So, a couple of years ago, I decided to become a vegetarian. I had my reasons—my boss who I greatly admired was a vegetarian; I had just moved to a liberal city where being a vegetarian was a little more hip; it seemed like a healthy thing to do. Not to mention the ethical considerations about animal cruelty and the disgusting nature of the U.S. meat industry. So I did it—I made a goal to give up eating meat for one year of my life. READ MORE »

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Since my previous post was interpreted as quite harsh toward Carol Lynn (when it wasn’t intented to be… I’m all for freedom to disagree with people I love and respect), here’s a follow up. In the SLT, she writes: READ MORE »

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Yeah. I know. That’s not how the scriptures goes.

It is, unfortunately, how I apply it 99.9% of the time.

I’m prone to talking with God all the time. It’s a habit. I’ll be in the car, driving, chatting with my unseen passenger–I’m certain I look insane to anyone passing me. One would think that such constant dialogue would foster a close, intimate relationship with deity, and of course, it would if there were dialogue instead of lecturing.

A typical conversation between God and me goes something like this:

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Hi folks. I am a bit new to the discussion on Northern Lights. I came across a post by Ty about God, Gender, and Race that I found fascinating. It looks like Ty was trying to initiate a discussion on gender deconstruction, i.e., breaking down the sociological constructs of gender while at the same time appreciating the eternal essence of gender’s reality. The conversation, however, got a little side-swiped by debate about motive and historicity. Because of my own fascination with the topic of gender and its fundamental principles, I would like to revive the gender deconstruction conversation. While I value discussion about sexuality and politics, I would please ask that this thread be kept purely focused on the pursuit of understanding gender itself. Thanks.

As a starting point I will quote the statement on primordial gender from a man named Joseph Lee Robinson, which was recorded in 1845, while the Saints were still in Nauvoo:

“[A] vision was opened, the voice of the spirit came to me saying: that all matter was eternal, that it never had a beginning and that it should never have an end and that the spirits of all men were organized of a pure material or matter upon the principle of male and female so that there was a time when?the spirit was organized or begotten or born so that the spirit has a father and the material or matter, that our tabernacles [i.e., spirit bodies] are composed of is eternal and as we understand are organized upon the principles of male and female.?

Wide open playing field here. What is gender?

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