deal was that I would give Ephraim some chocolate once we got home, if he would get in the car now. Soon, Ephraim was running down the hall towards the car shouting "choc-it!" while I weaved through the crowd to catch up to him.
Ephraim was very compliant about getting buckled in, and soon we arrived at our home. As soon as I got inside, I headed for a bag of leftover Halloween candy and pulled out a Tootsie Roll. (OK, so the actual standing of the substance in a Tootsie Roll as either chocolate, or something else, is a debatable point, but Ephraim tends to use the term "chocolate" loosely. I think a Tootsie Roll probably counts as "Choc-It".)
Ephraim has been eating his food less and playing with it more lately, so I'm constantly finding myself having to command him to eat his food so that it will avoid going through an unsanitary play time. Anyhow, Ephraim dropped the first tootsie roll on the kitchen floor, so I made him throw it away. I got him another one though, and told him this was his last chance. Soon, I saw him heading to the trash can again. I told him to stop, so Ephraim showed me the tootsie roll with a bite taken out of it and said "It Yucky". Cassey was standing nearby with a pear in her hand, but she offered to take care of the Tootsie Roll for him quite willingly, despite his assessment. When Ephraim noticed the pear he decided he wanted that instead and although Cassey was disinclined to share, I grabbed a knife and cut a couple of pieces off for Ephraim, set them on a plate and put the plate on the dining room table. The pieces of pear disappeared without incident, so I have to presume he ate them successfully.
Somehow, I don't think he would have run out of church at the idea of having a pear, but he traded chocolate for it nonetheless. It was quite adorable.
Email to a friend
Cassey, of course, wanted to leave, and soon headed to the car, but Ephraim required either some forceful intervention, or some convincing. I went with the latter route and offered a bribe. The deal was that I would give Ephraim some chocolate once we got home, if he would get in the car now. Soon, Ephraim was running down the hall towards the car shouting "choc-it!" while I weaved through the crowd to catch up to him.
Ephraim was very compliant about getting buckled in, and soon we arrived at our home. As soon as I got inside, I headed for a bag of leftover Halloween candy and pulled out a Tootsie Roll. (OK, so the actual standing of the substance in a Tootsie Roll as either chocolate, or something else, is a debatable point, but Ephraim tends to use the term "chocolate" loosely. I think a Tootsie Roll probably counts as "Choc-It".)
Ephraim has been eating his food less and playing with it more lately, so I'm constantly finding myself having to command him to eat his food so that it will avoid going through an unsanitary play time. Anyhow, Ephraim dropped the first tootsie roll on the kitchen floor, so I made him throw it away. I got him another one though, and told him this was his last chance. Soon, I saw him heading to the trash can again. I told him to stop, so Ephraim showed me the tootsie roll with a bite taken out of it and said "It Yucky". Cassey was standing nearby with a pear in her hand, but she offered to take care of the Tootsie Roll for him quite willingly, despite his assessment. When Ephraim noticed the pear he decided he wanted that instead and although Cassey was disinclined to share, I grabbed a knife and cut a couple of pieces off for Ephraim, set them on a plate and put the plate on the dining room table. The pieces of pear disappeared without incident, so I have to presume he ate them successfully.
Somehow, I don't think he would have run out of church at the idea of having a pear, but he traded chocolate for it nonetheless. It was quite adorable.
Email to a friend
Recently, I took the time to go update my wish list and, as the user interface for WishCraze appears to be inoperable at the moment (I recall David suggesting that he wanted to rebuild WishCraze from the ground up), I've gone back to using a flat text file which is uploaded to my server.
In addition, I have also separated Ephraim's wish list into a separate file (which includes a list for Jasher), in his own password protected directory. Ephraim's list is starting to get a little interesting, because on top of the items that Mom and Dad think he should have, he is also expressing some rather strong preferences for all things train-related, and he has fallen in love with Toy Story (which we don't have).
It's amazing to think that it's really this time of year again already, and that Ephraim had barely the ability to ask a question like "what Christmas?" the last time the holiday came around. Now we have a house, a cat, another baby, and a toddler man who, while still not having much of a concept of Christmas, will probably notice it more and possibly even be able to anticipate the event.
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In addition, I have also separated Ephraim's wish list into a separate file (which includes a list for Jasher), in his own password protected directory. Ephraim's list is starting to get a little interesting, because on top of the items that Mom and Dad think he should have, he is also expressing some rather strong preferences for all things train-related, and he has fallen in love with Toy Story (which we don't have).
It's amazing to think that it's really this time of year again already, and that Ephraim had barely the ability to ask a question like "what Christmas?" the last time the holiday came around. Now we have a house, a cat, another baby, and a toddler man who, while still not having much of a concept of Christmas, will probably notice it more and possibly even be able to anticipate the event.
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While results show that Proposition 8 barely squeaked by with a current tally of 52.2% support, the battle is not yet over.
Further, the similarly important Proposition 4 has failed, demonstrating that Californians are still quite confused about what marriage and family are all about.
Legal challenges to proposition 8 are in the works, making the bizarre claim that the constitutional amendment is unconstitutional.
I suppose it would just be too bad for them to let coherent thought keep them from getting what they want. After all, casting reason aside is how we got same-sex marriage to begin with. Perhaps it stands to reason however, since 4 judges bent reason once to give gay activists what they wanted, demonstrating that they believe themselves of higher authority than the constitution, that perhaps they'll be willing to bend reason even further and make their corruption more explicit.
Let us also not forget that once two thirds of California buys into the swindle, which seems inevitable, we might have another fight on our hands.
So, what do we do?
Personally, the thing that comes to mind is home teaching.
I know home teaching only reaches the members, but honestly, it's not just the non-members that are confused, and it's important that we make sure that each of us knows not only what marriage is, but that we also understand the other principles of the gospel.
So, don't stop studying. Read through the Family Proclamation and know it like it's the manifesto for a great cause... because it is.
All the same, we have great reason to feel good about things. The forces of darkness advanced. We drew a line, and we held our ground.
Now is the time to fortify that line.
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Further, the similarly important Proposition 4 has failed, demonstrating that Californians are still quite confused about what marriage and family are all about.
Legal challenges to proposition 8 are in the works, making the bizarre claim that the constitutional amendment is unconstitutional.
I suppose it would just be too bad for them to let coherent thought keep them from getting what they want. After all, casting reason aside is how we got same-sex marriage to begin with. Perhaps it stands to reason however, since 4 judges bent reason once to give gay activists what they wanted, demonstrating that they believe themselves of higher authority than the constitution, that perhaps they'll be willing to bend reason even further and make their corruption more explicit.
Let us also not forget that once two thirds of California buys into the swindle, which seems inevitable, we might have another fight on our hands.
So, what do we do?
Personally, the thing that comes to mind is home teaching.
I know home teaching only reaches the members, but honestly, it's not just the non-members that are confused, and it's important that we make sure that each of us knows not only what marriage is, but that we also understand the other principles of the gospel.
So, don't stop studying. Read through the Family Proclamation and know it like it's the manifesto for a great cause... because it is.
All the same, we have great reason to feel good about things. The forces of darkness advanced. We drew a line, and we held our ground.
Now is the time to fortify that line.
Email to a friend
A new ad attacking Proposition 8 has set a new low bar for politically motivated hate speech today.
The ad depicts Mormon missionaries invading the home of a lesbian couple and rifling through their personal items. What more need be said?
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The ad depicts Mormon missionaries invading the home of a lesbian couple and rifling through their personal items. What more need be said?
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In a previous blog entry, I looked at the statewide ballot issues and identified how I felt about the issues after some analysis. Here, I will be looking at more local issues, and identify where I stand and why. For most of these items, I did not find much useful information in the voter guide that I received. Of particular difficulty were the judicial positions. Fortunately, I was able to find additional information at SmartVoter.com.
My analysis is incomplete, so I will have to resort to less-than-satisfying heuristics to make some of my choices.
United States Representative
Christopher M. Agrella
Member of the State Assembly
Roger H. Garrett
Judicial: Office No. 72
Hilleri Grossman Merritt
Measure R
Nay
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My analysis is incomplete, so I will have to resort to less-than-satisfying heuristics to make some of my choices.
United States Representative
Christopher M. Agrella
I'm not a Libertarian, but I'm not a Democrat even more. I try to do my best to not support anyone who supports the platform of the Democratic Party. (The Libertarians aren't bad in comparison.)
Member of the State Assembly
Roger H. Garrett
A Republican against a Democrat. No alternatives. I like it when decisions are made easy on me.
Judicial: Office No. 72
Hilleri Grossman Merritt
All the justices are tough calls, but Hilleri's opponent has a way of communicating an unrealistic an, I think, unhealthy level of entitlement into the justice system. In comparison, I thought Hilleri at least communicated a more responsible kind of justice system.
Measure R
Nay
Raising taxes? Why would I want to raise taxes? Part of the tax hike would go to subsidize and expand the metro system, which is apparently operating in the red. Why would I want to subsidize a failing business model. Personally, I'd rather pay more to use the metro. Despite the (long) 30 year limit on the tax hike, taxes have a way of outliving their putative limits.
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