funkymonkey

There was a preacher that would show up in front of our LDS church and protest with a group a couple times a year. Our bishop asked us to just ignore him. I remember one guy trying to reason with him, it just made the guy yell louder and get more and more pushy. A grandpa had to walk by them with his granddaughter (I think she was 6, so old enough to wonder what the heck was going on) and the preacher leaned down and called her a "devil child." The grandpa decked him. I really don't think that I have had as bad of a feeling as I did when we would have to walk by that guy, with him calling us names, and telling us we were bad bad people...people of satan. He wasn't offering to save us, he was just so angry he wanted to do everything he could to ruin our day. They really just end up looking really stupid, but they keep pushing the envelope more and more. I dunno, there's something about it that kindof makes me feel like my freedom of religion is being violated...and my right to peacfully assemble. I think there's a time and a place to voice if you oppose things, but that is not really an appropriate time...nor is it very effective. It just stirs up anger. You all remember the psychos going to funerals and yelling and screaming...now there are a whole bunch of states that have banned them from making any noise and they have to be like 200 feet away in other places...allowing these people their emotional rights for their deceased loved one. I dunno. I just know that they make a lot of regulations for all sorts of protesters, don't see why it would be a big deal to do the same for religious protesters as well.

Pulled Pork: (serves 4) 3-4 lb of pork roast 1/2 bottle of favorite bbq sauce Buns -fry all the edges (to seal in the juices) in a hot fry pan. (shouldn't take more than 7-8 minutes total) -put it in the crock pot, coat generously with bbq sauce -cook on low for 6-8 hours -pull apart and serve

Has the US support of Israel made us more of a terrorist target?

Agreed. :)

Why is the US in bed with Israel?

The 1900's and earlier held a different picture for the rights of women, and the social makeup of a familly alltogether. Kids were working fulltime in their teens, working in the fields, and taking on tasks and responsibilities as soon as they could walk. The moto of their life was to work. School was not a necessity, but rather to have a high school diploma was more of a luxury. There weren't school dances or football games...there was reading (maybe) and work work work. The picture of an 18 year old back then (man), and the picture of an 18 year old now (boy) is very different. Also in today's society, I really do think that it takes longer for many of us to "get our act together"...which leads to a delay in marriage. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't get married right away...I would've married a totally different person, one that would not have been good for me.

maybe a huge choir group that stands in front of the protesters singing hymns. :)

Thought this was a good read for the topic... Hirsh: Despite Crisis, U.S. Still World's Leader | Newsweek Voices - Michael Hirsh | Newsweek.com

Hmmmm. So These tent cities are different than what he is talkin about. Maybe he had a dream about tent cities and then made a whole bunch of skitzo stuff up to go along with it.

How funny. :) Has this ever been tried?? ....I always wondered why there wasn't protesters to protest the protesters. Then the protesters will be preoccupied with the protesters protesting them, and will leave the conference goers alone. I mean, there are a LOT more LDS people than there are protesters...why not a few of us just go to distract em?

Do you guys remember the whacko guy that was talking about tent cities sprouting up everywhere? Well, they're happening. They've sprouted up in Reno, Portland, Ohio, Seattle. Tent cities rise across the country - Life - MSNBC.com

Howdy SkyWishes. I know you probably were asking this as more of a rhetorical question but I wanted to reply anyway. I don't know where I learned this but I learned that the Lord does not hold soldiers accountable for what their leaders direct. I don't know if that means that the generals and such are responsible or the leaders of the countries that officially initiated the war?? I dunno. Maybe someone else can explain it better.

How does suicide play into this?

I have often wondered what will happen to the tyrants of this world... Hitler, Stalin, etc??

What if they added a part to the bill that really held the CEOs of these companies responsible?? Like liquidate their assets and the boards of these companies assets? (ok ok I know that's probably not a good idea, but there needs to be some kind of criminal action taken against some of these guys. Did anyone pat the Enron guys on the head and let them go? (maybe) They had a huge investigation and litigation and stuff...why should this be any different?

I might be a little out there but I remember at the YW conference two years ago (I was serving in YW at the time)... Hinkley talked about these girls becoming self-sufficient. He encouraged continuing education / training. It's interesting to me that church leaders will say one thing, but church culture may say something different. I grew up inactive, but I did have a cousin that was active in the church who was just my age. My cousin seriously took pitty on me when I told her of my dreams for college. I remember going to church with her and the leaders and girls would just roll their eyes when they asked what my life plans were...not exactly a missionary moment. They later invited me (two different years) to go with them to try on wedding dresses for their mutual activities...WEDDING DRESSES. These girls were 16 years old. Now, all grown up, I have a degree, and have married the love of my life. And my dear cousin forwent education, married at the same time I did, and is now a single mother who has to live with her parents. None of us honestly know how our cards are going to fall. We can do everything we know how to be "righteous followers of Christ" but we are not guaranteeing that bad things won't happen to us. I see no harm in preparing our young women to be independent. Do people honestly think that just because a girl decides to go to school, that she is delaying or foregoing her opportunities to date and marry?

This is a little direct... Is it really that simple as to say that you'd still be married if you had a mortgage? I had two different friends that ended up getting divorced this past year (strapped for cash and foreclosures on their homes) ...facing foreclosure and bankruptcy isn't really a recipe for "saving" a marriage, but rather it does quite the opposite.

Yep... and they've got you in a corner because they know the demand is way high, and that their tenants have nowhere else to go, no alternatives ... so we get to pay up.

This complex is in Northern Colorado. This past spring this issue was all over the news, rent went up everywhere in the state...and continues to rise with the demand for rentals. Why don't these banks turn some benefit for their foreclosures and rent them out? Ease up some of the demand for rentals?

This bugs me too, but I'm not sure how else we're going to sucessfully get out of this problem. I was looking into buying a home 5 years ago when they were doing the 5-1 arms and sub prime loans...they were seriously pushing it on us. It never felt right and the risks of mortgages declining and when we would have to sell (this year)...the numbers just didn't add up in our favor, so we rented. Now, all the people that bought 5 years ago that can't afford their payments now are being evicted and ending up in the same rentals that we are. The problem is that there is more demand for rentals, and our rent has DOUBLED in the past 12 months, for the same place! These people are now moving into rental properties at record numbers, it is driving our rent up and now we can't afford to live here either...all the while, mortgage values continue to drop. I am frustrated with those that were lured into this trap(I'm sorry for those of you reading this). I remember just how persistent the mortgage lenders were with us to get you to sign, and how good it looked on paper and that "dream" of homeownership. But the fact is, I DIDN'T sign...I didn't trust their numbers, but I trusted my own. If this bailout doesn't benefit these people upside down in their mortgages, it's going to continue to drive me out of my apartment, even though I did the "smart" thing 5 years ago and avoided the mortgage mess to begin with. OK. I'm done venting. :)

Haha! Me too. Funny you bring this up because I had this wierd dream that a bunch of people from this forum showed up at my house to play haloween games. You all looked like your avatars, so some of you were cartoons and some of you were actual people. Really odd.

Hey everyone! I just switched from a handwritten journal to a "digital journal". I have noticed it's a lot easier for me to get all my ideas out and I write a lot more when I type it out (my handwriting isn't nearly as fast as my typing). So I was just curious if there were any of you keeping a journal on your computer vs hand written and how it has worked out for you??

We have put our first home search on complete hold until this settles. What we qualify to borrow has dropped by 30 percent in the past 30 days. I'm gonna keep throwing my money into rent.

I personally don't think that one conception is a spirit's singular chance to get a body and live. If that were the case, there would be dozens maybe even hundreds of little spirits that would not get to live because the female body aborts a lot of eggs on its own.

One word for the mess we're in... GREED