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Are You Aware? Queer and Mormon
This is part III in our LGBTQ+ Education Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here. Hello, friends. I’m Blaire Ostler. I’m a born and raised Mormon. I come from nine generations of Mormon pioneers. I often joke that if there is a Mormon gene, I have it. I’m also a genderqueer and bisexual, but most of the time I refer to myself as “queer.” If there is a queer gene, I’m pretty sure I have that too. The constant struggle for a bisexual person, at least in my case, was never feeling like you belong somewhere. I was never gay enough and I was never straight enough.…
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Are You Aware? My Complicated Life as a Transgender Latter-Day Saint
This is part II in our LGBTQ+ Education Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here. Ever since I can remember, I have felt that I was somehow different. As I got older, I learned that the way I was different was not OK — even shameful. I hated this part of myself that made me different. I prayed and wished and hoped that someday I could be the same as everyone else. My name is Ann Pack and I am a transgender woman. It has taken decades for me to not only be OK with this part of myself but actually love and embrace this part of…
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Sabbath Devotional :: The Power of Words
In many Native American creation stories, and indeed, in our own creation story, the world comes into being in part because the Creator spoke the words to create it. Genesis tells us that “God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Jacob taught that “by the power of his word, man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word” (Jacob 4:9). God cannot lie (Ether 3:12). All his words must be fulfilled (D&C 1:38). Just as his word created the earth, it can cause the earth to pass away, the rough places to be made smooth, and…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Unintended Consequences — War on Drugs
America’s war on drugs has now lasted nearly 50 years without success. This “war” began in 1971 with President Nixon’s declaration of a war on drugs soon after the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in late 1970. The act put a full prohibition on certain drugs, including marijuana, LSD, and heroin. This act declared that these drugs had high potential of abuse and had no valid medical uses. The prohibition of these drugs made it difficult to procure them, even for pure scientific or medical research. This act was not based on any scientific or medical studies. Supporters claimed it would reduce drug-related crime, drug overdoses, and disease. They…
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‘Sasse Leads the Way’
By being one of the first of his party to push back against the president’s suggestions for Ukraine and China to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Sasse bravely marked a path, one that we hope more Republican senators and representatives will pursue as elections draw closer.
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MWEG Members in Action
Hot on the heels of the 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference and with voter registration in full swing, MWEGers have been busy keeping up with current political events, while doing their part to engage in civil discourse online and in person. Members were called to action regarding the lowering of refugee resettlement to an all-time low of 18,000 by the current administration, along with a call to contact their representatives to make the full copy of the whistleblower complaint available to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees (the complaint was released to the public on September 26). These calls to action keep our representatives accountable to their constituents and…
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My Top 10 Takeaways from the UN Civil Society Conference
In his 2018 BYU commencement address, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “So go out there and light a candle. Be a ray of light. Be your best self and let your character shine. Cherish the gospel of Jesus Christ and live it. The world needs you, and surely your Father in Heaven needs you if His blessed purposes for His children are to prevail. You have entered to learn. Now go forth to serve and strengthen. If correcting all the world’s ills seems a daunting task, so be it. Go out there and be undaunted.” Be a ray of light.The world needs you.Go out there and be undaunted. The 68th…
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Peacemaking on Social Media
When we enter a conversation online with the intent to try and force a change of opinion, we elicit defensiveness and frustration. But when we bring a peacemaking mindset to these interactions, we offer posts and comments that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy. As MWEG members have learned about the Six Principles of Peacemaking and practiced using them in our Facebook discussion group, they have been inspired to apply them in their personal social media use as well. Here are a few examples: “I have a friend who recently started sharing a lot more unkind memes about politics, ones that say ‘How dumb are you if you believe xyz??’ or…
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Volunteering at the Southern Border
The U.S. has seen an unprecedented surge of asylum seekers along our southern border in the past several months. Most come through the process weary and confused. They carry no personal possessions and require assistance to carry on with their travels. Respite centers in key border towns have become safe and welcoming shelters for these vulnerable people. Rio Grande Valley Catholic Charities Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, for instance, offers a hot meal and clean water, basic hygiene necessities, a fresh set of clothing, and access to medicine and basic medical attention for those in need. Families can enjoy a hot meal together in the dining hall. There are spacious…
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Refugee Resettlement — We Must Do More
Can we talk about refugee resettlement? One of the most common arguments I hear against resettlement is that we should help people where they are rather than try to help them move to the U.S. This attitude is particularly concerning as the U.S. proposes to again cut refugee resettlement, this time to only 18,000 people in 2020. Only about 1% of refugees worldwide are resettled in a third country, although those are the refugees an American or European is most likely to have met. If the U.S. cuts its resettlement program again, it will have a noticeable impact on worldwide refugee resettlement in 2020, and that is very troubling.Most refugees…
