Ramblings

Well it has certainly been a while since I last updated my blog (not as long as it has been since my sister updated hers, but close.) So I'll talk about a few things.

First there is the election. I am going to vote for Obama. Long time readers will notice that I have criticized Obama before. He certainly is not a perfect candidate. Even so, I like him better McCain and especially since he chose Palin as his running mate. I don't really want to get into all the reasons behind my vote other than to say I think Obama is positive and honest and may do the country a lot of good. He may not and if so I'll vote against him next time. Either way I live in Utah and the state is going Republican so it doesn't matter that much.

In the election I'm more concerned about the local votes, especially propositions and ammendments. I think we too easily want to ammend the state constitutions. I will be voting against ammendments I feel unnecessary. There are some ammendments I will be voting for. I wasn't always so cautious about ammending the state constitution but since have decided that we should have more respect for the wisdom of the original authors. As for propositions, I will be voting against Cache County's Proposition 1 as I feel (after doing research) that it is misleading and not really helpful. One argument for the proposition told students to vote for it and said they shouldn't care about the property tax increase it calls for because students rent and don't have property tax. I hate this argument. We should care about tax increases that effect others just as much as those that effect us.

Next I want to say that I was dissapointed with a newspaper article I read today about LDS mothers of gay children who were protesting in Salt Lake City against California's Proposition 8 (which the LDS church is opposing and asking members to oppose). The mothers said that they wanted to not abandon their children and be loving to them and support them and so they didn't want to oppose gay marriage. This shows horribly flawed logic. Condoning gay marriage (and in opposition to the church) doesn't show any love. It will only encourage a lifestyle that cannot lead to happiness. Being loving and supporting means not disowning someone, not degrading them, etc. It does not mean conding what they do. Are we eager to remove all drug laws so kids with drug additions feel loved? We love unconditionally but that should not mean we have to condone. We can understand that it may be difficult for people with same sex attraction while not condoning it. We don't need to yell at homosexuals "You're a horrible person" but we can teach them that the gospel and that homosexuality (acting on it) is wrong. Mothers of gays can support California's Proposition 8 without being cruel, mean, or unloving to their children.