Lieberman's Forum Address

Senator Lieberman's book

On Tuesday I watched the forum address via the JSB auditorium broadcast given by Senator Lieberman titled “Faith and the Public Square.” I was interested to hear his opinions as an Orthodox Jew in government and former VP elect who lost because of the rules of the Electoral College (which he did bring up during his talk. Still bitter maybe?) I liked his belief that Sabbath day observance is important not only for people of Jewish or Christian faith but for everyone who seeks to improve their quality of life. What I didn’t like was his hypocrisy. Maybe I just distrust all politicians, but Lieberman said that he made an early decision never to be involved in politics on the Sabbath, then proceeded to say that he will participate in meetings or voting concerning security issues in the U.S. He justified this by saying that God would want him to value security over religion because to value security is to value life, which is God’s gift to us. Yeah, that didn’t make sense to me either. I’m not a shining example of keeping the Sabbath day holy either because I try to do my homework on Saturday but if I need to I’ll do it on Sunday. When I was younger, however, I played competitive soccer and never played games on Sundays. It’s hard, but possible. I have a family friend who attended law school and never did homework on Sundays. My dad never does anything work-related on Sunday. And none of us wrote a whole book about it. One more thing, Lieberman omitted Christ’s name from the name of our church, and on BYU campus too! The nerve!

Okay, rant over. One more thing I liked from his talk was that he said that the Founding Fathers wrote a great constitution that gave us freedom of religion and also aligned with the beliefs of Americans, thus allowing us to follow it enthusiastically. We learned about constitution-writing in Comparative Government this week, and one quality of constitutions is that they should respect long-standing traditions so that people will not only obey them but readily identify with them. It’s always good to see that what I’m learning in school isn’t just meant to make my life miserable but has real-life application.

photo: blogs.yu.edu

Representing the Church on the Field

Rise and shout, the Cougars are out!

I’ve heard that college athletic programs around the nation hate BYU because we put on a “holier than thou” attitude but play just as dirty as everyone else. This was almost true during the BYU vs. Idaho State game last Saturday. I walked into LaVell Edwards Stadium (late) to see a Bengal down on the field. I didn’t know what happened and when I asked my friends they said they weren’t paying attention. I heard the referee give BYU player Kyle van Noy a late hit penalty and move us back fifteen yards. All the fans booed and I thought, “Oh, must have been a bad call.” Later I watched the highlights of the game and saw that the call was very appropriate. What happened was that sophomore linebacker Van Noy plastered ISU’s punter after the play and the punter was out for the game. The ISU coach was furious because his punter was an all-American in high school, and judging by the 56-3 blowout, probably also their best player (haha). He even said that he wouldn’t think something like that would happen at BYU. (Personally, I think it was the punter’s own fault for getting into the fray. And I mean, come on, it’s football. Stuff like that happens all the time. BYU was in ISU’s position when we played Utah State). But Van Noy didn’t realize that it was a late hit or that he had hit the punter. So he did something sportsmanlike, and even classy: after the game he sincerely apologized to the ISU coach. Coach Mendenhall also went to talk to the coach, and they talked for a good long while. I think that Van Noy and Coach Mendenhall were great representatives of the church on the field. Van Noy is an aggressive player, which makes him such an asset to the team, but he is not a malicious player. He is just playing his hardest. I think Coach Mendenhall did not want to leave ISU with a negative opinion of our school, and by extension, our gospel values. I appreciate Van Noy’s and Coach Mendenhall’s examples on the field because they show that we don’t let a game outshine our main goal to live as good people. I guess you could say that’s why I call myself a cougarette.

photo: theupsetblog.com

Research Journey

I started my research journey with the question, “How has the Internet affected social unrest in China?” I chose to study social stability in China as it relates to new media to incorporate my interest in Political Science and specialization in Chinese politics and history. My initial thoughts were that Internet applications give Chinese people the ability to expose local government corruption, share information and ideas, and organize themselves to protest injustice. Their challenge would be to circumvent the Chinese Communist Party’s infamous Internet censorship and repression of free speech.

The library help days were very helpful and I found many sources through the library databases. Many sources were newspaper articles reporting the Chinese government’s censoring of information relating to Arab Spring protests for fear that Chinese people will be the next to rise up. Other newspaper articles discussed an incident that occurred in July when a bullet train crashed in Wenzhou, killing forty people and causing an online uproar protesting the government’s neglect to monitor the safety of the transportation system. I found peer-reviewed journal articles that supported my initial thoughts that the Internet and especially blogging was an effective outlet for expression. Some articles, however, argued that the Chinese Communist Party has actually embraced the Internet and used it to strengthen its authority. My challenge will be to develop a persuasive claim to counter this argument.

My new claim is that despite the government’s efforts to control the Internet, Chinese citizens have effectively used microblogs to circulate evidence of failures in government. Microblogs allow people to circulate ideas about government corruption and scandals that otherwise would not materialize into public protest. (Microblogs are short messages, like Twitter tweets. Twitter is blocked in China but many people use the websites Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo that are just like Twitter).

Today the coolest thing happened with my research. For my Comparative Government class I’m required to read the NY Times International news and one of the headlines for today was “China Reins in Entertainment and Blogging.” It was an article that talked about the stricter measures that the Chinese Communist Party is taking to limit entertainment and blogging in China, in response to worldwide protests occurring in the Middle East, Europe, and U.S., as well as in response to China’s upcoming leadership transition. This was cool for two reasons: (1) I was killing two birds with one stone, doing my daily current events reading and finding sources for my paper, and (2) I got to see that my topic is relevant to what is happening today.

General Conference Talk Analysis

Salt Lake City Temple

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend General Conference at Temple Square. Although I had to wake up early, listen to screaming protestors who misunderstood our gospel, and stand in long lines to get into the Tabernacle, once I was there I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the place and I felt so much peace that I even forgot about the homework piling up at my dorm. The talks were very uplifting and the singing was fantastic. When the congregation stood up and sang together, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude to be a part of this true church.

One talk that I particularly enjoyed was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and titled “You Matter to Him.” Pres. Uchtdorf’s message was that despite how the world views us, Heavenly Father cares about each one of us individually and wants us to achieve our divine potential. Sometimes I think about how many blessings I have, such as growing up in Hawaii and having a supportive family, and I wonder if God listens to my prayers when he could be helping people who face much more difficult circumstances. Pres. Uchtdorf, however, shared that God does indeed know me and cares about me. Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk was not only well-written, but also delivered effectively using pathos, or emotional appeals to the audience. Through Pres. Uchtdorf’s use of vivid imagery and concrete examples, he effectively persuades his audience to recognize their inner worth and motivates us to achieve our highest capacity.

Pres. Uchtdorf uses striking imagery of the universe to enthrall his audience, and adds a twist when he states that God made creation for our benefit. Uchtdorf talks about the magnificence of the universe, saying “There are few things that have filled me with such breathless awe as flying in the black of night across oceans and continents and looking out my cockpit window upon the infinite glory of millions of stars” (Paragraph 5). This concrete image causes the audience to recognize the power of God and feel small. Before we can feel too insignificant, however, Uchtdorf declares, “the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters” (10). He then offers another beautiful image that fills his audience with hope: “While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast” (11). Consequently, the audience has a positive feeling about Uchtdorf’s message and desires to reach their promise of exaltation. Furthermore, Uchtdorf can effectively persuade his audience to heed his message of avoiding pride and discouragement, both of which hinder our progression. Indeed, Uchtdorf’s use of rich imagery complemented with a hopeful message helps his audience members to feel a great sense of self-worth and motivates them to improve themselves.

Pres. Uchtdorf also offers concrete examples that arouse strong emotions in his audience members and help them to identify with his message. Uchtdorf offers a personal story of his experience attending pilot training in a small town in Texas. He shares his feelings of insignificance, loneliness, and feelings forgotten by Heavenly Father. This causes the audience member to identify with Uchtdorf because these negative feelings are universal. Nonetheless, Uchtdorf establishes that he tried his best and kept his heart inclined toward God, and the God never forgot him. Consequently, the audience, made up of people who respect Pres. Uchdorf’s authority and can identify with him based on their similar experiences, believes his message. Another concrete example that he shares is of an elderly woman who despite great personal strife has kept great faith and blessed the lives of everyone around her. This example makes Pres. Uchtdorf’s message immediate and realistic for his audience because his audience sees that if this woman could be so humble, they can and ought to also remain humble and faithful to Heavenly Father.

            Through his use of imagery and personal examples, Pres. Uchtdorf touched his audience members and brought them to the knowledge that Heavenly Father recognizes the worth of souls and cares about them individually. This talk was an answer to my prayers and I am grateful to have modern revelation and inspired leaders in our church today.


Uchtdorf, Dieter F. "You Matter to Him." Ensign 2011.
photo: ldschurchtemples.com