Ah, those pesky technicalities.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a talk I'll be presenting this Tuesday on Mormonism for NDSU's Science, Religion and Lunch seminar series and came across the most hilarious quote while trying to pin down the date of when the Melchizedek priesthood was restored. This is the account of what happened when Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic priesthood, from fairmormon.org, a Mormon apologetic site:

Joseph and Oliver Cowdery were told to re-ordain each other to the priesthood after being baptized. This was to follow proper rules of being a member before receiving the priesthood, but in their case they couldn't become members until having the priesthood to baptize each other.

It just reminds me of kids passing cooties to each other. "That's your priesthood!" "No, it's yours!" "Hey, no touch-backs!" It's also a sticky chicken-or-the-egg conundrum. They can't receive the priesthood without being baptized, but they can't be baptized without the priesthood. So they ordain each other, baptize each other, and then re-ordain each other, and then it's all good! God is so mysterious!

Anyway, for any of you locals who want to come hear my speak, it's this Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at noon, Peace Garden room of the Memorial Union on the campus of North Dakota State University. Shoot me an email if you need directions.

Ah, those pesky technicalities.

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Friday Funny: Why miracles have ceased

Friday Funny: Why miracles have ceased

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"Think about it" Thursday: Smart Tits

This week's question:

• What's the intelligent design behind men having nipples?

"Think about it" Thursday: Smart Tits

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"I've been praying for you."

I've been going through some upheaval in my personal life. It feels like not realizing I'd been walking on train tracks until after the train had already hit me. I've mentioned a bit about my trials and tribulations to a friend, who yesterday told me, "You know, I've been praying for you." He said it with such concern and sincerity that I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm now an atheist.

It wasn't a fear of rejection or judgment; it just seemed like the wrong moment for "coming out," and an abrupt reminder: How long has it been since I've connected with this person, whom I consider to be one of my best friends, that I haven't even told him that I'm an atheist? I've been out of touch and off balance, in more ways than I had realized.

If ever there was a week when I wished prayer actually worked, this last week was it. I'm floundering. I wish there really was a magic holy book that had all the answers. It's scary admitting that you don't know, and that there are no guarantees. I have to find my own way through this, and I might screw it up big time, and it wouldn't be part of some greater plan. It would just be me screwing up.

Stark, naked reality can be a bitch. I have the freedom to soar higher, but also to fall harder. Some days I miss believing that a loving God was overseeing it all, and that everything works out for the best in the end.

"I've been praying for you."

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TED Talk Tuesday: Lakshmi Pratury on letter-writing

To me, this was more a talk on not taking the people in our lives for granted than on letter-writing specifically, something that's been on my mind recently. Life is so short. Make sure the people you love know that you love them.

TED Talk Tuesday: Lakshmi Pratury on letter-writing

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Friday Funny: Good God, Bad God

Friday Funny: Good God, Bad God

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"Think about it" Thursday: How have you replaced prayer?

Every now and then, I still feel the urge to pray, even though I don't believe any divine ear is listening. I've felt it watching the turmoil unfold in Haiti. I sent money, but it doesn't feel like enough. I wish I could do more. I understand the desire to believe that we can call on a higher power to affect change where we ourselves cannot.

Or, sometimes I'll notice myself being meaner and angrier than usual. I don't like those feelings. That's not the kind of person I want to be. When I was religious, I might have prayed to be filled with love for my fellow beings, for help to be kinder and wiser. I'm not sure it ever actually helped. If it did, I would chalk it up to reinforcing the desire to be a better person in my own mind, not to God's grace.

On the flip side, there were plenty of times when prayer felt like I was talking to myself. In fact, I'd say the majority of prayers felt like exercises in futility. But every now and then, I'd feel a faint flicker of something beyond myself. Sometimes I miss that, even if it was just my imagination.

If you used to pray, do you ever miss it? And if so, what do you do instead?

"Think about it" Thursday: How have you replaced prayer?

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TED Talk Tuesday: Karen Armstrong: Let's Revive the Golden Rule

Regardless of beliefs or lack thereof, this is a movement we can all get behind. I think one of the most important points Karen Armstrong raises is that compassion is not just something you feel; it's something you do. All the empathy and warm fuzzies in the world won't make a difference without action.

TED Talk Tuesday: Karen Armstrong: Let's Revive the Golden Rule

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I have a dream.

A front row seat to Dr. King's speech. The internet is about as close as I come to believing in miracles. I get teary-eyed with awe and gratitude for all the information that is so readily available to us. Wow.

I have a dream.

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Adoption and Federal Trials

This was originally posted on the blog This Field Can Be Edited Later, authored by my brother's partner. 

I’ve been following the federal same-sex marriage trial where California’s ban on same-sex marriage is being tested against the United States’ Constitution. This first week of the trial has been devoted to the testimony of the plaintiffs (those in favor of same-sex marriage), and today they had a professor testifying that his research demonstrated that children raised by same-sex couples were just as well adjusted as children raised by opposite-sex couples. He also testified that children of same-sex couples were no more likely to be gay then those of heterosexual parents.

It was however argued by the defense (those opposed to same-sex marriage) that children should be raised by their biological parents (this he demonstrated by the fact that many adopted children often searched out their biological parents), and therefore same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to have kids and also shouldn’t be allowed to get married. Not only does the argument not make any sense, but I was outraged by the argument’s very premise. I was so shocked by this argument that I had to read the quote from the defense lawyer from several different news sources before I was willing to believe that it had been made.

What upset me wasn’t that the ability of me and Mike to raise children was called into question, but that the defense lawyer had delegitimized the ability of any parent to raise a child that wasn’t biologically theirs.

For you to understand how upsetting this was for me you have to understand that I am adopted, and to hear this rhetoric from that lawyer was not only an insult to me but it was also an insult to my parents as well as any parent who is selfless enough to adopt a child.

From my perspective, to even suggest that an adoptive parent couldn’t properly raise a child is completely ludicrous. My life has been much improved by the fact that my parents adopted me. It wasn’t long after the time of my adoption, when I was eight years old, that my life felt natural, and that I was simply part of the family that my adopted family had brought together. I was never in want of love from my adopted family for it was given in abundance. My parents cared for me and my younger biological siblings as if we were their own alongside their biological children.

Because I was adopted I was provided with a far more stable family environment, greater opportunity, and a family culture that taught me better social skills. I might not believe in god, but I would definitely call my adoption a blessing.

If it had simply been argued that children need to be raised by both a mother and a father, I would have almost understood; this argument has been made to me before. However, that argument would deny the rights of single parents to raise children and I have known several people who were raised by single parents.

In fact, my best friend growing up had been adopted by a single woman who became his mother, and while his circumstances may not have always been ideal, I can assure you that he was grateful to be part of the family provided by his single adopted mother, and what was most important to him was that he was loved and cared for. I can also assure you that his mother found great fulfillment in raising her family.

These are far from the only examples I can think of. I know many single mothers and fathers, or people raised by single or adoptive parents, and I could not disparage their ability to raise children any more than I could disparage the ability of the defense lawyer’s “ideal” set up. And you know what? I think Mike and I have just as much capability to raise a child as anyone else.

Adoption and Federal Trials

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