Comments and more comments

Comments on Counter Claims

We were to comment on other's counter claims in our class and post our most helpful comment we received and the most helpful comment we gave.



I like reading other's post because it help shed some light on  how i should write mine but also it is just interesting to hear some of the other topics.

The best comment i received:

Justin GamboaNovember 23, 2012 10:12 AMLiz,
Wow! Your article was very informative. I have a lot of friends that are of Mormon faith, but I never took the time to ask questions about the LDS beliefs. I am definitely interested in learning more about the religion, and I'm sure they would be glad to answer my questions.
I agree that a person shouldn't be judged to vote a certain way because the nominees have the same faith. Everyone has the right to the freedom of religion, and that doesn't mean the person is brainwashed or controlled by it. A religious person lives a life based on values, and I feel no one should be obligated to be a certain way.
I don't agree with Cooper P. Abram III, the baptist pastor, on his stance of Mormon's being a cult. I feel no matter what religion a person might practice, no one should be judged or labeled a certain way, because they have different beliefs.
Good job!

The most helpful comment I left:

Elizabeth HensleyNovember 23, 2012 4:40 PM 

Jasmine, i like that your points are short and sweet. Privacy is a complicated issues especially such a hot aspect of privacy like social networking. I think that about the picture i put on face book and what that says about me, it is important to be aware enough. I'm surprised that the Spanish teacher was suspended because of bachlorette party photo's. What were there grounds for the suspension? i ask because i can understand a boss or future employer being concerned if there is illegal activity going on like drug use or underage drinking but teachers are usually far above drinking age when they graduate from college. so that seems a bit strange. How ever i do agree that everyone needs to be selective with what they out out there while also being careful not to forget who you are.
Wow, i;m shocked that cyber bullying could be so powerful. How do you combat cyber bullying  do you address this in your paper? I guess i get much of that now but i do rember in high school a few time i pissed some girls off they could just spew it at me in a myspace message without the fear that i would come and kick their butt because they were an hr drive away. it seems so crazy but more popular because its easier to break people down if they are not right there in front of you to respond.
Very interesting, i think you are doing great!

Links to my comments


Simone's- http://wordwidewriting.blogspot.com/2012/11/counter-arguments-to-my-paper-on.html?showComment=1354001155658#c9183959934009748376

Eve-http://goldenhighbridge.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-entry-8-hyropower-is-clean-energy.html?showComment=1353721583131#c444864022491455496

What People Say I Believe

Counterclaims 


I had a really hard time getting my mind around my counter arguments. It's tough when you are so into what you believe and what your stance is on an issue that it becomes difficult to see other points of view. My paper is about the positive and negative image of Mormons and in my paper I talk about three main myths/misconception i believe to be powerful influences on the negative image of The LDS church (Mormons). So in my counter claims I focused on two of those misunderstanding and what people might think and what is true, the truth I plan to go into detail about in my paper.



Mitt Romney- why this is relevant

In class i was asked are you going to vote for Mitt Romney because you’re Mormon? I was not surprised to hear this question but still it amazed me. i wonder to myself why someone might think that just because we are of the same faith that would be my main reason to vote for him. The idea that faith would unite people is not a hard one to conjure but when it come to something as complicated as politics., i would hope to be given a little more credit for my own decision. I felt offended that someone might assume I'm a robot and not an intelligent human being capable of having strongly different views from someone who shares the same faith.

This is a theme that i have observed but the main concern i saw from voters about Romney’s religious beliefs in the election season was that the Mormons church would somehow have a direct or even overruling effect on him as President. In Andrew Preston article in History Today addresses this concern by sharing an excerpt from a speech Romney gave in Texas stating ' “A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith. Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.”'

 I believe by Romney confronting this problem and trying to clear it up, shows that there is a feeling of nervousness towards his faith because of an assumption that some make that his decisions as president would be overpowered by his obligations to the LDS church.

Of course his membership in the church affects him as a man and has molded his values which is behind his political passion but Romney is his own person and the church has no control of the members lives. This viewpoint is understandable as with any deeply religious candidate for president, the question will come up,where is the line of obligation to your country,to your faith and which one will prevail over the other if the time comes for a decision.

For me the most important thing to explain is that I choose to attend my church, i choose to serve my church community and most importantly i choose to believe in my church, I am sure that Romney has those same choices .

Christains or Not


The question Are Mormons christians? is a common phrase i hear and something that i ve had to explain many times in my life, im sure this wont be my last.My stance is that this is a common misconception and as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ,the proof is in the name.

Yet others continue to argue that this is not the case. Cooper P. Abram III a baptist pastor said in a religious magazine‘"Are Mormons Christians?" is simple: "They are not biblical Christians because their beliefs and teaching are contrary to what the Bible teaches and this reveals them to be a "Christian" cult."'.He goes on to break down verses of the Bible and elaborate on the many reason why the LDS faith is a cult.

I believe that what he is trying to explain is that Mormons do not fall under the category of what he believes to be Christians as he understand the Bible.Now anyone can get technical and over analytical about what it means to be a christian but it is their own interpretation. I think the only way to be able to state as a fact that Mormons or anyone for that matter is not a christian is to observe a complete absence of God the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ in the doctrine and an absence of belief in the Bible as well.

Mormons believe in all these things, I believe in all these things and they are very present in the doctrine of the church and in my life.
 
 

Women In the Church

Mormon women are brainwashed, miserable and oppressed by our religion. If i had a dollar for everytime i've heard this i would be rolling in the dough. Being a Mormon women in the LDS faith i know im not oppressed but others, many others,would argue against that. In her article written for a religious studies class student Jessica Longaker rips into the gender roles of women in the church starting with polygamy which was practiced between 1843 to 1890. She continues by explaining that not much has changed since the 1800’s and women continue to be undervalued, bossed around and controlled by males.

 Longaker goes on about different things like unacceptable divorce and women being the only ones held responsible for sexual purity but i want to focus on a specific idea that is woven throughout this article. The idea that women are boiled down to something to be used, that they need to stay in the home and have as many children as possible. She argues that women are not seen as equals but are ruled by the men in the church (Longaker).

That would mean that I , as a member, have no say and the men get away with this because I believe they are lead by God to treat me inferior to them.That means that my voice is never heard, my dreams are never realized and I’m only good for one thing. Wow, no wonder Mormons have a negative image. She make valid points when addressing the past practices of the church but mostly gets the doctrine all twisted.

I was 18 when i joined and i have never been disrespected , put down or ignored by a male member in my congregation. I understand that things happen in the world. There are bad men who are baptist, catholic, and yes, mormon who treat women poorly but that doesn't mean that position stands for the group as a whole.





Just a side note incase you didnt already know,   "It was the Mormons who, as a group, were the greatest champions of the suffrage movement, with women in Utah and Wyoming winning the right to vote long before the women in any other state in the union." (Gordon 423-429)

 

 

Work cited

• Abrams, Cooper P., 3. "The Bible and the Scriptures of the LDS Church." O Timothy Magazine Oct. 1996: n. pag. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2012.
• Gordon, Philip Sherman. "Not A Mormon." Cultural Studies 19.4 (2005): 423-29.
•  Longaker, Jessica. "The Role of Women in Mormonism." The Role of Women in Mormonism. Http://www.exmormon.org/mormwomn.htm, 2 Sept. 1996. Web. 22 Nov. 2012
• Preston, Andrew. "Making Mormons Normal." History Today 62.10 (2012): 18-20. Acedemic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

Research, research, research.....

           This weeks assignment which we have been working on for a while is our annotated bibliography. I had to do a lot of research and i don't fell like I'm quite done yet but i need to post what i have so far and it's subject to change.      

        

            For those of you who have researched before for a college argument paper know how i feel. I wasn't even sure at first what i was looking for or if i could find whatever it might be. Luckily my tuition pays for library resources such as being able to access online data basis for free. Through everything and the hours of research i found interesting pieces that help me to get my head around my topic. My claim is still evolving but I'm getting closer to the concrete. Included with my work cited is called an annotations, basically my comments on the pieces of work. It explains what the work is, a little summary, and how i plan to use it in my paper.

Works Cited

"The Articles of Faith #11." Pearl of Great Price. Trans. Joseph Smith, Jr. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, n.d. N. pag. Print.

1. Articles of Faith are inside Pearl of Great Price. Each One is a statement of belief issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

2. Article of Faith #1: We claim the privilege of worshiping almighty god according to the dictates of our own conscious and allow all men the same privilege let them, worship how where or what they may.

3.I will use this to show what the church believes as regard to religion and others beliefs and what 

they expect as well.

Bunker, Gary, and Martin Johnson. "ETHNICITY AND RESISTANCE TO COMPENSATORY EDUCATION: A COMPARISON OF MORMON AND NON-MORMON ETHNIC ATTITUDES." Review of Religious Research 16.2 (1975): 74-82. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.

1. Review of religious research in academic journal.

2. Bunker a psychology professor at BYU and Johnson a psychology professor at   Missouri Western State College conducted research study, where they had students take from a predominantly Mormon high school and college and then the same but with two California high schools and two California colleges whose population was 1% or less of Mormons.. The purpose was to determine whether or not Mormons had a significantly more or less favorable view of minorities e.g. African Americans, American Indians, Polynesians and Mexican Americans than those who are non-Mormon. The result is that there was no significant difference in the views toward those of ethnic background from those who are Mormon and non-Mormon.

3. I plan to use the results of the survey by showing the one of the table of results as an example to combat the misconception that Mormons are racist.

Carlson, Bob. "Mormon Identity." Letter to the Editor. N.d. Christian Century. 23rd ed. Vol. 124. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 50. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.

1.this is a letter in a periodical 2.A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "A Mormon President?" by Laurie Maffly-Kipp, from the August 21, 2007 issue. Carlson talks about a few things and has some misconceptions 3.i plan to use this as an example of the misconception that Mormons do not believe in Jesus Christ.

Gordon, Philip Sherman. "Not A Mormon." Cultural Studies 19.4 (2005): 423-29. Print.

1. Article from cultural studies, an academic journal

2. Gordon is a Jewish professor at Utah Valley College with predominantly Mormon student body. He talks about religious identity and tolerance of faith between himself and his students. He talks about his own anti Mormon feelings as well as his pro Mormons feeling and how mutual respect.

3. I want to use quotes or even paraphrase an idea he explains. I want to use it to show misconceptions and realities of Mormons coming from a non-Mormon perspective. How he dealt with it and his view of respect and tolerance of religion and people.

"Political Neutrality." Ensign 10 Oct. 2012: 41. Print.

1. An article and statement released by the church summarizing the non-partisan position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

2. The do's and don'ts of how members should act and support during an election season.

3. I will use this to address the LDS church’s role in elections and the misconceptions of Mitt Romney related to the church.

Preston, Andrew. "Making Mormons Normal." History Today 62.10 (2012): 18-20. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

1. Article from History Today about Mitt Romney

2. Preston explains the issue America has with religion and compares Mitt Romney’s challenge of winning America's vote to JFK's challenge in 1960 to win America vote and overcome his religious resistance for being catholic.

3.I plan to use quotes that talk about religious tolerance and the possibility of acceptance.