HOLDEN HAS QUESTIONS

WHAT SHOULD I DO???

1) I hate chemistry. I'm pretty sure I got the class's lowest score on our last test.

2) I took a walk through the art gallery at the Eccles building and realized how much I would REALLY like to do something creative for a profession.

3) I took a walk through the science building and realized how much I would REALLY like to do something that makes money for a profession.

4) I walked around a lot today, actually, doing some stupid assignment for my "intro to the biology major' class where I was supposed to visit every building on campus and then write up a little short description on what goes on there. I learned absolutely nothing interesting, except that the heating plant heats and cools 85 to 90% of the buildings on campus. WOW!!!

5) All this walking around gave me some time to think and ponder about life, like how I really hate chemistry.

6) For all of you who read this blog, I need suggestions on what to do with my life. I'm pondering doing medical radiography or being a surgical technician. They don't make a ton of money, but they would make my wife and I enough to survive and get me through medical school (or probably any school, for that matter). Plus they don't take too long to accomplish.

7) I'm pretty sure I don't want to major in biology, which means that this semester was probably a huge waste. Some aspects of it are interesting, but there would be too many pointless and boring classes to take, like "plant taxonomy" and similar baloney like that. Not that I couldn't force myself to be interested in things like that, but I really feel like jumping right into something (like the med programs), rather than wasting a couple years learning stuff I will never have any use for.

8) 8 is a good number, and I like numbering things.

9) 9 is for: give me $9,000, somebody, now.

10) So back to my art gallery adventure. I was overwhelmed, seriously, at the art in that gallery, except for one, entitled 'The Morning Breaks" that showed what was supposed to be a portrait of St. George back in the early days (with the temple in the middle of the city), and Pine Valley Mountain looming in the background. AND THE SUN WAS COMING UP OVER PINE VALLEY MOUNTAIN. I mean...seriously? Get your directions straight, man. Your art means nothing to me now.

General Burnside.

 11) For all of you ward members who are having difficulties explaining the gospel to your protestant friends, let me handle it. In the words of Fransisco Elson, center for the Utah Jazz: "Hey guys, I got this."

12) Does anyone have any recurring dreams they would like to share? I know this blog is going on way too long, but I have a lot to say, so leave me alone. I have a recurring dream where I go to some town or village north of here. I don't know where it is. I have the dream about every other night. Actually, one time, the town was Enterprise, and Emily and I were staying at a huge hotel there called 'The Enterprise Hilton," and Emily went off to use the bathroom, and before she went, she told me to get her "one of those Enterprise Hilton souvenir pens." So I did. The end.

13) is actually Emily's favorite number.

14) Should I be a respiratory therapist?

15) Should I be a physical therapist?

16) Should I eat some pancakes?

Comments are welcome. No swearing.

This came from AwkardFamilyPhotos.com and I just really enjoyed it, I'm sorry.

FISH TACOS OF DEATH

It would seem an odd thing, but it is true, that I ate a Del Taco fish taco the other day (as well as a shrimp taco), and then I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning, or something, because my stomach has been hurting ever since, and I have severe digestive issues. That was all one sentence. This experience is the very reason why this blog exists. Thanks for reading. Comments? Questions? Pancakes? Anything you just want to get off your chest? Anything that you wives out there just HATE about your husbands but are too afraid to tell them? Spill it out on here, anonymously, and I will solve your problems for you.

Personal Religion

I was thinking about this earlier today.

It seems a lot of people who don't believe in God, or who at least are turned off by religion, are that way because of the hatred and violence that is supposedly sparked by some sort of religious arguments. I ran into a lot of people on my mission who wanted to bash with my companions and I. As I look back on it, I realize how silly it was, and how funny it would've been to an atheist to see us arguing. I didn't always particularly enjoy arguing, but I also never wanted to back down either when somebody challenged my beliefs. These arguments never bred anything but contention and what I experienced as "flustered feelings," where my eyebrows twitched, my adrenaline pumped, and I always walked away from the experience feeling an immense amount of contempt for the person I had just engaged in a bash with.

While none of these encounters ever led to violence, what happened was, in a very small degree, a reflection of what is happening, and what has been happening for thousands of years, around the world. Religion breeds arguments, and nothing in the world does it better. Type any religious statement on any message board or comment thread somewhere on the internet, and within 10 minutes, you can easily have 50 comments from people who insult and completely demean each other's religious beliefs. It is virtually automatic. Nothing offends people more. Perhaps this is why so many people are turned off by religion, especially Christianity, which, at its core, promotes love, charity, and goodwill towards all men, but has been a source of hypocritically violent oppression through the centuries.

I've thought about this a lot, and rather than be turned off by my own beliefs that I've grown up with, I've come to realize just how deeply personal religion can be. People react negatively when somebody mocks their beliefs, as though they are being mocked, when in fact, it is specifically the religion or the individual beliefs. But is there a difference? If I got angry because somebody insulted my religion, would I be in the wrong since they are actually insulting my religion, and not me? A person who is a genuine believer in something is not somehow separated from what they profess to believe. In fact, their religious beliefs define who they are. This is why it's personal, and this is why people get offended. While it's not right to react so negatively to religious mockery or humiliation, it's also wrong, I believe, to "mock" religion in general for sparking violence and hatred. Some may think that's what I've been doing throughout this blog, but it is quite the opposite. It is simply that religion is more personal to people than outsiders may think. My own beliefs are very personal to me, even though they are beliefs that are held by over 13 million people throughout the world. My convictions define who I am, therefore, it is not unrealistic for me, in some way, to get flustered when my beliefs are mocked or ridiculed. I accept that this will happen in many situations, but I choose to avoid the situations where it is likely to happen. I've decided that arguing about religion is "missing the point" of all the Christian scriptures, including the restored scriptures of the LDS church, but I also believe that it should not be an odd thing to see someone overreact when their beliefs are ridiculed or challenged. It just proves how personal their convictions really are, and maybe, just maybe, we should avoid arguing or provoking people.

I'm not justifying Middle East violence, I swear. But when you think about how personal Islam is to its followers, it makes sense. You can choose to hate religion because of the violent aspect of it, or you can do your part to make the world a better place. Either way, religious conflict will never cease until the end of the world, no matter what anyone tries to do about it, and this is because of the deep connection people feel to the god they worship. Non-believers may see our god as a god of war. I see God as a loving father who wants all of his children to come back to him, and would rather have us live our religion, which is showing mercy, love, and forgiveness to our fellow man, rather than arguing and bashing in an effort to "defend" our religion.

Evolution

This is my first blog in awhile, it seemed like all my random blogs of nothingness were just making people mad (putting an end to my random writing career), so I'm blogging today to ask an actual question and get some input. What does everyone think about the theory of evolution?

I'm taking Biology II at college right now, and for the first time, I'm actually starting to be very fascinated with it. I think life is just amazing, especially microscopic organisms. The problem is that the theory of evolution, which ties all of this biology together apparently, conflicts with my own religious beliefs in many regards. I figure there is some way to reconcile the two (for example, SOME elements of the theory may be true). I know this is ultimately my decision, but does anyone have any comments on it? Evolution makes the claim, essentially, that it has overwhelming evidence for its truthfulness. Is it true? Is it partly true? Is the natural selection element of it true? I read the first presidency's statement on it from 1903, and it was good, but didn't really help me out. I don't know. I need an explanation that incorporates the two (the gospel AND the theory of evolution) into one. Surely there's an explanation.

And NO, don't think I'm going apostate or something. But at some point, I have to stop pretending that I believe, utterly and infallibly, in both things, when they both make completely opposing claims.

Comments? Or does anyone still read this blog?