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I do not believe this. Especially for men who work a professional job, the virtue of living within one's means is almost universally available.

On the other hand, if your 70-year-old mother had voluntarily donated her basement as a place for goons to keep their Jewish sex slave . . . We have a strong western tradition of at least giving lip service to the distinction between civilian and military; and the notion that a populace is often not accountable for the acts of its government. But when you see the public opinion polls about the number of Palestinians (and Palestinian supporters in Europe and the USA) who support the 10/7 attacks . . . I don’t know. It makes me reconsider the OT conquest narratives. Could it be that sometimes, an entire culture is simply beyond rehabilitation/reconciliation; and for the sake of self defense, all that’s left to do is to give them the most humane death your resources permit?

I don't believe it. To be brutally candid, I don't believe I did my best at parenting, even though it was probably the most fulfilling activity of my life and one of the two things I really wanted to succeed at. I think I operated well below what I was capable of, of what I should have done, of what my Father in heaven expected of me. And while I don't inflict my own weaknesses upon everyone else, I also am not naive enough to believe that I'm somehow specially wicked and lazy. Yes, I'm wicked and lazy, but my observation is that just about everyone else is in the same boat, more or less. People betray their children all the time, a truism that came as an honest shock to my young adult self when, in a horrifying moment, I realized it. In the depths of your soul, do you truly believe that those mothers who encourage their daughters to be boys or their sons to be girls are just doing their honest best? A few pathetic and lost souls, perhaps, but not in the main. That's not doing one's best. That's caving to societal pressure and hoping you can be seen as the heroic defender of the sexually downtrodden, sort of a twisted version of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. I spare my wholesale condemnation of such people. If the mortal Christ did not see fit to condemn a woman taken in the very act of adultery, I can't believe it's my place to condemn someone else even for something as horrific as encouraging his child to mutilate his own mind and body. But I sure as heck don't believe it's a good-hearted and honest attempt at upright parenting. Not in 99% of cases.

Sounds like Eli Herring. https://www.deseret.com/2015/4/29/20563855/20-years-later-blessed-herring-believes-he-made-right-decision-not-to-play-in-nfl/ From the above interview you can see he had no regrets. I was on the BYU track and field team with him back in the early ‘90s. He was a heck of a good shot putter too. And his eating prowess was awe-inspiring. Doing the right thing always pays off.

A couple of responses. @Traveler, you think deeply and well. We may not agree about the canon, but I always appreciate your insights--especially in this string. We have remarkably similar views, despite our differences concerning the canon of scripture. @LDSGator, I get your perspective and have some sympathy for the Gazan residents. However, Israel is literally fighting an existential battle. If they stop now, they will not be perceived as winners. The Jews faced genocide once. Now they've discovered that many in the USA--even in NYC--especially our young--might allow such again. I'm not so sure I can tell them how to fight back. I pray for the day when we truly recognize Jews have a right to exist and they have a right to keep their homeland.

AMEN, brother. My son only took a couple of classes at the local JC to explore what various professions were about. Eventually he got some online training for $35 to become a drafter. He did have the advantage of having access to the software through me. But anyone else could have rented it for about $50/month. He began his career before he even turned 20 years old. He was making the average salary when he still lived under our roof. When he left for his mission it was a disappointment for many at the company he worked for. He was the best drafter they had. Throughout his mission, people at the company kept calling me asking when he was coming back. The date didn't change. But they kept calling anyway. They wanted to know if there was any way he could come home earlier. LOL! Now he's back at that company with a hefty raise. He has now moved from average salary to median salary. That said, I need to admit that my son is a special case. His brain is phenomenal. I've never met anyone like him before. And I know a LOT of very smart people. It is possible that a particular friend of mine has a son with a mind like my son's. My wife always had a dream of being a wildlife biologist. But she knew from her youth that being a mother was paramount. So, she slowly took classes whenever we could afford it. She eventually got an associate's degree (made Phi Beta Kappa) the same year that her daughter got hers. And now in her middle age, she doesn't regret the choices she's made. Our kids are just the best. I could tell some stories. But I'd be bragging too much. It is because they had a SAHM who was teaching and guiding them all the way. They also had a father who taught them the roles of men and women. All my children love to read (because of their mother). They love having philosophical and Socratic discussions all the time. And they have the wackiest sense of humor in any household I know of.

Like I wrote, frankly I don’t know. I have heard some talk of needing some mental stimulation. Likely men are at fault for under appreciating their spouses. Listing to the whisperings of Lucifer’s host - believing that their decisions were less rewarding or less important than a formal job. That they missed out on getting a degree. Some sort of dis-satisfaction… I agree with Goodwill Hunting, “You spent $150,000 on an education that you could have got for $1.50 in late charges @ the local public library.” An education does not require a university… As for enjoying working outside the home. I can’t understand it at all. I work with many over educated men and women. I have way more stimulating conversations with my children. If me or any of the people that I work with won the lottery, we would quit our jobs overnight. I understand working women that must provide basic needs for their families. Its the women that already have supporting husbands that confuse me.

I see no other reasonable way to take Camille N. Johnson's words. as quoted by @mikbone and as apparently approved by President Oaks. This woman is the General Relief Society President, and her words include: "I had my first son the year after I passed the bar. I had bables, and my husband and I loved and nurtured them while we were both working, It was busy, sometimes hectic; we were stretched and sometimes tired...My husband and I sought inspiration in these choices and in the timing. It was what we felt impressed to do...I juggled pregnancy, having babies, nurturing children, carpool, Little League, Church responsibilities, being a supportive spouse, and my professional pursuits. It was a joyful juggle I wouldn't change...Being a mother is my highest priority. It is my ultimate joy." Obviously, Sister Johnson is an intelligent and accomplished woman. Just as obviously, she put her career as an important part of her life choices, not because her husband couldn't work, but because it was important to her. She claims that she was following the inspiration of God in making such choices. Who am I to say she's wrong? Yet this is clearly and very starkly different from what the prophets unanimously proclaimed scarcely more than a generation ago. There can be no doubt or argument on that point. So what are we to make of that? And please note, Sister Johnson's highest priority and ultimate goal is not being a wife and help meet for her husband. It is being a mother. Yet being a successful mother in the ultimate sense presupposes being a wife and help meet for her spouse. My wife and I had come to a crossroads. I told her what I preferred, but I could not and would not impose my decision on her. Her decision was what it had always been throughout her life: She would finish her PhD and work in a university and/or for the UN. But later, soon after the birth of our oldest child and just after she had been awarded her Master's degree, she came to talk to me and told me that she had changed her mind, that she wanted to focus on our family and on rearing our children. If she had not made that decision, our lives would have looked much different. For one thing, we would have had a lot more money. For another, I don't see how we realistically could have homeschooled our children, so either I would have quit working to try to homeschool them or we would have had to make other arrangement for our children's education. We had five children and several pregnancies that were lost, but I wonder if a successful career woman--and make no mistake about it, my wife would have been spectacularly successful in her chosen fields, almost certainly far more successful than her husband has been in his--I wonder if such a woman would have had the strength, stamina, or even desire to have more than one or two children. The greatest blessings and joys of our lives would likely never have come about, or at least would look much different, had my wife chosen her career aspirations. Well, so, bully for us. Yippee. But that doesn't mean our path is what every woman's path should look like. Fair enough. But the point is, had we been young marrieds now, growing up in the modern world, my wife's General Relief Society President would be on record as using her own career as an example and a talking point. With that kind of feedback and counsel, would my wife have made the same choice? I don't know, but I suspect the probability would have decreased. Oh, okay. So that was a good outcome for people thirty-plus years ago, back in my generation. But today, a good outcome looks different. Do we believe this? Because I always thought there was a divine, celestial ideal for which we strove, an unchanging pole star. But we have our highest general-level Church leaders teaching something much different from what they taught not very many years back. Make it make sense. That's all I ask. And if the way you make it make sense is by discarding as "outdated" or "ignorant" the inspired teachings of past prophets and leaders, then I won't accept what you claim to be sensible.

I'm also concerned about "Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations." Especially when combined with the part of the definition that says, "...are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." So if one American Jewish person advocates for something that helps Israel while harming the US, saying anything about it could be anti-Semitism and thus illegal?

Oh... and for what it's worth, the above doesn't imply having a career.

I have not asked anyone, but I'm not at all surprised to hear this. One of the great mysteries of life is how so many Jews, probably the most intelligent people on the planet (and not by a little bit*), can hold such stupid opinions about certain issues. The old "Mormons turning dead Jews into Mormons" through baptism for the dead is one outstanding example. This, it appears, is another. The blindingly obvious problem here is that "Jew" denotes not only a religion, not only a race, not only a culture, but all of the above (and probably more). "Jews for Jesus" is no more oxymoronic than "atheist Jews", which in my experience is the majority of American Jews. If a Jew can believe in no God at all and still remain a Jew, why should a Jew not be able to believe in Jesus as the Christ and still remain a Jew? *I have read that Ashkenazi Jews have a mean IQ score that is 15 points above the mean of the population at large. (Here is an MIT paper that supports the idea.) (Here is another one, from a source I know nothing about, but that claims that in certain important areas, Jews score more like 25 IQ points above the general mean. 25 points! That is nearly unbelievable. One breathless passage: "Ashkenazin skills in verbal reasoning, comprehension, working memory, and mathematics are simply astounding—the group averages 125 on an IQ test of verbal reasoning. Since 1950, 29 percent of Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Ashkenazi Jews, who represent a mere 0.25 percent of the global population.") Fifteen points is enormous, a full standard deviation above the general norm. That means your average, run-of-the-mill Ashkenazi Jew is one of the bright students in the class; the Ashkenazi Jew that scores in the top third of his Jewish peers will score in the top 95% of the general population; and the top 95% scorer among fellow Jews (about 1 in 20) will score in the top 99.9% of the general population (about 1 in 1000). It is neither coincidence nor conspiracy that Jews are vastly overrepresented in intellectual professions such as banking, finance, law, medicine, and creative endeavors; it's just evidence of their superior intellectual capacity or achievements. Rather ironic and almost humorous to compare Hitler's rantings about the Master Race. If any group fits Hitler's twisted Master Race idea, it is the very Jews he was so passionately murdering.

I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind. But it is related and has been weighing on my mind. About 6 months ago, we accepted a young adult into our home because she had no place to go. Her parents had kicked her out. And by all accounts, they were abusive. She was very damaged by all that happened. Since she's been living with us she has eased up a bit and found herself. The problem is... "herself" is not someone that has it together. She's not grateful. She's not humble. She is not responsible. While my wife has tried to work with her on the emotional/social side, I'm trying to teach her financial literacy. My kids have actually been instrumental in helping her on the spiritual side (mind you, she is nominally LDS). Unfortunately, all of our efforts have been in vain. It seems that due to all the gaslighting she experienced in her family, she developed the self-defense mechanism of giving a knee-jerk reaction to any new information with "Well, that is not true for me because..." Needless to say, we have made zero progress with her from making any changes to her decision making or behaviors. ******************* Now, I am trying to avoid blasphemy here. But the following stark comparison has been on my mind. And it involves a situation where I would be "the Lord" in this parable. When we took her into our home. We had it in our minds to possibly adopt her. But we'd have to see how things go. How would she fit into our family in the long run? Is she willing to be part of our family. To help her out, I bought her a beater so she could get to and from work. The agreement was that she would pay me back over the course of 6 months. With her salary, she should be able to pay me back in three or four months. The deal was that all the payments would be considered "rent" until she pays it off fully. Then I would sign the car over to her. And it would be hers. Fast forward. She has skipped a few months payment. She now still owes me about $1800. She is scheduled to leave for her own apartment at the end of June. By then she will owe me about $2000 because we agreed that I'd begin to charge a small amount of rent ($100/mo) beginning in April. She said that she felt she had to leave around now because "Carb is going to start taking my money." As you can imagine, I found that disturbing on several levels. Because she has been a less than stellar worker, her boss reduced her hours. So, she is now making much less money. There is no way she can pay me back anymore. She wants to move into an apartment with a friend of hers. But she's "having trouble getting the deposit together because I'm giving all my money to Carb." Note; She hasn't paid me a penny in two months. I'm now expecting that she will have to take all the money and put the deposit down on the apartment and leave without paying me back. I'm probably not going to make much of an objection. But I feel like I'll have to point out a few things. We invited her into our home and wanted to adopt her after a testing period. But she never wanted to learn what it was to be a part of our family. This would include making her an heir to my estate when I died. But she didn't do the things we did. She didn't learn the things we learned. She didn't accept the principles which we believed. She wanted a posh life without taking on the responsibilities of that life. Instead of paying $100 rent (because I was "taking" her money) she CHOSE to pay $700/mo for half rental on an apartment. Her parents stole $2000+ of her money. She is now defaulting on her obligation to me for $2000. The thing is that I knew this was a possible eventuality. And I was prepared to take the hit if it came down to it. So, I'm going to forgive her the debt. She can no longer blame her financial woes on her parents' mistreatment. I've paid their debt to her. She now has her own life to live and cannot blame anyone for the choices she makes. When she realized what was happening financially, she never bothered to come to me and ask for a different deal or schedule or anything that might make it more financially feasible for her to pay me back. She just chose to bad-mouth me to my children. So, she's going to blame me for all her financial woes. She made nearly $20,000 last year and has nothing to show for it because she spent it all despite having no expenses other than her phone and gas for the car. She spent it on frivolous living. The parallels with her irresponsibility with money vs our irresponsibility with "glory" (as you - Traveler- put it) is really clear in my mind. The Lord wants us to inherit all He has. We want that posh life. But we often are not willing to learn and do what it takes to get there. Often times, we think the Lord expects too much of us. But what we choose to do instead will be even harder. In fact, it is impossible. (c.f. C.S. Lewis wheat, grass, egg) We have been wronged by so many parties. But the Lord has paid the debt so that all things are equal. We can't blame any of our bad choices on what wrongs we've been subject to in our lives. The Lord has cleared it all and given us a fresh start. We spend way too much time trying to justify, or cry foul, or simply denying, instead of going to the Lord and asking for forgiveness. We need to ask him to lift us up. But many of us tend to now blame the Lord for all our problems as if they just came out of thin air. We have so many blessings which we squander like the prodigal son. We could have done so much with our time, talents, and everything that the Lord has blessed us with. But we choose to waste it all far too often. I don't like losing $2000. And it hurts. But I'd be glad to pay it, if it meant that she would turn around and figure things out, and begin to live a happy life with no exuses. I just want her to learn correct principles and live a happy life. I'll gladly set things up so that she has no excuses. But she is just continuing to make bad choices because she has never accepted the lessons we tried to teach her. The primary principle behind economics is not the currency. In the end, "economics" is the science of "making choices."

"Childcare crisis" doesn't mean we need more nurseries and daycare facilities. "Childcare crisis" means mothers aren't taking care of their own children.

I was introduced to classical music by Saturday morning cartoons (particularly Buggs Bunny). But really got into them due to sports (olympic theme, etc). Every time I hear Aaron Copeland’s fanfare for the common man I get excited. - Kinda like Pavlov’s dogs.

Soundtracks are also a great way to re-experience music

I realize that people want to encourage people to behave better by having cameras watching their every move. There is wisdom in this. But I see an unexpected consequence. Children even early teens still don't have any idea about life. They're in the learning stages. And while there need to be consequences for actions, I believe that the mob mentality that is rampant in this era (and, I'm sure many other periods in history) would want their pound of flesh if some stupid kid simply did something that was simply stupid. And that kid would pay for the rest of his life for doing something stupid that stupid kids do, but often grow out of.

Israel's stated goals aren't about holding people responsible or bringing anyone to justice. Israel's stated goals are all about ensuring Hamas permanently loses the ability to threaten Israel. You don't get that by making it all the way to Rafah and then doing a deal with the intact Hamas leadership. Just sayin'.

Yup, I could go on for hours about this. I live in CA so it’s hopefully a local issue, but keeping up with the Jones’s is alive and well here - including the LDS church. My wife has never worked outside the house and we have exclusively homeschooled our children. Although we have 11 children we have never had more then 2 cars. I drive a 9 year old pick-up truck with 150,000 miles, it drives great. I make a good living but It seems like the majority of cars I see on the highway or church parking lot are fancier than mine. I’m a bit of an extrovert but I’m observant. I see LDS mothers returning to get an education or work because - frankly I don’t know… As far as I can tell their husbands have good jobs and can adequately provide for the family. Plastic surgery, therapists, antidepressants, RVs, Ski & fishing boats are aplenty. This is from a father son campout last night. The 3 younger boys in the family. They are all wearing hand-me-downs or clothes from goodwill or ebay. If you notice, they caught this fish without a pole. Trick I learned in Chile, wrap the line around a tin can (or Coke can here in the states). You get the lure going with centrifugal force then release, and line up the long axis of the can with the direction of lure release. Works great. Cheap and functional. Didn’t need a bass boat or a pole. And most of the other children wanted to try it. My backup plan to medical school was highschool teacher and coach. I would have been great. And my J.D. wife would still have stayed home and raised our children.

It's not just a mixed message these days, it's a different message altogether. The message used to be that mothers should stay home with the kids and not go to work, unless it was absolutely necessary. Now the message is that it's perfectly fine to be a career woman and a mother at the same time.

I don't know what to make of it. It feels like we are abandoning truth. Reading comments on the post from working moms who live hectic, chaotic lives as if it's the better way just doesn't ring true to me. How can working full-time be consistent with putting your role as a mother first? Surely, other women/people are supplementing work in the home while you are prioritizing outside work. Surely, you are with co-workers for more hours in the day than you are with your children. It's a tough economy, and women probably have to work now. We can be realists about that and adjust and support each other as a religious community. But I doubt it's a good idea to change the narrative without explaining. It's not good for me to be gaslighted, like I'm the one who misinterpreted very clear messages from past leaders and church publications (not to mention my own experience and social science research).

So under this bill, Holocaust denial becomes a crime? Yeah, I'm not on board with that level of goodthink.

I remember that (I believe it was) Pres Hinckley gave counsel for young women to get an education and/or other means of obtaining work for themselves. But that was not about avoiding the role of SAHM. It was "just in case" of husband's death, divorce, etc.

There are already repercussions.

I’ve mused that physical matter is different than spiritual matter because it is bound by an uncertainty principle. This principle generates unexpected outcomes. And a small percentages of unexpected outcomes have value. It’s possible that something like soy sauce, kimchi, paella, maple syrup, or bacon pecan pie is the kind of currency that makes Earth valuable. Perhaps it’s the Star Wars saga. But then again, I hope than the lightsaber is a common elegant weapon that Celestials employ. Perhaps George Lucas’ story was inspired. And if there are an infinite amount of ‘Earths’ then the art, cultures, cookbooks, etc. available in heavenly libraries must be extensive. Can’t wait to get my hands on an Urim and Thummin. D&C 130: 10-11 Another good reason to shoot for the Celestial Kingdom instead of a lesser kingdom. Can’t imagine using imitation maple corn syrup on crappy pancakes for the rest of eternity. Talk about hell…

Jokes, yes. Definitely jokes. No, the scarce thing is souls who are willing to live the Celestial Law. Thus the only currency, the only true sacrifice we can give the Lord is our broken heart and contrite spirit.

I've thought about this and I'm leaning toward the idea that it is not about right v wrong, or correct v incorrect. Neither is it about obeying or disobeying. It is really about "are you able to do this?" For most women, the answer is "No, you will definitely neglect your family." For others, the answer is,"yes, but you're really just making your life harder. And you'll eventually have to choose between your career or your family. Are you sure you're going to be willing to give up your career when that eventuality occurs?" For a very few, the answer is "yes... but... be sure you continue to make family the priority in your life. Don't lose sight of what is most precious." The reason why this last is so uncommon is the reason women go to work v. why men go to work. Women go to work to gain status or to feel "fulfilled." Unless they have to, they don't go to work to support the family. Thus single mothers are part of the "have to go to work" group. They do it because they need to support the family. Men go to work first and foremost because we need to support our family. It has been the husbandly and fatherly role since pre-historic times. It always will be so. Take that away from the man and he feels emasculated. If we can't support our family, it destroys us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. Do we want fulfillment and status? Absolutely. Of course we do. But it is not the primary purpose of a man's profession. And it is much less common for a man to lose sight of this. Ask 100 men who make the median salary: Would you clean sewers for $100k/yr? 99 of them would say "Yes, absolutely!" Ask 100 women the same question. 1 of them might accept. So, unless you're the one woman who would accept, chances are that your claim that you "need" to work outside the home is a false one. To bring it back to the beginning... Sis Johnson didn't seem to need to go to work to support the family. But she seemed to be the 1/1000 who can do it all and continue to make family the priority in her life. The danger here is so many women who cannot do so will look at her example and think, "Why can't I do that?" Answer: Because you're only in it for yourself and you're not willing to sacrifice what you need to do in order to make family a priority. CONDITION: It is a LOT easier for a career woman to make family a priority if she works part-time or has a home-based business. And lawyering is one of those professions where you can do that (depending on the type of law she practices). So, if you have a profession that allows you to be with your children, then great. Just be sure to make them the priority, not your career.

♫ I'll tell you what I'd do: I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war, and I'd seek to establish normal marital intimacy with you. I'm okay with this, and even with raising teacher pay significantly, as long as regular principles of meritocracy are practiced. In other words, bad teachers are summarily and unapologetically booted. This will never, ever, ever happen in government-run schools with NEA-unionized teachers.

Everyone says Jimmy Buffet's best song was Margaritaville. Nope. It was Come Monday.

I remember a follow-up study showed that precincts with body cameras had a decline in claims against police following the use of body cams. Commenters on one side claimed it was because civilians now knew their frivolous claims could be fact-checked. The other side said it was because now someone was watching the watchers. I shrug my shoulders and say, "Everyone is being polite, I don't see why we need to concern ourselves with past behavior".

That, and it’s like body cams for cops. It covers the teachers against being falsely accused. We have them everywhere but the bathrooms in the dojang.

It’s a strange dynamic. I mean, if every once in a while I get a hankering to have a cappuccino, I can’t get a temple recommend unless I lie about it. But it’s just a cappuccino. On the other hand mothers with young children working outside the home (when they don’t have to) seems like a problem - to me at least. But totally OK to get a temple recommend… And ok to receive one of the premier callings in the church with significant media exposure. What really got my attention about Camille Johnson’s women’s conference talk was that she shared something that, on its face, appears to be contrary to known prior counsel. And then she highlighted that specific portion of her talk and shared it on facebook under the official title of the church. (Which I perceived as a bit of nose-thumbing). I took President’s Oaks response as a clarifying stop-gap message reinforcing motherhood and life long learning while ignoring the work outside the home focus of the OP. I want to hope that it was just an innocent blunder on her part. But the fact that she has been the general primary president previously as well as a successful attorney suggests that she knew what she was doing. BTW, never had a cappuccino.

Not sure how this is a negative. Let them feel awkward. Public school itself is hardly a natural thing. I think I have come around on this topic to approving of monitoring classes, as long as such monitoring is always freely available to parents as well as school staff. Much tomfoolery by both students and teachers could be avoided or at least recorded and addressed. legally or otherwise.

Sometimes I think that just because I grew up in a different era – I grew up on a different planet. I grew up in Provo, Utah, two blocks from the BYU campus. I would say half our yard was garden and fruit trees. We raised rabbits and chickens for meat. We hunted and fished for additional meat. My mother never worked outside the home but the work she did at home was a lot. I considered that both my parents were workaholics. I would say that less the 10% of what we ate or wore was bought in a store. Mom ran everything associated with our home. The only clothing we bought was our Sunday clothing and our work overalls – mom made everything else. We had a washing machine with a roller winger. Stuff was hung on a clothesline to dry. Laundry was a lot of work. In the winter clothing would freeze and we would bring it in and by the time it thawed – it was dry. Anything nice had to be ironed. I thought we were poor because by the time I was eight I was expected to earn money to purchase my stuff and pay for my part of family vacations. Doing chores at home did not count – I had to earn money from a job. Picking fruit was a good summer job along with yard work for neighbors and shoveling snow where we could find it. At age 10 dad would hire us to work at his apartments or office buildings. I did not know anything about mechanics until I purchased a car for $50 and had to rebuild it. We got up about 4:00 am to deliver paper routes, work at the welfare farm, shovel snow, fish or hunt or whatever. Going to school was like party resting time. I firmly believe that anyone that does not have a profession (man, woman or especially teenager) better be working towards one. Stay at home mom can be a profession – but not much of one if all one has is one or two children (unless one or more is severely handicap). There are too many conveniences in modern living. Do kids now days even know how to wash and dry dishes? Or cook anything from scratch? I honestly believe a single person can have a full-time job and own a home and take care of it and their yard all by themselves and still have time to play. I do not believe that a mom can be efficient in our modern-day society in this day and age when all the kids are in school without an additional something to keep them gainfully occupied. Home schooling can help if they are professional about it. I hate to sound unhappy about things, but many mothers cannot even manage their household. As a result, their children are next to useless. When I was called as a scoutmaster (back when the Church was into boy scouts) I would have boys come on their first campout having never even made their own beds. Teaching such kids to do anything useful while camping was quite difficult, but we figured it out. However, it was interesting to me that such parents were the most likely to complain about how their “children” were being treated. Just as a side note – it has been almost 40 years but I still have many of my scouts visit and tell me that scouting was an important part of their lives (though some are no longer church active). I believe this is one of the primary reasons many kids come home early from church missions. This is also a reason that I believe military obligation should be mandatory. My wife would start early with our newborns. She would sit with our kids as soon as they could sit – she would sit with them in our front room teaching them how to behave at church (or anywhere in public – including on airplanes). She taught them that anything other than behaving was not going to work out well for them. I strongly believe that too many in our society have a sedate (lazy) lifestyle and that is a major problem for so many reasons. The Traveler

Agreed. A phrase that makes sense to me: "War doesn't decide who is right, it decides who is left." We've had generations raised hearing about things that weren't wars in the classical sense. Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, proxy wars - those really aren't wars. A war with the stakes of WWII hasn't really been seen in American media, until now with Israel's actions. There are plenty of analogies. Yep. I've been hearing about how wide the divide is between the Islamic/Arab/Persian world and the western world for a long time. We think we know what it's like to oppose a different culture when we think about the taliban and forced religious rule that keep women out of schools and whatnot. We get outraged and support the occasional intervention to stop such things. But there's no comparison to the level of opposition much of the Islamic world has to notions like human rights, freedom to choose, and yes, compound interest. There's more than just outrage and supporting things going on there - it's a holy struggle against what's considered an evil system. With this mindset, there's no stopping the struggle, there's no end to the conflict, until the other system is totally gone and all it's adherents are converted or slain. Of course, not all Muslims go to such extremes. What's the percentage that is? Folks argue back and forth - I hear claims of 10%, 50%, 80% of the world's Muslims are serious about the "great satan" talk and want the US and Israel wiped off the face of the earth, as a good starting place. I've also heard it put this way: Christianity had it's reformation, and holy wars and violence in the name of God was decimated. Islam had it's reformation, and the holy wars and violence in the name of God got enshrined in many cultures as a way of life, a reason to have a government. We keep hearing about the Houthi missile attacks. Here's the Houthi flag, with a translation. Imagine having this as the flag of your movement and your people: What's the answer? I dunno. But Israel's answer of "we get to exist, and eliminate threats to our existence" makes a lot of sense to me, and I support them.

I hope you're right, and it's what my husband and I always did so I could stay home. We financially struggled at times, but we were overall very, very blessed - many times so directly that we could not deny the Lord's hand in it. I guess I'm just giving working women the benefit of the doubt, but I hope they really do prioritize the kids and stay home if they are able. We are in our early 40s. If it was hard for us, I just can't help but wonder how much harder it is for younger people, because of inflation, the cost of education, home prices, etc. I'm not talking about luxuries. For me personally, the very large recent jumps in household expenses have been needs. Insurance, property taxes, food, gas, and shelter....even water bills tripled in my neighborhood. I'm grateful that we are more established. How are people handling it who are just starting out in life? I think many of them get help from their parents.

While it's inarguably true that we specifically targeted city infrastructure and civilians as part of the overall bombing campaigns of these cities, you cannot claim that Hamburg, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki were not military targets. Hamburg was a large industrial center, containing things like shipyards, U-boat pens, and oil refineries. Hiroshima was a an embarkation port and industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters. It was a supply and logistics base for the Japanese military. It was a communications center and an assembly area for troops. Nagasaki was one of the largest military seaports in southern Japan. It was a shipbuilding center, and was a huge industrial base for producing naval ordnance, ships, military equipment, and other war materials. Again, I don't think anyone will argue that we intentionally bombed and killed civilian infrastructure and civilians during these campaigns. But you have to ignore an awful lot of historical facts to claim there was nothing of military value in those 3 cities.

My wife stayed home with out kids, but now most of them are grown and she has a job to help the finances. She wants to extent her education to be able to do more. I have no problem with that at this point now.

It seems the Church currently is trying to be all things for all people which I believe is untenable if you want lasting unity and concentrated effort. It will be interesting what the next 5-10 years look like. As for me I will continue praying for the leadership of the Church, keep my head down, go to the House of the Lord as often as possible, and prepare myself for the 2nd Coming.

We are actively instructed to not engage in any religious talk, even if they ask: "Non-proselytizing The Center has made a firm commitment that no one associated with the Center, BYU, or Church will engage in Christian proselytizing activities while in the Holy Land. Students may not proselytize, directly or indirectly. Proselytizing is defined as any activity that could be construed as aimed at including, encouraging, or leading people in the country of Israel to investigate any religion for possible conversion. Such activities are strictly contrary to the desires of the government and people of Israel and to the commitments made by BYU, the Jerusalem Center, and the Church. Students must agree to not distribute, either directly, by mail, or by internet, any materials pertaining to the Church or its doctrines within Israel or Palestine. It is not permitted to discuss the Church or its doctrines or answer any questions regarding the Church or its doctrines with individuals who reside in the Holy Land or who may be visiting there. Guests who are not LDS are not permitted to attend Church services held in the Holy Land. If asked questions about the Church, students must state that they are in the Holy Land as a student and are not permitted to discuss the Church or its doctrines". https://jerusalemcenter.ce.byu.edu/content/non-proselytizing

I looked a bit more closely about what exactly this new law is supposed to do, which is apparently to provide a clear definition of antisemitism to help decide if antisemitism motivated actions/decisions, and thus whether the Civil Rights Act applies. And I think for that purpose, the wording of the referenced documents is too easy to manipulate.

If the Lord says do it then do it. If one woman feels the Lord directing them to have a job while rearing a family then obviously that is what needs to happen. If other women don't receive that same divine guidance but use them as an excuse to not be home with the children that's their problem.

Aaron Sherinian update anyone? @JustAGuy If me, my wife and MiL are noticing that we are presenting a mixed message. There must be others that are confused as well.

This is so vague and meaningless as to be absurd. Under this definition, me feeding my cat could be argued a form of antisemitism (since nothing and no one is excluded from it - it's a boundless "definition").

Sad that it came to that. I’m very blessed-when I swung from Catholic to LDS I had a few awkward talks with family but it never came to anything like that for a long period of time. I’m not a parent, but I am a son/brother/nephew/uncle/friend. Short of a homicide or SA charge, I think people throw away family bonds much too easily.

Thoughts on fatherhood: Near the end, she ties it into how this effects the social, economic, and emotional well-being of the children when they hit adulthood.

I understand that you are a fan. I have been as well. But as I have been continually reading more about it, the things I hear by people (who at least appear to be relatively neutral on the topic) say that it is not economically feasible. We've tried it at a small scale, and it doesn't produce a sufficient net positive to pay for the energy that it outputs. The argument has been made that molted salt reactors are only economical at a large scale. But the government has not approved a large scale plant, so we can't really tell. Some people have put together calculations which show that the economy of scale isn't enough to become economically feasible until we have a plant so large that simply building it would be prohibitive. At this point, these are all guesses, models, and calculations. So, who really knows? Maybe someone will come up with a different model that shows us the exact opposite. But I'm becoming less and less excited about it as I read more about it. My in-laws got a solar array a while back. Their storage system (I believe) was an iron-air batteries. This has the advantage of "never" degrading (notice the scare quotes). People gripe because is it much less efficient per cubic ft. But because iron is so much more abundant than rare earth metals that it is very cheap. So, we can make more batteries to make up for that deficiency and still come out dollars ahead. And if it never degrades, then we don't have to worry about future replacement costs.

My family celebrated the Passover with a great Seder this year. The last supper was a Seder. I find it very beneficial to remember what happened to Israel. And to compare modern covenants with the ancient covenants. Also Article of faith #10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. I also love bagels, Challah, and Brisket.

To dial down on this a bit, do you see yourself as part of the OT covenant? I ask because most of us who believe God is still working with his people--the Jews--see ourselves, perhaps as grafted into Israel--but more as loosely included. In other words, God has some special dealings with Israel. Many Jews will also convert to a saving knowledge of Yeshua (Jesus). However, we see ourselves as directly under Jesus' protection. So, we ID with the Jews but see ourselves as distinct.

Good topic @prisonchaplain! Some times, I'm tempted to think of my church as "the only Christians who pay attention to the old testament". It's encouraging to hear Christians talk about Israel and last days from a position of having studied the OT. We number ourselves among the children of Abraham, inheritors through blood or adoption of the blessings of the covenant. We're also big on the Gathering of Israel talked about in Jeremiah, and figure we're instrumental in that. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-15-the-lords-covenant-people?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-42-the-gathering-of-the-house-of-israel?lang=eng We look for signs of the second coming, and note them as they arrive. Wickedness, war, turmoil? Check. Restoration of the Gospel? Check. Coming forth of the BoM? Check. Gospel preached to the entire world? Mostly checked, in my lifetime. Coming of Elijah from Malachai 4? Check - April 1836. Just two to go: Lehi's descendants becoming a great people, and the building of New Jerusalem in Missouri. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-43-signs-of-the-second-coming?lang=eng

For at least the last five years I've been concerned about the opposite problem--depopulation. Western Europe, Japan and S. Korea, the native-born population of the United States--these are all shrinking. A society needs 2.1 children per female to maintain population. S. Korea is at 0.72. Japan has been combatting the problem for a generation and is at 1.46. Singapore's government subsidizes matchmaking for educated females. The reality is that as countries reach middle income for the majority of its populations the birthrate drops. Now even secular media is starting to notice the trend. Articles are appearing stating that the lack of children is becoming a problem. Regardless, there are not enough good and godly children. Our moral duty is to have more, not fewer, children.