Exploring Beyond the Horizon

I recently watched a documentary called "Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey" on the events leading up to the arrest and imprisonment of Warren Jeffs, prophet of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). The term "keep sweet" was a favorite phrase of Warren's father Rulon Jeffs, while Rulon was the prophet - it essentially meant that no matter what happened, women were not to outwardly express anger, frustration, disappointments or disagreements but should always "keep sweet." The subtitle of Pray and Obey was from wording from the Jeffs' home (shown to the right) - emphasizing the importance of continuing always in prayer and strict obedience to the FLDS church. I was shocked, appalled, and disgusted by the experiences retold by a few of the wives of Rulon and Warren Jeffs and I think Warren Jeffs very much deserves his life sentence in prison.  I was also encouraged by the bravery of some of these women who stood up for themsel...

I recently was able to have a lot of what I consider to have been very productive discussions on abortion.  As part of this, a good friend of mine sent me a link to a Meridian Magazine article discussing what the author considered were "misconceptions" in the pro-choice arguments. I've highlighted direct quotations for the article, but for brevity have not included the entire article. The full article is linked for reference.  This article article was originally written by Melissa Moschella, an associate professor at the Catholic University of America  and republished in the Meridian Magazine article. First, my overall thoughts Overall, I don't think anyone  wants  more abortions. We focus so much on restricting women's access to abortion without sufficiently addressing the underlying reason for most abortions - which is unplanned pregnancies. Like many other areas of healthcare in the US, we address the symptom but not the root cause. Interestingly, some of t...

"Goosebumps" (or more technically "pilo-erection" - raising of hair) refers to a sensation that often occurs when people are either cold or overcome with emotion. Directed by the sympathetic nervous system, the piloerector muscles, tiny muscles attached to individual hair follicles, contract, causing a temporary raising of the hairs on the surface of the skin.  In connection with this, people often experience "chills" or a shivering down their spine or tingling in the skin known as transient paresthesia, pins and needles or frisson. Getting goosebumps when cold may have served an evolutionary purpose of keeping us warm by extending the reach of hair on our bodies.  This may have been more effective in our evolutionary ancestors who had more hair and is still very effective in other animals, but does little to actually keep us warm today. But why do we experience this sensation when we have an emotional experience such as reading a moving novel, listening t...