Midwest LDS

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Everything posted by Midwest LDS

  1. I obviously disagree with you about masks, but we do have one point we share a common belief about. I don't believe it should be mandated by the government either. Government mandates are impossible to properly enforce, usually grossly oversimplify the problem, and lead to further lawlessness when people realize the can get away in mass with breaking the mandate (see the failure of Prohibition).
  2. It depends. They weren't perfect, but I enjoyed them, and I thought they set up the rest of the series nicely. Plus I'm a sucker for political and military sci fi. However, many Dune purists will argue that Frank never intended there to be an actual robot war, and feel like the Butlerian Jihad series dumbed down something that was supposed to be more philosophical than physical (please correct me if I'm wrong fellow Dune fans like @NeuroTypical). If you liked Hunters and Sandworms though I think you would enjoy the Jihad series.
  3. Not really. I answered your question as to why I wear a mask. You want to argue about it. I could dive into google, throw out a whole bunch of research that supports my viewpoint. You'd do the same. 100 posts and 2 hours later neither of us will have succeeded in convincing the other one of anything. We will pat ourselves on the back and brag to our friends about how we totally owned this random person online. I'm not interested in having a pointless argument today. I'm sure you can find 100 million other people ready to throw down with you about this on any site you care to visit. I'm just not one of them.
  4. You seem to be in the mood for an argument against a straw man. I however am in the mood for a lovely day with my daughter free of contention. Therefore have a blessed day.
  5. You do realize I wear a mask because of recommendations from medical experts not politicians right? https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html. When a majority of doctors tell me it's not helpful I'll stop wearing one. Oh and using a video of AOC means nothing to me. I'm a conservative.
  6. It's true right out in the open on Facebook too.
  7. Yeah I always thought it was weird to use Oedipus's name for that complex. Not only for the reasons your daughter mentioned, but because when he heard the prophesy he was terrified and left home right away to avoid hurting his mom and dad, the couple who had adopted and raised him. He had no way of knowing who his real parents were. But like you said people frequently misuse classical metaphors.
  8. That was the popular view of abolitionists in the South. There were definitely individuals and groups that 100% agreed with that viewpoint, but like any group of people, abolitionists varied in their opinions. There were also those who believed in compensated emancipation, and in sending the former slaves back to Africa, or just freeing the slaves but not extending their rights beyond that. Some religious abolitionists wanted to make former slaves full citizens upon the ending of slavery, but this view was pretty uncommon before and during the early part of the Civil War. Actually it was hundreds of thousands of blacks being willing to pick up the rifle and help fight against the South that brought the majority over to believing they deserved the rights of citizens. Of course a whole bunch of stuff went wrong right afterwards during Reconstruction, but that's another discussion.
  9. You are ok my friend. I also took some satisfaction watching Confederate statues removed throughout the South. I've always considered them traitors, who tried to destroy this country to maintain the horrific system of slavery. To be blunt they don't deserve to be honored. But I really hate mobs. I'm okay with statues of Robert E. Lee or Edward Colston being removed but I want it done through proper channels, otherwise we risk those mobs destroying monuments of people who do deserve to be honored like Ulysses S. Grant or John Newton.
  10. And I appreciate that. It's important to recognize that while we may not struggle with an issue others do, and try to reach out to them and point them in the direction of resources that answer their questions rather than just dismissing their concerns.
  11. I believe you. Sometimes though it's hard for me to wrap my head around. Most of the stuff that typically gets people upset (everything from polygamy to how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon) I remember learning in seminary. Even the stuff I didn't learn about there (the Mountain Meadows Massacre for one) I learned more about by reading the Institute manuals on my mission and I don't consider myself especially different from anyone else in the church. The information is readily available from the church, so I've never understood how so many people seem to not find it. I will add though that I recognize my obsession with history helped me out here. I like researching things that puzzle me, so whenever it's happened I tend to go straight to the source. I won't judge someone who doesn't have that as a strength and I hope the missionaries you mentioned were able to find some peace in their lives.
  12. It's a magic oracle device I believe is called Google. You make a sacrifice of an Apple to the gods, and ask your question of the glowing rock and the words magically appear in bold letters before your very eyes😃.
  13. Yes. He believed that the white race was superior to the black race and by our standards he would be viewed as a racist, although his beliefs were far from uncommon at the time. It's not surprising given that many prominent scientists around the world during that period of history believed and taught the same thing. They were wrong of course, but they didn't know that then. However, he believed blacks should still be treated as human beings. One of the reasons he despised slavery is because he believed a man who worked hard had a right to be paid for that work and that it was fundamentally immoral to deprive him of that wage. For his time, he was more egalitarian than many others in the country.
  14. Sorry thread jack real quick. Lincoln opposed slavery on a personal level for most of his life. You can find writings as far back as the 1840's mentioning his distate for the system. Lincoln, however, was also a strong believer in the Constitution. At the time, the Constitution gave him no authority to unilaterally end slavery. The quote he made was made at the start of the war, when he believed it would be short and when he had very little political support to end slavery. Ironically it was the rebels themselves who gave him the political capital to end slavery, and if you study his political decisions closely, you can see an almost undeviating course towards ending slavery, which he correctly believed had caused the war in the first place. First by compensated emancipation in the vital border states, then by freeing slaves held by the Confederacy, then by using all of his political clout to pass the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery right before his death. Here's a quote from him on the subject, less famous than his preserve the Union quote, but more relevant " "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. ... And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling." Rioters don't have the historical knowledge to understand this. All they see is "he said something that sounds bad from a 21st century perspective so he's bad". It's why I will never trust a mob to make an intelligent decision.
  15. I hadn't thought to connect this current issue with the gospel, but you make an excellent point. Temple ordinances, scripture, even visions both modern and ancient make heavy use of symbolism. They teach lessons far beyond the actual physical symbol used (Lehi's great and spacious building, Jacob's ladder etc.) I had a lot more visceral negative reaction to New York announcing it would remove that statue of Teddy Roosevelt, than I would have someone just speaking ill of him because of what the symbolism of that act represents.
  16. I agree. This stuff is really starting to smack of the Chinese Cultural revolution in the late 60's. Everything from the past torn down by mobs that are acting with the approval of the government. As a historian, it turns my stomach, but I agree there is an overriding political will behind the madness.
  17. Hey now, I'm not corrupt. Corruption implies I'm hiding what I'm selling. I'm bringing back the spoils system. Come into my office and grovel properly and I'll hand out government jobs.
  18. Hey only 999 more, I might just vote for myself this time around. I'll be 35 so I'm eligible.
  19. Nah I had to look her up in a list of third party candidates...and she was pretty far down. If she breaks a thousand votes I'll be impressed😃.
  20. C'mon we all know you're voting for Gloria la Riva, candidate for the party of Socialism and Liberation. You were the one pushing for her to get ballot access in Florida.
  21. This kind of stuff has got to stop. I'm not going to lie, watching some, in my opinion, Confederate traitors have their statues removed from town squares doesn't bother me as long as it's done through the proper channels (eg. at the direction of mayors, city councils etc.) But by allowing mobs to vent their anger and take down statues themselves, we've opened a Pandora's box. Because almost no one, even the most heroic people from the past, had "enlightened" 21st century attitudes. So that's why Brigham Young, Ulysses S. Grant, Francis Scott Key, and a host of other heroic individuals have been lumped in with Stonewall Jackson and Nathan Bedford Forrest. We have got to put a stop to this public vandalism at some point.
  22. Hey buddy, those who go to sleep at night reading Das Kapital shouldn't throw stones.
  23. This sentence exemplifies why I really struggle when I discuss contentious issues with my liberal family and friends. Take the recent troubles for example. After examining the issues and evidence, I supported bringing the officers who killed George Floyd to trial. I also believe that too many times in the past, police unions have protected bad cops who needed to be fired and prosecuted, and I think we have some room to make some positive changes there. But it's never enough for them. In fact, listening to my liberal friends and family, you would think my attempt to find some areas of compromise to make some changes is worse than if I was walking around with a swastika on my face because I admit there are some problems, but I don't want to eliminate the police department and think burning down a mom and pop store while rioting is wrong. The constant moving of goalposts is one reason (among many) I've never been attracted to liberal points of view.
  24. I haven't read the book, but I served in the Independence MI mission so I ran into Community of Christ (old RLDS) folks all the time. In addition, there are a bunch of smaller break off churches as well including the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church of Christ Temple lot, and the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At least when I served in the area (2005 to 2007) there wasn't any animosity between them and us. In fact, I liked running into the members of those various churches because they were super nice. You also had to be quick on your delivery, because once you start your opening spiel about a prophet of God being called in our day, you were apt to get the answer "oh I know. We are reading Ether 12 (or whatever chapter in the Book of Mormon you choose) right now". I did a lot more talking about and testifying of Brigham Young than your standard missionary lol.