MrShorty
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Posts posted by MrShorty
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Obviously, there is no reason for the US to do things the way Canada does them, but I returned from my mission to Quebec just a few years before the 1995 referendum in which the popular vote of Quebecers only narrowly voted to remain a part of Canada. In the aftermath, there was a Canadian Supreme Court opinion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_Re_Secession_of_Quebec) on what it would take for a province to secede, as well as the Clarity Act (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarity_Act) that outlined possible terms of secession. Again, we don't have to be like Canada, but it seems like there is a possible precedent there for looking at the possibility of a peaceful secession rather than resorting to a second civil war.
I think you are right that the big questions are not really addressed in the "should we secede or not?" question. There are a lot of things that the states outsource to the federal government which, if a state seceded, it would have to figure out how it was going to accomplish those things. Minting of currency is one thing, but then how to bolster the value of that currency so it doesn't tank? How to manage military forces and resources? How to negotiate trade now that the state boundary is now an international boundary, and so on. I think it is easy in the heat of political rhetoric to overlook or downplay these kinds of pragmatic issues, but they are not small.
As you say, it is an interesting hypothetical to talk about at parties and on the internet. I would hope that we would be very careful about the decision should it ever get beyond hypotheticals.
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2 hours ago, romans8 said:
What are the attempts by Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness with the fig leaves
representative of? Are the aspects of nakedness and fig leaves literal or figurative?I'm inclined to think of the fig leaves as figurative. "Covering our nakedness with fig leaves" is symbolic of our common, human tendency to try to hide, cover, ignore, deny, etc our sins and shortcomings.
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I have no expertise to say one way or the other. I do notice that you are more certain of your non-euphemistic interpretation than many others I have read on this (Ben Spackman, for example: https://benspackman.com/2022/06/gospel-doctrine-20-ruth-and-samuel-1/). I see no reason to think it is necessary to assume innuendo in the story, but neither do I see any reason to flat out reject the possibility. It also seems that this has been long debated for many years. I doubt a post on thirdhour is going to settle the debate once and for all.
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Well, the oncology stuff (radiation and chemo) is all done, and all that is left is to wait a couple of months and go under the knife.
Radiation treatments have been rough the last couple of weeks. Not quite as debilitating as the chemo, but a daily battle with fatigue and occasional concerns about making it to the bathroom on time, and it hasn't been fun. In theory, things should improve over the next few weeks.
- LDSGator, Carborendum, Anddenex and 2 others
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I understand that there are differences between Utah and Texas (and lots of other places in the country). The thing that I don't understand is why someone would say, "I would rather spend twice as much for the same house and live in Utah than spend half as much for the same house and live in Texas (or other place where housing is much cheaper)." I realize that these economic decisions are a lot more complex than just how much a house costs, but a house is a major cost, so what things offset the currently much higher housing costs of living in Utah and other western states?
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On 5/31/2022 at 2:23 PM, Ironhold said:
It's the local economies.
But what about the economies that make this kind of difference?
I recall a few years ago (as many in my family were in various locations around Texas) looking at house prices in Texas compared to Utah. At that time, what I noticed was that, while the official "listing" price was a bit lower than in Utah, the overall mortgage payment (after insurance and property tax) wasn't that different (mostly due to Texas's higher property tax rates that offset the absence of any income tax). My thinking then was that the lower "valuations" were at least in part because people needed more for taxes than I did.
Now, though, as house prices around here climb wildly, I cannot understand what Utah (and Idaho and other states here in the west) have that other places in the country do not that drives such high prices (mostly because demand is very high). Some say that it is driven by Californians who are able to buy bigger houses here than they leave behind in Ca, but then why not consider other places farther east where you can get even more house for the money than you can in some of our western states? Some say it is because they want to stay in the west, but I don't know.
Maybe there's another tax incentive to buy an expensive house. As I understand it, if I sell my house (and I would make a sizeable profit compared to what I payed for it), and fail to reinvest all of that money in another house, then I would be subject to income tax on the profits from selling my house.
If it isn't obvious, I have no idea what I am talking about, but it seems like among the economic forces at play should be some kind of, "I can buy house x in Utah for 0.5 million or the same house in Tx for 0.25 million. I should buy the house in Tx rather than Ut." kind of logic that should lower demand in highly expensive states and increase demand in lower cost states. But that doesn't seem to be happening, so what other economic considerations are driving this? Jobs? Are we really saying that economies of these places are so depressed that no one can find work? Is it a tax burden issue? Other elements in the cost of living that offset the savings in housing costs? I agree it's about the local economies, but what?
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2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:
My dad's house in Salt Lake that we sold in 2002, was recently sold for twice as much as we sold it for.
Our house in So. Utah County would sell for 3x to 4x what we paid for it in 2002 (according to zillow).
What surprises me is how different it is around the country. My family has got a kind of habit (that often feeds a dissatisfaction with our current residence) of looking at other housing markets and finding large, cheap houses in various parts of the country. One day it's a 7bed 7bath house in Michigan somewhere for 150k, or something similar in No Carolina or even in Texas. The Utah (and much of the western US) housing market seems so overpriced right now, but I can't explain with my limited understanding in economics why houses are so much cheaper elsewhere in the country.
- Vort and NeuroTypical
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Approaching the half-way mark of the radiation (+ a little chemo) phase. My first thought when I entered the radiation room with the large linear accelerator they use was of the computer game Theme Hospital (which has morphed into its modern version, 2 Point Hospital). Brief summary of the game -- it's a simulation type of game where you are tasked with managing a hospital (in a world with some rather amusing ailments). Part of your job is building rooms and machines that diagnose and/or treat the different diseases. My first thought as I entered the linear accelerator room was to think that this looks an awful lot like something out of Theme Hospital.
Anyway, the first couple of weeks weren't too bad. I was recovering from chemo and the radiation hadn't really started to effect (or affect??) me. At this point, I am beginning to feel the effects of the radiation. Biggest effect so far (if it's not TMI) -- well I'll leave it to your imagination -- but I expect people can make reasonable guesses at what might happen when you start to burn and irritate the bottom end of your bowels.
A little over 3 more weeks, then I'm done with all of the oncology stuff (assuming we've managed to kill everything outside of the main tumor). Then we can talk about surgery (but let's not hurry to get there).
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I should probably apologize for the irreverent nature of this one. I once posted the joke about dogs and cats where dogs believe that, because we bring them food, we are god, and cats believe that, because we bring them food, they are god. Well, in the same vein...
- askandanswer and Vort
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Assuming you want to use a standard "compound interest" type of model, you could use the FV() function: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093224
=FV(annual increase rate, number of years, 0, -present value of bill) [Because of sign conventions and such, present value and future value will usually be of opposite sign].
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If we decide this book is "required reading," I would also suggest that at least some of the critiques of the book also be included. As with so many divisive topics, I expect that the real truth is somewhere in the middle. Some trans people are legitimately trans, and to deny them respect and care is unkind and unwarranted. I also expect that there are some falling prey to "social contagion." In either case, I believe that kindness and support seem the best practice, because, for someone genuinely trans, supporting them is best, and for someone choosing this way to fit in, they will eventually mature and find their real identity (as long as there are no other mental illnesses that could drive this need attention).
If it helps, here's a mostly negative review, but he at least says, "there are valid ideas here" while, at the same time, expressing a desire for some real data to drive the discussion rather than something based on partial data from a seemingly biased source. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/checkpoints/202101/review-irreversible-damage-abigail-shrier
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Glad to hear you will be released and able to rejoin your wife today.
On another note, I looked a little into C. diff. infections. If memory serves, you know at least a little French. I found it interesting that C. diff is also sometimes referred to as C. difficile (si difficile??) and I chuckled a little.
- askandanswer and Vort
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You're not describing my favorite way to spend a wedding anniversary, but you're right that, even in imperfect situations, it is nice and important to feel God's love and recognize His part in blessing us as He does.
Best of luck with your recovery, and hopefully your wife has a safe journey back home. At that point, I recommend finding a better way to celebrate your anniversary (even if it has to be on an unanniversary day) ((<- not sure my Alice in Wonderland reference is working here))
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For Star Wars day, I get to start the radiation phase (5-6 weeks) of my treatment plan. I'm a little disappointed that I have not recovered more from chemo (recovered a lot during week 2, but seems to have plateaued on week 3), but I'm in pretty good shape.
I'm tempted to find some glow-in-the-dark body paint or something so I can make myself "glow."
(I still have a sense of humor).
- Vort, Carborendum, NeuroTypical and 1 other
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41 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:
This discussion cannot move forward openly and honestly as long as it's corrupted by straight up falsehoods.
Agreed. I'm not entirely sure what is false and true in this discussion, but I agree that the discussion cannot move forward.
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4 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:
The idea that concerns me is your proposal that God leads people away from His church in order to lead them back to Him in the future.
Whereas God can and does work with our weaknesses to turn them to strengths, he doesn't, that I've ever learned or heard, inspire us to be weak, foolish, sinful, lazy, carnal, devilish, or anything other than Godly, humble, and righteous.
I get it, but I see too many examples of people who claim exactly that -- that God lead them away from the Church and/or led them to not embrace the Church when brought to their attention. Perhaps they are merely deluded, I can't say. If I take their experiences at face value, then I have to conclude that God sometimes does exactly what you say He would not do.
In some ways, this is part of why I lean universalist. In this life, we all too often see through a glass darkly, leading to plenty of confusion and uncertainty. It seems to me that, for God to be perfectly just, He must allow for adequate time/space in the next life to clarify all the things we thought we knew but really didn't and give us each an adequate opportunity to accept the truth when it is clear to us.
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18 hours ago, Anddenex said:
Dating men is a homosexual act. He isn't just going out with friends.
I wonder if his bishop would say to a married man the same thing if he came to him saying, "I love my wife, but I'm going to start dating other women. It isn't adultery, as I'm just dating other women I'm attracted to."
I'm not convinced that dating is a homosexual act. I also don't think the false equivalence (or is it more of fallacious slippery slope argument) between permitting same sex couples to go see a movie together automatically and inevitably means that we also have to ignore the strong romantic exclusivity promise that is part of marriage (and many dating relationships approaching marriage).
If you have read the Tribune article I mentioned, the big question in the article is whether or not dating and other romantic behaviors (that we don't bat an eye at when opposite sex couples engage in them) are okay for same sex couples. Many people feel that the Church has not been clear about that, so they feel drawn to make their own decisions. I just listened to an episode of Questions from the Closet (An episode titled Can I date from Jan 2021, if you want). For those unfamiliar with the podcast, Questions from the closet is hosted by Ben Schilaty (a gay man working in the BYU honor code office) and Charlie Bird (also gay and active LDS) talk about LGBT issues. In this particular episode they talk about their own experiences (including experiences with God/The Spirit approving of decisions to date or pursue romantic relationships). In they end, they don't officially want to give anyone permission to date, but they believe that it is an individual choice made as most of us make difficult decisions, by counseling with God and priesthood leaders. I also recently listened to an episode of Richard Ostler's Listen Learn Love podcast (episode 511) where Ostler interviews a David Bingham who is gay, left the Church in his youth, returned later (at the time of the podcast he had been in full fellowship for a few years and was then 60 years old) who is also in an exclusive same sex romantic relationship while staying in full fellowship. He seems to feel that God and the Church are fine with his status. I know these are not the only examples, but I would suggest that they show that there are at least some priesthood leaders/Bishops and congregations where active Church members are not bothered by same sex romantic relationships. Are we certain that they are forbidden by God?
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14 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:
God doesn't bring anyone into the fold. He invites all to follow and obey and they either come to Him or they do not, based on their own free will and choice.
Edit: I know "bring" is a subjective idea, but the point remains... it is upon our agency.
You caught me careless in my choice of words. Yes, God does not force us to Heaven. I believe that He will continue to invite us for as long as He possibly can.
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I know we sometimes get a little uncomfortable with some of our universalist beliefs, but I try to believe that God can lead someone out of the Church for now, then bring them back -- even it needs be in the next life. There may not be lasting happiness outside of the Church, but I believe God can bring everyone (or nearly everyone) into the Church if we are patient with His timing.
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20 hours ago, person0 said:
As suspected, in Bergs case he's just completely rejecting the gospel. I presume the same about Harkey.
I can't find anything Adam's said to insinuate that he is completely rejecting the gospel. Harkey was part of an article by the (hated in these parts) SL Tribune in January, where he expressed to his bishop that he was going to start dating men, and his bishop seemed to thinK he was okay as long as no "homosexual behavior" occurred. I know from other corners of the internet there is a long debate over whether homoromantic behaviors are the same as homosexual behaviors, and it sometimes seems people's opinion on whether or not someone is in line with the Gospel depend on where they draw that line.
Personally, I wish Adam and Stacey the best. I want to hope that they will find some way to stay in the Church, but I have seen enough LGBTQ+ people who feel led by God to leave the Church that, in the end, I hope they find happiness either way.
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Most recent CT scan suggests that the chemo round has been successful at shrinking the main tumor some, which is the main goal of the chemo and radiation phases. The radiation phase should shrink it more, making it easier to cut it all out. In short, there is still lots of room for optimism. Just need to endure the intermediate steps.
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I don't know much people here want an update, but here it is anyway. While it's not the end of the road, but today starts my last chemo cycle. Just have to get past this weekend, and we can move on to the radiation oncology phase. As rough as chemo is, I'm sure looking forward seeing chemo in the rearview mirror.
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20 minutes ago, mordorbund said:
Is there an official Bible translation for other languages?
Serving a mission in Quebec (and, as far as I know, other French speaking missions) we missionaries "officially" used the Louis Segond translation. One page claims this is the most common French translation used by Protestants (whether the late 19th century version or the 1910 version or the 1970's version, I'm not sure). A rumor that I heard (and can't seem to verify) is that the choice was made because the Louis Segond was a popular translation based on the Textus Receptus (which also forms a substantial portion of the basis for the KJV). Getting dangerously deep into extrapolation, but my guess has been that the Church would prefer translations based on the Textus Receptus (possibly ignoring newer information than the Textus Receptus had available), because those translations would be more similar to the KJV used in English.
Lots of guessing though, so looking for more input.
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When the spirit enters the body
in LDS Gospel Discussion
Posted
If it doesn't get too personal, I will offer another data point. The Church officially feels very differently about stillbirth (and miscarriage) than they do about those born alive. My first child was stillborn at 39 weeks gestation (essentially full term). The Church officially says that they will not keep a record of him nor would they perform proxy ordinances (sealing to parents would be the important one) if needed. The Church is officially neutral on his status as a person and as a member of my family. Allow me to emphasize the neutral stance, in that they are not saying one way or another, but punting on the question until the next life.
Contrast that with a child born premature at 24 weeks (speaking hypothetically only because I have not personally experienced this, I'm sure someone somewhere has personal experience with this scenario), who struggles for hours or days or weeks, and then passes away. By virtue of having "lived" outside of the womb for any length of time (however brief), that child is considered by the Church to be unambiguously a member of the family and eligible for proxy sealing to parents when needed.
I don't know the answer to the OP's question. At conception seems too early, to me. As I understand it, the Church is a bit ambiguous about the space between conception and birth, and doesn't truly recognize a child as fully and unambiguously alive until birth (perhaps in keeping with the example given in the OP). This seems more an admission of a lack of revelation rather than a firm stance one way or the other, preferring to let God decide those things and tell us later (probably next life).