GASCAP Assignment

Nope, no funny titles today. It's been a long day and the like.

Generalization: "How Religious Fundamentalism Enables Sadists Like Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper" Sarah Seltzer

Sarah Seltzer argues that because several Mormon Fundamentalists have kidnapped and murdered due to "revelations given only to men," patriarchy is oppressing all women in the LDS church.


Analogy: "Passing the People's Religious Test: Mitt Romney's Mormonism is Nothing to Fear."
John B. Judis does a great job here of likening Mormonism and other prominent religions, claiming that since we give other religions the freedom to freely in government elections without criticizing their faith, then we should do the same. He also argues that Mormon beliefs, in his opinion, may be "absurd and irrational. But no more so than the beliefs of many Protestants, Catholics, and Jews."

Sign: "Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Housewife Blogs." Emily Matchar
This was a cute article to read and was well written. There were several sign arguments and all were well thought out. My favorite was: ""I'm jealous, I want to arrange flowers all day!" She doesn't, really. She's just tired from long days. . . ."

Cause: Abortion's Impact on Society.
Jeff Jacob argues that because abortion has been decriminalized, romance and sexuality has been corrupted, that sex outside of marriage has been increased and  that worthiness has been pushed off onto the back burner.

Authority: "A Government in Thrall to Religion" Frank R. Zindler
While I agree with the general concept of separation of church and state, this is a really bad example of authority. The author abuses his authority and it ends up being a rant.

Principle: "Abortion's Impact on Society"

Jeff again uses the morality of the sanctity of life in order to persuade readers that abortion is inherently wrong.