Kawazu

I just wanted to pop in and say that this has been one of the most, (surprisingly), inspirational conversations that I have read in at least four years of visiting LDS.net. Often, Christianity is portrayed as a formulaic system were generally good people are guaranteed reprieve from adversity. From my view, this is not the case. Good people may receive pile upon pile of trials, spanning decades. We don't get to see the 'grand design'. I wish we did; I wonder what it looks like? In any case, I extend my thanks to the folks who have shared their personal experiences. I respect the original poster's feeling of lostness. It is a heavy burden with which I sincerely sympathize.

This Italian tortellini soup is delicious: Enjoy!

My friend is both a gentleman and the scoundrel. (He's the same guy that e-mails me articles extolling the health benefits of coffee.) On a side note, if anyone is looking for some retro-videogame-comicbook style artwork, (or commissions of any sort), his Etsy profile is Acrylic Painting Frankenstein Monster Universal Boris by jacosta This is the Frankenstein painting. There are others. Also, to LOL is good advice. The conversation I started wasn't exactly serious in nature.

Uh oh. I'm in trouble now.:)

One of people on my Facebook page said:

Just for the sake of relevancy on the subject of roles of women in Church, I found this blog post interesting: Women in the Scriptures: Around a Half Million Women Hold Leadership Positions in the LDS Church I haven't really taken the time to personally verify these statistics, though–numbers aren't my strong suit.

Thanks, guys. I've known my friend for 20 years and we were just messing around. He's a pretty cool Catholic dude. I, on the other hand, deserve some scorn for the conversation I started on the Facebook. I think Pam has friended me, (don't look, Pam!) :) Just to be clear, is there some sort of equivalent to Elder within the Relief Society? My friend was asking…

Howdy, In a conversation on Facebook, I had brought up the Church's Relief Society as part of a tangent. My friend said: Relief society? Sounds like a knitting club to keep the women folk out of the hair of the elder beards and their man activities. Is there anything clever or informative I can say, by way of reply? My Relief Society knowledge is low.

Looks like we share the same birthday. I hope you had a good one, Beefche. :)

Hi, Thanks for sharing your experiences. I wish that I could say something to help you out. To me, fantasy themes, (wizards, Bram Stoker's vampires, and so on), are just examples of good entertainment. I don't think Satan entices people to read Harry Potter--though I suspect Stephanie Meyer's success may be the fruit of a Faustian deal. More to the point, Chronicles of Narnia utilizes "magic" as a plot device and yet it remains a highly regarded Christian allegory. Furthermore, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings also contains Christian symbolism. Most of the time, the meaning of books or movies is subjective. Walk away with whatever strikes you or just enjoy the adventure. At any rate, as someone who enjoys fantasy literature, I would be interested to hear if reading books or watching movies involving hocus-pocus runs counter to Christian principles; what are your thoughts, everyone? Thank you. Regards, Kawazu

Having read several fantasy novels, I found the 1st Chronicles of Thomas Covenant to be refreshing because the trilogy highlighted how the hero, propelled by destiny, seems to be boxed in by the expectations of those he is supposed to save. By contrast, most fantasy novel protagonists seem to bear the mantle of greatness, lightly. Another thing that struck me was how forgiving the people who inhabited the mythical land were. It seemed like that characteristic would make the land a very empathetic place.

Is it wrong that I read "Sin Now, Repent Later" as a suggestion? If the devil had an advertising campaign, I'm sure the slogan would appear--in bold, large, capitals--on the face of all the leaflets. The brochures could have statistics on the average lifespan of a man or woman in a given country. Then, since people tend to be living longer these days, it would be explained how it is better to, "save piety for old-age" because, "the odds are on your side."

Happy birthday. Joyous well-wishes to you.

Greetings, I agree with the general sentiment that you espouse however it seems to me that Christianity would not have experienced the exponential growth it has had if the Savior had said: "Love me. Peace out." There's all that stuff about the meek inheriting the earth. That's what gets people to sign up. Naturally, we are all supposed to do what is right because it is good. Then again, I am fairly sure I have heard the phrase, "...just building my mansion in heaven," in reference to performing (unpleasant) acts of service for others. Nobody enjoys investing time and energy without recompense, even if the reward is a post-mortal, "'at-a-boy" delivered at the end of eternity. This is just human nature. Regards, Kawazu

Isn't doing right for the carrot or doing right because of the stick more or less the same thing so far as mortal consequences are concerned? Positive social behavior is still promoted, either way. Aside from that, LDS people share a belief that some sort of post-mortal negative consequence will be incurred by sinful actions, yes?

Howdy, This was an interesting story that I thought I might share: Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous? : NPR Enjoy.

Is the ban temporary?

For me, when I think about media bias, I think it is more a question of delivery style than of supposed neutrality of the content matter. For instance, I find Fox News/MSNBC to be overly bombastic--during most of the featured programming. By contrast, NPR seems more "flat" than theatrical; therefore, I prefer it to other sources. So far as definite neutrality, humans are not neutral. Everyone views the world through their own prism of fundamental assumptions about what is best and about how the world works. If neutrality means anything in news...it means to elevate the debate. Avoid fallacies. As a journalist, ascribe to those with whom you disagree the highest of intentions. Describe the opinions of the opposition with the best evidence, (and then refute it, if you must). Reject sensationalism and so on. One of the main conflicts in reporting is to decide between providing information on the one hand, or entertainment on the other. I suppose, if a person wants information, then C-SPAN is the way to go?

The Book of Mormon describes a land called "Bountiful" on the arid Arabian penninsula. It is depicted in 1Nephi 17:5 as a rich, green garden spot with trees, abundant fruit, water, honey, and a mountain. Modern-day Wadi Sayq, Oman, is currently considered to be the likeliest candidate for Bountiful. Bountiful (Book of Mormon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia There are some other locations in the Book of Mormon to which one could travel and see, today. Perhaps one of the other forum members could help refresh my memory? Regards, Kawazu

It seems like more and more Big Business is seeking "too big to fail" status so that they can be first in line for bailouts and Big Government all too often allows it to happen: Artist's Website/High-Resolution Image for Printing One can take issue with the legislators on the Left and the Right, I agree.

How bad should I feel for laughing at this? (The guy is just so overjoyed.)

My friend sent me this; he likes to keep me updated on the positive health benefits of coffee, tea, and alcohol.

Nervous About Alzheimer's? Coffee May Help : NPR Allison Aubrey - June 28, 2010 It's an appealing notion that our daily pick-me-up may also confer a range of health benefits. And for coffee drinkers there's a lot of research percolating. Several studies suggest that a daily caffeine habit may help protect against Alzheimer's disease. But there's a catch. The cup or two a day that most Americans drink doesn't seem to be enough. Researchers say 500 mg of caffeine, or about five cups of regular coffee, is the dose that seems to protect the brain. Five Cups A Day This may sound like an excessive amount of caffeine. After five cups, lots of us would end up with the jitters and be making extra trips to the bathroom. But some coffee lovers are hard core: "I drink five to six cups a day religiously," says Gary Arendash, a researcher at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, part of Florida State University. Arendash says he's convinced that caffeine is protecting his brain. Arendash and his colleagues at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have been studying the effects of caffeine on the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease. They've found that adding caffeinated water to rodents' diet results in big improvements. The mice perform better on short-term memory and thinking tests. But only if they get enough caffeine. "The human equivalent of two to three cups of coffee does not have benefits in our Alzheimer's mice," says Arendash. Arendash's team also documented that these super-caffeinated mice end up with about a 50-percent reduction in abnormal amyloid proteins, which are thought to play an important role in the development of Alzheimer's. The typical American drinks about a cup and a half of coffee a day. "So you can see that many of us are below that threshold level that we believe confers protective benefits," says Arendash. Evidence Not Conclusive The Alzheimer's mice studies on caffeine are intriguing to researchers who are trying to translate the findings into advice for humans. But interpreting an animal study can be tricky. "It's always a good starting point," says Joan Lindsay of the University of Ottawa. "But we never know how well it's going to hold up with humans." After all, people are a lot more complicated. And researchers have learned that mice can respond really differently than humans do to a drug, an environmental toxin or a change in nutrition. Another challenge is to find a reliable test of the memory of mice. Arendash uses a mouse maze to assess the spatial memory of his Alzheimer's mice. He puts the mice in little swimming pools with lots of alleys and dead-ends to see how quickly they can find and remember hidden escape platforms. Similar computer-based maze tests are used in human studies. "The first thing that is lost in Alzheimer's is short term memory -- the memory for what happened a few seconds or a minute ago," says Arendash. "That's what (the water maze) is focusing on." Observations Of Coffee-Loving Middle-Aged Folks There wouldn't be as much interest in Arendash's mice studies if scientists hadn't also begun to gather some evidence that a steady caffeine habit is beneficial to people, too. One recent study comes from Finland where researchers followed about 1,400 coffee drinkers for more than two decades. Researchers found one group seemed to benefit the most: the people who'd been drinking three to five cups of coffee a day in their 40s and 50s. "They had about a 65-to-70-percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in their 70s," says Huntington Potter, a neurobiologist at the University of South Florida. Potters says effects held up even when researchers controlled for things such as cardiovascular disease, which can influence the risk of dementia. A few other smaller studies in Europe have led to similar findings, but experts say the research only establishes a correlation between coffee drinking and brain protection. "I'd hesitate to say that there's epidemiologic evidence that coffee prevents Alzheimer's disease," says Reisa Sperling, an Alzheimer's researcher at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard University. It's possible that these regular coffee drinkers might have other habits in common that could explain the protective effect. "People who are very active in mid-life are more likely to be drinking coffee than couch potatoes," says Sperling. Maybe the coffee drinkers aren't benefiting from the coffee as much as they are from keeping their minds and bodies active. The studies make it difficult to suss out. Coffee Drinking Can't Offset Genetic Risks Sperling says Alzheimer's is an incredibly complicated disease. Exercise and good nutrition do seem to be protective, but a person's risk is largely determined by genes. No one behavior or diet change -- like coffee drinking -- can erase that risk. If future research brings stronger evidence that caffeine may modify the risk by some small percentage that means coffee lovers will have one more reason to drink away. Just make sure those five cups don't keep you up all night -- sleep is important to health, too.

Brooks, Since this is a theological community, I was wondering in which areas your philosophical beliefs have complemented your religious principles; has anarchism helped strengthen your testimony, in any way? Have a great day. Regards, Kawazu

Have you ever heard of the term voluntaryist? It seemed like it would fit the ideas that you are describing. Voluntaryism is a political ideology centering on consent, property rights, and private agreement between individuals. Hmm... I can't believe there is a website for LDS anarchists/Buddhists/and so on...