Guest bizabra Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 http://www.slate.com/id/2138060/?nav=tap3This is a very enlightening article on the numbers of ancestors we all share. EVERYONE alive today is related to EVERYONE else and has ALL the people that were alive 3 thousand years ago (who have living decsenddants still) as their ancestors.This is one reason why FOR ME, doing geneology is a waste of time. It MAY, IN SOME, foster a continued sense of exclusivity and apartness, when we are ALL brothers and sisters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palerider Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I enjoy doing geneology....and do not find it a waste of time.....I enjoy learning about them..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Yes, all of us are brothers and sisters, but all of us do not have exactly the same parents, and grandparents, and great grandparents, and great, great grandparents, etc... although we do have some ancestors in common, and I believe learning about the people through whom I came into this world helps me to know more about who I am and how I got here, though not necessarily where I am going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenRaines Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I would not agree that we are all related mortality. Some of you claim to have come from apes. Yes we are all brothers and sisters in spirit and if you believe in Adam and Eve being the first parents but related beyond that I don't know. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I would not agree that we are all related mortality. Some of you claim to have come from apes.Have you met some of these people? I would tend to agree that they do as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I would not agree that we are all related mortality. Some of you claim to have come from apes.Yes we are all brothers and sisters in spirit and if you believe in Adam and Eve being the first parents but related beyond that I don't know.BenHeh, but what people think doesn't affect the reality of truth, whether some people know it or not. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 I should think that Mormons would jump on that article and embrace it. Think about it, the next time some Stake Patriarch declares your kid a descendant of Ephraim or some other ancient tribe, you can feel comfortable that Science actually bears that out. (I was given an apologetic response once that it was a "spiritual" connection via "the Law of Adoption".) I think it's great. Of course, genealogy work is still necessary for Latter-day Saints for proxy work. So if that's the only reason to do it, then that's enough for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MrsS Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 <snip>Some of you claim to have come from apes. <snip> I know that my Mother's next younger brother and my little brother are descended from apes! I was 8 years old the first time I saw my Uncle without a shirt on, and I went screaming out of the house because I thought he was a bear. My folks and his wife thought it was hilarious. Dad said that Uncle wasn't a Bear ~ he was Darwin's Missing Link. I didn't understand that until I was a freshman in High School. Then along comes my baby brother ~ he hit puberty at 13-14 and the hair developed almost overnight! For his gag christmas gift that year, I bought him tiny little roller skates (got them out of a gum ball machine) for his hands, so that his knuckles wouldn't drag on the ground as he walked. He still has the tiny little roller skates, all eight of them! Seriously, I love doing my Genealogy ~ and it has been my observation that there are way more Non-LDS who are hooked on Genealogy, than there are LDS, always has been! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom_of_jcchlsm Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Yes we are all brothers and sisters in spirit and if you believe in Adam and Eve being the first parents but related beyond that I don't know.Ben, For those who believe the Bible, we're much closer related than Adam and Eve - we're all decendants of Noah through one of his three sons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 This is one reason why doing geneology is a waste of time. It fosters a continued sense of exclusivity and apartness, when we are ALL brothers and sisters.Is that your professional opinion doctor?Would you mind sharing with us some of your data that support your theory?...oh don't bother. I know you just made it up anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bizabra Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 <div class='quotemain'>This is one reason why doing geneology is a waste of time. It fosters a continued sense of exclusivity and apartness, when we are ALL brothers and sisters.Is that your professional opinion doctor?Would you mind sharing with us some of your data that support your theory?...oh don't bother. I know you just made it up anyway.BIZ: WHAT did I "make up", eh? The article? Or my opinion that doing geneology is a waste of time? Or that claiming that doing geneology can foster a sense of exclusivity and apartness? Exploring your family roots can be very interesting, I agree. It can help you understand yourself better, I guess. But it cannot prove who you "are". One cannot be sure of their actual biological origins by simply doing geneology work. Adoption records are not always acurate, and basically non-existant if you go back far enough. Folks raised foundlings or changelings as their own, with often no-one but a few intimates who knew the "truth". To claim some sort of "specialness" because you find a certain "important" ancestor in your family tree is ridiculous! You might actually be descended from some illegitmate child who was passed off as the real heir! Anyway, as the article shows, we are ALL related and so it doesn't matter what "blue-blood" branch of the human tree you may find in doing your geneological research. It only proves your tenacity in doing the research in the first place! EVERYONE could find some important historical figure as an ancestor if the records exist and they bother to look.What part of that do you not understand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 [What part of that do you not understand?I understand all parts and I understand that you are completely full or it. Your idea that it is a waste of time is as dumb as your idea that fosters a sense of exclusivity. You may not get anything out of it but you have zero clue what other people get out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bizabra Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Thanks for your opinion! You don't have to agree with me. Some folks LOVE golf, others think it a mindless and boring activity. It's all in the eye of the beholder, dontcha think? Anyway, there are far worse things to spend your time on than geneology. So, if ya wanna do it, then do it. Just don't claim to be special cuz you found some important person in your family tree. It don't make you special! EVERYONE is related to that person, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom_of_jcchlsm Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 biz, You sound really bitter. Is someone you know going around bragging about being related to so-and-so and you haven't done the research yet to prove that you are, too? or you have gone back that far on every line and proven that you aren't? I wholeheartedly agree that being related to someone famous is no reason to be puffed up. But that's no reason to tear down the practice of researching one's ancesrty. LDS do family history research in order to provide vicarious ordinances for our deceased relatives. If we happen to discover fun and interesting connections along the way, that just icing on the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bizabra Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 biz,You sound really bitter. Is someone you know going around bragging about being related to so-and-so and you haven't done the research yet to prove that you are, too? or you have gone back that far on every line and proven that you aren't?I wholeheartedly agree that being related to someone famous is no reason to be puffed up. But that's no reason to tear down the practice of researching one's ancesrty. LDS do family history research in order to provide vicarious ordinances for our deceased relatives. If we happen to discover fun and interesting connections along the way, that just icing on the cake.BIZ: I'm far from bitter. Interesting that you read me that way, hmmm. Anyway, my mom and my brother are both heavy into geneology, I fully understand the draw. It IS a mystery that, to some, is fun to unravel. I wasn't trying to tear down the practice, just trying to shed some light on the even MORE interesting (to me, anyway) fact that EVERYONE is related and that THAT is far more important to know about ourselves and each other rather than the idea that we might have the blood of "so and so" in our veins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 You say that you aren't bitter but that's how you came across to more than one of us, Biz. You didn't just say that you thought geneology to be a waste of your time. You said it was A waste of time and what's more resulted in negative consequences. Obviously your axe has gotten ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bizabra Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 I have ammended my first post to include words that make it clear that IT IS ONLY MY OPINION that doing geneology is a waste of time (although I will agree that for others it can be fun and interesting). Thanks, Snow, for pointing out that I was making a blanket statement that I do not really believe. For ME, doing geneology is as silly as spending time on a golf course. Even though my beloved family LOVES doing it. BTW, I firmly believe that golf is a silly game (IMO) and I DO know that others find it fun and alluring, but why that is so is lost on me. Even though my husband and his friends LOVE to do it. I would NEVER waste my time playing golf! NEVER! How anyone can call it a SPORT is beyond me! I think it ridiculous when a golfer claims to be an athlete, cuz he golfs! So, do I sound "bitter" because I think golf is a waste of time? Or do you only think that I am bitter when I diss an activity that THE CHURCH endorses and expects you to do? BTW, whatever happened to discussing the idea that we are all related and that IF Jesus had children (as claimed in the fictitious book, The Da Vinci Code) then even he would be an ancestor everyone could claim to have? Doesn't anyone think that is an intriguing idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnie G Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 I like to know how many of you read and took notice of the topic, A Mormon White House on another board? I posted this same original post on two different boards, Its like having two opinions. It was to my surprise that the two boards went down two different paths. One critical and the other amusing. I think we should take a step back and take a good look at the kind of critical paths we choose to take. It made me think twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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