I have no daughters. Therefore any time I see the Young Women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stand up and repeat The Young Women’s Theme, I get creeped out. It is all so right out of Pavlov.
I preserve for this editorial the theme in courier type, with my comments in Arial type.
We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love him. We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places..." as we strive to live the Young Women Values, which are: [Punctuation goof]
[What sort of political agenda did the creators – whoever they were – of the original values have in mind for the LDS young women in this highly arbitrary selection??] – drs
Faith [The only Young Women’s Value that actually really has value.] – drs
Divine Nature [Divine Nature stands still as one of Mormon Kulchur's great Myths. The phrase "Sharing the Divine Nature" appears exactly one in scripture and gets quoted in Mormon Kulchur out of context. This is the same assumption that proposes if one is born in Auburn Hills, Michigan, one can grow up to be a Chrysler.] – drs
Individual Worth [Highly dubious warm-fuzzy psychobabble at odds with all those actual canonized scriptures that refer to us as “creatures” and “lowly”] – drs
Knowledge [ of what? ] – drs
Choice and Accountability [ RightAscension suspects that the original creators of the Young Women's Theme used this phrase as a euphemistic reference / response to discourage active sexuality without actually discussing active sexuality. The value also propagandizes Young Women into believing they have choices when the Institutional Church provides them few real choices. Stated another way: an LDS woman and LDS girl should not confuse having a man consult you in a decision with the actual act of making a leadership decision yourself.] – drs
Good Works [This value provides the clearest example of the conservative political agenda of the values. Why the plural? It implies service instead of career or employment. If the Aaronic Priesthood ever got a set of values, this value would be Good Work, implying quality of product.] – drs
Integrity [RightAscension also suspects that the original creators of the Values used this one as another euphemistic reference to sexual activity without actually mentioning sexual activity. "Integrity" so-called still remains the most bogus of "values." "Integrity" as a concept depends on external definitions. We or our leaders can define any wicked action as having "integrity" if we define it properly. In the so-called real world, “integrity” means that a person believes another person has "integrity" because (s)he did not do him/her any harm or did what he/she would have done in the same situation.] – drs
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation. (See Mosiah 18:9)
Notice that if the Aaronic Priesthood ever got a value, this sequence probably should read this way for them:
"As we accept and act upon these values we will prepare to make homes, lead families, administer and obey sacred covenants, receive and administer temple ordinances, administer priesthood blessings, and administer the blessings of exaltation and enjoy them."
Each of the Young Women’s Values have a color, which tends to indicate that the program's original creators consulted behavoralist psychologist advisers. Perhaps the same psychologist who developed the Primary colors red yellow and blue.
Yesterday afternoon, I skimmed the April edition of the Ensign magazine and discover that the Young Women have added another value. I preserve for my editorial a piece of the article.
“Church Adds to Personal Progress Program”
Preserved from the Ensign Magazine on-line
By Kimberly Bowen Church Magazines
Kimberly Bowen, “Church Adds to Personal Progress Program,” Ensign, Apr. 2009, 78
The Church released information on LDS.org in February with additional instructions on how to incorporate virtue as a value in the Young Women Personal Progress program. The First Presidency announced the addition of the new value in a letter dated November 28, 2008.
An eight-page insert for young women to add to their Personal Progress books contains a scripture, motto, value experience and value project instructions, the color of the value, and more.
The scripture chosen to represent virtue is: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). The chosen motto is: “I will prepare to enter the temple and remain pure and worthy. My thoughts and actions will be based on high moral standards.” The color that represents virtue is gold. [The color should be white, but someone assigned some other lesser value white years ago] – drs
Four value experiences are outlined that help young women to understand the meaning and importance of chastity and virtue, and the blessings that come from being virtuous. They also help young women, their mothers, and their leaders understand how the quality of virtue enables a young woman to enjoy the constant companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost and prepares her to worthily enter the temple to make and keep sacred covenants.
The value experiences encourage young women to study the selected doctrines in the scriptures and then write in a journal about the things they learn and the commitments they will make to live a virtuous life. The importance of repentance and the sacrament are also emphasized as a means to be virtuous and pure. The Young Women general presidency said, “These experiences are an important foundation for a young woman’s understanding of the meaning of virtue and its application in her life.”
After the young women complete the four virtue value experiences, they complete a virtue value project. The project is to read the entire Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ and apply its teachings to their lives and circumstances. The project includes the young women recording their thoughts regularly in a journal. Upon completing the reading, the young women write their testimonies on the pages provided in the insert.
“We desire that all young women will make the reading of the Book of Mormon a daily habit,” says a statement by the Young Women general presidency on the Web site. “Her testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, will be strengthened as she reads. Developing this testimony is vital to a young woman’s ability to face the challenges of life and to prepare for her future.” . . .
In a letter dated March 6, 2009, the Young Women general presidency invited young women who have not completed Personal Progress to add the experiences and project for virtue to the other requirements for earning the Young Womanhood Recognition award and certificate.
On the Young Women Web site, the Young Women general presidency states that through 2009, a young woman may choose to earn her recognition under the old requirements or with the new virtue experiences and project. It is hoped that all will want to complete the new requirements, but leaders are encouraged to make the program work for each young woman.
In the letter, young women who have already earned their Young Womanhood Recognition are invited to complete the requirements for virtue if they choose. Leaders and mothers are also invited to participate.
Download the insert as a printable pdf document by visiting YoungWomen.lds.org and selecting the feature Personal Progress Content for Young Women Value of Virtue. Implementation instructions, frequently asked questions, a revised Personal Progress record sheet, and achievement certificate are also available at the site.
The Church has released information on changes to the Personal Progress program in order to incorporate the value of virtue.
1. Go to youngwomen.lds.org, select implementation instructions under “Personal Progress Content for Young Women Value of Virtue” and see “Frequently Asked Questions.”
RIGHT ASCENSION COMMENTARY
The LDS Priesthood provides men and boys with opportunities for action, service, and leadership.
The Young Women program acts upon young women, makes the young women serve, and leads young women.
There is a difference in what priesthood provides for the boys and what the Young Women's Program does to the girls. It is the essential difference of taking action and being acted upon.
When the original creators of the Young Women's Values decided on “choice and accountability,” they first misrepresented the Young Women's place in the Institutional Church. Since the girls cannot make leadership choices and they cannot lead bi-gender church groupings, the girls really do not have many choices at all in the LDS Church.
As to sexual activity, "choice and accountability" implied that the girls could make choices. Apparently many girls did make choices to be sexual active and did not feel bad.
"Choice and accountability" also implies that LDS parents have a choice to provide an active daughter with an abortion, and some may have actually made such choices without feeling at all bad.
With the addition of the Value of Virtue the leaders provide a clear message to the girls: stop debating, shut up, and be chaste.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
NOTE TO UTAH LEGISLATURE --- DO NOT POSTURE! PASS LEGISLATION THAT WILL REALLY HELP PROMOTE FAMILY LIFE
I read in this evening’s Salt Lake Tribune that pro-gay groups will do service in Utah during LDS General Conference. It will not be long before freedom marches and freedom busses will be organized heading for Utah and living in Utah will become rather like living in Alabama and Mississippi in 1963.
I have been a member of the Republican Party since 1974. Even by the exalted standards of Utah Republican hypocrisy, the Legislature’s insults against same gender couples this year seem unusually cynical as a strategy of preserving family life and marriage.
QUOTATIONS FROM A RECENT SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ARTICLE AND MY COMMENTS:
ARTICLE: “In rejecting the latest measures, opponents painted being gay as a "choice" rather than an innate characteristic -- contrary to a broad consensus among psychological and medical experts.
ARTICLE: "Adoption is not a right, it's a privilege. Those who choose alternative lifestyles suffer the consequences because they can't naturally produce between them," said Representative Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who joined a 5-1 vote to defeat HB288. "Heterosexual couples who cohabit also face consequences because they choose not to marry."
MY COMMENTS: Representative Sandstrom’s logic is bogus. First, Common Law gives rights to cohabiting heterosexual couples. Second, some courts have assigned children in adoption to cohabiting couples.
ARTICLE: “And on the antidiscrimination bill, Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka made a similar case against adding sexual orientation to existing fair housing and employment laws.
"What we're talking about is choice -- someone's sexual choice," she told a House panel. "Why would we put into law someone's sexual choice? … This is not the right thing to do."
MY COMMENTS: plenty of heterosexual choices do get protection in the laws.
I would like to see Gayle Ruzicka say this five times fast without laughing: “I choose to engage in opposite-Gender attraction sexual activity.”
As if that is just another element we choose in life like the toppings on an ice cream sundae. I wonder how many heterosexuals — oops! excuse me — how many people in my families who engage in opposite-gender attraction made careful, studied, conscious decisions after studying the possibilities about the nature of their first experiences in the back seat of a Toyota.
In my family, the same gender couples proved less of a threat to marriage and family life than did some of my heterosexual relatives who (how shall we say?)” slept around with multiple partners, who indulged multiple drug addictions, who acted on violent urges.
Heterosexuals have done the most damage to American culture in general and marriage and family life in particular. Heterosexuals promoted vagueness and laxity in adoption laws, easy divorce, multiple sex partners, polygamy.
THE CALL TO ACTION
I suppose Senator Buttars has a right to speak out, of course -- but the audience, not he, decides whether he spoke unwisely.
If Utah's legislature really wants to improve preserve marriage and family life, then it should stop knocking over same gender strawmen and do the follow in 2010
■ strengthen antidiscrimination laws in housing and employment
■ promote universal health care with one payer.
■ require insurance companies to cover all sorts of treatments for both physical and mental illness.
■ discourage consumption of things that disrupt families like tobacco, illicit drugs, alcohol. As long as the State of Utah taxes tobacco and alcohol, it will not get serious about discouraging its general use.
■ legislate to increase salaries of workers and decrease CEO salaries / bonuses.
I have been a member of the Republican Party since 1974. Even by the exalted standards of Utah Republican hypocrisy, the Legislature’s insults against same gender couples this year seem unusually cynical as a strategy of preserving family life and marriage.
QUOTATIONS FROM A RECENT SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ARTICLE AND MY COMMENTS:
ARTICLE: “In rejecting the latest measures, opponents painted being gay as a "choice" rather than an innate characteristic -- contrary to a broad consensus among psychological and medical experts.
ARTICLE: "Adoption is not a right, it's a privilege. Those who choose alternative lifestyles suffer the consequences because they can't naturally produce between them," said Representative Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who joined a 5-1 vote to defeat HB288. "Heterosexual couples who cohabit also face consequences because they choose not to marry."
MY COMMENTS: Representative Sandstrom’s logic is bogus. First, Common Law gives rights to cohabiting heterosexual couples. Second, some courts have assigned children in adoption to cohabiting couples.
ARTICLE: “And on the antidiscrimination bill, Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka made a similar case against adding sexual orientation to existing fair housing and employment laws.
"What we're talking about is choice -- someone's sexual choice," she told a House panel. "Why would we put into law someone's sexual choice? … This is not the right thing to do."
MY COMMENTS: plenty of heterosexual choices do get protection in the laws.
I would like to see Gayle Ruzicka say this five times fast without laughing: “I choose to engage in opposite-Gender attraction sexual activity.”
As if that is just another element we choose in life like the toppings on an ice cream sundae. I wonder how many heterosexuals — oops! excuse me — how many people in my families who engage in opposite-gender attraction made careful, studied, conscious decisions after studying the possibilities about the nature of their first experiences in the back seat of a Toyota.
In my family, the same gender couples proved less of a threat to marriage and family life than did some of my heterosexual relatives who (how shall we say?)” slept around with multiple partners, who indulged multiple drug addictions, who acted on violent urges.
Heterosexuals have done the most damage to American culture in general and marriage and family life in particular. Heterosexuals promoted vagueness and laxity in adoption laws, easy divorce, multiple sex partners, polygamy.
THE CALL TO ACTION
I suppose Senator Buttars has a right to speak out, of course -- but the audience, not he, decides whether he spoke unwisely.
If Utah's legislature really wants to improve preserve marriage and family life, then it should stop knocking over same gender strawmen and do the follow in 2010
■ strengthen antidiscrimination laws in housing and employment
■ promote universal health care with one payer.
■ require insurance companies to cover all sorts of treatments for both physical and mental illness.
■ discourage consumption of things that disrupt families like tobacco, illicit drugs, alcohol. As long as the State of Utah taxes tobacco and alcohol, it will not get serious about discouraging its general use.
■ legislate to increase salaries of workers and decrease CEO salaries / bonuses.
QUIVER FULL ENOUGH?: MULTIPLY AND REPLENISH
This report in Wednesday morning’s edition of National Public Radio News Morning Edition generated
Comments (533)
Recommend (99)
Here is its URL, so you can hear the tone of the report for yourselves.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102005062
I have preserved the transcript of the report for y’all to read. However, I would recommend actually listening to the recording of this broadcast to get the real feel for the ghastly self-righteousness of these representatives of the Quiverfull Movement.
I do admire that some of these people grow their own food, which certainly put them one up on me and the rest of the Americans who think food comes from a supermarket. However, I do wonder which translation of the Bible they have read. Multiply means 1X1. Replenish means fill. Why and how did these people allow themselves to sound so . . . self-absorbed self-righteous and on National Public Radio, of all places.
Religion
In Quiverfull Movement, Birth Control Is Shunned
Preserved from National Public Radio Morning Edition
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102005062
electronic scrapbook entry for
Wednesday morning, 25 March 2009, during the 5:00 a.m. hour
Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Kelly and Jeff Swanson (seated), who are part of the Quiverfull movement, have seven children. But when they first got married, they didn't want children — until they found out that the Bible was high on big families. And then they decided to stop "controlling" themselves.
The Swansons live on Jeff's dairy farm salary of less than $50,000 a year in Shelby, Mich.
Enlarge
Misty and Seth Huckstead (seated) of Grand Rapids, Mich., have six children and another one on the way; they plan to have as many children as possible. "Family has always been the foundation of church and society," Misty says. "It's God's design; it's beautiful."
Morning Edition, March 25, 2009 Among some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply."
The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127, which says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."
Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that's a lot of kids.
'We Actually Didn't Want Children'
While cooking a typical predawn breakfast in the Swanson household in Shelby, Mich., 10-year-old Lydia Swanson cracks a dozen eggs laid by the family chickens. Her mother, Kelly, fries 3 pounds of sausage from the family's own pig and toasts a 12-inch loaf of homemade bread.
If they didn't raise their own food, Kelly Swanson says, they'd spend $1,000 a month on groceries for her gaggle of growing children, including 15-year-old Josiah and 13-year-old Elisha. But in listing their ages, Kelly gets Elisha's age wrong.
"At least I remembered your name," she says.
Kelly can perhaps be forgiven the lapse. The 40-year-old mom has seven children; the youngest is 6 months. And she'd like to have more.
The Swansons subscribe to the Quiverfull movement.
"When we first got married, we actually didn't want children," Kelly's husband, Jeff Swanson, says.
But then the Swansons began to notice that the Bible was very high on big families. And Kelly says that she and Jeff decided that God knew how many children they could handle.
"We just started thinking, 'God is sovereign over life and death. God opens and closes the womb,' " Kelly says. "That's what his word says, so why we're trying to fiddle around and controlling ourselves, we need to stop doing that."
Eighteen years and seven children later, the Swansons live on Jeff's dairy farm salary of less than $50,000 a year. And they've gotten used to the comments from outsiders, such as, "Do you know what causes this?"
"That's always my favorite one when I'm pregnant," Kelly says. "And my husband has a lovely response. Of course we know what causes it — we practice all the time."
Their friends do, too. The average family at their evangelical church has 8.5 kids. They are children who the Swansons hope will spread the message of Christ.
'Womb Is A Powerful Weapon'
That's also the hope of Nancy Campbell, a leader of the Quiverfull movement and author of Be Fruitful and Multiply.
"The womb is such a powerful weapon; it's a weapon against the enemy," Campbell says.
Campbell has 35 grandchildren. She and her husband stopped at six kids, and it is her great regret.
"I think, help! Imagine if we had had more of these children!" Campbell says, adding, "My greatest impact is through my children. The more children I have, the more ability I have to impact the world for God."
A Christian God, that is. Campbell says if believers don't starting reproducing in large numbers, biblical Christianity will lose its voice.
"We look across the Islamic world and we see that they are outnumbering us in their family size, and they are in many places and many countries taking over those nations, without a jihad, just by multiplication," Campbell says.
Still, Quiverfull is a small group, probably 10,000 fast-growing families, mainly in the Midwest and South. But they have large ambitions, says Kathryn Joyce, who has written about the movement in her book Quiverfull: Inside The Christian Patriarchy Movement.
"They speak about, 'If everyone starts having eight children or 12 children, imagine in three generations what we'll be able to do,' " Joyce says. " 'We'll be able to take over both halls of Congress, we'll be able to reclaim sinful cities like San Francisco for the faithful, and we'll be able to wage very effective massive boycotts against companies that are going against God's will.' "
No Regrets
In a suburb of Grand Rapids, Mich., Misty and Seth Huckstead, both 31, are straightening up the living room for a birthday party. No small task with six kids and one on the way. With such a large family, they get by with one car. They shop at thrift stores and occasionally rely on the local seminary's food bank.
Seth says it's difficult having so many kids, but he and Misty have no regrets.
They didn't always have this attitude, Seth says. When they were 23, already with four children, he had a vasectomy. But they searched the Bible and concluded that sterilization was an affront to God.
"He presents children as a blessing," Seth says. "And so we started to evaluate whether our decision was ethically right. And we came to regret our decision."
They turned to a ministry that raises money and finds doctors to reverse vasectomies at a bargain price. And their family grew. Misty says she'll have as many children as possible. She loves having babies and believes it's the proper role for women.
"It's not individual, it's not 'I'm a woman, hear me roar, I'm going to go take on the world,' " Misty says. "Family has always been the foundation of church and society. It's God's design; it's beautiful."
Moments later, another Quiverfull family drops by, and for a few moments, they entertain themselves as would a large family 100 years ago.
They sing Psalm 127 — a song that seems written just for them.
end of report
I copy here for my readers to see four responses that NPR listeners wrote in response to this particular news report: These examples do no seem to me to be any less dopey or more sanctimonious than the most of them:
John Stoos (JSTOOS) wrote:
Michael and other concerned about the population explosion: You need to rent and watch "Demographic Winter"
I think it is done by a bunch of non-christians who are getting very nervous.
John
Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:55:37 AM
Angela Percival (scrubjay) wrote:
Pets, please spay and neuter your humans.
Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:31:41 AM
Jeff Neill (cofer22) wrote:
I'm so glad I'm a atheist. Stories like this just reaffirm how crazy, stupid, and dangerous religion is. It's truly all about control. Stop believing, have your own thoughts, and free yourselves from people who advocate this type of behavior. Crazy,Crazy,Crazy.....
Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:41:00 AM
S U. (sundog) wrote:
narrow Minded? You mean wanting to produce as many children as possible so that they can ensure religious hegemony on the rest of America that doesn't fall into their *unique definition of Personhood?
Yea, I should be offended by that. America isn't a Theocracy. But its clear that they want to overcompensate for that perceived lack by producing as many "Christian Warriors" as possible to overrun the rest of us. So tell me, when they talk about Anhilating the enemies of God--do they mean that literally or just figuratively? Making the Cross the next sign of the Beast so that no man or woman can travel, vote or do business without it, do you think that is what GOD had in mind?
Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:32:31 AM
RIGHT ASCENSION’S CHALLENGE TO THE NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO SECULAR HUMANISTIC RABBLE
Move to the Bible belt and birth a dozen aesthetic poets or atheistic science majors.
Remember --- he and she who propagates the most WINS.
Comments (533)
Recommend (99)
Here is its URL, so you can hear the tone of the report for yourselves.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102005062
I have preserved the transcript of the report for y’all to read. However, I would recommend actually listening to the recording of this broadcast to get the real feel for the ghastly self-righteousness of these representatives of the Quiverfull Movement.
I do admire that some of these people grow their own food, which certainly put them one up on me and the rest of the Americans who think food comes from a supermarket. However, I do wonder which translation of the Bible they have read. Multiply means 1X1. Replenish means fill. Why and how did these people allow themselves to sound so . . . self-absorbed self-righteous and on National Public Radio, of all places.
Religion
In Quiverfull Movement, Birth Control Is Shunned
Preserved from National Public Radio Morning Edition
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102005062
electronic scrapbook entry for
Wednesday morning, 25 March 2009, during the 5:00 a.m. hour
Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Kelly and Jeff Swanson (seated), who are part of the Quiverfull movement, have seven children. But when they first got married, they didn't want children — until they found out that the Bible was high on big families. And then they decided to stop "controlling" themselves.
The Swansons live on Jeff's dairy farm salary of less than $50,000 a year in Shelby, Mich.
Enlarge
Misty and Seth Huckstead (seated) of Grand Rapids, Mich., have six children and another one on the way; they plan to have as many children as possible. "Family has always been the foundation of church and society," Misty says. "It's God's design; it's beautiful."
Morning Edition, March 25, 2009 Among some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply."
The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127, which says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them."
Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that's a lot of kids.
'We Actually Didn't Want Children'
While cooking a typical predawn breakfast in the Swanson household in Shelby, Mich., 10-year-old Lydia Swanson cracks a dozen eggs laid by the family chickens. Her mother, Kelly, fries 3 pounds of sausage from the family's own pig and toasts a 12-inch loaf of homemade bread.
If they didn't raise their own food, Kelly Swanson says, they'd spend $1,000 a month on groceries for her gaggle of growing children, including 15-year-old Josiah and 13-year-old Elisha. But in listing their ages, Kelly gets Elisha's age wrong.
"At least I remembered your name," she says.
Kelly can perhaps be forgiven the lapse. The 40-year-old mom has seven children; the youngest is 6 months. And she'd like to have more.
The Swansons subscribe to the Quiverfull movement.
"When we first got married, we actually didn't want children," Kelly's husband, Jeff Swanson, says.
But then the Swansons began to notice that the Bible was very high on big families. And Kelly says that she and Jeff decided that God knew how many children they could handle.
"We just started thinking, 'God is sovereign over life and death. God opens and closes the womb,' " Kelly says. "That's what his word says, so why we're trying to fiddle around and controlling ourselves, we need to stop doing that."
Eighteen years and seven children later, the Swansons live on Jeff's dairy farm salary of less than $50,000 a year. And they've gotten used to the comments from outsiders, such as, "Do you know what causes this?"
"That's always my favorite one when I'm pregnant," Kelly says. "And my husband has a lovely response. Of course we know what causes it — we practice all the time."
Their friends do, too. The average family at their evangelical church has 8.5 kids. They are children who the Swansons hope will spread the message of Christ.
'Womb Is A Powerful Weapon'
That's also the hope of Nancy Campbell, a leader of the Quiverfull movement and author of Be Fruitful and Multiply.
"The womb is such a powerful weapon; it's a weapon against the enemy," Campbell says.
Campbell has 35 grandchildren. She and her husband stopped at six kids, and it is her great regret.
"I think, help! Imagine if we had had more of these children!" Campbell says, adding, "My greatest impact is through my children. The more children I have, the more ability I have to impact the world for God."
A Christian God, that is. Campbell says if believers don't starting reproducing in large numbers, biblical Christianity will lose its voice.
"We look across the Islamic world and we see that they are outnumbering us in their family size, and they are in many places and many countries taking over those nations, without a jihad, just by multiplication," Campbell says.
Still, Quiverfull is a small group, probably 10,000 fast-growing families, mainly in the Midwest and South. But they have large ambitions, says Kathryn Joyce, who has written about the movement in her book Quiverfull: Inside The Christian Patriarchy Movement.
"They speak about, 'If everyone starts having eight children or 12 children, imagine in three generations what we'll be able to do,' " Joyce says. " 'We'll be able to take over both halls of Congress, we'll be able to reclaim sinful cities like San Francisco for the faithful, and we'll be able to wage very effective massive boycotts against companies that are going against God's will.' "
No Regrets
In a suburb of Grand Rapids, Mich., Misty and Seth Huckstead, both 31, are straightening up the living room for a birthday party. No small task with six kids and one on the way. With such a large family, they get by with one car. They shop at thrift stores and occasionally rely on the local seminary's food bank.
Seth says it's difficult having so many kids, but he and Misty have no regrets.
They didn't always have this attitude, Seth says. When they were 23, already with four children, he had a vasectomy. But they searched the Bible and concluded that sterilization was an affront to God.
"He presents children as a blessing," Seth says. "And so we started to evaluate whether our decision was ethically right. And we came to regret our decision."
They turned to a ministry that raises money and finds doctors to reverse vasectomies at a bargain price. And their family grew. Misty says she'll have as many children as possible. She loves having babies and believes it's the proper role for women.
"It's not individual, it's not 'I'm a woman, hear me roar, I'm going to go take on the world,' " Misty says. "Family has always been the foundation of church and society. It's God's design; it's beautiful."
Moments later, another Quiverfull family drops by, and for a few moments, they entertain themselves as would a large family 100 years ago.
They sing Psalm 127 — a song that seems written just for them.
end of report
I copy here for my readers to see four responses that NPR listeners wrote in response to this particular news report: These examples do no seem to me to be any less dopey or more sanctimonious than the most of them:
John Stoos (JSTOOS) wrote:
Michael and other concerned about the population explosion: You need to rent and watch "Demographic Winter"
I think it is done by a bunch of non-christians who are getting very nervous.
John
Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:55:37 AM
Angela Percival (scrubjay) wrote:
Pets, please spay and neuter your humans.
Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:31:41 AM
Jeff Neill (cofer22) wrote:
I'm so glad I'm a atheist. Stories like this just reaffirm how crazy, stupid, and dangerous religion is. It's truly all about control. Stop believing, have your own thoughts, and free yourselves from people who advocate this type of behavior. Crazy,Crazy,Crazy.....
Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:41:00 AM
S U. (sundog) wrote:
narrow Minded? You mean wanting to produce as many children as possible so that they can ensure religious hegemony on the rest of America that doesn't fall into their *unique definition of Personhood?
Yea, I should be offended by that. America isn't a Theocracy. But its clear that they want to overcompensate for that perceived lack by producing as many "Christian Warriors" as possible to overrun the rest of us. So tell me, when they talk about Anhilating the enemies of God--do they mean that literally or just figuratively? Making the Cross the next sign of the Beast so that no man or woman can travel, vote or do business without it, do you think that is what GOD had in mind?
Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:32:31 AM
RIGHT ASCENSION’S CHALLENGE TO THE NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO SECULAR HUMANISTIC RABBLE
Move to the Bible belt and birth a dozen aesthetic poets or atheistic science majors.
Remember --- he and she who propagates the most WINS.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
MEMO TO UTAH LEGISLATURE: ONLY FOOLING ITSELF
When a business produces too many products that no one wants to buy, of course that business should lose money.
However, when organizations attract more people in need, not less ---
when those people find themselves in a crisis, when the organizations’ staffs work hard to meet the needs of more people –
then those organizations should get more funding — not less.
I find the Utah legislature’s new budget as shameful a piece of legislation as I have encountered in all my years in Utah. The legislators set up rumors that it might have to cut budgets by 15 percent. When they cut the budget by “only” about 9 percent, they could pretend they had done well.
The legislature is fooling no one but itself. The legislature behaved badly in 2009. It cut budgets in a year of crisis when people needed more help -- not less.
Concerning Utah education in general and Utah Valley University in particular, I remind the Utah Legislature that teachers and education staffs did not cause Utah’s revenues to fall short.
This note is my way of putting the legislature on notice:
One: In 2010, it will have to find better ways of financing the needs of Utahns in a crisis.
Two: It should lobby with all its might to get as much federal economic stimulus money as humanly possible to lobby.
However, when organizations attract more people in need, not less ---
when those people find themselves in a crisis, when the organizations’ staffs work hard to meet the needs of more people –
then those organizations should get more funding — not less.
I find the Utah legislature’s new budget as shameful a piece of legislation as I have encountered in all my years in Utah. The legislators set up rumors that it might have to cut budgets by 15 percent. When they cut the budget by “only” about 9 percent, they could pretend they had done well.
The legislature is fooling no one but itself. The legislature behaved badly in 2009. It cut budgets in a year of crisis when people needed more help -- not less.
Concerning Utah education in general and Utah Valley University in particular, I remind the Utah Legislature that teachers and education staffs did not cause Utah’s revenues to fall short.
This note is my way of putting the legislature on notice:
One: In 2010, it will have to find better ways of financing the needs of Utahns in a crisis.
Two: It should lobby with all its might to get as much federal economic stimulus money as humanly possible to lobby.
Monday, March 16, 2009
NOTHING SACRED: "BIG LOVE" BIG DEAL
Sunday 15 March 2009: HBO polygamist drama Big Love broadcasts an episode that featured some sort of realistic depiction of the LDS Temple endowment. Despite their assurances, which apparently are worth a buck 14 a pound on the open market, the writers / producers of Big Love have and will blur the differences between orthodox Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apostate Mormun kulchur.
Today, Monday 16 March: the readers of the Deseret News have filled comments sections of the Deseret News with all sorts of steaming responses both positive and negative.
RIGHT ASCENSION COMMENTARY
The Church should not have made any statement. What it should have done was assert its rights.
The church holds copyrights on the temple design, the clothing designs, the endowment text. The Church simply should have taken the producers of Big Love to court and got a permanent injunction against showing that episode anywhere ever.
THE CALL TO ACTION
The producers of Big Love violated copyright law. They should get punished.
Today, Monday 16 March: the readers of the Deseret News have filled comments sections of the Deseret News with all sorts of steaming responses both positive and negative.
RIGHT ASCENSION COMMENTARY
The Church should not have made any statement. What it should have done was assert its rights.
The church holds copyrights on the temple design, the clothing designs, the endowment text. The Church simply should have taken the producers of Big Love to court and got a permanent injunction against showing that episode anywhere ever.
THE CALL TO ACTION
The producers of Big Love violated copyright law. They should get punished.
Friday, March 6, 2009
PROFESSORS SELDOM MAKE PASSES AT ADJUNCTS WHO WEAR GLASSES . . . OR WRITE BLOGS
When one works in a university English Department, one needs the emotional hide of an elephant. Typically half of the faculty regard English literature as a religion. Half regard themselves somewhere in the continuum between brilliant and geniuses. Half regard themselves as artists. Those who believe themselves artists think the rest of their associates suffer from hackness.
Politics and art always come close together in Universities, which means faculties can always find plenty to argue over and about in the halls and in the faculty meetings. Grudges commonly last forever if not longer.
I enjoy working at UVU in the English Department. I find Its political atmosphere today not any more or any less Byzantine than the climate in BYU's English Department in 1976 - 1983. The fact remains: as an adjunct in a big department, I do not get many long encounters with faculty. That is a shame in some ways -- and a blessing in others. It is a blessing for someone of as many independent opinions as I.
Of course folks, plenty of my associates think I am a hack. This was true especially in May 2000 to January 2004 when I wrote a weekly column in the Provo Daily Herald. That made me the most widely read member of the English Department. That made me an easy target.
The nice thing about my Right Ascension column and my New Right Ascension blog is that readers may post their comments both in favor and in correction.
MORAL TO THE STORY
The Atonement should have a place in Universities, even in English Departments.
Politics and art always come close together in Universities, which means faculties can always find plenty to argue over and about in the halls and in the faculty meetings. Grudges commonly last forever if not longer.
I enjoy working at UVU in the English Department. I find Its political atmosphere today not any more or any less Byzantine than the climate in BYU's English Department in 1976 - 1983. The fact remains: as an adjunct in a big department, I do not get many long encounters with faculty. That is a shame in some ways -- and a blessing in others. It is a blessing for someone of as many independent opinions as I.
Of course folks, plenty of my associates think I am a hack. This was true especially in May 2000 to January 2004 when I wrote a weekly column in the Provo Daily Herald. That made me the most widely read member of the English Department. That made me an easy target.
The nice thing about my Right Ascension column and my New Right Ascension blog is that readers may post their comments both in favor and in correction.
MORAL TO THE STORY
The Atonement should have a place in Universities, even in English Departments.
THE SON ALSO RISES AT UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY
BREAKING NEWS FROM THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
BYU history professor is UVU's new president
Matt Holland » New executive plans to build academic record of first-year university.
Preserved from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11855238
electronic scrapbook entry for
Updated: Friday evening 03/06/2009 06:54:25 PM MST
By Donald W. Meyers The Salt Lake Tribune
Orem » Matt Holland didn't seek to become Utah Valley University's president at first.
He had finished a stint as director of Brigham Young University's Study Abroad program when a friend suggested he try for the job. While Holland gave it some thought, he didn't actively campaign until someone nominated him for the post.
At that point, he threw everything he had into getting the job.
On Friday, it paid off when the Utah Board of Regents appointed Holland, an associate professor of history at BYU, as UVU's seventh president. And he's not stopping to rest.
"I pledge to you I will give all the energy I have to this position," Holland said, promising to raise UVU's academic reputation.
Holland, son of former BYU president and LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, was one of three finalists the Regents considered from a field of 46 to replace William A. Sederburg, who is now the state's higher education commissioner. The other finalists were Jack Christianson, head of UVU's Center for Engaged Learning, and University of Michigan professor Kim Cameron.
"I have a really good feeling about our new president," said Janette Hales Beckham, chairwoman of UVU's Board of Trustees and head of the presidential search committee. "He's energized, he's well-prepared and he has a strong love for the school."
Sederburg said Holland is a worthy successor and will continue the work he began to transition UVU from a state college into a university.
"My main concern is he may make me look bad," Sederburg quipped. He said Holland was an aggressive candidate, laying out a case for bolstering academics at the school.
Holland said his goal is to make sure UVU's undergraduate degree programs are both practical and rigorous enough to produce university-level graduates.
He takes over at a time when the state is cutting back funding for higher education. To address that, Holland said he will pursue a capital plan that will seek funding from all sources.
"We need public funds, and we also need to work with private donors," Holland said.
Sederburg said Holland's academic and professional background will help him in dealing with the Legislature.
Holland holds doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University, and was a special assistant to former Gov. Mike Leavitt.
Elizabeth Hitch, who served as UVU's interim president, said Holland will have plenty of help.
"One thing I learned as interim president is this is a group of people who will pitch in and do whatever needs to be done," she said. "That makes the president's job easier."
Holland said his father, while not wishing a university president's job on anyone, is also willing to offer him advice.
Matthew S. Holland
Education » He has doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU. From 2005-2006, Holland served as a fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He was a Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1991.
Experience » A BYU associate professor of political science, he also is chairman of the school's American Heritage Faculty Group and was the associate director of BYU's London Study Abroad Program in 2008. Since 1996, Holland has worked as a part-time independent management consultant. He also worked as a special assistant to Gov. Mike Leavitt from 1992 to 1994 and as chief of staff to the CEO of the Monitor Group in Cambridge, Mass., from 1992 to 1994.
Family » He is the son of former BYU professor and LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland. He and his wife Paige have four children.
Holland selected as UVU president
Preserved from the Deseret News
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705289238,00.html
electronic scrapbook entry for
Published: Friday evening March 6, 2009
Wendy Leonard
The Utah State Board of Regents today announced Matthew S. Holland as the new president of Utah Valley University.
Holland will take over from interim president Elizabeth Hitch, who has been serving in the position since July 2008 when William A. Sederburg was named as Utah's commissioner of higher education.
Holland has served in many capacities at BYU in Provo and in study-abroad programs London. He was recently named the Outstanding Faculty Member for Service Learning at BYU. The son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Holland has also worked in management consulting, privately and for former Gov. Mike Leavitt, and has authored books. He holds doctorate and master's degree in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU.
Holland was selected from a pool of 46 applicants representing 21 states.
UVU has grown from a small technical college in 1941 to a university serving more than 26,000 students. In addition to the 58 bachelor's degrees, 60 associate degrees, and 21 certificate programs, UVU offers master's degrees in education and nursing.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Board of Regents chooses new UVU president
Preserved from Provo Utah Daily Herald
electronic scrapbook entry for Friday evening, 06 March 2009
Daily Herald Staff
The Utah State Board of Regents selected Matthew Holland as the sixth Utah Valley University president Friday.
"We are absolutely honored and thrilled by this appointment" said Holland, who is currently an associate professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University. "This institution plays a vital role in a community and state we care about deeply. We look forward to throwing all the energy we have into serving the UVU Community well."
Holland's selection came after a nationwide search which considered 46 applicants from 21 states.
He will assume the role on July 1. He takes over the position from Elizabeth Hitch, who has served since former President William Sederberg was named Commissioner of Higher Education in August 2008.
Holland has held several leadership positions in higher education. He currently serves as the chairman of the American Heritage Faculty Group at BYU, and was the associate director of BYU's London Study Abroad Program in 2008. Holland has taught a variety of courses including American Heritage, Modern Political Philosophy, and Public Ethics. Since 1996, Holland has worked as a part-time independent management consultant. He also worked as a special assistant to Governor Michael O. Leavitt from 1992 to 1994 and as Chief of Staff to the CEO of the Monitor Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1992 to 1994.
Holland holds doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU. From 2005-2006, he served as a Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and as the Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1991.
RIGHT ASCENSION COMMENTARY
The web editions of our three local newspapers all have windows at the end of articles to encourage readers to type comments. This evening, a considerable percent of people commented in complete cynicism. How fortunate for Orem’s Great Alternative Institution to find just the right president across town. And Orthodox Republican Mormon to boot.
The new President Holland’s father served as BYU’s president in 1980 - 89. My memory of President Jeffrey Holland’s administration leads me to advise my new UVU president to take a long look at his father’s experience -- and try some other style.
Let us review.
Jeffrey Holland had a gorgeous head of hair and a pretty wife who spoke well.
He spoke beautifully on the subjects of the honor code, chastity, and BYU’s eternal place in the LDS Church Institution. He knew that if he talked well about integrity, sex, and tradition, few would remember anything he had to say on any other subject.
He managed to become an early protege of both Presidents Nathan Eldon Tanner and Gordon B. Hinckley, which meant, among other points, that he developed a Hinckleyvian sense of public relations and institutional image.
Jeffrey Holland’s actual tenure as BYU president suffered from two persistent, if not outright widespread, beliefs among that faculty and staff:
1 Holland's superiors used his administration as president to groom him for bigger things to come.
2 Everyone in authority, including Holland himself, regarded his presidency as means to an end --- not an end in itself.
LDS priesthood obedience and protocol carefully encases and shields Holland’s record as a BYU academic administrator. What I remember of it seemed about C+. So so-so.
RIGHT ASCENSION LOOKS INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL
There will exist among UVU’s faculty and staff a persistent, if not outright widespread, belief that the Regents would not have hired Holland had he, his roots, and his father been someone less noticeably Republican orthodox Mormon.
I have monitored the UVU College of Humanities in general and the English Department in particular since 1991. The UVU College of Humanities features a political atmosphere and structure modeled on Byzantium. The secularists, apostates, and liberals will come together in one galvanic knee jerk to throw a long fit over Holland. That should prove amusing to watch and hear on Monday.
BYU history professor is UVU's new president
Matt Holland » New executive plans to build academic record of first-year university.
Preserved from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11855238
electronic scrapbook entry for
Updated: Friday evening 03/06/2009 06:54:25 PM MST
By Donald W. Meyers The Salt Lake Tribune
Orem » Matt Holland didn't seek to become Utah Valley University's president at first.
He had finished a stint as director of Brigham Young University's Study Abroad program when a friend suggested he try for the job. While Holland gave it some thought, he didn't actively campaign until someone nominated him for the post.
At that point, he threw everything he had into getting the job.
On Friday, it paid off when the Utah Board of Regents appointed Holland, an associate professor of history at BYU, as UVU's seventh president. And he's not stopping to rest.
"I pledge to you I will give all the energy I have to this position," Holland said, promising to raise UVU's academic reputation.
Holland, son of former BYU president and LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, was one of three finalists the Regents considered from a field of 46 to replace William A. Sederburg, who is now the state's higher education commissioner. The other finalists were Jack Christianson, head of UVU's Center for Engaged Learning, and University of Michigan professor Kim Cameron.
"I have a really good feeling about our new president," said Janette Hales Beckham, chairwoman of UVU's Board of Trustees and head of the presidential search committee. "He's energized, he's well-prepared and he has a strong love for the school."
Sederburg said Holland is a worthy successor and will continue the work he began to transition UVU from a state college into a university.
"My main concern is he may make me look bad," Sederburg quipped. He said Holland was an aggressive candidate, laying out a case for bolstering academics at the school.
Holland said his goal is to make sure UVU's undergraduate degree programs are both practical and rigorous enough to produce university-level graduates.
He takes over at a time when the state is cutting back funding for higher education. To address that, Holland said he will pursue a capital plan that will seek funding from all sources.
"We need public funds, and we also need to work with private donors," Holland said.
Sederburg said Holland's academic and professional background will help him in dealing with the Legislature.
Holland holds doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University, and was a special assistant to former Gov. Mike Leavitt.
Elizabeth Hitch, who served as UVU's interim president, said Holland will have plenty of help.
"One thing I learned as interim president is this is a group of people who will pitch in and do whatever needs to be done," she said. "That makes the president's job easier."
Holland said his father, while not wishing a university president's job on anyone, is also willing to offer him advice.
Matthew S. Holland
Education » He has doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU. From 2005-2006, Holland served as a fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He was a Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1991.
Experience » A BYU associate professor of political science, he also is chairman of the school's American Heritage Faculty Group and was the associate director of BYU's London Study Abroad Program in 2008. Since 1996, Holland has worked as a part-time independent management consultant. He also worked as a special assistant to Gov. Mike Leavitt from 1992 to 1994 and as chief of staff to the CEO of the Monitor Group in Cambridge, Mass., from 1992 to 1994.
Family » He is the son of former BYU professor and LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland. He and his wife Paige have four children.
Holland selected as UVU president
Preserved from the Deseret News
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705289238,00.html
electronic scrapbook entry for
Published: Friday evening March 6, 2009
Wendy Leonard
The Utah State Board of Regents today announced Matthew S. Holland as the new president of Utah Valley University.
Holland will take over from interim president Elizabeth Hitch, who has been serving in the position since July 2008 when William A. Sederburg was named as Utah's commissioner of higher education.
Holland has served in many capacities at BYU in Provo and in study-abroad programs London. He was recently named the Outstanding Faculty Member for Service Learning at BYU. The son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Holland has also worked in management consulting, privately and for former Gov. Mike Leavitt, and has authored books. He holds doctorate and master's degree in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU.
Holland was selected from a pool of 46 applicants representing 21 states.
UVU has grown from a small technical college in 1941 to a university serving more than 26,000 students. In addition to the 58 bachelor's degrees, 60 associate degrees, and 21 certificate programs, UVU offers master's degrees in education and nursing.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Board of Regents chooses new UVU president
Preserved from Provo Utah Daily Herald
electronic scrapbook entry for Friday evening, 06 March 2009
Daily Herald Staff
The Utah State Board of Regents selected Matthew Holland as the sixth Utah Valley University president Friday.
"We are absolutely honored and thrilled by this appointment" said Holland, who is currently an associate professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University. "This institution plays a vital role in a community and state we care about deeply. We look forward to throwing all the energy we have into serving the UVU Community well."
Holland's selection came after a nationwide search which considered 46 applicants from 21 states.
He will assume the role on July 1. He takes over the position from Elizabeth Hitch, who has served since former President William Sederberg was named Commissioner of Higher Education in August 2008.
Holland has held several leadership positions in higher education. He currently serves as the chairman of the American Heritage Faculty Group at BYU, and was the associate director of BYU's London Study Abroad Program in 2008. Holland has taught a variety of courses including American Heritage, Modern Political Philosophy, and Public Ethics. Since 1996, Holland has worked as a part-time independent management consultant. He also worked as a special assistant to Governor Michael O. Leavitt from 1992 to 1994 and as Chief of Staff to the CEO of the Monitor Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1992 to 1994.
Holland holds doctorate and master's degrees in political science from Duke University and a bachelor's degree in political science from BYU. From 2005-2006, he served as a Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and as the Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1991.
RIGHT ASCENSION COMMENTARY
The web editions of our three local newspapers all have windows at the end of articles to encourage readers to type comments. This evening, a considerable percent of people commented in complete cynicism. How fortunate for Orem’s Great Alternative Institution to find just the right president across town. And Orthodox Republican Mormon to boot.
The new President Holland’s father served as BYU’s president in 1980 - 89. My memory of President Jeffrey Holland’s administration leads me to advise my new UVU president to take a long look at his father’s experience -- and try some other style.
Let us review.
Jeffrey Holland had a gorgeous head of hair and a pretty wife who spoke well.
He spoke beautifully on the subjects of the honor code, chastity, and BYU’s eternal place in the LDS Church Institution. He knew that if he talked well about integrity, sex, and tradition, few would remember anything he had to say on any other subject.
He managed to become an early protege of both Presidents Nathan Eldon Tanner and Gordon B. Hinckley, which meant, among other points, that he developed a Hinckleyvian sense of public relations and institutional image.
Jeffrey Holland’s actual tenure as BYU president suffered from two persistent, if not outright widespread, beliefs among that faculty and staff:
1 Holland's superiors used his administration as president to groom him for bigger things to come.
2 Everyone in authority, including Holland himself, regarded his presidency as means to an end --- not an end in itself.
LDS priesthood obedience and protocol carefully encases and shields Holland’s record as a BYU academic administrator. What I remember of it seemed about C+. So so-so.
RIGHT ASCENSION LOOKS INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL
There will exist among UVU’s faculty and staff a persistent, if not outright widespread, belief that the Regents would not have hired Holland had he, his roots, and his father been someone less noticeably Republican orthodox Mormon.
I have monitored the UVU College of Humanities in general and the English Department in particular since 1991. The UVU College of Humanities features a political atmosphere and structure modeled on Byzantium. The secularists, apostates, and liberals will come together in one galvanic knee jerk to throw a long fit over Holland. That should prove amusing to watch and hear on Monday.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
THE MYTH OF THE REPUBLICAN CONSERVATIVE
The voters should find amusing last week’s spat between the new chairman of the Republican National Committee and talk show entertainer Rush Limbaugh. Who really leads the Republican Party? Do we want either one of them?
The supposed controversy in the ranks of the True Conservative Believers illustrates why we shouldn’t take the Republicans seriously.
Limbaugh wants to preserve the America he remembers best and openly advocates Obama’s failure. He expresses horror that wealth that hasn’t even been created yet is already taxed. Limbaugh extols the Republican virtues of Fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.
We should remind him that past Republican administrations did nothing of the sort.
IT ISN'T SCHOOL BOOK HISTORY, BUT IT IS HISTORY NONETHELESS.
President Nixon expanded the government, expanded debt and put controls on the market to deal with inflation.
President Ford put controls on the market to deal with inflation.
Today’s horrified conservatives tend to invoke the memory of beloved President Reagan. He spoke articulately of so-called conservative values, but he was in deed all talk. His government expanded and so did his debt because he cut taxes for the rich.
President Bush the First raised taxes, expanded the military, and increased the deficit.
President Bush the Second expanded government in a false illusion of security, expanded government to curtail personal freedom, expanded the military, and increased the debt. In the closing months of his administration, the government bailed out corporations in an effort to save the free market. If all of that seems contradictory, it was contradictory. He was, however, rather like the rest of the Republican presidents in my lifetime.
In other words, the Republican Party in my lifetime has never shown any fiscal responsibility.
The Republicans talked about responsibility, but in my lifetime the trend has been more government and more debt, not less.
RIGHTASCENSION'S CALL TO ACTION
The Democrats and the Republicans take shots at each other and gripe about each other as if they are our only two choices. We have plenty of choices. We should not allow ourselves to be manipulated into one or two sets of choices when we have others that should be better.
The supposed controversy in the ranks of the True Conservative Believers illustrates why we shouldn’t take the Republicans seriously.
Limbaugh wants to preserve the America he remembers best and openly advocates Obama’s failure. He expresses horror that wealth that hasn’t even been created yet is already taxed. Limbaugh extols the Republican virtues of Fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.
We should remind him that past Republican administrations did nothing of the sort.
IT ISN'T SCHOOL BOOK HISTORY, BUT IT IS HISTORY NONETHELESS.
President Nixon expanded the government, expanded debt and put controls on the market to deal with inflation.
President Ford put controls on the market to deal with inflation.
Today’s horrified conservatives tend to invoke the memory of beloved President Reagan. He spoke articulately of so-called conservative values, but he was in deed all talk. His government expanded and so did his debt because he cut taxes for the rich.
President Bush the First raised taxes, expanded the military, and increased the deficit.
President Bush the Second expanded government in a false illusion of security, expanded government to curtail personal freedom, expanded the military, and increased the debt. In the closing months of his administration, the government bailed out corporations in an effort to save the free market. If all of that seems contradictory, it was contradictory. He was, however, rather like the rest of the Republican presidents in my lifetime.
In other words, the Republican Party in my lifetime has never shown any fiscal responsibility.
The Republicans talked about responsibility, but in my lifetime the trend has been more government and more debt, not less.
RIGHTASCENSION'S CALL TO ACTION
The Democrats and the Republicans take shots at each other and gripe about each other as if they are our only two choices. We have plenty of choices. We should not allow ourselves to be manipulated into one or two sets of choices when we have others that should be better.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
JONAS BROTHERS AND GLENN BECK: TOGETHER IN 2009 STADIUM OF FIRE
HOW THE GAPING MASSES LEARNED THE BIG NEWS OF THE SOCIAL SEASON
Jonas Brothers will headline Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Deseret News
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705288484,00.html
electronic scrapbook entry for Published: March 3, 2009
James Davis
PROVO — The Jonas Brothers will headline the 2009 Stadium of Fire program on July 4 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, organizers of America's Freedom Festival announced Tuesday morning.
Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. Friday, March 6, and will be sold simultaneously online and at BYU's Marriott Center ticket office, Stadium of Fire senior executive producer Brad Pelo said.
In addition to the hit pop group, television and radio personality Glenn Beck also will be part of the show. As in years past, Stadium of Fire will be broadcast to American troops serving around the globe on the Armed Forces Network.
Organizers encouraged the public to buy tickets online. No preference will be given to those standing in line in person.
Customers will be allowed to purchase a maximum of eight tickets.
The Jonas Brothers recently released "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" in theaters around the country.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Jonas Brothers, Glenn Beck will highlight 2009 Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11825914?source=rv
By Donald W. Meyers The Salt Lake Tribune
electronic scrapbook entry for Posted: 03/03/2009 09:47:01 AM MST
Provo » The Jonas Brothers will headline this year's Stadium of Fire.
Brad Pelo, the Independence Day show's executive producer, announced the headliner this morning. Pelo said conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck will, for the third year, serve as the show's emcee.
"They are a pop phenomena," Pelo said of the band.
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday.
Jonas Brothers to headline Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Provo Utah Daily Herald
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/301653/17/
electronic scrapbook entry for Tuesday, 03 March 2009
Daily Herald Staff posting
The Jonas Brothers will headline this year's Stadium of Fire event on the Fourth of July at Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium, event organizers announced Tuesday morning.
Like Miley Cyrus, who headlined the show in 2008, the pop-rock trio Jonas Brothers rose to stardom through various appearances in Disney Channel productions. They began with a guest spot on a second-season episode of "Hannah Montana."
Their first feature-length film, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, opened Feb. 27 and brought in $12.7 million for a second-place finish in its debut weekend.
The band consists of three New Jersey-based brothers: Kevin, 21; Joe, 19; and Nick, 17.
Nationally syndicated radio host Glen Beck will be returning to host the 2009 event.
Tickets for Stadium of Fire go on sale March 6 at 5 p.m. and will be sold simultaneously online at www.byutickets.com and at the BYU Marriott Center ticket office. Ticket purchasers will be limited to 8 tickets per transaction. Due to the incredible popularity of the Jonas Brothers, organizers expect a quick sellout of this event.
Because of the great demand for last year's tickets and anticipated similar demand this year, festival organizers opted to make tickets available online in advance of Tuesday's announcement at freedomfestival.org.
COMMENTARY --- RIGHT ASCENSION AGOG
Holy Bromantic Independence Day Batman! Another Kulchural event to avoid like the black death.
Think of it: A crowd of
60 thousand+plus shrieking teeneyboppers, bobbysoxers, or whatever the blazes we call the screaming tweens these days
combined with
foam-at-the-mouth reactionaries whose political attitudes got frozen in place somewhere around 1923.
The crowd should be more fascinating to watch than the acts.
This combination of Beck and Jonas sounds as illogical as it might have been back in 1965 to have hired Paul Harvey warm the crowd for the Beatles in Yankee Stadium.
David Archuleta would make a better and greater opening act to the Brothers. Wycoff New Jersey meets Murray Utah in Provo. Well, maybe in another life, or in the opening ceremony of the next Utah Winter Olympic Games.
Jonas Brothers will headline Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Deseret News
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705288484,00.html
electronic scrapbook entry for Published: March 3, 2009
James Davis
PROVO — The Jonas Brothers will headline the 2009 Stadium of Fire program on July 4 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, organizers of America's Freedom Festival announced Tuesday morning.
Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. Friday, March 6, and will be sold simultaneously online and at BYU's Marriott Center ticket office, Stadium of Fire senior executive producer Brad Pelo said.
In addition to the hit pop group, television and radio personality Glenn Beck also will be part of the show. As in years past, Stadium of Fire will be broadcast to American troops serving around the globe on the Armed Forces Network.
Organizers encouraged the public to buy tickets online. No preference will be given to those standing in line in person.
Customers will be allowed to purchase a maximum of eight tickets.
The Jonas Brothers recently released "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" in theaters around the country.
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Jonas Brothers, Glenn Beck will highlight 2009 Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11825914?source=rv
By Donald W. Meyers The Salt Lake Tribune
electronic scrapbook entry for Posted: 03/03/2009 09:47:01 AM MST
Provo » The Jonas Brothers will headline this year's Stadium of Fire.
Brad Pelo, the Independence Day show's executive producer, announced the headliner this morning. Pelo said conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck will, for the third year, serve as the show's emcee.
"They are a pop phenomena," Pelo said of the band.
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday.
Jonas Brothers to headline Stadium of Fire
Preserved from the Provo Utah Daily Herald
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/301653/17/
electronic scrapbook entry for Tuesday, 03 March 2009
Daily Herald Staff posting
The Jonas Brothers will headline this year's Stadium of Fire event on the Fourth of July at Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium, event organizers announced Tuesday morning.
Like Miley Cyrus, who headlined the show in 2008, the pop-rock trio Jonas Brothers rose to stardom through various appearances in Disney Channel productions. They began with a guest spot on a second-season episode of "Hannah Montana."
Their first feature-length film, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, opened Feb. 27 and brought in $12.7 million for a second-place finish in its debut weekend.
The band consists of three New Jersey-based brothers: Kevin, 21; Joe, 19; and Nick, 17.
Nationally syndicated radio host Glen Beck will be returning to host the 2009 event.
Tickets for Stadium of Fire go on sale March 6 at 5 p.m. and will be sold simultaneously online at www.byutickets.com and at the BYU Marriott Center ticket office. Ticket purchasers will be limited to 8 tickets per transaction. Due to the incredible popularity of the Jonas Brothers, organizers expect a quick sellout of this event.
Because of the great demand for last year's tickets and anticipated similar demand this year, festival organizers opted to make tickets available online in advance of Tuesday's announcement at freedomfestival.org.
COMMENTARY --- RIGHT ASCENSION AGOG
Holy Bromantic Independence Day Batman! Another Kulchural event to avoid like the black death.
Think of it: A crowd of
60 thousand+plus shrieking teeneyboppers, bobbysoxers, or whatever the blazes we call the screaming tweens these days
combined with
foam-at-the-mouth reactionaries whose political attitudes got frozen in place somewhere around 1923.
The crowd should be more fascinating to watch than the acts.
This combination of Beck and Jonas sounds as illogical as it might have been back in 1965 to have hired Paul Harvey warm the crowd for the Beatles in Yankee Stadium.
David Archuleta would make a better and greater opening act to the Brothers. Wycoff New Jersey meets Murray Utah in Provo. Well, maybe in another life, or in the opening ceremony of the next Utah Winter Olympic Games.
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