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pogi

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Everything posted by pogi

  1. I don’t have all the answers, but I will use my voice and influence and vote where I can. The alternative is to do nothing, which is the worst of the above options.
  2. Success is better than failure, but failure is better than doing nothing - never knowing if success might have been possible. Let’s work at getting their minds prepared.
  3. So true. I was mandated to take a 4 hour defensive driving course to work where I work. I don't even drive a car at work, or even to work. I take trax or ride my bike. I was hounded until it was completed. There is software with a list of hours and hours of mandated annual trainings. We have the same trainings every year. It is drilled into our brains. No exceptions. That's what happens when higher-ups think something is important that we should know. That's what happens when something is seen as a priority.
  4. It's clearly not a priority. We seem to be really good with return and report accountability. We are all about reporting numbers and percentages to see who has completed their assignments. We hold follow-up interviews to offer encouragement/social pressure to fulfill our duties and make sure that the needs of members are getting met. We are good at all of this except when it comes to protecting our children. There is no good excuse or reason. If it was a priority, there would be a system in place to verify that the training is completed before a member can work with children. It would be clearly spelled out in the handbook of instructions that no one can work with children until it is completed. There would be easily accessible tools for the Sunday school Presidency and bishopric to verify that training is completed. Leaders don't need to be reminded that ordination to priesthood needs to be completed before service in certain callings. Why? Because they made that a priority.
  5. That's a two way street. You are simply stating your opinion - which is what I was responding to and noting that there are other opinions besides your own. Well, you did say something "like that" (hence my response): Our language is inadequate at describing and categorizing phenomenon in nature despite our best attempts at nomenclature. Language always falls short. The fact is that sex chromosomes are not manifested in nature in a binary fashion (XY or XX). Neither the genotype of phenotype are binary. That is a fact. And the whole current classification system is not absolute and unchangeable truth. While there is no officially recognized "third sex (a straw man you seam keen on attacking)" that I am aware of, there is no good reason why there can't be a third sex to recognize Klinfelter's syndrome or a fourth sex to recognize Turner's syndrome etc. as distinct in genotype and phenotype from the the binary "male" and "female" social construct. The statistically small instances of intersex individuals is a moot point. You can disagree all you want, but as you stated, "there's not much of a discussion to be had when an opinion is merely stated..." How the lived experience of this identity somehow is at the "expense of its status as a medical condition", is beyond me. My children have a medical condition known as albinism. They identify as albino. This is deeply part of their identity. There is a large community of albinos who value their shared identities and life experiences. Sharing this identity helps people cope with being "different". To say that you disagree with those who's medical condition (their reality and lived experience) becomes their identity (my children) doesn't change the fact of their identity or life experience. It's really not your place. So, no, our theology does not address or answer these issues as you claim.
  6. You may suggest that this is all a distinct and separate issue, but many don't see it that way. All I am saying is that your claim that we have resolved all questions and concerns regarding these issues isn't really accurate. To say that being intersex is not an identity is simply not fair to the lived experience of those who don't fit into to the male/female checkboxes. Yes, lets just set them aside...put 'em on the shelf, if you will. If you think that these intersex individuals are either biologically male or female, than please define male and female and explain how these individuals fit with that definition. The problem is that they don't fit with any standard definition of male or female. Genotypically and often phenotypically, they are something else. But I guess our mortal life isn't included in our "eternal" nature of gender for some reason.
  7. I just reviewed my emails to see if I ever got a notification. It looks like I did. I must have missed it in the swamp of emails. This is what it says: "As part of the Church's ongoing effort to ensure the safety of all children and youth, all adults who work with children or youth are to complete the Protecting Children and Youth training course. Please take the time to complete this training as soon as possible. It will take about 30 minutes" It then provides a link. Where is the follow up by the bishopric if it isn't completed? Are they notified if I complete it or not? Like I said, I was working with the youth for several months with zero follow up or accountability for completing this. It seems to me that this should be required to complete before working with children. It was beyond easy for me to slip through the cracks.
  8. Agreed. There is zero justification for not requiring proof of completion before working with children. That this lax approach continues today, even after all the abuse that we KNOW happens, is a sad commentary. It seems that lawyering up in cases of abuse with the call-line is a higher priority than prevention.
  9. How is this mandated exactly? I am the ward music leader but also work in the nursery. When my wife and I were called to work in the nursery, no one mentioned the training. I was the one who told my wife about it. We both procrastinated and worked with children in the nursery for around 4 months before finally completing the training. No one followed up. Literally zero oversight or accountability. It seems that "mandated" is a relative term based on your local ward/leaders. Where is this mandated? Unfortunately, this doesn't always play out in reality. As you noted, many stay quiet.
  10. I think this talk is proof that the prophet lurks at MDDB.
  11. Yes and no. The issue expressed is that it is a "driver of much continuing sexism and discrimination against women". That issue and complaint has not disappeared in out theology. While we believe in heavenly parents, we don't refer to heavenly mother as our "God". We don't officially acknowledge her as part of the Godhead (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Holly Ghost). We are discouraged from having any communion with Her. We have zero understanding of her role in creation, rearing/nurturing, relation with her children, or active participation in our spiritual well-being. She is merely a suppressed idea that we have no relational experience with. Some Latter-day Saints, therefore argue that the same issues of sexism and discrimination exist in our church with the suppression of women (even our own Mother). The eternal nature of gender also creates other complications and unanswerable questions about intersex individuals.
  12. It takes someone to complain before something gets cancelled. I'm guessing that no one complained. I think it is stupid the debate got cancelled, but it is not just one side that was cancelled or silenced in this case. If the Nebraska Professor is the issue, find someone else to debate. Simple! I somehow suspect that this event was canceled for other reasons and that this student is simply taking advantage to jab at cancel culture - otherwise, why can't they just find a replacement? Just my suspicion.
  13. Revelation isn't the same as "making up the doctrine". Regarding the scriptures not mentioning her: https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-religions/asherah-0010611 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42147912
  14. I think there was a similar poll posted here recently that gave evidence to the same thing. It showed that Mormons were the most likely to like other religions, but that we were among the least liked by others.
  15. Sorry to hear that. I don’t have much experience in this area but pain certainly is very normal after his procedure, but if your husband thinks it is bad enough to go to the ER, I think it is best to err on the side of caution and follow his intuition. I can’t really speak to the frequency or likelihood of his body rejecting the mesh.
  16. If life expectancy is all that matters I’d agree. We have just become very good at helping people live long chronic disease filled lives. If we shifted our focus and investment to prevention instead of treatment, we would reduce the enormous economic burden of health care costs associated with treating/living with chronic disease, we would improve quality of life, and improve life expectancy. I wouldn’t say that none of that matters. An interesting side note about this graph is that it looks like life expectancy just started to take a dip for only the 3rd time in recorded US history. The first corresponds with the civil war. The second corresponds with WWI and the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and the third dip corresponds with…Covid. And perhaps we have reached the limits of modern medicine in prolonging life of the chronically ill with polypharmacy.
  17. And it is dirt cheap and painless.
  18. I thought the death penalty was taken off the table for them? When one believes that they have absolute knowledge of absolute truth, it can lead people to justify the most horrendous things imaginable.
  19. "Work" is ranked #36 while "grace" didn't make the list in the top 500.
  20. Curiously, "she" is ranked at #24 while "he" didn't make the list in the top 500.
  21. To do so is taught by some leaders as being akin to criticizing God (see Elder Pearson thread). Totally unhealthy dynamic. Leaders need to know from their followers when they have crossed a line. That is a critical function of sustaining anyone or anything.
  22. Where in the video did she talk about this as a potential cure to addiction? She was talking about why it can have a negative impact on really young children who can’t distinguish it from reality. She was talking about how this might negatively impact sexual performance/self esteem later in life if we compare our bodies and sexual performance against it, or if we try to imitate the more aggressive/abusive forms of porn. I know a thing or two about this issue. Addiction is a different beast all together from sexual performance issues. This is no cure.
  23. If further context doesn’t change the meaning of what he said - this is the kind of crap that sets people up for debilitating disillusionment. I can only pray that God is greater than the reproach of mortal men and all their follies (prophet or not). Why do so many insist on elevating prophets to such untouchable heights? Has no one read the old-testament?
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