HEthePrimate

An occasional period of silence would certainly be a blessing, but let's face it, without women, it would hardly be heaven! HEP

Let's try a radical new concept: How about if the decision about how many children to have, if any, be between a husband and wife? Not my business, not your business, certainly not the pope's business, you get the picture...

If God is all-powerful, he could theoretically render the birth control ineffective, no? (Like break the condom, or what not.) Also, free agency is part of God's plan, and birth control gives people more agency... HEP

Awww!! I'm a cat person, too. If I could afford the extra rent they charge for pets, I'd probably get a couple (one by itself might get lonely when I'm at work).Don't have any now, but I can tell you about past pets... Various cats: orange tabby, black cat, grey tabby, tortoiseshell, grey Persian, black Persian, another orange tabby, solid grey cat. Couple of goldfish. Handful of red-eared sliders (turtles)--long ago. A small caiman. An Eastern box turtle. A few mice, some kept on purpose, others "self-invited" houseguests. Waaay cool! HEP

Agreed. 'Course, those are single-gender affairs... (though before a certain age it might not matter, like if you're talking about a bunch of three year olds!).Personally, I don't think it should be an all-or-nothing question. No reason to ban sleepovers altogether, but do exercise reasonable prudence. HEP

A couple members of my family seem to be doing most of the genealogy. One of them works for the Church, and the other is retired and is able to travel to our ancestors' countries. However, they seem to be handing the family history aspect over to me, since I have a big interest in, well, history. So, they gather the names, places, birth and death data, etc., I get a copy, and I can do research into how they fit into the historical scheme of things and share my findings with everybody else. Kinda cool! Though what the genealogists do is more important for getting the temple work done, what I do is good for "turning the hearts of the children to the fathers," as my dad pointed out. Happily, I was able to serve a mission in a country that a number of our ancestors were from, and it was great feeling that connection. :) HEP

Could it be a way that male leaders of the Church attempt to make female members of the Church feel better about not having any actual power or decision-making authority? ( feeling naughty!) HEP

Let him take the job. "Family first," as they say. HEP

Alas, it's snowing again here, too. Don't really want to go out, because of the weather, but I'll be darned if I'll be stuck at home on my day off, only to have to go out tomorrow for work!! So, I'm going to a movie today (and a bookstore--yippee!! rubbing my hands together in anticipation) just to defy the weather. HEP

For many years I worried that I'd confuse my own feelings with the Spirit, that I'd "feel good" about the BoM, the Church, etc. merely because I wanted to, or it would be easier that way. Eventually, I gave up trying to "know" for sure, and settled for "I believe," because, well, I did believe. Ironically, it was after that that I finally received a spiritual witness! I do not think a "feeling" is necessarily sufficient. As human beings, it is all too easy for us to be misled by following appeals to our emotions. The Lord gives us a good answer to the dilemma in D&C 8:2, "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart." In other words, if I'm going to accept something as true, it not only has to feel right to me, but it also needs to make sense. Elsewhere in the scriptures, the Lord says we should not just accept things on faith, but study them out. Not only is it ok to use your God-given reasoning abilities, but it's expected. HEP

I've never heard of ward leaders offering such counsel. While we certainly do need to look after our kids, I think the most important thing to do is teach them "correct principles," so to speak, because it's impossible for parents to watch over their children 24/7. Teach them the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch," that it's ok to say "no" to adults in certain situations, etc. We do need to protect children, but it is possible to be overprotective, and rob them of many good childhood experiences. HEP

Yeah, you're right. Taxing the rich is a horrible, horrible idea. I propose instead that we tax the poor! After all, even though very few people are brave enough to say so, we all know that our nation's financial woes are the fault of the poor because they don't support the economy by buying enough consumer goods. And they also mooch off the system. So why not give them some incentive to change their ways by taxing them, essentially a fine for not participating better in the economy? HEP

Oh my! Yes, there certainly is a ghost there--and she's pretty cute, too! HEP

This is what women should wear while swimming: As a man, on the other hand, I swim nude. You know that we men have absolutely no control over our thoughts, and so women need to be covered head-to-toe, whereas women are "pure as the driven snow" and never think unholy thoughts! HEP

Pshaw! Whatever some dude's graph may say, I don't make anywhere near $45K, and if I didn't work, I'd be homeless and have no regular source of food (though I do know a couple of places in town where one can get occasional free food). I can only speak from my own experience, and I DO have incentive to work.

Not! It seems my upstairs neighbors have gotten that new video game and have just started playing it (it's well after 1:00 a.m.--they tend to be night owls). Not only is the game noisy, but they are yelling, hollering, and laughing all the time. How am I to get any sleep? *sigh* DH

Hehe! I love Jon Stewart! (Not that way, silly--I AM straight, after all! ) DH

It's hard to believe people are still pushing that theory! *sigh* DH

Well, I got in a few extra hours of work today. Spoke with a friend for 1/2 hour on the phone. :) Bought some non-pareils. (Yummy!) Small things, but special in their own way. DH

Because we're human.

Really?

It does not refer to the telestial kingdom. The telestial kingdom is a kingdom of glory, not eternal punishment. Plus, the three kingdoms of glory are metaphorical, simply meaning that different people will receive different amounts of glory.

People have been seeing "signs of the times", and expecting the Second Coming, for thousands of years, only to be disappointed when it didn't happen. Yes, there are natural disasters--there always have been. Yes, there is much wickedness--there always has been. There are also a heckuva lot of good things going on. Things could easily fall apart tomorrow. Or we can continue on and maybe, with a bit of luck, make a brighter future. My suggestion: Worrying overmuch is pointless--it won't prevent bad things. Do what's right, and have faith that all will be well in the end. Peace to you, my friend. HEP

My heart goes out to all the victims and their families, and to the family of the perpetrator. What a terrible tragedy. HEP

First of all, don't panic. The likelihood of dying from H1N1 is very low. Just take proper precautions like washing your hands, elbow sneezing, and if you do get sick, for heaven's sake, stay home as much as possible and get some rest! I think it's perfectly appropriate to pray for protection. It may help. But if you get sick anyway, don't lose your testimony over it--people get sick, bad things happen to good people, and God still exists. It is a little scary, but I think the media hype it up a bit because it makes a good story. Yes, do take precautions, but again, there's no reason to panic. It seems that children are at the greatest risk, so make sure your kids get inoculated. At my age I'm not at that great of a risk, and I don't tend to get sick very often anyway, so I'll wait for my H1N1 vaccine until the local population of children has had plenty of opportunity to get theirs first. And no, it's not entirely altruistic, either--children are more likely to spread disease if they get sick, so it's in everybody's interest that they not get sick!