Dating

In today's world people are "hanging out" more than they are dating. There are different reasons for this such as they can be themselves more, or you get to know more people, or they don't have the possibility of being rejected. The question is though does hanging out provide the same information that dating does when you are searching for your future spouse. I would say no. Dating provides more opportunities to see that person in different situations and to give both the male and the female a chance to gain and strengthen the skills they will use throughout marriage. There is a theory on what dating is it is called the 3 P's. This means that a date must be 1) planned 2) paid for and 3) paired off. Keep in mind that paid for does not mean that it has to be a big expensive activity it just means that financially it is taken care of. These three things are a way for the male to practice some things that they need in marriage. The chart below will show what these are:
                                                             Dating:               Marriage:
                                                             Planned              Preside
                                                             Paid for              Provide
                                                             Paired off           Protect
Gaining these skills will greatly benefit you in your marriage and in your life. While the guy can practice these skills the girl has the opportunity to practice skills such as nurturing and caring. Another reason why this is so helpful is because it gives you the opportunity to have togetherness, time, and the chance to talk. All three of these things help you to get to know the person better. Nobody wants to marry someone they don't know and care about. One final note that I want to make is something my teacher shared with us about how going on dates affects you. What he said was "your marriage will go the way you point it during dating and courtship." I thought this was cool because he made an analogy between this and a cannon ball. You can aim it whichever direction you choose and once you shoot it will continue going that way. It goes whichever way you aim it in the beginning. So be brave and don't be afraid to date.

Homosexuallity and Gender Roles

This weeks class was a bit more controversial of a subject so although I will speak my opinion in this post I hope it is not offensive to any of you. Homosexuality and gender roles are a large concern in today's world. Everybody is fighting for their rights and nobody wants to offend anybody else. We were all created the gender we truly are. Just because you identify as something else does not change your divine origin and who you were born as. In "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" It states, "ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." This is so essential to the family because when people identify as another gender or being interested in their same gender they take away their ability to create a family how God intended it to be. 
Another thing I wanted to discuss in this post and that is why people change their sexual orientation. Today so many people use the phrase "born that way." This often times is not the case. (I haven't looked to much into the biology of this so I will not go into much detail) In many studies/interviews the people that oriented themselves as homosexual at some point said it was because of experiences growing up. These tend to be things such as sexual abuse, Not being accepted by others of their gender, and being told that's the way they are. Often we see a boy who is more feminine in the way that they move or talk. Or maybe they are just more nurturing. When we see men like this we sometimes jump to the conclusion of him being gay. Because of this we start to identify somebody instead of letting them identify themselves. Self-concept is "an idea of the self constructed from the beliefs one holds about oneself and the responses of others." So, if someone grows up being asked or told if they are gay this can make them feel as though they are. Because part of your self concept is built off of what you think others think about you. As I said before not being accepted can play a huge role in peoples sexual orientation. This is because everybody wants to be accepted and when they are pushed away by their own gender it makes them long for that acceptance more. 
One thing I want to say is that many people don't want to like others from their same gender. Therapy can be a major help and benefactor for this but people are pushing for therapists to not being to help with it. This truly is what's taking away human rights not the therapy. If they don't want to change their orientation they will not be forced to, but if they do and they can't get that help? What will happen then?

Here are some links I think may be helpful for this topic:
https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJhyzqdzpnM
https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/106717-Campus.Reference.FAML160/assets/byrd_article.pdf?attachment=1&_&d2lSessionVal=wN5dQKYF61AtGMiSTpPHp1PXo

Culture

Some words that describe what culture is are; Beliefs, symbols, languages, values, and artifacts. With this definition how does culture affect families? Culture can affect families in many different ways. This can be anything from the culture they live in or the culture within the family. The culture within a family can make a huge impact on each of the members. We all perpetuate and create family cultures. This often comes by passing traditions down from generation to generation. These traditions are often times what the family believes in or what language they speak. Does it matter what kind of family we create? Yes, each individual family affects the world as a whole. It's kind of like I discussed in a past post about how even something like how many kids you have can affect if the world will reach a replacement level. So if we can build a strong family culture where everyone pitches in and does their part maybe that can extend to those outside and around the family, and so on. The family is an essential part of the community and to creating the culture of the world around them. How can you create a family culture that will influence the world for the better?

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Hey guys,
Today I am deciding to do something a little bit different. This post isn't about something that I learned in my family relations class but rather something that's been brought up a lot in my life and is of great importance to me. The topic I want to discuss with you today is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The atonement has many different pieces to it that often we look over. Many people seem to think that the atonement can only be used for repentance, This is NOT the case. When Jesus Christ atoned for each of us he suffered for our pains, afflictions, and yes our sins. He suffered for it all. This is so that when we go through these hard times and feel like we are alone, He can comfort us because He knows exactly how we feel. Elder Dallin H. Oaks states that "apart from death and sin, we have many other challenges as we struggle through mortality. Because of that same Atonement, our Savior can provide us the strength we need to overcome these mortal challenges." He also says, "He therefore knows our struggles, our heartaches, our temptations, and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as an essential part of His Atonement. And because of this, His Atonement empowers Him to succor us—to give us the strength to bear it all." How amazing is that? Jesus Christ suffered so that He could provide us the strength that we need to get through the hard times. Another example of Christ's love for each of us is seen in John 11:33-35. This is talking about how when Jesus saw Mary crying He wept with her. He loved her so much and knew the pain she was going through and wept. This principle amazes me. The other thing I wanted to focus on in this is Christ's willingness to atone for us. In the quote by Elder Oaks it says "For he willingly experienced them all". Although he knew it would be hard, He gave up His will to the Father's and atoned for us. In 1 Nephi 19:9 it says "He suffereth it, because of his loving kindness" Later in verse 10 it states that he "yeildeth himself according to the words of the angel." These scriptures show the true selflessness and love our brother had for each of us. I'm grateful for all the love and strength I have recieved through the atonement and hope that each of you will be able to feel it in your lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Reference: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/strengthened-by-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

Theories of Interaction

This week in Family Relations we talked about some theories to do with communication and interaction. These theories are: Systems Theory, Exchange Theory, Symbolic Interaction, and Conflict Theory. I found that as we discussed them they seemed to be more tied together rather than just being in the same category. Often times they effect one another. For instance the exchange theory is where you are always weighing the costs and the rewards of the relationships you have. If you are always doing this than your gestures, words, and actions, may end up showing this (symbolic interaction). Then if someone feels as though you are being hesitant to be friends because they are weighing the relationship then the person can start to argue more bringing in the (conflict theory). How can all of these theories effect your home and family life. To begin with, conflict theory is often a power struggle or a competition. You can often see this between siblings as they try to be the one who is in charge or even as simple as who has the remote when watching TV. Symbolic interaction is important because it is "constantly communicating something about the relationship." I have found that this semester in school all of my roommates and I have shown pretty good symbolic interaction. If we are all hanging out then people usually don't have there phones out, people invite each other to go do things, and everyone speaks kindly to one another. These are all important because they communicate that we want to be friends and spend time with one another. That we really care. In my opinion the exchange theory is one of the more dangerous. If you are obvious about it or do it too much then people will be able to tell and may wonder if they should even be friends at all. This can be a very bad thing and you may lose relationships altogether. At the same time you should keep this in mind. This is because, some relationships may not be good for you and by weighing the costs and rewards it may help you get somebody toxic out of your life. Finally, the systems theory. This is a theory that everybody has their role in the household. This can be hard to recognize at times or very easily seen. It can be hard though when something changes, such as having a new baby, because then the roles have to change a little. These theories are good to keep in mind because they can help you improve the relationships with those around you. I know that as I've payed attention to them this pastt week it has helped me find my role at my apartment.

Fertility Rates and Why They Matter

Last week in class we spent a long time talking about the fertility rates around the world and how they are dropping. This is strange because popular belief is the opposite because the population number in the world is increasing. How is this happening? Well, even though people are having less babies because of the advancement in medicine they are living longer. There is a quote about how instead of multiplying we are instead just not "dropping like flies". So if the population is still growing why does it matter that the fertility rate is decreasing? This matters because in many countries right now the rate is in a sub replacement state. This rate means that women are having less than 2.1 children each. This is too low to keep the population going. If we keep this up then within the next couple of generations there will be nobody left. I find this all very interesting because it a lot of it started after a book called the population bomb came out right in middle of the "Baby Boom". Peoples mind set changed drastically with this idea that if the population grew it would lead to a poor economy and mass starvation. The thing I found the most interesting is that you can see this mentality in so many things, such as the statistics but also in the media. Take the books "Enders Game" and "Among the Hidden" for example. In these books they have a limit to how many kids they have and that is two. But they also try to have that many. This is cool because they are cutting down the population but trying to stay out of the sub replacement level. I hope this gives you a little insight as to why having more kids is important and if you want to look deeper into this topic here is a video that explains it in more depth:

http://www.byutv.org/watch/b3dfa9f3-6e20-4d64-af96-fbf3fd64670a/new-economic-reality-demographic-winter-part-2

http://www.byutv.org/watch/59b6b917-984a-478f-93b1-521a647779c4/new-economic-reality-demographic-winter-part-1