All right, gang...
I've managed to import my blog properly into Wordpress.
The new URL is:
http://alyssastory.wordpress.com
Please update your bookmarks, and begin commenting over there instead!!
I'm still working on the sidebar/fun stuff, such as Photo of the Week, my book covers, the links, and all that jazz. The widget gizmos are different over there. Twitter doesn't work as well, but I found a workaround. And I'd have to pay a monthly fee to match my green background and colors to my website, which bugs me, but I'm... too frugal. hehe.
Overall it's not bad. Come see!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Comment Moderation Policy
Those of you following my blog for a while know moderating comments is a new feature for me.
Those of you new to this blog, please understand that I will be glad to publish your comments regardless of whether you agree with me, so long as you present your thoughts in a polite manner, as I have mine.
This means without yelling in ALL CAPS, use of excessive punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!, name-calling (of anyone), making assumptions about my feelings which are clearly different than stated (proof you are either not listening, or deliberately misunderstanding), or attacking my religion.
Verbal abuse will not be published. Thank you.
Those of you new to this blog, please understand that I will be glad to publish your comments regardless of whether you agree with me, so long as you present your thoughts in a polite manner, as I have mine.
This means without yelling in ALL CAPS, use of excessive punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!, name-calling (of anyone), making assumptions about my feelings which are clearly different than stated (proof you are either not listening, or deliberately misunderstanding), or attacking my religion.
Verbal abuse will not be published. Thank you.
Friday, October 17, 2008
My Stand on the Issues
Those of you who've followed this blog for a while know that I'm not big on making political commentary. I'd rather stay out of it entirely, and if I could, I'd hide in a hole until all the elections were over. But that's not the right thing to do: the right thing is to RESEARCH the issues, PONDER on what you feel is right, and VOTE accordingly. Please, register to vote TODAY if you have not already done so!
Now for the soapbox. :)
Let me preface this by saying first that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Let me also say I carry no hate in my heart for anyone - not even those who hurt me. I seek for tolerance, forgiveness, and understanding of other points of view in all aspects of my life. I have love for all peoples and all nations, and for all my friends, including those whose political and religious views differ greatly from mine.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing. (Also known as "Mormons," though that's technically an incorrect term.) As such, I believe in the preservation and strengthening of traditional families and family values. I hold marriage as a sacred covenant. I uphold the Bible as the word of God, given to us to direct and aid our lives. I also uphold the Book of Mormon as the word of God, a second witness to the truth contained in the Bible. I sustain the leaders of my church - the First Presidency, and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as modern-day prophets, seers, and revelators, called of God to guide us in our modern times. These three elements form a solid tripod of doctrine for us to stand on--and where the Bible may be unclear, mistranslated, or its words twisted to mean whatever someone wants it to mean, the other two elements reinforce, clarify, and explain.
I value my freedom of religion in the United States of America very highly. I am grateful we are all allowed the privileges of worshipping God however we choose. And because I value my faith, and my ability and freedom to exercise that faith as I see fit, the heavy agenda-pushing I see regarding Proposition 8 in California concerns me deeply. It is not because I wish to deny others certain privileges, or because I have "intolerance" or "hatred" for any group of people (I don't).
In today's politically correct winds, it is no longer "okay"--and it shouldn't be--to harass or discriminate against anyone of a different race or nationality or sexual orientation. But it's still perfectly all right to harrass and discriminate against Christians, like myself, and other persons of faith. It's all right to poke fun at the religious guy. It's all right to call him stupid, unenlightened, uninformed, unthinking, bigoted, and any number of names. This is clearly a double standard.
We have already seen in Massachusets, where same-sex marriages are legal, the same-sex agenda pushed into elementary school classrooms. Second-grade children were read a picture book about two princes who married each other. Parents sued feeling their religious freedoms were violated, and the case was dismissed, saying "They are not entitled to a federal judicial remedy under the U.S. Constitution." (Parker v. Hurley, http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=07-1528.01A) A Methodist minister was sued by a same-sex couple who did not even belong to his congregation for refusing to perform a religious marriage ceremony. The church lost their tax-exempt status as a result. How does this uphold the Constitution?
You cannot tell me my freedom of religion is not at stake, with evidence like this behind it. It is already being trampled on. The groups behind these agendas are pushing very hard to destroy it. They are doing so in the false name of "tolerance," when it is clear as the sun at noonday that their vicious responses to any who object to their agenda are as intolerant and filled with hate--if not more so--than that of families who simply want to be left alone, to preserve their values and the tenets of their faith. And yes, those who object tend to be those with religious beliefs. It is clear they want us out of the picture--and they will do whatever they can to turn the tide of public opinion against us. It is clear they would like to destroy those beliefs if they could. How long before the government begins to regulate what a religion can teach, or practice, in the name of "no discrimination?" How long before these groups turn to violence to enforce their agenda?
Freedom of religion should be guaranteed in this country. Yet there are clear and glaring examples of when it has not been so. My religion, in particular, suffered severe attacks to homes and families in the 1800's, until we were obliged to relocate to the Salt Lake Valley, an unincorporated territory. In Missouri, Governor Boggs ordered us to leave or be exterminated--a law which remained on the books, actually, until far into the next century. Our homes and temples were burned, our men shot down in cold blood, our women and children tortured--all without any redress whatsoever from the United States Government--and in spite of the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. Could it happen again? I hope not.
Here's another notable news item. In California, a class of first-graders recently took a school-sponsored field trip to their teacher's lesbian wedding. Nevermind what kind of wedding it was: I've never heard of a field trip to a wedding before. My second-grade teacher got married during the school year, way back when, and my class didn't even get invitations. My son's fifth-grade teacher got married last year--his class wasn't invited, either. And why was the teacher's wedding even held on a school day? If this wasn't a publicity stunt, I don't know what is. And if we're going to teach wedding diversity to children, then we'd better also invite this same class to a straight wedding, a Catholic wedding, a Jewish wedding, a Muslim wedding, and how about a Buddhist wedding? Did I leave anyone out? Let's make sure we're completely fair. If we're going to teach "diversity," let's not forget that the very word itself means "a number of things that differ from each other." Not just one different thing.
And I must ask, where was all this "mandatory diversity training" in schools in the 60's and 70's, when the country was filled with race riots, the speeches of Malcom X and Martin Luther King, and the erasure of unfair and truly discriminatory Jim Crow laws in the South? I went to elementary school in the 70's. I cannot remember ever hearing the names of Rosa Parks or Ruby Bridges there. I learned about these brave souls when I was older, and still study the history. But I cannot remember one single time in public school, in that era any lesson on appreciating racial diversity. I am deeply grateful I was taught well at home, as a child, that we are all children of God, and to love everyone--which I did, and always have done. It's my natural way.
I also ask, when have we ever, as a nation, segregated homosexuals, forced them to use their own bathrooms, sit in the back of the bus, drink out of their own drinking fountains, refused them the right to vote, or even--horror of horrors--sold them as slaves? Never. I urge you to consider for a moment the difficult, terrible struggle against prejudice and basic human rights that African-Americans (and many other ethnic groups) have faced in this country. I urge you to think for a moment how much bigger a problem this has ever been; how much more prevalent and widespread the discrimination, the violations of human dignity, and outright terror faced, with no redress or even sympathy from the public eye at the time. I urge you to consider that while we have made significant progress against the terrible, deplorable ugliness that is racial prejudice, it is a disheartening fact that it still exists. It still needs work. A lot of work. Ask any person of color in the United States whether or not they are still affected by it. I am sure you'll be enlightened.
So: considering that racial discrimination has ever been a plague and has yet to be stamped out, where are the groups calling loudly for "diversity training" to be taught in elementary schools, insisting that their childrens' books be read--books, say, on making friends both black and white? Where are my children's packets? I haven't seen any "diversity packet" ever come home, in either of the states in which my children have attended public school, in the past thirteen years. One wonders whether these packets are only promoted and sent out in states where same-sex marriage is legalized. One wonders whether the promoters of such packets, which do also include picture books and facts on other cultures along with the same-sex family picture books, are genuinely interested in all diversity, or only their particular brand of it.
The books my children read have characters in them of all races and nations, and I embrace cultural diversity. I am thrilled that my children's classrooms, where we live, include friends from many nations, races, and backgrounds. That's a wonderful thing. But the point remains that there are no formal groups, of which I am aware, with the sole purpose of educating young children about different cultures, or even the history of this struggle in America. There are no groups bent on educating the white man in America about the everyday discrimination that persons of color still endure (which might be a good thing, actually--where is the Black Disney Princess, anyway? Oh--right, they turned her into a lion). And if there are, they're sure not hitting the headlines.
It begs the question: Why not?
My answer is because this type of prejudice, while reprehensible, does not directly attack families. It does not attack anyone's religion (of which I am aware). Yes, it needs to disappear. But it doesn't affect the fundamental process by which societies are renewed, regenerated, and prospered, generation by generation: families. I believe traditional families and religion have been under attack for some time, and that this is yet another example of the attack growing worse. Those who spin the words around would twist all people with Judeo-Christian values into "haters" and "bigots," "intolerant" of anyone who is different.
I am aware there are some crummy issues homosexuals face in their lives today, including discrimination by people who are homophobic or just plain mean-spirited (of which, I am neither). I have gay friends that I care about very much. These friends are wonderful people who lead productive lives, yet face a lot of pain due to these issues. I don't know of a solution which will make both sides happy. But I must support traditional marriage and families.
Families must be strengthened, not torn apart and attacked on every side, or redefined with every passing wind of popular thought. And families of faith must be allowed the freedom to teach their children the basic principles of their religions, whatever they may be, without suffering persecution for those beliefs. Without interference or indoctrination against those beliefs coming from the government, its agencies, or public schools.
With as hard as those behind the agendas are pushing against people like myself, who just want to keep my religion intact without being attacked and discriminated against for my beliefs, I feel I have an obligation to stand up and be counted. "Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God" (*"The Family: A Proclamation to the World," paragraph 2) is exactly and only what my religion teaches.
I feel I am, indeed, being attacked and persecuted for my faith when I express these views.
My support of Proposition 8 (even though I can't vote in California) does not mean I hate anyone. It is, in fact, against the principles of my religion to hate anyone. It means only that I am highly interested in preserving the religious freedoms I now enjoy.
Thanks for listening.
Now for the soapbox. :)
Let me preface this by saying first that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Let me also say I carry no hate in my heart for anyone - not even those who hurt me. I seek for tolerance, forgiveness, and understanding of other points of view in all aspects of my life. I have love for all peoples and all nations, and for all my friends, including those whose political and religious views differ greatly from mine.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing. (Also known as "Mormons," though that's technically an incorrect term.) As such, I believe in the preservation and strengthening of traditional families and family values. I hold marriage as a sacred covenant. I uphold the Bible as the word of God, given to us to direct and aid our lives. I also uphold the Book of Mormon as the word of God, a second witness to the truth contained in the Bible. I sustain the leaders of my church - the First Presidency, and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as modern-day prophets, seers, and revelators, called of God to guide us in our modern times. These three elements form a solid tripod of doctrine for us to stand on--and where the Bible may be unclear, mistranslated, or its words twisted to mean whatever someone wants it to mean, the other two elements reinforce, clarify, and explain.
I value my freedom of religion in the United States of America very highly. I am grateful we are all allowed the privileges of worshipping God however we choose. And because I value my faith, and my ability and freedom to exercise that faith as I see fit, the heavy agenda-pushing I see regarding Proposition 8 in California concerns me deeply. It is not because I wish to deny others certain privileges, or because I have "intolerance" or "hatred" for any group of people (I don't).
In today's politically correct winds, it is no longer "okay"--and it shouldn't be--to harass or discriminate against anyone of a different race or nationality or sexual orientation. But it's still perfectly all right to harrass and discriminate against Christians, like myself, and other persons of faith. It's all right to poke fun at the religious guy. It's all right to call him stupid, unenlightened, uninformed, unthinking, bigoted, and any number of names. This is clearly a double standard.
We have already seen in Massachusets, where same-sex marriages are legal, the same-sex agenda pushed into elementary school classrooms. Second-grade children were read a picture book about two princes who married each other. Parents sued feeling their religious freedoms were violated, and the case was dismissed, saying "They are not entitled to a federal judicial remedy under the U.S. Constitution." (Parker v. Hurley, http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=07-1528.01A) A Methodist minister was sued by a same-sex couple who did not even belong to his congregation for refusing to perform a religious marriage ceremony. The church lost their tax-exempt status as a result. How does this uphold the Constitution?
You cannot tell me my freedom of religion is not at stake, with evidence like this behind it. It is already being trampled on. The groups behind these agendas are pushing very hard to destroy it. They are doing so in the false name of "tolerance," when it is clear as the sun at noonday that their vicious responses to any who object to their agenda are as intolerant and filled with hate--if not more so--than that of families who simply want to be left alone, to preserve their values and the tenets of their faith. And yes, those who object tend to be those with religious beliefs. It is clear they want us out of the picture--and they will do whatever they can to turn the tide of public opinion against us. It is clear they would like to destroy those beliefs if they could. How long before the government begins to regulate what a religion can teach, or practice, in the name of "no discrimination?" How long before these groups turn to violence to enforce their agenda?
Freedom of religion should be guaranteed in this country. Yet there are clear and glaring examples of when it has not been so. My religion, in particular, suffered severe attacks to homes and families in the 1800's, until we were obliged to relocate to the Salt Lake Valley, an unincorporated territory. In Missouri, Governor Boggs ordered us to leave or be exterminated--a law which remained on the books, actually, until far into the next century. Our homes and temples were burned, our men shot down in cold blood, our women and children tortured--all without any redress whatsoever from the United States Government--and in spite of the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. Could it happen again? I hope not.
Here's another notable news item. In California, a class of first-graders recently took a school-sponsored field trip to their teacher's lesbian wedding. Nevermind what kind of wedding it was: I've never heard of a field trip to a wedding before. My second-grade teacher got married during the school year, way back when, and my class didn't even get invitations. My son's fifth-grade teacher got married last year--his class wasn't invited, either. And why was the teacher's wedding even held on a school day? If this wasn't a publicity stunt, I don't know what is. And if we're going to teach wedding diversity to children, then we'd better also invite this same class to a straight wedding, a Catholic wedding, a Jewish wedding, a Muslim wedding, and how about a Buddhist wedding? Did I leave anyone out? Let's make sure we're completely fair. If we're going to teach "diversity," let's not forget that the very word itself means "a number of things that differ from each other." Not just one different thing.
And I must ask, where was all this "mandatory diversity training" in schools in the 60's and 70's, when the country was filled with race riots, the speeches of Malcom X and Martin Luther King, and the erasure of unfair and truly discriminatory Jim Crow laws in the South? I went to elementary school in the 70's. I cannot remember ever hearing the names of Rosa Parks or Ruby Bridges there. I learned about these brave souls when I was older, and still study the history. But I cannot remember one single time in public school, in that era any lesson on appreciating racial diversity. I am deeply grateful I was taught well at home, as a child, that we are all children of God, and to love everyone--which I did, and always have done. It's my natural way.
I also ask, when have we ever, as a nation, segregated homosexuals, forced them to use their own bathrooms, sit in the back of the bus, drink out of their own drinking fountains, refused them the right to vote, or even--horror of horrors--sold them as slaves? Never. I urge you to consider for a moment the difficult, terrible struggle against prejudice and basic human rights that African-Americans (and many other ethnic groups) have faced in this country. I urge you to think for a moment how much bigger a problem this has ever been; how much more prevalent and widespread the discrimination, the violations of human dignity, and outright terror faced, with no redress or even sympathy from the public eye at the time. I urge you to consider that while we have made significant progress against the terrible, deplorable ugliness that is racial prejudice, it is a disheartening fact that it still exists. It still needs work. A lot of work. Ask any person of color in the United States whether or not they are still affected by it. I am sure you'll be enlightened.
So: considering that racial discrimination has ever been a plague and has yet to be stamped out, where are the groups calling loudly for "diversity training" to be taught in elementary schools, insisting that their childrens' books be read--books, say, on making friends both black and white? Where are my children's packets? I haven't seen any "diversity packet" ever come home, in either of the states in which my children have attended public school, in the past thirteen years. One wonders whether these packets are only promoted and sent out in states where same-sex marriage is legalized. One wonders whether the promoters of such packets, which do also include picture books and facts on other cultures along with the same-sex family picture books, are genuinely interested in all diversity, or only their particular brand of it.
The books my children read have characters in them of all races and nations, and I embrace cultural diversity. I am thrilled that my children's classrooms, where we live, include friends from many nations, races, and backgrounds. That's a wonderful thing. But the point remains that there are no formal groups, of which I am aware, with the sole purpose of educating young children about different cultures, or even the history of this struggle in America. There are no groups bent on educating the white man in America about the everyday discrimination that persons of color still endure (which might be a good thing, actually--where is the Black Disney Princess, anyway? Oh--right, they turned her into a lion). And if there are, they're sure not hitting the headlines.
It begs the question: Why not?
My answer is because this type of prejudice, while reprehensible, does not directly attack families. It does not attack anyone's religion (of which I am aware). Yes, it needs to disappear. But it doesn't affect the fundamental process by which societies are renewed, regenerated, and prospered, generation by generation: families. I believe traditional families and religion have been under attack for some time, and that this is yet another example of the attack growing worse. Those who spin the words around would twist all people with Judeo-Christian values into "haters" and "bigots," "intolerant" of anyone who is different.
I am aware there are some crummy issues homosexuals face in their lives today, including discrimination by people who are homophobic or just plain mean-spirited (of which, I am neither). I have gay friends that I care about very much. These friends are wonderful people who lead productive lives, yet face a lot of pain due to these issues. I don't know of a solution which will make both sides happy. But I must support traditional marriage and families.
Families must be strengthened, not torn apart and attacked on every side, or redefined with every passing wind of popular thought. And families of faith must be allowed the freedom to teach their children the basic principles of their religions, whatever they may be, without suffering persecution for those beliefs. Without interference or indoctrination against those beliefs coming from the government, its agencies, or public schools.
With as hard as those behind the agendas are pushing against people like myself, who just want to keep my religion intact without being attacked and discriminated against for my beliefs, I feel I have an obligation to stand up and be counted. "Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God" (*"The Family: A Proclamation to the World," paragraph 2) is exactly and only what my religion teaches.
I feel I am, indeed, being attacked and persecuted for my faith when I express these views.
My support of Proposition 8 (even though I can't vote in California) does not mean I hate anyone. It is, in fact, against the principles of my religion to hate anyone. It means only that I am highly interested in preserving the religious freedoms I now enjoy.
Thanks for listening.
An Election Funny
Okay, I got this in my email this morning and it was too funny not to pass on. Even if you're a supporter of the picked-on candidates here, you should get a chuckle.
It said:
"Forget black and white! Forget male and female! Forget liberal and conservative! It is really very simple!"
"Any questions?"
It said:
"Forget black and white! Forget male and female! Forget liberal and conservative! It is really very simple!"
"Any questions?"
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Withdrawing my support of Google.
An Open Letter to Google:
I have recently heard of your lobbying against Prop. 8 in CA.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html
I am unhappy to see heavy corporate lobbying, and funding, going into issues that families and voters can decide on their own. I am sorry to learn that you have thrown out political neutrality to support an issue which has nothing to do with your business or any of the neutral services that you offer.
Surely you know that you have many users, advertisers, and investors on both sides of the issue. I am surprised you would choose to alienate at least half if not the majority of your clients by taking this highly charged political stand. I am, indeed, shocked that you would throw down this gauntlet in light of the fact your business name is now commonly used as THE household verb for searching the internet.
In my opinion, businesses such as internet search engines, email providers, and blog hosts have a fundamental need to remain neutral in all matters of politics. You fall in the same category as public libraries and other public services. You have made a terrible mistake, and I'm sad to see it.
I have been happy with Google's excellent services as a search engine over the years, and have appreciated the excellent services you offer, including Blogger and my children's Gmail accounts. However, as you are well aware, there are a multitude of other options available to us. You do have competition--plenty of it.
If Google as a corporate entity is going to get involved in politics and moral issues and use massive corporate spending to try to influence the way I and my family feel about these issues, I am afraid the time for my support of Google is done. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I will be migrating my blog elsewhere. My children have other email accounts available to them. And there are many other reliable search engines to choose from, all of which work very well.
Please reconsider what you have done.
I would far rather see Google spending large corporate dollars on feeding the homeless, clothing the needy, shipping wheelchairs and needed immunizations to the poor in Africa, or even causes as simple as donating the same amount you've wasted on political campaigning, to our citizens whose homes have been recently destroyed in Hurricane Ike. After all--if the money is just sitting there waiting for a worthy cause--there are far more important, more noble, and far less polarizing causes this money could have been used on.
This is a truly disappointing use of corporate funds and influence.
Linda Adams
Author
www.alyssastory.com
I have recently heard of your lobbying against Prop. 8 in CA.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-position-on-californias-no-on-8.html
I am unhappy to see heavy corporate lobbying, and funding, going into issues that families and voters can decide on their own. I am sorry to learn that you have thrown out political neutrality to support an issue which has nothing to do with your business or any of the neutral services that you offer.
Surely you know that you have many users, advertisers, and investors on both sides of the issue. I am surprised you would choose to alienate at least half if not the majority of your clients by taking this highly charged political stand. I am, indeed, shocked that you would throw down this gauntlet in light of the fact your business name is now commonly used as THE household verb for searching the internet.
In my opinion, businesses such as internet search engines, email providers, and blog hosts have a fundamental need to remain neutral in all matters of politics. You fall in the same category as public libraries and other public services. You have made a terrible mistake, and I'm sad to see it.
I have been happy with Google's excellent services as a search engine over the years, and have appreciated the excellent services you offer, including Blogger and my children's Gmail accounts. However, as you are well aware, there are a multitude of other options available to us. You do have competition--plenty of it.
If Google as a corporate entity is going to get involved in politics and moral issues and use massive corporate spending to try to influence the way I and my family feel about these issues, I am afraid the time for my support of Google is done. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I will be migrating my blog elsewhere. My children have other email accounts available to them. And there are many other reliable search engines to choose from, all of which work very well.
Please reconsider what you have done.
I would far rather see Google spending large corporate dollars on feeding the homeless, clothing the needy, shipping wheelchairs and needed immunizations to the poor in Africa, or even causes as simple as donating the same amount you've wasted on political campaigning, to our citizens whose homes have been recently destroyed in Hurricane Ike. After all--if the money is just sitting there waiting for a worthy cause--there are far more important, more noble, and far less polarizing causes this money could have been used on.
This is a truly disappointing use of corporate funds and influence.
Linda Adams
Author
www.alyssastory.com
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