club vortex

just got back from clubbing with my buddies. this place kicks trash. stupid me forgot my camera though. this place was seriously awesome. 3 dance floors, beautiful women, great atmosphere, plenty of people, techno and hip-hop on seperate floors. plus it's 18+ so we can bring our under-21 friends along. we're definately thinking of getting some memberships here, cuz this is a place i could go everyweekend i have nothing else to do (which tends to happen frequently). i am beat, time for a shower and bed

oh yeah.....the infamous wee man from jackass was there too. how cool is that?

twisted

went and saw the ashley judd/samuel jackson thriller. it sucks. don't see it.


hypnotism

also went with my friends to see a hypnotist. it was pretty hilarious. it looked like a couple people were faking it though which kinda ruined some of it though. next time i go, maybe i'll volunteer.

d'oh!

i'm reading my evolution and mormonism book before my astronomy class. apparantly i forgot to pick it up after class because it is no where to be seen. it really sux to be halfway through a book and then lose it. ughghhghh.....


so until i can get a new copy, i'll be moving on with socrates cafe. basically, the book is about the author's experiences as he traveled around the nation starting up little philosophy groups. the groups reminded me about the black light discussions my buddy mike and i used to have where we would turn on some black lights, invite some people over, and philosophy about this and that. those were the good ol' days.

i'm already about 1/2 the way done with this book. i think i'll be reading the da vinci code next

the cross

something that has been on my mind since my mission which has been on my mind even more lately is the lds view of the cross and the crucifixion. what best represents this is a couple quotes from meridian magazine's letters to the editor.

"i believe our strength comes from the knowledge of what christ endured physically, emotionally, and spiritually in gethsemane--and then the resurrection and the joy and hope it brings into our lives."

"remember, the catholic symbol is christ on the cross. they focus on that symbol constantly. the protestants at least have the symbol of the empty cross, perhaps more signifying the resurrection. whereas we, as latter-day saints, don't use the cross at all because we do focus on the resurrection.(emphasis added)"

when did christ's physical suffering and crucifixion become so meaningless in popular lds doctrine? there are dozens and dozens of references to the physcal suffering, the cross, and death/crucifixion of christ in lds scriptures. yet today, many lds find the cross as something almost repulsive. what happened? have we lost the concept of the sacrificial lamb? christ's death was not just a phase between gethsemene and the empty tomb. his sacrifice was a necessary component of the atonement. read your book of mormon. it's practically in every chapter. yes, as latter-day saints, we do put more focus on the events in gethsemene because of the further insight we have recieved from modern revelations. this should in no way lesson the impact of the crucuifixion, but rather we should love that aspect of the atonement even more because of it. it wasn't just some guy who was beat and nailed to a cross to die. this was our god who took upon himself each of our sins and was beat and nailed to the cross to pay for each of our sins.

many christian's don't just wear crosses to remind them of the way jesus died, but they wear it for the same reason that many mormons have an iron rod on their keychain or a ctr ring. they wear it as a reminder that we are each to take up the cross. something that is mentioned not just a few times in our scriptures.


another thing

i like this quote from a person who is choosing to not watch the passion

"but i am seeing one thing that troubles me, and that is that some members seem to be taking a "holy" stance in declining the experience. i hope that those that choose to see the film are not judged less obedient, less faithful."

check out the rest of the letters to the editor. of some who fit that very thing.

the passion

i think keith merrill (director of the testaments) voiced my thoughts on the movie best...

"it was for me an uncommon experience that transcended most of what we have come to expect in the movie theater ..... it is graphic. it is intense. it is brilliantly crafted. it is enlightening. it is difficult to watch at times. it is something i would not want to miss. not everyone will be able to watch it. not everyone should. but for those who go prepared and abandon themselves to the experience, it can be remarkable. as a follower of christ, i am grateful that mel gibson gave so much to give me the experience of walking beside the savior in his final hours." (merrill's full review can be found here)

i absolutely loved this movie. kudos to mel gibson for risking so much in making this awesome film.

there is so much that i really liked about this movie. here are a few things....

the mother-son relationship between mary and jesus. this was easily my favorite aspect of the movie. throughout the whole film, there is an underlying theme of this strong bond of love that they share. this is wonderfully depicted in a beautiful flashback of mary making a meal as a youthful jesus finishes a table he is making. the both of them laugh and joke around with eachother. until i saw this movie, i never really thought of the pain that mary went through as she witnessed her son be tortured and crucified. at times, i found her anguish even harder to watch then the pain afflicted on the savior.
satan. from gethesemene to the end, satan is the real antagonist. he tries to push doubt on jesus in the garden, watches with glee as the savior suffers, and then in the end screams in defeat as he realizes he was a means to a glorious end.
gethsemene. this is where the movie begins. often christians look past the events in gethsemene and give no second thought to it. i think gibson portrayed it well. you could actually see th saviour sweating blood. it was not at all easy. he nearly passes out and falls to the ground in agony. well done.
christ's love. the crucifying was hard to watch. it was so real, but what made my eyes water up was when christ plead for his captor's forgiveness as they were nailing his feet to the cross. i thought to myself, "could i do that? could i forgive someone as they were inflicting such pain on me?" and even more than that, i love how gibson had the savior not only pleaing the forgiveness of the roman soldiers, but for the jewish leaders who condemned them. beautiful.
symbolism. there is so much more that i loved about this movie, but this is the last i'll comment on. gibson filled the movie with awesome and beautiful symbolism. jesus crushing the snake in gethsemene. the man who (at first) unwillingly helps carry the christ's cross and his words, "i will help, but know that i am innocent and this is the condemned man." his later carrying, not just the cross, but also jesus to calvary. the single drop of rain (which i read was supposed to be a tear from god). the torment of judas. the flashbacks to jesus's triumphant entry to jerusalem as he was spit upon and berated 5 days later. the flashbacks to mary running to help the fallen child jesus, as she rushes to her blood-soaked son. the movie was just incredible

religious diversity roundtable

this thing was pretty cool, they basically had leaders from several religious groups on the panel to discuss the religious diversity in happy valley where the lds church is the dominant religion.

the panel was made up of....
greg johnson (evangelical), director, standing together.
father michael sciumbatto (catholic), st. francis of assisi, orem.
elder donald j. butler, the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, utah south area.
robert millet, department of religious education, brigham young university.
scott mckinney, pastor, christ evangelical church, orem.
caru das, krishna consciousness temple, spanish fork.
brian davis (episcopalian), weber state university, pluralism project.
janet riley, pastor, springville community presbyterian church.
terek nosseir, islamic society of greater salt lake.
imam mohammed shoaibuddin, islamic society of greater salt lake.

they all had some really good things to say. i was really impressed by caru das and robert millet (who i once did not like by association of joseph fielding mcckonkie). i especially like when millet said (to paraphrase) "we need to check our agendas. if we were more bent on seeing others as friends instead of potential converts, this would be a much happier palce." i think his words can apply to more than just lds and those who aren't of this faith, but to all of us. i think we tend to look at others (in the church) as persons with different beliefs, values, etc instead of looking at them as friends. i am just as guilty as the next guy.

oh yeah, and i met and got this girls phone number at this thing tonight. hopefully i can get a date with her this weekend


donating blood

i went to the red cross today to donate some blood. (i don't believe in selling plasma. god gave me my life for free, what right do i have to turn around and sell it to others). so i get this male nurse that seemed lost and confused as he was doing everything. he ends up missing my vein and jerked the needle around in my arm to find it. that's not the best of feelings. so now my arm is bruised and i'm going to look like a junkie tomorrow. shouldn't i be blessed for doing a good deed?

rated r

got in a nice little arguement after fhe last night about whether or not it is ok to see the passion. if somebody chooses to not watch rated r movies, that's fine with me. i do think they are missing out on some very uplifting movies, but that's there decision. what bugs me is when they phrase their decision to not watch any rated r movies as a "i don't because i am righteous and do what is right" which implies that i am unrighteous in my decision and choosing to do what is wrong. i then jump up on my soapbox and tell them how i feel which pisses everyone off.

in a deseret news article, robert millet (head of the religion department at byu) tells why he feels that watching this movie is not only ok, but something he should do. the article also say that some other lds leaders will be watching it with him, but does not say who.

so yeah, last night seven us went to pick up tickets for tomorrow night's show. i'll write up my thoughts after seeing it.

damn

amy in my astronomy class has a boyfriend...in fresno.

the good news is she thinks i'm really cool and whats to hang out with me this weekend. just not a date. :/
gotta love the consolation prize ;)

shi** happens

a friend of mine was pretty down tonight because she just found out that her aunt was going to die of cancer by may. i took her our for a drive so that she could talk to me and vent out some of her feelings. she is trying to cope with it by believing that all the crap that happens in the world is allowed to happen for our own good. that god only allows evils if they produce a greater good.

that doesn't work for me. i have more of a sh** happens attidude. bad things just happed. some things are in my control. others are not. they are in control of other persons, nature, laws, and even god. if it's out of my control, there is no point in fretting about it or trying to figure out it's purpose. it in itself may have had no purpose. it just happened. god is not out of the picture though. he is there to pick us up. to help us recover from whatever hits us. he is hurt as he has to sit back and watch sh** happen, but he does what he can to turn that sh** to gold. this is not an ecuse to let evils happen. if it's in my control, it's my moral duty to do whatever i can to prevent them.

i still struggle with holding this attitude all of the time. i still let things put me down, but i guess that's just human.

bobby in the japanese liahona

my little brother bobby, who is serving an lds mission in japan, has had an article written about an experience he had in the japanese liahona (the japanese equivalence of the ensign). an english translation can be found here


goals

here are some of my goals for this week....

-get a job
-read the scriptures everynight
-study for my astronomy exam at least once before the day of the test
-think happier thoughts about happy valley

girls flashing at mardi gras!!!

ok, there were no girls flashing. perhaps that heading will get my hit count up. megan and i drove up to logan friday to hang out with tory, mel, mike, and some others. had a really fun time. saturday night, utah state had this mardi gras shindig going. i didn't take too many pictures, but here they are. i am tired as hell now, cuz megan and i drove back afterwards and didn't get home till 3am...

goin down to logan, gonna have myself a good time...

i'm outta here in a little bit so there will be nothing new the next couple days as i will be in logan the next two nights

feel free to bitch, rant, be poetic, whatever on here

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just finished this book. all i can say is...wow.... i couldn't put the stupid thing down.

next up is evolution and mormonism
...i think

giving up

"quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win and never quit are idiots"

i think it's time for me to give up


...ok maybe not yet. apparently some friends think i should still have hope...thanks

ctl: choose the left

could it be? is it true? have i become what i once despised? am i a bonified liberal?

this is edith. i have an old woman's name and an old woman's heart. i am a contradiction. my family is nuts, but i think that is fairly normal - plus it makes the world go 'round with a better sense of humour. i have a brain and i am not afraid to use it. i am an artist and enjoy music and kids - because all of those three are, on a base level, honest. i think there is a difference between discipline and punishment. i believe that the world has lost all sense of manners and the idea of a "time and a place for everything". i try to accept people without accepting their idiotic acts and behaviors, although i tend to give my opinions freely to anyone who will listen. i think you can be a friend to someone who is completely different than yourself and i believe in rodney king's statement, "why can't we all just get along?" people need to take the serious things seriously and let all the other things go, lighten up people! i don't have a web page nor do i know much about how this whole e-world works, i am more of a pencil and paint type of gal. lastly, i think everyone needs a house at the beach, or wherever they feel their personal paradise is; and a good friend who is literally crazy to keep you sane.

Hi everybody, this is Tory. I am one of Loyd's cooler friends, I'm also pretty humble too. Just kidding, I'm really not this much of an asshole. Anywho, I live in Mapleton, study at BYU, work in Spanish Fork, love warm weather and love playing a good round of golf. My 2 favorite bands groups are The Beatles and CAKE. My favorite quote is probably, "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." John Wooden. By the way i have an exciting new blog of my own. www.tory1996.blogspot.com

Okay, kind of hard to navigate hear. But it seems that i am the first. Welcome to Loyd's Blog, my name is Chris. I am the real brains behind his website - I taught him everything he knows. Including how to say the word "Mama". Here is a quote for the day..."My wife broke her leg yesterday, she tripped over the cordless phone."

THank you, Thank you.

open blog night

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use this to add an entry

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be sure to write your name on your entry

this will go on until i want it to stop. if i really like it and it's fun, then i'll make it something permanent

variable speed of light

just finished reading faster than the speed of light it's an interesting account of how the author developed his variable speed of light theory. more than that though, the book is about the politics involved in the world of universities and science.



my next endeavor is chuck palahniuk's author of fight club) survivor. the book is supposed to be a recording on an airplane's black box after a crash with a a hi-jacker telling why he decided to hi-jack and crash an empty plane. fun fun

the society for mormon philosophy and theology

the smpt just ratified their constitution and are open for membership. the student fee is only $15.

and the society of christian philosophers is available to for anyone who wants to join



adaptation

an awesome movie. once again though, i was one of the few who really liked it.

white scholarship

it looks like some students in rhode island set up a scholarship for white students. to receive the scholarship, one must write an essay explaining why they are proud of their white heritage and provide a photo proving their whiteness.

expectedly, some are crying racism

here's a short list of non-racist scholarships

my brother had a few semesters paid for at byu by providing proof that he was half-japanese. free money i guess

norwegian miniature goats

so i go up to highland with chelan to find some desert at her home. her family was definitely a different group of people, but they were absolutely hilarious. her sister has this miniature goat that i got to feed some oats out of my hand. the goats milk isn't miniature though. one cup of miniature goat milk is surprisingly the same size as a cup of regular goat milk ;)

saturday night at area 51

last night turned out to be a blast. we first went to club six, but they had some ultimate fighting going on upstairs, so the place was kind of empty. plus, it was a hip-hop club and mary was the only girl in our group, so with us other 4 guys, we wanted to go somewhere with some techno and break-beats. we ended up at the good ol' area 51. the last time i was there was a year ago with jeff. it was such a nice release. i swear, there is nothing better to get rid of stress and all that other crap that builds up in your head than taking it to the dance floor. anways, i took some pics...check them out here.



community of christ

for my western religions class, i attended the community of christ (the former reorganized church of jesus christ of latter-day saints). it was kinda fun. there were only 10 people in their congregation. 4 couples who all had to be over 70 and 2 youngs girls maybe 6 and 8 years old (who looked extremely bored). luckily, chelan came with me. she helped me feel not so isolated. (it helps that she's really cute too). so yeah, they were very friendly and humble. the elder who did the sermon was obviously a lay fellow, but he did a pretty good job. the meeting was definately different. the funny thing was that when we were singing hymns, chelan and i sang better than all of them...and we had never sang or heard any of these songs before. they were almost two measures off from the music at times. the elder, in his sermon, even joked about how bad their singing was. another thing that i found was interesting was that contra the rumors i heard about them disbelieving the book of mormon, the elder spoke of christ visiting the americas as an actual event.

this weekend

i write up an entry. as i post it, i lose my internet connection and everything i wrote disappears into the hazy void. uggghhhhhh......

this weekend

this weekend started out great. derek came over from colorado. and then last night we went hottubbing with a bunch of friends, then we all came over ot my place for a movie and some pizza and stufs...

then things started going sour...

i went to the gym this morning, and when i came back, derek and all his things were gone. (he was supposed to be sticking around until monday). i called him and found out that he decided to pack up and go back to colorado. i guess being back here away from the army was making him kind of depressed. not that he missed the army, but being here reminded him how much he wanted to not be in active duty anymore. so he's gone...

and then i was supposed to go snowboarding with jake and derek on monday, but not derek is gone and jake wants to spend monday studying...

oh welll....

on the brightside, i actually found a group to go clubbing...yeah....maybe there is hope in this valley of ours....unfortunately not all my friends can make it...i'll prolly bring my cam and take some pics

lost in translation

i have noticed something with the the type of a lot of the movies i like to watch....almost invariably, by the time the movie is over, half of the people who began watching it are gone and from the remaining half, only myself and maybe one or two other people liked it. oh well....

"when you learn who you are and what you want, you'll find that things irritate you less."
-bob, lost in translation

perhaps i need to find out who i really am

a lesson from south park

"look, maybe us mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe joseph smith did make it all up. but i have a great life, and a great family, and i have the book of mormon to thank for that. the truth is, i don’t care if joseph smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. all i ever did was try to be your friend, stan, but you’re so high and mighty you couldn’t look past my religion and just be my friend back. you’ve got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. suck my balls."

just finished watching this classic episode of south park with my buddy derek. the show has several obvious flaws, but nonetheless, it made me think of a few things. i have been a little too critical of many people here in happy valley. there are sincere people who, like harrisions, are truly happy and content with believing without a second thought. i need to respect that more.
i know the show is a cartoon, but i think the harrisons are also a fine example of how mormons should live. not once did they mention the word of wisdom, or anything else that would have judged the people of southpark. instead, they constantly spoke (and acted) of taking care of the sick, poor, and needy. when people disagreed with them, they were fine with it. it did not change at all how they felt about their friends. they were loving people.

quote for the day

if your toast always lands butter-side down, plan ahead.

butter the other side instead.

and now a message from edith

the following came from an entry on my guestbook...

"if you put out the pretense of being so far above your fellow classmates and the rest of society (see "higher education"), by all means, PLEASE have the common decency to write like someone who, UGH!, graduated high school."

edith, whoever you are, this is my blog. it is not an english paper. i can write however the hell i want. i don't use capitalization here. i don't use very good sentence syntax very good. i don't shower and i spel things rong.

plus, it doesn't matter that i didn't graduate from highschool. so what if i dropped out of school after the 8th grade?


sarcasm in writing

sarcasm is hard to pull of when you are writing it. i have a hard enough time letting people know i am being sarcastic when i am speaking to them, an even much harder time when i'm writing it out. don't be offended edith, i love you and want you to visit more often


amazon.com

i love this thing. it's a blessing and a curse. just ordered three books tonight the metaphysical club, socrates cafe, and life of pi

do a kind thing, visit my wish list, and buy me a book

hierarchial revelation, authority, and opinion

it's late, but i just wanted to post a small theory that i developed while talking to a friend tonight. i think i discovered how i can have my cake and eat it too. it basically deals with the whole 'speaking for the lord' vs. 'his opinion' debate. does one have to pick one or the other when looking at the prophets words...or can one choose both. i believe he can do both by looking at his words as an opinionated interpretation of inspiration.
here it is using president hinckley's "earing talk" as an example. i personally think that there is nothing wrong with a girl having her ear pierced twice or more, nothing wrong with a guy having a piercing, and nothing wrong with tattoos....as long as they are done tastefully. however, president hinckley said these should all be avoided. was he speaking as the lord's mouthpiece...or has his own? both. he was inspired and put that inspiration into his own words. let's say that god told the prophet to tell the youth to look tasteful. pres. hinckley (being a 90 year old man) has the opinion that for a girl to have more than one earring is distasteful. thus he interprets the inspiration as god saying that girls shouldn't have more than one earring.

basically....

inspiration + opinions > interpretation
be tasteful + 2 rings is distateful > don't have 2 earrings

or another example...
don't watch bad movies + all rated r movies are bad > don't watdh rated r movies

i think in many ways that this is the best way to understand scripture, the prophets, our own inspiration, and everything else like that

time for bed

happy valley

once again, here comes another entry complaining about this little spot of heaven we call happy valley. my friend amber and i had a great discussion about this place. and then a few minutes later, my friend brooke came over and i got to hear from her the same grievances that i was previously venting. to some it up in one sentance, i guess i would say that i am getting sick of the ultra-conservative, pharisaic, and conformist mentality that exists here in happy valley. what do i mean by this? this is what i mean...

ultra-conservative - this has several aspects.
---blind obedience. when the prophet has spoken, the thinking has been done. this never has, nor never will be a doctrine of the church. i could give quote after quote after quote from general authorities stating that this is not the case, but people here tend to believe just that. and what if i don't blindly follow? i'm a heretic
--popular doctrine. another trend in the world of happy valley ultra-conservative life is the quick and reasonless acceptance of popular doctrine. elder so-and-so said it so it must be true. the scriptures tell us we are to search, ponder, and pray. it's almost heretical to ponder here. why pray about something elder so-and-so said, he's infallible. and what is there to search for. i have the quote from elder so-and-so right here. think differently about a doctrine...heresy. think differently about the nature of scripture/revelation...heresy. think differently about how the church hierarchy works...heresy.
--slippery slope. this is the logical falllacy such that steps are unrecognized in differentiating two levels. x is sin, y may lead to this sin, so y is a sin also. example. pre-marital sex is a sin. you need to be alone with someone to have sex. therefore being alone with someone is a sin. nobody says it's a sin to be alone with someone!! you say. the stake presidency here has practically called it one. the same works with movies, dating, beverages, and almost every other potential lead to sin in happy valley

conformist - as my friend amber said, (paraphrasing) the church teaches unity, not uniformity. here in happy valley, it's almost expected for us to come from the same cookie cutter as everyone else. being different is practically discouraged. thinking differently is a heresy. dressing differently is taboo. if you don't fall over in joy everytimes someon mentions they are going to watch the princess bride, something is seriously wrong with you. push your beliefs and morals on everyone else. in happy valley, everyone is the moral police. if you think someone is sinning, you let them know. be sure they know you disagree with what they did or are doing.

pharisees - people here focus on the little do's and don't they create for themselves instead of the most important aspect of the gospel...love. happy valleyians measure righteousness by how many holes are in your ear, what you drink, what you watch, what you say, what you think, what calling you have, how often you do this-and-that in the organizational church. the measure that christ gave for righteousness condemned the nit-picking and focused on love. it's not how many holes are in your ears, it's how you treat others. it's not if you watch rated r movies, it's if you helped the poor. it's not about caffeine, but charity. love and don't condemn. the example for how we need to be was not made with the pharisees who did the small things and lived the perfect organizational life, but of the good samaritan. the one on the left. the guy looked down on by the others. the one who got down on his knees and took care of the downtrodden.

this was going to be much longer. i had a lot of specific things i wanted to vent about, but i got bored trying to remember all of them.

what am i to do? a part of me wants out of here. a part of me says i can do much good if i stay. a lot of it comes down to what happens with school. i at least know that i want out of this apartment complex.

there is plenty of good out here and plenty of people that i am sure agree with me. i just need to find them and have them help me with my crusade


finally... am i perfect? hell no. but i'm working on it

i've been reading five classics by truman madsen. it's definately a good read. of the five books in the collection, i have enjoyed his four essays on love the most. they are some interesting views on the different kinds of love we have and the love that god has for us.
i just finished his chapter on forgiveness and love the paragraph near it's end...

"i once thought the atonement was over. of course, in one important sense it is. it happened, it is locked in the new testament era. jesus did say on the cross “it is finished.” but as i read the scriptures we cannot say that at that moment jesus’ suffering ceased forever. in one way his suffering has increased since the garden of gethsemane. that one way is obvious to any of us. after having paid that terrible price in an agony that is beyond our power to comprehend, he now must face the sorrow of god’s children being heartless, cold, calculating, and indifferent. he sees us with his own compassion and knows how desperately we need mercy; yet he has to bear the burden of knowing that the reason mercy is not operative in our lives is that we ourselves lock it out. “all eternity is pained” (d&c 38:12). all eternity is embodied in jesus christ, and even now he suffers. but i know of no place in scripture where he announces that because of that he is giving up, or that because our sins have become so extreme he will refuse forgiveness to the penitent. he promises that forgiveness is always there, and this is a joyous thought. but along with the joys both here and hereafter there will always be a measure of sorrow."

i've still got about fifty pages left which i'm going to try to get finished before i go to bed so that i can start on a new book tomorrow. i'm thinking either evolution and mormonism or faster than the speed of light...or maybe i'll pick something else out of my collection of unread books. i used to read at least a book every week or two, but with school and stufs, it takes almost a month for me to get through a book. the problem is that i still buy books at my old rate, so they are starting to build up. this is all amazon's fault. i need to prioritize my time better and plan some peaceful solitude to attack these books. bytheway,if you want to help out my library, you can buy me a book from my wish-list. that would sure be a noble thing for you to do

higher education?

so i missed a lot of the classes, didn't pay attention when i went, didn't study, and did the homework an hour before the test. i figured i could slack on this test because they drop the lowest exam score. i get a 75%.

go to class yesterday and discover that students at uvsc are so stupid that the class average was 53%. the curve is bringing my grade up to a 96% or something like that. the really sad thing is that most of the kids in the class were complaining that they studied for hours and only managed to get the class average. i know that if i put in a quarter effort to study that i would have gotten at least a 90 on the test. i seriously hate these stupid level one generals at uvsc. ugghhhh...it feels like i'm in highschool.

i love my mommy

met my folks and my brother's family at pf chang's to celebrate another 29th birthday for my mom. all my mom ever wants as gifts are chick flicks. so this time i got her the dvd, return to me (which i spent half the day driving around to find). i've never seen the movie, but a few friends told me i needed to get her it.
my mom is the greatest. she is better than all of your moms and since she is asian, she could kung-fu the hell out of your mother. i am truly lucky and grateful to have her.

the logical problem of god's absolute foreknowledge and man's free-will

this is partially from an e-mail i wrote a month ago to respond to a critique of my paper from someone who wandered onto my site.

(p1) if a person has free-will in performing an action, then it must be actually possible for her to either (A) perform that action or (B) not perform that action. (def of libertarian free-will).
(p2) she cannot both A and B. (principle of exlude the middle).
(p3) if god has absolute foreknowledge, then god knows and cannot be wrong in knowing that the person will either A or B. (def of absolute foreknowledge)

with these three in place, let's assume that god does have absolute foreknowledge and that he knows the person will A (perform the action)

(p4) god knows A (p3)
(p5) A occuring is true (p3 and p4)
(p6) it is impossible for B to happen (p5 and p2)
(p7) therefore, if god has absolute foreknowldge, then there is only one possible option for the person to do (p5 and p6)
(conclusion) god's absolute foreknowledge is not compatible with free will (p1, p3, p7)

here is the same thing with an example that can be swapped with any choice we can make

(p1) if jenna has free-will then it is both actually possible for her to either eat salad for dinner or not eat salad for dinner.
(p2) she cannot both eat and not eat salad for dinner.
(p3) if god has absolute foreknowledge, then god knows whether or not she will eat salad

(p4) god has absolute foreknowledge and knows jenna will eat salad for dinner (p3)
(p5) then jenna will eat salad for dinner (p3 and p4)
(p6) it is impossible for jenna to not eat salad (p5 and p2)
(p7) there is only one possible thing for jenna to do (p5 and p6)
(conclusion) god's absolute foreknowledge is not compatible with free will to eat or not eat salad(p1, p3, p7)

put myself in a bad mood tonight. not only did i get gay-friended (see below), i couldn't for the life of me find a date to see a play at uvsc. so this bummed me out and so i really wanted to go clubbing, but nobody would come with me. ended up sitting on my butt with a few friends watching tv. i miss the days when i lived with mike and we'd go up to salt lake twice a month to go clubbing.

the night finished a little better with some birthday cake and chillin with some friends. and i found a small group to go clubbing tomorrow night. so that should be fun.

today, more than a couple people told me that they don't think i fit here in utah. i agree in a lot of ways. sometimes i feel like i don't fit in with the conservative crowd here. but at the same time, i like that part here. it keeps me in check. i think i jsut need to find more people like me out here. i know they exist. people like mike and megan. unfortunately mike moved out to logan and megan still feels uncomfortable hanging out with me.

a part of me wants to move out (jake thinks i'd be happier back east), but i really think i need to finish my undergrad work here in provo. my two favorite professors are big in the lds philosophy scene and i feel like i need to stay. as much as i hate happy valley at times, there is something special about it. i have more of a desire to get better grades now so that i can go back east for graduate school. if i can work things out, i'd love to go to notre dame, yale, cambridge, florida st, or unc-chapel hill which are all big schools for the philosophy of religion. oh well.... i might as well enjoy life right now

jen: you need to move out of utah.. those girls aren't for you.

that's not all that isn't me here in happy valley

gfs strikes again!

gfs (gay-friend-syndrome) is when you like a girl. she seems to like you back. she enjoys hanging out, comes over just to see you, and says how much she enjoys your company. the problem is that that is all that she sees you as. you are her gay friend. she likes you, but she doesn't like you. yeah, i got hit again.

sbgfs (super-best-gay-friend-sydrome). this has far worse symptoms. luckily i was diagnosed with gfs before it got any worse. sbgfs not only has all of the above symptoms, but this time she comes to you with all of her guy problems. she tells you who she likes and all that crap. not a good thing.

funny thing is, i'm not too sure if i even want any kind of serious relationship. in all reality, i don't. i guess there is just a bit of comfort when you start to like a girl and think that maybe she likes you back.

oh well...back to the drawing board

belief system selector

test out the belief system selector and post your results as a comment on this entry

my results:
1. church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (mormons) (100%)
2. bahá'í faith (98%)
3. jehovah's witness (96%)
4. orthodox judaism (80%)
5. sikhism (75%)
6. mainline - liberal christian protestants (73%)
7. jainism (71%)
8. islam (70%)
9. liberal quakers (69%)
10. mainline - conservative christian protestant (67%)

i guess this means my beliefs passed the test.

3rd annual mormon studies conference

this will be held at uvsc on march 18th and 19th. the first day will be discussing lds philosophy and theology and the 2nd day will cover mormon cultural studies. check out the info here

operation give

donate some $ to buy toys for iraqi children here. don't give me any lame excuse that you cannot afford to give. i know just as well as you do that you can spare a few dollars.

sign my &$%@'n guestbook!

i can tell from the access logs, that plenty of strangers are going to my site. take a minute to sign the guestbook so i know you exist and how you got here

christina aguilera

yeah, it was fun hanging out with her in park city, she wanted me big time. i really didn't care for her though. she's a dirty whore. so i told her to get lost.

tory, mel, logan

tory wanted me to go to logan this weekend with him, but i really don't feel like driving up there myself and being a third wheel with the both of them. jenna has a birthday dinner with her grandma on friday so she can't go, and megan just doesn't want to go. i'll prolly just say in town, go see a play friday night with jenna and hopefully go clubbing saturday night.

school

i'm doing great in my philosophy and religion classes. i aced my first logic exam on monday, and i think i'll do the same on my first deductive logic midterm next week. on the other hand, i bombed my first biology test last week with a nice 75%. it was just a bunch of definition memorizing, which i am not a big fan of. luckily, we get to drop our lowest exam. now that i know what the tests will be like, i'll know how to study for them better. i've got an astronomy test tomorrow which i have yet to study for. i shoul dhave plenty of time b4 the test to get some decent studying in though. in my philosophy and religion classes, i feel like i am in college, being challenged, and getting a good education. in my astronomy and biology classes, i feel like i'm in third grade with mr. garrison and mr. hat from south park. uggghhhhh. i guess this is what i get for playing around too much in high school

the weeping god of mormonism

"how is it thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?" (moses 7:29)

just finished reading (again) eugene england's "the weeping god of mormonism" from the spring 2002 dialogue: a journal of mormon thought. this is an awesome essay about the lost value of a finite diety in mormonism, a view which was highly held in the early days of the church, but has lost much appeal as the church has grown and sought favor from more people. an on-line version can be found here

well...this blasted cold is still bugging me. on the bright side, i didn't go to class today because of my sick status and had the opportunity to sit on the couch and watch byu's devotional. i have to say that i thoroughly enjoyed it. he spoke about something that i have ranted on several times in this blog of mine...helping the poor. i'm not going to rant on about it too much right now, but the scriptures clearly say that we are to be giving our excess to the poor, that if we know someone is suffering, it is our moral obligation to give to that person until have have no more to give. am i hypocritical? yes i am. i can and should be giving more. i use the excuse that i have debt i need to pay off, but i still find myself going out to eat, buying dvds, and spending my money elsewhere on simple luxuries. last december, i prolly donated about a total of over a hundred dollars to different things and it felt good. the highlight of my christmas was spending forty dollars in books at barnes and noble to donate to needy children. how much joy has my last pint of ben & jerry's icecream given me? did i feel this good buying myself a few dvds?

political compass

uggghhhh...still sick...here's a little something interesting though

political compass

go to politicalcompass.org and see where you fall on the politcal scale.

here are my results:

Economic Left/Right: -4.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.28

check it out and comment this entry with your results