This week we talked about marriage. It was super interesting! There were a lot of different aspects to marriage that I didn't realize were important. For instance, I hadn't realized that cohabitation and premarital sex actually make divorce more likely. I had always sort of assumed that it was the opposite.  When two people begin their married lives after having lived together it actually is much harder on the couple. The two have been used to living together, but not being one. Money and responsibilities are often kept separate prior to marriage. So when they do marry the dynamic changes drastically, or rather it should. When the couple fails to change this idea of two separate people living together, they remain just that. They don't become one. This puts an extraordinary amount of stress on both of them and often leads to separation. Kinda crazy right? Any ways I guess I just wanted to say that there's a reason some traditional values exist, they work. For thousands of years and in almost every culture sex and cohabitation were things reserved only for those who married. I won't say that all traditions are good, but they certainly aren't all bad either. Anyways, just food for thought.

  Hey there! So this week was cool, we talked about a lot. Everything from gender roles to depression to same gender attraction, it was rad. We looked at some of the underlaying causes, both social and biological, for homosexuality which I found fascinating. There was actually quite a bit more attributed to the social side than I had been led to believe. With all the talk going around about "the gay gene" and with people talking about how some are just born gay I think that as important as opinions are, closer attention to research is the better way to determine this touchy topic. The fact is, is that there is a lot of opinion and conjecture out there and in my opinion we're probably better off doing this by the numbers.
  Undoubtedly there are points in favor of both sides, but I see no reason why the truth can't be some where in the middle. Rarely are these things ever black and white, so why treat it as such? Why can't it be that a predisposition for what is conceded in our society as gay, masculine, or feminine behavior mixed with ones complex life experiences lead one to question traditional sexual orientation? Just because a man likes to dance or has a more delicate voice doesn't make him homosexual... it makes him different. And different is good! Different is what makes culture so interesting. I digress, I'd rather not cause a fuss but we as a society certainly don't make it easy for those who are different to fit in. Especially with those of our same gender.
  So I guess that the message of the day is this, don't be so stubborn. Be open to new information. This doesn't mean you have to relinquish your point of view, it just allows you to have all the information in order to form it.  I think Jesus Christ said it best, "the truth shall set you free"( John 8:32). So why not? Anyways thats all for now, as always feel free to leave a comment below. Id be happy to share the sources on what we talked about this week!