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I'd like to add a fourth (fifth?) article to the Pacific Islander gang issue that has been discussed here. Here's stuff.co.nz take on it. One of the more interesting lines. " Around 1100 people have since been arrested - with New Zealand police help - and over half are TCG (Tongan Crip Gang) who are mostly from Mormon Latter Day Saint (LDS) families." Doc's article from the High Country Times has opened my eyes to how big this problem is, is it possible that the LDS church could put out some kind of anti-gang program? I'm unfamiliar with these kinds of things (History majors lead themselves more to expertise on the Fenians than the Crips...lol)
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There is, it's called "the Gospel". There are years and years of material, publications, lessons, teacher training, leadership action and messages focused on resisting peer pressure, violence, drug use, adolescent concerns, proper sexual behavior, etc.
The material produced by the church is focused on a North American, white middle class context. That works very well for some, at least I can assume that you are moderately well adjusted. But it dosen't work for others. So why exactly are we publishing vast reams of paper for the 90 and 9? Could it be that the ones out there have some value? Or are they guilty of the crime of living while brown?
Have you heard of a little country called France? They are currently (and have been since mid century) going through a little experiment by which they have few to no laws against prejudice and hold the official assumption that everyone is treated equally by the government and private citizens. (Without enforcing aforesaid idea) Well, their facing a major uprising by a generation of disaffected Muslim youth who's parents are hardworking immigrants... Almost identical to the situation facing my brothers and sisters from the Pacific Islands. So if the Gospel is what you want lived by them, maybe you and the Political/Social conservatives like you need to start doing that yourselves. "If ye have done it unto the least of these my brothers you have done it unto me".
If you and others like you actually lived by the ideals of freedom and equality you spout instead of using them as a whitening on the seplecure, I can think of any number of things that might be different...
Let's see...
*Pacific Islanders
-The Isoepa community could have actually traded with it's neighbors and survived instead of being treated like second class citizens and starving their way back to Hawaii
*States Rights
-While the whole seperation of powers thing is a central part of the constitution, so is 'All men are created equal'. Central conservative theme in the '60s was states rights...as long as those rights involved the right to keep ethnic minorities in their subservient place.
So what exact part of Christ's admonition to take care of the marginalized do you have a problem with? Does the parable involve the shepherd telling the lost lamb to suck it up and just stay with the flock? Does it involve saying to the lamb "We have a pamphlet developed for goats in Africa about the need to be shorn again, read it and apply it to your life.Then suck it up and find your way back to the rest of the herd, even though you don't know where that is....?
Very aware of it. I run into it any time I visit NOM websites.
And please, myself being a minority, I just love when someone gives me a rollercoaster ride through the injustices on minorities in Utah (*yawn*).
"And it's why some young people turn to crime. It makes you feel powerful. It's why the Fenians did it."
'Society made me do it'? You know that is just as flawed as 'the devil made me do it'? We need more people focusing on the consequences of their own behavior instead of calling on experts and pundits to soothe us with external explanation for our own screw-ups.
"The material produced by the church is focused on a North American, white middle class context."
Sorry man, but this is not true. I could relate to all the ways the Church has tried to adapt and cater to the different cultures, both in my home country (Chile), the country I served my mission on (Uruguay) or my current ward (a primarily African-American ward in the heart of Atlanta, where most leaders are African-American in spite that 1/2 the ward comes from Utah). But just pointing out to all the things the Church does for Hispanics and Pacific Islanders in Utah (welfare programs, training workshops, Hispanic conferences, etc) should more than suffice to refute your statement.
"If you and others like you actually lived by the ideals of freedom and equality you spout instead of using them as a whitening on the seplecure, I can think of any number of things that might be different..."
Ah, that admonition a la D&C 121 just made my bosom burst in flames...I almost spoke in tongues.
"So what exact part of Christ's admonition to take care of the marginalized do you have a problem with?"
Just the one that solves problems by teaching people their behavior is not their fault but the oil's industry's, that takes care of pointing fingers at people with money, and that encourages poor people to vote for Clinton.
In other words, I don't take issue against caring for minorities. I myself can't consider myself a Republican specifically for the way many of this issues are addressed (in fact, I am more in line with Latin American Christian Democrats than US Republicans). But I do take issue with """radicals""" with their soothing words of rationalization and their invitation to suck on America's pig-nipple instead of encouraging minorities to solve the attitude problems from within.
Harsh reply to a harsh evaluation. I don't have anything against liberals. In fact, I'm glad to work through the issues with them. I just have a fetish for self-righteous manifesto-cheering radicals, they make my cerebellum tingle.
There is blaming society and then there is taking a look at your own community or your own flaws and taking them on, learning from your own mistakes and making your own community more Christlike. You don't have to buy into the social engineering fix to realize that the lack of integration of Pacific Islanders by the rest of the saints in Zion doesn't help the situation. It is a reminder that we are still not one. We should be, and we should look for solutions and work on the problem together.
"You don't have to buy into the social engineering fix to realize that the lack of integration of Pacific Islanders by the rest of the saints in Zion doesn't help the situation."
Replace 'by' with 'with' and then I would agree with that statement.
I believe there is always room for improvement, and I don't think Utah is about to be taken into heaven like the city of Enoch anytime soon. Of course some things can be improved.
I think it is important to point out a couple of things:
First, regarding integration, Utah is MUCH better than most of the country. Of course, being better than the average is a mediocre consolation, but it should be enough to dismiss radicals' animosity towards "everything conservative". One thing is working on the problem and something totally different is belching our frustrations aloud: it doesn't help anybody other than the belcher.
Second, I can tell you guys that segregation problems cannot and will not be solved by assuming one side of the issue needs fixing. I have lots of Hispanic friends who feel segregated in Utah, and I have to say that regardless of how many free green cards, bilingual billboards and freely handed mansions on the hill, they still will not feel integrated until a serious change of mentality from within occurs (keyword: within). Same in Atlanta: neither handing out free money nor morally chastising white people will solve the problems communities with few opportunities face. In many cases, the freebie will be taken not only for granted but it will be assumed to be an appropriate-yet-insufficient retribution for some earlier century sin.
This is the issue I have with most Democrat wannabe-elected politicians: throwing money at problems sounds Robin Hood kindof noble, and, sadly, it wins votes. Does it solve problems? Further, does it attack the root of the problem?
When we stop blaming, we'll realize that most (if not all) problems require fixing in multiple accounts. We need to move beyond touchy feelings and political correctness. Demanding change on one side does not help cure a mentality.