Saturday, November 28, 2009

Why Lincoln University is doing something great

Recently, there has been some controversy about Lincoln University not allowing students with a BMI over to 30 graduate because they didn't complete a mandatory, 1-credit gym class. Some students think it is ridiculous that their college cares more about their weight than their academic achievements. I disagree with them.

This sort of policy is definitely a step in the right direction. There are undoubtedly imperfections in it, but since when has a new innovative idea of something a bit outside the box, or in other words the beta version of a concept, ever been perfect? I applaud Lincoln University for having the boldness to do something about the current obesity epidemic that is ruining millions of peoples' lives and is the largest contributor to America's huge health care costs. Foreign students have to complete mandatory courses that non-foreign students do not; what is so different about people with a high BMI being required to complete a course that those with a lower BMI are not? Could healthy living not be considered a part of general education that every university requires its students to obtain? People fluent in a foreign language test out of their university's foreign language requirement. Similarly, people that are fit "test out" of the healthy living requirement. Students who complain about this type of policy are actually complaining about the concept of the "general education" requirement that all universities employ.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Looking into baby stuff and a bit depressed...

Growing up in china, lack of money and different resources, I was a "cheap baby", who didn't really need anything. My mom said I was really easy to raise (Of course, she left me with my grandma for almost 15 years!). The only thing I feel bad for myself is that because my mom didn't have milk and we were too poor to buy powdered milk, I ended up sharing milk with my "big" cousin who always ate a lot and left me little. I blame that reason for me being small.

Ever since we knew we're going to have a boy, I've been wondering what stuff boys need. They have all those lists online that help parents-to-be to figure out what they should have for their babies. I've also been talking to my co-worker who just had a boy. Anyway, the more I talk to people, the more I know, the more I'm sad. Why in the world do those little ones need that much? !

We went to a friends' house for movie last night, they're going to have a boy probably in Feb. They told us that they have some baby stuff that they don't need and we can take them home. After we asked why they don't keep them for their baby, they showed us their future baby's room. It was a room full of baby stuff! Seriously, I felt a bit dizzy and jealous when I saw how much stuff in there!

Coming home from the movie night, I've been having questions in my mind which might sound silly to you: Are we bad parents for not being able to provide our babies enough stuff? If our babies never get a toy which helps learning-developing and stuff like that, are they really going to grow up stupid?

Sunday, November 15, 2009

A Call for Respect: Christians, Please Start Respecting the Mormons

This semester I'm in English 102. The class is combined with the international section, so half the kids are either Chinese, Arabic, or Brazilian. This accompanied with the fact that it is a basic 100-level English class, makes it all a bit rudimentary. Nonetheless, it has still helped my writing from the sheer aspect of getting to practice it. Below is a persuasive essay I just turned in I think you might find interesting. It's a bit long at over 2000 words, but if you're interested in why anti-Mormonism is sometimes ridiculous you should find it interesting.


A Call for Respect: Christians, Please Start Respecting the Mormons

Please imagine with me a high school where two cheer leading clubs have been established in competition with one another: club A and club B. Both clubs are growing, but to club A's dismay some of their members are switching membership to club B. Remembering that this is high school and drama is always present, it is easy to imagine that, in an effort to prevent even more of their members from switching over to club B, leaders in club A might promote rumors and propaganda against club B.

These kinds of direct, personal attacks are a common demonstration of the Ad Hominem logical fallacy. This type of argument focuses on attacking others instead of promoting and defending the actual principles that one believes in. It is not only those we label as “immature youth” who lower themselves to this line of argument; a recollection of presidential debates teaches us that all, no matter their position or prestige, may succumb to the baseness of making personal attacks on their opposition.

The question is this: aren't acclaimed “men of God” supposed to be above this?

As a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am a Mormon. It has not escaped my attention that, despite our common faith in Christ, Christians at large seem to be against the Mormons. If it were simply a difference of doctrinal opinion, I wouldn't be bothered.

After all, there are significant differences between what we believe and what other Christians believe. First and foremost, we believe that God has restored his church, which had previously split and divided into the hundreds of different sects we see today. Just like the 12 apostles that Jesus established to lead his church in ancient times, we have the same organization of prophets and apostles. The first prophet of the modern era, Joseph Smith, was originally just a sincere boy pondering which church to join. In 1820, after praying about the matter, Joseph recorded that the God and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him “that [he] must join none of them” (“Joseph Smith-History” 49). Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet to restore missing truths and authority that had been lost to the world.

You either believe this, or you don't. End of story, and we can all respectfully go our separate ways. But it doesn't seem to be so simple. As we preach our doctrine and leave it to the listener to accept or reject it, the response is often very hostile.

As the LDS missionaries do their best to share their message with everyone, sometimes members of other churches listen and convert. Considering that in 2008 the LDS church had 52,494 full-time missionaries, it quickly becomes apparent that the LDS church is growing (Hales). Consequently, fear and resentment can sometimes arise. One Christian missionary in Central America expressed his fears in a report to the headquarters of his sect this way: “When the onslaught begins, it's not going to be easy to counter... Mormons are growing at extraordinarily high rates” (Moore). Efforts to counter LDS growth can get nasty.

From personal experience, I have seen people who were once friendly towards Mormons cut off all association with them because of their Christian leaders. When I was a missionary in Taiwan, there were many times when we were having regular meetings with people interested in our message and yet, suddenly, they seemed to disappear. If we visited their house or called them, there would be no response. Concerned something was wrong, we would continue trying to contact them until we eventually were successful, only to be curtly told by them that their minister wouldn't let them meet with us anymore. They would then shut their doors or hang up their phones in mid-conversation. For them, association with LDS missionaries or learning about Mormons from Mormons was a social taboo that would bring immediate ostracization and eventual exile. I have talked to missionaries who served all around the world, and they all have similar stories.

If someone chooses not to accept our message, that's fine. I have concerns, however, when friendly attitudes are turned to hostility and coldness at the prompting of Christian leaders. How can so many Christian leaders put forth such a tyrannical spirit to maintain their members? Why do Christian leaders forbid church members to satisfy their curiosity about other religions?

I am a leader of teenage boys in my congregation. One of them just started the process of learning about and becoming Muslim. While I disagree with his choice and hope he will come back to our church, I will never give him social pressure to do so. I try to extend a warm hand of friendship and encourage all the other boys in my congregation to do the same. I will never tell him negative or disrespectful things about Islam. If the occasion ever arises, I will try to strengthen his faith in Christ and help him feel the truthfulness of our church, but I will never sink down to discriminating Islam in an effort to bring him back. This is a simple respect we extend to all religions that I wish was reciprocated back.

Unfortunately, Christian leaders preach and promote a lot of negative, biased, and inaccurate anti-Mormon material in an effort to retain their members. A study of anti-Mormonism in Canada by the University of Calgary found that a group of Christian ministers regularly showed their members anti-Mormon videos, and that “students who had been shown movies were most against Mormonism” (Brinkerhoff 171). They also found that some of the ministers were “unhappy and embarrassed” about the biased, negative slant put on Mormons, yet even so “they did continue to employ the films” (177). Showings of these videos are not isolated events. As a testament to this, when I was in middle school one of my friends approached me and said, “Yesterday, at church, I saw a video about Mormonism. Your church can't be true!” While it is acceptable that people might disagree with our doctrine, the content of these videos is anything but respectful and accurate, and that is not acceptable.

As an example, I will offer a brief discussion of one of the most commonly viewed anti-Mormon videos, one that was produced in 2007: Search For The Truth. The video constantly pulls quotes and historical events out of context, has insulting remarks about the LDS church by the narrator, and a plethora of statements about what Mormons believe that simply are not true. There are so many inaccuracies that the LDS Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research created a website that lengthily debunks over 20 different sections of the video.

As two of the many possible examples I could cite, the video quotes Brigham Young, the prophet who succeeded Joseph Smith, as discussing Joseph Smith's experience where he saw God and Jesus Christ this way: “The Lord did not come...but He did send His angel to this same obscure person.” The narrators of the video pointed this out as a direct contradiction to discredit Joseph Smith, because Joseph said the Lord personally visited him. However, the producers of the movie leave out a very important part of that quotation. The original quote reads: “The Lord did not come with the armies of heaven, in power and great glory...” (“Search”). Hence, the original quotation is not contradicting Joseph Smith’s claim that the Lord visited him, but rather informing the audience that God did not come with the armies of heaven. The part about an angel being sent to Joseph is a separate event that was pulled out of context by the producers. Another example where lack of objectivity is shown in the video is when the narrator emphatically says, “Joseph Smith was a liar, again and again he lied” (“Search”). This sort of derogatory language is common throughout the film.

Intentionally quoting out of context and presenting false information is akin to lying, and I hope producers of anti-Mormon videos do it accidentally. However, whether intentional or not, it is still unacceptable—especially when it is coupled with insults and negative remarks.

As a society, we seem to recognize that this sort of behavior is unacceptable when it is aimed at certain religious or ethnic groups, but we look the other way when it is aimed at others. Armand Mauss, a famous sociologist, once discussed his view on this: “It is doubtful that similar defamation aimed against the Jews would be so widely tolerated as that directed against Mormons; this appears to be an interesting but largely neglected area for sociological investigation” (Mauss 447). Indeed, if someone were to create an anti-Jewish video loaded with insults and false information, they would immediately be labeled as a contemptible bigot. On the other hand, there are scores of Christians who admire and respect those who create the same sort of video about Mormons.

The sufferings of Mormons cannot, of course, be compared to the sufferings endured by Jews. Yet, does every minority organization need to endure a Holocaust to be recognized with dignity? Were the atrocities committed by mobs in the 1800's against Mormons not enough? Was being driven out of New York, then out of Ohio, then out of Missouri, then out of Illinois, and then out of the United States not enough? Was enduring Missouri Executive Order 44 signed by governor Bogs of Missouri in 1838—an order from the United States' government which ordered Mormons to be exterminated—not enough?

America was established by pilgrims who came here for religious freedom and tolerance. Yes, the religious protection this country promises certainly failed Mormons in the early 1800's, yet it has dramatically improved since then. Even still, however, there are some Christian leaders who would do well to remember the ideals of our founding fathers.

I acknowledge that even though some Christian leaders still exercise prejudiced discrimination by preaching or distributing disrespectful anti-Mormon material, many are doing very well about this. I recently attended a different denomination's worship service and never heard a discriminating word about other faiths, including Mormons. If only everyone could share that spirit!

In the LDS church, Gordon B. Hinckley, its previous president, made these passionate remarks about respecting those of different faiths in 2006: “Why can’t all of us reach out in friendship to everyone about us? Why is there so much bitterness and animosity? It is not a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Hinckley). It is for this reason that I have not specifically named other Christian denominations in my above discussions, for fear it will shine negatively upon them.

Please remember, however, that President Hinckley's speech was addressed towards Mormons; obviously, we are not perfect either. Sometimes, Mormons feel and demonstrate arrogance in their belief that their church has true authority and doctrine. We condemn this. While we cannot back down from our belief that truth has been restored, we recognize that there is much truth and goodness to be found in all faiths. It is unfortunate that some Mormons feel superior to others. Let us improve together!

In summary, the desire of Christian churches to maintain membership is understandable, but when they resort to attacking the LDS church and pressuring their members to reject missionaries, one can't help but feel a sense of contradiction. How can Christians that preach about loving one another stir up such contention and coldheartedness? When my friend told me she watched an anti-Mormon video at church, I was actually taken by complete surprise. I couldn't and still cannot imagine going to church where we learn to become more like Christ and be shown a negative, biased video that is full of criticisms and accusations about different churches.

Readers: if you want to know what someone believes, please ask them. The LDS church doesn't preach sermons about what the Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, or any other denomination believe, nor do we make personal attacks upon them. If you see or hear the promotion of disrespectful anti-Mormon material, please stand up for dignity.

Please, stop the prejudice, and please, start showing respect.







Works Cited

Brinkerhoff, Merlin B. and Elaine Grandin. “Contemporary Reactions to Mormonism: A case study from rural Alberta.” The Canadian Journal of Sociology. Spring 1991: 165-185. JSTOR. Web. 4 Oct 2009.

Hales, Brook P. “Statistical Report, 2008.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. May 2006. Web. 12 Oct 2009.

Hinckley, Gordon B. “The Need For Greater Kindness.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. May 2006. Web. 12 Oct 2009.

“Joseph Smith-History.” Pearl of Great Price. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981. Print.

Moore, Lewis. “IMB missionaries counter Mormon onslaught overseas.” Southern Baptist Convention. 22 May 1998. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

“Search for the Truth DVD/First Vision.” Fair. The Foundation for Apologetic and Research. 7 Oct 2009. Web. 17 Oct. 2009.

Monday, November 9, 2009

It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After waiting and wondering for so long, this morning we finally got to find out our baby's sex. Yes, it's a boy! The tech lady even gave us two pics of the "boy part" which is kind of surprising to me :) He doesn't seem to have anything abnormal from the ultrasound which is a release for both of us. We even got to see him sucking his fingers! He's been moving around a lot but in most part he's cooperative.

The OB/GYN office called this afternoon to tell us that we need to go in for a following-up ultrasound in two weeks to make sure if everything is still ok because of the previous blood problem I had. I'm kind of nervous but I have confidence in our little boy, he's full of energy!!

We're so happy to know that it's a boy and cant wait to meet him for the first time!