Fiannan

I heard a town in Iowa claims to be the future birthplace of James T. Kirk. Has anyone been to Wall Drug? Now that's a tourist trap -- complete with what, a thousand roadside signs?

Serious, if a person is a devout fundamentalist in the LDS perspective of the word, are they on the same path as people in the regular LDS faith? I mean, yes, they are apostates in a sense (although they don't see it that way) and some might question them on that -- but doesn't that mean Emma Smith is in their same predicament then? In a sense this has been debated in a non-Mormon manner for centuries. Some Christians believe Jews will go to Heaven while others say no way. Even Muslims debate on if Jews and Christians can make it to Heaven as they reject the Koran but still believe in the same God of Islam. Mormon fundamentalists believe the Church has gone astray. They also believe in the same four books of scripture as the LDS Church and in the words of the same prophets (well, at least Smith, Young and Taylor). Just throwing this out so see what people think although it's all in God's hands anyway.

Romans? I thought this was Ann Coulter's description of modern-day Democrats! Just kidding, my wife is a big fan of Coulter and she has a spyware program on the computer (teenagers at home you know).

Unless you are willing to take the chance that when your daughter marries she will be a virgin, and her husband will be too, then my suggestion is that such an immunization would be justified. I have three daughters and I will bring them up believing in the law of chastity 100%. Does that mean they will follow it? Hope so. And if they do how can I make sure their future husbands are going to follow the same commandments? Some of the most devout Mormons I know are converts, or reactivated, and took part in some pretty nasty lifestyles until the Goispel made an impact in their lives. What if your daughter meets a wonderful return missionary who, when he was 16, had sex with an infected female? This issue transcends morality -- it's a public health issue and must be seen in such a context. Winnie, what kind ov videos do they have in your stake?????? I was not aware such films existed except for late night on European cable networks.

I think this is more of a free agency issue. Abel was innocent and doing what God wanted him to do but Cain still knocked his brains out. Bad things happen to good people -- that's just the way it is.

Glad to see with agree again on an issue -- doesn't happen all the time but...

Seriously, if any daughter of mine ever dicided on a mission, and was asked to go to South Africa, I'd be all over that in no time flat and demand that my daughter resign from that call. South Africa is the rape capital of the world -- especially due to the strange myth many HIV infected men down there have that having sex with a virgin female (of any age -- including babies) will cure you of AIDS. If a woman wants to go there on a mission then that's her business, but nobody from my family.

Am I actually hearing people right here? What kind of parent would not get their daughter immunized for this family of virus? I think someone is on the verge of child agbuse if they would turn down this vaccination!!!

Jason, I generally do not like quoting Wikipedia but the URL you supplied gave this information. Seems that not many Christians supported the idea that the world was flat. Urban legends die hard though.

One wonders, since so many kids are medicated out of their minds in the United States (ritalin you know) one wonders if families that do give spankings when their kids are unruly have as much of that "ADHD" thing going on.

That is true. I knew a family in Sweden (well, they lived there -- his native country, not hers -- until they just couldn't survive the taxes and prices) and he was a train operator. Almost all of the train/subway personnel there have had what they call a jumper -- a person who ends their life by jumping in front of a train. Every country has its problems and its good points. I would rather follow the good examples rather than the bad. In fiarness, Sweden's educational system is far superior to the USA because they have a voucher system -- something President Bush gives good lip service to. Mexicans have a superior family identification ethic and tend to place family before materialism. I could go on and on.

Why did you not fit the mold? I certainly am not the "average" Mormon, but I get along. I do say it is true that if you are different in some ways it can epset people. So what? Suppose people would freeak out a bit if J.Golden Kimble or Porter Rockwell came back to life and came into a testimony meeting to adress the audience? Mormons aren't perfect -- heck most of them cannot even follow the spirit of the Word of Wisdom and work off some of the lard on their behinds a bit more. But if they were perfect they would wind up like Enoch. So this life is a learning experience, not an accident of evolution, and we have to allow for some people to be jerks -- maybe they can't help it, or maybe they'll mature past it in a few years. We have to forgive them too -- not let them drive us from the Lord's church.

A family I knew a few years back heard a prowler in the backyard early in the morning. The wife was alone except for a 12 gage. She opened the main door (leaving the screen still latched) and pulled back the lever mechanism loading the shells (forgive me, I think you know what I mean if I'm getting any terminology wrong). The prowler (or who knows what the guy had on his mind) immediately flew over the tall fence. The sound alone did the trick. If you had a gun (concealed weapons permit) and didn't do anything to help a guy being beaten to death I believe you could face felony charges in the state I am from. Many states have "good Samaritain" laws which might also apply if you did not have a weapon and did nothing. Such laws would greatly confound most Europeans since the state does not want you to interfere. I don't think we want that to happen here.

Excuse me sgallan, but this is just not the case: Oh I guess I know nothing about Sweden, having lived there for many years, having a wife from the country and children with US/Swedish-EU citizenship. Guess I am just making things up. Did you know that cops won't go into large sections of Malmo (Sweden's third largest city) unless responding to an emergency call -- and that had better be quite an emergency? I have walked the streets of St. Petersberg and Moscow many times at all hours of the night but I would never go into that Swedish city after dark. Much of Paris is the same way and apparently Belgium has some problems as well. But, alas, I'm probably making all this up as well.

In speaking of Michael Moore PC states: Yeah, and so are 300 million others. I hope you don't actually believe his rhetoric though. http://www.mooreexposed.com/ A friend of mine (liberal at that) let me borrow his book "Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man". A must read.

Suppose Michael Moore has armed security?

So CaptianTux, you see no connection to guns and a mob kicking an innocent man to death? Let them try that stuff in Texas and they'd look like one of those Tom and Jerrys where Tom gets into it and then drinks a glass of water and the water leaks out of him through all the holes. And there is plenty of connection to a population that has been taught to be passive and let the state do everything for them. Sheep, Borg call it what you like -- it's the ultimate goal of left-wing liberalism. And Sgallen, don't buy into the idea that Europe has less crime. In Sweden you can have someone trying to break your door down, call the police, and they never appear. No appearance, no report to file, no crime.

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1130 Note, in most of Europe (western) you are not allowed to own a gun to defend yourself. In Sweden a woman cannot even own peperspray to defend herself from rape. Just remember this story when you hear a gun grabber say that the only people who should be able to carry a gun are cops and the military.

Interesting, another newbie with all kinds of difficult questions. Or am I just the suspicious sort?

http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/health/cola.htm

That depends, doesn't it? I'll bet that if a terrorist cell were raided and it was found that the members were going to shoot a stinger missile at an airplane your daughter was on you would be in favor of any sort of torture required to get the captured members to tell where the would-be murderers were at so they could be terminated. And if we had to hire a group of head-hunters from the local Iraqi population to bring us the murderers of our servicemen then so be it.

Israel would be great to visit. Turkey is a beautiful country (been there for a short time) and I would like to go back -- it's the only Muslim country I would feel safe visiting. I would also like to visit Cuba and Vietnam in the not-so-distant future.

Gulliani stands no chance. Many social-issue conservatives vote Republican on issues that concern the family (abortion, marriage, etc.) and they would either vote Democrat or not at all if a liberal Republican ran. The best ticket for the Republicans would be a McCain/Romney ticket.

The average person only knows 15 non-family people beyond a casual level. Most places in the United States have wards or branches of more than 15. Just get involved with people. Also, there's nothing wrong with family get-togethers on Sundays as long as you attend church and also keep your standards.

And what if the choice were really interesting??? What if you had to choose between Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin or Jacques Chirac? Personally, if voting for someone who actually stands for values, is strong and intelligent I would elect Putin as US president anyday over a US liberal fanatic like Hillary or a Euro-weenie western leader like Chirac. Opinions? Agree, disagree...and why?