“In all my angst about if I would marry and if I would have children and if I would have a career, I did not fully consider how the ideals in this proclamation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reflected a certain moment in white, middle-class America’s economic history,”
You certainly punched all my hot buttons... preparing young women for careers, acknowledging and accepting dual wage earners, tithing, the wealth of the church, and childcare. I'm proud that my wife insisted going back to school in the late 90's and 00's for her Masters and PhD while our four daughters were in school. Our oldest daughter received her Masters the same day my wife got her Doctorate. My wife has put her lifetime of study and work into preparing children for kindergarten in a curriculum based and socially enriched preschool experience.. She teaches others at all levels how to effectively teach children. I have three wishes for the Church. Stop tithing as a temple recommend requirement and make it voluntary as charitable contribution. Missionary expenses should not be a family or local ward burden. Provide funding for preschool/childcare programs as part of their charitable and welfare contributions. Expand Employment Services to hire professionals to work with members on training, finding employment, and recruiting. Add specialized training for high school age children (boys AND girls) and parents on preparing for adulthood. I've been a ward and a stake employment specialist and remember well the need for more trained assistance. I understand that Senior Church Service Missionaries also fill this role. That's great. But the importance of continuity would benefit from additional trained professionals.
Ok I've only listened to 20 minutes but I am deeply resonating with the discussion about housing being so expensive. When I was growing up, the area we lived in had a decent amount of families. But as I grew older and my family stayed put, more and more families in our ward and stake moved out to an area that was not as developed but was growing and cheap. By the time my youngest siblings were youth, the program was so tiny my brother was one of only two young men in the ward.
Currently I am 35 years old and I have two children. My husband and I still have not purchased a house because we simply can't afford one in a desirable area. Sometimes I feel angry at the thought that we probably could have afforded to buy a house when they were still cheap if we had not spent so much of our income on tithing!!!
I also really resonated with the frustration of wanting to move but not wanting to leave ward boundaries. That is SO real. We currently live in an apartment and there is so possible way we will ever be able to afford a house in our ward boundaries. Plus my parents and in laws both live in the same city and we did not want to be in either of their wards so that really limited our house buying potential. We don't go to church anymore and I feel so much more relief over it, like... If we do somehow find an affordable house we don't have to worry about ward boundaries anymore.
Yes, both financially and time-wise. I just saw an analogy that explained that a million seconds is 11 days, and a billion seconds is 32 years. When we translate that to dollars and contemplate the enormous wealth of a church with close to $300 billion, it makes one wonder why on earth anyone would continue to use their charitiable donations to support it?
I use that timeframe all the time to explain to folks the difference between a million and billion as well. Our human mind just can't conceive of it otherwise. ~C
You certainly punched all my hot buttons... preparing young women for careers, acknowledging and accepting dual wage earners, tithing, the wealth of the church, and childcare. I'm proud that my wife insisted going back to school in the late 90's and 00's for her Masters and PhD while our four daughters were in school. Our oldest daughter received her Masters the same day my wife got her Doctorate. My wife has put her lifetime of study and work into preparing children for kindergarten in a curriculum based and socially enriched preschool experience.. She teaches others at all levels how to effectively teach children. I have three wishes for the Church. Stop tithing as a temple recommend requirement and make it voluntary as charitable contribution. Missionary expenses should not be a family or local ward burden. Provide funding for preschool/childcare programs as part of their charitable and welfare contributions. Expand Employment Services to hire professionals to work with members on training, finding employment, and recruiting. Add specialized training for high school age children (boys AND girls) and parents on preparing for adulthood. I've been a ward and a stake employment specialist and remember well the need for more trained assistance. I understand that Senior Church Service Missionaries also fill this role. That's great. But the importance of continuity would benefit from additional trained professionals.
Ok I've only listened to 20 minutes but I am deeply resonating with the discussion about housing being so expensive. When I was growing up, the area we lived in had a decent amount of families. But as I grew older and my family stayed put, more and more families in our ward and stake moved out to an area that was not as developed but was growing and cheap. By the time my youngest siblings were youth, the program was so tiny my brother was one of only two young men in the ward.
Currently I am 35 years old and I have two children. My husband and I still have not purchased a house because we simply can't afford one in a desirable area. Sometimes I feel angry at the thought that we probably could have afforded to buy a house when they were still cheap if we had not spent so much of our income on tithing!!!
I also really resonated with the frustration of wanting to move but not wanting to leave ward boundaries. That is SO real. We currently live in an apartment and there is so possible way we will ever be able to afford a house in our ward boundaries. Plus my parents and in laws both live in the same city and we did not want to be in either of their wards so that really limited our house buying potential. We don't go to church anymore and I feel so much more relief over it, like... If we do somehow find an affordable house we don't have to worry about ward boundaries anymore.
Yes, both financially and time-wise. I just saw an analogy that explained that a million seconds is 11 days, and a billion seconds is 32 years. When we translate that to dollars and contemplate the enormous wealth of a church with close to $300 billion, it makes one wonder why on earth anyone would continue to use their charitiable donations to support it?
I use that timeframe all the time to explain to folks the difference between a million and billion as well. Our human mind just can't conceive of it otherwise. ~C