Richard Dawkins speech cancelled...

And in todays "Ha ha ha it's Berkeley after all" news, a speech by Richard Dawkins has been cancelled because of he dares to critique Islam.

It's funny because it's California. I live near a college town and I am one hundred percent certain that if Dawkins came to it, the same thing would probably happen. Bashing Christianity is fine, but saying anything negative about Islam crosses too many PC lines. Even Dawkins himself seems to understand this. No, I don't like Dawkins much but he's honest enough to see the difference between how Islam and Christianity are treated. Hitchens was as well.

The PC left in college loves, absolutely loves to bully those they disagree with, and this is more proof of that. In a sane society Dawkins would be allowed to speak anywhere he damn well pleases, but we all know Berkeley is the farthest thing from a sane society. What troubles me is that it begins with Berkeley and it'll soon take over the country. I don't see that happening yet, free speech is actually on the rise thank God, but it's still a disturbing thing.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 2:17

One thing that the church does a lot of (and it should be praised for) is it's service to others. People who bash the church love to point out the ornate temples and complain that tithing money goes more into the temples than service projects-while I don't know the numbers myself, the church should be given more credit.  They help non members and members alike. In fact, the church does so much service that it's easy to miss out if you aren't paying attention. From helping members move to helping non members at Christmas time to cleaning up areas after natural disasters to donating to the Red Cross, the church busts it's ass in service work.

I think it's because of this passage. It clearly states that you are only in the service of God when you are in the service of your fellow man. It's cut and dry and clear as day. 

Microchips, fake news, and the internet

A company in Wisconsin had plans to microchip employees in order to pay them, charge them for food, etc. It's all voluntary. Click here to read the story.  Faster than you can say "Left Behind" the internet blew up with this claiming that it's an indication that we are smack dab in end times and  it's all just about over.

Deep breath everyone. No, the government isn't planning to microchip you. No, this isn't "the number of the beast". No, Trump is not the anti-Christ.

I love the internet and I love being on the internet. I freely admit and see that it has serious drawbacks though. The biggest one is seeing how news stories can be distorted and blown way out of proportion. So far, I've seen stories about how the government is already forcing us to get microchipped and the anti-Christ is rounding us up. It's pathetic.

Album of the Weekend

Marilyn Manson-Smells like Children

We all know that the first few albums are usually the best ones, but this isn't always the case. It's not the case with Marilyn Manson. This album is terrible. Even the famous "Sweet Dreams" is overrated and not a good song. Yes, I know it's a cover.

I'm prudish, I admit that. I don't like blue humor or Adam Sandler type juvenile behavior. This album is an immature teenage boys dream, with all sorts of vulgar and gross song titles. Take note fellow artists: Just being vulgar and disgusting doesn't make you hip, cutting edge, or your music good. It makes it just vulgar and disgusting.

I am a big Manson fan-I think Mechanical Albums was one of the best concept albums of all time. His later stuff is really good, in my view. This album is a colossal misfire on all accounts.

Transgenders in the military

Growing up I remember everyone was up in arms about gays in the military.  People were saying it would cause the decline of the military and eventually, the decline of our country. Sure, our military is still the strongest in the world and the social disaster that was supposed to occur never happened, but anyway. Now we're exchanging the word "gay" for the word "transgender". Trump has ruled that transgender people will no longer be allowed to serve in the armed forces. He's the commander in chief of them, so what he says goes I guess.

I never served in the armed forces, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. A large grain of salt.

You aren't in the trenches. If you are, then hold on a minute I'll get to you. Your opinion of military matters (if you never served) is useless. In fact, if you think you can run a war or tell the troops what to do, you are an idiot. Sure, you can have an opinion on if they should go to war but once they do and what changes they make to the military is none of your damn business.  Period. It's very easy to tell troops what they should do from the comfort of your own home. Once you start having bullets fired at you, it's a little different.  In other words be very careful with your opinions on military matters.

If you want to know how this will effect the morale of the military, you need to :: gasp :: ask active duty military people. If they have no problem with it, you shouldn't either. After all, you aren't hoisting a rifle with them. All that should matter is helping the military win wars. Like it or not, we need an strong and robust defense in 2017. Policies that help the military win should be instituted. Policies that help them lose should be avoided.

Narcissists and geniuses

The comedian Louis CK has a great bit about how we overuse words. He mentions (and I'm going to butcher it) the word "Awesome" and goes on to say "Oh really? That sandwich you ate just inspired awe?" He's not LDS approved, so only listen to him if you can handle some R rated language. On this, he's exactly right and I'd like to add two more words to that list. Narcissist and genius.

No, your ex husband was not a narcissist. Narcissism is actually very rare and in it's pure form, it can be very dangerous. Just because he cheated on you and was a general bad guy that doesn't mean he was a narcissist. The other interesting thing? Not everyone you dislike is a narcissist either. I see this all the time. We are so quick to throw out labels to those we dislike that we ignore how powerful some of the words can be. In reality, you probably don't have the psychological training to identify who is a narcissists/sociopath/ etc.

It doesn't have to be negative. Lately, everyone is a genius. Just because you graduated college or you have intellectual pursuits does not make you a genius. I do hate to break it to you, but your child is probably not a genius either. Side note-I forget where I heard this, but someone said "Everyone thinks your first baby will solve world famine and cure cancer. In reality, you'll just be happy when they stop licking dirt off dog."  The word genius and actual genius is incredibly rare and sometimes, incredibly harmful. When you have a particular skill that places you above everyone else-it can be very hard to manage. It's lonely at the top.

Louis CK is exactly right about this. 

Participation trophies

My generation was the first to get participation trophies-the ones given to people for just showing up. It frustrates me a great deal when people blame Generation Y/Millennials for getting them. After all, what could a first grader do about it? Shouldn't you blame the parents who gave them to us instead? This shows the uselessness and frankly, idiocy of blaming the generations that come after you. If the upcoming generation is truly that bad then the people who raised them surely have some of the blame, don't they? No one thinks this way because it's always easier to blame someone else than think that maybe, just maybe, the blame falls on them as well.

Participation trophies are a nice idea for first graders and little kids. Eventually though, you need to accept that you won't always win a prize for just showing up. God/evolution or whatever you want to call it does not give talent that matches your passion. Believe me, I know this firsthand. In my dream world I'd be a guitar player/singer in a band. Sadly I have no talent in either one of those areas. So my passion for music hasn't faded but I've learned to express it in another way. You can love music deeply and have no talent for actually playing it. If I stood on stage and expected people to idolize me for playing guitar when I can't play a damn chord-blame the participation trophies. 

Raising the minimum wage

Good news: You are getting a raise from 7.75 to 15 bucks an hour. 
Bad news: You are going to be fired because your boss can't afford it. 
Even worse news: Your replacement is a kiosk because it doesn't call in sick. 

Governor Jerry Brown-who the Dead Kennedys properly called a dictator in the 1980s during his first term-admitted that raising the minimum wage didn't make economic sense. In a fit of staggering stupidity, he did it anyway. The damage that it will cause to an already fading economy is huge, and the people it will hurt the most are poor people who will lose their jobs because their bosses can't afford to pay them anymore. 

I get it, we all want to stick it to the man and make them pay us more-but if your skills don't merit more money, you won't get it. I should know, I have no discernible skills or value to the real world-that's why I blog so much. 

Money doesn't really grow on trees. Unlike a government, a businessman can't just demand it from the taxpayers. He or she has to entice them to spend money at the shop they own. One of the many beauties of capitalism is that it doesn't use force. Government, on the other hand, can only use force. Forcing companies to pay unskilled workers more money that they don't deserve is economic suicide. 

Scripture Sunday Jacob 7:5

Has your faith ever been shaken before? It probably has. If it hasn't, it might not be that secure. That's not an insult, and I apologize if it's too harsh-I admit that some people have always had a firm and unshakable faith. Good for them. For the rest of us though, faith can, of course be difficult.

This scripture doesn't really have a deep meaning for me. In fact, I find it sort of silly. If I heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, then I wouldn't haven't issues with faith  either. It's very easy to lecture people to have faith when you have these experiences-espeicaly if you can't fathom that the experiences might not be "the Lord speaking to you in very word." It's always a good idea to think about feelings and thoughts and not say "voice of the Lord!" as your first answer.

John McCain

John McCain, the senator from Arizona, apparently has a form of brain cancer at age 80. I'm not a doctor and I can't even venture a guess as to how serious it is, but "cancer" and "age 80" is never a good sign. 

The announcement of his diagnosis brought out the best in people-president Obama sent his regards as did many other democrats. It's brought out the worst in people too. Since McCain is viewed as a "maverick", the right wing of the republican party dislikes him. He votes with the GOP over 90% of the time, so apparently the right wing base of the party is too stupid to understand how politics work and that they'll never agree with someone all the time. So they'll just lash out on those they disagree with. You expect it from the tolerant, PC set-anyone who disagrees with them is automatically evil after all-but I'm continually surprised about the lack of manners that the Trumpers have. 

If you can't express condolences after a eighty year old war hero announces he has cancer, then you've truly got some stuff to "work on" as a person. 

Album of the weekend

Queensryche-Operation Mindcrime.

Concept albums aren't for everyone. Progressive metal is not for everyone. This album is for everyone who has even a slightest interest in the metal genre. A concept album is where all the songs have an overlying theme and should roughly tell a story. Sometimes concept albums are great (Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson, The Wall by Pink Floyd) sometimes they are terrible (Styx, Kilroy was Here). This one is certainly one of the better ones.

You've heard the song "I Don't Believe in Love" before if you listen to Ozzys Boneyard on XM radio-they play it quite often. It's the best song off the album that is full of very good songs. I'm not sure sure if they've made it into a movie, but it's very linear, which is good for a concept album. I can see the story unfolding while the album is being played. This is certainly one where you'll want to download the entire album and listen to it in full. 

"Natural" cures

Just because something is "natural" does not mean it's good for you. In fact, many times "nature" is trying to kill us. Here is a list of a few things that are natural but not good for you:

-Being attacked by a bear
-The Ebola Virus
-Earthquakes
-Excessively hot temperatures
-Excessively cold temperatures
-Being struck by lightning
-Oleander
-The Rabies Virus
-Rattlesnake venom

I could go on. Do you get the impression that nature wants you dead, or at the very least wants to give you a good ass kicking? Seriously, nature is a harsh mistress who doesn't care about your health or safety. It doesn't care about the health and safety of your pets either. You call your cat "Fluffy McSparklepants" . The hawk flying around your house calls your cat "lunch". You owe your life to technology, science, your parents and God. I want you to think about this for a minute-how can you (generic, not you meaning the person reading) rant about how everything should be "natural" from a computer/Iphone screen? Last time I checked, they didn't grow in the wild.

BYU fires an adjunct professor...

BYU-Idaho, an offshoot of BYU Utah, apparently fired an adjunct professor after she made some pro-LGBT comments. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. When you go to BYU or teach at BYU, you have to play by their rules. That includes supporting the church teaching on controversial issues. If you can't do that, don't work at BYU or for the church.

I would never work at BYU or for the church. Obviously, the church isn't pounding down my door to ask, so it's sort of a moot point. If I was younger and was going through the life stage of choosing a college, I wouldn't choose to go to BYU either. It's nothing against the church, it's that I want to be able to grow my hair out, get tattoos, and express where I disagree with the church without feeling like my college enrollment or worse, livelihood, would depend on my ability to keep my mouth shut.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for the professor and no, she is not a martyr for free speech. If I enter into a contract that requires me to do certain things, then I am obligated to do those things. If part of that contract means keeping your mouth shut on issues that the church doesn't support, than you either do that or your don't sign the contact. If I place a higher value on speaking my own mind than I do church employment, I don't sign the contract. Simple as that.

Gofundme

GoFundMe is fantastic. I love how you can donate money to virtually any worthy cause you wish. It's also great to see a worthy cause go viral and you can sometimes give ten bucks or so to a total stranger who desperately needs it. Let's be honest-all of us have "been there" before and needed a helping hand. Sometimes we are too proud to admit it. Starting a GoFundMe for a worthy cause is one of the greatest things you can do in 2017.

Notice I said "worthy cause" several times. There is a problem with GoFundMe sometimes: I'm not paying for your wedding, to give your restaurant air conditioning, or to pay for you to remove those terrible tattoos on your face that you shouldn't have gotten in the first place.

I've mentioned before that one of the best sayings is "A good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich." It's true of course. A good priest/minister/annoying busybody can make anything sound sinful and evil, and the opposite is true.  Sometimes you can make any GoFundMe sound like the most worthy cause in the world and you, you selfish monster, are horrible for not donating to it. With all the causes out there we can get compassion overload and we can feel like jerks for not donating to everyone. Since other people don't know what you do with your money,they can accuse you of being greedy/selfish if you don't donate to them. It's tough, but it's one of the few drawbacks with GoFundMe-while it brings out the compassion it us, it can also bring out the worst in us.

Megyn Kelly

It's an annoying cliche, "You don't know what you got till it's gone" and it's also the name of a not very good ballad by the rock band Cinderella. It's also tragically and sadly correct.  We (generic usage) are all guilty of this to some degree, and Megyn Kelly is learning this firsthand right now as she goes through some trials at her new network.

I don't get the Foxnews hate. Sure, it's conservative leaning but every other network is left leaning. If you can't handle one network tilting to the right, that's on you-not Foxnews. I get it, it's hip and fun to hate Foxnews but I do not. That's not me saying I agree with or watch all of their anchors though I did like and enjoy her show. In fact, I liked her even more when she was so hard on Trump. It really shows how fragile and mean spirited his fans are that they would turn on anyone who doesn't line up to bow down to their God and king, Donald Trump. 

She took her microphone and ran for the big money that NBC gave her. Like the baseball player Albert Pujols-who left being worshipped by St. Louis Cardinals fans (the best fans in MLB) and took the big money in Los Angeles- I think she (and NBC) is regretting it big time. She was popular on Fox and had good ratings. Sure, she was a big fish in a small pond, but I'd rather have that pond all to myself than be caught hook line and sinker when I tried to swim in a big pond. I feel sorry for Megyn Kelly. She's a good reporter, very fearless and deserves better than the public gives her, but she's learning the hard way that change isn't always for the better. 

Scripture Sunday Moroni 7:15

Oh boy, this is such a complicated one. At first, it doesn't sound it. Go out and make judgements. After all, God has given you the wisdom to go out and do so, go go out and do so. We all know good and evil right? After all, we all know how to judge like the difference between daylight and night right?

Slow down a minute.

Judging is great. You are allowed to, and should judge good and evil behavior. Just remember a few crucial things. No one has to listen to you, no matter how righteous you think you are. No one also has to obey you, no matter who you are. It's also important to remember what happened to Cassandra, the famous character in Greek mythology. She was granted with gift of prophecy (which everyone seemed to be gifted with in those stories) but she was cursed with no one believing her. Eventually if you spend all your time in condemnation of everyone, no one will believe or listen to you either. I've seen this before many times. People preaching and condemning while no one listens to them because they've heard it from them two thousand times before. 

Your judgements need to be mixed with common sense, compassion and and decency.

Kid Rock for senate?

Kid Rock, everyones favorite B-list rock star from 2003, has apparently decided to run for senate from Michigan. Ted Nugent, everyones favorite B list rock star from 1977 was busy trying his best to exterminate every single animal in the upper midwest and could not be reached for comment. 

Ever since the election of Donald Trump I think we've fallen several steps down as a society. Putting his political views aside, we've gone from wanting statesmen to wanting carnival barkers. I've heard people complain about Kim Kardashian than talk about how much they agree with Donald Trump and his Twitter account. Sadly, we've gotten more coarse as a nation and much more vulgar. You don't have to be a prude to see that.

I thought Trump didn't have a chance, so take my predictions with a grain of salt. I'm not sure Kid Rock has a chance either. He might not make it through the primary-while Michigan isn't famous for it's right wing Christian fundamentalists there are some people in the GOP who would have a hard time voting for someone with Rocks background. In fairness, I did think the same thing about Trump though.

Album of the weekend

Bon Jovi-Slippery When Wet

Until very, very recently I've never been a big Bon Jovi fan. I've always thought them to be overrated and liked by people who are from New Jersey just because they are from New Jersey as well. Nothing wrong with civic pride, that's why Aerosmith is so popular in New England and every region certainly has their hometown band. Bon Jovi never did it for me though.

While this album is far from perfect, I can see why someone would enjoy it, and in a way, I can see why some people like Bon Jovi more than I imagined.

"Livin on a Prayer" has broken though rock culture and become an anthem for people just starting out in life and not having much money. I was there once, and many people just starting out are like that now. If you need a theme song to try and get you through hard times, this might be one for you. My personal favorite is the first one on the album, "Let it Rock". Bon Jovi is trying to make a statement song like "Rock and Roll all Nite" or "Look What the Cat Dragged In" and while it's not as good the other anthems I mentioned, it's still the best song on the album.

Life is about growth, and Bon Jovi deserves a second look from me.

Fidget Spinners

I have not reached that stage yet in my life where I complain about those damn kids and their social media, those damn kids and video games, and those damn kids and their fidget spinners. I'm going to give it to you straight: Your generation also had harmless fun little time wasters like Pet Rocks, Slap Wraps, Koosh Balls, and Pogs. Fidget Spinners are just like those things. Harmless fun that only cranky old people bitch about.

And yes, they are harmless fun. Sure, we've heard about the one kid who manages to cut himself or lose an eye with the things, but think about this: There are millions of kids playing with them, and you've only heard about (or, can only prove) about one or two serious injuries. In reality, those are good odds. Fidget spinners are a fad and like any other passing fad, they'll be popular for a long time then go away and be forgotten about.

People need to chill. I've seen parents rant about them, the media try to scare us about them, and some very unhappy kids get them taken away from them. Whatever happened to childhood where you could just do silly stupid and harmless things?

Colin Kapernick IV

The saga continues. I'm sorry, it's gone from being my own personal Rocky series to Friday the 13th. He's obviously a fascinating guy and if you are a regular reader to my blog, you'll know I get obsessed about "my topics".

Now he can't find a job. A reporter on ESPN narrowed it down to a mathematical problem-that your own field talent must be greater than the off field headache that you obviously are. Kapernick is learning the hard way that the NFL doesn't care about your political views if you don't have the off field talent. Can Kapernick still play? Of course he can. He had an off few years but I don't think he is totally washed up. The issue is that the NFL is brutally competitive field. A young kid just out of college without the the baggage will surely get picked up before him.

He's posted his views on social media that police are as bad as slave catchers from the 1800's. Sure, he's entitled to post whatever he wants (and so am I) but the ignorance of that is appalling. He doesn't seem to grasp that if he was in trouble and called 911-it's the police that would come to save his ungrateful ass.

He's been seen going to various countries talking about how people don't have independence. How do you think he's paid for the plane tickets? Hint-It's not with bitcoin.

And that's his fundamental problem. Ingratitude.

I'd like to say that there will be no Kapernick V blog, but no promises.

KKK protestors

You know things are going well in the country when the KKK shows up and the protestors out number them 10-1.

I'm going to be uncomfortably blunt here. The KKK has every right to assemble. In a free country, even monsters have rights. It truly is what separates us from other countries and it's a beautiful thing. Obviously I'm a free speech radical and no, just because I think they have every right to assemble and speak doesn't mean I support their values and ideas. Some people seem to think that because you support free speech for groups you despise you somehow support what they say. Yeah um...no, that's not how free speech works.

The media thinks that hate groups (and yes, the KKK is a hate group) are on the rise. That's nonsense, and this story sort of proves it. When protestors out number klan members 10-1, that's a good sign that the KKK has lost a lot of it's influence and power. Thank God for it too, like all decent people I think they are an evil group.

Happiness cartoon

This little cartoon spoke to me for some reason-I get it, ha ha-but it really shows human nature and how it works. Obviously, you are who you are. If you are a sad or depressed person doing things spontaneously won't help in the long run. It's like having a baby, getting married, or moving cross country-no matter what happens to you, few things fundamentally change who you are. You might think these things would make you happier, but they probably won't. While having a baby, moving or getting married might make you happier in the long run, when reality sets in you'll go back to being who you were before.

The other thing it made me think of is how many, many people are only as happy as they allow themselves to be. Don't misunderstand me-I get how depression works, and I think depression is a legit medical problem-but some people don't allow themselves to be happy. Maybe they like being depressed and angry. I am convinced that some people like being depressed or angry all the time. Maybe it's subconscious, but we all know people who think happiness is shallow or unimportant when in reality, it might the most important thing out there.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 29:3-10

These are among the most controversial words in the entire LDS doctrine. Latter Day Saints are often accused of not being Christians, and I believe that a big part of it is because we put the Book of Mormon on the same level and sometimes above the Bible in importance. However, even Smith Jr himself said that no book can replace the bible. When our protestant friends ask us about how we feel the book of Mormon and Bible are equals, many members quote this passage.

The passage ends with "because that ye have a bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written." Latter Day Saints believe that God inspired his prophets in the new world to write down their version of the bible. That's of course an oversimplification of what the Book of Mormon is, but it's a pretty good over simplification.

SNES classic

With the resounding success of the NES classic, Nintendo decided to take it up a notch. They are releasing an SNES classic console.  This is Nintendo in their prime-some of the greatest games ever made are on this system.

The original Nintendo Entertainment System saved video games. For many reasons, the home console market was on life support in the early 80's. Atari made several mistakes, and retailers seemed to think that home video game systems were a passing fad. The Nintendo Entertainment System revolutionized both video games and it made retailers more comfortable with the idea of selling consoles in their stores. After the success of the original NES, Nintendo made sure it wasn't a one hit wonder with the creation of the Super Nintendo.

The Super Nintendo classic has some great games so far. A special treat that I was not expecting was the first Super Mario Brothers RPG. It's sadly forgotten about in the Mario Brothers canon, and I think it was released towards the end of the SNES craze. Thank God that Nintendo is including this one with the package.

Album of the weekend

Eric Clapton-Unplugged

Mellow out with the master of the guitar. Eric Clapton is one of the greatest guitar players in history. While his change from hard rocking God to music you would want to take a nap to isn't my style, that doesn't mean this album is bad. It's probably the best of the MTV Unplugged series but again, when you have the greatest guitar player in history it's impossible to create a bad album.

All the songs on this album are unplugged, that doesn't mean it's all slow or doesn't have the rock style. The version of "San Fransico Bay Blues" on this album is outstanding, innovative and the song certainly has the "rock" sound. You also have the famous "Layla" perhaps one of the best songs ever written about unrequited love out there. The unplugged version of this song has the same kind of intensity that all great songs do, in a totally different style.

Unplugged at it's finest...

Chris Christie

Chris Christie is a tragic figure. Like the Marlon Brando character in the amazing movie "On the Waterfront", he could have been a contender instead of a bum. Think about this. He's a moderately conservative politician from a thick blue state. He got elected once and re-elected once in elections that weren't landslides, but were solidly decided. For a conservative-ish republican to get elected in New Jersey means that the guy has some talent.

Now if he ran for anything, he'd get annihilated. From Bridgegate to his utter failure in the presidential race of 2016 to him endorsing the unpopular Trump to his latest fiasco, being seen on a beach where the regular peons couldn't go because of the government shutdown-he's stumbled into more bad publicity than Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner combined. I used to really like his "I don't care about anything, I do what I want" style but now I see it more as a guy who makes really bad decisons and is unable to recover from them. He might be the most unpopular governor in history, not just of New Jersey but of any state. 

Sad to see him like this.   

Pacquiao vs Horn update

I think several of us made a mistake in our predictions. Myself included of course. I didn't think Horn would last five rounds, much less the entire fight. I've seen pictures of him and it looks like he might have won the fight but at a great cost to his health. For a winner of a fight, he got pummeled. Manny looked fine-almost like he wasn't in a fight at all. One of the ways to tell who won a fight is to ask yourself who you'd rather be at the end. 8 out of ten times, the winner of that question also won the fight.

I thought that Manny won, but only by a few points. Jeff Horn sort of had his Leon Spinks moment. Leon Spinks was a young, untested and not very skilled boxer who beat an aging Muhammad Ali in the 70s. It was a huge upset back then-and Spinks was widely considered to have solidly won the fight. Horn might have scored a huge upset, but not many people think he won the fight. However he did beat an aging champion that has clearly seen better days.

Manny Pacquiao is washed up. Ten years ago he would have beat Horn in the second round. That he allowed Horn to last 12 rounds is a major, major problem. It's time for him to retire before he gets himself seriously hurt. If he doesn't retire, than Jinkee (his wife) needs to threaten to take the kids and leave him. It's that severe-Manny is a shot fighter. 

Happy Fourth of July!

 
Hope you have a safe and fun day!

Catholic church sex scandal

Obviously, I'm not Catholic but I was raised in a fairly orthodox Catholic household. Church weekly (missing it never happened), Catholic school from 6th-12th grade. I was even an altar boy for a long period of time.

We all know about the sex scandals that have happened in the church. I've seen a very sad reaction to them. What I've seen is that (some, not all) Catholics ignore that they are happening and blame an anti-Catholic conspiracy, homosexuals, the media and "liberals" who want to take down the church. I'm not sure what is more damaging to the church-the scandals itself, the cover ups, or the reactions that some people have had to them. The bitter, uncomfortable truth is that some members of the church did commit heinous crimes towards children and no, you can't blame anyone else but the institution and individuals that enabled it to continue. It's fascinating to me that accountability was drilled into our heads while growing up, but when asked to take accountability for their own actions, everyone looks for excuses.

Can former Catholics or non-Catholics have an opinion about the scandals? Of course they can. If it was any other institution, we'd all be having opinions about it too.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 22:5-6

I am not an expert in the new testament, old testament, book of Mormon or any other scripture. In fact, I'm not an expert in anything. Something I've noticed though is that there are several different psalms that focus just on singing a song to the Lord, playing instruments for the Lord, or basically just having a good time with music in honor of the Lord.

This passage, to me, is one of them. LDS have a famous choir that even non LDS like. Perhaps before they practice and sing they think of this verse. In the LDS church music plays a huge role and maybe this passage is why.

Trump and Twitter

Does anything more need to be said about this? I mean, it's not like we didn't know this would happen. I have many flaws but one thing that I have in common with Trump is that we can both be thin skinned, petty and unable to back down from a fight. The big difference is that I'm not the President of the United States, and I don't Tweet out things at four in the morning. One, I'm still in bed at four in the morning and two, I don't have a Twitter account.

We've become more coarse as a culture. You don't have to be a grouchy old Baby Boomer to notice that. Look, I'm no prude (I'm sure most people say that). I love the works of Bret Easton Ellis and one of my favorite movies of all time is "There's Something About Mary." So I like a lot of things that would be considered slightly transgressive, transgressive, or just downright vulgar and funny.

I expect better behavior from my President though. Him getting into Twitter fights is like the New Yorker getting into a spat with Penthouse. Isn't it sort of beneath him? I'm not saying that I wouldn't do the same-I probably would. So I understand it, but that doesn't make it right.