Marriage

This week we learned all about marriage. We learned about the difference between getting married and having a wedding. Did you guys know that the average wedding is $27,000? This seems a little bit ridiculous.      Another important thing that we learned is the trials that come throughout marriage. This is so important to remember. I feel like people, especially those at BYU or BYU-Idaho, are unprepared for marriage. They feel that marriage is going to take away their problems or be pure perfection. However, there are so many trials that come as a married couple, especially money difficulties. It is important to remember that your marriage may not be perfect, but it does not mean that things cannot be fixed.

LOVE

Okay so this week, we talked about love. Very fitting for Valentine's week. We talked about the importance of choosing a life partner and the misattribution of arousal. Many times we mistake physical intimacy or attraction for love. Since a marriage cannot be based on this, this is a very bad thing. We also learned some very interesting information about cohabitation. Those who cohabitate and then marry are more likely to divorce. This mat seem strange because many people go into cohabitation with the idea that they are basically "practicing marriage". However, it is not the best way to do this.

We also learned that many may feel they are in love because they feel so comfortable talking to each other and that they can talk for hours. Brother Williams shared that this may be because one person shares so much and they feel like they know each other very well in reality they don't. Strange! Anyway, this was a very interesting and insightful week!

The Issue of Same-Sex Attraction

I was dreading this week. I am taking Family Foundations and Family Relations and they both chose to talk about same-sex attraction and gender identity in the same week. This always been a pressing issue for me. My views have definitely changed throughout the course of my 20-year old life. I was very impressed by the way these topics were presented.

I feel like this issue is so big everywhere and so misunderstood. I am no expert on it, don't get me wrong. However, this week I found some incredibly good insight that I am going to share. First of all, we found that those who had a same sex attraction often found that at a pivotal or traumatic part in their life. It was really unfortunate and upsetting for me to hear that. Many found that as a child, they were bullied. Others found that they didn't feel connected to their father. The research that we were given explains that this same sex attraction usually comes from the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate.

Now, when I say this, I am not saying that they are raised to be gay. I am just saying that the research showed the environmental factors played the biggest role in this. Others may feel otherwise. My personal opinion is that people may be born with certain traits or tendencies, but it does not make them gay. It is also very important how they use these tendencies and what they do with them.

It is so important to remember that people who struggle with same sex attraction are not "broken". They are not "weird". They are our brothers and sisters. We need to love them and treat them just as we would anyone else. They are no different. As Ghandi said, "hate the sin. not the sinner".

I know that this is a touchy subject and I really hope not to have offended anyone. Have an amazing weekend!

Diversity

This week in my class we learned about different types of cultures. We each have different backgrounds and that doesn't mean that any of them are right or wrong. It all depends on what we do with the backgrounds that we have. No matter where you live, it is important to raise your children to the Lord and in His gospel.

It was definitely interesting to delve more into the different cultures that I have never really studied and to see their affect on family and social relationships. Often times, we categorize people based on their social class or   what we see them as. However, some of these categories may not be true and all of them should never have been placed to begin with. The culture that we grow up in has an affect on how we live, how we speak, and what we wear. In the end, we are all children of our Heavenly Father and it therefore doesn't matter.