First of all, I apologize for the HUGE delay in blog posting. I started a blog for exercise, and then got really busy and wasn't exercising anymore so I stopped blogging (since what I blogged about was no longer something I was doing).
I get the wonderful opportunity to meet lots of unique people on campus and where I work. All of those people have a very unique way of looking at life. Even those who have similar life styles, religious beliefs, even from the same area, look at life very differently. By meeting all these people who have such a wide varied set of eyes to see the world, I have grown to have many questions and new insights on life and people in general. Now, please, do not take anything posted in this blog to be offensive. I'm not planning on saying anything offensive, but you know how people can get.
I learned through the example of my mother and living with an Autistic brother that life is way too short and precious to be offended by everything. Seriously. My brother has had a lot of crap thrown his way for being different in his Autism. I think it's beautiful. However, a lot of people do not understand and have therefore physically hurt him, judged him, said horrible things about him and my mom, etc. She told me that after a while, she realized the judging wasn't going to stop because people are ignorant. It is her choice to be offended about short bus jokes, the use of the word "retard," and the whispers and stares in public.
Speaking of offensive, let's start with my first topic I wish to discuss:
We Need to Stop Being Offended by EVERYTHING
I have meet some awesome people who truly set up every conversation, approach every new relationship, looking for them to say something offensive. It's like it's a trend to be an easily offended person. See, the thing is, a vast majority of what people say is NOT meant to be offensive. (I'm a prime example of this since I often tend to say the wrong thing.)
I learned through the example of my mother and living with an Autistic brother that life is way too short and precious to be offended by everything. Seriously. My brother has had a lot of crap thrown his way for being different in his Autism. I think it's beautiful. However, a lot of people do not understand and have therefore physically hurt him, judged him, said horrible things about him and my mom, etc. She told me that after a while, she realized the judging wasn't going to stop because people are ignorant. It is her choice to be offended about short bus jokes, the use of the word "retard," and the whispers and stares in public.
The same concept applies to eeeeeeeeeeeeverything. We have the wonderful choice to not be offended if what someone says is truly not all that offensive or they honestly didn't mean it to be. Like when children ask questions such as "Mommy, why is he so black?" (something I apparently asked my mom at a very young age seeing a black man for my first time), "Mommy, why is she so fat?", "Mommy, why does she look funny?". We have all heard questions like this from children. We tend to laugh, blush, apologize, and then yell at the child for asking such questions. This way of approaching the silly question, in my opinion, is destructive. It ruins the child's want to question everything and find answers for their own (a very important process in human life) and teaches them about being offended. But that's a whole different topic.
Whenever people decide something about themselves that is drastic, they almost set it up like "I am now [gay, Mormon, feminist, single, engaged, whatever you want] and I DARE you to offend me!!" Seriously, I have seen this. It is so...petty. We do not need to be this way. I am religious, so I will reference religious things. Jesus came to Earth with the knowledge of the truth and His mission to teach it to as many as He could while here. Never did he say "I am Christ and I am here to proclaim God's word, agree with me or you're a horrible human being and I am eternally offended!!!" He said "Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." We need to have this attitude in everything we do, it is so necessary. "Respectfully disagree" is the term I have thought is best to describe how we need to encounter other human beings, along with "respectfully share your views and accept when others do not agree."
Let's see...what else has been on my mind? Oh yes! My religious beliefs.
To Anyone and Everyone Who Has Been Judged and Mistreated in the Name of Mormonism, Especially From Me:
I am sorry.
Recently I have discovered how easy and delightful it is to apologize and mean it. Saying "I'm sorry" is such an easy thing to do once we have come to terms with ourselves and gotten over our pride, which we all have.
I have met many people who have had great experiences with Mormons and horrible experiences. It breaks my heart whenever people tell me about a bad experience they have had with a member of the church. I have heard of bishops stealing tithing money, people being judged and mistreated, told how they need to live, told they are going to hell for not being Mormon. All of this is horrible and shouldn't happen, but it does, because even those "perfect Molly-Mormons" are totally imperfect and ignorant (I was most of my life, ask ANYONE who knows me, and probably still am about a lot of things).
I just want to say I am truly, honestly sorry.
I am.
I apologize in the name of Mormonism and religion in general. I am sorry for those gays who felt they weren't welcome in our church and in our communities. I am sorry to those who struggle with addictions and did not feel invited and welcome. I am sorry to anyone who left the church because of people who offended them by something they said or did.
There are a lot of things to be sorry for, but most of all, I am sorry to anyone who felt judged or afraid or intimidated by my beliefs due to my ignorance mixed with religious zeal and passion.
Another thing I want to just state: Recently I publicly stated that I am for gay marriage because I wish to allow others to chose how to live their life. I need to take back this claim. I have been doing a lot of religious research and I am for traditional marriage. I apologize to those that are upset about this. Let me reference why I say this:
Watch/read these talks/devotionals. Even if you do not agree, I hope you will understand why I believe the way I do and am sticking to my grounds.
Next!
Vegetarians and Vegans: I Do Not Understand Why You Do The Things You Do
Okay, huge disclaimer, I do agree that there are way too many growth hormones placed in fruits, vegetables, and meat (generally all food) and it is not the best thing to ingest in our bodies. I fully understand and agree that there are some people who just shouldn't eat meat, like my best friend.
Now, onto my confusion.
There are many reasons why people do not want to eat meat or animal bi-product. They range from "I don't eat meat because I think it is wrong how animals are treated," "I don't eat animal bi-product unless I know the animals have been treated with love and respect on the farms," and "I don't eat meat because I think it's wrong to raise animals for slaughter and they should die of natural causes and desiccate naturally."
I wish to discuss why these saying bother me in two rebuttals.
1) How is this:
or this:
or even this:
Is worse than how animals are treated in situations such as this:
or this:
or this:
These animals are using their instincts and abilities to hunt their prey and if you notice, they are pretty vicious about how they go about killing the animals. It is not "humane." It is brutal, bones breaking, flesh being torn, bodies mutilated, all those things that vegetarians claim to be awful and inhumane if we, humans, partake in them with our skills and instincts. No, we do not use claws or teeth to catch and kill our prey mainly because we do not have that option so we improvise with our skills and create weapons pretty equal to the speed and strength and detonating force of many beautiful animals we know like cheetahs and alligators and lions. We are animals, in the same animal kingdom as all of these ferocious and gorgeous animals. Why is it then wrong to hunt and kill prey like animals do? It is natural to hunt for meat! We are, naturally, omnivores. How is it wrong for one species of animals to hunt and kill animals "savagely" but not for every other freaken species in existence?
2) Animal bi-products. So, some people say they do not want to eat meat because it hurts the animals to kill them and get their meat. But, when you shave a sheep or take eggs from a chicken or milk a cow, you are not hurting the animal. A lot of these things are beneficiary to the animal, like milking the cow. The average cow produces WAY more milk than needed for their calves. I've seen pictures of these lady cows, their utters look heavy. I know if I was a cow producing tons and tons of milk weighing me down, I would want to get rid of the amounts I didn't need.
Therefore, I do not understand being a vegan. (Unless for health reasons) Yes, I know many wonderful people who are vegan and I am not saying anything bad about them, I am simply saying I don't get it.
Just a bonus:
All cows that die from natural causes are recycled (at least in California) and guess what, their meat is still eaten. Their skin is still turned into leather. Their fat is still used to put into makeup.
Also, for all of those vegetarians and vegans trying to make a difference in the way we produce meat, I have watched Dirty Jobs, the meat production will never stop. Animals will always be raised for slaughter. It is how we humans react to our instinct to survive.
Okay, I feel a lot better getting some of those thoughts out. Again, I did not mean to offend anyone. Just to get thoughts on "paper" and state things I know to be true. If you have thoughts, feel free to comment :) I truly try to be an open minded person and love to learn knew things. I hope you found reading this blog insightful or entertaining or interesting or something positive because I enjoyed writing it.
