GenXMormon

@SouthsideTilly @FounderDad @JamesAFurey No. I'm just addressing your points while you refuse to do likewise.

@GenXMormon @FounderDad @JamesAFurey Again, you presume that women authors are for women only. You are exceptionally bad at this.

Buried lede: Decades of emphasizing cultivating a “love of reading” has resulted in girls reading mostly absolute garbage and boys not hardly reading at all.

There is no contradiction whatsoever by saying that women's writing is not only for women. Women's writing can be for women and men, but that doesn't make dominance by women in publishing acceptable. Women can read men authors, but decades of feminist scholarship has argued that this alone is wholly insufficient for women. Feminism argues that women need their own unique experiences and perspectives expressed in literature, which is something male authors are inherently unqualified to provide. It's the very same reason white, straight men are being excluded across society--because their intrinsic expression and contributions are not wanted by those who are not them. The answer to your last question would be interesting to know. The follow-up question, however, would not likely be as interesting to you. That question being, why don't men read as much as they used to. And the answer may have something to do with reason why women want to have an abundant selection of women authors to choose from.

@GenXMormon @FounderDad @JamesAFurey Answering no to the first question contradicts your post. We already know the answer to the second question is no, because women read male authors all the time. It would be interesting to see if more women read male authors (fiction and nonfiction) than men read at all.

@SouthsideTilly @FounderDad @JamesAFurey Do answering "no" to both of these questions make the current state of publishing any better?

@GenXMormon @FounderDad @JamesAFurey Are you saying that women's writing is only for women? Is men's writing only for men?

To say that publishing chased girls is a huge understatement. Publishing IS girls today. The traditional publishing industry is dominated by women from executives to editors to agents to authors. And they cultivate female authors and female interests. Go to any bestseller list, book club list, etc., and 70-80% of the authors being featured are women. The publishing media will tell you this is simply because women are reading and men aren't, and while that is somewhat true, men aren't going to read when there are no books written for them.

The reading crisis for boys isn’t just that they won’t read. It’s that nobody’s writing or publishing for them. Publishing chased girls. Schools pushed “love of reading.” Boys got fantasy and an overweight principal in tighty whities. We handed them Diary of a Wimpy Kid and wondered why they’re not becoming the men the world needs.

@Tangytang123 @CaitlinJustini "I call you to repentance over your judgment of others and hubris" Is that a thing here?

@CaitlinJustini Wives can be wives and moms and hold a job. The majority of households work this way today. Being SAHM doesn't not automatically make one a great mom. A working mom does not automatically make one a bad mom. I call you to repentance over your judgment of others and hubris

It is impossible to promote the idea that in motherhood we have the most noble and divine calling a woman can possibly have, yet some “strengths need a different environment to thrive and grow.” No mortal profession allows strengths to thrive and grow like motherhood. The end.

Very much so. Using 2 Nephi 2:25 to support the idea that you should chose a career over family if it makes you happy? To suggest that God meant for the talents of others to raise your children instead of your own. Nowhere in this Church-owned university production does it reflect the core notions of the clear doctrines of the Church.

@CaitlinJustini This post by BYU Idaho was pure activism. It wasn't about motherhood and having a family. It's advocating the feminist idea that real fulfillment is found outside of the home.

The introductory info (taxes and probate costs) may apply squarely to some people and not at all to others. The biggest determining factors will be 1) whether your estate touches the federal estate tax exemption ($15million single, $30million married) and 2) what state you live in. If you're not that wealthy and you live in a state that has no estate tax then you won't lose any money to the government upon your death unless you owe taxes at the time of your death. And though you will likely still need to have your estate go through probate, $100k is many times what it would likely cost unless it was extremely complex or heavily contested.

If you die without a plan...   - The government takes 40% in tax - Probate court costs $100k+ - Your kids get the scraps   If you love your family, here's every document you need to protect them:   (from a CPA & father of two) 1) Emergency Access List   This should include:   -> All bank account numbers -> Investment account logins -> Life insurance policies -> 401k/IRA beneficiaries -> Safe deposit box location -> Password manager master code   Keep a digital & physical version for safety...   And make sure your spouse has access. 2) Legal Documents   -> Will (name guardians for kids) -> Durable Power of Attorney -> Healthcare Power of Attorney -> Living Will/Healthcare Directive   Setting all of this up costs about $500...   ($1,500 with an attorney)   But without them, the state decides everything. 3) Money Protection   Your family will need time to mourn.   Make sure they can do it without going broke:   -> Term life insurance (10x income) -> Emergency fund (6-12 mo in a HYSA) -> Retirement accounts with spouse access 4) The "First 48 Hours" Sheet   Write down clear instructions for your family:   Call this attorney: [Name/Number] Call this CPA: [Name/Number] File life insurance claim here: [Details] Don't touch investments for 6 months All bills are on autopay from [Account]   Grief destroys decision making.   This protects them. 5) Business Owner Addition   If you have a business, set up:   -> Buy sell agreements -> Key person insurance -> Business succession plan -> Separate LLC owned by trust   If your company can't survive without you...   It's a 9-5 with extra steps. 6) Trust Setup   A proper trust can save your family $400k+ in probate costs.   But 90% of them are set up wrong:   -> Assets never get transferred in -> Beneficiaries aren't updated -> Pour-over will is missing   Here's how to fix that: "Bulletproof" Trust System:   1) Revocable Living Trust -> Avoids probate completely -> Keeps finances private -> Protects kids' inheritance   2) Pour-Over Will -> Catches forgotten assets   3) Guardian Designation -> Who raises your kids -> How they get paid Setting this up takes a weekend...   But ignoring it could cost your family everything.   So start before you're ready...   Because no one plans on dying.    Hope this helps!   Share with your spouse if you want to set this up...   And follow me for more 🤝🏻

This is just not right. A church-owned school promoting the idea that we should pursue what makes us happy instead of focusing on our families, and at the same time characterizing motherhood as hiding your talents under a bushel. Literally. Thirty years ago that would have been universally considered a message destructive to the Divine plan.

Raising & educating children is not "burying your talent" & it is embarrassing to see @byuidaho promulgate this lie in such a glossy package

@ITalkOfChrist You know, come talk to me when you've reached 50, you've raised kids, and you've been down more than a few rocky trails.

"The idea that even the slightest sin or non-conformance will result in damnation is harmful." Yet in the eternal perspective, damnation is exactly the result of unrepented sins. What does God say? "I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." What does Alma say? "Ae cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven... Ye cannot be saved in your sins." Yes, God has infinite grace for us in our shortcomings as we constantly try to fight our "natural man." A Saint who keeps on trying will never be distant from the Lord. But that grace does not extend to the sins we justify. At judgment day, the self-aware and striving addict will fare better than the complacent lifelong Church member if he understands this truth: There is no such thing as an "acceptable" amount of unrepented sin. That is the fallacy Nephi decried: "Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God." Beware the siren song of spiritual casualness. Perfection is our goal. And we will get there through Christ, as long as we'll *settle* for nothing less within ourselves. churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-…

@LDS_Liberty @ITalkOfChrist Very much agree. This type of thinking can cause a fear of imperfection that then generates unnecessary guilt and a sense of a strict and unloving God. The idea that even the slightest sin or non-conformance will result in damnation is harmful.

I’ll be honest, I dislike these extreme examples. Never have and in our church for some reason they are common place. Had zero to do with a drive and missing church. The reason was much deeper and something that was likely never shared. I get the desire that Satan works small, little by little, but the roots were gone before that drive…that’s the story, but there’s zero information about the roots eroding.

Elder Hamilton's father was 13 years old when his active member mother suggested they go on a nice family drive in the country instead of Sacrament meeting. After all, they'd already attended Sunday school that morning, surely one day as a family in nature wouldn't hurt? But, Satan also works by "small and simple things" at first. That one decision to miss that one Sacrament meeting only nudged their family "a few degrees" off the covenant path, but those few degrees spiraled very quickly. After all, if we decide Church is a nuisance this week, why would we somehow find out less of a nuisance next week? So that family never went to sacrament meeting as a family again. All went inactive; many never returned. I just rediscovered this wonderful talk during my scripture study. Read it and develop the sense of divine urgency Elder Hamilton shares. There is no room for casualness in the battle for souls: churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-…

I don’t have an opinion on this, but I do have questions I think about with this issue. First, if our time in mortality (which is, if a day to God is a thousand years to us, about 1.92 hours eternally on average, maybe shorter) does determine our eternal, forever destination, then how is it that the vast, vast, overwhelming majority of people who will come to earth will not know and have the chance to live the gospel here but will have a chance to accept it in the afterlife, and their acceptance—not enduring to the end in mortality with our tribulations, but acceptance after its over—can give them what it takes a member of the church a lifetime here to obtain? Second, if the two lower kingdoms are in fact eternal, forever assignments, with no opportunity to ever progress past that, then, I guess, what does a soul do there? What do you do to occupy your time and have it be worthwhile? It seems the doctrine says that you won’t be bound to your families there, and you won’t be able to create a family there either. The idea that our bodies there won’t be the same as those obtained by those who go to the Celestial Kingdom (i.e. souls won’t procreate in the lower kingdoms), implies to me that in some ways an existence there will be less than what we have here. So to me, I wonder at the relationship between the existence of the very few members of the church here on Earth who have needed and continue to need to spend a lifetime exercising faith and living obediently in order to gain exaltation, and the eternal love and justice of a Heavenly Father who created this Plan for all of his billions of children. These questions do not make me doubt my faith in the least. Rather, they make me believe that there is so much more to the Plan than we understand, and that living with faith and enduring to the end is a much bigger concept than we realize sometimes.

Fellow #SaintsOnX: Over the past week I’ve noticed several comments from Latter-day Saints suggesting that the Church teaches people may progress from one kingdom of glory to another (for example, from the telestial to the terrestrial kingdom) after the final judgment. Personally, I’ve never encountered this as a clearly established or widely agreed-upon doctrine of the Church. My understanding has always been that while the topic has been speculated about, it hasn’t been definitively taught as official doctrine. That said, I’m always open to learning. If anyone is aware of a legitimate Church source that clearly supports this idea, I’d genuinely appreciate seeing it. Curious to hear your thoughts.

As the April 2000 General Conference was approaching there was a rumor going around that the Church was going to change the time of service for full-time missionaries. There was speculation that missions would be shortened to 18 months, or that because of the COVID shutdown missionaries were going to be called home. There was a lot of this going around. And of course this was on the heels of the many changes President Nelson had announced during General Conference over the past few conferences. Announcing changes during conference had seemingly become a tradition in itself, and so the rumors going around were given much more credence than they otherwise would have. These rumors took particular root with my wife and myself, as one of our sons was currently serving his mission at that time and had a little less than a year remaining. We suddenly wondered if we were going to see him sooner than we had planned, whether his mission would be cut short, whether he would be asked to take a break during COVID and then go back, or some other outcome. It created a high level of anticipation going into conference weekend, and that anticipation had very little to do with any spiritual messages that would be shared. I remember very well watching every session of conference but not really hearing what was said. Instead of listening to messages I was simply wondering whether President Nelson would be speaking during the session, and if so whether his talk would include an announcement of more changes for the Church. And that anticipation and preoccupation lasted throughout both days until he actually closed his final talk at the end of the Sunday afternoon session. I barely even registered the significant announcement of the Shanghai temple. I was waiting for something else. And I was left with a feeling of disappointment and frustration. It was completely my own fault for not going into General Conference with the right frame of mind. But it was still frustrating. I mention this because it helps explain how comforting it was for me to listen to conference this past weekend and have no new announcements. Not even new temples. Just spiritual message after spiritual message. Sure we had a significant announcement in the week leading up to conference, but it wasn’t made during conference. And that was meaningful to me. President Oaks registers with my old school foundations in ways that are much needed for me. And I very much understand that there are others who miss the conference announcements and wish this tradition was continued. But for me this return to normal, so to speak, is helpful at this time in my life.

When I want to seem really old to my kids I tell them about the time I remember when going to church was so different they wouldn’t recognize any of it. I tell them about going to Sunday school in the mornings, where we would be given the sacrament in Sunday school. Then we would go home and stay there for hours but stay in our church clothes. We did that because we went back to church in the later afternoon for sacrament meeting, where we would again get the sacrament. And primary? Well, primary was on Wednesday afternoons. Seriously. And we got there by riding the school bus from school to the church. Yes, the school buses took us to primary on Wednesdays. I even remember attending primary in a Halloween costume because it was Halloween that day and the school let us wear our costumes. But we couldn’t wear our masks in the chapel. And moms went to Relief Society on Tuesday mornings, and before I was school-aged I sometimes went with her. And when I tell my kids about this, they give me that look like I must have been alive during World War 2, that I rode a horse wagon for transportation, and that I watched black and white tv. And only one of those is true. I surprised myself by not having any concerns with the announced meeting schedule change. I think it’s smart and will actually make the second hour more enjoyable for me. It will reduce the fluff in classes that I tend not to like. So, I guess, yay for change.

So just curious, but when do you think the Second Coming is cleared to happen, when the Salt Lake Temple open house starts or when they actually rededicate it? For several years I've been figuring that it wouldn't happen until the temple was structurally ready to handle all the events that would lead to it. But now that we have open house dates I'm wanting to be a little more precise.

Over the last 30 years this has become a sea change of culture in the church. I know sisters my age who married shortly after high school because that is what was expected of them. They didn't finish college; they started families. And they stayed at home like they were directed to while their kids grew up. Now they are empty nesters and have no real way to earn meaningful income because they have no education or job skills. And, they are also now living in a culture that celebrates the academic and professional accomplishments of sisters and they feel like they've become second class in a way.

My friend in SLC recently told me that she’s one of only two women in her ward who’s a full-time mother. Very sad.

@dryflyelk Profit and stark capitalism is not the reason BYU has invested in its athletic programs. It becomes very hard to say your athletic program is a missionary for your owner church if it's really all about the money.

If BYU can charge $1,000,000 per ticket and still sell out the place, they should absolutely do it. Sorry your grandpa got priced out. This isn’t a charity.

Divorces...... 0 Proposals... 1 Marriage...... 1 Children...... 4 Surgeries.... 3+ Tattoos........ 0 Shot a gun... Many Been on TV... Yes Watch someone die... Yes Rode in an ambulance... No Sang karaoke... Yes Rode a jet ski... Yes Arrested... No (but I did involuntarily ride in the back of a police car as a juvenile) Skydive... Yes

A few months ago I was at a gathering and I observed my adult siblings as they were watching the broadcast of a politically oriented TV show. They sat almost enthralled at the story, which was about how a major political figure of the party they opposed may be violating the law by his/her actions. And as they watched them it became clear that they were completely eating it all up, believing everything that was alleged, and getting more and more upset as the program progressed. It was fascinating to me because I’m on the other side of the political spectrum, and as I listened to the show my reaction was one of bewilderment. I could not understand how these tv presenters could say these things with a straight face given that the most major figures in the other political party had clearly engaged in not only the same but worse behavior by all accounts. I was bewildered not only by the fact that the TV show was trying to push this narrative, but I was more bewildered by my siblings’ apparent lack of any awareness that the political leaders they favored had clearly done the same things but worse. And this solidified in my understanding the fact that we are all living in different realities that are created by the input we allow into our minds. The more I think about it the more I believe that my siblings had probably never even heard about the misconduct of their own leaders. Or, if they had, it had been pitched to them in such a way to make them believe this was somehow maliciously false information that the other side was making up to distract from its own real misconduct. And the algorithms in their devices made sure that they didn’t ever hear a different perspective on many, if not most, of the key issues going on in the world. And the same obviously applies to me. I have put myself in a different reality than my siblings. I do not hear opposing views nearly enough to force myself to reconsider my views. And I have allowed myself to take what are a myriad of very separately complex topics and problems and push them all into one unified basket of views that then carefully curates itself to make itself the most appealing to me. And I look at my siblings and can’t understand why they believe the things they do. And they look at me the very same way.

As much as I feel satisfaction at recent events involving the cancellation of a certain TV show that had as much to do with love and marriage as the show Oz, I still don’t understand how we got to the point where this was going to happen. And I guess I’m meaning how do we get to the point where you have someone of this known character posing with the Book of Mormon in a promo for this show? And there was absolutely nothing other than tweets and comment section chatter opposing it?

I find myself missing the priesthood session of general conference. Not missing it just for the content, but also for the fact that it was just there and never changed.