It's one of those things we just don't talk about enough. The racist past of my church, my state, my country. Not to mention the current racism that exists in all those places.
Growing up in the deep South, Mississippi, I was aware of slavery...I was aware of our ugly history of lynching and human rights violations... I was aware of segregation, forced in the past and the current cultural kind. The whole thing made me sick. How could these things happen? How could anyone justify the things they did or watched happen? I thought, "I'm not that way, not in the least bit." I would get indignant at any over racist statements and try to call people out on them. Although I thought myself more progressive than our prior generations, I was living in the bubble of a private Catholic school where black kids my age were easy to befriend and popular. We grew up with a black housekeeper who kept our home two days a week and we loved. Outside that bubble, there was anger and prejudice in my community. There was racism mixed with poverty, cultural barriers between blacks and whites, and fear.
When I went to college, my surroundings changed significantly. Overnight, I was around well-educated and intelligent people of all races/ethnicities all the time, compared with the desperate poverty and racial divides I saw in my hometown growing up (like black-only neighborhoods). Basically, everyone was similar to me. At the same time, I started an in-depth and wider education of disparity and differences (which continues today and largely drives all that I do in my community). It changed my perspective. When I returned home for breaks, I noticed it...My own racist thoughts...I saw that I looked at blacks differently there than I did in college. Not necessarily mean, but just dismissive. Like the thought, "Of course I don't know them. We're not the type of people that talk to each other." My black friends in college were just more like me, so it was no problem to talk and bond. With the majority of blacks in my hometown, I just didn't talk with them on that level. The whole realization caused me to reexamine my personal issues with race, the ones taught to me by society, by oft-repeated prejudiced statements, by the media. Today, I do not say I am not racist, I say that I am always trying to become better and leave my judgements of others behind. It is a constant process.
As I learn more about my country's racist past in bits and pieces, I am appalled. Recently, we've watched a documentary about the Freedom Riders and The Help, and I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - all amazing and striking a personal chord in my heart. Slavery has lead to an awful cascade of social, emotional, and financial repercussions for black Americans ever since its inception. How can non-blacks judge black Americans without having the same knowledge of institutionalized and overt racism that they deal with their whole lives, and to a higher degree in the South? It makes my head spin to think of it. My life as a middle class white American woman just isn't the same.
When I learned about the LDS church's racist past, particularly the banning of people of African descent from the priesthood and the temple, I was troubled. I learned about it a little at a time, most striking from this article and this podcast. Both are highly recommended! I believe that podcast inspired me to be more honest about these type of issues, and opened my eyes to what it is like to be a black Mormon.
Within the church, we don't talk too much about our former race-based theology, and outside the church, lots of folks tend to cite this theology like a gut-punch. I think it is something we can (and likely should) educate ourselves on, to ensure that it isn't repeated and just for the sake of honest discussions and healing.
The up-to-1978 priesthood ban has been in the news lately. A well-liked religion professor at BYU made some speculative and demeaning statements in the Washington Post, sparking bloggernacle threads to light up. The LDS Church quickly made a statement denouncing his remarks. Online, there have been calls for a disavowal and denouncement of the ban itself, and many folks talking about their reactions to the current discourse. Noteably, Joanna Brooks released a beautiful blog post incorporating her own scholarly study of racism and its harm. I was also touched by Sistas in Zion, who responded with honesty and forgiveness to Bott's hurtful statements.
It is another layer. It is sad to learn about the church I love with a dirty past regarding racial equality, and it is sad still to see these dirty mindsets persist in some leaders and older generations. Would things change if a official disavowal was made? I think the church's statement this past week was a step in the right direction.
I do have hope, that hope grows as we continue to have frank and open discussions about how to heal and purge out personal and institutional racism. How will we know it still exists if we don't ever talk about it?
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Coming Out of the Closet
Got your attention right?
Three figurative closets.
Closet #1) I am a Mormon. Yep, that means I believe in miracles, I believe God speaks today, I have faith in Christ, I strongly believe in community, I believe living clean is a good thing, I try to love when it is hard to. I also love other Mormons...from all parts of the belief and practice spectrum. We really are interesting, yet weird. And I know this, from an outside perspective (being a convert) and from an inside perspective. I would much much much prefer that someone get to know me and then find out about my faith. You never know how someone will react to it, and you never know if someone will write you off without even giving you a chance. I felt strongly last year that it was time to "come out of the closet" as a Mormon at work - it's a pretty big part of my life, plus our group started a contract with the Utah Dept of Health (the polygamy jokes were coming already). My friends already knew, but how was I to even begin to breach the subject at work? Ick. So, I decided to get two artistic photos of the Washington DC temple (where Aaron and I were married eternally) and put them up on my wall. Non threatening...folks could ask if they wanted. In the last 8 months or so, I believe I've had 3 people ask me. Not super successful, but cool.
Closet #2) I'm a liberal, feminist Mormon. Is it an oxymoron? I used to think so, but it's me and it makes me happy. I get pretty passionate about social justice, social welfare programs, the right of healthcare, equal rights, etc. I used to be way more fiery about it before joining the church, and then I wasn't quite sure how to fit it into the Mormon frame. I just didn't talk about it as much, since I was learning how to fit in culturally and socially into this new Mormon world. And how on earth was I supposed to reconcile my new understanding of the goodness and beauty of the LDS people with the omnipresent political/social views that were so different than mine? Ick. Well, I started listening. With an open mind and an open heart. I figured out after breaking down a big emotional wall that if you don't agree with gay marriage, you don't have to hate gay people. I found you could disagree with social programming and yet give the shirt off your back if it was asked (sometimes when it was not). It took me awhile, but I learned to respect the conservative viewpoint, since it now had a face. And yet, I still didn't fit into it. My personal experiences, other shared experience of others, my educational background, and my heart was not there. My beliefs kept me where I stood before my conversion, and my new more faithful heart only served to reinforce the social justice and equality I so longed for.. And “coming out” is hard for me…for the same reasons. I don’t want my Mo friends to dismiss me or judge me if we differed in opinion. And all this was ok for most issues, except the real closet.
Closet #3) I'm a liberal, feminist Mormon who supports gay rights, including the right to marry under law. Ugh. Where do I start? For either audience? Gay rights, including the right to marry might end up being the most important social issue of my generation. We can all agree gay marriage will eventually be recognized under federal law. We can all agree that loving and fellowshipping our LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning) brothers and sisters is important. We can agree gay marriage is an emotional issue, and my faith community is involved in it. This issue has been really sticky for me. Prior to my conversion 4 years ago, I was a very strong gay marriage/adoption advocate. After Proposition 8 campaigning was underway, Aaron's family became involved, and our church leaders spoke out about it as a moral issue, I took even more notice. As a Mormon, I listen when counsel is given from church leaders. I pray about. I find out if those things make sense in my own heart. So, I prayed and studied and prayed and studied and talked to others and prayed.....etc etc etc. I decided just to be neutral about it, since I didn't actually have to vote on it in 2008 and nothing was bringing me peace. (Sidenote: 2012 is here, and NC will be voting on this in the election.) Then, an answer to those prayers came. My angel C (don't use full name so she is able to tell her story when she wants). C is a lesbian who I quickly connected with and became one of my truest friends. We talked a lot, and finally I came out of closets #1 and #2 simulanteously with her. A few weeks later she felt safe enough to tell me about her homosexuality and her partner. I told her "You're an answer to my prayers! And I know that sounds weird!" So, we talked a ton, about being Mormon, about being gay, about life. She inspired me to keep searching and to search harder for answers and something that would settle my heart. I found an online community of liberal and mostly unorthodox Mormons who also inspired me a great deal - Mormon Stories (will talk about in another post). I learned more about my faith's history with social issues. In the end, I am back in a place I started. C explained it best today - "Gay marriage is like yours except my parter and myself have one different characteristic than you. We like girls. That's it." And it's SO TRUE! Homosexual couples are de-legitimized and hurt every time they are not recognized like heterosexual couples are. Underneath every single argument I've heard against gay marriage is the principle that "My marriage is better than yours" and the ubiquitous feeling of homophobia that permeates this country. That might be a harsh sentence for my Mos to follow, but I've come to that conclusion after trying to look at this open-mindedly. It is so difficult to be LGBTQ in our country, why would compassionate voters not want to legally recognize someone's most important support /partner and why on earth would we want to make them feel unwelcome in our faith communities, no matter what their choices are? Another kicker for me is learning that my church (although I love them) has been on the wrong side of similar major social issues in the past (anti civil rights, anti women's liberation, and now anti gay marriage), not to mention our historical persecution related to the practice of polygamy. From what I know of peer-reviewed literature, sexual orientation of parents is not an effective or important predictor of successful child development. Last, I also think there is a hairy crossover between legal marriage and spiritual marriage. These ideally would be viewed/performed separately, as they are in many countries...a whole other discussion though!
What do you think?
Three figurative closets.
Closet #1) I am a Mormon. Yep, that means I believe in miracles, I believe God speaks today, I have faith in Christ, I strongly believe in community, I believe living clean is a good thing, I try to love when it is hard to. I also love other Mormons...from all parts of the belief and practice spectrum. We really are interesting, yet weird. And I know this, from an outside perspective (being a convert) and from an inside perspective. I would much much much prefer that someone get to know me and then find out about my faith. You never know how someone will react to it, and you never know if someone will write you off without even giving you a chance. I felt strongly last year that it was time to "come out of the closet" as a Mormon at work - it's a pretty big part of my life, plus our group started a contract with the Utah Dept of Health (the polygamy jokes were coming already). My friends already knew, but how was I to even begin to breach the subject at work? Ick. So, I decided to get two artistic photos of the Washington DC temple (where Aaron and I were married eternally) and put them up on my wall. Non threatening...folks could ask if they wanted. In the last 8 months or so, I believe I've had 3 people ask me. Not super successful, but cool.
Closet #2) I'm a liberal, feminist Mormon. Is it an oxymoron? I used to think so, but it's me and it makes me happy. I get pretty passionate about social justice, social welfare programs, the right of healthcare, equal rights, etc. I used to be way more fiery about it before joining the church, and then I wasn't quite sure how to fit it into the Mormon frame. I just didn't talk about it as much, since I was learning how to fit in culturally and socially into this new Mormon world. And how on earth was I supposed to reconcile my new understanding of the goodness and beauty of the LDS people with the omnipresent political/social views that were so different than mine? Ick. Well, I started listening. With an open mind and an open heart. I figured out after breaking down a big emotional wall that if you don't agree with gay marriage, you don't have to hate gay people. I found you could disagree with social programming and yet give the shirt off your back if it was asked (sometimes when it was not). It took me awhile, but I learned to respect the conservative viewpoint, since it now had a face. And yet, I still didn't fit into it. My personal experiences, other shared experience of others, my educational background, and my heart was not there. My beliefs kept me where I stood before my conversion, and my new more faithful heart only served to reinforce the social justice and equality I so longed for.. And “coming out” is hard for me…for the same reasons. I don’t want my Mo friends to dismiss me or judge me if we differed in opinion. And all this was ok for most issues, except the real closet.
Closet #3) I'm a liberal, feminist Mormon who supports gay rights, including the right to marry under law. Ugh. Where do I start? For either audience? Gay rights, including the right to marry might end up being the most important social issue of my generation. We can all agree gay marriage will eventually be recognized under federal law. We can all agree that loving and fellowshipping our LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning) brothers and sisters is important. We can agree gay marriage is an emotional issue, and my faith community is involved in it. This issue has been really sticky for me. Prior to my conversion 4 years ago, I was a very strong gay marriage/adoption advocate. After Proposition 8 campaigning was underway, Aaron's family became involved, and our church leaders spoke out about it as a moral issue, I took even more notice. As a Mormon, I listen when counsel is given from church leaders. I pray about. I find out if those things make sense in my own heart. So, I prayed and studied and prayed and studied and talked to others and prayed.....etc etc etc. I decided just to be neutral about it, since I didn't actually have to vote on it in 2008 and nothing was bringing me peace. (Sidenote: 2012 is here, and NC will be voting on this in the election.) Then, an answer to those prayers came. My angel C (don't use full name so she is able to tell her story when she wants). C is a lesbian who I quickly connected with and became one of my truest friends. We talked a lot, and finally I came out of closets #1 and #2 simulanteously with her. A few weeks later she felt safe enough to tell me about her homosexuality and her partner. I told her "You're an answer to my prayers! And I know that sounds weird!" So, we talked a ton, about being Mormon, about being gay, about life. She inspired me to keep searching and to search harder for answers and something that would settle my heart. I found an online community of liberal and mostly unorthodox Mormons who also inspired me a great deal - Mormon Stories (will talk about in another post). I learned more about my faith's history with social issues. In the end, I am back in a place I started. C explained it best today - "Gay marriage is like yours except my parter and myself have one different characteristic than you. We like girls. That's it." And it's SO TRUE! Homosexual couples are de-legitimized and hurt every time they are not recognized like heterosexual couples are. Underneath every single argument I've heard against gay marriage is the principle that "My marriage is better than yours" and the ubiquitous feeling of homophobia that permeates this country. That might be a harsh sentence for my Mos to follow, but I've come to that conclusion after trying to look at this open-mindedly. It is so difficult to be LGBTQ in our country, why would compassionate voters not want to legally recognize someone's most important support /partner and why on earth would we want to make them feel unwelcome in our faith communities, no matter what their choices are? Another kicker for me is learning that my church (although I love them) has been on the wrong side of similar major social issues in the past (anti civil rights, anti women's liberation, and now anti gay marriage), not to mention our historical persecution related to the practice of polygamy. From what I know of peer-reviewed literature, sexual orientation of parents is not an effective or important predictor of successful child development. Last, I also think there is a hairy crossover between legal marriage and spiritual marriage. These ideally would be viewed/performed separately, as they are in many countries...a whole other discussion though!
What do you think?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Do you ever write about anything besides Mormonism?
...Apparantly not. Sorry, I can't help it! I love my faith AND I love reading about/listening to/talking about others' perspectives on it. I have been following the recent Mormon Mommy Blog hype and the recent Brandon Davies hype via Google reader.
Here is MMB's response to ABC Nightline on the blog hype. I really like what they have to say:
"We choose to put our families first, and we make no apologies for it...we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that a common misconception is that we don't worship Christ. We are nicknamed Mormons because of the Book of Mormon, and not because of who or what we worship. We believe in God, the eternal Father. We believe in his son, Jesus Christ. We embrace Christ.
Not only do we embrace Christ, but we embrace His teachings, and our readers FEEL that in their hearts. When they read our blogs, they FEEL good. The goodness emanates from Mormon Mommy Blogs, because we embrace the teachings and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ....Mormon Mommy Bloggers are a powerful force for good in this world, and they are spreading that goodness by sharing their lives through their blogs."
If you are among those fascinated by Mormon mommies, check out the super-cool Mormon Women Project.
As for Davies, I'm impressed with the amount of media attention. I am not a Cougar fan, as I didn't go to BYU, but Aaron most certainly is. We've been happy with the viewpoint of most sports commentators - BYU's enforcement of the honor code is a breath of fresh air, even if the code itself is (seemingly) too strict. However, Aaron was pretty upset about the unfounded opinions about BYU broadcast on NPR last week. He has written to them in complaint. Aaron is a die-hard NPR listener, and he has expressed concern before about pieces dealing with Mormonism being one-sided, usually negative. It is unfortuate reporting, since some listeners likely aren't getting a balanced view from other sources or (even better) from active members of the church.
All in all, I'm excited that the church (and its members) is in the news. Who doesn't love getting the "inside scoop" on these peculiar people? Let's just hope that the scoop is accurate, well-researched, and balanced.
Here is MMB's response to ABC Nightline on the blog hype. I really like what they have to say:
"We choose to put our families first, and we make no apologies for it...we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that a common misconception is that we don't worship Christ. We are nicknamed Mormons because of the Book of Mormon, and not because of who or what we worship. We believe in God, the eternal Father. We believe in his son, Jesus Christ. We embrace Christ.
Not only do we embrace Christ, but we embrace His teachings, and our readers FEEL that in their hearts. When they read our blogs, they FEEL good. The goodness emanates from Mormon Mommy Blogs, because we embrace the teachings and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ....Mormon Mommy Bloggers are a powerful force for good in this world, and they are spreading that goodness by sharing their lives through their blogs."
If you are among those fascinated by Mormon mommies, check out the super-cool Mormon Women Project.
As for Davies, I'm impressed with the amount of media attention. I am not a Cougar fan, as I didn't go to BYU, but Aaron most certainly is. We've been happy with the viewpoint of most sports commentators - BYU's enforcement of the honor code is a breath of fresh air, even if the code itself is (seemingly) too strict. However, Aaron was pretty upset about the unfounded opinions about BYU broadcast on NPR last week. He has written to them in complaint. Aaron is a die-hard NPR listener, and he has expressed concern before about pieces dealing with Mormonism being one-sided, usually negative. It is unfortuate reporting, since some listeners likely aren't getting a balanced view from other sources or (even better) from active members of the church.
All in all, I'm excited that the church (and its members) is in the news. Who doesn't love getting the "inside scoop" on these peculiar people? Let's just hope that the scoop is accurate, well-researched, and balanced.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
When Science Goes Bad...
Aaron sent me this article today about the unethicial practices of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the researcher who began the vaccine-autism controversy with a fraudulent research paper. We talk about autism in our home maybe a bit more than most, as Aaron is studying the genetics of autism and I have an autistic brother. Aaron also fields questions from folks, sometimes about vaccines. I respect any parent's concern for their child and valid worries about vaccines, but please know - autism and vaccines have never been linked. The study that claimed a correlation was bad science and falsified! It just gives us researchers the heebie-jeebies to think that a fraudulent study could get published in a major peer-reviewed journal like the Lancet (although the paper was retracted last year).
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Rwandan Health Care
Lessons from and obstacles for Rwanda, one of Africa's poorest nations.
This article really struck me today - 1) it made me miss studying/working on international public health issues, 2) it got me thinking about the new US healthcare plan, and 3) it makes me appreciative that I have health care and am a healthy person/ponder my role in making the world healthier.
When I was a little kid, I used to answer "What do you want to be when you grow up?" with "First, a scientist. Second, I want to go around changing the world." I've been thinking about my mark on the world thus far and how I will show my child this by example. Have I accomplished anything with that second goal? Of course, raising a child well is one of the most important and most impactual ways to change your world. What about beyond that? Are Aaron and I really stretching ourselves?
This article really struck me today - 1) it made me miss studying/working on international public health issues, 2) it got me thinking about the new US healthcare plan, and 3) it makes me appreciative that I have health care and am a healthy person/ponder my role in making the world healthier.
When I was a little kid, I used to answer "What do you want to be when you grow up?" with "First, a scientist. Second, I want to go around changing the world." I've been thinking about my mark on the world thus far and how I will show my child this by example. Have I accomplished anything with that second goal? Of course, raising a child well is one of the most important and most impactual ways to change your world. What about beyond that? Are Aaron and I really stretching ourselves?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Vaccines Rock
As a Public-Healther, I love vaccines. This is National Infant Immunization Week, and a great time to talk about it. They are one of the cheapest (in most cases), most efficient ways to prevent major illness and death caused by infectious disease. Vaccines have changed the health of the world - including erradiation of smallpox in 1977, prevention of HPV and HPV-related cancers, and prevention of polio (to name just a few). Of course, we do not have vaccines for every infectious disease yet - e.g., myriad unsuccessful attempts for HIV - but scientists are working on it, albeit not as much on "neglected diseases".
Vaccines do come with some risks. There are common side effects, such as soreness at the injection site, and there are very rare major side effects, such as an allergic reaction. The risk of a major side effect or death is so rare that vaccines are well-worth it. The restrictions on and testing of vaccines are generally exhaustive; infectious diseases usually pose a greater risk than any rare side effect. Here is a link to a Fit Pregnancy blog discussing vaccine myths.
With Aaron researching autism and with a brother who is autistic, you may be wondering how we feel about the MMR-autism controversy. The first and only MMR-autism implication stems from a 1998 Lancet article that was offically retracted this year, 2010. The main author of the paper manipulated and withheld results, while receiving money from folks who had a vested interest in seeing false results published. 10 of the 12 paper's authors retracted their support as well. The myriad studies completed after this false 1998 article showed no correlation or causation of autism by MMR vaccines. Vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines happen to be given at an age when autism and ASDs are detected - as the brain develops rapidly. Not vacciniating/waiting to vaccinate kids has led to a sharp increase in measles and mumps (particularly in the UK), which could have easily been prevented. Pertussis (whooping cough) is currently on the rise in the US, so make sure you and your child are up-to-date on your immunizations, particularly DTaP/Tdap. Here are the currently CDC-recommended vacccine schedules.
It is your choice whether or not to vaccinate, but I recommend, yes, please do. All evidence points to vaccines protecting you, your child,and those you come in contact with.
Vaccines do come with some risks. There are common side effects, such as soreness at the injection site, and there are very rare major side effects, such as an allergic reaction. The risk of a major side effect or death is so rare that vaccines are well-worth it. The restrictions on and testing of vaccines are generally exhaustive; infectious diseases usually pose a greater risk than any rare side effect. Here is a link to a Fit Pregnancy blog discussing vaccine myths.
With Aaron researching autism and with a brother who is autistic, you may be wondering how we feel about the MMR-autism controversy. The first and only MMR-autism implication stems from a 1998 Lancet article that was offically retracted this year, 2010. The main author of the paper manipulated and withheld results, while receiving money from folks who had a vested interest in seeing false results published. 10 of the 12 paper's authors retracted their support as well. The myriad studies completed after this false 1998 article showed no correlation or causation of autism by MMR vaccines. Vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines happen to be given at an age when autism and ASDs are detected - as the brain develops rapidly. Not vacciniating/waiting to vaccinate kids has led to a sharp increase in measles and mumps (particularly in the UK), which could have easily been prevented. Pertussis (whooping cough) is currently on the rise in the US, so make sure you and your child are up-to-date on your immunizations, particularly DTaP/Tdap. Here are the currently CDC-recommended vacccine schedules.
It is your choice whether or not to vaccinate, but I recommend, yes, please do. All evidence points to vaccines protecting you, your child,and those you come in contact with.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Are plastics harmful?
Convenient, yes. Sturdy and shatter-proof, yes. Harmless, no.
Research has shown the chemicals and molecules in plastics are hazardous to your health. Check out this article in the recent issue of Time. We are exposed to hundreds of synthetic chemicals in our daily lives, but I am particularly weary of BPA (bisphenol A) and phthalates. BPA is ubiquitous in plastics (as well as the lining of cans for canned foods, CDs, eyeglasses) and started getting some attention in the 1990s. Both BPA (a synthetic estrogen) and phthalates (esters of phthalic acid) are used to make plastics more durable and flexible. They are also endocrine disrupters, meaning they mess with the normal function of hormones in your body. For example, some studies have shown a possible correlation between BPA and higher incidence of miscarriages. In addition, there are myriad health problems on the rise in society (some of which is unexplained) - obesity, diabetes, autism, ADD, etc. These all have possible connections to harmful environmental exposures.
It is really pretty scary. Aaron has learned about some of these connections in his genetics courses at Duke - making it all the more real for us. Researchers found the link between BPA and genetic abnormalities by accident. They were conducting studies on mice, and found that their control group (those without any treatment), not the experimental group, had the abnormaliites. Eventually, they linked this bizarre finding back to new plastic water bottles that the control group had been given, water bottles that were leaching BPA into the mice's drinking water. Ick!
Recently, the CDC found BPA in 92-93% of Americans' urine. It is everywhere. So, what do we do? Ideally, Aaron and I would love to go plastic-free, but that is not an easy transition. We threw out all plastics in our kitchen marked with 3, 6, and 7 (the number in the triangle symbol at the bottom of the container). We also don't wash ANY plastics, no matter the #, in the dishwasher or use them in the freezer. The molecules in plastics are more likely to leach out chemicals when heated or frozen. Last, we try to eat less processed food, which is more likely to have harmful additives, and incorporate more fresh and homemade foods into our diet. We have not yet eliminated our exposure to plastic, disposable dishes and replaced our tupperware with other, safter storage containers, but we are working on it.
Are you totally freaked out yet? I think we will learn a lot more about the health effects of highly industrialized societies in years to come - similar to the info we know now about BPA and phthalates. Convenience comes at a cost. Just how high is it?
Other reading: NY Op-Ed about BPA, 11/09; Steps to reduce BPA exposure/USA Today, 01/10; EPA summary of phthalates, 2007; EPA Action Plan for BPA, 2010; Pictures from here
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Mormonism 101
As a Latter-Day Saint, I am always trying to keep up with the "mormon buzz". Whether the buzz is LDS in the news, information from the church, or thoughts from friends and colleagues, I'm interested. On one of my weekly "mormon" searches on Google News, I ran across a speech that Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of the 12 current apostles of the LDS church, gave at Harvard University in an annual Mormonism 101 series.
In his talk, he outlines the major doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints eloquently and succinctly. If only I could express myself so well! Often, I get questions from friends and family about the Church, our beliefs, and our practices. I must admit, I love those conversations. The LDS faith is an integral part of my life now - its precepts underlie many of my personal decisions, how I treat others, how I approach situations, and how I view the purpose of this life and my own personal calling here. I am always happy to share this with others. In addition, I think any dialogue among non-Mormons and Mormons is great. There seems to be much misunderstanding on both sides - so, please, if you ever have a question, just ask me!
Here is the transcript for Oaks' talk. It is worth the read! By the way, the LDS Newsroom (where this transcript is posted) is a great resource if you ever want to read the Church's offical public comments (e.g., same-sex marriage, church news around the world, etc).
In his talk, he outlines the major doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints eloquently and succinctly. If only I could express myself so well! Often, I get questions from friends and family about the Church, our beliefs, and our practices. I must admit, I love those conversations. The LDS faith is an integral part of my life now - its precepts underlie many of my personal decisions, how I treat others, how I approach situations, and how I view the purpose of this life and my own personal calling here. I am always happy to share this with others. In addition, I think any dialogue among non-Mormons and Mormons is great. There seems to be much misunderstanding on both sides - so, please, if you ever have a question, just ask me!
Here is the transcript for Oaks' talk. It is worth the read! By the way, the LDS Newsroom (where this transcript is posted) is a great resource if you ever want to read the Church's offical public comments (e.g., same-sex marriage, church news around the world, etc).
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Durham Technical Community College
I'm a pregnant commmunity college student...
Two classes occupy a large chunk of my free time Mon-Thurs nights this semester. I am taking Psychology and Human Anatomy/Physiology with lab. You may be asking, "Pray tell, why are you taking more classes?" I have been considering a second or dual career in public health nursing, and these are the final two prerequisite courses I need to apply to UNC's nursing school. Of course, there are many "ifs" involved in the scenario of me going back to school with a small child, but I would like to be ready if the choice and time are right.
I have been pleasantly surprised with Durham Tech. The professor knows each student. The students are very intelligent, many of them have similar interests/career aspirations and some have similiar backgrounds. There is more variety of lifestyle and life experience among the students at Durham Tech than I have found in a university setting. The 30 students in my classes really want to be there, and many of them work full-time. Many have children.
In a way, I feel like I have been duped. Duped into thinking that if you are smart, you must go to a university. Duped into thinking that community college is somehow inferior. I must fervently say no! How grateful I am to have a new learning experience in this setting. Circumstance afforded me the opportunity for university education and graduate school. Intelligence played a part, yes, but was not the main factor. The world may tell you differently, but we are all so very simlilar. Experiences such as this help me to better realize that statement.
Two classes occupy a large chunk of my free time Mon-Thurs nights this semester. I am taking Psychology and Human Anatomy/Physiology with lab. You may be asking, "Pray tell, why are you taking more classes?" I have been considering a second or dual career in public health nursing, and these are the final two prerequisite courses I need to apply to UNC's nursing school. Of course, there are many "ifs" involved in the scenario of me going back to school with a small child, but I would like to be ready if the choice and time are right.
I have been pleasantly surprised with Durham Tech. The professor knows each student. The students are very intelligent, many of them have similar interests/career aspirations and some have similiar backgrounds. There is more variety of lifestyle and life experience among the students at Durham Tech than I have found in a university setting. The 30 students in my classes really want to be there, and many of them work full-time. Many have children.
In a way, I feel like I have been duped. Duped into thinking that if you are smart, you must go to a university. Duped into thinking that community college is somehow inferior. I must fervently say no! How grateful I am to have a new learning experience in this setting. Circumstance afforded me the opportunity for university education and graduate school. Intelligence played a part, yes, but was not the main factor. The world may tell you differently, but we are all so very simlilar. Experiences such as this help me to better realize that statement.
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