In the news

[Dragon Lady]

My opinion: if Christ had been conceived sexually, it wouldn't have been a virgin birth. But we do still believe that he is literally the Son of God. This month's visiting teaching message is about just that. How he inherited immortal traits from his father and mortal traits from his mother. Both were necessary to fulfill his mission.

And no, I don't believe in the virgin/miraculous conceptions/births of other gods. Mostly because I don't believe in those other gods. Their existence (not knowing much about them, I submit that it's possible that they were based on actual people. Just like Muslims believe that Christ really lived, but that he was just a prophet, not the Savior) or their divinity.

[Indefinite Integral]

Thanks, DL, for summarizing my thoughts much better than I could have.

I'm definitely not a writer.

[Digit]

The lizard species Cnemidophorus neomexicanus reproduces parthenogenetically. Obviously, since there is no y-chromosome to pass on, all offspring are female.

[Marduk]

Warning: explicit sexual language.

If we define virginity for women as never having been penetrated by a penis, then yes, virgin births are possible (as has been mentioned.) I'm sure many of these girls are lying, because premarital sex is highly stigmatized in most of this country, but statistically speaking, it is next to impossible that all of them are.

[Dragon Lady]

Though, interestingly the article says, "who reported that they conceived independent of men." It also makes it sound like many of those girls/women had no sexual education; even their parents were semi-clueless. It makes me wonder, did they just wonder for a few months why they were so tired and sick, then start wondering why something was kicking in their stomach? I'm really, really interested in hearing their stories. If the pregnancy were truly independent of men (which I doubt a lot) then what clued them in that they were pregnant?

I mean, in 6th grade my mom was convinced that she was pregnant because she had pet a male horse. For weeks. Because back in the day, you just didn't talk about those things and one of her friends' brothers played a cruel joke on them. So they were all scared to tell their moms they were pregnant because although they didn't know how to get pregnant, they all knew that it was Bad News. Luckily one of the moms picked that time to have "the talk" with her daughter, who had to break it to the group that they weren't, in fact, pregnant.

So, these girls... what do they know about sex? What do they know about pregnancy? Virginity? Were there any male horses nearby?

[Eirene]

My mom the ER doc says that she sees this relatively frequently:
Mom: "Do you know if you're pregnant?"
Patient: "I'm not pregnant."
Mom: "Is there any way you could be pregnant?"
Patient: "No, I haven't slept with anyone in two years."
*Mom orders pregnancy test anyway, it comes back positive*
Mom: "Your pregnancy test came back positive. Are you sure there's no way you could be pregnant?"
Patient: "No! The only time I was with a man was this one time a few months ago, and that didn't even count."

Anyway, my mom says it's usually some combination of (a) lack of sex education, (b) denial, or thinking getting pregnant after a one-night stand or a short fling is something that could happen to other people but not to you, and (c) whether intentionally or not, being less than forthcoming about private matters to your doctor.

[thatonemom]

Same-sex marriage *ban* in Utah ruled unconstitutional.
I think I'll be staying off Facebook for awhile with this news.

ETA: ban, because it makes no sense without it.

[mic0]

You mean, same-sex marriage *ban* ruled unconstitutional?

[thatonemom]

Oh my goodness, yes. Thanks mico! That's kind of a crucial word there.

[mic0]

Hahaha! I was so confused after reading that here, and then people on Facebook being like "good for you Utah, never thought this great day would come!" (If you knew my cousin and friend who posted about it, it'd make sense.)

[Portia]

WHO WANTS TO COME DOWNTOWN AND FROLIC IN THE STREETS WITH ME TONIGHT

[Violet]

I got off work and checked my phone because a girl at work said something and was shocked. Portia, I'd frolic with you if it weren't after midnight and a good half hour drive away.

[Portia]

I got off work and checked my phone because a girl at work said something and was shocked. Portia, I'd frolic with you if it weren't after midnight and a good half hour drive away.

You were there in spirit. :-)

[Portia]

I think I'll be staying off Facebook for awhile with this news.

Out of curiosity, do you mind saying if that's because of the pro- or anti-gay marriage crowd? (I know you're a reasonable person, so even if we disagree, I'll hear you out. :) )

[thatonemom]

I have friends with strong opinions on both sides, so there's always some "this is the end of the world The Second Coming is nigh!" as well as the "bigots in Utah take that" bunch. I get tired of it. Mostly I avoid Facebook right after anything controversial happens because I'm only on there to see people's cute kids/pets/crafts/funnies about their fandoms.

[Marduk]

So you're with the pro- cute things crowd.

[Portia]

I have friends with strong opinions on both sides, so there's always some "this is the end of the world The Second Coming is nigh!" as well as the "bigots in Utah take that" bunch. I get tired of it. Mostly I avoid Facebook right after anything controversial happens because I'm only on there to see people's cute kids/pets/crafts/funnies about their fandoms.

And see, the moment someone posts something like that, it gets hidden from my feed.

[Digit]

Chuck Norris does the splits across two airplane wings with a squad of special forces troops balancing on his head.

[Portia]

Did anyone experience any polemics about the gay marriage decision in Church yesterday? My boyfriend and I have a running bet ...

[Whistler]

no, thank goodness