Former Stake President Excommunicated for being a woman.

[_Kishkumen]

This has been a repeated point of mine. People like Jersey Girl attempt to control the debate through appeals to emotion. Which could be a conscious strategy or a subconscious motive. Either way, this is one reason I treat things in a lighthearted way as it serves to bring uncomfortable truths to the surface.

According to Jersey Girl, if I don't agree with her, I'm responsible for people killing themselves, equivalent to a murderer. Any comment I make is nitpicked to death in service of a personal attack. Case in point her refusal to answer a simple question and personal harassment. All I care about is the truth. She puts on this big show, acting as though I'm waging some prop8-style campaign going around door to door intentionally lying to people and its her noble responsibility to set the record straight for the good of humanity. Good lord, this is a tiny message board and I'm just a random guy. And already in the minority which puts me at a disadvantage. Let's not get carried away.

It doesn't appear to me that you or anyone else is above appealing to the emotions stirred by the thought of kids being hurt. In any case, I have not really watched your exchange with Jersey. If you want to know whether prepubescent kids are taking blockers, I think the answer is most likely "yes." And, I understand why that is a sensitive issue, but then we live in a world where Ivanka Trump can use child labor to make crappy merchandise and then parade around as though she were a feminist trying to liberate her fellow women to be their best selves.

[_Kishkumen]

I wasn't aware that feminism was above child labor. I kind of get the opposite impression, actually. Seems a bit off topic either way :)

Yes, hardy har.

[_Xenophon]

I can't say that I am surprised by Trump's decision (much like my response to the OP, incidentally). If I'm not mistaken the Pentagon had already put Obama's order on hold till Jan 1 2018 in order to study potential impacts anyway.

I'm uncertain if some might be worried that a transgendered individual will volunteer for military service just for the medical insurance (it looks like only hormones and therapy are covered under Tricare, I'd appreciate a correction if this is not right though). I think it remains to be seen if that would be a huge issue and debatable that isn't deserved for service. I suppose the only other real concern might be in accommodating their needs for things like private facilities, much like for women in combat zones. I trust if the Pentagon really put their minds to it, they could figure it out though.

I guess my question is if the benefits of potentially strong recruits outweigh the costs. I think Kristin Beck is a pretty good example of a transgendered Navy SEAL that we were better off with having on our side. I would hate for us to lose some potentially very good members just because we thought the challenge was too great.

ETA: we may be at the point of needing to move this to Spirit Paradise, as I'm uncertain if this is still about Mormonism.

[_Xenophon]

I was able to find a analysis report done by the RAND Corp;

Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly

Essentially their major findings are:

1. There Are an Estimated 1,320–6,630 Transgender Service Members in the Active Component, but Not All Will Seek Gender Transition–Related Treatment
2. The Costs of Gender Transition–Related Health Care Treatment Are Relatively Low
3. Previous Integration Efforts and the Experiences of Foreign Militaries Indicate a Minimal Likely Impact on Force Readiness

And here are their recommendations:

1. DoD should ensure strong leadership and identify and communicate the benefits of an inclusive and diverse workforce to successfully implement a policy change and successfully integrate openly serving transgender service members into the force.
2. DoD should develop an explicit written policy on all aspects of the gender transition process to minimize any impact on service member or unit readiness.
3. DoD should provide education and training to the rest of the force on transgender personnel policy, and it should integrate this training with other diversity-related training and education.
4. DoD should develop and enforce a clear anti-harassment policy that addresses harassment aimed at transgender personnel alongside other targets of harassment.
5. DoD should make subject-matter experts and gender advisers serving within military units available to commanders seeking guidance or advice on gender transition–related issues.

[_Kishkumen]

I'm quite serious. Career women, the fruit of feminism, invented the childcare industry. They are also largely responsible for the industrialization of public education. Which, outside the USA in places like China and India, leads to child labor. In terms of competing interests feminism is about prioritizing a woman's rights over children's rights, no? Child bearing is even perceived as a form of slavery. We could even discuss how things like the minimum wage have impacted youth, preventing them from getting jobs as they used to. Like I said, off topic, but never have I seen feminists demonstrating over outrage that Apple has their phones made in China.

You are drawing a lot of dubious connections there in your shoddy tu-quoque argument. There is nothing about feminism that requires child labor. This is a farrago of nonsense, as far as I can see. I could just as easily say that anti-feminism is about prioritizing an unborn child's rights over a child's rights, and it would be just as stupid.

[_Jersey Girl]

According to Jersey Girl, if I don't agree with her, I'm responsible for people killing themselves, equivalent to a murderer.

I'll thank you in advance for supporting the above claim by quoting me.

[_Dr. Shades]

ETA: we may be at the point of needing to move this to Spirit Paradise, as I'm uncertain if this is still about Mormonism.

[MODERATOR NOTE: Topics tend to meander into other areas all the time, so to avoid confusion--and extra work--they typically get to stay where their opening post categorizes them.]

[_Kishkumen]

Agreed, but isn't that what you were going for? I can't conceive a reason for making a comment about Ivanka Trump, feminism, and child labor otherwise. :)

Hey, if you can't figure it out, maybe you should simply refrain from commenting.

[_Kishkumen]

Decisions, decisions...

This is pretty hilarious, because this is such a fine example of projection. Fearing complicated situations, conservatives seek simple solutions to such problems. They imagine liberals sweating at the complications that they themselves are unable to tolerate.

Thank you for illustrating that so perfectly.

[_Maksutov]

Decisions, decisions...

Ever heard of false dichotomies, Dog? What about straw men? I'm really disappointed in you lately but I'm hoping that this will pass. There is a lot of whacky liberal crap that needs challenging, a lot of BS from Berkeley and elsewhere, but the generalizations aren't working.