LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley dies at age 97

He will be missed. I love President Hinckley.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through explosive growth during his more than 12 years as president, died 7 p.m. Sunday at home of causes incident to age, surrounded by family. He was 97.
He traveled the world during his tenure, which was marked by a number of significant milestones, including the "Proclamation to the World on the Family," construction of dozens of small temples and the creation of several new quorums of the Seventy. He called for increased fellowshipping of new converts and reaching out to other faiths. LDS Church membership has grown from 9 million to more than 13 million members during his administration.
His ministry was characterized by a strong desire to be out among the people. He traveled nearly a million miles and spoke to hundreds of thousands of members in at least 160 nations, employing his mastery of electronic media to bring unprecedented press attention to the church.
Under his leadership, the 21,000-seat Conference Center, north of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, was built and dedicated, and the portion of Main Street between Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building was turned into a plaza. Online computer access to church information as well as online and CD access to family history resources grew exponentially.

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Two Women With Down Syndrome Used In Deadly Strikes

Twin Bombings Kill Scores In Baghdad
Iraqi Official: 2 Women With Down Syndrome Used In Deadly Strikes At Pet Markets
(see story at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/01/iraq/main3777703.shtml)


This is such a heart wrenching story. It is believed that the al Qaeda had two women with Down Syndrome to serve as suicide bombers. I do not know if I was more sad, frustrated, or outraged! I am sure these poor women had no comprehension as to what was really going to happen to them or why they were doing it. I feel sad soo deeply for their family and friends it is hard to come up with the words.
Ok a bit of my own personal politics, I think bombing just to kill innocent people is not the right thing to do, and if you really want to be a suicide bomber that would be up to you, I cannot take away your free agency. However, to manipulate others (especially those who have special needs) to do your dirty work, well, simply put it is JUST NOT RIGHT AT ALL. The article also stated the bombs were controlled by remote, so that points to the fact that most likely the women with Down syndrome did not know or understand what they were doing or why they were doing it and most definitely did not have control to change their mind once the bombs were attached to their body.
I thought this quote really sums it all up, "’There is nothing they won't do if they think it will work in creating carnage and the political fallout that comes from that, he told The Associated Press in an interview at the State Department.” I remember a quote that is something along the line that you can tell the integrity of a people by the way they treat their weak (or women or children or people with special needs something like that). This does not seem to be the first time people with special need have fallen prey to being manipulated, "Even the use of the handicapped in suicide bombings is not unprecedented in Iraq. In January 2005, Iraq's interior minister said insurgents used a disabled child in a suicide attack on Election Day. Police at the scene of the bombing said the child appeared to have Down syndrome."
This is such a sad day and all this will be in my heart and mind for quite some time to come.

Gail Marie Huff
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ghuff/

http://www.ndss.org/