Backroads

Discontent leading to apostasy comes from all directions. I have probably seen as many people I care about go off the rails on the side of "freedom fighters" as I have seen go off on the side of wokeism.

This idea of multiple genders kills me. It's like... how intense into the labyrinth of culture can you get? 
My mom buys piano books off this music guy (it's a legitimate business and I don't mean to make it sound like a black market for music teachers). Great guy, but his business is running a music store and he's very nice, friendly, dresses exceedingly well, compliments outfits... and his dear wife of many years is a mechanic. We joke about this guy, but it's probably nothing more than a guy who likes good clothes and music and a woman who is really good at working on cars. 
I'm sure we can find all sorts of examples of people who are bending societal gender norms and I really have no problem with that until it becomes "so they must be transgender or some other gender entirely" in some crazy meaning to define their unique existence and perspectives.

This idea of multiple genders kills me. It's like... how intense into the labyrinth of culture can you get? 
My mom buys piano books off this music guy (it's a legitimate business and I don't mean to make it sound like a black market for music teachers). Great guy, but his business is running a music store and he's very nice, friendly, dresses exceedingly well, compliments outfits... and his dear wife of many years is a mechanic. We joke about this guy, but it's probably nothing more than a guy who likes good clothes and music and a woman who is really good at working on cars. 
I'm sure we can find all sorts of examples of people who are bending societal gender norms and I really have no problem with that until it becomes "so they must be transgender or some other gender entirely" in some crazy meaning to define their unique existence and perspectives.

Anyone else watch the barbie movie?   

That was once a great site.  Sadly it turned into a cesspool of apostasy.

The pride cycle is a symptom (or indicator) more than a cause.

Stuff like this is why I won't go near the lds freedom forum.

I remember the amount of useless stuff I had to pack into my mere Bachelor's just to get credits to graduate (I suppose, not useless: I look a car care class). With how expensive higher education is, I think many a school is going to find it harder to justify work hours to just pay their employees. I think this might ultimately work out for everyone. 
I've often thought dropping credit need in the high school would be a good move (and yes, I know locality depending you can already get away with fewer credits). Make 8th grade mandatory and keep the rest of high school available for those who want an academic or trade track with no guilt if they try something else somewhere else. 

WELL...this is a trick question...or the question about how many genders are discussed in the Bible.  Gender and Sex can be considered two different things.  Then you get into what language the Bible is written in?
Do we go with the Six Sexes recognized in Hebraic and Judaic customs?  In most Biblical languages you can identify at least 3 genders at a minimum (the Masculine, the Feminine, and the more Neutral).
If we go by the Six, there would be the Male, the Female, the Intersex, the Barren Female, The Eunuch (Eunuch by birth or otherwise) and the undeveloped or unidentifiable gender (which I supposes covers all the other bases).
Many of these can even be seen as addressed in our English translations of the Bible in various ways.  Look for scriptures talking about woman who could not bear children, or those who were Eunuchs, or creatures not identified as any gender (such as certain angelic hosts or such), and you can see these traits come through even in our Current Bibles in English. 
SOOOOO...as I said...trick question.  Who is asking...the world and the scholars of the world about ancient literature...or those who are Latter-day Saints in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
What purpose are they wanting to illuminate with the discussion?
The Gospel states that there are two, male and female, or men and woman, as far as our reasoning goes.  This applies to what the General Authorities have clarified in their various statements and proclamations over the past few decades. 
If the discussion is about what the Bible addresses and how it addresses such things and how that should be approached, that MIGHT be useful from a Seminary viewpoint.  However, it probably should also be addressed the official Church's position on such things.

Stuff like this is why I won't go near the lds freedom forum.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Also, cutting parts off doesn't change someone's gender.  

Those blaming DeSantis are angry people that are looking to blame anything they can on DeSantis.  Their logic makes no sense if you really look at what happened.  That does not matter to them.  They simply want to have others agree with them so they can put a black mark on DeSantis.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/academic-programs/2023/09/01/first-three-year-degree-programs-win-accreditor-approval
“Ramaswamy also said he did a deep dive into the origins of the 120-credit hour degree and found that it was rooted largely in the number of work hours required for faculty members. He also noted the commonality of three-year college degrees in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.”
 
This gives me some hope.
I have 26.5 years of formal education. Worse than a marathon.
13 years to get thru grade school (had to do the 3rd grade twice)
4.5 years of undergrad (Nutrition Science / Track & Field)  and 2 year mission hiatus.  
   2 years of business sales waiting for a med school to recognize my potential.
4 years of med school
5 years of residency
Many of those years were a total waste of time and $$.
I should have started medical practice 10 years earlier, age 26 instead of 36.
Doctors are at their peak from years 45-55.  Finally have enough experience while still having mental acuity, manual dexterity, constitution, good eyesight, etc…
We must make some changes.  We are wasting so many resources so that faculty can have tenure.

I just hope the children don't end up with their father. Atrocious parents!

I want to offer a cautionary note here, gleaned from hard experience both personal and professional:
Many people like this, actually deeply love the Gospel (as they understand it).  They search their scriptures.  They take fastidious notes at conference.  They pray for hours, and think they receive revelations; some of them very beautiful and moving.  But it goes in a weird direction, and suddenly they start thinking they’re getting better revelation than the mainstream Church; better revelation than their local priesthood leaders.  We will be seeing more of this, not less, in coming decades; and the Church will not always be quick to hold membership councils for people who deserve it.  
Guys, stay humble.  Stick with your priesthood authorities—from the Prophet down to your elders quorum president.  Do. Not. Let. Go.  A lot of tragedies could have and would have been avoided if some of Mormonism’s most infamous psychopaths of the past five years had stayed a little closer to, been more patient with, and considered with more humility the counsel of their bishops and stake presidents.

I suppose I was wondering how far things can go before you have that dramatic twist and tie up your children. I've been following the Daybell murder case and it kind of seems that, once, those people were decent people as far as anyone could tell. But I may be cynical enough to say one was probably never that good of a person if they were able to fall to such extremes from where they allegedly were. 
On a less famous note, I have a cousin who had a trouble childhood. My aunt was very good in the gospel. She's passed away, and I like to hope the mental illnesses that ruined her kids' lives have been healed. Anyway, the one cousin was into all sorts of trouble and eventually was put in foster care with an "upstanding family of the church". Abuse apparently ran rampant there, the bishop wouldn't believe anything because he was friends with the family, and my cousin wound up running away from there, never to be seen again until we had the brilliant idea of Facebook search her (this was back in the day). 
Yes, I think I agree with you. The church (and I'll say that for any church or good group) can be a shockingly great way to hide not just your issues but actual crimes. 

I'm trying to figure out where the husband is in all this.

I'm trying to figure out where the husband is in all this.

I suppose I was wondering how far things can go before you have that dramatic twist and tie up your children. I've been following the Daybell murder case and it kind of seems that, once, those people were decent people as far as anyone could tell. But I may be cynical enough to say one was probably never that good of a person if they were able to fall to such extremes from where they allegedly were. 
On a less famous note, I have a cousin who had a trouble childhood. My aunt was very good in the gospel. She's passed away, and I like to hope the mental illnesses that ruined her kids' lives have been healed. Anyway, the one cousin was into all sorts of trouble and eventually was put in foster care with an "upstanding family of the church". Abuse apparently ran rampant there, the bishop wouldn't believe anything because he was friends with the family, and my cousin wound up running away from there, never to be seen again until we had the brilliant idea of Facebook search her (this was back in the day). 
Yes, I think I agree with you. The church (and I'll say that for any church or good group) can be a shockingly great way to hide not just your issues but actual crimes. 

I suppose I was wondering how far things can go before you have that dramatic twist and tie up your children. I've been following the Daybell murder case and it kind of seems that, once, those people were decent people as far as anyone could tell. But I may be cynical enough to say one was probably never that good of a person if they were able to fall to such extremes from where they allegedly were. 
On a less famous note, I have a cousin who had a trouble childhood. My aunt was very good in the gospel. She's passed away, and I like to hope the mental illnesses that ruined her kids' lives have been healed. Anyway, the one cousin was into all sorts of trouble and eventually was put in foster care with an "upstanding family of the church". Abuse apparently ran rampant there, the bishop wouldn't believe anything because he was friends with the family, and my cousin wound up running away from there, never to be seen again until we had the brilliant idea of Facebook search her (this was back in the day). 
Yes, I think I agree with you. The church (and I'll say that for any church or good group) can be a shockingly great way to hide not just your issues but actual crimes. 

I won't go into the major details or news, it's easily looked up, but it's got me thinking about the whole notion of pride cycles. I believe this is something that wheels itself throughout history with no particular respect to people or creed and all are potentially susceptible.
But particular to the case, this influencer, by all accounts, is or was a member of our church and the situation seems pretty awful. I know enough wonderful members of the church to not buy into the popular meme "Those Mormons are so awful!" social media would tout, but I can't help there may be some legitimate connection.
I don't believe in prosperity gospel nor do I observe it in our teachings in any way. What I do see is the very good instructions of provident living, using our skills, hard work, etc. And I believe this can be twisted into prosperity gospel. Not so much "I'm rich because God loves me" but "I worked and was successful and now I'm rich and therefore I have all these blessings to show off so I must be a wonderful blessed person."
I think we're seeing it. Maybe it's new, maybe it's easier to spot, but I feel people, even within something good like the church, are getting too comfortable with  their fame/wealth/success and become untouchable, unable to do no wrong and thus anything they do is right. It's better to pursue the glory of the world but of course it's not for the glory of the world because they are Good People.
Perhaps it's just more obvious to watch the mighty fall but I've seen it at lesser states. Desire to support one's family, be self-sufficient, demonstrate hard work... And get far too caught up in it. I once read a book that spoke of all the Good Things that can ultimately become golden idols. But because they're good things, people may not want to recognize it.
So, after all this rambling, pride cycles appear to be far easier to fall into than we might think. Pretty easy to blame the Nephites and say "never us." Heck, I worry I'm doing it to myself by over-wondering about people.

I'm a big fan of pulling evil out of the darkness where it hides, out into the light where everyone can see it.
News article with some good links to sources: https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/ruby-franke-arrested-aggravated-child-abuse-1235710571/
Both Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested and both were charged with two counts of “aggravated child abuse – intentionally or knowingly".  
Sometimes, the face of evil looks like an active happy Latter Day Saint woman, happily posting away on Instagram and blessing the world with good tips on parenting.

 
This is why I don't do human heroes.  (Other than Mr. Rogers, whose last episode aired 22 years ago yesterday, btw.)
 

I do agree with what you wrote, as I too have neighbors that take things too far, and it leads them down a path of pride, and eventual distancing from the church. One of them has left because he thinks we aren't doing enough to worship the Lord, and he has found a better way on his own. It actually started with him taking the word of wisdom to very far extremes. On the other hand, perhaps I over-wonder about others too much as well.
That being said, tying up your children with duct tape and allowing them to become emaciated with non-healing open wounds is about as far as you can get from true gospel teachings. It's just plain evil, and I believe these folks simply used the faith as a cover for their scheme, because unfortunately, our church is full of ignorant patsies. It is no different than any other industry using shady sales tactics, and anyone who uses the church or gospel in any way, no matter how small, to further their business interests of any kind immediately gets a red flag in my book. These are truly disgusting people that hopefully get what they deserve. They are not extreme members, because they never were good members to begin with. I don't care what good things their friends or neighbors have to say in their defense - this is no small mistake on their part. This is who they are. They have no testimony of the church or gospel. If they did, they wouldn't have treated their children this way as the two cannot go hand in hand. Can they change, sure. But right now, they are evil.
(I used to be a pediatric nurse, so I acknowledge a potential bias towards those in cases where child abuse is present.)

I won't go into the major details or news, it's easily looked up, but it's got me thinking about the whole notion of pride cycles. I believe this is something that wheels itself throughout history with no particular respect to people or creed and all are potentially susceptible.
But particular to the case, this influencer, by all accounts, is or was a member of our church and the situation seems pretty awful. I know enough wonderful members of the church to not buy into the popular meme "Those Mormons are so awful!" social media would tout, but I can't help there may be some legitimate connection.
I don't believe in prosperity gospel nor do I observe it in our teachings in any way. What I do see is the very good instructions of provident living, using our skills, hard work, etc. And I believe this can be twisted into prosperity gospel. Not so much "I'm rich because God loves me" but "I worked and was successful and now I'm rich and therefore I have all these blessings to show off so I must be a wonderful blessed person."
I think we're seeing it. Maybe it's new, maybe it's easier to spot, but I feel people, even within something good like the church, are getting too comfortable with  their fame/wealth/success and become untouchable, unable to do no wrong and thus anything they do is right. It's better to pursue the glory of the world but of course it's not for the glory of the world because they are Good People.
Perhaps it's just more obvious to watch the mighty fall but I've seen it at lesser states. Desire to support one's family, be self-sufficient, demonstrate hard work... And get far too caught up in it. I once read a book that spoke of all the Good Things that can ultimately become golden idols. But because they're good things, people may not want to recognize it.
So, after all this rambling, pride cycles appear to be far easier to fall into than we might think. Pretty easy to blame the Nephites and say "never us." Heck, I worry I'm doing it to myself by over-wondering about people.

Next time you feel inclined to consume snake faeces, remember to check for any hidden extras
 It was a fairly regular day on the ward for Canberra hospital infectious diseases physician Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, until a neurosurgeon colleague called him and said: “you wouldn’t believe what I just found in this lady’s brain – and it’s alive and wriggling.”
The neurosurgeon, Dr Hari Priya Bandi, had pulled an 8cm-long parasitic roundworm from her patient, prompting her to call on Senanayake and other hospital colleagues for advice about what to do next.
........................................
The doctors and scientists involved in her case hypothesise that a python may have shed the parasite via its faeces into the grass. They believe the patient was probably infected with the parasite from touching the native grass and transferring the eggs to food or kitchen utensils, or after eating the greens
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/28/live-worm-living-womans-brain-australia-depression-forgetfulness