Ramblings, Rants, Links, and Yarnovers

Elder Wirthlin was buried yesterday. What a dear, kind, gentle man!

Here is a link on grandparenting effectively from a distance.

And an excellent column re: the Prop 8 backlash. Thanks, BestFriend!

I noticed on my Yahoo! News that a headline which read something like “opposition to Prop 8 chiefly from the uneducated and religious” at 6:00am on Thursday, read “California gay marriage ban driven by religion” at 9:00am. In the body of the article [revised slightly during the day] it gives interesting statistics.

I was mildly amused to read that 57% of nonwhite voters and 56% of voters over 55 were “not as strong factors as assumed”. Would the anti-religion bigots be more impressed if it were 99%? I think not.

I was less amused by the implication that being religious is equivalent to being poor and uneducated. Because, of course, enlightened people cannot possibly believe in God, or moral values that have stood the test of time, or the necessity for self-discipline when one disagrees with one’s neighbor. Here is the article. And another. Glad to know that I’m not alone in this belief.

There was a disturbance earlier this week at the entrance to the temple here in Dallas; as I heard it, the gates had to be locked. I called ahead last night before driving up from work. All clear, and I was able to go in and serve without incident.

Funny how “tolerance” only goes one way. This is America. Freedom of religion, remember? One should not need a Hummer with a cow-catcher on the front, just to clear a path to church.

BestFriend also had a link on her blog to a National Review article that said if the anti-LDS, anti-Prop8 ad that was broadcast shortly before the election, had been shown with two actors portraying Jews or Muslims acting disgracefully, there would have been a hue and cry not to be believed. Can I get an “amen”?

OK, I’ll step down from my soapbox. I would show you some delicious sockly progress, but I need to recharge the batteries in my camera first. So I am taking my cranky, ignorant religious self back to my boudoir to knit for awhile, and then I will sort through another box or three of books and maybe do a little weeding of my CD collection while I’m at it.

Today’s agenda includes lots of knitting, a trip to the Nail Dude’s, the Nativity display in my old stake [I just love to congregate with other cranky, ignorant religious types to celebrate one of the two most important events in earthly history], and some quality time with Middlest. Maybe a nap, though I got an unheard-of eight hours of sleep last night and am nearly drunken with rest.

Happy Saint Nicholas’ Day, everybody. It is also the birthday of the children’s father; holy cow, how did he get to be 68 when I am still lithe and in my 20’s? [Firstborn is now wiping a mouthful of milk off her keyboard; you will recall that she turned 30 this summer...]