Bewildering, Bothersome News

So I don't actually write things like this on the blog very often anymore, for a few reasons, but things have sort of piled up in the last few weeks and I think it's worth getting out there, albeit semi-briefly.  Of course I'm not one to shy away from talking about heavy or socially relevant issues, but I have lately been trying to avoid stirring up the pot unnecessarily, stepping back from things that will negatively affect my self and future and family, and focusing instead on doing what I can in venues and ways that will actually make a difference.

Having said that...

First things first, this happened.  (I couldn't even find a balanced description of the event, which makes sense since the event itself was evidently hardly balanced.)  There are so many problems with this, I don't even know where to start, so I won't get too deep into it.  I will say that when I posted the link on Facebook, bemoaning the fact that my beloved BYU is not the place it once was (if it ever was??), and wondering when it became such an overt and blatant breeding ground for unchecked propaganda, I was even more disturbed with the response from my supposedly like-minded friends than I was with the actual event.  It was unbalanced and propagandistic and refused to acknowledge alternatives to simply accepting this as part of your identity.  I just don't understand how people can't realize what this means.  Of course it was a departmental event, but the part is the whole, and unfortunately this reflects very poorly on BYU and the Church, at least for people who still believe in and follow the word of God regarding this subject.  You know, the people who don't give standing ovations for the poor kids in the panel who said God made them a certain way and as soon as they leave the horrid confines of BYU they are certainly going to live out the lifestyle with which they so adamantly and blindly identify.

Second things second, by now many of the very few people who read this blog will have discovered this little piece.  (I'm purposely not embedding the actual video because I don't want the wretched thing to show up when I look through my blog.)  When this came to my attention, my eyes went wide and my jaw dropped.  Bear in mind that I have had issues with the entire It Gets Better campaign as it is (I find it extremely elitist and emotionally manipulative, and isn't really getting to the core issues at all, but is more a platform for widespread propaganda), and have seriously considered breaking ties with beloved and important institutions because of their participation in it, and then here this bomb drops from my own beloved BYU.  Again, so many things wrong with this.  I mean, from the sound of it, it DOESN'T get better!  What's the message of this video?  That if you feel something that you don't believe is right and true, or something that you have been taught all your life isn't right, you just deal with it until you're in a position in life that you can accept it and act on it?  THAT'S when it gets better?  When you can abandon or modify the word of God just so you can experience some backward notion of who you are?  And base your identity entirely on your behavior and self-labeling?  I also resent the implication that people who disagree are sheltered and naive and stupid and intolerant.  Oh yes, and bigoted (oh, how I have come to loathe that word... don't those who throw it out realize how easily and completely it's turned directly around?).  Where's the tolerance for the other point of view?  Honestly, if I had seen that video while I was a young and impressionable and thoroughly confused college student, it would have shaken my belief system's foundation to its very core.  This video probably would have driven me to self-destructive thoughts.  (How's that for having the opposite effect?)  I could go on and on about this, but I shall proceed.

Finally, briefly, in response to that video along came this.  When I first saw it, it was even a little more shocking than the previous one.  How sad, these people are being used for and/or participating in a propaganda film. How much more manipulative could it possibly be?  I mean, aside from all the idiotic things these poor people say, am I seriously supposed to think it's sweet that they are bearing testimony of false doctrine?  In the sacred and holy name of my Lord and Savior, no less?  Who lived and died so people could overcome any and all temptations through His all-encompassing Atonement?  Like they said in the video, I also hope the poor confused people who watch that video see themselves as who they really are, and don't identify themselves entirely as their behavior, ignoring the hopeless ideas preached therein.

Then, of course, there's the whole issue of the terroristic threat that was mailed via the United States Postal Service directly to my parents' front door and into my dad's very hands...  This from the side that demands tolerance and love.

So yes, all of this has been disheartening, but at the same time, conversations have arisen from these things that have caused people to finally pay attention and think and realize what's going on (and what has been going on for years, right under their noses, though much more quietly).  Some people were posting and praising those videos without even watching them!  (They just looked at it and thought it had a good message, so shared it without even thinking about it or doing the proper research.)  People have thanked me for standing up for the right thing, to which I reply with thanks, but also encouragement to stand up themselves.  Silent dissent is as good as assent, and they think their agenda is gaining greater ground than it really is, because most people just sit silently by and pretend it's not happening (this could be for many reasons, but none of them are very good, not even the fear and friends and family will disagree with your stance...  Whose approval are we more concerned about gaining here?).  Bear in mind that this blogpost is a mere snapshot of my many thoughts regarding these recent happenings, but it's something at least.  Regarding this issue, I think most of the time I think people really do have their heart in the right place, they simply aren't thinking things through.  I do love everyone, and of course I have friends and acquaintances and associates who have feelings of same-sex attraction (why do people always assume that if you take this stance then you obviously don't know any gay people?), and of course I have done my research (the opposite of which is another assumption people make when you take this position), that's not what this is about.  Love does not equal permissiveness, and love has never meant you just accept everything and let people do whatever they want.  I love my fellow man too much to keep quiet when God's plan is being so actively and systematically challenged.  There is a big picture here, and these little things are not baby steps, they're giant leaps.  The slope just keeps getting more and more slippery.

Brigham and Beethoven

For the last couple of weekends we have had some fun family outdoor activities, which I will now describe for all my vast and ultra-interested readership.

On Labor Day we finally were able to get a group together for our hike to the Y.  Neither The Wife nor I have ever done this well-known and well-loved student activity, not during our many years as Cougars, and we've been meaning to do the hike for a couple of summers now.  We tried to find a time when the most family could join us, but the summer weekends just filled up so quickly and we were all so busy!  There was never a Saturday that was good for everyone (and we had to go on a Saturday even though it was summertime, since, you know, we work and stuff), so we decided to just say we were going on Labor Day regardless, and if anyone could make it, they were welcome to join us!  Sure, it might be crowded on a holiday, especially with all the students suddenly back in town, but we just went for it.  As it happens, the turnout was great, and we had a really fun time.  Sure, it was crowded after all, but not too bad, and it was a nice overcast morning, the outdoors still clinging to summer's wretched heat, but with a delightful cloud cover.  They were even filming a commercial from the valley while we were there, and a group of us headed up to join the crowd around the Y Sports banner.  Afterward we had J Dawgs, and then headed to our place for rest and generic-brand otter pops (which I have been having very sparingly to preserve them for use during just such an occasion as this, and of which we had just enough).  Success!  And now, twelve full years after I started my freshman year, and six full years after I graduated, I have finally done this moste honoured rite of passage.

And we will call it... This Land.

 

 

 

 

I didn't know she was taking the picture.

Now I did.

Now I REALLY did.

They're going to be on TVeeee!!!

 

 

 

Y

Also Y.

 

Cami doesn't look too pleased about something back there.  I look pretty content though.

They are so delicious.

And just this last weekend we had our annual Beat Beethoven 5K in Pleasant Grove.  Julie didn't feel quite up to this one, so I met the group there at the starting place, and listened to Beethoven himself give the announcements, and off we went!  I kept my eye on the runner just ahead of me, and thought surely that couldn't be Jonny I was keeping up with...  But lo, it was.  I definitely couldn't pass him up, but I did keep the interval between us throughout.  This is a good course, mostly downhill, but with that pesky final stretch of slight incline just to keep you from getting to too careless there at the end.  I'm quite sure that my efforts in this race resulted in a new PR (20:00 even, 2nd place in my division--I would really like to know WHO from 30-39 ran it in under 20...), a minute and a half faster than last year at this race.  I saw the clock switch over from 19 to 20 as I crossed the finish line, so that was a tad frustrating, but how can I complain??  I kept up with Jonny and I beat Beethoven!  This is a fun race.  You were missed, Wife!  And I was also dressed as a ninja.  I think that's what made me a little faster than last year.

 

Ninja runner!  You can't see me!

And then I rushed (like, rushed) home for the rest of my Saturday morning commitments, and they were not few in number.  What nice Saturday morning exercise opportunities.

Drawing Closer

The title of this post could mean a great many things at this point in my life, but even though I've been rather busy and have a lot of things to post about, this one simply could not wait:



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough said!!!

And coming up: Life after finals.

Back to the Drawing Board...

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for your recent application for admission to graduate study at Brigham Young University.

We regret to inform you that the Psychology- Clinical PhD program has not recommended you for admission for Fall 2009...

... *sigh* Just my luck. But at least they "wish [me] success in attaining [my] personal and academic goals," right?

So, for me, I guess it's, quite literally, back to the drawing board...

Finals

Finals are over! And they were my best ever, I'm fairly certain! It felt great to have one test each day on Monday through Wednesday, a group presentation, and a hefty final paper (which is really quite interesting... perhaps I'll blog about it sometime), and then be done and done!

And now... I have bigger fish to fry...

Application Status: Admitted

After a certain bothersome amount of rigamaroll (sp?, and which I will certainly not bore you all with here), I am at last accepted back into BYU as a post-Baccalaureate student, so I can now enroll in the fall for my Psych prerequisites, and hopefully by Christmas, apply to the graduate program. I guess getting back into BYU was the easy part, and getting into the actual program will be the challenge... There are some pretty sobering entrance statistics, but I'm confident if I do well in the prerequisites, my chances will be as good as anyone else's. Surely I'll be able to focus on just a few classes, especially since I'm not having to worry about taking any ridiculously difficult GE courses!!!

So anyway, that's the update on that. I'm sure moving back to Provo (hopefully rooming with some old mission buddies) and going back to college will give me plenty to blog about, so look forward to the debut of Kuab Ci: The (Further) College Years!

Back to school?...

Well, after a long talk with Mom and Dad last night, I think I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I'm going back to school. I do want to work in the animation field, but as yet, it doesn't look too promising, at least not right away. I lost a lot of graduation momentum taking two years off right after I left school, and my demo reel is sadly lacking for the standards that most studios require, even smaller local ones. So, at the risk of finding myself a completely unmarketable person in the world, especially in the future when a family might be involved, I have decided to study in the field of Psychology. I feel like I have certain artistic skills that could be put to good use in the world, but I also want to help people, and because of my background and history, and my interest in the amazing nature of the creation of the human mind, I think this is up my alley. I would want to study family psychology, and eventually have a degree in clinical work and therapy. (Incidentally, I had in the past considered law and medicine, but I don't know if those are really for me.) In some ways, I feel like this is a concession, giving up the dreams I've always had, but at the same time, I can't help thinking this might be a reason things aren't quite working out so far. In the arts, I've always felt I was good at a lot of things, but not really GREAT at anything. Maybe it's time to study something a little less visual... I did take the Intro to Psych class for a general requirement way back when, and really enjoyed it, I even considered continuing a little more into psychology for some electives. So, today I've been on the phone with Admissions at BYU, figuring out if a student with a BFA can go back to school before getting into a graduate program, and they said that I should be able to, all it requires is an abbreviated version of the admission application, a renewed ecclesiastical endorsement and a letter of explanation, telling why I need to go to school in between degrees, etc. They even waive the application fee for such cases! They said if you have a 3.0 and you went to BYU before, the chances are pretty good of getting back in. There are just a few prerequisites required to apply to the Psych graduate program, and if I get accepted for the post-BA status, I can start taking classes as early as Summer term this year, and maybe be done with the prerequisites by January.

So, I think that's what I might do. Yea? Nay?

I mean, really, if I could make a living singing, I would do that in an instant, but you know, I need to think about the future.

My first blog tirade - David vs. Goliath

Well, here I am, about to embark on my first bonafide blogged rant. There I was this afternoon, innocently reading a teeny-bopper romance novel (I promised Elise...), actually starting to get into the drama and romance of it, when Mom, talking to Cami about the politics of college life, hesitantly informed me that BYU has changed its Honor Code in favor of homosexuality (story on Deseret News here and the actual text here).

. . . I could think of little else for several minutes after hearing this news. Mom said she hadn't wanted to tell me when I was in Wisconsin because she was sure it would upset me. I read the article--actual, verified, complete with quotes and names. I can honestly say that I am genuinely surprised by this. I remember when I was in college there was a lot of to-do about some students being expelled because of homosexual behavior, and now this? I know the "clarification" merely says that homosexual students/faculty are allowed to participate at Brigham Young University, as long as they don't act out or whatever, but that is absurd!!! They are acting out!!! I have seen it! Entertaining thoughts is behavior! What ever happened to controlling thoughts and changing and becoming? What ever happened to the Savior?? What ever happened to the all-encompassing and enabling Atonement??? Believe you me, these confused students have rationalized homosexual behavior up and down. They think it's only "fair" that they be allowed to do whatever they like, since the hetero students can. In fact, they are so entrenched in the victim mentality that they think they actually have special privileges, and are entitled to even more liberality of behavior. I am aware of the attacks against the Church in recent months and years, particularly in regards to the gay movement and agenda, and I am ALL for loving everyone as a child of God, regardless of their beliefs and opinions, but God's laws are ABSOLUTE, and nothing can change them! Judging wrong behavior as wrong is not judging a person. Why are we these days being so subtly, but SURELY, being conditioned into this? I guess it's fair to say that people who are struggling with this can still go to school, but people who are unapologetically arguing that this is actually WHO THEY ARE? And that we owe something to them just because they identify themselves as "different" and victims? People who have self-identified as someone against the creation and design of God? That is just sad and self-defeating. This is something that can and MUST be overcome, as can be attested in the experiences of thousands around the world (which is a very hopeful and Christ-centered study). In the name of being "tolerant" and "accepting", we are advocating a gospel of hopelessness, allowing our beloved brothers and sisters to walk right into the jaws of hell. We are fighting against the Philistine, but remember how David was triumphant, in spite of the seemingly unconquerable odds. And yes, I have every right to be indignant about this--I am BYU alumnus.

Chalk one up for being politically correct. Even at a private institution owned and operated by General Authorities of the true and living Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For now. . .