I am currently in a wonderful class at BYU-I called the Foundations Capstone. For those who have never been there or it has been a long time since being there let me describe the course.
This course was created by President Clark and the Board of Directors (aka First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve) shortly after President Clark was offered the job. The idea of the class is to teach students how to be better critical thinkers. In the world that we live in there are many issues that not always black and white and easy to come to a decision on. This class goes over hard issues that require students to research and come up with valid reasons for why they chose what they did. It is NOT always easy, and often conclusions are never reached in class.
Two things that were brought up at the beginning of class. First was that everyone has the right to their own opinion whether you agree with it or not, and second was that people who become offended that someone else has a different opinion are in the words of Brigham Young "a fool." Let me add onto this and say that anyone who becomes offended when offence is meant is an even bigger fool.
I love Maren with all of my heart. She is a wonderful woman who does her best to take care of our children and is continually trying become more like Christ. She wants to make our house Christ centered. Whenever she does something, she puts her heart into it. When she makes a comment, trust me when I say that she has thoroughly researched it out. She may have biases, but so does everybody else in this world.
I support my wife in her decisions. To make this point, I have also chosen to remove myself from Facebook. I will admit, I have been wanting to do it for a couple of months. I just needed something or someone to help me. Maren was that someone. I feel great about it. Maren has also wanted to get away from Facebook for several months. It has been taking over our lives.
Back to my class and the opinions, Maren and I want people to be able to state their opinions. We believe in a NICE, friendly debate. You have the right to state your opinion, but please be willing to explain the reason for it.
If for some odd reason you do not agree, please explain why. But most importantly, DO NOT criticize the person them-self. That is not a valid argument. It creates animosity that can fester over time and is just plain hurtful.
To paraphrase President Thomas S. Monson, we need to find kinder, more loving ways to treat each other.
Please, let us find ways to show how much we can care for each other. Let us be more gentle in how we express ourselves. May we share the olive branch instead of the stick.
Thank you for being so kind.
This course was created by President Clark and the Board of Directors (aka First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve) shortly after President Clark was offered the job. The idea of the class is to teach students how to be better critical thinkers. In the world that we live in there are many issues that not always black and white and easy to come to a decision on. This class goes over hard issues that require students to research and come up with valid reasons for why they chose what they did. It is NOT always easy, and often conclusions are never reached in class.
Two things that were brought up at the beginning of class. First was that everyone has the right to their own opinion whether you agree with it or not, and second was that people who become offended that someone else has a different opinion are in the words of Brigham Young "a fool." Let me add onto this and say that anyone who becomes offended when offence is meant is an even bigger fool.
I love Maren with all of my heart. She is a wonderful woman who does her best to take care of our children and is continually trying become more like Christ. She wants to make our house Christ centered. Whenever she does something, she puts her heart into it. When she makes a comment, trust me when I say that she has thoroughly researched it out. She may have biases, but so does everybody else in this world.
I support my wife in her decisions. To make this point, I have also chosen to remove myself from Facebook. I will admit, I have been wanting to do it for a couple of months. I just needed something or someone to help me. Maren was that someone. I feel great about it. Maren has also wanted to get away from Facebook for several months. It has been taking over our lives.
Back to my class and the opinions, Maren and I want people to be able to state their opinions. We believe in a NICE, friendly debate. You have the right to state your opinion, but please be willing to explain the reason for it.
If for some odd reason you do not agree, please explain why. But most importantly, DO NOT criticize the person them-self. That is not a valid argument. It creates animosity that can fester over time and is just plain hurtful.
To paraphrase President Thomas S. Monson, we need to find kinder, more loving ways to treat each other.
Please, let us find ways to show how much we can care for each other. Let us be more gentle in how we express ourselves. May we share the olive branch instead of the stick.
Thank you for being so kind.
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