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I was a bit confused because the Isle of Dogs is an area of London – one of those weird names like Hell’s Kitchen etc – then it turns out it’s in Japan…. I think.
Yes, the bulk of the action does take place in Japan and some of the principal characters are Japanese and they speak Japanese…without subtitles. But it actually doesn’t impede your understanding of what is going on (the dogs speak English which helps). As I said, it’s an enjoyable but eccentric film.
I’ve seen Fantastic Fox and Isle of Dogs. I liked “Fox” a little better. But I did enjoy “Isle of Dogs” which I found to be funnier (but more bizarre…first time I ever saw open heart surgery in an animated film). I hope not. This is the only board that I participate in. I don’t post much but I do read. Now, I have to admit that I haven’t read much in the past month. I’ve been recovering from my own bout with COVID that started mild and then turned into pneumonia. Luckily, I didn’t have to be hospitalized but I’ve definitely been down and out for the last four weeks (basically October 2020 is a blur). But I’ll keep checking and posting as long as the board is here. So thanks to the moderators and contributors! I’d be sad to see the Board “deactivated.” Quote:No one on this site anymore?
I’m here!
:wave: Just busy trying to get through the day. Probably what a lot of us are doing right now with all the pandemic, civil unrest, and political conflict going on. We’re headed back to church in October to two 45 minute meetings being held for our ward (I think that’s how they’re doing that).I hope the board will continue. I still pop in at least once a week to see what’s happening.
Quote:“To receive credit…” I am currently wondering what the benefit of receiving credit would be. What can I do with my seminary “credit”? I understand that seminary participation is not required to attend a church university. Is this like me getting “credit” for attending Sunday School?
I THINK if your daughter wants to attend any of the Church-funded institutions of higher learning (e.g. BYU) then she will need to “receive credit for seminary.” So if your daughter is planning on attending some other university, she need not worry about it.Interesting topic! My academic background is research-oriented and so numbers are important to me. But we have to know what those numbers represent. It is easy to assume that the number IS the construct that we are measuring rather than an indicator of that construct. When a missionary companionship reports “five baptisms” for one month, the simplest interpretation is that five people got down into the water and went through the baptismal ceremony. But what we REALLY mean (hopefully) is that five people converted and came into the Church (and by extension) Christ. But that may or may not be the case and so the “5” becomes an indicator only of conversion. (Numbers give the illusion of accuracy and preciseness but when we’re dealing with human behavior, those numbers are simply not going to have the same meaning). I do believe that performance improves when we measure something but we have be sure that we know what we’re measuring and what the numbers actually mean. The so-called “baseball baptisms” from the 50s and 60s occurred because those ceremonies were being counted (which is fine) but interpreted as being a sign of conversion (which most were not). This speaks to the evaluation that we often make of individuals (missionaries, bishops, businesspeople, teachers) for whom success is highly dependent upon the behavior of others. I think it’s problematic to assume that there is a straightforward relationship between a teacher teaching a lesson and a student’s score on a test of knowledge about that lesson. Absolutely, there’s a relationship but it’s not straightforward. The teacher has to ensure that the information is being presented but that teacher has no control over the chaotic homelife the child comes from, or the undiagnosed learning disability that the child may have, or the thoughts of the child dominated by the new computer game just purchased. Let’s measure, yes, and let’s hold people appropriately accountable but let’s also remember that the number is not the construct and that, when talking about incredibly reactive human beings, there are many, many variables over which any teacher, bishop etc, will have no control.
Quote:Actually, in college I find that the best measure of a professor is often the reviews on ratemyprofessor. Not test scores, publications, or anything else. We could crowdsource our metrics. Have missionaries have a QR code on their pass-along cards that lets their contacts take a survey about them. Were they pushy? Polite? What is your overall impression? Did they make you more or less interested? Offer a chance to win a gift card to get people to take the survey. Ok, that might be a little too far but I think the general concept of crowdsourced metrics could be interesting. I have taken similar surveys about the quality of service at the grocery checkout line, so some organizations do use this kind of thing.
As someone whose been in and out of academia, I have to say that ratemyprofessor is another good example of a metric which is, at best, an indicator only and, at worst, horribly inaccurate. But the idea of using something similar to measure church-related concepts is certainly interesting (ratemybishop? ratemystakepresident? ratemyeldersquorumpresident?) Now THOSE evaluations would make for some interesting perusing.
I don’t do social media so I wasn’t impacted there but I did tend to look at the news a bit. Once the pandemic hit, I found that there was so much that WASN’T news but rampant speculation that I had to delete that app on my phone (the most distressing was one article claiming unemployment would reach 25% and that the U.S. was headed for a “Greater” Depression than the 1930’s. That was the point I said to myself “enough!”) I now view news filtered through a local news app where I assume if something big enough happens, it will show up there. But primarily, it deals with local issues, weather, uplifting stories (they interview a lot of senior citizens) etc. I found that helped my own stress levels quite a bit. I’ve also been exercising a bit more than I used to which has had some benefits. My job is done remotely so I don’t interact with coworkers very much at all and found I haven’t missed it. But I’m rather introverted so some aspects of the current situation have actually been nice. Quote:People have access to information like never before but from what I’ve seen we still have issues with what is true and what is fake. I think our biases steer that ship, but it does forward the idea that information itself isn’t enough. There’s an internal compass that processes information and answers. Take two people, give them the same information, and they can reach opposite conclusions.
This is why we should not worship at the altar of Google. Google is nothing more than a way of accessing information but cannot tell us whether the information is truthful, useful or relevant. If I’m going to bother to believe in God, I need something more than an “answer machine.” In fact, I think not having all the answers is what makes life interesting (and difficult, too).
I do believe in God (though I’m unsure of God’s nature and how God interacts with humankind) but I also like the idea that God is with us and in us and manifested through the love and compassion that we show others. That those bonds that help us connect and care for each could be considered “God.” Brene Brown once said (and I paraphrase) that what she calls caring and connection is “God” and that some people call it “going fishing.”
In our troubled mortal lives, we all need caring, compassion and connection. I’m pretty sure you won’t get that from Google.
Quote:I’m curious, if another opportunity presented itself for you to start the discussion, how might you start it and ask how she feels about how you feel? Or how might you try to clarify what was said?
Great question. I’m now on my fourth draft of my response. It tells me that I’m not sure I would change the content of what I said (though try to put it more coherently). The LDS Church is part of me and I am part of it (for better and worse) and I can’t see myself divorcing it. I think that’s the reassurance that I’d want to give her more clearly. While we haven’t had anyone close to us leave the Church, it is happening all around us and I’m sure it frightens my wife when she thinks about it. As a result, I don’t think I speak completely candidly right now. And I’m okay with it.
Quote:My wife has used the captive audience ploy in the past as well.
Ha! I hadn’t thought of it like that and I don’t think my wife meant to “put me on the spot” but it definitely felt a little bit like that.
I really appreciate the support I’ve received (voiced and unvoiced).
As far as podcasts go, I’ve been listening to Richard Rohr’s Another Name for Everything. He’s a Catholic priest who has developed a form of orthodoxy based on the work of St. Francis of Assisi (I think that’s what it springs from). The podcasts that I’ve listened to are a conversation between Fr. Rohr and two former(?) evangelical church members who work with him. The conversations are low key, pleasant and often quite profound. Our ward isn’t meeting yet and, as far as I know, there aren’t plans to meet immediately. My daughter lives in Orem and they are meeting but they have the ward split into fourths (by last name) and you come one Sunday a month and the meeting is primarily about taking the sacrament. Given recent surges in COVID 19 I doubt that my local ward will be meeting but I’m not really privy to those discussions. There’s definitely some comparisons that could be made. The one that I would make (which isn’t mentioned in the article) is that many conspiracies thrive because their proponents suddenly feel like they “know” something that other people don’t know. What a wonderful sense of superiority that provides! I was speaking with a relative of mine who went off for a long time on why so many “mindless” people bought toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic heavily implying that HE had an insight into the problem that others did not have. I was about to roll my eyes (figuratively) when I suddenly realized that I had said almost the same thing in the same condescending manner the week before to my wife 
The gospel principles have this in common. Many members (not all though) treat the gospel principles as a truth that they have that the world doesn’t and “aren’t we lucky to not be as blind as the world is.” The number of self-satisfied comments made in Sunday School and Priesthood that I’ve heard, well, if I had a dime for each one…. How we love to know something important that others don’t know! Where the comparison breaks down is that fact that our gospel culture does insist that we share it with others in the interest of bringing them to the truth rather than trying to demonstrate the extent of their ignorance.
Quote:I no longer hold a grudge as I am thankful for the experience, and feel at peace about the experience. However, I don’t feel the need to invest the time in forgiveness, as frankly, the person who did this to me isn’t really worth the space in my mind — she’s not paying rent for it.
Maybe that is forgiveness. Or some form thereof. Maybe forgiveness can be defined as letting go of hurt and anger and not letting the person or incident impact you anymore. Or maybe not. In any event, what’s most important is that it works.
Many years ago, my wife and I became embroiled in a major conflict with my parents (mainly my mother) and one of my siblings. It was a very difficult time and I can remember vividly taking a long walk determined to never speak to my parents again. After great internal, personal struggle, I decided that this was NOT how I wanted to handle it and let it go. I’ve never regretted that decision (though it was very very hard!). I now have a decent relationship with both parents and sibling. Then about five years ago, another conflict arose wherein a different sibling and my wife (who both work for the same organization) found themselves on opposite sides of a particular issue. And this sibling ended doing some things that created great personal pain and hardship for my wife (not done maliciously just thoughtlessly). And my parents tried to stay out of it but it was fairly clear where their loyalties were (not with us). Since that time, I have struggled to forgive. I still have a relationship with my parents though I must admit it’s cooler than it was. My relationship with the offending sibling is cool as well though we see each other all the time and participate in family events. I guess I haven’t forgiven them. I’m not as angry as I was with the first incident but I have found it harder to let this one go. Yet, I live a decent life and don’t really think about it too much. I suppose I have peace (at least as far as that goes) and, like SD, am not sure that I want to invest the emotional energy in achieving forgiveness right now. But I’m not consumed with bitterness either. I’m not sure that it’s forgiveness but it’s an acceptable sort of peace nonetheless.
We have had home church quite faithfully actually. We do it with my children who are at home and those who live nearby and my wife’s parents who are older. We have a lesson (I generally give it), the sacrament, sing hymns and then we have dinner together and end up playing games after dinner or watch TV. We start around 10:30 a.m. and people leave around 3. It can get hectic but it’s been enjoyable. I can’t say I miss church or the associations at church at all. In fact, I haven’t really felt the lack. It’s been kind of nice not to have to deal with announcements, unnecessary stake meetings, members you don’t care for (but still have to be nice to) and all the rest. While I don’t know if we’d be able to maintain “home church” in its current form for an extended period of time, I find that I do just fine without the regular church. Of course, I’m not very social. Now I wouldn’t mind if my college-aged children could go back to their respective dorms (at their respective universities). Too many adults in the house has been wearing but regular church? Nah. Though I know that eventually we will return to status quo.
