Religious Persecution, or why we should all just suck it up.

There has been a very disturbing trend on facebook lately, and I felt the need to respond in kind, but there was not room enough in that forum, so I though I would move my thoughts here.

At this point everyone knows, or should know, about the attacks on the embassies in Libya and Cairo and various other places in the Middle East.  We also know now that these attacks were not prompted  by the incredibly rude and insulting video about Mohammad as was originally thought, and were a planned terrorist attack.  However, the violence continues, and it continues to be blamed on America's religious insensitivity.

As deeply saddened as I was to learn of these events, it was not until later when discovering the particular reactions of some family and friends made me physically ill.

The LDS church has gone through, and currently goes through, some fairly bad persecutions.  in the 1800s we were driven out of town after town, state after state, until finally we left the United States of America and fled to the last place anyone would would want to drive them out of, Salt Lake City.  And STILL the USA sent the Army after them.  The history is brutal-full of massacres, extermination orders, nightmarish stuff. And the vast majority of people in America have no idea that this happened. 

But.

We live in a country where that kind of behavior doesn't happen now.  Yes, people say horrible stuff about the Church on the internet.  I'm really sorry about that-DON'T READ IT.  Yes, people protest peacefully outside General Conference.  I'm really sorry about that-aren't you grateful you have a beautiful building in which to hear conference that blocks out the sound of the protesters outside?

To you people comparing what the LDS church goes through to what Muslims are going though, do you think what the saints endured is anything compared to the Crusades?  Do you think it is anything compared to what has been happening in the Middle East for the last, um, EVER?  Do you think that someone in Georgia wondering if you might actually have two wives is anything to being pulled out of your house and beaten to death simply because you are a different sect? 

Now a word about Broadway.  I'm not going to bother asking if you've seen the Book of Mormon show, because I know you haven't.  I'm going to ask if you've seen a different show.  It's about church leaders, many of whom have just died because one of them made a mistake and accidentally poisoned them.  The rest of them have to put on a show to raise money.  Because they are so naive, they accidentally make several dirty jokes, and then one of the church leaders gets very high on drugs.  Then they get all the money they need through gambling.  Sounds like a terrible show, right?  I bet many of you have seen it, and loved it.  It's called Nunsense.  Jokes are funny when they're about Catholics, aren't they.  It's funny in Spamalot when they make fun of Jews, isn't it.  Broadway has been making fun of other religions for YEARS.  Why is it an "attack" when it's about Mormons? 

These events are NOT about you.  

Been a while

So I was looking on my mom's blog, and the link to my blog said my last post was 5 months old.  This was a wake up call for a few reasons, obviously I hadn't realized it had been that long since I had written anything, but mainly I hadn't realized it had been that long since I had written about my stupid disease.  That post was about trying to come to terms with my Hemiplegic Migraines.  I had hoped that 5 months after writing that some more progress would have been made, but I'm not too far ahead.

Since then (March 31), I have been in the hospital, seen two neurologists, been diagnosed with an extra neurological condition (with similar symptoms and might possibly progress to the point of needing brain surgery but for now is mostly benign so, um, yay?), and put a few different medicines, one of which has helped me to lose 20 pounds (DEFINITELY YAY), and I still struggle to get through the week.

On the other hand even though I had to stay off the stage myself, I was still able to do some theatrical work this summer, and I designed the set for Evolution Theater Company's production of The Illusion.  You can see pictures here.  Go look at them, I'm pretty proud of it, and the production was beyond amazing.