While surfing around the web for the latest and greatest in the seemingly endless Health Care debate, I came across an interesting video from one of my favorite shows, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. During one of their quick snippet video jokes they highlighted part of a speech from a member of the House of Representatives. His name is (R) Todd Akin and he represents Missouri’s 2nd District. In the video he stated how he believes that we’re standing on the abyss and that people who have issues with the current Health Care bill should turn to God in prayer to ask for his help “supernaturally”. All in an attempt to make sure we don’t take “this fatal step into socialized medicine.” It might just be me, but doesn’t it seem that since the last election the country has been over-investing in fear mongering and rampant doomsday predictions instead of job creation or refurbishing our infrastructure? I think everyone can agree that the United States is in dire need of some sort of reform, is prayer the integral piece that’s been missing from the legislative process? Or is it perhaps the thing that’s been holding us back from a meaningful discussion about how to fix the leaks in our boat? What do you guys think?

Here’s the video, unfortunately I couldn’t find a shorter version but it’s about 3/4 into the video.

I was reading the New York Times and came across an article about those who “apostatize away from Scientology”. In the article it went into detail about the secret organization within the church that is similar to the LDS missionary program and it went into details about the infliction placed upon these individuals by the cult-like group.  See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/us/07scientology.html?scp=2&sq=scientology&st=cse

Their stories forced me to look back on my own Exodus from the Mormon Church, and how I was treated in a similar fashion.  As I was in the process of leaving I went through a stage where I didn’t believe that the church was true, but I thought that the organization was excellent. In my mindset as long as the church was doing good it was okay to be a part of it. This route seemed easiest because of the immense social pressure that is placed on being a peter priesthood Mormon boy (that and I was in the bishopric) . Upon further meditation I realized that the church controls every aspect of a person’s life: what to wear, what to eat, who to marry, how to have sex, what to study, how to vote . . . this list goes on and on.  During this process I came across this video, and in it I saw all the eerie similarities between “cults” and the church. The scariest parts are the tools that they use on the new recruit . These methods can almost be taken directly out of the LDS missionary hand book Preach My Gospel.

What similarities do you see in this video and the LDS church? What’s the difference between a cult and a religion–is it just size and acceptance? To me they all seem to be the same.

Last week, the Utah Statesman profiled two USU philosopher professors: professors Huenemann and Kleiner.

Huenemann was featured in the paper because he was recently awarded full professorship after 15 years of teaching at USU. From the article:

Among his colleagues and students, Huenemann is known for filling the shoes of a philosopher by fitting the quirky and comical stereotype, said friend and colleague John Seiter, speech and communications professor. … Though Huenemann is an accomplished philosopher and professor, Seiter said what stands out most about Huenemann is the person he is…“He is a compassionate leader with an amazing sense of humor. He makes movies with his kids. He invests a lot of time into being a father.”

I have regrettably never taken a class from Dr. Huenemann. But he has nonetheless made my stay at USU more enjoyable. My first semester (Fall 2006), I wasn’t so sure I made the right school choice. But that semester, I attended a philosophy club event where I was introduced to professors Huenemann and Kleiner. I was so impressed by their knowledge, their passion, their beards—everything. Knowing that professors of their caliber taught here at USU gave me great peace of mind.

While I wasn’t able to take any of Dr. Huenemann’s courses, I have been the beneficiary of Dr. Kleiner’s teaching. Professor Kleiner was also featured in the school newspaper, but the reason for the article is hardly celebratory:

Of the many professors USU employs, one philosophy professor will not be returning to expand the minds of students next fall. Professor Harrison Kleiner has inspired the hearts of his pupils here for five years, but because of the budget cuts, he no longer will teach them how to think like Socrates, write like Plato and study like Aristotle.

Those who know Dr. Kleiner, from either this blog or his classes, understand how profound a loss his leaving will be. I don’t use Yiddish to describe many people, but Dr. Kleiner is a real mensch. He’s more than a phenomenal educator, he’s an all-around great person and I’m honored to call him a friend. I wish him the best and hope he continues to grace our blog.

Be sure to thank both these men for their many years of service at this school.

The New York Times recently released an article stating that the state of Washington had a total of 36 legal assisted suicides since the passing of its legislation last year.  I personally applaud Washington State for having the courage to allow people dignity and ease of pain. When I debate people on this subject they commonly refer to suicide as being murder of one’s self. The dogma of Dante’s Divine Comedy and its circle reserved in hell for those who leave life on their own terms has entered the collective consciousness of the religious right and made its way into politics.  The best argument I have heard against religious claims came from a PBS documentary on the subject. Watch and share your thoughts and feelings on the sensitive issue.

If there is a Hell, these atheists are practically sprinting there! Our group would never dare do something like this. I guess we’re all SHAFT and no balls.

Since its 1830 publication, there have been nearly 4,000 changes made to the Book of Mormon. The vast majority of these changes were minor grammatical edits. Other changes were more significant, tweaking and clarifying doctrines. My favorite change, though, corrected a hilarious and embarrassing typo in the 1992 Spanish edition of the Book of Mormon.

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