NeuroTypical

In this situation, I actually know both the victim and the perpetrator. The victim is not LDS and doesn't really care one way or the other. But if she did, I could talk about the stuff our church does to protect it's members from bad guys - and from supposedly repentant molestors. He'd never get the chance to work with kids or be in any leadership position. His record would contain a permanent annotation letting every Bishop he'll ever deal with, know what he did. Stuff our church does, is very comforting from a victim's point of view.If there was a situation where the perp was wanting to attend the same ward as the victim, that would be an indication to me that his repentance was not up to snuff - and therefore, a very real threat.

I was personally involved in getting someone excommunicated for aggrivated sexual abuse of a minor. I would jump for joy and weep tears of happiness if I ever heard he had sincerely repented, been rebaptized, and was an active churchgoer. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon, though.

I want to make sure I understand what you're saying. In past times, our church leaders has counseled us to save two full year's of food. Just about anyone who has been LDS for a decade, has the phrase "year's supply of food" in their heads. Examples: When Disaster Strikes: Latter-day Saints Talk about Preparedness Painless Year’s Supply Most Frequently Asked Questions … Food Storage Since around 2009-ish, our leaders came out with the new preparadness materials identifying priorities (3 months, then water, then financial reserve, then long-term storage). Are you telling us, that our church leaders have been counseling us for the better part of a century to do something wasteful? Or are those preparing for nuclear holocaust the only folks being wasteful? What about a global famine? Or some sort of global disaster that disrupts the food distribution network for a year? Or people preparing against a long-term unemployment due to health or economy or just plain bad luck? Are they also being unwise? I see you define hoarding as something bad, therefore hoarding and hoarders are bad. I didn't see that in dictionary.com, but hey, whatever.

Well again, my wife and I deny 99.99999% of the population of planet earth that opportunity. There are about half a dozen people we trust with our kids - and they're all adults. From a pure statistical point of view, as far as my kids are involved, a YM has exactly the same opportunity to watch my kids as a YW - zero.I do not believe there is anything wrong with this situation. I do not judge anyone who makes different choices. Heck, we'll probably have both of our girls babysit when they're older. Meh. False message implanting is one of the problems other people have, that is not my problem. We're open and honest about who we are and why we do things. If people demand to have false messages implanted, that's their choice. I respect your experiences. I do not disagree with them. In fact, we probably both agree that it's less likely for a guy to report being assaulted, due to male pride. I am in no way, dismissing or ignoring actual cases of abused YM. I'm just aware than if you put 1000 guys in that situation, and 1000 girls, you'll have a bunch more girls traumatized and damaged and only a few guys.

Yes. The current administration has specifically come out and said that states are safe from the federal laws, but yeah, that could change.To be fair, growers and dispensaries are bound by numerous (and constantly changing) federal, state, county, and city/town laws on what they can do, and how they can do it. It's even a zoning issue, where a store on one side of the street follows rules the other side of the street doesn't have to. The battle is engaged, and being fought on every level. This reality is one reason why MJ is effectively legal - because from a cop's point of view, they have so many better things to do than keep up with the laws, better to not enforce anything. They'll investigate complaints, and robberies and whatnot, but as far as I can tell, nobody gets busted for growing, selling, or smoking weed any more unless we're talking pretty massive amounts of obvioiusly illegal weed. I can agree with that to a certain extent. But I'd also point out that cigarettes and alcohol do not enjoy such a status, so I doubt we'll be seeing that with MJ any time soon.And as far as I can tell, there is plenty of unrealistic idealism on both sides of the debate. Legalizers point to a world you just described. The Anti-MJ group talk in terms of $ and lives saved if there was no more need for Narcanon and rehab clinics and whatnot. Me? I try to see the impact from the street (or at least through the eyes of people on the street). Some pretty evil folk are gonna keep MJ in their evil empires of kidnapping, prostitution, child sex slavery, and murder - for as long as there's a buck to be made in it. And that buck will be made no matter which current round of laws are enacted.

Hi MOE, My only feedback, is that I'm always happy to see people so upset about programs directed at their boys. Parents with strong opinions about raising their boys, will be producing a much finer quality dating stock for my daughters, than those which don't care. Maybe you could move to CO in about 6 or 7 years? I'll send some daughters your way.

Just to make sure we're all on the same page here: Our church does more than counsel us to engage in disaster preparadness. They counsel provident living and self-sufficiency. Here's the counsel Start with a 3 month supply: "Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage." After that, focus on a longer term supply: "For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans." So, if it's a hundred bottles of BBQ sauce, it borders on hoarding. Does a hundred cans of rice and beans also border on hoarding? I still need a definition of the term "hoarder" here... People are using the term pretty freely, and are assigning a negative connotation to the term - but I still don't know what the term means.

Life lesson #1: Just because you occupy skin on planet earth does not mean good people will trust you. Trust is earned. Life lesson #2: Most people are good. A small percentage of people will try to harm you in varioius ways. You can't always tell by looking, so be safe until you're sure. If you hear any whining about it, refer them to life lesson #1. Disagree with the word "likely". Can you point to the post here (or anywhere) where someone is claiming that most boys are abusers? I haven't seen one. My word is "possible". And I don't hint - I educate and inform directly. Hinting that the average boy is a molester would be unhealthy, yes. I don't think anyone on this thread is doing so. It's important to know warning signs of a potential abuser. It's important to know any history of severe trauma in that YW's past. If a YW doesn't show any of these signs, if there are no red flags, then 99% of YW will not prey on youth, no matter how much "more able to prey" on them they are. As for why YM are different - here are two scenes that we good LDS folks don't often think about: Scene #1: Guy gets drunk and passes out at party. 3 girls load him into their car and take him home and put him to bed. Scene #2: Girl gets drunk and passes out at a party. 3 guys load her into their car and take her home and put her to bed. Which scene brings images of embarassment mixed with gratitude, and which scene brings images of STD's and unplanned pregnancy? In scene 1, pretty much any type of girl can be involved, without horrible things happening. In scene 2, the world is full of the wrong type of guy to be involved, and nobody is surprised when horrible things end up happening. Anyway, I'm raising my daughters to be good goaltenders. Does anyone have a problem with that?

Could I ask you for definitions of the words "hoarder" and "hoarding"? You seem to be associating some negative connotation with it.Is a years' supply of food "hoarding"? How about a years' supply of toilet paper? Or are people hoarders if they follow the prophet's counsel on preparadness but live in a small enough place that storing stuff presents problems? If you skip over to the preparadness forum, you'll see a thread or two on people struggling to get their years' supply together, but live in an apartment or something, and are asking for advice. Some of the advice given involves storing things under beds or in extra bathrooms. If they follow that advice, does that make them hoarders? And if it does, does that mean they're bad people?

3 pages of this thread, and my answer still really hasn't changed. If a business makes it possible to legally obtain it's product for free, then there is no ethical or moral block in a customer doing so. (There may be a common sense block, or a "if you were smarter you wouldn't do this" block - but that's separate from ethics and morals.) If a business doesn't want to make it possible to legally obtain it's product for free, then it is free to put whatever policies into place it wishes, in order to keep this from happening. If a business doesn't care one way or the other, then there is no ethical or moral imperitave that a customer do so. The burden of selling something for a certain price rests on the selling entity. The burden does not fall on the buying entity to make sure that the selling entity gets 'enough'. The definition of a fair deal, is when there's a price a seller will accept, and a buyer will pay. Not sure how else to say it.

It is true that not all males are molestors. It is also true that most molestors are males. Knowing how to navigate through those two truths, and living life accordingly, are good things.

I'm still unclear about your situation. Did you break an agreement with them? Did you promise, as a term of you living there, to go to church and share things with them? If you've lied or broken a promise, then you deal with it like anyone else who lies or breaks promises. Repent and seek forgiveness. Here's how to repent.

Again, there's no prohibition here in smoky Colorado - and yet groups continue to battle for territory and there are plenty of armed robberies and burglaries, and the occasional homicide, to keep life interesting. And again, for like the sixth time in this thread, purchasing something from a murdering child sex ring operator, still is supporting that murdering child sex ring operator. Even if the thing you are purchasing is considered harmless. Yes, there are plenty of local growers - but very few who aren't one or two places removed from that scene. I hear folks like you come here with your bold claims of "just legalize it and everything will be all better". I'm living in Colorado, and it's not happening. Things are not all better, Ketch. The negative things going on here, are going on despite the fact that there is effectively no prohibition. Do you care to try to explain why? It's been a few years, so someone will have to refresh my memory here: Didn't one of the Godfather movies have the family go totally legit? (I think they moved into casinos, after getting them legalized.) If I remember correctly, there was still plenty of murder and mayhem going on.

I'm thinking there's a lot more to this story. Why should homeowners care when a renter doesn't share personal details of their private lives? Are you related to these people? What's the nature of the relationship here - is it primarily business, or primarily personal?

We're incredibly picky when it comes to babysitters. There are probably less than a dozen people on planet earth we'd pick. None of them are young men, so I guess the answer is no.

Perhaps, but the industry that produces and distributes MJ are peopled with kidnappers, rapists, child slavers, human traffickers, and murders. Yes, it's horribly illogical to try to stop millions of American dollars from flowing into various transnational criminal organizations. Because hey, just because they conduct bloody mass murders and sell children into prostitution, doesn't mean that the weed you buy from them will hurt you. Again, I'd ask you to read prior posts on this thread - especially the ones where people are talking about the states where it is legal, and how that's working out for everyone. "incredible access to information that we have available" and all that.

Ya know, it's funny. I had heard the name "Rupert Murdoch", and I had heard that there was a scandal underway. Then I saw HoosierGuy started a thread about it, which told me Murdoch was a conservative.

I used to work for a translation company, and yes absolutely, we would take people's money to translate things from UK English to American English and vice-versa.

Hi, and welcom to the forum! So tell us - what branch, and where is he?

I feel that way every time a StarTrek series ends. But for Harry Potter, the only thing I do is stir the pot by hoping for a sequel to The Golden Compass, since they're basically the same thing.

My favorite site is beprepared.com. You might want to visit there and comparison shop.

I would urge the last three posters to read through this thread. There's something to impact all of y'all's opinions.

Ahh, the good old days. I did 6 months of unemployment when the telecom bubble burst back in '02. People were estimating that Denver's telecom workforce was 50% unemployed and wandering the streets. What a dark period of my life. Your words about your relationship with your wife particularly resonate. It seemed like half of my daily fight was with her to leave me alone so I could search for a job in peace. She tells me that living with me was no walk in the park either. Being unemployed through Christmas was particularly depressing.Things I did to make it through that time: * Expanded my network by a couple of people per week. * Went to the city workforce center even when I didn't have to, just to stay around sympathetic people trying to help, and to use their internet resources. * Accepted interviews for jobs that did not sound like a good fit. At the least, it was good practice. At the most, it could have resulted in something else showing up. * Paid tithing on the unemployment checks. Eventually, I took a "barely good enough" hourly job. It was almost half the pay I had been making, but it was one and a half times what unemployment was bringing in. It was steady work and a foot in the door of a very good place to work. I remember that Sunday in priesthood, when the guy asked if there were any visitors, I stood up and said "I just moved from the state of unemployment to the state of employment". I heard more than one shout of joy from somewhere behind me - no idea who they were, but apparently they were happy for me. Dang - those were dark times. But they did end. My outlook calendar just had a popup - 7 years ago today I moved from hourly temp to permanent worker. My wife is sleeping in the next room. My kid's alarm just woke them up - time to haul them to summer school. The sun is shining. Don't give up.

I'm not sure why this is a thread about what people critical of the church think. I find it a fascinating article touching on a very interesting subject. It's a pity that we can't run the same tests on female candidates, to see if any daughters showed up from these polygamous unions. It is only of passing historical interest to me, but some of the descendants of those folks are probably incredibly curious. Especially the LDS ones - emphasis on geneology and all. DNA is fascinating. I'm part of a [Loudmouth] DNA project. It's helping us answer the question: Did my [Loudmouth] ancestors leave Scotland and come directly to America, or did they skip to Ireland first to avoid fighting for the English king first? To add excitement and melodrama, since DNA markers are passed only from father to son, and mother to daughter - I am the last remaining [Loudmouth] male on which these tests can be performed in my family group. Grandpa had lots of kids, but I'm the last (or only) grandson.

Think for a minute on what the word "greater" means. What does it mean to be great? It doesn't mean better. It doesn't even mean right or good. Satan is a great deciever. Hitler was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. All 'greatness' means, is that whatever you've done, you've done it bigger or to a greater extent than someone who is less-great.So yeah, I guess by that measure, someone who has travelled a long hard road sucesfully has achieved a certain greatness that someone else who hasn't travelled such a road. But that isn't really saying anything about the worth of a person. LM