- Stephen C on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “I suppose the same thing that comes from quantifying whether they are educated or not, wealthy or not, where they live, what Latter-day Saints do in their spare time relative to other people. They’re behaviors just like any other. As a sidebar, it is interesting to me how, despite the claims of some that it’s the conservatives who pooh pooh sexuality research or who are skittish about talking about sex, in my experience just as much if not more of the pushback comes from the left (not saying you or Lily are left necessarily, just an observation).” Mar 27, 13:40
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “To follow Lily, what good comes from quantification vis-a-vis Church members?” Mar 27, 13:33
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “To quote from the first post: “Masturbation is a human behavior, worthy of study and quantification like any other behavior. It’s a real thing, it’s a thing some people do. Furthermore, it’s a thing the Church has taken a position on. Therefore, it is fair game for quantification vis-a-vis Church members as long as it is treated appropriately.”” Mar 27, 12:29
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “Stephen: I think these are weird questions. It never occurs to me to wonder how many people are masturbating or have had an abortion. Why so nosy?” Mar 27, 12:01
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “I fully support acw’s point. Latter-day Saints lack a baseline understanding and common vocabulary to adequately discuss this issue.” Mar 27, 11:26
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “Good point, I changed the title to specify “elective abortion.”” Mar 27, 11:25
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “For some helpful context from a female reader, the term “abortion” or “medical abortion” is also used for a miscarriage (not an “elective abortion”). So when I saw your headline title, I thought–probably half of them! If a quarter to a third of all pregnancies miscarry, and LDS women have several children each, there’s a good chance that half of the Relief Society has dealt with this (and how do they feel about it? very complicated grief). I wish this were a larger part of the conversation, that miscarriages use the exact same medical procedure abortions do, that we need medical people trained in these procedures, that some require hard decisions as well. It is not a black and white topic.” Mar 27, 10:14
- on A “Document of Faith, Not a Secular Report”: Nahum Sarna on the Book of Exodus: “The phrase “A Document of Faith, Not a Secular Report” is still somewhat ambiguous. Does it mean that we are meant to have faith that the events actually occurred in a historical sense, even though they lie beyond the reach of historians? Or does it mean that the value of the text does not depend on whether the events happened exactly as described, because it still conveys meaningful spiritual truths either way?” Mar 26, 20:11
- on Accommodating People’s Wrong Religious Beliefs: “On some things, I try to apply this lesson because I no longer see them as purely literal. On others, I still feel there is some real underlying component, but I am not always as confident about what that actually is anymore. Either way, the takeaway for me is to be charitable and not insist that an academic lens is the best or only way to approach them, although I do rely on a healthy dose of academic sources to inform and ground my perspective.” Mar 26, 10:57
- on A “Document of Faith, Not a Secular Report”: Nahum Sarna on the Book of Exodus: “Enjoyed this. Thank you.” Mar 26, 10:55
