Speak Up For Truth

"Understanding the Atonement by Understanding the Body"

2011-02-25T12:24:00.003-05:00

Absolutely amazing blog called "ONE Climbs" by Steven Reed, that I've just discovered this month, with much of it devoted to symbolism, a passion of mine...this post is a bit different, but still fascinating!

I love this part:

"Sins and transgressions are not just ethereal ideas, but an actual physical record we create that resides within us. This is why thoughts can be sins.

Whether you act it out or not, you have instructed the synapses in your brain...to produce an incorrect or impure sequence of data; you have willed something evil into existence. It may not exist in the world as an action, but it exists in your brain just as data exists in a computer in the form of ones and zeroes. A being who uses their will to instruct matter to from into imperfect structures cannot ever participate in eternal life where creation and the instruction of matter and intelligences is the entire purpose.

In this life, your brain is your own private universe, with every facet and fragment created by you and through your actions, brought into the sphere of this world to influence the lives and futures of your fellow beings for good or for evil.

This is why we can only receive a 'remission' of sin through baptism. Just like cancer in remission, it still resides in your body, but it doesn't effect your progression and ability to act. The cancer may be removed through surgery or a change in the physical body. Likewise, sin, or "imperfect code" must be removed from the body of man through another process we understand as "the resurrection'."

And it only gets better from there...do pay Steven a visit; you'll be glad you did! Thanks, Steven!

Another Great LDS Blog: "Father Thy Will Be Done"

2011-01-24T15:18:00.003-05:00

I've been neglecting putting the great things I've found up on this blog, and was just throwing everything up on Facebook, but I'd rather start back linking the gems I find on here. One blog that has been absolutely an eye-opener for me has been one called "Father Thy Will Be Done" by the amazing Rosabella Knightly. Her work on the underlying dangers of the New Age "religion" and the self-help books that have grown out of it is thorough, massive, and highly enlightening (I started with one called "Law of Attraction and Luciferianism"). Lots to read there, do spend some time checking it out! One place to start is a post on a recent Ensign piece by R. Kim Davis called "Are the so-called New-Age spiritual beliefs opposed to Christ?" under the "I have a question" section. Rosabella also served as a consultant to Wendie L. Edwards on her latest Millenial Glory book, "Adam-Ondi-Ahman." Thanks so much, Rosabella, for all your work and for sharing it!

Molly's Sourdough Bread

2011-01-24T14:01:00.001-05:00

Just saw a very simple recipe for making your own sourdough bread from scratch, at my friend Molly's website. I've tried sourdough before, but it was far more complicated, and well, I didn't manage to get any bread out of it. But this one looks easy enough even for me. Molly's whole blog is great, so have a look around! Thanks, Molly!

New blog: "We Gotta Fix This Somehow"

2009-05-02T10:46:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been lightly blogging for years now, but I finally convinced my better half to start his own. He'd written a lengthy letter to send to our legislators, and I told him he should post it in a blog. Here's a taste:

Hi, my name is John Cahill, I live in Charlotte, NC and I'm the sort of guy that writes his legslators about issues of the day. I've done this for a while now and have written two or three times a year to the powers that be explaining my position on things, as issues arise or the mood hits me. This sort of approach got me through the Bush years alright. However on the occasion of the 100'th day in office of the current administration, the thought came to me that the Obama Agenda is moving so fast through the halls of power, and my old approach of commenting here and there, issue by issue won't work because too much is happening too fast. You just can't keep up! I figured that it might be best to write one long letter to Senators and Congressmen covering as many of the issues as I can think of at present. The Memo to Legislators that follows is the result. These are my views. They are also the views of thousands of folks that I met at Tea Parties, talked to after church, bumped into on the bus etc… I believe this to be a pretty good sample of the opinion of Freedom Loving Americans, those who honor the founding fathers. The people who sacrificed so much to give us this country which we all hold so dear. My intent was to put this open letter in the hands of as many legslators as I can because they all need to know that there is a groundswell of feeling out there amongst the people that we have had too much change, there is too much spending, there is too much government control of businesses, there are too much radical progressivism. Our legslators have to quickly recognize that these problems exist and recognize that they need to become part of the solution now, because those that are part of the problem will most likely lose their next bid for re-election. This country is broken and We Gotta Fix This Somehow..............

And he goes on to tell them what needs fixing! It is posted as several pieces, so read them all!

2009-03-16T13:39:00.000-04:00

from "Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Political Correctness, and Soft Totalitarianism"
by Thomas F. Bertonneau at The Brussels Journal

My favorite portion (but do read the whole thing!):

Elsewhere in The Martian Chronicles, in the story whose title is a line from Lord Byron, “And the Moon be still as Bright,” a complicated character named Jeff Spender, in a tense dialogue with his senior officer Captain Wilder, sketches the socio-cultural path by which society went from freedom to slavery. The first phase consisted in the destruction of long-standing symbols in the name of reason. A cult of the hard fact arose that stood in implacable hostility to metaphor and intuition. “That’s the mistake we made when Darwin showed up,” says Spender: “We embraced him and Huxley and Freud, all smiles. And then we discovered that Darwin and our religions didn’t mix.” As a result, when “we tried to budge Darwin and Huxley and Freud,” they refused to move, “so, like idiots, we tried knocking down religion.”
Spender’s peroration is worth quoting in full:
We succeeded pretty well. We lost our faith and went around wondering what life was for. If art was no more than a frustrated outflinging of desire, if religion was no more than self-delusion, what good was life? Faith had always given us answers to all things. But it went down the drain with Freud and Darwin. We were and still are a lost people.

Two new LDS blog links!

2009-02-25T20:26:00.000-05:00

I've recently received emails from a couple of beautiful new LDS blogs that I wanted to highlight.

The first is Latter-day Saints Abroad, whose intro statement is: We are now living in the small community of Sasebo, Japan and we hope to keep in touch with all the members of our home ward back in the States, the Salem Ward, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or with any other LDS friends of ours, who may wish to come here and Blog with us. All are welcomed, none are turned away. The Gospel is true. The Savior lives, and loves each of us.

The second blog is Mormons Made Simple, whose tagline reads: Who are the Mormons? The term "Mormons" refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the following videos, we'll try to explain a little about who we are and what we believe.

I am excited about both blogs, and can't wait to view all of the videos on the last one. It is so wonderful to see Latter-day Saints putting in such great effort to increase the light of the world! So, go over and pay them a visit, and link to them, and let us all lift one another!

Thank the Soldiers

2008-12-24T10:08:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a YouTube Video from a dear friend, Brent Jackson, called Thank the Soldiers. A moving tribute to those who stand between evil and all those who enjoy freedom.
(The writer used to be our home teacher, and is currently in our stake presidency...thanks, Bro. Jackson!)

Merry Christmas, and may God Bless us all!

Worshippers in Lansing, MI assaulted by liberal activists

2008-11-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

November 11, 2008
by Rick Moran at American Thinker

Suppose you were sitting in church one Sunday peacefully minding your own business, praying that God grant our new president the wisdom to do what is right when suddenly, the sanctity of the church is violated in the most horrific way by vandals, thugs, and screaming lunatics. This is what happened at a small church in Lansing, MI called Mount Hope.

Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.

Their other props? I'll let them tell you in their own words... from another of their liberal blogs:
"(A) video camera, a megaphone, noise makers, condoms, glitter by the bucket load, confetti, pink fabric...yeh."

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I pray we never have to see this in our own LDS chapels!

Socialism is dehumanizing

2008-11-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

From Marianne at The Eternal Student:

Rush asked yesterday on Greta Van Sustern's show on Fox, "how many young people even know what socialism is?"

I am living in France with two other Americans, both of whom voted for Obama. The election has come up a few times, and also the subject of socialism. I said, "I'm not voting for Obama, because I don't want to see my country become socialist."One of my American friends, twenty-two years old, said, "What's wrong with socialism? I don't think it's a bad idea."I was speechless for a second. But then those little warning bells that tell me, "say something. Don't let that pass. Even if her vote is cast, you can still try to give her an alternate perspective for the future," made me open my mouth.

So, I said, "What's wrong with socialism? We live in a socialist country right now, and you hate it here. You just spent all day yelling, "Damn these French!" Imagine this level of bureaucratic frustration and ineptitude taking over every aspect of American life." I didn't want to belabor the point. But I kept thinking of life here in a socialist nation:

1. Waiting in line for EVERYTHING. No transaction takes fewer than 30 minutes. This, to me, is not a mere accident or ineptitude. This seems to be a design. If people can be kept waiting to perform headache-inducing bureaucratic tasks, then the people are kept occupied and quiet. Business is kept at a slow, manageable trickle. You want to see socialism in health care? Take the average level of service you receive at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Now, imagine that you have a hernia.

2. Taxes on everything so high that you are kept in a certain life mold by default. Want to drive to Paris? The tolls are so exorbitant you might as well just take the train. Want to buy a better education? You can't because the state's monopoly is so huge that the only private schools are the Grandes Écoles and the Catholic universities. Yes, you could go to one of them, but they are so competitive that you must study for two years just to pass the entrance exam. So, the great majority of people take the path of least resistance, conforming to the state's wishes, because to excel or to be different, or to opt out is just too expensive.

3. This results in a greater stratification between the rich and everyone else. When Americans (middle-class Americans!) visit France they stay in the picturesque city centers where the rich people live and work. But travel even a few kilometers out to the suburbs where the dehumanizing tenements climb into the sky, and people shop at discount stores just as cheap as WalMart and barely scrape by, and then tell me that socialism "spreads the wealth around." And then, please, take a walk around a French ghetto, where the radical Islamic population has taken over the streets, where the French police don't dare to go, where the rule of law has bowed to sharia, and tell me that this is a "secular and equal" nation. With unemployment for Muslim young men at over 20%, discontent is high, and violence is always simmering. America is not perfect. But don't buy the lie that socialist nations have their houses in order. Don't even get me started on the worrying rise of neo-fascist national parties in England, France, and Italy.

4. I, personally, don't agree with the consumerist ethic that has gripped our nation, but I firmly support my fellow citizens' right to buy as many things as pleases them. My roommates enjoy traveling, buying gourmet food, expensive shoes, designer clothes. All of this is paid for by the American dollars of their parents. Capitalism creates wealth.

5. I meet many, many students of English, who really love America. I say, "Oh, you should go!" and I am told, by about 85% of them, "Oh, I can't. It's too expensive."Imagine. Almost every American student of a foreign language, if he or she has the desire, finds a way to travel to the nation where that language is spoken. We love to treat the world as our Disney World. Well, prepare to cut back. Travel requires disposable income, either your own or your parents, and under socialism that disposable income is going to shrink.

6. Young people have an intense sense of justice. They dislike the injustice they see in daily life in America, and they want to make things better. But because they have been taught by ideologically Left teachers and curricula their whole lives, they think the problems are systemic, ideological, and too big for individuals to change (this way of thinking is fundamentally Hegelian-Marxist). And so, they buy into the rhetoric of a demagogue who says he's going to bring "change to Washington." Because, according to their education, they think the only way to change things is at the government level. They have no idea the power they have to effect change in their lives, communities, states, and therefore their nation. The conservative movement should be proposing an ideology of empowerment to the individual citizen. You think inner-city education is poorer and less equitable than that in the suburbs? So, volunteer five hours a week to tutor a child in reading! Do something. Give something. You have so much more to give than just your vote (although that matters). In fact, if individuals try to solve these problems, the results are always better than if the government tries to fix it. Again, just look at education. How much money do we have to pour into government schools before asking ourselves, is money really the answer? Why is it that a family of eight, on a budget of $1,000 a year for homeschooling supplies, has children who can read Greek and speak Spanish, and the children in our public schools are functionally illiterate? Surely we are smart enough to solve this problem.

Socialism is dehumanizing because it puts the state before the individual. Under socialism, you stand in line to be given some basic necessity. Under capitalism, you earn your livelihood, and however much more you might want and have the energy to produce. And if you see injustice around you, why then, by all means, "spread the wealth around." But don't take my money in order to do so. I have to pay taxes in France, after all...

Nourishing Traditions in WaPo

2008-08-14T11:54:00.000-04:00

My nutritional hero is featured in the Washington Post! Sally Fallon, the president of the Weston Price Foundation, wrote a cookbook called "Nourishing Traditions" that is the only one I use these days. They even give mention to Nina Planck's "Real Food" which is another favorite of mine. If you don't know about the real food/traditional food revival that is on the move, you might want to read the article! It can be very much in harmony with the Word of Wisdom, as I believe that traditional peoples tended to eat meat sparingly, though Ms. Fallon tends to stress meat a great deal. Some people who have been vegetarian and vegan that I know do need to eat a lot of meat right now (as their bodies have seen times of hunger and famine, sometimes for decades!).

Here's the first few paragraphs...read the rest here.

Eating healthy on the road can be tricky for Sally Fallon. But if the founder of the Washington nutrition nonprofit group Weston A. Price Foundation ever gets desperate, she can always hit a gas station for a bag of pork cracklings: "It's often the only real thing to eat," she says. Fallon's definition of "real" is vastly different from what many Americans who consider themselves health-conscious might describe. She advocates butter on bread "so thick you can see teeth marks in it," plenty of meat and unpasteurized, or raw, milk.

Those are foods recommended by Price, a Cleveland dentist who traveled the world studying primitive diets. His 1939 book, "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," concluded that a diet high in the vitamins found in animal fats and untouched by "modern" innovations such as refined flour, sugar and chemically preserved foods was the key to preventing chronic disease and tooth decay.

Such ideas have been considered heretical by modern American public health policy that promotes a low-fat, low-sodium diet. But increasing interest in sustainable, local foods, combined with industrial health scares such as the recent salmonella outbreak, has put the spotlight on the foundation's unorthodox ideas about healthful eating. Its membership is nearly 10,500 strong, and growing at a 10 percent clip each year. There are more than 350 U.S. chapters, plus international groups from Australia to Norway.

For years, these ideas were "as fringe as you could get, as politically incorrect as you could get," says Fallon, 60. "All of a sudden, people are listening."

That new audience is surprisingly broad. Some adherents are interested exclusively in nutrition. But more and more, the concept of returning to traditional foodways is pulling people in. New members include the expected "back to the land" types, for whom the foundation's message provides yet another reason to support small organic farms, and those who oppose the government's attempt to limit the availability of foods such as raw milk.

"This idea of real food crosses all demographics: red states, blue states, seculars, environmentalists, men, women and children," says Nina Planck, a Weston A. Price member and the author of "Real Food: What to Eat and Why." "What's gone wrong with farm policy is something conservatives and liberals can all agree on."

Nothing Wavering

2008-07-21T17:37:00.000-04:00

An exciting new development from J. Max Wilson--"a new LDS Blog Portal focusing on mainstream and orthodox LDS blogs and bloggers"--a refreshing alternative!

Choosing to be a mommy

2008-06-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

From "How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart" by Rebecca Walker (UKDailyMail)

The other day I was vacuuming when my son came bounding into the room. 'Mummy, Mummy, let me help,' he cried. His little hands were grabbing me around the knees and his huge brown eyes were looking up at me. I was overwhelmed by a huge surge of happiness.

I love the way his head nestles in the crook of my neck. I love the way his face falls into a mask of eager concentration when I help him learn the alphabet. But most of all, I simply love hearing his little voice calling: 'Mummy, Mummy.'

It reminds me of just how blessed I am. The truth is that I very nearly missed out on becoming a mother - thanks to being brought up by a rabid feminist who thought motherhood was about the worst thing that could happen to a woman.

You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.

In fact, having a child has been the most rewarding experience of my life. Far from 'enslaving' me, three-and-a-half-year-old Tenzin has opened my world. My only regret is that I discovered the joys of motherhood so late - I have been trying for a second child for two years, but so far with no luck.

I was raised to believe that women need men like a fish needs a bicycle. But I strongly feel children need two parents and the thought of raising Tenzin without my partner, Glen, 52, would be terrifying.

As the child of divorced parents, I know only too well the painful consequences of being brought up in those circumstances. Feminism has much to answer for denigrating men and encouraging women to seek independence whatever the cost to their families.
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Rebecca is the daughter of feminist and author Alice Walker. Read the whole thing here.

Collapse of Christianity in UK

2008-05-29T13:05:00.000-04:00

from "Bishop says collapse of Christianity is wrecking British society - and Islam is filling the void"
By Sean Poulter and Niall Firth (from UK Dailymail)

The collapse of Christianity has wrecked British society, a leading Church of England bishop declared yesterday.

It has destroyed family life and left the country defenceless against the rise of radical Islam in a moral and spiritual vacuum.

In a lacerating attack on liberal values, the Right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, said the country was mired in a doctrine of 'endless self-indulgence' that had brought an explosion in public violence and binge-drinking.

In a blow to Gordon Brown, he mocked the 'scramblings and scratchings' of politicians who try to cast new British values such as respect and tolerance.

The Pakistani-born bishop dated the downfall of Christianity from the 'social and sexual revolution' of the 1960s.

He said Church leaders had capitulated to Marxist revolutionary thinking and quoted an academic who blames the loss of 'faith and piety among women' for the steep decline in Christian worship.

Dr Nazir-Ali said the ' newfangled and insecurely founded' doctrine of multiculturalism has left immigrant communities 'segregated, living parallel lives'.

Christian values of human dignity, equality and freedom could be lost as the way is left open for the advance of brands of Islam that do not respect Western values.

The bishop said 'something momentous' had happened in the 1960s. He quoted historians who point to a cultural revolution in which women ceased to uphold or pass on the Christian faith and to the role of Marxist revolutionaries.

Dr Nazir-Ali pointed with approval to a finding that 'instead of resisting this phenomenon, liberal theologians and church leaders all but capitulated.

He said: 'It has created the moral and spiritual vacuum in which we now find ourselves.' In the place of Christianity there was nothing 'except perhaps endless self-indulgence'.

The bishop said the consequences were 'the destruction of the family because of the alleged parity of different forms of life together, the loss of a father figure, especially for boys, because the role of fathers is deemed otiose, the abuse of substances (including alcohol), the loss of respect for the person leading to horrendous and mindless attacks, the increasing communications gap between generations and social classes - the list is very long.'

Another result, he said, was that immigrants had been welcomed, not on the basis of Britain's Christian heritage, to which they would be welcome to contribute, but by the 'newfangled and insecurely-founded doctrine of multiculturalism'.

The bishop warned that views not founded on Christianity would not produce the same values. 'Instead of Christian virtues of humility, service and sacrifice, there may be honour, piety, the saving of face, etc'.

He questioned what resources were available for an ideological battle against radical Islamism, saying 'the scramblings and scratchings around of politicians for values which would provide ammunition' were hardly adequate.

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Read the whole thing here.

VDH for President

2008-05-29T12:14:00.000-04:00

from "All About Me" By Victor Davis Hanson

Here is how our baby-boom generation solves problems:

-- Recently, George Bush went to Saudi Arabia to ask the ruling House of Saud to pump more oil. That request had about as much chance of success as the Democratic-led congressional effort to "sue" the Saudis in American courts for their selfish "price-gouging."

The current debate about energy in the United States has devolved into doing the same old thing -- consume, don't produce and complain -- while somehow expecting different results. Congress talks endlessly about the bright future of wind, solar and new fuels, while it stops us from getting through the messy present by utilizing abundant coal, shale and tar sands; nuclear power; and oil still untapped in Alaska and off our coasts.

-- For the past five years, we fretted over a "housing boom" that had priced an entire generation out of the market. In response, government and lending agencies got "creative" by relaxing standards to allow shaky "first-time" buyers into the red-hot market of high-priced homes. Home-improvement TV shows proliferated on how to "flip" houses and buy "no-down-payment" properties.

When the bubble inevitably burst, cries of outrage followed about how "they" (never "we") caused a "depression" in housing. Our leaders shrieked about greedy lenders and incompetent regulators who foreclosed on us -- never that the American people themselves caused much of the speculation problem, or that housing prices are finally becoming affordable again for new couples.

-- Over 70 percent of the American people, and a majority of Democratic senators, wanted to remove Saddam Hussein -- overwhelming support for the administration's war that rose even higher as a brilliant campaign finished off the Baathists in three weeks.

But when a messy insurgency erupted, suddenly we heard that our victory was ruined by "their stupid occupation."

-- The current Social Security system is unsustainable. But the baby boomers who gave us Botox aren't about to up the retirement age and freeze their own cost-of-living hikes to allow the cash-strapped next generation a little help in paying for our out-of-control benefits.

There is a pattern in all these dilemmas. And it is not conservative-versus-liberal politics, but generational chaos. Those who came of age in the 1960s now hold the reins of power and influence -- and we are starting to see why their values have worried almost everyone for nearly a half-century.

History has seen something like them before in the "blame them" years of Demosthenes' Athens, the self-indulgence of Julio-Claudian Rome, the "after me, the deluge" generation of late 18th-century France, the Gilded Age, and the Roaring Twenties.

What are the baby boomers' collective traits? Like all perpetual adolescents who suffer arrested development, we always want things both ways: Don't drill or explore for more energy, but nevertheless demand ever more fuel from other suppliers.

Sociologists have correctly diagnosed the perfect storm that created the "me" generation -- sudden postwar affluence, sacrificing parents who did not wish us to suffer as they had in the Great Depression and World War II, and the rise of therapeutic education that encouraged self-indulgence.

Perhaps the greatest trademark of the 1960s cohort was self-congratulation. Baby boomers alone claimed to have brought about changes in civil rights, women's liberation and environmental awareness -- as if these were not prior concerns of earlier generations.

We apparently created all of our wealth rather than having inherited our roads, schools and bountiful infrastructure from someone else. And in our self-absorption, no one accepted that our notorious appetites created more problems than our supposed "caring" solved.

Our present problems were not really caused by an unpopular president, a spendthrift Congress, the neocon bogeymen, the greedy Saudis, shifty bankers or corporate oilmen in black hats and handlebar moustaches -- much less the anonymous "they."

The fault of this age, dear baby boomers, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

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I wish this guy was running the country!

What is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?

2008-05-28T12:47:00.000-04:00

From "Blue Planet in Green Shackles" by Vaclav Klaus (from RealClearPolitics)

My today's thinking is substantially influenced by the fact that I spent most of my life under the communist regime which ignored and brutally violated human freedom and wanted to command not only the people but also the nature. To command "wind and rain" is one of the famous slogans I remember since my childhood. This experience taught me that freedom and rational dealing with the environment are indivisible. It formed my relatively very sharp views on the fragility and vulnerability of free society and gave me a special sensitivity to all kinds of factors which may endanger it.

I do not, however, live in the past and do not see the future threats to free society coming from the old and old-fashioned communist ideology. The name of the new danger will undoubtedly be different, but its substance will be very similar. There will be the same attractive, to a great extent pathetic and at first sight quasi-noble idea that transcends the individual in the name of something above him, (of something greater than his poor self), supplemented by enormous self-confidence on the side of those who stand behind it. Like their predecessors, they will be certain that they have the right to sacrifice man and his freedom to make their idea reality. In the past it was in the name of the masses (or of the Proletariat), this time in the name of the Planet. Structurally, it is very similar.

I see the current danger in environmentalism and especially in its strongest version, climate alarmism. Feeling very strongly about it and trying to oppose it was the main reason for putting my book together, originally in Czech language, in the spring of 2007. It has also been the driving force behind my active involvement in the current Climate Change Debate and behind my being the only head of state who in September 2007 at the UN Climate Change Conference in New York City openly and explicitly challenged the undergoing global warming hysteria.

My central concern is - in a condensed form - captured in the subtitle of this book. I ask: "What is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?" My answer is: "it is our freedom." I may also add "and our prosperity"

...I want to say that the Climate Change Debate in a wider and the only relevant sense should be neither about several tenths of a degree of Fahrenheit or Celsius, about the up or down movements of sea level, about the depths of ice at North and Southern Pole, nor about the variations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The real debate should be about costs and benefits of alternative human actions, about how to rationally deal with the unknown future, about what kind and size of solidarity with much wealthier future generations is justified, about the size of externalities and their eventual appropriate "internalization", about how much to trust the impersonal functioning of the markets in solving any human problem, including global warming and how much to distrust the very visible hand of very human politicians and their bureaucrats.

My deep frustration has been exponentially growing in recent years by witnessing the fact that almost everything has already been said, that all rational arguments have been used and that global warming alarmism is still marching on. It could be even true that "We are now at the stage where mere facts, reason, and truth are powerless in the face of the global warming propaganda" (R. McKittrick, private correspondence).

The whole process is already in the hands of those who are not interested in rational ideas and arguments. It is in the hands of climatologists and other related scientists who are highly motivated to look in one direction only because a large number of academic careers has evolved around the idea of man-made global warming. It is, further, in the hands of politicians who maximize the number of votes they seek to get from the electorate. It is also - as a consequence of political decisions - in the hands of bureaucrats of national and more often of international institutions who try to maximize their budgets and years of careers as well regardless the costs, truth and rationality.

~Václav Klaus is President of the Czech Republic.
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Hasn't it always been the same trick, since the premortal world? To take away freedom. Just another mask at the same old masquerade ball....

Blogtherapy

2008-05-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

From Scientific American "Blogging--It's Good for You" By Jessica Wapner (h/t HotAir)

"Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.
Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.
Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. “We believe something in the brain’s limbic system is boosting their desire to communicate,” Flaherty explains. Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.
The frontal and temporal lobes, which govern speech—no dedicated writing center is hardwired in the brain—may also figure in. For example, lesions in Wernicke’s area, located in the left temporal lobe, result in excessive speech and loss of language comprehension. People with Wernicke’s aphasia speak in gibberish and often write constantly. In light of these traits, Flaherty speculates that some activity in this area could foster the urge to blog."

Read the whole thing; it's pretty fascinating.

The ties of the soul: Children of Israel

2008-05-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

President Bush Addresses Members of the Knesset Jerusalem, May 15th, 2008

We gather to mark a momentous occasion. Sixty years ago in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel’s independence, founded on the “natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate.” What followed was more than the establishment of a new country. It was the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David -- a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael.

Eleven minutes later, on the orders of President Harry Truman, the United States was proud to be the first nation to recognize Israel’s independence. And on this landmark anniversary, America is proud to be Israel’s closest ally and best friend in the world.

The alliance between our governments is unbreakable, yet the source of our friendship runs deeper than any treaty. It is grounded in the shared spirit of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the soul. When William Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted the words of Jeremiah: “Come let us declare in Zion the word of God.” The founders of my country saw a new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish state.

Centuries of suffering and sacrifice would pass before the dream was fulfilled. The Jewish people endured the agony of the pogroms, the tragedy of the Great War, and the horror of the Holocaust -- what Elie Wiesel called “the kingdom of the night.” Soulless men took away lives and broke apart families. Yet they could not take away the spirit of the Jewish people, and they could not break the promise of God. (Applause.) When news of Israel’s freedom finally arrived, Golda Meir, a fearless woman raised in Wisconsin, could summon only tears. She later said: “For two thousand years we have waited for our deliverance. Now that it is here it is so great and wonderful that it surpasses human words.”

1 Ne. 22: 6
6 Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren who are of the house of Israel.

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I hadn't seen this anywhere else, and thought I'd pass it on. Read the full account here.
h/t to Dymphna at Gates of Vienna

Wii Fit!

2008-05-15T11:41:00.000-04:00

So, we ordered Wii Fit a few months ago...we should have it by the end of the month. I love the Wii, especially Wii Sports, which feels as if you are really playing. If you haven't tried it, you are in for a surprise. My husband does not like video games, except flight sims. He loves the Wii. I saw a great review of the new Wii Fit today, and thought I'd share a bit of it....

"Nintendo's Wii Fit comes with a wireless "balance board" that you set on the floor in front of a TV hooked up to the Wii console. About two feet wide and half as deep, the board is essentially a fancy scale, which not only measures your weight, but also detects your equilibrium with startling precision. To play Wii Fit, you stand on the board and go through a series of exercises/games that fall into one of four categories: balance, strength, aerobics, and yoga. You can box, snowboard or hula hoop. You can practice your tree pose and lotus position. Or you can play a tilting game that uses careful body movements to maneuver balls across a shaky platter onscreen, as you try to sink them into various holes.
You score points and unlock new challenges by completing each task without falling off the board or tilting too far in any direction. The board is constantly monitoring your center of balance and docking points for every wobble. The hardest part, I quickly discovered, was simply standing or crouching still for increasingly long periods of time. That's a far cry from your average shoot-'em-up game, in which fast moves and fancy button-punching are key to your success. Wii Fit, on the other hand, is all about subtlety and restraint."

Sounds like fun, eh? But quite a different kind of game for sure. I can hardly wait!

"Aliens would still be God's creatures"

2008-05-14T12:49:00.000-04:00

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

According to Breitbart, the Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God, and that the vastness of the universe means it is possible "there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones" and that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. "Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like 'putting limits' on God's creative freedom."

Sounds like they may be onto something:

Moses 1: 35
"But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them."

Small times in the Big City

2008-05-14T11:17:00.000-04:00

A blog I meant to highlight long ago, but here it is NOW!

Small times in the Big City is a blog by a lady in my ward named Melissa. She has two adorable children, and I got to know her and her babes in the time that she was my visiting teacher. She is an amazing woman, very strong, and very courageous. It is so refreshing to see others in my own ward in the LDS blogosphere, and I am grateful for Elder Ballard's encouragement of us to lift up our voices to the world through this medium. I do believe that a few people can make a powerful difference in the world, starting with the influence we have on each other. We need each other's strengths...and as RedGreen would say...We are all in this together!

Jenn-Lee's Blog

2008-05-14T10:57:00.000-04:00

This post is to highlight a lovely blog that I was heretofore unaware of...a lovely, lovely lady from my ward, Jenn-Lee. She is vivacious and passionate, loving and kind, and devoted to her family and to the Gospel. I was so delighted to find her blog, and she is helping to further Elder Ballard's desire to see more members of the Church adding to the voices in the world of blogs by offering to teach the other sisters how to have a blog of their own! Great, great energy! Now, if I can just do better on my own blog! LOL (I don't know if I said, by way of apology for my slackness in blogging, that I DID finally finish my master's degree, and am already waist-high in work on my Ph.D...? OK, no excuse, I know it...I'll have to do better!) Go check out Jenn-Lee's blog and you'll be glad you did! She, and her blog, are fabulous!

Tidbits

2008-03-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Mark Steyn: The State of the Nanny State (from Daily Mail)

Britain's first 'Safe Text' street has been created complete with padded lampposts to protect millions of mobile phone users from getting hurt in street accidents while walking and texting.

Around one in ten careless Brits has suffered a "walk 'n text" street injury in the past year through collisions with lampposts, bins and other pedestrians.

Kathleen Parker: Steinem's Last Stand
(from Townhall via RealClearPolitics)

And what about gender? Do people care more about a racist than a sexist past? And is it possible, as Steinem recently claimed in a New York Times article, that "gender is probably the most restricting force in American life"?

Um, probably not.

Few statements could more vividly illustrate the growing gap between yesterday's sisterhood and today's young women. Contrary to the myths they've been fed since birth about their second-class status, young American women today are thriving.

They may be a little lonely in college where they outnumber men. They may be frustrated by a lack of adult male company as their opposites amuse themselves with pixelated playmates and video games. But patriarchal oppression is a hard sell.

The Manhattan Institute's Kay Hymowitz recently reported that half of American men ages 18 to 34 play video games almost three hours a day. Which sex needs saving here?

Trying to convince women under 50 that gender is a barrier to success feels not just stale, but dishonest. And nothing says "yesterday" like a 73-year-old feminist foot soldier who didn't get the memo that she won the war.

James Q. Wilson: Christians unrequited affection for Jews (from City Journal)

The reason that conservative Christians—opposed to abortion and gay marriage and critical of political liberalism—can feel kindly toward Jewish liberals and support Israel so fervently is rooted in theology. One finds among fundamentalist Protestants a doctrine called dispensationalism. The dispensationalist outlook, which began in early-nineteenth-century England, sees human history as a series of seven periods, or dispensations, in each of which God deals with man in a distinctive way. The first, before Adam’s fall, was the era of innocence; the second, from Adam to Noah, the era of conscience; the third, from Noah to Abraham, of government; the fourth, from Abraham to Moses, of patriarchy; the fifth, from Moses to Jesus, of Mosaic law; and the sixth, from Jesus until today, of grace. The seventh and final dispensation, yet to come, will be the Millennium, an earthly paradise.

For dispensationalists, the Jews are God’s chosen people. For the Millennium to come, they must be living in Israel, whose capital is Jerusalem; there, the Temple will rise again at the time of Armageddon. On the eve of that final battle, the Antichrist will appear—probably in the form of a seeming peacemaker. Fundamentalists differ over who the Antichrist will be (at one time he was thought to be Nero, at another time the papacy, and today a few have suggested the secretary-general of the United Nations), but dispensationalists agree that he will deceive the people, occupy the Temple, rule in the name of God, and ultimately be defeated by the Messiah. Many dispensationalists believe that how a person treats Israel will profoundly influence his eternal destiny.

Ben Stein: Questions for Darwinians (from American Spectator)

Just a few tiny, insignificant little questions.

* How did the universe start?

* Where did matter come from?

* Where did energy come from?

* Where did the laws of motion, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry, come from?

* Where did gravity come from?

* How did inorganic matter, that is, lifeless matter such as dirt and rocks, become living beings?

* Has anyone ever observed beyond doubt the evolution of a new mammalian or aviary species, as opposed to changes within a species?

These teeny weeny little questions are just some of the issues as to which Darwin and Darwinism have absolutely no verifiable answers. Hypotheses.

"Your result--Mitt Romney"

2007-11-23T15:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, I just read a post at Dr. Helen about a quiz called the "Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher", and thought, yeah, right, how you gonna figure out who I am supporting when I can't yet decide...? So, I took the test. The questions were not terribly nuanced, brutally forcing a choice at times, but lo, and behold, the results did reflect my own leanings, even picking up my secret Ron Paul admiration. (But McCain? NO WAY!)

Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Your Result: Mitt Romney Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts, where he was known as a centrist. He reformed the state healthcare system, and would pursue reforms at the national level as well. Romney supports oil drilling in Alaska, but also alternative energy sources. He claims to be conservative on issues like abortion and gay civil unions, and he supports the Iraq war. Romney supports fair trade, as well as a greater focus on math and science in our schools.
Ron Paul
John McCain
Rudy Guiliani
John Edwards
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Dennis Kucinich
Ultimate 2008 Presidential Candidate Matcher Take More Quizzes

Language as a source of power

2007-01-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

From "The Rise of Glossocracy" by Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna and from The Fjordman Report: an occasional series from Scandinavia

There was an interesting book called The New Totalitarians written by British historian Roland Huntford about Sweden in the early 1970s. It is especially noteworthy how the Socialist government deliberately broke down the nuclear family. This was presented as liberation from the oppression of women, but was in reality about tearing down the religious fabric of society and eliminating the Church and Judeo-Christian thinking as ideological competitors.

It was also about increasing state control over all citizens by breaking down a rival institution that obstructed the uninhibited state indoctrination of children. Besides, the state could foment animosity between men and women and step in as an arbitrator, thus further enhancing its powers. During the past few elections in Sweden, there has been virtually no debate about mass immigration, but a passionate debate about “gender equality” in which almost all contestants call themselves feminists, and only debate which ways to implement absolute equality between the sexes.
- - - - - - - - - -
Mr. Huntford demonstrated how, when it was decided that a woman’s place was not at home but out at work, there was a rapid change in the language. Page 301:

“The customary Swedish for housewife is husmor, which is honourable; it was replaced by the neologism hemmafru, literally ‘the-wife-who-stays-at-home’, which is derogatory. Within a few months, the mass media were able to kill the old and substitute the new term. By the end of 1969, it was almost impossible in everyday conversation to mention the state of housewife without appearing to condemn or to sneer. Swedish had been changed under the eyes and ears of the Swedes. Husmor had been discredited; the only way out was to use hemmafru ironically. Connected with this semantic shift, there was a change in feeling. Women who, a year or so before, had been satisfied, and possibly proud, to stay at home, began to feel the pressure to go out to work. The substitution of one word for the other had been accompanied by insistent propaganda in the mass media, so that it was as if a resolute conditioning campaign had been carried out. Very few were able to recognize the indoctrination in the linguistic manipulation; in the real sense of the word, the population had been brain-washed.”

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Language is underestimated as a source of power. Those who control the language and the school curriculum control society.

George Orwell said: “If freedom of speech means anything at all, it is the freedom to say things that people do not want to hear.” In his book 1984, a totalitarian Party rules much of Europe. Their three slogans, on display everywhere, are: War is peace, Freedom is slavery and Ignorance is strength. It’s the ultimate glossocracy, even creating an entirely new language called Newspeak:

“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten.”

I love Orwell’s book, but frankly, it fits an openly totalitarian society more than it does Western nations. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, with its hedonistic society where people derive pleasure from promiscuous sex and drugs, is closer to the mark. Scholar Neil Postman contrasted the worlds of 1984 and Brave New World in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death:

“Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.’ In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.”

Much more here.

Holy Movies: LDS movies at bargain prices!

2006-08-21T13:12:00.000-04:00

Holy Movies!
I found a most amazing thing: a place to buy those wonderful LDS movies that just cost more than I like to pay. Having spent $25 for "The Best Two Years" (which I loved), I had to go out and find the soundtrack, and in the process found an LDS website that has the DVD for less than $10! They seem like great people, from the customer feedback, and I can't wait to order all the LDS movies I have been dragging my feet on because I hate the $25 pricetag on most of them. By the way, I'd appreciate any feedback on what the best LDS movies are, and which are a waste of time, thanks!

He's not called Dirty Harry for nothing

2006-06-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

Despite the Church leaders' counsel that an amendment to the Constitution on the definition of marriage is necessary, Latter-day Saint Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada)voted against it. (By the way, if I were from Nebraska, I'd be more impressed with their Democrat senator, a yea, than their Republican one, who did not vote. I wasn't too impressed, nor surprised, at John McCain's (R-Arizona) vote, either. With only a few exceptions, the voting fell into the expected Republicans voting in favor of the amendment, and Democrats voting against it. We have much work to do!

Alphabetical by Senator Name Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Not Voting
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Not Voting
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Nay
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting
Salazar (D-CO), Nay
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

From here.

The Poet's Soul

2006-06-07T09:41:00.000-04:00

"Abortion's Dead Poets Society" By Kathleen Parker
(via RealClearPolitics)

"Words are things; and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."

- Lord Byron (1788-1824), from "Don Juan"

Lord Byron never finished his masterpiece, the epic poem "Don Juan," but he might never have begun it had he been conceived today. For Byron was born with a slight deformity - a clubfoot...which he reduced...to irrelevance by swimming the Hellespont (today's Dardanelles Strait) in tribute to Leander and Hero, the drowned lovers about whom he wrote a verse. So much, meanwhile, for the handicap of a clubfoot, which in those days sentenced one to a lifetime limp. Today, medical advances make it and other minor deformities a temporary inconvenience.

Yet also today, we have little tolerance for imperfection, especially when it comes to our children. If, that is, they're lucky enough to get born. Those who make it to the other side of the birth canal, a crossing no less challenging than Byron's Hellespont, face the pressures of extreme parenting, such as that described in Sunday's New York Times Magazine about parents hauling their would-be actor/children to crying lessons.

The week before, in what could have been a prequel to the child-actor story, Britain's Sunday Times reported that more than 20 babies had been aborted in advanced stages of gestation between 1996 and 2004 in England because scans showed they had clubfeet. Had these parents never heard of Dudley Moore, the British actor who also had a clubfoot?

Another four babies were aborted because they had extra digits or webbed fingers, according to the same story. In 2002, a baby was aborted at 28 weeks because of a cleft palate. Last year, a 6-month-old fetus was aborted when ultrasound revealed that part of a foot was missing, according to the Times.

One doesn't have to believe in the supernatural to wonder what might have been. Not only with the babies who were known to be slightly imperfect, but also with the millions of others worldwide who have been eliminated for reasons less vivid.

Since abortion was legalized in 1973, estimates are that some 50 million of them have been performed in the U.S. Of that number, relatively few have been owing to fetal defects as compared to lifestyle concerns, according to a 2004 Alan Guttmacher Institute study.

While it may be intellectually easier to justify aborting a fetus in cases of severe abnormalities, terminating a pregnancy because of easily corrected imperfections should disturb our sleep. If parents can be moved to abort their babies because of smallish flaws, how long before designer babies become the norm - or abortions are performed when babies have the wrong eye color or are the wrong sex?
...
If we don't want to grant life to those afflicted with small deformities, where do we set the bar for "good enough"? More important, perhaps, what is the cost to our humanity - not to mention the poet's soul - when the imperfect have no place among the living?
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Read the whole thing here.

Feminist Furor Finished

2006-05-04T13:38:00.000-04:00

The feminist furor has finally passed by Nathan Tabor BrookesNews.Com (via John Ray)

The signs of the decay of feminism can be seen far beyond Pennsylvania Avenue. In cities across the U.S., women are chucking the corporate world and embracing Barney’s world instead. They have found fulfillment where their grandmothers did—in the home, raising their children, offering love and support to their husbands. Many do not consider domestic work a drudgery—rather, they see it as a comforting alternative to the 24/7 career life.

But what has brought about this seismic shift in American life? Feminism may, in fact, be responsible. Young women have seen the fallout from feminism and, as a result, they want no part of it. Public opinion polls generally show that younger women flinch at the thought of being called “feminists.”

They may have been raised in the broken homes spawned by the nation’s divorce culture, and they don’t want their own children to suffer the fate that they did. In essence, they suffered parental loss early in their lives because their mothers were rarely home long enough to be a nurturing force. Instead of tugging on their mothers’ apron strings, they were left to tug on the telephone cord that connected them to their working mothers’ offices. They felt a distance from their mothers that no amount of therapy could adequately address.

In one noteworthy case, a poll commissioned by Faye Wattleton, former head of the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood, showed the generation gap which feminism caused. Wattleton asked women whether keeping abortion legal was a major concern, and they said “no.”

Years of Planned Parenthood’s preaching about the alleged necessity of abortion-on-demand have failed to convince the younger generation, who realize that sisters, brothers, cousins, friends, and potential mates are missing because they were aborted by their misguided mothers. Younger women tend not to see abortion as a right—but rather as a profound wrong.

Recent national public opinion polls also show quite clearly that Americans support legal abortion in only rare circumstances—in fact, most people believe it should be banned in 99 percent of all cases. Feminist icon Molly Yard, who was marching for abortion well into her golden years, must be turning over in her grave.

Young women simply don’t relate to Eleanor Smeal, Gloria Steinem, and the other “founding mothers” of the modern feminist movement. They see such women as out-of-touch, angry, and unfulfilled. They admire women who can keep a household together under trying circumstances. They may have iPods and Blackberries, but they still believe in the value of hearth and home.

And they definitely believe that men are necessary.

Women are victims of abortion

2006-04-19T12:49:00.000-04:00

Women who have had abortions but are now fighting to outlaw the practice say their numbers are growing and so will their influence, especially after many of them stepped forward to support South Dakota's new abortion ban law.

"The women are coming forward. They're feeling like there's hope," said Leslee Unruh, president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse and a key homestate player in the approval of the law, which was signed last month by South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds, a Republican.

Before approving the law, which bans abortion, except to save the life of the mother, a state task force on abortion took testimony and collected nearly 2,000 statements from women nationwide, 99 percent of whom said their abortions caused them pain, emotional damage and health problems and shouldn't be legal.

Many say their side of the story has been ignored in the broader abortion debate until recently.

"It's not a popular voice ... but it's one that needs to get out," said Karen Bodle, of Harrisburg, Pa., whose story was among those submitted to South Dakota. Mrs. Bodle had an abortion at age 18 and for years afterward, she said she "suffered from chronic depression, feelings of shame and worthlessness" as well as miscarriages and troubled pregnancies.

"I was in denial over the truth of abortion for over 20 years," said Mrs. Bodle, who feels she was "lied to and deceived" when she was told that the fetus wasn't a baby and that the abortion would allow her to fully live her life.

"I believe that information still is denied to women," she said.

The women who support banning abortion say they know not all women share their negative experiences. But Cynthia Collins, who had her first abortion as a 19-year-old and then took a "downward spiral," said the nation has "only heard one side" of the debate.

"We were sold a bill of goods that abortion is a good thing, and when we find out that it's not, we're told to be quiet," said the Louisiana resident, who also told her story to the task force. That mentality is finally starting to change, she said, and "as those voices are heard, then we're going to see the true picture."

Russell Stover, D.D.S.

2006-04-03T14:06:00.000-04:00

I just started reading a book called Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau. I don't care for his writing style at all, but I suspect I would have to agree with one of his basic tenets: that the Food and Drug companies work hand in hand to make us sick with overly-refined and often unwholesome foods, in order that we might then seek out medication to try to "heal" our unnatural state. The Doctrine and Covenants speaks of just that kind of conspiracy in the beginning of the "Word of Wisdom":

D&C 89:4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—

The title of this post is in reference to a sign I saw once back in Texas. I was driving by, and saw a huge sign that read "Russell Stover, D.D.S." I had to actually drive into the shopping centre and and see the dentist's office for myself. I was cracking up with laughter...Grampa rots out their teeth with his candy, and Grandson makes a killing trying to keep the candy-rotted teeth in quasi-repair. I told lots of people about it, but they hadn't seen it. The next time I went by, the sign was gone. I drove to the back again, and this time, there was a tiny sign that read merely: General Dentistry, R. Stover, D.D.S. Why they changed it, I dunno. Perhaps lots of people had made the same joke that had occurred to me, or maybe they were just overrun with people who thought they'd found the candy store.

The food that grows in nature was given to us by God to sustain our health. When we think to "improve" it by overprocessing it into an less-wholesome state, we do ourselves no favors. And it is so easy to reach for ready-made food. This is a real struggle for me, as I have never been much of a cook. I am learning to reach for fresh fruit, and to make salads I actually enjoy. It's hard. But I believe that we are all meant to enjoy health, and that we can, if we learn to live according to the Word of Wisdom, not just the "don'ts", but the many things that we are told to do. Wholesome herbs, grains, fruits. Chocolate is a problem for me, and sugar, really. How do I eat well, and keep turning down the constant stream of proffered goodies? I don't want to be obsessive about this, but where is the line? The Church once had a sugar factory, I believe, and several of the foods in the Bishop's storehouse contain sugar. I don't want to be a foodnazi. I would appreciate any advice or support, thanks!

By their fruits ye shall know them: "Should premature babies be left to die?"

2006-03-28T07:33:00.000-05:00

The American Thinker

The front page of the U.K. Sunday Times featured a disturbing article yesterday. The question it explored was this: Should babies born before the 25th week of pregnancy be left to die?

Yes, you are reading correctly. Britain’s state run National Healthcare Service (NHS) is overextended and some think that the considerable resources spent on this kind of patient could be used more effectively and wisely elsewhere. This view is increasingly espoused by the doctors comprising the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists who began referring to these babies ‘bed blockers.’

However chilling this debate may seem, it is the natural and expected outcome of socialized medicine. The State can only provide a limited amount of resources and the pie must be divided somehow. In the process some people will be inevitably denied the care they need to live. The question is who. The most defenseless are an easy target.

You may wonder why the parents themselves do not carry the financial burden of caring for their premature offspring. The answer is that for many it is simply unfeasible. Governments that aspire to provide free healthcare, free education, and free this and that can only get the money by raiding the pockets of their citizens. As a result, many of them are not left with enough to afford things like private healthcare when they need it. In theory this is not supposed to happen, since the State has promised to provide all the necessities its citizens need. But, of course, it does not work that way in practice and hence the debates such as this one. Holland, one of the most socialized European countries, has already settled the question. Babies born there before the 25th week of pregnancy are not given medical care, and are simply left to die.

It is an unspeakable abomination and a portent of tragic things to come when a society in the heart of the developed (and supposedly civilized) world makes no attempt to save its most defenseless.

Rotten indeed is the fruit of socialization.
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Watch for the cost-saving implementation of "euthanasia" of the "bed-blocking" elderly, disabled, and chronically ill as well. This is the natural fruit of having the state be the arbiter of who receives medical care, or in effect, who lives and who dies. It's eugenics all over again. National Socialist stuff revisited. If we don't learn from history, we keep repeating the same lessons. Time to wake up already.

Did atoms exist before we could see them?

2005-11-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

From "Has Satan Hijacked Science?" by John P. Pratt at Meridian Magazine

Materialism is a doctrine that has been introduced into science, declaring (without a shred of evidence) that nothing else exists beyond that which can be observed, either by humans or instruments. If that were true, then it would follow that science is the study of everything that exists.

False Principle: Nothing exists which cannot be observed.

Note that this is a patently absurd and unscientific statement! It is amazing that so many modern scientists have accepted some form of materialism without question. Why? Why would so many accept materialism as a true doctrine, when it flies in the face of true science? Real scientists seek to know how the universe actually is, rather than to declare beforehand that only certain kinds of events are allowed to exist, namely those in the tiny realm of what man can observe....

In seeking an answer as to why otherwise intelligent scientists would agree to such a limiting principle, let us now consider the possibility that Satan is indeed involved. If Satan were promoting his own special form of science, would he not choose materialism as the foundation? Think of the huge rewards he would get just for adopting this one principle.

First, in one sweep of his hand, Satan can dispose of God, Satan himself, heaven, hell, the spirit world, all spiritual phenomena, including the human spirit, evil spirits, and also of all knowledge of the future. Having thus decreed God out of existence, the next crucial steps follow immediately: If there is no God, then there are no God-given commandments. If there are no commandments, there is no sin. If there is no sin, then there is no need for a Savior to atone for sin, no need to accept Jesus Christ. Also, there would be no afterlife in which we will be judged as to how well we followed God's laws and the example of our Redeemer. If that were the case, man might as well follow the so-called "law of the jungle," the "survival of the fittest."

One proponent of this doctrine of materialism more than two thousand years ago, who later admitted to having been taught directly by the devil, declared, "You cannot know of things which you do not see," and, "Man fares in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospers according to his genius, and every man conquers according to his strength; and whatsoever a man does is no sin."

Thus, atheism is not new, and it does not need to be the official religion of scientists. Very few scientists before the Twentieth Century were atheists, and the top scientists have been, and continue to be, predominantly Christian. In fact, materialism, and its child atheism, have no place in true science at all.

Read the full text here.
(I adore Dr. Pratt's work; if you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do!)

Half of all children will sleep tonight in a home where their father does not live

2005-11-02T10:38:00.000-05:00

From "Feminism's devolution from hoaxers to whores" by Kathleen Parker (emphasis mine)

Men haven't turned away from smart, successful women because they're smart and successful. More likely they've turned away because the feminist movement that encouraged women to be smart and successful also encouraged them to be hostile and demeaning to men.

Whatever was wrong, men did it. During the past 30 years, they've been variously characterized as male chauvinist pigs, deadbeat dads or knuckle-dragging abusers who beat their wives on Super Bowl Sunday. At the same time women wanted men to be wage earners, they also wanted them to act like girlfriends: to time their contractions, feed and diaper the baby, and go antiquing.

And then, when whatshisname inevitably lapsed into guy-ness, women wanted him to disappear. If children were involved, women got custody and men got an invoice. The eradication of men and fathers from children's lives has been feminism's most despicable accomplishment. Half of all children will sleep tonight in a home where their father does not live.

Did we really think men wouldn't mind?

Meanwhile, when we're not bashing men, we're diminishing manhood. Look around at entertainment and other cultural signposts and you see a feminized culture that prefers sanitized men -- hairless, coiffed, buffed and, if possible, gay. Men don't know whether to be "metrosexuals" getting pedicures, or "groomzillas" obsessing about wedding favors, or the latest, "ubersexuals" -- yes to the coif, no to androgyny.

As far as I can tell, real men don't have a problem with smart, successful women. But they do mind being castrated. It's a guy thing. They do mind being told in so many ways that they are superfluous.

Even now, the latest book to fuel the feminist flames of male alienation is Peggy Drexler's lesbian guide to guilt-free narcissism, Raising Boys Without Men. Is it possible to raise boys without men? Sure. Is it right? You may find your answer by imagining a male-authored book titled: Raising Girls Without Women.

Read the whole thing here.

The facade of idealism cannot forever obscure the abyss of immorality

2005-10-28T15:26:00.000-04:00

From "Spare us the in-your-sleep moralizing" by Victor Davis Hanson (via RealClearPolitics)

To paraphrase the ancient Greeks, it is easy to be moral in your sleep. Abstract ethics or soapbox lectures demanding superhuman perfection mean little without deeds.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other global humanitarian groups recently expressed criticism over the slated trial of the mass murderer Saddam Hussein. Such self-appointed auditors of moral excellence were worried that his legal representation was inadequate. Or perhaps they felt the court of the new Iraqi democracy was not quite up to the standards of wigged European judges in The Hague.

Relay those concerns to the nearly 1 million silent souls butchered by Saddam's dictatorship. Once they waited in vain for any such international human-rights organization to stop the murdering. None could or did.

Now these global watchdogs are barking about legalities — once Saddam is in shackles thanks solely to the American military (which, too, is often criticized by the same utopian-minded groups). The new Iraqi government is sanctioned by vote and attuned to global public opinion. Saddam Hussein was neither. So Amnesty International can safely chastise the former for supposed misdemeanors after it did little concrete about the real felonies of the latter.

We've seen many examples of this in-your-sleep moralizing. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan pronounced from on high that the American effort to remove Saddam was "illegal" — this after moral paragons in the Security Council like China and France chose not to sanction the enforcement of their own resolutions.

Annan presided over a callous, scandalous oil-for-food program that starved millions with the connivance of international financial players, among them his own son. Again, it is easier to grandstand on television than curb illicit profits or be firm with a killer in the real world.

Europeans especially demand heaven on earth. The European Union is now pressuring the United States to turn over its exclusive control of the Internet, which it invented and developed, to the United Nations. So far the Americans, so unlike a Saudi Arabia or China, have not blocked users from Net access, and freely adjudicate the World Wide Web according to transparent protocols.

That would never be true of the United Nations. If Iran or Zimbabwe were to end up on the Human Rights Commission, then they would be equally qualified to oversee the computers of millions of Americans. The same European elites who nitpick the United States about its sober stewardship of the Internet would be absolutely impotent once a China or Syria began tampering with millions logging on.

...

What do all these recent examples have in common? In the world of utopianism, we see that refined reason, not force, reigns. That may be admirable, but, unfortunately, abstract moralizing has little to do with a real world in which brutes abound.

So instead, to maintain the idealistic facade, sleepwalking moralizers chastise those who listen and are civilized — but see nothing, hear nothing and speak nothing about those in the moral abyss....

...

So Americans increasingly tune out the U.N., Amnesty International and other once-respected bodies like the Nobel Prize Committee. That's unfortunate, given the noble charters of these groups. But for all these agencies' moralizing, they increasingly prove quite immoral themselves.

Read the full text here.

Fill our Hearts with Sweet Forgiving

2005-10-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

Forgiveness is the culmination of all foregoing, forbearing, and forgetting, It does not mean giving up one's protection, but one's coldness. One deep form of forgiveness is to cease excluding the other... --Clarissa Estes

Forgiveness, like many sacred principles, has gotten a bad rap in today’s world. As a member of the counseling profession, I have often spoken out to colleagues on the necessity of forgiveness in a therapeutic situation, and been met with great scorn. Even amongst LDS therapists, this marvelous principle of healing is often given less than its due. A dear sister who was my visiting teacher related some problems that she had in her past, with family discord, and some genuinely hurtful but not extreme offenses that were committed against her. This sister, normally such a sweet and mild lady, suddenly took on a whole different spirit, as she related in a very angry and proud way, that she was told by another sister in the ward, who was a therapist, that she did not have to forgive such gross offenses, at least "not right away" (mind you, we are talking about something that was many years in the past). Now, I was shocked to see such a quick change in her spirit, and to see the anger and pain rise up so suddenly in my good friend’s countenance. I recognized that the therapist sister had leaned more upon the teachings of the worldly counselors, and not upon that of the Great Counsellor, the Prince of Peace.

I said to my friend, “Forgiveness is not about what happened between us and the ones who have hurt us, but is between us and the Lord. The question is, do we trust Him enough to allow Him to be the judge and sort it all out?” Her jaw dropped, and we both felt the Spirit of the Lord bear witness to the truth of what I had just said, and the anger and pride both suddenly melted away, and her face resumed its usual gentle sweetness. She said, “Wow, you are so wise.” I said, “No, I am not really so wise, but I have had to learn this lesson the hard way. Peace can only come through forgiveness.” By giving us the miracle of forgiveness, the Lord allows us to place these heavy burdens of pain, anger, confusion, and more at His feet, while we can “bear a song a way” in our own hearts.

Steve F. Gilliland, in a talk entitled “Forgiveness: Our Challenge and Our Blessing” (Ensign, Aug 2004) addressed this issue. He said, “In Doctrine and Covenants 64:9 the Savior said, ‘Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.’ The greater sin? How can that be? Sin is anything we permit into our lives that will destroy us spiritually. When we poison ourselves with vengeful feelings, with hate, we distance ourselves from the influence of the Spirit of the Lord. Not only that, but we attempt to assume one of God’s roles—that of determining who is worthy of forgiveness.”

Failing to forgive not only leaves us in a place where we are trapped with our pain and anger, in essence allowing the offender to hurt us again and again each time we remember it; it also begins to determine our choices, and hinders our agency. Lisa Ward, a Christian minister, spoke of this problem: “Without forgiveness, the past would ever determine the future. The baggage we all carry would remain intact and grow daily, until there would be no room for change or anything new. Without forgiveness, we would eventually cease to exist. We'd cease to learn, we'd cease to grow, and we'd cease to see outside our own wounds, our own rage, fears, walls and assumptions. Without forgiveness we would be defined by those who hurt us, giving them power over us: defined by what ‘they’ did to us. Without forgiveness we become professional victims, letting blame shape our identity and imprison us in reactive behavior. ‘I am this way because of that thing or those people. I can't change my behavior because I was too hurt.’ If we do not have forgiveness, we release responsibility for our lives and let someone else's actions, whether recent or in our childhood, determine how we make our choices. Without forgiveness we simply are not free ...none of us...because we all make mistakes and we have all been offended in some measure or another. If we lock ourselves into the hurt or into the blame, then we will inevitably experience a crisis of courage to go on.” (Lisa Ward “Name the Harm, Find the Heart: Forgiveness”)

President Gordon B. Hinckley, in a talk entitled “Of You It Is Required to Forgive” (Ensign, June 1991), said “The Lord has declared in words of revelation: ‘My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds’ (D&C 64:8-11). If there be any who nurture in their hearts the poisonous brew of enmity toward another, I plead with you to ask the Lord for strength to forgive. This expression of desire will be of the very substance of your repentance. It may not be easy, and it may not come quickly. But if you will seek it with sincerity and cultivate it, it will come. And even though he whom you have forgiven continues to pursue and threaten you, you will know you have done what you could to effect a reconciliation. There will come into your heart a peace otherwise unattainable. That peace will be the peace of Him who said: ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ (Matt. 6:14–15.)”

President Hinckley continued, “His Beloved Son, our Redeemer, reaches out to us in forgiveness and mercy, but in so doing he commands repentance. A true and magnanimous spirit of forgiveness will become an expression of that required repentance. Said the Lord—and I quote from a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph: ‘Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit . … Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.’ (D&C 19:15–18, 23.)”

I can only speak for myself, but my sins in this life are quite considerable, and to know that if I do not forgive even the least of others’ trespasses against me; if I harbor an unforgiving spirit, that my old sins return to me, and I will stand not in the mercy of the Atonement, but in the place where my “sufferings be sore…” That thought sends me to my knees pretty quickly when I realize that I cannot be forgiven if I do not forgive.

Gerald E. Melchin, in a talk entitled “Thy Sins Are Forgiven” (Ensign, Jan. 1995), said this: ”The story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil in the home of Simon the Pharisee opens to us a most interesting subject and one that touches the lives of all of us. Simon, believing the woman was a sinner, thought it improper she should touch the Savior and that ‘if he were a prophet,’ Jesus should have been aware of her unworthiness and forbidden her. Jesus responded with the story of two debtors, the one owing five hundred pence and the other fifty. When the debtors had nothing to pay, the creditor forgave them both. The Savior then asked, ‘Which of them will love him [the creditor] most? Simon answered and said, I suppose he, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.’ At the end of the discussion, Jesus said to the woman, ‘Thy sins are forgiven’ (see Luke 7:37–48).”

Like the woman with the most debt, I have been forgiven of much, and so my love of the Savior and my gratitude for His Atonement are great. I know that I can only feel peace in my heart when I am one with Him. I can tell that I have need to repent of my unforgiving nature when I feel the coldness in my heart toward others of which Clarissa Estes spoke. That coldness, as she mentions, alienates us from those around us; which is what the adversary wants, to wrap us up in an isolating blanket of misery. But the Savior wants us to be united in our warmth and love for each other and Him, because this is the source of joy.

Of such are the Kingdom of Heaven

2005-10-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

From "Age of Consent" by one of Canada's finest essayists, David Warren.

We are living, today, in the most child-unfriendly society that has existed. There is little room for children in public life, and little time for them in the double-income structure of the “modern” family, even when it remains intact. Children are actually banned from many apartment buildings and upscale residential environments, and where they are permitted, grow up in neighbourhoods physically adapted to cars and other heavy machinery, but not to them.

Play areas are allotted in public parks, where they are tolerated under conditions of intense supervision, and daycares now proliferate where the smaller ones can be warehoused during office hours, so that they do not become an impediment to their mothers’ professional lives. The older ones continue to be warehoused in unionized and bureaucratized public shelters, which are misleadingly identified as “schools”. There, they become the subjects of government experiments in social engineering, designed to make them politically correct.

But our repulsion from children begins much earlier, and is quite literally murderous. Under Canadian law, mothers may have their children aborted at any point during pregnancy -- even on the delivery table -- and that boundary will soon be stretched with “liberal” laws on euthanasia. Parents are, moreover, under social encouragement to eliminate a child promptly, should intrusive medical procedures determine that the creature in its mother’s womb is imperfect in any way.

At the other end of childhood, when adolescents are progressively released into urban and semi-urban surroundings that resemble the old red light districts, they are now commonly deprived of the crucial parental influence of a father, by family law that effectively enables their mother to exchange him for cash. But this is only the end-point of legislative innovations that have anyway transferred nearly every traditional paternal function, except the earning of a paycheque, to the state.

It should thus be no surprise that our young -- where they survive at all -- are turned out today wearing the faces you may see on public transit and the sidewalks. Unhappy, empty, and cynical, would be among words most apt to describe many I see pass me every day, from a society that has delegitimized childhood.

The upshot of the essay is that a bill was recently squelched in Canada that would have "raised the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years of age. This would have brought Canada into line with most Western countries, where it is at least 16, and sometimes 18 years..." Please read the whole thing here.

The right to be crazy

2005-09-29T08:18:00.000-04:00

From "The Scofflaw Swimmer" by Peggy Noonan from Opinion Journal

I think Katrina revealed something else: a change in the relation of the individual and those who would govern him.
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David Brooks on "Meet the Press" Sunday said he thought Katrina had given rise to a greater public desire for "authority" and "order." I found what he was saying typically thoughtful, but I differ with him. That difference gives rise to this piece.

I don't think Americans are or have been, by nature, lovers of authority. When we think of the old America we think of house-raisings on the prairie and teeming cities full of immigrants, but a big part of the American nature can also be found in the story of Jeremiah Johnson, the mountain man who just wanted to live off by himself, unbothered and unmolested by people and their churches and clubs and rules. He didn't like authority. He wanted to be left alone.

We live in the age of emergency, however, and in that age we hunger for someone to take responsibility. Not authority, but a sense of "I'll lead you out of this." On 9/11 the firemen took responsibility: I will go into the fire. So did the mayor: This is how we'll get through, this is how we'll triumph.

In New Orleans, by contrast...no one took responsibility, but there was plenty of authority. People in authority sent the lost to the Superdome and the Convention Center. People in authority blocked the bridges out of town. People in authority tried to confiscate guns after the looting was over.

And they did things like this: The day before hurricane Rita hit Texas, last Friday, I saw on TV something that disturbed me. It was not the usual scene of crashing waves and hardy reporters being blown sideways by wind gusts. It was a fat Texas guy swimming in the waves off Galveston. He'd apparently decided the high surf was a good thing to jump into, so he went for a prehurricane swim. Two cops saw him, waded into the surf and arrested him. When I saw it the guy was standing there in orange trunks being astonished as the cops put handcuffs on him and hauled him away.

I thought: Oh no, this is isn't good. This is authority, not responsibility.

You'd have to be crazy, in my judgment, to decide you were going to go swim in the ocean as a hurricane comes. But in the America where I grew up, you were allowed to be crazy. You had the right. Sometimes you were crazy and survived whatever you did. Sometimes you didn't, and afterwards everyone said, "He was crazy."

Last week I quoted Gerald Ford: "The government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have." I was talking about money. But it applies also to personal freedom, to the rights of the individual, including his right to do something stupid as long as it's legal, like swimming.

Government has real duties in disaster. Maintaining the peace is a primary one. But if we demand that our government protect us from all the weather all the time, if we demand that it protect us from rain and hail, if we make government and politicians pay a terrible price for not getting us out of every flood zone and rescuing us from every wave, we're going to lose a lot more than we gain. If we give government all authority then we are giving them all power.

And we will not only lose the right to be crazy, we'll lose the right to be sane. A few weeks ago when, for a few days, some level of government, it isn't completely clear, decided no one should be allowed to live in New Orleans after the flood, law-enforcement officers went to the home of a man who had a dry house, a month's supply of food and water, and a gun to protect himself. The police demanded that he leave. Why? He was fine. He had everything he needed. The man was enraged: It was his decision, he said, and he was staying.

It is the government's job to warn and inform. That's what we have the National Weather Service for. It is not government's job to command and control and make microdecisions about the lives of people who want to do it their own way.

Governments always start out saying they're going to help, and always wind up pushing you around. They cannot help it. They say they want to help us live healthily and they mean it, but it ends with a guy in Queens getting arrested for trying to have a Marlboro Light with his Bud at the neighborhood bar. We're hauling the parents of obese children into court. The government has increasing authority over our health, and these children are not healthy. Smokers, the fat, drinkers of more than two drinks per night, insane swimmers in high seas . . .

We are losing the balance between the rights of the individual and the needs and demands of the state. Again, this is not new. It's a long slide that's been going on for a long time. But Katrina and Rita seemed to make the slide deeper.

It is hard for governments to be responsible, and take responsibility. It takes real talent, and guts. But authority? That's easier. Pass the law and get the cuffs.

Read the whole thing here.

Truly stupid questions

2005-09-28T11:29:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid in school, I would often hear teachers say, "There are no stupid questions." But I overheard a conversation at a department store last week that made me doubt the wisdom of that statement. Two girls were looking at shoes together, and the snippet I overheard was this:

"...what if everyone in the world jumped off a bridge, would you do it?" the first girl said.

"NO! I would not!" the second girl adamantly replied.

"No? Well, if everyone in the whole world jumped, they'd all be DEAD and you'd be all alone. Do you want to be all ALONE?" the first girl asked.

"No, but somebody else would have not jumped too," the second girl wisely said.

"NO! The question is IF THE WHOLE WORLD jumped off a bridge, the whole world!" the first girl shouted.

"I don't care. That's just a stupid question, anyway." the second girl said.

I wanted to cheer the second young lady for her courage and good sense. And I thought about what she said about it being a stupid question, and I realized my teachers were wrong. There are stupid questions, probably more of them than good questions. It is a tricky way to distort people's perceptions, and create a false dilemma, when there is none. If we say we believe that abortion kills a child, we are asked if we would prefer to have women dying in back alleys. If we say we think it is a good thing for mothers to stay at home and teach their children, we are asked if we think that women should be enslaved and oppressed by their husbands. If we say that we think that a war is just, we are asked if we enjoy seeing innocent people die. Satan loves to create and teach others to create such false dilemmas with these "stupid questions" where there is no real choice at all. How grateful I am that we all banded together to fight against Satan's plan to take away our choices, and that Christ's plan ensured that we could make our own choices freely.

Toward Soviet America

2005-09-28T08:58:00.000-04:00

From "War on God Continues" by Steve Farrell at Meridian Magazine

In 1932, it was Communist Party USA founder, William Z. Foster, in his book, Toward Soviet America, who outlined “the elementary measures the American Soviet government will adopt to further the cultural revolution.”

His target: America’s schools. His strategy:

[S]tudies will be revolutionized, being cleansed of religious, patriotic and other features of the bourgeois ideology. The students will be taught on the basis of Marxian dialectical materialism, internationalism and the general ethics of the new Socialist society. Present obsolete methods of teaching will be superseded by a scientific pedagogy.
...
Recall, if you will, Communist Founder Karl Marx bragged that he and his fellow communists would “Abolish the family!” Why? Because the traditional family was the transmission belt of Christian and Capitalist values. Plain and simple. The traditional family had to go — and with it, home schools, private schools, and old-styled public schools (where parents were the employers, the curriculum chiefs, the bosses over the neighborhood school).

“The bourgeois claptrap about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parent and child … [is] disgusting,” Marx wrote. His plan? “We destroy the most hallowed of relations when we replace home education with social.”

Very interesting to note that Marx realized and spoke so openly that to replace home education with socializing education would "destroy the most hallowed of relations"! How blindly we are walking this path to the destruction of our society.

Read the whole thing here.

Protecting the Family

2005-09-21T19:18:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard of United Families International, you may not know of the wonderful work that they are doing in behalf of all families and the world, but I have been quite touched by the compassion and courage that the president of UFI, Sharon Slater, has shown in her work and in her writings at Meridian Magazine (here's a sample). I received an email today from UFI, asking for help in "spreading the word" and since I believe very much in the importance of the work they do, I felt impressed to post a link to them in hopes that others might become aware and maybe also lend their support.

From the UFI website(emphasis mine!):

United Families International is fighting to protect the family and family values on many fronts. One of those is in the international arena, where much of our effort is trying to prevent harmful actions by various United Nations agencies and activities.

In some cases, these are major, high profile confrontations. In others, however, our work is largely behind the scenes. I am contacting you about one of these less publicized but still significant efforts, trying to stop the US government from funding the harmful activities of a small UN agency, the United Nation's Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).

Among other things, UNFPA has been implicated in supporting forced abortions and forced sterilizations in China, a country notorious for inflicting these atrocities on huge numbers of women and unborn children each year. In fact just last week Time magazine reported that in the city of Shangdong 7,000 people had been sterilized against their will.

A few years ago UFI uncovered sexually-explicit UNFPA "sex education manuals" targeting children in developing countries around the world. These manuals are designed to sexualize young children.

And if this is not bad enough UFI has also documented UNFPA materials intended to undermine the religious and socio-cultural values of families in third world countries by teaching children that homosexuality and bisexuality are normal and widespread, that viewing pornography is acceptable, that children have "sexual rights" and that "gender" is merely a social construct, not what someone is born as.

If you are interested in more details, we have posted on our Web site the memo United Families has used to stop this funding in previous years, but I think this brief summary gives you the idea of how bad this material and UNFPA's programs are.

UFI uncovered UNFPA's harmful sex education activities around the world several years ago and we have taken the lead in actively opposing U.S. support for this agency. This year Congress once again appropriated $34 million for UNFPA, but gave President Bush the option of not spending the money. He has again used this authority and withheld funding for UNFPA.

The Bush Administration's announcement that they would not be funding UNFPA once again has set off a flood of criticism of the President here in the U.S. and around the world. Liberal nations and special interest groups bent on promoting abortion and sexualizing children to advance their broader anti-family agenda are angry.

Pro-family Americans are contacting the President and expressing their appreciation and support for his courageous leadership.

****

President George Bush is being harshly criticized by anti-family forces in the U.S. and around the world because he has withheld U.S. funding for a UN agency, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), which is causing great harm to women, children and families around the world. This is just the latest instance where the President has shown courageous leadership in the international arena on family issues.

However, too frequently pro-family activists do not thank policy makers like the President when they take responsible stands like this. We encourage you to show your appreciation and support of the President and his administration for their leadership. You can easily do this by sending President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns an e-mail by filling in the information HERE.

The Velvet Revolution

2005-09-20T17:53:00.000-04:00

From "Velvet Revolutions and the Logic of Terrorism" by Frederick Turner at Tech Central Station via RealClearPolitics

Thirty years ago it looked as if the totalitarian state was solidly established, successful and immortal. Democratic capitalism had been stopped in its tracks. The nuclear-armed socialist dictatorship could not be attacked or defeated; it could at best be contained, and none of its incremental marginal conquests could be rolled back. Marvelously, however, a new strategy emerged, invented by the world's middle-class populations, that could bring down the totalitarian state: the velvet revolution. Totalitarian governments rely on elites to govern and control the people and defend themselves against outside ideas. Those elites must reproduce themselves, creating a property-owning educated class with great power but without the revolutionary ideology of their parents; and to remain economically viable the state must produce a skilled artisan class, like the shipbuilders of Gdansk, with the capacity to unionize. Out of these materials, generated by totalitarianism itself, comes the velvet revolution.

The velvet revolution (also named the orange revolution, the purple finger, the rose revolution, the cedar revolution) has swept the world. In different ways, nonviolent, non-ideological middle-class and skilled-worker mass movements have unseated tyrants and established democracies in an amazing range of countries: Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Bangladesh, South Korea, Indonesia, the Baltic states, Mexico, Serbia, Albania, Georgia, the Ukraine, the Philippines, Lebanon, even Palestine, all fell to the regimes of popular sovereignty. China nearly fell in 1989, with the Tiananmen protest, and will become a democracy some time in the next twenty years. If there is one defining event that characterizes the end of twentieth century political modernism, it is this one.

The suicide bomb, with the mass terrorism it epitomizes, is the weapon of choice against the velvet revolution. The target is not, as well-meaning critics of terrorism say, indiscriminate: it is exact and precise. The target is any population that might organize a velvet revolution, the potential sovereigns of a democratic state. It is people who are not ideological, who are willing to let others believe what they want, who want to make a living and be independent, and who want a say in their government. Even in Israel, where it was the citizens of an already-established democratic state that were being attacked, the true target, as we are now coming to understand after the death of Arafat, was the nascent democracy of Palestine. By killing Jews, Arafat could continue to oppress and defraud Palestinians.

Global terrorism is not a revolution, but an attempt to suppress a revolution. What is being defended by suicide terror is not Islam, not traditional moral culture, not the ethnic nation yearning to be free of the colonial oppressor, but the principle of totalitarian rule -- the sovereignty of the dictator or the ayatollah, promoted as national self-identity and independence, or as the will of God. It is the last gasp, historically, of the ancient system by which the huge majority of human beings were ruled since the Neolithic agricultural revolution.

Read the whole thing here.

Political correctness is result of the decay of Judaism and Christianity

2005-09-13T12:23:00.000-04:00

From "Original American Sin" at The American Thinker by Jonathan David Carson, Ph.D. (via Jerry Scharf at Common Sense and Wonder)

This is just the punchline...read the whole thing here.

Man is a religious animal. Only in modern secular society, which is in fact not all that secular, could one doubt that we have an overpowering religious impulse. We can either cooperate with this impulse or try in vain to suppress it. Thus, the ostensibly secular realm is propelled by transmuted religious energy and filled with parodies of Judaism and Christianity, one of which is political correctness. Their high priests have their Ten Trillion Commandments, their anathemas, and their grace. We have our five tithes and Lives of Obligation.

Religion has been blamed for most of the ills of the world and deserves much of the blame, but any good thing can be misused, and the best thing most of all. If religion is dangerous, however, it is most dangerous, not when it thrives, but when it dies. The rotten carcass of a religion is far more pestilential than the religion was when it was alive. Putrid hunks of doctrine infect the minds of those who have forgotten the doctrine when it was still vital. Political correctness is one result of the decay of Judaism and Christianity in the United States. Without their renewal, we will have to continue to endure the godless religion of political correctness.

Great Blog: My House has Many Mansions

2005-09-12T12:43:00.000-04:00

I just found a wonderful new blog (ok, maybe it's not that new, but I've really been out of the blogging loop lately, sorry!) called My House has Many Mansions (The journey of one woman and her bicultural, interfaith LDS/Anthroposophic family as they move to Wuerzburg, Germany. She muses about faith, being the wife of a Waldorf teacher, life as an expat, motherhood, spousehood, and her novel in progress.) by K.D. Clement. I've read pretty much all she's written there, and it resonated so strongly with me it left me wondering if we aren't kindred spirits! ; Her occupation is listed as SAHM, Writer, Perpetual Student...which is very similar to mine! (Krista, I'm very glad you commented on my blog so I would be aware of yours!) Thanks so much! If you haven't yet done so, I would really heartily recommend a visit to this delightful blog!

We need to shore up our moral levees

2005-09-06T19:23:00.000-04:00

Rebuilding New Orleans -- and America by Thomas Sowell via RealClearPolitics

The physical devastation caused by hurricane Katrina has painfully revealed the moral devastation of our times that has led to mass looting in New Orleans, assaults on people in shelters, the raping of girls, and shots being fired at helicopters that are trying to rescue people.

...

During good times or bad, the police cannot police everybody. They can at best control a small segment of society. The vast majority of people have to control themselves.

That is where the great moral traditions of a society come in -- those moral traditions that it is so hip to sneer at, so cute to violate, and that our very schools undermine among the young, telling them that they have to evolve their own standards, rather than following what old fuddy duddies like their parents tell them.

Now we see what those do-it-yourself standards amount to in the ugliness and anarchy of New Orleans.

In a world where people flaunt their "independence," their "right" to disregard moral authority, and sometimes legal authority as well, the tragedy of New Orleans reminds us how utterly dependent each one of us is for our very lives on millions of other people we don't even see.

Thousands of people in New Orleans will be saved because millions of other people they don't even know are moved by moral obligations to come to their rescue from all corners of this country. The things our clever sophisticates sneer at are ultimately all that stand between any of us and utter devastation.

Any of us could have been in New Orleans. And what could we have depended on to save us? Situational ethics? Postmodern philosophy? The media? The lawyers? The rhetoric of the intelligentsia?

No, what we would have to depend on are the very things that are going to save the survivors of hurricane Katrina, the very things that clever people are undermining.

New Orleans can be rebuilt and the levees around it shored up. But can the moral levees be shored up, not only in New Orleans but across America?

Read the whole thing here.

Time-Blind

2005-08-08T00:36:00.000-04:00

Interesting tidbit I found on the net here:

Lael Woodbury, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University, talked about man’s perception of time and God’s perception of time in an address sponsored by the Church Educational System:

“The evidence suggests that God . . . perceives time as we perceive space. That’s why ‘all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things’ [D&C 88:41]. Time, like space, is ‘continually before the Lord.’ . . .

“. . . Right now we perceive music in time as a blind man perceives form in space—sequentially. He explores with his fingers, noting form, texture, contours, rhythms. He holds each perception in his mind, one by one, carefully adding one to the other, until he synthesizes his concept of what that space object must be like. You and I don’t do that. We perceive a space object immediately. We simply look at it, and to a certain degree we ‘know it. We do [not] go through a one-by-one, sequential, additive process. We perceive that it is, and we are able to distinguish it from any other object.

“I’m suggesting that God perceives time as instantaneously as we perceive space. For us, time is difficult. Lacking higher facility, we are as blind about time as a sightless man is about space. We perceive time in the same way that we perceive music—sequentially. We explore rhythm, pitch, amplitude, texture, theme, harmonies, parallels, and contrasts. And from our perceptions we synthesize our concept of the object or event—the musical artwork—that existed in its entirety before we began our examination of it.

“Equally complete now is each of our lives before the Lord. We explore them sequentially because we are time-blind. But the Lord, perceiving time as space, sees us as we are, not as we are becoming. We are, for him, beings without time. We are continually before him—the totality of our psyches, personalities, bodies, choices, and behaviors.” (Continually before the Lord, Commissioner’s Lecture Series [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1974], pp. 5–6.)

Wow! Just wow!

The Human Mind: As a Man Thinketh, So is He (Part 2)

2005-07-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

(You can read Part 1 here.)
To continue exploring why we are quite literally what we think, I want to focus today on one of the many modes of thought communication, perhaps the most important one: music. A talk by Lex de Azevedo entitled "A Closer Look at Popular Music," (Ensign, March 1985) states:

Music is so powerful that it affects even our physical beings. A force so powerful that it can influence our hearts, our glands, and our muscles is a force to be reckoned with. The influence is significant enough that we should take care what kind of music we allow into our homes. Music also has great power on our emotions. Music has been called the universal language because it speaks directly to our emotions. And our emotions and feelings influence our actions. Music is the sugar coating that makes “bitter” lyrics palatable. We may become so infatuated with the rhythm, melody, or singer of a song that we transfer this emotion to the words, not caring what they really say. Even if the words are drug-oriented, erotic, violent, satanic, or just plain silly—when tied to a “hit” tune, they sneak past the screening mechanism of the brain to be stored in the subconscious, and to affect the listener accordingly. Many people who listen to popular music claim that they never listen to the lyrics and that the messages never affect them. Research, however, shows that our brains are marvelously perceptive; they pick up almost any message within sight or sound, whether we consciously know it or not. Those subconsciously received messages may have as much an effect on us as the messages we consciously seek out. While many songs are bad because they stress the trivial and selfish things of this world (such as fame, wealth, and cheap thrills), the most objectionable of all focus on illegal drugs, illicit sex, violence, and satanism.

Brother de Azevedo goes on to describe the ways in which certain types of destructive messages have been placed within much of popular music:

Music about Drugs. Beer-drinking songs have been around for centuries. But in the mid-sixties, a new kind of song appeared. Mystical lyrics with obscure words sang of the pleasures of a different kind of artificial stimulant. Songs about illegal drugs, from marijuana to LSD, began to appear on the pop charts. At first, society wouldn’t tolerate an open endorsement of illegal drugs, so double entendre and hidden code words were used to spread the gospel of drug usage to an ever-growing underground. Later, references to drugs became more open. Has the popular music of our time helped to lead the children of this generation to their widespread experimentation with drugs? It may be impossible to scientifically prove a cause-effect relationship, but I think common sense leads us inescapably to that conclusion.
Music about Sex. Over 70 percent of all popular songs are about love. At least, that’s what certain studies have shown. But actually, many of those songs are about lust, the counterfeit of love. Songs and poems of adultery and fornication are nothing new; every generation has had its fill of them. But in order to make their product more and more exciting—and sell more songs—record producers have gradually added additional perversions to their traditional preoccupation with illicit sex. Today, songs containing references to homosexuality, transvestism, sodomy, masturbation, sadomasochism, rape, prostitution, venereal disease, child abuse, and incest have all been added to the musical menu.
Sexual immorality and drug usage have always gone on in secret, but never before in our society have they been the openly admitted and accepted norm. Within the last ten to twenty years, we have experienced a revolution in the values our society deems acceptable. Today, almost all former sexual taboos are considered light humor in most television shows and movies. Without ever subjecting these vital issues to a rational debate, many people have allowed their attitude toward sin to change from hatred to endurance to pity to embracing. I am convinced that of the many factors which aided this revolution, music has been a major one.
Songs of Violence. A member of a group that has been called “America’s foremost sex-and-violence band” told a nationwide television audience: “Rock ’n roll has always been sexual. Rock ’n roll has always been violent. It has teeth. It will scratch your face off. That’s why I like it.” Rock music may have always been violent, but it has become increasingly so in recent years. At concerts of one rock band, for example, dark-hooded characters performed mock acts of violence onstage, imitating child abuse.
Satanic Songs. Moroni 7:17 [Moro. 7:17] tells us that anything that persuades us to do evil (such as the songs referred to in the previous sections) is ultimately “of the devil.” But, unfortunately, several groups have progressed beyond merely trying to persuade us to do evil. By their own boasting, many have become heavily involved in the occult, in witchcraft, in black magic, and in Satan worship itself. Such groups use their music and their lyrics to spread this mysticism and demonology to their listening public.

Brother de Azevedo also points out that:

Music is one of the Lord’s greatest tools in helping us build spirituality. But it is also one of the adversary’s deadliest weapons. Using it, he creates sugar-coated poison that can slowly destroy all our brightest dreams and leave us spiritually wounded. The irony is that we take this deadly spiritual poison voluntarily into our homes, schools, and churches. We share it with our loved ones. We pay millions of dollars a year for the privilege of exposing ourselves to it. Like foolish Trojans, we open the gates of our strongholds and let the enemy in. The prophets of the Lord understand this process and have given us this sharp admonition: “Come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things.” (Alma 5:57.) I believe that much of today’s music can be counted among these “unclean things.” When we consider music’s impact on us, and how many thousands of hours we listen to it throughout our lives, it seems wise to choose for ourselves and our families music which builds up our spiritual reserves rather than that which continually wears them down. Music is such an important—and powerful—part of our lives that we should consider our listening habits thoughtfully and prayerfully. If we remember our eternal goals, we will seek out music that will help us, rather than hinder us.

Our beloved Prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, had much to say about music and its effect on us in a talk entitled, "Satan’s Thrust—Youth" (Ensign, December 1971:

It has been well said that “there comes a time when the general defilement of a society becomes so great that the rising generation is put under undue pressure and cannot be said to have a fair choice between the Way of Light and the Way of Darkness.” (Hugh Nibley, "An Approach to the Book of Mormon", 1957.) We live in a wicked world. Never in our memory have the forces of evil been arrayed in such deadly formation. The devil is well organized. Never in our day has he had so many emissaries working for him. Through his many agents, his satanic majesty has proclaimed his intentions to destroy one whole generation of our choice young people….“And the most diabolical deceit of this infamy is that it denies evil to be an absolute. Our religion is one of absolutes and cannot be rationalized into a relativistic philosophy of the ‘liberal Mormons.’ We cannot safely rationalize away righteousness. “What could be more misguided than fear that ‘if rock music were not endorsed by our leaders, we may lose many young people.’ (MIA music committee.) Even now we are losing them to the songs of Satan, drugs, sex, riot, and apostasy. We could be well reminded by a message from the Mormon Miracle pageant: ‘Moroni knew that you cannot compromise with evil. If you do, evil always wins.’ ” (Richard Nibley, excerpts from letter.) This great and momentous responsibility and challenge comes at a most difficult time. Never have the forces of evil been so insidious, widespread, and enticing. Everywhere there seems to be a cheapening, weakening, downgrading of all that is fine, good, and uplifting—all aimed at our youth while many of their parents are lulled away into a false security as they enjoy their comfortable complacency. All is not well in Zion.

President Benson goes on to explain how insidious these false messages are:

A state of confusion is an effective environment for Satan. There is much confusion today. He employs several methods to create it. One is the distortion of definitions. To describe a drug experience he uses the term ‘mind expanding’ rather than the more accurate description of ‘reality shrinking.’ “Freedom", a word of noble tradition, is a favorite confuser. Riots, bombings, arson, and killings are committed in the name of freedom. License and anarchy are products of these false freedoms. “Tolerance" is a word valuable in the service of Satan. [As I read this week, "tolerance" has become a euphemism for intolerance!] Ridicule works well in collaboration with confusion. To confuse youth in its searching years, the cynic defends his degeneracy by ridiculing his critics with confusing metaphors.... The philosophy of relativism attacks the eternal principles of truth. The relativist will say, ‘If one sees filthy implications in a popular song, it is because he has a dirty mind.’ The logic of this philosophy finds its fallacy in the word implications. No filth is implied in many of the lyrics. It is proclaimed. If there are any doubts as to the insidious evil of rock, you can judge by its fruits. Its ultimate achievement is that contemporary phenomenon, the mammoth rock music festival. [Can you say Live 8?] The Spirit of the Lord blesses that which edifies and leads men to Christ. Would his Spirit bless with its presence these festering festivals of human degradation cured in LSD, marijuana, and Speed [and many other more modern drugs!]? Would he be pleased by the vulgar display of unashamed nudity and immorality? The speech of the rock festival is often obscene. Its music, crushing the sensibilities in a din of primitive idolatry, is in glorification of the physical to the debasement of the spirit. In the long panorama of man’s history, these youthful rock music festivals are among Satan’s greatest successes. The legendary orgies of Greece and Rome cannot compare to the monumental obscenities found in these cesspools of drugs, immorality, rebellion, and pornophonic sound.

Elder Boyd K. Packer's talk entitled “Inspiring Music—Worthy Thoughts” (Ensign, January 1974) offers some very practical counsel on how to learn to control our thoughts by training our minds to stay on righteous paths (which will cause the brain to allow the lesser-used pathways to decay!):

Probably the greatest challenge to people of any age, particularly young people, and the most difficult thing you will face in mortal life is to learn to control your thoughts. As a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7.) One who can control his thoughts has conquered himself. …I had been told a hundred times or more as I grew up that thoughts must be controlled. But no one told me how. I want to tell you young people about one way you can learn to control your thoughts, and it has to do with music. The mind is like a stage. Except when we are asleep the curtain is always up. There is always some act being performed on that stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy, interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there is some act playing on the stage of the mind. Have you noticed that without any real intent on your part, in the middle of almost any performance, a shady little thought may creep in from the wings and attract your attention? These delinquent thoughts will try to upstage everybody. If you permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue will leave the stage. You will be left, because you consented to it, to the influence of unrighteous thoughts. If you yield to them, they will enact for you on the stage of your mind anything to the limits of your toleration. .. They can make it interesting all right, even convince you that it is innocent—for they are but thoughts. What do you do at a time like that, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of unclean thinking? If you can control your thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits. If you can learn to master them you will have a happy life. Choose from among the sacred music of the Church a favorite hymn, one with words that are uplifting and music that is reverent, one that makes you feel something akin to inspiration. …Now, use this hymn as the place for your thoughts to go. Make it your emergency channel. Whenever you find these shady actors have slipped from the sidelines of your thinking onto the stage of your mind, put on this record, as it were. As the music begins and as the words form in your thoughts, the unworthy ones will slip shamefully away. It will change the whole mood on the stage of your mind. Because it is uplifting and clean, the baser thoughts will disappear. For while virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, evil cannot tolerate the presence of light. Once you learn to clear the stage of your mind from unworthy thoughts, keep it busy with learning worthwhile things. Change your environment so that you have things about you that will inspire good and uplifting thoughts. …Young people, you cannot afford to fill your mind with the unworthy hard music of our day. It is not harmless. It can welcome onto the stage of your mind unworthy thoughts and set the tempo to which they dance and to which you may act. You degrade yourself when you identify with all of those things which seem now to surround such extremes in music: the shabbiness, the irreverence, the immorality, and the addictions. Such music as that is not worthy of you. ...You are a son or a daughter of Almighty God. He has inspired a world full of wonderful things to learn and to do, uplifting music of many kinds that you may enjoy. …The Lord has said, “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.” (D&C 25:12.)

Among all the modes of communication in the world, music is certainly one of the most powerful, and as these talks have shown, one that we need to make certain is a force for good in our lives, and in our own minds. We are, in a very real way, a sum total of what we put into our minds, as that will affect what we do with our lives. As I continue on with this series, I want to explore the other powerful influences on our minds, from the movies we watch, the books and magazines we read, the conversations we hold with others or even ourselves (daydreams and fantasies), and our prayers and meditations. Hopefully, this exercise will strengthen our awareness of how important what we ingest into our mind is from an eternal perspective, as it literally shapes who we are.

The Human Mind: As a Man Thinketh, So is He (Part 1)

2005-06-30T13:47:00.000-04:00

Our minds are astoundingly powerful. As Latter-day Saints, we no longer have to ponder the perennial philosophers' question of "mind-body connection", having been clearly taught that our spirits are the eternal offspring of God, and that our bodies are the physical dwelling place of our immortal spirits. But do we realize just how powerful our minds are? The Guide to the Scriptures suggests that "to create" means to organize. The Lord has told us that all things must be created spiritually before they are created physically: “For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.” (Moses 3:5). When we use our minds, as when we think or plan, we are quite literally spiritually creating reality. Studies have shown that the unconscious mind cannot distinguish readily between what is vividly imagined and what we really experience.

I believe that learning to control our thoughts and actions are of paramount importance in our sojourn here on earth. I like to think of it as proving that we can become full-fledged citizens of the cosmos who will act in accordance with eternal laws and principles, and not go about destroying creation. (And despite what the anarchists teach, creation is much more difficult than destruction!) Understanding how the mind works can help us learn to control it better. In a nutshell, “we are born with some 100 billion neurons, most of them in the brain. These specialized, interconnected cells send and receive information in the form of electrochemical impulses. Each neuron is capable of 'firing,' that is, transmitting nerve impulses to thousands of other neurons which, in turn, transmit them to others.” (Steven T. Padgitt, Ph.D. HOW THE BRAIN WORKS)

When we are very young, vast connections are made between these neurons, as any possible association produces a “link’, but as we get older, the “unnecessary” ones are pruned away. The brain perceives the ones that are necessary as the ones that are used most frequently. It is not unlike the traffic patterns of a town, where what began as a mere dirt pathway, with heavy usage becomes the well-paved highway. We choose, with each of our thoughts (and actions, which require thought) to wear a groove in our mind, or to allow that pathway to fade away with disuse. This is why we are told we must “use it or lose it.” If we practice a language, or any other skill, we get better, and those pathways become great blazing freeways that are easy to use. If we indulge in inappropriate and unclean thoughts, those pathways also become very easy to access. Conversely, not practicing the piano or speaking French, or not indulging in pornography will cause those routes in the brain to become less worn and less likely to be used.

Much of what we are taught by the Lord’s servants, both in scripture and in the talks by modern prophets, is concerned with this notion of cognitive processing, and what we allow to enter our minds. We are warned against the evils of pornography and other vile sorts of communications. Our minds are very like computers: Garbage in, Garbage out. It is very tedious work trying to edit out any pornographic content we have allowed to be downloaded into our minds. And not just pornography, but any fallacious ways of thinking (read “doctrines of men”) that we have absorbed from the world require painstaking care in their deletion. This is why repentance is usually a very lengthy process, often taking our entire lifetime. And the good news is that our mind will also store good stuff! I had a professor who often said, “Repetition is the key to learning.” Each time we think about a particular idea, the pathways increase in our brain, and that information becomes easier to access. This is likely why the Lord tells us many times to “treasure up in our minds the words of life.” (D&C 84:85)

Not only do our own thoughts create these “grooves” in our minds, but those ideas we absorb, consciously or unconsciously, from the world around us affect the maps in our minds. The music we listen to, the movies we watch, the books and magazines we read, the internet “stuff” we imbibe, as well as our daydreams, fantasies, prayers, and meditations all add new layers to our mind, and affect those pathways. Some of these communiqués, particularly lyrics set to music, can enter our unconscious without the usual censors that most information must be filtered through to be stored in the mind, and are inherently even more powerful and require greater care. Each of these modes is an important part of our daily lives, and I would like to examine them individually in greater detail, to understand better how and why it is that “As a man thinketh, so is he.” (Stay tuned for the rest of the series!)

In Living Color: PAF

2005-06-29T03:48:00.000-04:00

Personal Ancestral File Upgrade Prints in Color
By Walter Cooley, Church Magazines

Members and genealogists using Personal Ancestral File® (PAF) Companion can now print and view family tree charts in color using the program's newest upgrade.

Examples of color-charting formats are available at www.progenysoftware.com/paf-companion-charts.html.

A trial version of the software can be downloaded at the "Software Downloads–Free" link listed under the Family History section at www.ldscatalog.com. The trial version limits the number of generations that can be viewed or printed. Users can purchase full access to the trial version of PAF Companion 5.2 for $6.75 by calling 1-800-537-5971 to obtain a key code from Distribution Services.

"A conversation with Beverly Campbell"

2005-06-24T09:48:00.000-04:00

"A conversation with Beverly Campbell" from Segullah

Wonderful interview with one of my personal heroes, Beverly Campbell, the author of "Eve and the Choice Made in Eden". She speaks of why the true story of Eve is so important:

"How can a study and understanding of Eve effect women's perceptions of themselves, and men's perceptions of women?

The story of Eden, the Garden, and Adam and Eve, permeates our literature, our laws, our societies and our response to one another as men and women, both spiritual and secular. The misperceptions are enormous and have created and continue to create not just misunderstanding but harm. Men and women alike need to understand the depth and power and beauty of this entire episode.

I was recently interviewed by a well–known radio personality who told me the insights and understanding he came to through this book had changed his life and the way he perceived and treated his wife and the other women in his life. Women have told me that this new understanding has given them the courage to move forward.

Bottom line: as we understand that Eve courageously, heroically, and with enormous generosity of spirit claimed that most precious aspect of agency, the right to exercise spiritual and personal integrity, we begin to see better how to live our lives. To choose to act or think in ways that God has counseled is to arm yourself with His power. As you choose good over evil, right over wrong, action over inaction, you open your soul to the possibilities and His power is unleashed. Weakness, powerlessness and inadequacy are replaced with strength, control and wholeness."

Read the whole thing here.
My related posts here, here, and here, and a short story I wrote as tribute to both Mother Eve and Sister Campbell's amazing book here.
As you can probably tell, I believe this message is very, very important! I am very grateful to Heavenly Father for inspiring Sister Campbell to write this book.
(Oh, and Johnna, the new site looks fabulous!)

C.S. Lewis: "Why Love is not incompatible with suffering"

2005-06-21T11:51:00.000-04:00

From my friend and fellow C.S. fan Curt at North Western Winds:

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

The awareness of a distinction between Love and Kindness and the recognition of what it means to be the object of God's love make it easier to comprehend why Love is not incompatible with suffering. Because God loves us he will not rest until he sees us wholly lovable. From that perspective, the suffering of a creature in need of alteration is a mere corollary to God's goodness. Yet, the problem is that the perception of man's sinful condition, and hence of a real need for alteration — a thing obvious even to ancient pagans — has largely disappeared from the modern horizon, rendering the Christian call to repentance and conversion unintelligible. To talk to the modern man, Lewis insists, "Christianity now has to preach the diagnosis — in itself a very bad news — before it can win the hearing for the cure." He considers two modern developments that contributed to the rise of a belief in the original innocence: the reduction of all virtues to kindness ("nothing except kindness is really good"), and the effect of psychoanalysis on the public mind ("shame is dangerous and must be done away with"). "Kindness, he says, is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds", for we can feel comfortably benevolent towards fellow men, as long as their good does not conflict with ours. He then considers in some detail the symptoms of man's wretchedness and brings us, step by step, to an inescapable conclusion: "We are, at present, creatures whose character must be, in some respects, a horror to God, as it is, when we really see it, a horror to ourselves." And at once we perceive a contradiction.

Nothing except kindness is good? How often I've tried to cut through the modern (read "socialistic") arguments that it would be a good thing to eliminate human suffering.... "I mean, no one should have to suffer, right?" Of course we have to suffer, as it merely means that we do not always get our way. What a crazy world it would be if instead of real standards, everyone walked in their own way....

"They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall." D&C 1: 16

The many faces of pride

2005-06-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

The many faces of pride and how it destroys unity

We are often warned against the sin of pride, and with good reason. Many of the ways in which life keeps people humble have been circumvented. Few of us in the “civilized” world have to scratch in the dirt for our daily bread. Many talks, including the famous one by President Ezra Taft Benson, speak of the arrogant sort of pride. But I was not long ago made aware that pride can wear many faces, some of which, on first glance, may appear to be humility. In order for us to avoid the various masks which pride can wear, we must understand what President Benson taught was the very “core” of pride: enmity. In his words: “Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.’ It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.” (Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign, May 1989, 4)

President Benson also said that pride is a misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. How can that be? If we are trying to be sufficiently humble, to share our substance, and to care about others, how can we be standing in a place of pride? Easier than it sounds, that is for sure. Because the key is enmity. How often do we stand in a place of opposition to other people? Does it have to be that we think we are better than they are? How about if we think we are not as good? How about if we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves thinking that we are not as thin, clever, wealthy, organized, talented, or spiritual as other people? Is that pride? It is. We had a wonderful Sunday School teacher who pointed this out to me, and I was absolutely floored to realize this tendency was pride. In President Benson’s words, “Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us…There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up.”

In a talk by Henry B. Eyring, "That We May Be One," he said, “The Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, said of those who would be part of His Church: ‘Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine’ (D&C 38:27). …With skill, hatred, and cunning, Satan pursues his goal. It is the opposite of the purpose of our Heavenly Father and the Savior. They would give us perfect union and eternal happiness. Satan, their enemy and ours, has known the plan of salvation from before the Creation. He knows that only in eternal life can those sacred, joyful associations of families endure. Satan would tear us from loved ones and make us miserable. And it is he who plants the seeds of discord in human hearts in the hope that we might be divided and separate. … The Savior of the world spoke of that unity and how we will have our natures changed to make it possible.” He goes on to say, “…the gospel of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would be changed. The Savior’s Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.”

Elder Eyring also tells us that, “The Spirit puts the testimony of truth in our hearts, which unifies those who share that testimony. The Spirit of God never generates contention…. It never generates the feelings of distinctions between people which lead to strife. It leads to personal peace and a feeling of union with others. It unifies souls. A unified family, a unified Church, and a world at peace depend on unified souls….We must speak no ill of anyone. We must see the good in each other and speak well of each other whenever we can. At the same time, we must stand against those who speak contemptuously of sacred things, because the certain effect of that offense is to offend the Spirit and so create contention and confusion. If we are to have unity, there are commandments we must keep concerning how we feel. We must forgive and bear no malice toward those who offend us. We do not know the hearts of those who offend us. Nor do we know all the sources of our own anger and hurt. There is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service.” (Henry B. Eyring, “That We May Be One,” Ensign, May 1998, 66)

Sister Pam Wilson Vandenaker, in a talk entitled “Stripped of Envy, wrote, “Envy is a form of pride…. The practice of comparing ourselves to others is usually at the root of envy. It causes us to feel that we aren’t good enough and that in order to be acceptable we have to achieve more, acquire more, or in other ways appear to be ‘better’ than others. It occurs when we do not value ourselves sufficiently as children of God and consequently feel we have to prove our worth by ‘doing’ or ‘having.’ Part of the reason envy can be so difficult to recognize in ourselves is that it often disguises itself in other feelings and behaviors. One disguise envy wears is the tendency to criticize. Another is the desire to act in a way that will provoke envy in others. The good news is, once we unmask envy and begin to eliminate it, we can begin to feel much better about ourselves and others around us.” Sister Vandenaker mentions that low self-worth and competing with others can be forms of pride. She quotes from Betsy Cohen’s book, The Snow White Syndrome: All About Envy (1986): “[many of us] ‘have inner standards of excellence and perfection that are hard or impossible to meet’ often causing emotional pain. We may have a hard time admitting mistakes and living with imperfections. If not careful, says the author, we can end up envious of those who seem to achieve more or who seem more comfortable being imperfect.” Sister Vandenaker quotes from Alma: “Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared.” We need to be stripped of envy and other weaknesses to be prepared to “stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body” (Alma 5:15). Sister Vandenaker states that “as we become free of envy or jealousy or any other weakness, we are much more enabled to acknowledge who and what we are. In the process of being “stripped of envy,” we also receive the gift of being restored to an awareness of our worth as beautiful, unique children of God.” (Pam Wilson Vandenaker, “Stripped of Envy,” Ensign, Mar. 1999, 19)

James M. Paramore, in a talk entitled “Love One Another” said that our Heavenly Father “loves us so much that He gave us His most sacred eternal truths—His commandments—eternal standards to live by…when God’s love is known and felt and His commandments followed, the results are always the same. There is a newness of life—a spiritual awakening—that comes to man, its own witness that it is true. It is never forced or brought about by fear, but rather by a bond of love that develops between our Father in Heaven and His children. It is no wonder that we are counseled to look to God and live. This love reaches deep into the inner man, removes barriers, and causes an open spirit to emerge to be receptive to truth, goodness, and change. As it develops in man, he is turned outward toward others—gradually overcoming himself. Then the miracle really happens. Men thus touched and changed by this love of God begin to look upon their neighbors with profound respect and awe for who they are, what their potential really is as children of an eternal father. As man perceives this love, he begins to overlook the flaws that make up every mortal being and to ‘esteem his brother as himself.’ (D&C 38:24.) He lifts and desires to help him whenever and wherever he can. Man’s spirit reaches out to everyone, for now there is no enmity, no envy, no restricting philosophies, pride, or vanity—even language does not separate men—there is only an openness and oneness with the Spirit and will of God. The scriptures are beautiful and clear: ‘There [will be] no contention in the land,’ ‘because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.’ (4 Ne. 1:15, Rom. 5:5.) (James M. Paramore, “Love One Another,” Ensign, May 1981, 53)

So, whether pride wears the mask of arrogance or low self-worth, envy or criticism, the effect of it is still the same: disunity. As President Benson said, “Pride affects all of us at various times and in various degrees. Now you can see why the building in Lehi’s dream that represents the pride of the world was large and spacious and great was the multitude that did enter into it. Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice. The antidote for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit.” Let us not allow Satan to divide us. If we wish to be part of the Lord’s Kingdom, we must accord ourselves and all of our brothers and sisters on this earth with our true worth as “beautiful, unique children of God” as Sister Vandenaker said. Let us be one, with the Lord, and with each other, that we might, as Elder Eyring suggested, "have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity."

Pope Condemns Homosexual Unions As Dangerous to the Family

2005-06-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

From "Pope blasts gay 'marriage' as perilous to family unit" (By Philip Pullella REUTERS NEWS AGENCY) Via The Washington Times

ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI, in his first clear pronouncement on homosexual "marriages" since his election, yesterday condemned same-sex unions as fake and "expressions of anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.
...
"Today's various forms of dissolution of marriage, free unions, trial marriages as well as the pseudo-matrimonies between people of the same sex, are instead expressions of anarchic freedom which falsely tries to pass itself off as the true liberation of man," he said.
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The pope, who headed the Vatican's doctrinal department for more than two decades before his elevation to the papacy, said "pseudo freedoms" such as homosexual "marriages" were based on what he called the "banalization of the human body" and of man himself.

Banalization, indeed. Trifle not with sacred things.

Hope for the Human Spirit

2005-06-07T10:49:00.000-04:00

From "The Cost of the War on Terrorism" By Ben Stein (The American Spectator)

On the Saturday night before Memorial Day, the cost of the war on terrorism were wearing red T-shirts. They were in a small ballroom on the second floor of the Crystal City Doubletree Hotel in Northern Virginia, within sight of the Pentagon.

There were about 250 of them. Children of men and women who had been killed in the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and in training. They were maybe from age five to fifteen. They were handsome. They were pretty. They were cute. They had haunted eyes, some of them, and some of them cried. One family had five kids, and the oldest, a beautiful 15-year-old girl, could not stop crying.

They were being watched over by about thirty mentors, who were good-looking men and women from the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. They serve as mentors and guides for the kids as the kids mourn their loss.

The kids had just gotten back from a field trip and were in a giddy, but still haunted mood, as they ate pizza. I spoke to them, hugged them, smeared my tears away as I could. I told them how pretty they were if they were girls and how brave and handsome they looked if they were boys.

A spectacularly cute little red-headed girl named Dawn slithered around me and pretended to be a dog to be patted. Or is it petted?

I told the kids their parents had died to save this country, to give kids in Iraq and Afghanistan the chance to choose their lives and to have the freedoms we take for granted. I told them there were not enough words in the English language to thank them enough for what they had done. For the sacrifice they had made. I told them their fathers and mothers had died doing God's work.

Then I signed autographs, mostly on the kids' T- shirts for about an hour.

I WISH I WERE ELOQUENT enough to tell you how brave these kids were and what a price they are paying. To lose a father while the rest of us complain about taxes and the stock market and the price of real estate. Quite a sight. Quite a concept.

How can we possibly repay them? How conceivably? There is nothing we can do. But be grateful and keep them in our hearts forever.

I walked with my friend Marina Malenic, ace in WMD, to a far larger ballroom, where the widows, mothers and fathers, fiancees, widowers maybe, of the men and women who were killed were gathered.

I sat with the head of the great organization, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Bonnie Carroll, who conceived of TAPS when her AF general husband was killed in training in Alaska many years ago. Maybe it was 1998. She is a pretty, extremely smart woman, with a heart as big as a Cadillac. We sat also with several women who had lost their husbands. They were all brave, all sharing their experience, strength, and hope with each other. One woman next to me said I did not need to feel sorry for her on the death of her husband in the Mosul bombing. "I got to live with him for 22 years," she said. "I was blessed."

Everyone there wore a button with a photo of the man who had died. The men looked impossibly healthy, fit, optimistic. They could not possibly be dead, and yet they were.

Several wives spoke of their last talks with their husbands, about what it was like when the Chaplain came up the driveway. Some read letters from their husbands talking about how happy they were to be helping the Iraqi children.

Bonnie spoke, perhaps the most moving speech I have ever heard in person, a difficult act to follow. She used to work with Reagan and maybe that explains her amazing ability to get in touch with truth.

Then I spoke and gave a little talk about how we could live without the stock market, could get on without Hollywood or new cars, but could not last a week without our armed forces and the armed forces could not last a week without the military family. "To most," I said, "the war on terrorism is an abstraction. But there is blood all over this room."

They gave me one standing ovation after another and I left the stage dizzy with gratitude. These women -- overwhelmingly women -- are paying a fearful price so the rest of us can get on with our daily selfishness and greed without hindrance.

So that the witches of Beverly Hills and Fifth Avenue can go on with their shopping, these women lost their husbands. Mothers and fathers were there, too. One came up to me, a crusty couple, husband a Marine, and showed me a dollar bill from his late son's wallet when the son was killed in Iraq. The edges were covered in blood.

HOW CAN WE THANK these families? How can we possibly praise enough the sacrifice they and their husbands have made? How can it ever be enough?

Yet, they have something the rest of us rarely have: meaning. They know why God put them on earth, why they live and suffer. They never doubt their worth.

Bonnie drove Marina and me back to The Watergate. I felt as if I had been with the finest people on earth that night, the ones in God's image.

Mostly, I see the dregs of human selfishness. When I am around the military -- the Honor Guard, the families, the kids, the parents, the ones who are the thin line between life and death for freedom, the ones who make our lives worth living, I have hope for the human spirit. The best of the human spirit is alive and well inside those red T-shirts.

Family History Fun!

2005-06-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

(Cross-posted to conversation.)

My patriarchal blessing very specifically indicates that I will be quite involved in family history work. And I am. It is now one of my greatest passions, and greatest blessings. But it did not come easily to me. I had some real family-of-origin issues that I did NOT want to confront, and besides, I figured poring through old dusty books was for old grandmothers in their eighties, and I had plenty of time for that “someday”.

But then something magical happened: I found out I could do genealogy on the computer! This was about ten or fifteen years ago, and there was no ancestry.com back then, but there was familysearch, and RootsWeb and GenWeb, and family web pages, and lots of people out there sharing what they’d found by email. It was pretty exciting, although things didn’t move quite as fast as they do now.

I didn’t want to know about my father’s family, but decided I could risk finding out about my mother’s side. I started poking around, and kept finding stuff that led me to my great-great grandparents (my mom’s paternal grandparents), who were named Alexander Moore Woodell and Martha Ann McKinnon. I saw census transcriptions for them (this was long before a couple of clicks on ancestry would reveal actual census images on demand!) that someone had hand-copied from some dusty old book that read:

1850 Census Robeson County, North Carolina
Alexander Woodall 22 M Farmer Robeson
Martha 21 F Robeson
Catharine 4 F Robeson
Archibald 2M Robeson
Lenora 6 months Robeson

I also found a marriage record for Alexander and Martha:
Bride: Martha Ann McKinnon
Groom: Alexander Woodel
Bond Date: 27 Jul 1844
County: Robeson
Record #: 01 170
Bondsman: Benjamin Pate; Lewis C Thompson
Witness: Sdh Howell
Bond #: 000118512

Now, if there’s one thing I love in this life, it’s people, and stories about people! (Ok, that’s two, and I really love a lot more than that, but they ARE very important to me!) So, in my head, I now have a story of a young couple who have met, fallen in love (cue the hearts and flowers), married and have three young children. Life for them seems quite rosy, and I like it. (Archibald is my great-grandfather, by the way, and I very much regret laughing at my mom when she used to tell me his name as a child; she was always telling me about family history back then, and she was not even LDS!)

But finding more information took quite some time. Seems there were lots of Woodells and McKinnons in Robeson County that had been mapped out, but nobody appeared to claim either Alexander or Martha. And they had just disappeared without a trace. I searched and searched, but to no avail for a very long time. Then I discovered this tidbit: (again,handcopied, but with Daniel miscopied as “David”!)

1870 Ouachita Co., AR census, pg #346B, dated 23 Aug 1870
Missouri Township, P.O. Lone Grove

26/26 Wordell, M. A. 42/F/W Farmer b. NC
Catherine 25/F/W NC
Archibald 23/M/W teaches school NC
Lenora 20/F/W NC
Daniel 18/M/W GA
Missouri 16/F/W GA
Theophilus 12/M/W GA
Evander 8/M/W AR

Wordell? Now, I’ve seen Woodell spelled many ways, but that was a new one. And where’s Alexander? And look at those kids’ birthplaces! Kept dropping ‘em out all over the place, like Gretel’s breadcrumb trail! Ok, so now I know, they spent some time in GA (1852 to at least 1858, as we can tell from the birthdays), and moved to Arkansas by at least 1862. BUT, WHERE’S ALEXANDER???

Ok, so there was a little thing called the War Between the States. Oh. Yeah. So, here’s the scoop:

Woodale, Alex R PVT, Co. G 11th Arkansas captured 10/21/64 Dallas Co., Arkansas died 01/01/65 Rem. Fever Died in Alton. IL Prison camp in Civil War

Conditions in the prison were harsh and the mortality rate was above average for a Union prison. Hot, humid summers and cold Midwestern winters took a heavy toll on prisoners already weakened by poor nourishment and inadequate clothing. The prison was overcrowded much of the time and sanitary facilities were inadequate. Pneumonia and dysentery were common killers but contagious diseases such as smallpox and rubella were the most feared. When smallpox infection became alarmingly high in the winter of 1862 and spring of 1863, a quarantine hospital was located on an island across the Mississippi River from the prison. Up to 300 prisoners and soldiers died and are buried on the island, now under water. A cemetery in North Alton that belonged to the State of Illinois was used for most that died. A monument there lists 1,534 names of Confederate soldiers that are known to have died.

I CRIED! I cried A LOT! I kept telling myself, “Peggy, they’re ALL dead!” But in my head, the story was a young couple with three sweet babies. Now, we have a 42 year old widow with seven kids (it was actually eight!) and a dead husband. Yes, I know, lots of people lost their husbands. But it was such an abrupt change. I needed, desperately, to know more of the story. And I found lots of it, like how all of Martha and Alexander’s kinfolk either died or moved away, and they moved to Georgia to be with the Clan McKinnon, and how they moved to Arkansas to be near Alexander’s family. I’ve met lots of cousins online, and it has been an amazing journey.

But, I was obsessed with Martha. What happened to her? How did she raise those kids alone, and did she remarry? I found lots of tidbits here and there, but my heart was still filled with sorrow for her. And then, I found out something wonderful! She had a brother! Ok, lots of people do, I know. But you see, what I found out is that after the war, it was hard times in Arkansas, but Martha decided to move to Texas, where her brother lived. His name was Alexander, too. He went by A.J. McKinnon (too many Alexanders!). He enlisted in the war with Alexander Woodell, but A.J. survived because he was a “surgeon”, or a medic, we might say now. And A.J. went on to become a physician, as many Scots did, and when I found my gggrandmother Martha in the 1880 Census, it looked like this:

Household:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Martha WOODELLE
Self M Female W 51 NC Keeping House NC NC
Theophelus WOODELLE
Son M Male W 20 GA Works On Farm NC NC
Evander WOODELLE
Son M Male W 18 AR Works On Farm NC NC

What I didn’t know yet (though the information was there!) is that if I’d clicked on the “next family” button on familysearch it would have shown this family:

Household:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
David SINGLETARY
Self M Male W 53 NC Farmer NC NC
Mary SINGLETARY
Wife M Female W 53 SC Keeping House NC NC
Malcom SINGLETARY
Son S Male W 11 AR Works On Farm NC SC
Winters SINGLETARY
Son S Male W 9 TX NC SC
Mary SINGLETARY
Dau S Female W 6 TX NC SC

I didn’t know who this family next door was yet, but Mary Singletary (wife) was Mary Frances McKinnon, Martha’s sister! And up the road a bit was this family:

Household:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
A.J MCKINNON
Self M Male W 47 NC Physician NC NC
Mary MCKINNON
Wife M Female W 25 TX Keeping House SC GA
Florence MCKINNON
Dau S Female W 10 TX At Home NC TX
Ophelia MCKINNON
Dau S Female W 7 TX At Home NC TX
Lorena MCKINNON
Dau S Female W 4 TX At Home NC TX
John B MCKINNON
Son S Male W 1 TX NC TX

A.J., Martha and Mary’s younger brother, who survived the war! Maybe it is difficult to understand how YEARS of searching, and thinking of poor Martha raising all those children alone in difficult circumstances made me jump for joy to see her nestled in relative peace and prosperity, surrounded on either side by her loving family, but all I can say is that I was overjoyed, absolutely thrilled and delighted!

I still needed more details, but I started writing a novel about Martha, to account for all the information I was finding and to get the picture straight in my head. But I could find nothing beyond the 1880 Census. Until. A new cousin saw a post of mine about Alexander’s parents (still working on that!), and responded. She is also a descendant of Martha and Alexander, by their youngest, Evander. And she had some stories for me! One of them revealed that Martha was still alive in 1903. (You see, the 1890 Census was destroyed by fire, and I couldn’t find Martha in the 1900, so I figured she died—I’d gotten my happy ending in 1880, after all!) Seems that Martha remarried, for the family knew her as Martha Tyson, and she moved to another town in Texas. But I can’t find her!!! I can’t bring myself to work on the book anymore, until I know what happened to her!

So, with the move to North Carolina, I figured the Lord (and Martha!) are giving me a nudge to continue the search in person, for all of my lines pretty much go to NC, and I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to see all those places they lived that I’ve only read about (and imagined!).

I could have told you that Joseph Smith said, "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us [as individuals] is to seek after our dead" or that he said “…in the resurrection those who had been worked for would fall at the feet of those who had done their work, kiss their feet, embrace their knees and manifest the most exquisite gratitude.” But I decided that what I really wanted to tell you is that family history work is NOT work. It is FUN!! It is the best video game ever. It is why the Lord gave us computers. (I am serious about that!!) It is the best puzzle game ever. (My 23 year old INACTIVE daughter is quite addicted to it, thank God!) When the Spirit of Elijah turns the children’s hearts to the fathers, the children must reach out to each other to find all the pieces of the puzzle. Family history will write on your heart the stories of your family in a way that you will know you belong, and that you are loved, greatly, by generations of people you may not have ever met in this life, but that you knew and loved in the premortal world. And, it’s a lot of fun! Also, I don’t have to feel guilty, like when I play video games (btw, when I do, it is usually The Sims and the families I make are my own ancestors, with old-fashioned clothes and stuff!) because Boyd K. Packer said, "Every hour spent on genealogical research, however unproductive it appears, is worthwhile. It is pleasing to the Lord. It is our testimony to Him that we accept the doctrine of the resurrection and the plan of salvation." So, have fun!!
(And if you need any help, email me!!)

conversation: Politics

2005-05-19T03:51:00.000-04:00

The current topic at our group blog conversation is Politics. My offering on the subject is a bit lengthy, so I'm posting it here, with a briefer version there.
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Latter-day Saints have often been encouraged by Church leaders to be active in politics. Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “To worship the Lord is to stand valiantly in the cause of truth and righteousness, to let our influence for good be felt in civic, cultural, educational, and governmental fields, and to support those laws and principles which further the Lord’s interests on earth." In fact, a message from the First Presidency in January 1998 stated that, “…we urge members of the Church to be full participants in political, governmental, and community affairs. Members of the Church are under special obligations to seek out and then uphold those leaders who are wise, good, and honest.” President Ezra Taft Benson spoke out strongly on our civic duty: “Let us seek to take an active part in our local, state, and national affairs. We are commanded by the Lord to do so. It is as binding as any of the Lord’s commandments.” Commanded! Strong words, indeed! President Benson continued, “We must become involved in civic affairs. As citizens…we cannot do our duty and be idle spectators. It is vital that we follow this counsel from the Lord: ‘Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil’.” And he also said, “The most dangerous threat of all comes from the disinterested—that great group of otherwise intelligent people who shrug off any responsibility for public affairs.”

So, it would seem quite clear that we need to be active in politics. Our leaders have also given us much counsel on how we should do this. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Now a word on politics. This is an election year, and there are many strong and strident voices incident to political campaigning. It’s a wholesome and wonderful system that we have under which people are free to express themselves in electing those who shall represent them in the councils of government. I would hope that those concerned would address themselves to issues and not to personalities. The issues ought to be discussed freely, openly, candidly, and forcefully. But, I repeat, I would hope that there would be an avoidance of demeaning personalities.” President N. Eldon Tanner’s counsel in this regard was, “We need a change of attitude. We need to be supportive of one another, instead of backbiting and maligning and resorting to malicious gossip. Particularly in the areas of local and national politics do we need to select good, honest representatives who will espouse the cause of righteousness, and then we should forget partisanship and work together for the common good of all. As we say, we should seek after ‘anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy’.” And President Stephen L. Richards stated, “A threat to our unity derives from unseemly personal antagonisms developed in partisan political controversy. The Church, while reserving the right to advocate principles of good government underlying equity, justice, and liberty, the political integrity of officials, and the active participation of its members, and the fulfillment of their obligations in civic affairs, exercises no constraint on the freedom of individuals to make their own choices and affiliations … any man who makes representation to the contrary does so without authority and justification in fact.”

So, what “issues” are important? What should we look for in our search for “good, honest representatives who will espouse the cause of righteousness”? We actually should already know this, as we are reminded with just about every talk we hear pertaining to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But a great overview is a talk from President Spencer W. Kimball entitled “Guidelines to Carry Forth the Work of God in Cleanliness.” President Kimball said, “Early in this dispensation the Lord made clear the position his restored church should take with respect to civil government. In the revelation he gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith, he said: ‘And now, verily I say unto you concerning the … law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, [that it] belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you … in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land.” (D&C 98:4–6.) President Kimball goes on to say, “The encroachment of the world into our lives is threatening! How hard it seems for many of us to live in the world and yet not of the world.” He speaks further on the state of the world:

Now the works of the flesh are many, as given by Paul: “… perilous times shall come. [They are upon us!] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, … Without natural affection … incontinent …” (2 Tim. 3:1–3), “… [with] vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another … inventors of evil things …” (Rom. 1:26, 27, 30), thieves, drunkards, extortioners.

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4.)

These are some of the ugly acts and activities that we call the world.

These ugly transgressions Paul called “doctrines of devils,” and their authors “seducing spirits.” (See 1 Tim. 4:1.) These distortions of the normal life have not changed in this century, except possibly to grow more vile and permissive and vulgar and degenerate.

And we plead with our people everywhere, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7.)

Our sermon is one of reaffirmation and reassurance. We urge our people to “stand in holy places.” (D&C 45:32.)

What we are saying today is not new doctrine, but as old as the day of creation.

President Kimball continues by saying, “Again, abortion is a growing evil that we speak against. Certainly the terrible sin of premeditated abortion would be hard to justify. It is almost inconceivable that an abortion would ever be committed to save face or embarrassment, to save trouble or inconvenience, or to escape responsibility. How could one submit to such an operation or be party in any way by financing or encouraging? If special rare cases could be justified, certainly they would be rare indeed. We place it high on the list of sins against which we strongly warn the people. ‘Abortion must be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day, when we are witnessing the frightful evidence of permissiveness leading to sexual immorality.’ Then in the area of one of Satan’s most destructive evils, we strongly warn all our people from childhood to old age to beware of the chains of bondage, suffering, and remorse which come from improper use of the body. The human body is the sacred home of the spirit child of God, and unwarranted tampering with or defilement of this sacred tabernacle can bring only remorse and regret. We urge: stay clean, uncontaminated, undefiled. Jude says: ‘… There should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.’ (Jude 1:18.) We urge, with Peter, ‘… Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.’ (1 Pet. 2:11.) No indecent exposure or pornography or other aberrations to defile the mind and spirit. No fondling of bodies, one’s own or that of others, and no sex between persons except in proper marriage relationships. This is positively prohibited by our Creator in all places, at all times, and we reaffirm it. Even in marriage there can be some excesses and distortions. No amount of rationalization to the contrary can satisfy a disappointed Father in heaven.”

Well, President Kimball certainly doesn’t even try to be politically correct. And neither should we. We must hold to the iron rod, the very word of God, as if our lives and eternal destinies (as well as those of our loved ones!) depend upon it, for they do. We can trust the words of the Lord’s servants, but not the world’s doctrine of men. There are many other issues in a political forum that we must be aware of what the Lord’s doctrine is, and the leaders have been just as clear on those. There is really no excuse for us not studying the Gospel, and how it relates to the political issues at hand. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Now, I want to say to you, and I say it with a plea in my heart, get involved. Get involved on the side of righteousness and truth and decency and sobriety and virtue. You, and others like you, are the great hope of this world. … The problem with most of us is that we are afraid. We want to do the right thing, but we are troubled by fears and the world drifts about us. …‘Be not afraid, only believe.’ I commend to you these wonderful words of the Lord as you think of your responsibilities and opportunities. …Teach those for whom you are responsible the importance of good civic manners. Encourage them to become involved, remembering in public deliberations that the quiet voice of substantive reasoning is more persuasive than the noisy, screaming voice of protest. In accepting such responsibilities our people will bless their communities, their families, and the Church.”

Rosalie English, in “My Work, Your Work, Everyone’s Work,” remarked, ”Someone once said that a country gets the government it deserves. Apathy and fatalism breed tyranny and repression. Freedom, like everything good, has to be worked for. I knew that if I awoke one morning and found that the Church had been outlawed, it would be my own fault if I had not worked to prevent it. I love the gospel and all it stands for, but am only too aware that what it stands for—the freedom I hold so dear—is being gradually whittled away. The gospel is a gospel of love and we can show that love in many ways, one of which is being an involved citizen.” Sister English is right. Freedom has to be upheld, or it will be lost. Already too many of our freedoms are in jeopardy, including freedom of speech and religion. As bloggers, we have an opportunity to share our thoughts about many things, including politics. We would do well to follow the counsel the Prophet Joseph Smith gave to a group of Saints who were working on building the Nauvoo Temple in 1843,” There is one more thing I wish to speak about, and that is political economy. It is our duty to concentrate all our influence to make popular that which is sound and good, and unpopular that which is unsound.” As President Kimball concluded in the previous talk, “This, then, is our program: to reaffirm and boldly carry forward the work of God in cleanliness, uprightness, and to take that gospel of truth to that world that needs so much that godly life.”

Sources:
“Getting Involved, Giving Service, Growing,” Ensign, Feb. 1999, 21.

N. Eldon Tanner, “Live by the Savior’s Teachings,” Ensign, Dec. 1982, 2.

James B. Allen, “The American Presidency and the Mormons,” Ensign, Oct. 1972, 47.

Spencer W. Kimball, “Guidelines to Carry Forth the Work of God in Cleanliness,” Ensign, May 1974.

Rosalie English, “My Work, Your Work, Everyone’s Work,” Ensign, June 1976.

Gordon B. Hinckley, “Reach Out in Love and Kindness,” Ensign, Nov. 1982, 76.

Only for Paulie!

2005-05-18T17:29:00.000-04:00

Because Paulie Asked

Paulie of The Commons at Paulie World tagged me to answer the following questions:

Total volume of music files on my computer: 2.87GB! But! I didn't put it there, it's a back-up of my daughter's hard-drive. I don't really do that much with music files, truly!

The last CD I bought: My kids give me a lot of CDs, but the last one I bought for myself was Iron & Wine's "Creek Drank the Cradle"

Song playing now: Nothing, actually. I often revel in silence.

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

Wow, that's a hard question! If you'd asked me to name five bands I like, that would have been easier, but not by much. I listen to lots of Celtic-flavored music (Belle & Sebastian, Great Big Sea, Ennis Sisters, Clancy Brothers, Irish Descendants) and old-time rock-and-roll (well, the easy-pop stuff really, like Paul Simon-with or without Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Beatles, Buddy Holly, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Cat Stevens), as well as some slightly newer stuff (Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Elvis Costello), and my kids are always bringing me new stuff, some of which I really like: Mountain Goats, Decemberists, Magnetic Fields.

But to name individual songs that mean a lot? I'd have to go for hymns, frankly, because those are what touch my heart, and to the depths of my soul! So, my real answer (these always make me cry with joy and gratitude):

1. I Know That My Redeemer Lives
2. God Be With You Till We Meet Again
3. I Stand All Amazed
4. Because I Have Been Given Much
5. America the Beautiful

Five people to whom I'm passing the baton:

(With my most humble apologies!)

doxology
Way Off Bass
The Crusader
knot in the string
The Dawn Patrol

Tag, you're it!

Love and Eternal Marriage

2005-05-11T01:03:00.000-04:00

"A Union of Love and Understanding," by Elder Marlin K. Jensen, Ensign, Oct. 1994.

Of the many opportunities for service that come with my calling, in my estimation none exceeds the privilege of performing a sealing ceremony in one of the Lord’s temples. Whenever I am in a beautifully appointed sealing room, facing a wholesome and anxious young couple about to make the most sacred of vows with God and with each other, I have the feeling that nothing I might say could do justice to the significance of that occasion in their lives.

At such times I frequently remember my own wedding day nearly twenty-six years ago and the strong feelings of love I had for my wife. I remember also our high expectations for the future. Kathy and I had an ideal in mind that was not necessarily peculiar to us: we were about to begin a companionship together that would be unparalleled in the romantic history of Western civilization!

Nevertheless, despite our best intentions and efforts, our ideal began to collide with reality shortly after our brief, inexpensive honeymoon. I cannot speak for Kathy, but I soon began to feel a small sense of disillusionment, a feeling that there was something more to marriage than I seemed capable of producing.

One small example from those early days of our marriage will illustrate the challenges we faced. We were living in Salt Lake City, where I was attending law school and Kathy was teaching first grade. Under the stress of being new to the city, our respective schools, and each other, our relationship became a bit testy. One night at about dinnertime, we had a quarrel that convinced me that I need not hope for nourishment at home. So I left our modest apartment and walked to the nearest fast-food restaurant, a block away. As I entered the north door of the establishment, I looked to my right—and much to my surprise, I saw Kathy entering through the south door! We exchanged angry glances and advanced to opposing cash registers to place our orders. We continued to ignore each other as we sat alone on opposite ends of the restaurant, sullenly eating our evening meals. We then left as we had entered and took our separate routes home. It wasn’t until later that we reconciled and laughed together about how infantile we had been.

I realize now that such little tiffs are not uncommon in the early stages of most marriages. However, I believe they are representative of the many obstacles that can frequently interfere with the tremendous potential for fulfillment and happiness that exists in an eternal marriage, potential that too often goes unrealized.

As the Restoration unfolded, the Prophet Joseph Smith did not teach the doctrine of eternal marriage until several years after the organization of the Church. When he began to do so, it was selectively. Elder Parley P. Pratt, who had been married civilly thirteen years earlier, first heard about the concept of eternal marriage from the Prophet in Philadelphia in 1839. His reaction, as recorded in his autobiography, may be difficult to understand for those of us who have grown up with the anticipation of marrying in a temple for time and all eternity. This concept was completely new to Elder Pratt, however, and he was overwhelmed by it:

“I received from [Joseph] the first idea of eternal family organization, and the eternal union of the sexes in those inexpressibly endearing relationships which none but the highly intellectual, the refined and pure in heart, know how to prize, and which are at the very foundation of everything worthy to be called happiness.

“Till then I had learned to esteem kindred affections and sympathies as appertaining solely to this transitory state, as something from which the heart must be entirely weaned, in order to be fitted for its heavenly state.

“It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to prize the endearing relationships of father and mother, husband and wife; of brother and sister, son and daughter.

“It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was from him that I learned that we might cultivate these affections, and grow and increase in the same to all eternity; while the result of our endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea shore. …

“I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness—an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this grovelling sphere and expand it as the ocean. I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion; a kind ministering angel, given to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, pp. 297–98).

In all of Latter-day Saint literature, I know of no more beautiful or powerful statement than this concerning the potential for fulfillment and happiness we have as we begin marriage together in the Lord’s way. The opportunity for such a companionship will eventually come to all who live worthy of it. Think of the implications of being able to love “with the spirit and with the understanding also.” Consider the power of the idea that of all people on earth, we Latter-day Saints know the most about genuine romantic love and have the greatest opportunity to achieve truly happy and enduring marriages. Will it not be a memorable day when as a people we are best known not just for our large families but for our truly exceptional marriages?

What are the eternal gospel principles that permit us to court one another and eventually establish marriages that are happy, fulfilling, and enduring? I will discuss a few truths that I feel are most vital. All of them are closely related to the Savior, his teachings, and the central role he plays in the gospel plan. In fact, if we want to make ourselves into worthy eternal companions, we can first concentrate on becoming unwavering disciples of the Master.

Developing Our Capacity to Love
The teachings of Christ suggest that we should begin our search for an eternal companion with greater concern about our ability to give love than about our need to receive it. Of the Savior, John wrote: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).

Indeed, it may be our own capacity to give love that makes us most lovable. The greater our own personal substance is and the deeper our own mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves are, the greater will be our capacity to nurture and love others, especially our companion. President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency posed a question that puts our ability to genuinely care about others in perspective: “How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak” (Ensign, Nov. 1982, p. 93).

Very little love can come from one who is not at peace with himself or herself and God. As Enos learned, no one can be concerned about the welfare of someone else and give love to another until he or she has taken care of his or her own soul. Thus, our preparation for an eternal marriage must include repenting, learning, acquiring faith, and developing the security that comes with a vision of our potential as children of a Heavenly Father. Only when we love God above all others, as the Savior taught (see Matt. 22:34–40), will we be capable of offering pure, Christlike love to our companions for all eternity.

Read the rest here.

new blog: conversation

2005-05-06T19:04:00.000-04:00

Sorry to be so neglectful in posting; I can only say that I have been busy with getting ready to move to Charlotte, NC, (where my husband is already!) and with a new group blog of LDS women called conversation which is, I think, turning out to be quite a good blog. Check it out! (I promise to write soon!!!)

Crusader Against Evil

2005-04-21T05:46:00.000-04:00

"The best man for the job" by Daniel Johnson (timesonline.co.uk)
(via RealClearPolitics)

The task for the new Pope is not to take sides between liberals and conservatives. Nor was that the choice the cardinals faced in this extraordinarily rapid conclave. All cardinals are, by definition, conservative.
No, the great issue for Pope Benedict XVI is the one that he set out in his remarkable sermon at the preconclave Mass in St Peter’s. Does he wish to lead the Church down the primrose path of secularism, following the Christian heartlands of Europe in their descent into moral relativism, or does he intend to turn towards the new missionary Church of Latin America, Africa and Asia, to reaffirm the faith of Christ, the faith of St Peter, the faith of John Paul II? That is the real choice.
...
He grew up under the Third Reich, witnessing at first hand the coercive and corrosive effects of a political religion. Though his father was no Nazi, Joseph was obliged to join the Hitler Youth and was fortunate to avoid military service. Far from this experience being an obstacle to his elevation, it was this dark night of the soul that qualifies him for it.
...
The revelation of the diabolical nature of the Nazi system, above all the murder of the Jews, confirmed in him the determination to devote his life to God. This was his form of atonement, and he has accompanied John Paul II on the spiritual journey that brought about the reconciliation of the Church and the Jewish people that was one of the greatest achievements of the past pontificate.
...
We cannot expect this Pope, of all popes, to abandon the “deposit of faith” which it is his sacred duty to preserve. There will be no change on issues such as contraception or the ordination of women, no legitimisation of gay marriage, no slackening in the determination to protect the unborn child or to stop the destruction of human embryos by scientists. The Nazi experience has taught Benedict XVI the dangers of eugenics and euthanasia, and we can expect an even more vigorous crusade against these evils.

Read the whole thing here.

Mark Steyn: "The Splendor of Truth"

2005-04-05T11:13:00.000-04:00

Another great Mark Steyn piece:
"The Splendor of Truth"

The root of the Pope's thinking - that there are eternal truths no one can change even if one wanted to - is completely incomprehensible to the progressivist mindset. There are no absolute truths, everything's in play, and by "consensus" all we're really arguing is the rate of concession to the inevitable: abortion's here to stay, gay marriage will be here any day now, in a year or two it'll be something else - it's all gonna happen anyway, man, so why be the last squaresville daddy-o on the block?

...

You don't have to be a Catholic or a "homophobe" to think that the spread of Aids is telling us something basic - that nature is not sympathetic to sexual promiscuity. If it weren't Aids, it would be something else, as it has been for most of human history.

What should be the Christian response? To accept that we're merely the captives of our appetites, like a dog in heat? Or to ask us to rise to the rank God gave us - "a little lower than the angels" but above "the beasts of the field"? In Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), the Pope wrote: "Sexuality too is depersonalised and exploited: it increasingly becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts. Thus the original import of human sexuality is distorted and falsified, and the two meanings, unitive and procreative, inherent in the very nature of the conjugal act, are artificially separated."

Had the Pope signed on to condom distribution in Africa, he would have done nothing to reduce the spread of Aids, but he would have done a lot to advance the further artificial separation of sex, in Africa and beyond. Indeed, if you look at the New York Times's list of complaints against the Pope - "Among liberal Catholics, he was criticised for his strong opposition to abortion, homosexuality and contraception" - they all boil down to what he called sex as self-assertion.

Thoughtful atheists ought to be able to recognise that, whatever one's tastes in these areas, the Pope was on to something - that abortion et al, in separating the "two meanings" of sex and leaving us free to indulge in one while ignoring the other, have severed us almost entirely and possibly irreparably from traditional impulses, such as societal survival. John Paul II championed the "splendour of truth" not because he was rigid and inflexible, but because he understood the alternative was a dead end in every sense.

Read the whole thing here.

"An Ugly Poem for an Ugly World"

2005-04-03T05:25:00.000-04:00

By Cameron Wood of Way Off Bass

An Ugly Poem for an Ugly World
The Circus Ascendant

She died in inconvenience to the law
And with her went the balance of shame and awe
A paltry yield, for shame was just a husk
And awe long since retreated to the dusk
They have no place to breathe in modern mores

Such concepts canker on our lips, ripe sores
To pick and scratch so scabs can form, to pick
Them off, to bleed again, to keep us sick
Sick with fear or spite, but with that need
That constant terrible hunger that makes us feed
On dark, acidic medicines, the drink
Distilled by spleen until it’s as black as ink

We dab it on our eyes and call it clear
And wipe with grand display each black false tear

We dance at hospital beds, tied by strings
To each calliope note that screeching sings
Of clowns with scabrous mouths and death-black eyes
And failing hands that weakly brush at flies

Until a coma spreads to claim us all
In vegetative state, all while the call -
A whisper of shame or a clangorous shout of awe -
Dies upon the deafened ears of law.

-Cameron Wood
02 April, 2005

Mark Steyn: "One Nation Under God"

2005-03-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

"One Nation Under God" by Mark Steyn.

When men cease to believe in God,’ said Chesterton, ‘they do not believe in nothing; they believe in anything!’ The anything most of the Western world’s non-believers believe in is government: instead of a state church, Europe believes in the state as church — the purveyor of cradle-to-grave welfare will provide daycare for your babies and take your aged parents off your hands. The people are happy to have cast off the supposed stultifying oppressiveness of religion for a world in which the state regulates every aspect of life. The French government’s recent headscarf ban — which, in the interests of an ecumenical fig-leaf, is also a ban on yarmulkes and ‘large’ crucifixes — seems the way of the future, an attempt to push all religion to the fringes of life. A couple of years back, a Canadian ‘human rights commission’, in its ruling that a Christian printer had illegally discriminated against a gay group by turning down a printing job for pro-gay literature, said he had the right to his religious beliefs in his own home but he had to check them at the door when he left for work in the morning. Who’s in the closet now?
...
Marriage is a dying institution: Quebec has the highest rate of common-law relationships on the continent. Families are a dying institution: Quebec has the highest rate of abortion in Canada. And more to the point, as far as the separatists are concerned, the dream of an independent country is dead. Andre Langevin, the enterprising mayor of Coaticook, a small town on my commute from New Hampshire to Montreal, offers his citizens $75 for their first child, $150 for the second, and $750 for every child thereafter, plus various other incentives. M. Langevin understands the basic arithmetic of the Euro-Canadian welfare state: without population growth, it’s insolvent. Unfortunately, the paradox of a welfarist society is that it weans people away from the familial impulse necessary to sustain it.
...
In post-Christian Europe — where fertile women who not so long ago would have had three children by the age of 24 now have one designer child at 39, where social welfare programmes depend on a growing population, where the main source of immigration is from a culture that despises secularism as weak, short-sighted narcissism — societal ‘forgetfulness’ isn’t just a passing phase you can snap out of. In this situation, the Christian fundamentalists, Holy Rollers, born-again Bible Belters and Jesus freaks of America are the rationalists. It’s the hyper-rationalists of secular Europe who are living on blind faith.

Read the whole thing here.

Polyamory-Polygamy? Hmmm....

2005-03-23T08:44:00.000-05:00

Meet the Future of Marriage in America. Stanley Kurtz, NRO.

Another one of Emens's case studies is an example of Mormon polygamy that was written up in Redbook. This case is important because Emens uses it to develop a feminist argument for Mormon polygamy. According to Emens, classic one man/multi-woman polygamy is the perfect solution to the problems of the modern career woman. In classic monogamous marriages, women have no choice but to make painful compromises between love, work, and motherhood. But in a family with one husband and nine wives, eight of the wives can work full time, while the ninth stays home and does paid care for everyone else's children. Here Emens puts forward an argument against those who claim that Mormon-style polygamy oppresses women. (And don't miss the discussions of group sex in a couple of Emens's case studies.)

Link here.

"Turning tiny human infants into medicine"

2005-03-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

Screwtape Revisited
With gratitude (and apologies) to C. S. Lewis.

By Meghan Cox Gurdon

"I have heard," Mildew begins, and blushes. "The fact is, Uncle, I have heard things that seem impossible. Is it really true that you have found a way to get them to eat — "

" — their young?" Screwtape interrupts with a hungry smile.
"Yes. Yes! I have found the key, the key, my boy, to unlocking the worst in the human heart. Oh, massacres are entertaining enough, and reasonably productive. Rapine and thieving and savagery and the usual nonsense go a good distance to wrecking men's souls, but not in sufficient numbers. Not for us to win for good — that is, ha-ha, for ill. We must forever be stoking grievances, feeding pride, and constantly thrusting and parrying with the Enemy and his agents. No, the beautifully corrupting key that I have found is vanity."

"I've read about that," Mildew says, remembering. "In first year college, Know Thine Enemy 101, I think it was. All is vanity, saith the preacher," the nephew quotes, his mouth twisting as if he has bitten a bad snail.

Screwtape grimaces companionably. "Indeed. Fortunately most of them don't bother with that any more."

"But how do — "

Screwtape presses on. "What does Man want? He wants sex, he wants comfort, he wants to be young. He does not want to be told he can't have what he wants, or to be inconvenienced, or, worse, to be told his desires are wrong. This is where the Enemy's agents end up doing our work for us, Mildew, countless times!" Screwtape chortles. "Man is a creature of appetites, Mildew. Remember that."

"Appetites, yes, but eating their young, Uncle? I feel sure that I read somewhere that humans are naturally revolted by cannibalism. The Enemy's doing, no doubt, but still, there it is."

Screwtape fixes his nephew with a shriveling glare. "We are not inducing them to broil the little tykes, dear boy, this is no fricassee of first-graders." He sighs heavily, a sufferer of fools, but then brightens, clearly distracted by a pleasing thought. "That's an idea, though. Must get Singer to write something up for me on that...excellent. Now, where — "

"Not broiling them."

"Yes. My achievement, the reason for this — " Screwtape gestures largely about the handsome apartment — "is that I have managed, by appealing to man's love of self, his vanity, to convince millions that it is not cannibalism, but progress, to turn tiny human infants into medicine. The strong picking the weak apart, cell by cell, to be consumed by the strong? Brilliant!"

Read the rest here.

"I Want to Live"

2005-03-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

I have read many poignant postings regarding Terri Schiavo, but this one gives an up-close-and-personal viewpoint from the perspective of a woman who is on Terri's legal team, and it touched my heart more deeply than anything else I've read about her.

Last Visit Narrative

by Attorney Barbara Weller

The most dramatic event of this visit happened at one point when I was sitting on Terri’s bed next to Suzanne. Terri was sitting in her lounge chair and her aunt was standing at the foot of the chair. I stood up and leaned over Terri. I took her arms in both of my hands. I said to her, “Terri if you could only say ‘I want to live’ this whole thing could be over today.” I begged her to try very hard to say, “I want to live.” To my enormous shock and surprise, Terri’s eyes opened wide, she looked me square in the face, and with a look of great concentration, she said, “Ahhhhhhh.” Then, seeming to summon up all the strength she had, she virtually screamed, “Waaaaaaaa.” She yelled so loudly that Michael Vitadamo, Suzanne’s husband, and the female police officer who were then standing together outside Terri’s door, clearly heard her. At that point, Terri had a look of anguish on her face that I had never seen before and she seemed to be struggling hard, but was unable to complete the sentence. She became very frustrated and began to cry. I was horrified that I was obviously causing Terri so much anguish. Suzanne and I began to stroke Terri’s face and hair to comfort her. I told Terri I was very sorry. It had not been my intention to upset her so much. Suzanne and I assured Terri that her efforts were much appreciated and that she did not need to try to say anything more. I promised Terri I would tell the world that she had tried to say, ”I want to live.”

She ends the narrative with these words:

Just before I left the room, I leaned over Terri and spoke right into her ear. I told her I was very sorry I had not been able to stop the feeding tube from being taken out and I was very sorry I had to leave her alone. But I reminded her that Jesus would stay right by her side even when no one else was there with her. When I mentioned Jesus’ Name, Terri again laughed out loud. She became very agitated and began loudly trying to speak to me again. As Terri continued to laugh and try to speak, I quietly prayed in her ear, kissed her, placed her in Jesus’ care, and left the room.

Terri is alone now. As I write this last visit narrative, it is five in the morning of March 19. Terri has been without food and water for nearly 17 hours. I’m sure she is beginning at least become thirsty, if not hungry. And I am left to wonder how many other people care.

We do care, and we are praying; so many of us. It's been over 90 hours now since Terri had nourishment, including water.

Read the rest.

"We celebrate Eve's act and honor her wisdom and courage"

2005-03-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Note: This is a response to some of the men who have continued to tell me that Eve was not wise in her choice in Eden, that in fact, there was another way that God's purposes could have been fulfilled. I have read many, many talks by General Authorities, and the proof is out there, if only they choose to read it.

I do not have the time to post it all, but I offer here an excerpt from a talk by Dallin H. Oaks in which he states, "Joseph Smith taught that it was not a "sin," because God had decreed it," and "Brigham Young declared, 'We should never blame Mother Eve, not the least'," and "Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said: 'I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin. … This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin … for it was something that Adam and Eve had to do!'," and "Some Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we celebrate Eve’s act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall."
---------------------

From "The Great Plan of Happiness" by Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Nov. 1993.

To the first man and woman on earth, the Lord said, "Be fruitful, and multiply" (Moses 2:28; see also Gen. 1:28; Abr. 4:28). This commandment was first in sequence and first in importance. It was essential that God’s spirit children have mortal birth and an opportunity to progress toward eternal life. Consequently, all things related to procreation are prime targets for the adversary’s efforts to thwart the plan of God.

When Adam and Eve received the first commandment, they were in a transitional state, no longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death and not yet capable of procreation. They could not fulfill the Father’s first commandment without transgressing the barrier between the bliss of the Garden of Eden and the terrible trials and wonderful opportunities of mortal life.

For reasons that have not been revealed, this transition, or "fall," could not happen without a transgression—an exercise of moral agency amounting to a willful breaking of a law (see Moses 6:59). This would be a planned offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose. The Prophet Lehi explained that "if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen" (2 Ne. 2:22), but would have remained in the same state in which he was created.

"And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin" (2 Ne. 2:23).

But the Fall was planned, Lehi concludes, because "all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things" (2 Ne. 2:24).

It was Eve who first transgressed the limits of Eden in order to initiate the conditions of mortality. Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same. And thus Eve and "Adam fell that men might be" (2 Ne. 2:25).

Some Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we celebrate Eve’s act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall (see Bruce R. McConkie, "Eve and the Fall," Woman, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, pp. 67–68). Joseph Smith taught that it was not a "sin," because God had decreed it (see The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980, p. 63). Brigham Young declared, "We should never blame Mother Eve, not the least" (in Journal of Discourses, 13:145). Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said: "I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin. … This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin … for it was something that Adam and Eve had to do!" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 1:114–15).

This suggested contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful wording in the second article of faith: "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression" (emphasis added). It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited. These words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall.

Modern revelation shows that our first parents understood the necessity of the Fall. Adam declared, "Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God" (Moses 5:10).

Note the different perspective and the special wisdom of Eve, who focused on the purpose and effect of the great plan of happiness: "Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient" (Moses 5:11). In his vision of the redemption of the dead, President Joseph F. Smith saw "the great and mighty ones" assembled to meet the Son of God, and among them was "our glorious Mother Eve" (D&C 138:38–39).

Full text here.

"The First Choice"

2005-03-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

This is a short story that I wrote after reading Beverly Campbell's Eve and the Choice Made in Eden. As I read it, I was vaguely aware of visual images in the back of my head, like a movie, but with no soundtrack, as that seemed to be taken by the words of the book. The images were of Adam and Eve, and of Lucifer as well, in the Garden of Eden. When I finished the book, those images haunted me, and I felt compelled to write down the snatches of what I could hear. But I rebelled against that compulsion for some time, wishing it to go away. I felt like the Lord wanted me to explore that vision. I didn't want to, it sounded like too much work, and I didn't really know if there was a story there at all anyway. I argued with the Spirit, and finally said to Him, "If there is a story there you want me to write, then what is the name of it?" The answer, soft and gentle, but unmistakeably clear came immediately: "The First Choice." I knew then that the story was already written; I sat at my keyboard, and the story was complete as I give it to you now, in about an hour or two. I share it reluctantly, as I do not take criticism well, being quite thin-skinned, as it were, but the Spirit has prompted me to do so. So if one person can get anything out of it at all, that will be worth enduring the scorn of those who do not understand. I want to add that I shared this story with my good Bishop, with the caveat to him that I wasn't even sure if it was doctrinally correct. But he loved it, and said he is waiting for the next chapter, which I found encouraging. But he may be waiting for a long while.
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The First Choice

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said to his wife, handing her a basketful of ripe pears.
“Hmmm…. Good morning...I was dreaming…I can’t remember...something about someplace far away, yet familiar somehow…” Her voice trailed off, as her thoughts drifted back into the place of dreams.
“You had a dream? Tell me about it,” he said. “Tell me all about it over breakfast. See here, I have brought you luscious ripe pears; you must be hungry.”
“Yes, oh, yes, I am hungry, but the images of the dream persist and it is hard to stay in this world,” she replied.
“Well, just tell me what you remember then; it is okay if you want to slip back into the dream.”
“You know how dreams are; they seem so solid, but when you attempt to take hold of them, they are mere wisps that slip away.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.” He stayed quiet for a minute, respecting her otherworldly state of consciousness, and allowing her to collect her thoughts.

“It was someplace beautiful, someplace tranquil, someplace ….” Her words trailed off as she tried to summon words adequate to express the images in her head.
“Someplace magical.”
“Surely no place could be as beautiful or tranquil as our home here,” he stated.
“It was very different from here; there were many…others…,” she replied.
“Others…?” He looked puzzled. “What others? Other what?”
“Other…people?” she said uncertainly.
“We know no others, except The One.”

“Well, I met someone else yesterday. He, too, seemed oddly familiar, but I cannot remember….”
“You met someone else?” her husband stated incredulously. “Who?”
“Well, he spoke his name, but I cannot remember it. Mephis…something. I don’t know. He was dark, not light like The One. And he spoke many puzzling words to me, that I did not understand.”
“You must still be dreaming. There is no one else in this garden or Father would have told us.”
“No, that part is not a dream. I would have told you of it yesterday, but it slipped my mind.”
“Tell me more about it,” he requested urgently.
“What, the dream?” she said.
“No, the other.”
“I would rather speak of the dream first, before it goes away; dreams are so fleeting.”
“Very well then, whatever pleases you, my love. Tell me of your dream.”

“It was someplace far away, very beautiful, and very…full….Father was there, and … Mother, too. And…others….our….” she stumbled to find words…”brothers and sisters…” she concluded.
“Mother? Brothers and sisters?” The words felt oddly foreign and oddly familiar to him at the same time. “Do go on,” he encouraged her.
“It was a tranquil place, except…hmmmm….It is hard to find the words. There was a…do you know the word ‘battle’?” she asked.
“Battle? Hmmm….when there is…conflict?”
“Yes! Yes, that is it! There were many…people…trying to figure something out, and they seemed to disagree. It was very confusing. I don’t know what they were fighting about, but it seemed terribly…important.”
“We will ask Father the meaning of the dream,” he stated.

“Now, tell me of the other you met, if you please,” he said.
“He was very like one of those animals we named serpent, the cold-blooded ones with scales. He asked me if I knew why we were here. I told him I know not, except what Father has told us.
He asked me what Father has told us to do. I said we have been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. He then asked me if I knew how to do that. And Adam, I do not know.”
“I know, Eve. I have been pondering that commandment, too. I do not know what Father wants us to do. I do not understand. I know he has told me to care for and dress the garden, and that I understand. He has told us to give names to all the creations, which we have done. But I know not what He means by multiply.” Adam looked bewildered and lost.

She was suddenly seized with a great hunger, and reached for a pear. She chose the biggest one from the basket, and as she bit deeply into it, the sweet juices gushed down her chin.
“These pears are so delicious, so sweet and juicy.” She traced the lines of a pear still in the basket with her finger absently as she thought of the commandment to multiply.
“I am so hungry,” she said.
“Eat more pears,” he told her.
“I am full of pears. It is something else this hunger is for….”

She met him again, the dark one. He came upon her suddenly, startling her as she was harvesting a basket of raspberries, so that she almost spilled it.

“Oh, it is you again. What do you want?”
“A better question is, what do YOU want?” he spoke slowly and deliberately, emphasizing each word in turn.

“I want for nothing. Father has given us everything we need.”
“Oh, yes, he has….he has indeed….,” he replied enigmatically. “Except one thing.”
“What one thing?” she asked him innocently, but suddenly very curious.
“He has told you not to eat of the fruit of the one tree, has he not?”
“Yes, He has told us that if we eat of the fruit of that tree, we shall surely die.”
“And you believed him? Ye shall not surely die! God doth know that in the day that you eat the fruit of that tree, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
“But Father has forbidden it!” she exclaimed.

“What is the one thing that you lack? What is the one thing that you want above all?” he inquired.
“I know that you are hungry, even with all the wondrous fruit in this garden,” he taunted her.

She stopped to think, surprised that he knew of her gnawing inner hunger that no amount of eating could slake. She remembered this morning’s conversation with Adam about Father’s commandment to multiply and replenish the earth. Even he was uncertain how to accomplish this commandment.

She spoke,”I wish to know how to accomplish Father’s commandment to us that we multiply and replenish the earth.”

“Yes, I know, yes! You hunger for knowledge. And that is precisely what you need. Knowledge. What did he say about that fruit? He said that you may choose for yourself, did he not? Know ye not that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? If you partake of its fruit, ye shall become as gods…”

She pondered his words carefully. She did not like the feeling that crept over her when he was speaking, as if something was somehow very wrong. Yet, his reasoning intrigued her. She was hungry, in a way that food simply couldn’t fill. Was knowledge what she hungered after?

“Is not the tree a pleasant tree to behold?” he asked her.
She replied,” Yes, it is quite lovely.”
“Does it not look as though it would be good for food?”
“Yes, it looks like it would be good for food.”
“Do you not seek after wisdom, after answers to your questions? Eat then, of this fruit, and it will make you wise, and you will know the answer to your very important question.”

“I must think of this thing,” she stated and left him suddenly and returned to her husband.

“Adam, that…other….returned to me. He is very strange, and I am quite perplexed.”
“What? He returned? What did he say to you?”
“He said my hunger is for knowledge, and the only fruit that will fill it is the fruit of the tree which Father warned us not to touch or we would die.”
“Eve! You know we must not touch it. We keep all of Father’s commandments.”
“Do we? How shall we keep the commandment to multiply when we know not what it means?”
“We will figure it out, but I do not trust this strange person. What did you say his name is?”
“He told me another name today. He said his name is Lucifer, the son of the morning, and that he is Father’s favorite son.”
“Well, I would rather you have no more discussions with him, as he sounds very dangerous.”

Eve pondered further on the matter. She agreed with Adam that the stranger seemed dangerous.
Yet, somehow, there was something in the words he spoke….a fruit to make one wise, as Father is wise, to know good from evil. She wondered what those words meant, good and evil. Oh, she knew good, yes, for all their life here was good. Father had pronounced it so. But what is this…evil? Probably nothing to do with filling her hunger.

Filling her belly with as many of the luscious pears as it could hold, she began to be very sleepy. The warm sunshine made her feel so relaxed, and the babbling sound of the nearby stream was hypnotic, and she fell into a dreaming sleep.

She heard voices in the dream, loud voices:
“No one will be lost….”
“It is vitally important…”
“It doesn’t matter….”
“Why can’t you see?”
“Agency is vital!”

The voices rushed by, like the currents in the stream, in a tumultuous blend that Eve could not discern much meaning from, but somehow she knew it was something she needed to know. Agency. What was that? She must speak to Adam; to Father.

“Husband? Do you know the word agency?”
“Agency? Hmmm…it has a familiar feeling on my tongue….I cannot remember….”
“Father told us that a veil was placed over our minds, remember?” she said.
“A veil? Oh, yes. I remember. But I cannot remember why.”
“There must be many things we cannot remember. Oh, Adam, it is so important that we find out how to keep Father’s commandment to multiply, I feel it so strongly in my heart.”

Again she was seized by hunger and thirst. She went to her favorite spot in the garden, where she had lain dreaming by the stream. She drank deeply of the sweet, cold, refreshing water until her belly was full. She gathered as many ripe pears as she could carry from a nearby tree and sat down in the soft grass to eat. She devoured each of them entirely, including the seeds, and nothing had ever tasted as wonderful to her. In her satiated condition, she spread herself out on the warm soft grass and fell asleep.

Again she dreamed….she was in a strange place again, but not the same place. She could hear the stream making gurgling sounds as it gently coursed by her, as if it were from some far away and long-forgotten world….

She heard soft laughter, not like her own, but more like the cooing of doves. She felt warmth, a presence. She was not alone. There was a small thing…a bundle…in her arms. She looked at it, and saw tiny eyes looking back at her. It was a small person. A…a baby! She snuggled it close to her, and nourished it with her own body….

“Asleep again? It seems that is all you do anymore, eat and sleep!” he said with laughter in his voice. “Do you want to see what I have been doing while you are sleeping? I have planted a vegetable garden. I put seeds in the ground, and they are beginning to sprout, and will grow into new plants which will bear fruit of their own.”

“Oh, Adam, I was dreaming again! It was so amazing!” she exclaimed. “I dreamt of being a mother.”
“A mother? You said that word before; I am not certain I know what it means.”
“Yes, Adam, we do know what it means, remember when God told you my name? He said it means the mother of all living!”
“Yes, I know, but I do not fully understand what a mother is!”
“I do,” she said, with a slow, secret smile spreading across her face.
“I dreamed of it. I held something…someone….very small…in my arms. It was a small person, just like us, only little. It was called a baby.”
“Baby! What is a baby?” he asked.

“It is like your seeds, Adam,” she explained patiently. “You plant tiny seeds, which grow into full-sized plants, which in turn yield fruit containing seeds which can be planted in due course.”
“Yes, I understand seeds. It is babies I do not know.”
“Adam, do you remember before we lived in this garden?” she asked.
“Not much,” he mumbled.
“Me neither,” she said, “but sometimes I have sudden flashes of insight, like lightning, or like the sound of the wind in the trees, and I remember…bits and pieces….”
“Sometimes I think I hear the voice of Father whispering to me….” she said softly.
“There was something we came here to do. I do not understand it all. But I think it has to do with our seed, Adam. And something to do with agency. And it is somehow all tied into Father’s commandment to multiply and replenish the earth.”
“And to why you are so hungry?” he asked laughingly.
“Yes!” she exclaimed.

The stranger appeared to Eve, full of questions. “So, have you decided? Have you decided to make the choice? Do you want to know the truth? Do you want to choose for yourself? Do you wish to know good and evil? Do you wish to become like God? Will you partake of the fruit of the tree?”

“I have not decided,” Eve stated flatly, wishing he would go away. “Why are you here, anyway? Did Father say you could come into the garden?”

“Oh, yes, he knows I am here. He cannot stop me. I know you have been dreaming. You are very important, you know. But you need some help from me. You do not know what very important assignment you have been given. But I know. I remember! You need only to partake of the fruit of the tree, and you will know, too.”

“I do not need your help.”
“Oh, yes, you do.” He spoke as a serpent, in sibilant tones.
“You want a child.” He stated quickly. “But you do not know how to get one, is that it?”

She looked at him, wondering how he knew of her dream, and wondered why her heart told her not to trust him, and yet….his words fascinated her. Yes, she did want a child. Children. Is this not what mothers do? Give life? Did Father not call her mother of all living? She wanted to be a mother. But how?

“No, I do not know how to get one,” she spoke softly.

“I do,” he said in a crafty voice.
“You must partake of the fruit, then your eyes will be opened.”

She always felt somehow uncomfortable when the serpent spoke, yet she suddenly noticed another feeling. A deep, penetrating warmth in her bosom. The pieces of the puzzle all flashed in quick succession through her mind….multiply…mother….baby….children….knowledge of good and evil….agency…choice….

“I must choose! I must choose!” she said aloud, though she was talking to herself.

“Yes! Yes! You must choose!” the serpent echoed shrilly.

Keeping her thoughts to herself instead of revealing them to Lucifer, she went back over in her mind the pieces of the puzzle…Father has given us the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth. Suddenly, she knew what this meant. They must fill the earth with their seed, their offspring, who would go on to produce seed and offspring of their own…replenish the earth!
But, alas…she had no idea how. Did she have seeds that could be planted in the ground?
The images of the baby in her dream that she nourished with her own body came flooding back to her mind. That’s it! Babies can’t grow in dirt, but perhaps she did have some way of growing babies, within her own body. But she did not know how. She had to know! She simply had to know!

“That’s right, you must eat!” the serpent shouted at her as he saw her approach the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “You must take the fruit into your body!”

She reached out and took the fruit, grasped it but did not pluck it immediately. Father’s words that in the day they should partake of the fruit, they would surely die echoed in her ears. “I will die,” she thought to herself. “Yes, I will die, but first I will know how to have children. It is a sacrifice I must make, as the love that swells in me, and the hunger inside me for children is too great. I must keep Father’s commandment to multiply!” She spoke these last words aloud, and the Lucifer looked on with glee, believing that he had tricked her into doing wrong, to benefit himself and those who followed him.

Severing the fruit from its branch at last, Eve put the fruit to her mouth, and bit deeply into it.
Immediately, her head began to swim. She felt as though she could no longer breathe. She was
suffocating, she was dying, Father was right, she was going to die from this fruit, she should have listened to Adam. But suddenly, her head cleared. And she felt….different. She was aware. She understood agency. She understood why she had to partake of the fruit. She knew that the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth was greater than Father’s admonition that the fruit would bring death to them. Yes, it has brought death; she could feel it already, stalking her; but it had brought life, too. It had brought the opportunity for them to create physical bodies for all the spirits who were waiting to experience earth life. Oh, it would be hard, but it would be wonderful. They would know sorrow and pain, but also happiness and joy!

Carefully, she plucked another fruit from the tree, and took it to Adam. He saw her coming, bearing the fruit in her hands. He exclaimed, “Eve! What have you done? Father has forbidden us to even touch that fruit! You will die!”

“Yes, Adam, I will. And so must we all, in our turn. You must eat of the fruit as well, that your eyes will also be opened. Adam, I know what it means to multiply and replenish the earth now. We must create from our seed offspring, just like your seeds in your garden. Adam, we must bear fruit! We must bear children! Has Father not called me mother of all living? I know now, I remember, that we must beget children, who will have their own children, until the earth is replenished with people. Our assignment here was to create physical bodies like our own, for those spirit brothers and sisters we knew in the world we lived in before the garden.”

“Eve, what you are saying makes a great deal of sense, although I don’t understand some of it. But still, Father has told us not to eat the fruit!” he exclaimed piteously.

“Adam,” she began, with utmost patience and love in her voice, “Father gave us a choice. He wanted to see if we would choose to keep the commandment He gave to multiply and replenish the earth, which was the most important thing. Sometimes choices are not between a good thing and a bad thing, sometimes it means choosing the most important thing, the thing that will do the most good for the most people. I believe we are meant to have posterity, and I have made the choice to partake of the fruit, that we might have children.”

As Adam thought of Eve’s words, she continued, “I have made the choice already. I would that you partake as well, that we remain together, even if it is not in the garden.”

At that thought, Adam realized that Eve was right on that point at least, they had to stay together. He reached for the fruit, smiled at her, and said, “Babies, huh?” He put the fruit to his lips and bit down hard, and it made his head swim as he swallowed. He too was seized with a feeling of being cut off from his own breath, as if no air could penetrate his lungs. He wondered if this feeling was death. Yet Eve had partaken, and she was still alive. Suddenly, his eyes were opened, and he perceived that good and evil now existed in the world. They were no longer innocent, but were free to choose to do good or to do evil. He thought briefly of the serpent Eve mentioned…Lucifer…and an involuntary shudder went through him. He thought of Father, and of what He would say of what they had done.

And suddenly, Adam realized: They were naked.

Mother Eve and the Choice in Eden

2005-03-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

Note: This is a re-post of an earlier piece, because the subject came up again. I think that although the world maligns Mother Eve, we as Latter-day Saints have little excuse for doing so, as the teachings of the Latter-day Prophets are quite clear that she not only did no wrong, she did something that was essential and very honorable. If you didn't read it the first time, I hope you will, and if you did, please share it with another Latter-day Saint, as we all need to hear and understand.
Thanks!
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I have often recommended a great book Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend you do. It was recommended to me by my wonderful Bishop. He explained that the book sheds Gospel light on the world's false notion that women should always have to be apologetic that they are women, and feel somehow less than worthy because Eve made "a big mistake" and committed "original sin"; when in fact, what she did was one of the most noble acts ever and absolutely necessary to our existence. I had heard some rumors of this in Sunday School classes, but no one really seemed to have much evidence of the truth. I want to share with you some of the quotes from the Prophets and other Church leaders which are in the book.

"In life all must choose at times. Sometimes, two possibilites are good; neither is evil. Usually, however, one is of greater import than the other. When in doubt, each must choose that which concerns the good of others--the greater law--rather than that which chiefly benefits ourselves--the lesser law. The greater must be chosen whether it be law or thing. That was the choice made in Eden." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"As there are no words to extol the greatness of the Ancient of Days unto whom thousands and thousands shall minister and before whom 'ten thousand times ten thousand' shall stand in a day of judgment, so there is no language that could do credit to our glorious mother Eve.... Eve--a daughter of God, one of the spirit offspring of the Almighty Elohim--was among the noble and great in preexistence. She ranked in spiritual stature, in faith and devotion, in conformity to external law with Michael....we cannot doubt that the greatest of all female spirits was the one then chosen and foreordained to be 'the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh [Mary]' (1 Nephi 11:18) Nor can we do other than suppose that Eve was by [Adam's] side, rejoicing in her own foreordination to be the first woman, the mother of men, the consort, companion, and friend of mighty Michael. Christ and Mary, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah and a host of might men and equally glorious women composed that group of 'the noble and great ones,' to whom the Lord Jesus Christ said: We will go down...and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell." --Elder Bruce R. McConkie ("Eve and the Fall")

"Then as His final creation, the crowning of His glorious work, He created woman. I like to regard Eve as His masterpiece after all that had gone before, the final work before He rested from His labors."
--President Gordon B. Hinckley

"So came Eve...the last created being in the creation of the world, without whom the whole creation of the world and all that was in the world would have been in vain and the purposes of God have come to naught."
--Elder J. Reuben Clark

"The Lord knew they would do this, and he had designed that they should."
--President Brigham Young (speaking on the foreordination of the Fall)

"Adam and Eve did the very thing the Lord intended them to do. If we had the original record we would see the purpose of the Fall clearly and its necessity explained." --President Joseph Fielding Smith

"[On the choice made in Eden]depended the whole Plan of the Great Council in Heaven, because those who kept their 'first estate' must have opportunity to come to earth, to obtain mortal bodies, that they might be proved in this 'second estate' 'to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them...and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever'(Abraham 3:25-26)."
--Elder J. Reuben Clark

"Adam, our father, and Eve, our mother, must obey. They must fall. They must become mortal. Death must enter the world. There is no other way. They must fall that man may be." --Elder Bruce R. McConkie

"When Adam and Eve received the first commandment, they were in a transitional state, no longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death and not yet capable of procreation." --Elder Dallin H. Oaks

"Their bodies of flesh and bone were made in the express image of God's. In that state of innocence, they were not yet mortal. They could have no children, were not subject to death, and could have lived in Eden's garden forever. Thus we might speak of the Creation in terms of a paradisiacal creation. If that state had persisted, you and I would still be stranded among the heavenly host as unborn sons and daughters of God. The great plan...would have been frustrated.... Should they eat from the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil,' their bodies would change; mortality and eventual death would come upon them. But partaking of that fruit was prerequisite to their parenthood.... While I do not fully understand all the biochemistry involved, I do know that their physical bodies did change; blood began to circulate in their bodies. Adam and Eve thereby became mortal.... Accordingly, we could speak of the fall of Adam in terms of a mortal creation because 'Adam fell that men might be.'"
--Elder Russell M. Nelson

"The Fall came by transgression of a law, but there was no sin connnected with it. There is a difference between transgression and sin. Both always bring consequences. While it may not be sin to step off a roof, in doing so, you become subject to the law of gravity and consequences will follow.... The fall of man was made from the presence of God to this mortal life."
--Elder Boyd K. Packer

"For reasons that have not been revealed, this transgression, or 'fall,' could not happen without a transgression--an exercise of moral agency amountin to a willful breaking of a law (see Moses 6:59). This would be a planned offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose.... Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin--inherently wrong--but a transgression--wrong because it was formally prohibited."
--Elder Dallin H. Oaks

"Adam did not commit sin in eating the fruits, for God had decreed that he should eat and fall." --The Prophet Joseph Smith

"The eternal power of choice was respected by the Lord himself.... It really converts the command into a warning, as much as to say, if you do this thing, you will bring upon yourself a certain punishment, but do it if you choose.... The Lord had warned Adam and Eve of the hard battle with earth conditions if they chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He would not subject his son and daughter to hardship and the death of their bodies unless it be of their own choice. They must choose for themselves. They chose wisely, in accord with the heavenly law of love for others." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"Such was the problem before our first parents: to remain forever at selfish ease in the Garden of Eden, or to face unselfishly tribulation and death, in bringing to pass the purposes of the Lord for a host of waiting spirit children. They chose the latter. This they did with open eyes and minds as to consequences. The memory of their former estates may have been dimmed, but the gospel had been taught them during their sojourn in the Garden of Eden. They could not have been left in complete ignorance of the purpose of their creation." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"The role of Satan in this drama is not difficult to understand. He seeks to overthrow the work of God. By inducing Adam and Eve to disobey the Lord, he thought to have them in his power. He forgot, or did not know, that by their very 'disobedience' the purposes of the Lord with respect to his spirit children would be accomplished. The temptations of Eve turned upon him to the defeat of his evil designs. This often is the fate of evil." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"It is a thrilling thought that Adam and Eve were not coerced to being God's work on earth. They chose to do so, by the exercise of their free agency. It is the lesson for all their children: Seek the truth, choose wisely, and carry the responsibility for our acts." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"[Eve] sees through Satan's disquise of clever hypocrisy, identifies him, and exposes him for what he is...[ever since Satan has] had it in for women."
--Hugh Nibley

One last quote, this time from Sister Patricia Holland, "If I were Satan and I wanted to destroy a society, I think I would stage a full-blown blitz on women."

OK, that's all you're getting from me! But trust me, there is sooo much more! In my humble opinion, every LDS--male or female--really needs to read this book.

Speak Up For Women!

2005-03-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

Two posts caught my eye today: Karen Hall over at BCC blogs on today being International Women's Day, and Don at Nine Moons asks a question about switching Adam and Eve, and what would have happened if Adam had partaken of the fruit in the Garden of Eden first.

J.Stapley had this comment on the latter post:

This line of questioning presuposes that God wanted them to eat of the fruit when they did. I don't think that this is valid. The whole Eve was so "smart" that she ate the fruit is just bunk. She was *beguiled* and broke a comandment of God. I don't think it had to be that way.
J. Stapley | Email | Homepage | 03.08.05 - 2:40 pm | #

I responded to his comment:

It's not bunk.

"The Lord knew they would do this, and he had designed that they should." --President Brigham Young (speaking on the foreordination of the Fall)

"Adam and Eve did the very thing the Lord intended them to do. If we had the original record we would see the purpose of the Fall clearly and its necessity explained." --President Joseph Fielding Smith

"Adam, our father, and Eve, our mother, must obey. They must fall. They must become mortal. Death must enter the world. There is no other way. They must fall that man may be." --Elder Bruce R. McConkie

"Adam did not commit sin in eating the fruits, for God had decreed that he should eat and fall." --The Prophet Joseph Smith

"The eternal power of choice was respected by the Lord himself.... It really converts the command into a warning, as much as to say, if you do this thing, you will bring upon yourself a certain punishment, but do it if you choose.... The Lord had warned Adam and Eve of the hard battle with earth conditions if they chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He would not subject his son and daughter to hardship and the death of their bodies unless it be of their own choice. They must choose for themselves. They chose wisely, in accord with the heavenly law of love for others." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

"Such was the problem before our first parents: to remain forever at selfish ease in the Garden of Eden, or to face unselfishly tribulation and death, in bringing to pass the purposes of the Lord for a host of waiting spirit children. They chose the latter. This they did with open eyes and minds as to consequences. The memory of their former estates may have been dimmed, but the gospel had been taught them during their sojourn in the Garden of Eden. They could not have been left in complete ignorance of the purpose of their creation." --Elder John A. Widtsoe

If you don't read Beverly Campbell's Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, at least read the quotes from the Prophets and General Authorities from it that I posted at my blog Oct 26, 2004.
Peggy Cahill | Email | Homepage | 03.08.05 - 3:53 pm | #

I decided that in honor of International Women's Day, I would repost my original post referred to in my comment, in honor of our Glorious Mother Eve and all the elect women who have followed in her footsteps in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I believe that all Latter-day Saints, men and women, need to read Beverly Campbell's book Eve and the Choice Made in Eden. I hear she has some follow-ups available, too.

Jesus is everywhere

2005-03-07T08:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, if you don't already read James Lileks' Bleats, here's a great one to start with:

Picked up Gnat from Sunday school; the craft project consisted of pasting paper leaves on a tree in which sat a sandal-wearing guy with a robe. “What’s this?” I asked.

“Jesus up a tree,” she said. I couldn’t remember any gospel that put fully-grown Jesus in the braches. I looked through the materials, and saw it was actually Zacchaeus, the tax man who had climbed up to see Jesus as he entered Jericho. I explained who it was; she was annoyed. “It could be Jesus because Jesus is everywhere,” she explained. “So it’s Jesus up a tree.” It almost sounds like some sort of blasphemous oath you’d mutter under your breath when things took a wrong turn: ahh, Jesus up a tree. On the way home we talked about this Zach guy: he gave away his stuff to the poor, which was helpful, because they didn’t have anything. Not even any toys for Christmas, she said.

Ah – right.

Read the rest here.

"In The Womb"

2005-03-06T17:53:00.000-05:00

La Shawn Barber's encouraging us all to check out the National Geographic Channel program called "In The Womb" which will show the development of a human being "from a single cell to a complex, self-sustaining organism." It's tonight (March 6) at 8pm EST. See her entry here.

Alessia

2005-03-05T07:40:00.000-05:00

Alessia by Wilfried Decoo (Times and Seasons)

Alessia, I hope you will read this post, now, or rather some day in the future when you will be an independent adult, free to choose, and strong enough to look back. I want you to know that the Church never abandoned you, that the thoughts of dozens of Church members have been with you these past few years. And, through this post, the thoughts of many will be added.

I want to tell your story. Forgive me if perhaps some detail is amiss, since I heard part of the events from others. But those people were with you in what transpired, so I trust their account. At the same time you will learn things you do not know, but which you should be aware of.

My readers, this is a sad post, but beneficial to understand the situation of the Church in some countries, and our long journey still ahead to obtain respect. I believe it has some historical value, to be preserved as a case. I apologize for its length, but a summary would have obliterated items of importance.

It is also a story which should fill us, and especially our children, with gratitude. Children who sometimes murmur because they have to go to Church on Sundays. Tell them to think of Alessia.

--------

I would like to ask bloggers to link to this story with the term |Adelbert Denaux Alessia| in the link. I think it will have an effect. That would increase the googlerank of this page and increase the chances that Alessia will find this story on the web.

Otherwise she will have her name submerged by the model with the same name.

Just a thought. Our prayers continue.

Comment by Stephen M (Ethesis) — 3/3/2005 : 11:08 pm

The Great Commission

2005-03-04T17:43:00.000-05:00

From Matthew Chapter 28

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is arisen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have ccommanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Born of God

2005-02-25T05:25:00.000-05:00

From "Born of God" by Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1985.

"What think ye of Christ?" (Matt. 22:42.) That question, posed by our Lord, has challenged the world for centuries.

Fortunately for us, God has provided modern scripture, another testament, even the Book of Mormon, for the convincing of the world that Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who will read the Book of Mormon and put it to the divine test that Moroni proposes (see Moro. 10:3–5) can be convinced that Jesus is the Christ. Once that conviction is gained, then comes the question "Will we choose to follow Him?" The devils believe that Jesus is the Christ, but they choose to follow Lucifer. (See James 2:19; Mark 5:7.)

Throughout the ages prophets have exhorted the people to make up their minds. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve," pled Joshua (Josh. 24:15.)

Elijah thundered, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him." (1 Kgs. 18:21.)

When you choose to follow Christ, you choose the Way, the Truth, the Life—the right way, the saving truth, the abundant life. (See John 14:6.)

"I would commend you to seek this Jesus," states Moroni. (Ether 12:41.)

When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed.

"No man," said President David O. McKay, "can sincerely resolve to apply in his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his own nature. The phrase 'born again' has a deeper significance than many people attach to it. This changed feeling may be indescribable, but it is real." (In Conference Report, Apr. 1962, p. 7.)

Can human hearts be changed? Why, of course! It happens every day in the great missionary work of the Church. It is one of the most widespread of Christ’s modern miracles. If it hasn’t happened to you—it should.

Our Lord told Nicodemus that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3.) Of these words President Kimball said, "This is the simple total answer to the weightiest of all questions. … To gain eternal life there must be a rebirth, a transformation." (In Conference Report, Apr. 1958, p. 14.)

President McKay said that Christ called for "an entire revolution" of Nicodemus’s "inner man." "His manner of thinking, feeling, and acting with reference to spiritual things would have to undergo a fundamental and permanent change." (In Conference Report, Apr. 1960, p. 26.)

Besides the physical ordinance of baptism and the laying on of hands, one must be spiritually born again to gain exaltation and eternal life.

Alma states: "And the Lord said unto me; Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God." (Mosiah 27:25–26.)

The "change of heart" and "born again" processes are best described in the keystone of our religion, the Book of Mormon.

Those who had been born of God after hearing King Benjamin’s address had a mighty change in their hearts. They had "no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." (See Mosiah 5:2, 7.)

The fourth chapter of Alma describes a period in Nephite history when "the church began to fail in its progress." (Alma 4:10.) Alma met this challenge by resigning his seat as chief judge in government "and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood" responsibility which was his. (Alma 4:20.)

He bore "down in pure testimony" against the people (see Alma 4:19), and in the fifth chapter of Alma he asks over forty crucial questions.

Speaking frankly to the members of the Church, he declared, "I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" (Alma 5:14.)

He continued, "If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" (Alma 5:26.)

Would not the progress of the Church increase dramatically today with an increasing number of those who are spiritually reborn? Can you imagine what would happen in our homes? Can you imagine what would happen with an increasing number of copies of the Book of Mormon in the hands of an increasing number of missionaries who know how to use it and who have been born of God? When this happens, we will get the harvest President Kimball envisions. It was the "born of God" Alma who as a missionary was so able to impart the word that many others were also born of God. (See Alma 36:23–26.)

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

"Human nature can be changed, here and now," said President McKay, and then he quoted the following:

" 'You can change human nature. No man who has felt in him the Spirit of Christ even for half a minute can deny this truth. …

" 'You do change human nature, your own human nature, if you surrender it to Christ. Human nature can be changed here and now. Human nature has been changed in the past. Human nature must be changed on an enormous scale in the future, unless the world is to be drowned in its own blood. And only Christ can change it.

" 'Twelve men did quite a lot to change the world [nineteen hundred] years ago. Twelve simple men.' " (Quoting Beverly Nichols, in Stepping Stones to an Abundant Life, comp. Llewelyn R. McKay, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971, pp. 23, 127.)

Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world.

Full text here.

"Thou Shalt Receive Revelation"

2005-02-25T05:14:00.000-05:00

From "Thou Shalt Receive Revelation" by Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, Nov. 1978, 60

The Lord wants all his children to gain light and truth and knowledge from on high. It is his will that we pierce the veil and rend the heavens and see the visions of eternity.

By his own mouth he has given us this promise: "It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am" (D&C 93:1).

Such is his promise to us here and now while we yet dwell as mortals in a world of sorrow and sin. It is our privilege even now—the privilege of all who hold the holy priesthood—if we will strip ourselves from jealousies and fears and humble ourselves before him, as he has said, to have the veil rent and see him and know that he is. (See D&C 67:10.)

To carnal men, and even to those among us whose souls are not attuned to the Infinite, these promises may seem as the gibberish of alien tongues, but to those whose souls are afire with the light of heaven they will be as a bush that burns and is not consumed. As Paul, our fellow apostle and witness of that same Lord whose servants we are, expressed it: "The things of God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God" (JST, 1 Cor. 2:11).

Now may I bear a solemn witness, one borne of the Spirit, that these doctrines are true, that the Lord God is raining down righteousness upon his people, and that he will continue to do so until that perfect day when they know all things and become as he is. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Full text here.

We have our own LDS James Lileks: Woody!

2005-02-23T16:23:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen the blog The Inner Dad, go check it out. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Yes, you are right. We do have our own LDS James Lileks. If you don't know who Lileks is, you've really been missing out.

Both men write of their home and family life, of the experience of Fatherhood, in a way that is both profoundly moving and thoroughly entertaining. The humor is often a bit wry, but that's the fun of it, eh?

Woody also has another great blog I enjoy called Woody's Woundup, and if I've not completely misunderstood, his brother is Cameron at Way Off Bass, another fantastic blog! What a talented family! Thanks, guys, for all the time, effort, and heart you share with us!

The Cause is Just and Worthy

2005-02-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

From "The Cause is Just and Worthy" by Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1974. Link.

Someone said, “Many people are willing to plod along for 16 to 20 years, from grade one to a Ph.D., to learn medicine or engineering or psychology or mathematics or sociology or biology—to study, research, attend classes, pay tuitions, accept help from teachers and professors—and yet to learn about God, the maker of all, the author of it all, in a few intermittent prayers and some very limited hours of research, they feel they can find the truths about God.”

That’s why the Lord strictly sent us to the scriptures and prayer. “Search the scriptures,” he said; “for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39.) And then he said, “… O, fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26.)

Paul, in his impressive way as he spoke to the Corinthians, said, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. …

“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:1–6, 11.)

“Now,” he says, “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:12–14.)

“But there is a spirit in man”: said Job, “and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” (Job 32:8.)

Read the rest here.

Moral Free Agency

2005-02-14T04:12:00.000-05:00

From "Moral Free Agency" by Daniel H. Ludlow, New Era, November 1976. Link.

Concerning the principle of free agency, President David O. McKay has written, “Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God’s greatest gift to man. … Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. … Everyone has this most precious of all life’s endowments—the gift of free agency—man’s inherited and inalienable right.”

Free agency in the pre-earthly existence
In reviewing this topic, I would like to begin at the beginning, but so far as I can tell there never was a beginning so far as the exercising of free agency is concerned. According to the Prophet Joseph Smith, our minds or intelligences—those parts of our being with which we think and make choices and determine actions—have always existed. ... Thus the capacity of choice, which is a most essential element in free agency, has evidently always been part of our being.

In the process of time each of our intelligences was clothed with a spiritual body by heavenly parents, and we became personages of spirit with bodies of eyes and ears and hands and feet. All of us on this earth had the same Father of our spiritual bodies, and because he lives in heaven, we have been rightfully taught to refer to him as “our Father in heaven.”

Our spirit bodies were capable of tremendous accomplishments, but they also had some serious limitations. There were some laws that they could not obey, and therefore there were some blessings not available to them. Thus, our Heavenly Father called us into a grand council in heaven where he proposed a plan that would give us further opportunities of growth and development by giving us further opportunities of choice. There the importance of moral free agency and its four necessary and essential conditions were explained to us: first, we must have the opportunity of choice—that is, the operation of law; second, there must be the possibility of the existence of opposites—good and evil, virtue and vice; these two make possible the third, the freedom of choice—that is, free agency; then finally, a knowledge of the law and its consequences. All four of these conditions are necessary in order to accomplish the progression that would enable us to become as our Father in heaven, which was the main purpose of the new earth plan that he proposed.

When we lived with our Father in heaven, we did not need to exercise a fullness of faith in whether or not he existed. We knew that he lived because we saw him; we walked and talked with him. We knew he existed and were convinced of his existence, but we were not necessarily converted to him and to his great principles because our knowledge of him had come from external sources without virtually any effort on our part. So that we would come to a knowledge of him in and of ourselves, our Heavenly Father proposed that when we came into this earth life a veil of forgetfulness would be placed over our minds so that we would not remember our pre-earthly existence with him. Only then could the choices that we made here upon this earth truly come from within us. Our Father in heaven then promised us that while we were here on earth he (1) would give us law, (2) would provide the possibility of opposites, (3) would give us free agency, and (4) would send angels and prophets to teach us and give us scriptures so we could learn the laws and understand why we should keep them. Thus, he promised us the necessary conditions on this earth so that we could become morally free.

The nature of law was more than likely explained in that pre-earthly council—that each law has consequences, opposite and equal. Whenever a law is kept or obeyed, the consequence is a blessing which results in joy or happiness. Whenever a law is broken or disobeyed, the consequence is a punishment that results in misery or unhappiness. This simple and perhaps over-generalized explanation of the law of justice portrays how order is accomplished, for in the payment of the law of either obedience or disobedience, the law is brought back into a state of balance and thus order prevails. The law of justice, then, always requires a payment.

But another law also operates in the moral realm—the law of mercy, which in no way robs or violates the law of justice but which makes possible the vicarious payment of broken law. For example, the law of mercy permits the disobedience of a person to be atoned for or paid for by the obedience of the Savior, providing that the person who disobeyed the law will cease being disobedient—in other words, providing that the person repents.

The great plan of salvation and exaltation must also have been explained to us including an explanation of why the possibility of opposition must exist upon the earth and how it would occur through the fall of man, how the law of justice would require a payment for the broken law and how the law of mercy would make the Atonement possible.

The explanation of these things was later revealed to the prophet Lehi, and he taught them to his family in these words:

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. It not so … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery. neither good nor bad. …

“… there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

“And to bring about his eternal purposes … the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. …

“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law. …

“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death.” (2 Ne. 2:11, 14–16, 26–27.)

It was no doubt explained in this great pre-earthly council that as we would come to the earth the Spirit of Christ would be placed within each of us and another member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, would be empowered to witness, reveal, and testify to our spirits. Then, even though we had a veil of mortality over our minds, the Holy Ghost would be able to bring all things to our remembrance if we would listen to the words of the prophets, would read the words of the scriptures, and would respond to the Spirit of Christ that is within each of us by praying to our Father in heaven. This time, however, the knowledge would come to us by an act of will on our part. We would internalize it; it would become part of our very being, and therefore no one throughout all eternity could take this knowledge away from us unless we, by an act of will, allowed this knowledge to be taken away.

Now, there were other purposes, of course, for this earth life. We came here also to receive physical bodies capable of procreation. But the God-given power to have children would not be placed in our physical bodies until we had arrived at an age of accountability and had matured in experience so we could exercise our free agency in using these powers in righteousness.

When this great plan was presented to us, it was soon evident that because of the Atonement and the principle of free agency, this earth life could become a great testing and proving period. If we proved faithful to all the laws given to us by our Heavenly Father, we would become even as he is and share with him his power and glory. Perhaps it was when we realized this that the “sons of God shouted for joy,” as recorded in the book of Job. (Job 38:7.)

Lucifer’s proposal to deny free agency
There were some, however, in that pre-earthly council who did not shout for joy. They either lacked faith in our Heavenly Father, in the Savior, or in the gospel plan, or they lacked faith in their own ability or willingness to keep the law that would be given to them. Thus, they actively opposed the plan of our Heavenly Father. Their leader was called Lucifer, “the son of the morning”; he is also known as the devil or Satan.

Lucifer not only opposed the plan of our Heavenly Father, but he sought to amend and change the terms of salvation by denying men their free agency and by preempting our Heavenly Father. The exact words of Lucifer’s boast are contained in the book of Moses: “I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” (Moses 4:1.)

We do not know all of the details of Lucifer’s amended proposal, but we do know from revelation that he “sought to destroy the agency of man.” (Moses 4:3.) This could be accomplished in many ways, including denying us either the opportunity of choice or the freedom of choice. In either case, not “one soul” would have been lost. It is sin that causes a soul to be lost, but how can a person sin if he does not have the opportunity to sin? That is, how can a person disobey a law if he does not have a law?

Lucifer’s proposed amendment appealed to some, but it did not appeal to any of us in this audience. We saw that under his plan we would lose the challenge of growth and progression. We did not want to live in a world where we would be on the same plane forever. We had enough faith in our Heavenly Father and in his plan, in Jesus Christ, and in ourselves that we wanted to live in a world where there would be opportunities for further development. At the same time I am sure we realized that if we were not faithful to these laws and opportunities we might even be worse off than we had been before.

Thus there was a great war in heaven, and a key issue in that war was whether or not man was to be a morally free agent while upon the earth. A vote was taken. (By the way, that in itself indicates that we had our free agency there; in a sense Lucifer exercised his free agency in an attempt to deny us the right to exercise our free agency.) Two-thirds of those present voted for the plan of our Heavenly Father; one-third voted against the plan and did not participate in it.

Freedom in the Garden of Eden
So the plan was put into operation. A physical earth was created. Physical bodies were prepared for Adam and Eve. Their spiritual bodies were placed in those physical bodies, and they became living souls. Then our Heavenly Father started to keep the promises that he had made to us by giving them the opportunity of choice. He did this by giving them law, by telling them what they should do and what they should not do: “Partake of the fruit of the tree of life.” “Multiply.” “Do not partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Through his selection of the laws, he also gave them the possibility of opposites. Next he explained the consequences of those laws: “Partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and ye shall live forever.” “Multiply, and you shall have joy and rejoicing in your posterity.” “Partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and you shall surely die.” Then our Heavenly Father did one other thing: after explaining the consequences of their choices, he also explained that they would have the freedom to choose under this great earth plan.

Notice how all three of these elements are present in one verse in the book of Moses:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Moses 3:17.)

Well, you know the rest of that story. Lucifer and his followers were cast out of heaven. In order for Lucifer to make all of us subject to him, thus enabling him to put his throne above the throne of God, he needed to accomplish two things: first of all, he needed to get sin into the world, and then he needed to keep Jesus Christ from atoning for that sin.

Therefore, Lucifer tried to get Adam to disobey one of the laws. When he was unsuccessful in this he concentrated on Eve and finally enticed her to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve then persuaded Adam to partake of that same fruit. Although Adam and Eve had great intellect and powers of reason in the Garden of Eden, they were without experience; although they had the opportunity of choice and the freedom of choice in the Garden of Eden, yet they were not morally free because they did not fully understand the consequences of their choice. Oh, they heard the words of our Heavenly Father, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” but what was death to Adam and Eve? They had never seen death nor experienced it; they could not understand it. And because they did not fully comprehend the consequences, their disobedience of the law is referred to as a “transgression,” not as a “sin,” and consequently comes under the unconditional part of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

As a result of their transgression, two deaths were introduced into this earth: physical death, which resulted from their partaking of that particular fruit; and spiritual death, which resulted from their disobeying our Heavenly Father. Thus misery and suffering, which are the consequences of broken law, entered into the world.

The atonement of Christ
Now let us skip four thousand years of history and come down to the birth of Christ—a very important period so far as all mankind are concerned. Indeed, the Prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon said that if Jesus Christ did not atone then all mankind must unavoidably perish, and we would all “become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself.” (2 Ne. 9:9.) The plan was that Jesus Christ would be born into this earth as the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh and would have power over the physical death. The plan also required that Jesus Christ would be sinless while he lived upon the earth so that he would have power over all the laws and would be able to atone for the spiritual death introduced by the fall of Adam and Eve.

Lucifer knew that Christ must possess these two essential and necessary characteristics. He may have known this because of his pre-earthly experience; if not, then surely he knew it because of the words of the prophets of God here upon the earth. Therefore, when the Savior was born, Lucifer tried in every way that he could think of to keep Jesus Christ from achieving his great, divine destiny. He tried to get Jesus Christ to deny his divine Sonship, but the Savior replied, “I came into the world to do the will of my Father.” He tried to get Jesus Christ to break one of the laws, for he knew that if he could get the Savior to break only one law—to commit only one sin—then the Savior would not have power over all of the laws and therefore could not atone for the sins of all mankind.

But Jesus completely resisted the enticements of Lucifer; Jesus did not disobey any laws, and so he is referred to in the scriptures as the Sinless One. Jesus Christ was thus able to atone for both the physical death and the spiritual death. He was able to atone for the physical death because of the power that he had inherited from the Father as the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh; he was able to atone for the spiritual death because he was sinless.

The next crucial question was “Would he be willing to atone for those deaths? Would he be willing to endure the intense suffering and pain that would be required to pay for the sins of all mankind? Would he be willing to submit to the chains of physical death and thereby voluntarily break the bands or the chains of physical death for all mankind?” The New Testament records the drama of the experiences of the Savior in Gethsemane, at Golgotha, and at the tomb, where he fully atoned for the two deaths, conquering both the grave and hell and thus becoming the great Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. In remembrance of the two aspects of his atonement, we have been commanded that when we partake of the sacrament we partake of two emblems—bread in remembrance of the body of Christ, which he gave as a ransom for all; and a liquid in remembrance of the blood of Christ, which he shed for the remission of our sins. (See JST, Matt. 26:22–25.)

As a result of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we are all freed from the bondage of the original transgression of Adam and Eve, as well as being freed from all those transgressions we committed before we arrived at the age of accountability. As the Savior himself has said, “I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free.” (D&C 98:8.) Therefore, because of the Atonement, the extent of our individual free agency today is in direct proportion to the number and kind of laws we disobey. Perfect freedom is made possible to us through the Atonement, but it can come only through perfect obedience to the law.

The atonement of Jesus Christ also meant that Lucifer could not attain his goal. He cannot win all of us. He cannot win Christ; Christ is already beyond his power. He cannot win those who have already lived on the earth obedient to the laws of our Heavenly Father and who have now been resurrected.

Efforts to limit human freedom
But Lucifer is trying to run up as high a score as possible, and he does this by trying to keep us individually from achieving the great divine purposes for which we came here upon this earth, including the exercise of our free agency. He can do it by denying us any one of the four essential qualities of moral free agency. He can do it by denying us the opportunity of choice, and he tries to do this through certain types of governments (dictatorships), through the lack of governments (anarchy), and so on. He tries to do this by destroying, in our minds at least, the idea that there is a necessity of opposition, and therefore he tries to teach us “there is no sin. It mattereth not what a man does; whatsoever a man doeth is not sin. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Thus he destroys the role of opposition in our lives, or at least he attempts to do so.

He can also do it by destroying our freedom of choice, and he does this by enticing us to give up our right of free agency to other persons or to other institutions and allow them to make our choices for us, resulting in the evil that presidents of the Church have repeatedly warned against in communism and socialism and other orders of this type.

He also does it by trying to encourage us not to come to a knowledge of our Heavenly Father by not listening to the prophets, by not studying the scriptures, and therefore by not knowing the consequences of our choices: “The scriptures are irrelevant today. They were written a long time ago. Don’t pay any attention to them,” he says. “There are no such things as prophets upon the earth; they ceased at the time of Christ.” Or he says that the heavens are sealed; there is no revelation today. He even says that God is dead!

Thus in one way or another he tries to entice us to become like him and to become subject to the misery and unhappiness that he now experiences. To achieve his devilish aims, Lucifer can and does work through many means: business combines, governments on all levels, military forces, educational institutions, secret combinations of all kinds, and even families, teachers, and churches. Wherever and whenever you find a person or an institution that seeks to destroy the free agency of man, there you will find the influence of Lucifer.

President Henry D. Moyle talked on this subject in these words:

“All we have to do is … examine any movement that may be brought into our midst … and if it … attempt[s] to deprive us in the slightest respect of our free agency, we should avoid it as we would avoid immorality or anything else that is vicious. … Free agency is as necessary for our eternal salvation as is our virtue. And … as we guard our virtue with our lives, so should we guard our free agency.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1947, p. 46.)

President Marion G. Romney, when he was a member of the Council of the Twelve, gave this advice:

“One of the fundamental doctrines of revealed truth is that … God endowed men with free agency (see Moses 7:32). The preservation of this free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself.… Everything which militates against man’s enjoyment of this endowment persuades not to believe in Christ, for he is the author of free agency.

“Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon’s test to these innovations [as recorded in Moro. 7:16–18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man’s divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.” (Speeches of the Year, Brigham Young University Press, 1957, pp. 10–11.)

As an example of how sin can put us into bondage, let us consider for a moment the Word of Wisdom, because this is a physical law that we can see and understand rather readily. The Lord has said tobacco is not good for man—that is the law. We have our free agency either to obey or to disobey the law. Also, by keeping the law we still have our free agency as to whether or not we will continue to keep the law. However, as soon as we disobey the law—in this case, when we become addicted to nicotine—we not only suffer the penalty of poorer health, but we also practically lose our free agency in that matter. The broken law has a claim over us, we have become slaves to the drug, and the broken law will continue to have a claim over us until we stop breaking the law—that is, until we repent. And essentially the same principle is involved in all of the laws given to us by our Heavenly Father.

Scriptural references to freedom
Following are a few scriptural quotations pertaining to these principles:

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31–32.)

“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” (Heb. 5:8–9.)

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1.)

“Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (D&C 58:27–28.)

“And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet.” (D&C 29:39.)

“Whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.” (Hel. 14:30–31.)

“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17.)

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23.)

“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3.)

Freedom necessary for the gospel to flourish
An atmosphere of freedom is necessary for the teaching and accepting of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The missionaries and the message of the restored gospel have been received by the nations of the earth in almost the same proportion as those nations have accepted the principles of freedom. So intertwined are the principles of the gospel and the principles of free agency that they have become almost as one.

This characteristic has been pointed out by President John Taylor in these words:

“Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. … We have a right to liberty—that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, it has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the principles of truth." (Journal of Discourses, 23:63.)

Now, if all these things are true, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most free of any people on the face of this earth. We have all the opportunities of choice that other people do—and more, because we have the additional laws and principles of the restored gospel. We have all the possibilities of opposites shared by other people and more, because of the differences between the brightness of the noonday sun of the restored gospel as compared with the moonlight of Protestant and Catholic Christianity and the darkness of skepticism, agnosticism, and atheism. We have all the freedom of choice enjoyed by other people and more, because we have modern scriptures and living prophets to guide us day by day. Thus if we as Latter-day Saints are not the most free people on the face of the earth, then we should be, because we have to the greatest extent the necessary components of free agency.

The following statement by the late Elder Richard L. Evans that he gave in conjunction with an Independence Day celebration pertains to this topic. The title of Elder Evans’s brief address is “Thank God for Freedom.”

“May we take a moment from some of the side issues and from some of the irrelevant celebration, and clear our thoughts and humble our hearts and get down on our knees and simply, fervently, thank God for freedom—and then get on our feet with a firm resolve to preserve it against all who secretly or openly would set it aside.

“Thank God for freedom—and for the Founding Fathers who reaffirmed to a new nation, an eternal, timeless truth: that the right of choice—that the free agency of man—is a God-given inalienable right, and is essential to the peace and growth and progress and salvation of the very soul.

“This truth has been challenged again and again, and will yet be challenged again and again. It was challenged in the heavens before time began, by the brilliant but rebellious Lucifer. There was war in heaven—for freedom. And anyone who seeks to enslave men in any sense, in mind, in spirit, in thought—anyone who seeks to enslave the minds, the hearts, the spirits of men is essentially in league with Satan himself—for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” [2 Cor. 3:17].

“Thank God for the Constitution of our country, which was brought into being by the ‘hands of wise men whom [the Lord God] raised up unto this very purpose’[D&C 101:80]. Thank God for the promise that in this choice land, men ‘shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve’ God [Ether 2:12].

“Thank God for the right of choice, for the right to become whatever we can become in a free and provident land that, despite its imperfections, has proved to be more efficient for progress and human happiness than any society founded on the false philosophies that would seek to enslave the minds and souls of men.

“God grant that we may repent wherever we have departed from the principles of freedom—that we may preserve the right to fail and the incentive to succeed, and live, as did the Founding Fathers, knowing that there are no acceptable substitutes for freedom.” (From the Crossroads, New York: Harper and Brothers, 1955, p. 45.)

We teach our children that when they pray they should thank their Heavenly Father for the blessings that he has given to them. I hope that in our daily private and family prayers we will always thank our Heavenly Father for the great blessing that he has given us on this earth—the gift of moral free agency—and also for the right and opportunity to exercise this gift as members of his church and kingdom and as citizens of this country.

I bear my personal witness to the fact that our Heavenly Father and his divine Son, Jesus Christ, are the fountainhead of all truth and freedom. By following their teachings we can be free indeed and can find joy and happiness that “surpasseth all understanding.”

Links, links, links! I now have links!

2005-02-14T03:50:00.000-05:00

I finally got the courage to try creating a list of links to the blogs I read regularly. It was relatively painless, even though I am somewhat of a technophobe. Please alert me to any mistakes! I am really grateful to all of these bloggers who give of their time and share their hearts with us all. I believe that we can and do make a difference in the world by voicing our thoughts and opinions, and learning from each other. We are all children of the same Heavenly Father, and I love each of you as my brothers and sisters, probably more than you might realize. Thank you for the gift that you are to me.

Gone to Carolina

2005-02-13T21:08:00.000-05:00

Well, at least my husband has. I will follow in a few weeks. Both of my parents' lines (and my step-father who raised me as well) go back to North Carolina, so it will be a wonderful opportunity to do further family history research. I am writing a book on the story of my Great-Great Grandmother, whose family came to North Carolina from Scotland, and the chance to see the places where she lived will be thrilling and probably enlightening as well, so I am delighted.

The tax records in Delaware where my Snow ancestors left to go to North Carolina have an entry that was quite common: Gone to Caroliner. But for me, left behind here in Southern California, and missing my husband more than I can say, I can only truly say (with James Taylor) I'm "gone to Carolina in my mind..." (BTW, apologies for lax posting, too much going on!)

"Boy is aborted 3 times and lives"

2005-02-13T19:08:00.000-05:00

"Boy is aborted 3 times and lives" The Sunday Times - Britain February 13, 2005

A BABY survived at least three attempts to abort it from the womb and was born alive at 24 weeks old. The boy was delivered in hospital after his 24- year-old mother changed her mind about wanting the child after feeling it move on the way home from an abortion clinic. Although the clinic had told her an ultrasound scan had confirmed the child was dead, she went into labour that afternoon and the boy was born alive.

Now two years old and healthy, he is the first long-term abortion survivor to have been born so prematurely. His remarkable entrance into the world is documented in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The mother had not realised she was going to have a baby until 22 weeks into the pregnancy and felt that she could not cope with a second child. She was given a series of abortion drugs over four days at a private clinic. After birth the child was rushed to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit where he was on a ventilator for 7Å weeks. He fought off several life-threatening infections and suffered from severe lung disease for his first six months. He was allowed home after seven months of treatment.

Dr Paul Clarke, one of the report’s authors and the baby’s doctor at Hope hospital in Salford, Greater Manchester, said: “This mother went through extreme hardship waiting to see if her baby was going to make it. She was told to expect him to die so many times. I am full of admiration for her.”

Great story. That little guy must have really wanted to be born! Too bad about the rest.

Moving Toward a Socialist Utopia (Part III)

2005-01-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

From "Church Welfare Services' Basic Principles" by Marion G. Romney, Ensign, May 1976.

Brothers and sisters, we’ve had a fine presentation this morning from which we can all profit if we will follow the counsel. I have in mind to discuss with you two basic, fundamental principles upon which the Church Welfare Services are founded which we should never forget. They are: first, love—love of God and neighbor—and second, work.

Before doing so, however, I desire to say a word or two about agency. Free agency means the freedom and power to choose and act. Next to life itself, it is man’s most precious inheritance.

Free agency was operative in the spirit world. The gospel plan, as there proposed and adopted, provided that men should enjoy agency in mortality. Satan, with a third of the hosts of heaven, fought it there and lost, but they did not give up their opposition to the principle.

In the Garden of Eden, God endowed Adam and his posterity with free agency. Satan and his followers have, from then until now, sought directly and in every conceivable indirect manner to substitute the principle of force for the principle of free agency.

I suggest we consider what has happened to our agency with respect to contributing to the means used by the bureaucracy in administering government welfare services. In order to obtain these means, one head of state is quoted as saying, "We’re going to take all the money we think is unnecessarily being spent and take it from the 'haves' and give to the 'have nots' that need it so much." (Congressional Record, 1964, p. 6142—Remarks of the President to a Group of Leaders of Organizations of Senior Citizens in the Fish Room, Mar. 24, 1964.)

The difference between having the means with which to administer welfare assistance taken from us and voluntarily contributing it out of our love of God and fellowman is the difference between freedom and slavery.

Now as to the principle of love. In the operation of our Church Welfare Services, such love is to be the motivating power which moves us to give our time, money, and services.

When we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, might, and strength, we will love our brothers as ourselves, and we will voluntarily, in the exercise of our free agency, impart of our substance for their support.

Now about work. Work is just as important to the success of our welfare services as are the first and second great commandments and the preservation of our free agency.

We must ever keep in mind that the First Presidency, in announcing the welfare program in the October 1936 conference, said:

"Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership." (Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3; italics added.)

A year before this statement was made, on October 7, 1935, President Clark, in a special priesthood meeting held in this tabernacle, referring to government gratuities, said:

"The dispensing of these great quantities of gratuities has produced in the minds of hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of people in the United States a love for idleness, a feeling that the world owes them a living. It has made a breeding ground for some of the most destructive political doctrines that have ever found any hold in this country of ours, and I think it may lead us into serious political trouble. "I fear," he continued, "we need not be surprised if some blood shall run before we of this nation finally find ourselves."

In his conference address of April 1938, President Clark said this:

"I honor and respect old age. I would not see it suffer from want, not from disease that can be helped. It is entitled to every care, to every act of kindness, to every loving caress which a grateful community and a devoted family can give. I have every sympathy with age. I know the difficulties which age has in fitting into modern, economic life. …

"Some plan must be devised that shall make certain that no aged person shall be cold or go hungry or unclad. But the prime responsibility for supporting an aged parent rests upon his family, not upon society. Ours is not a socialistic or communistic state, where the people are mere vassals to be driven about as animals from one corral to another. We are freemen. So still with us the family has its place and its responsibilities and duties, which are God-given. The family which refuses to keep its own is not meeting its duties. When an aged parent has no family or when the family is itself without means, then society must, as a matter of merest humanity, come to the rescue. This is perfectly clear.

"But it is a far cry from this wise principle to saying that every person reaching a fixed age shall thereafter be kept by the state in idleness. Society owes to no man a life of idleness, no matter what his age. I have never seen one line in Holy Writ that calls for, or even sanctions this. In the past no free society has been able to support great groups in idleness and live free." (CR, Apr. 1938, pp. 106-7.)

And I’ll say to you that no society in the future will ever be able to do so.

And in a private letter five years later, President Clark wrote:

"You must remember that back and behind this whole propaganda of 'pensions', gratuities, and doles to which we are now being subjected, is the idea of setting up in America, a socialistic or communistic state, in which the family would disappear, religion would be prescribed and controlled by the state, and we should all become mere creatures of the state, ruled over by ambitious and designing men."

What has happened during the third of a century since this statement was made testifies to President Clark’s prophetic insight.

Prayer in schools has been dealt a fatal blow. The integrity of the family is being undermined. Unemployment compensation, Medicaid, aid to families with dependent children (AFDC), food stamps, and hundreds of other transfer-payment programs for veterans, widows or widowers, and children are today all supported, totally or in part, by federal and state/local tax revenue.

Little is said or done in these programs about the obligation of parents to care for their own or of recipients to work for what they receive.

The Lord, in the revelations given during the Restoration, and the presidents of the Church since then, have unequivocally and repeatedly declared that our welfare services are to be founded on love and on work.

The Lord said in the revelation recorded in section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants, specified by the Prophet Joseph as being the law of the Church:
"Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." (D&C 42:42.)
...

A statement which focuses upon and gives real meaning to what we have been talking about here is the following "Editorial on Labor," written and published by John Taylor in Nauvoo, October 15, 1844. I just found this recently, and I think it’s a marvelous statement. This was way back there just after the Prophet had been martyred. It reads:

"Labor is the manufacturer of wealth. It was ordained of God, as the medium to be used by man to obtain his living [italics added]: hence it is the universal condition of this great bond to live. …

"God never meant to bemean his creation, especially his own image, because they had to labor:—no; never; God himself according to the good old book labored on this world, six days; and when Adam was animated from clay to life, by his spirit’s making use of him for a dwelling, we read that God put him into the garden to dress it:—Therefore, in connection with the samples of all holy men, we are bound to honor the laboring man: and despise the idler. …

"Let them labor like men, prepare for that august hour; when Babylon and all her worldly wisdom; her various delicacies; and delusive fashions, shall fall with her to rise and trouble the earth no more!" Then he said, "What a glorious prospect, to think that drunken Babylon, the great city of sin, will soon cease, and the kingdom of God rise in holy splendor, upon her ashes, and the people serve God in a perpetual union!" (Times and Seasons 5:679, Oct. 15, 1844.)

Now, my brothers and sisters, the handwriting is on the wall; "the interpretation thereof [is] sure." (Dan. 2:45.) Both history and prophecy—and I may add, common sense—bear witness to the fact that no civilization can long endure which follows the course charted by bemused manipulators and now being implemented as government welfare programs all around the world.

Babylon shall be destroyed, and great shall be the fall thereof. (See D&C 1:16.)

But do not be discouraged. Zion will not go down with her, because Zion shall be built on the principles of love of God and fellowman, work, and earnest labor, as God has directed.

Moving Toward a Socialist Utopia (Part II)

2005-01-24T16:28:00.000-05:00

More from the Church Leaders on the dangers of socialism/communism....

From "America's Promise" by Marion G. Romney, Ensign, Sept. 1979:

"In distinguishing communism from the United Order, President David O. McKay said that communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the gospel plan, and that it is an avowed enemy of the God of the land. Communism is the greatest anti-Christ power in the world today and therefore the greatest menace not only to our peace but to our preservation as a free people. By the extent to which we tolerate it, accommodate ourselves to it, permit ourselves to be encircled by its tentacles and drawn to it, to that extent we forfeit the protection of the God of this land."
---------

From “Farewell to a Prophet” by Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, July 1994:

"I was at the Swiss Temple in 1955 when it was dedicated by President David O. McKay. Brother Benson was there. President Harold Gregory of the Berlin Mission was able to bring a company of Saints to the temple on that occasion. I will never forget what I witnessed. When they saw Brother Benson, they ran to him and they embraced one another, with tears rolling down their cheeks and tears rolling down his cheeks. Ten years earlier he had come almost as an angel from heaven with food when they were hungry and with hope when they were desperate.

"I am confident that it was out of what he saw of the bitter fruit of dictatorship that he developed his strong feelings, almost hatred, for communism and socialism. That distaste grew through the years as he witnessed the heavy-handed oppression and suffering of the peoples of eastern Europe under what he repeatedly described as godless communism.

"These experiences further strengthened his love for the land of his birth. He had grown up in big sky country, where there was a spirit of freedom and independence. He had grown up in the tradition of his forebears, who spoke reverently of those who were raised up by the Almighty to establish this nation and who had pledged 'their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor' to the cause of liberty. He never got over his boyhood love for freedom. Rather it grew within him, nurtured by what he saw of oppression in other lands and by what he observed firsthand of a growing dominance of government in this land over the lives of the people."

---------

From “Work and Welfare: A Historical Perspective” by Marion G. Romney, Ensign, May 1982:

"Some fifty years ago, when the Church launched its welfare program, President Heber J. Grant stated, as was quoted by the former speaker: 'Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.'"(In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.)
...
"A few years ago I read a lengthy book dealing with the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. That fall, in large measure, was due to the purchasing of votes with unearned benefits, such as entertainment, circuses, and food. The government’s actions built up in the people an expectation and demand which eventually could be kept down only by the establishment of a dictatorship. Many of our members live in countries where this history has repeated itself. In the United States, our treasured American work ethic is waning and the purchasing of votes with unearned benefits is dangerously common."

"...One of the most demeaning things a government can do is to teach people that the government owes them a living."

More to come.

Moving Toward a Socialist Utopia (Part I)

2005-01-19T14:09:00.000-05:00

I watch in horror as the communistic/socialistic mindset and way of life are engulfing much of the Western world, and often at the urgent request of its citizens. Even many Latter-day Saints are confusing this diabolical counterfeit with the Lord's own United Order. But what do the Prophets teach us? I have done much reading on the subject, and though much of the work might be considered by some as "dated" I believe the words of the Prophets of this dispensation are worthy of our respect. I would like to start with a classic talk from President Ezra Taft Benson, who warns us that our freedom is being threatened as never before.

From "A Witness and a Warning," by Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1979.

The Lord has declared this "a day of warning, and not a day of many words" (D&C 63:58). My message is a witness and warning about some of the evils which threaten America—a land I love with all my heart. There are other countries with this same problem. You who have seen these dangers in the land you love will have a deep feeling for what I will say.

America is a place of many great events. Here is where Adam dwelt, where the Garden of Eden was located. America was the place of former civilizations, including Adam’s, the Jaredites’, and Nephites’. America is also the place where God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith, inaugurating the last gospel dispensation on earth before the Savior’s second coming.

This consecrated land has been placed under the everlasting decree of God. That decree is recorded in the sacred Book of Mormon, a new witness for Christ, in these words: "For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. … Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ" (Ether 2:10, 12).

The eventful destiny of America has also been revealed to God’s prophets. To Joseph Smith the Lord revealed that "the whole of America is Zion itself from north to south" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1938, p. 362). Further, the Lord decreed this land to be "the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, … the holy sanctuary of the Lord" (Ether 13:3). To serve God’s eternal purposes and to prepare this land for Zion, God "established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom [He] raised up … and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood" (D&C 101:80).

The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1789. The priesthood of God was restored in 1829. Between those two dates is an interval of forty years. It is my conviction that God, who knows the end from the beginning, provided that period of time so the new nation could grow in strength to protect the land of Zion.

In the decade prior to the restoration of the gospel, many countries of South America fought wars of independence to free themselves from European rule. Russia, Austria, and Prussia, however, urged France to aid Spain and Portugal to restore their monarchies in South America. This effort was repulsed by a proclamation from the United States government known as the Monroe Doctrine. The heart of the Monroe Doctrine consists of these words: "The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."

The Lord had promised, "I will fortify this land against all other nations" (2 Ne. 10:12). President Joseph Fielding Smith said that "the greatest and most powerful fortification in America is the 'Monroe Doctrine.' … It was the inspiration of the Almighty which rested upon John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson and other statesmen, and which finally found authoritative expression in the message of James Monroe to Congress in the year 1823" (The Progress Of Man, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., pp. 466–67).

Thus, in that four-decade period the United States had grown to sufficient strength that she was able to provide a cradle of liberty for the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

But whenever the God of heaven reveals His gospel to mankind, Satan, the archenemy to Christ, introduces a counterfeit.

Isaiah foresaw the time when a marvelous work and a wonder would come forth among men. Isaiah also predicted there would be those who would "seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us?" He saw the time when the work shall say of him that made it, "He made me not" (Isa. 29:15–16).

It is well to ask, what system established secret works of darkness to overthrow nations by violent revolution? Who blasphemously proclaimed the atheistic doctrine that God made us not? Satan works through human agents. We need only look to some of the ignoble characters in human history who were contemporary to the restoration of the gospel to discover fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. I refer to the infamous founders of Communism and others who follow in their tradition.

Communism introduced into the world a substitute for true religion. It is a counterfeit of the gospel plan. The false prophets of Communism predict a utopian society. This, they proclaim, will only be brought about as capitalism and free enterprise are overthrown, private property abolished, the family as a social unit eliminated, all classes abolished, all governments overthrown, and a communal ownership of property in a classless, stateless society established.

Since 1917 this godless counterfeit to the gospel has made tremendous progress toward its objective of world domination.

Today, we are in a battle for the bodies and souls of man. It is a battle between two opposing systems: freedom and slavery, Christ and anti-Christ. The struggle is more momentous than a decade ago, yet today the conventional wisdom says, "You must learn to live with Communism and to give up your ideas about national sovereignty." Tell that to the millions—yes, the scores of millions—who have met death or imprisonment under the tyranny of Communism! Such would be the death knell of freedom and all we hold dear. God must ever have a free people to prosper His work and bring about Zion.

...

On 3 July 1936, the First Presidency published this warning to Church members:
"Communism is not a political party nor a political plan under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government. … Since Communism, established, would destroy our American Constitutional government, to support Communism is treasonable to our free institutions, and no patriotic American citizen may become either a Communist or supporter of Communism. … We call upon all Church members completely to eschew [shun] Communism. The safety of our divinely inspired Constitutional government and the welfare of our Church imperatively demand that Communism shall have no place in America" (signed: Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, The First Presidency, in Deseret News, 3 July 1936; italics added).

More recently, President Marion G. Romney, in the First Presidency Message in the September 1979 Ensign, wrote: "Communism is Satan’s counterfeit for the gospel plan, and … it is an avowed enemy of the God of the land. Communism is the greatest anti-Christ power in the world today and therefore the greatest menace not only to our peace but to our preservation as a free people. By the extent to which we tolerate it, accommodate ourselves to it, permit ourselves to be encircled by its tentacles and drawn to it, to that extent we forfeit the protection of the God of this land" (p. 5).

The truth is, we have to a great extent accommodated ourselves to Communism—and we have permitted ourselves to become encircled by its tentacles. Though we give lip service to the Monroe Doctrine, this has not prevented Cuba from becoming a Soviet military base, ninety miles off our coastline, nor has it prevented the takeover of Nicaragua in Central America, the surrender of the Panama Canal, or the infiltration by enemy agents within our American borders.

Never before has the land of Zion appeared so vulnerable to so powerful an enemy as the Americas do at present. And our vulnerability is directly attributable to our loss of active faith in the God of this land, who has decreed that we must worship Him or be swept off. Too many Americans have lost sight of the truth that God is our source of freedom—the Lawgiver—and that personal righteousness is the most important essential to preserving our freedom. So, I say with all the energy of my soul that unless we as citizens of this nation forsake our sins, political and otherwise, and return to the fundamental principles of Christianity and of constitutional government, we will lose our political liberties, our free institutions, and will stand in jeopardy before God.

No nation which has kept the commandments of God has ever perished, but I say to you that once freedom is lost, only blood—human blood—will win it back.

There are some things we can and must do at once if we are to stave off a holocaust of destruction.

First: We must return to worship the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. He has promised that the righteous will be preserved by His power (see 1 Ne. 22:17). But we must keep the commandments of God. We must pay our tithes and offerings, keep the Sabbath day a holy day, stay morally clean, be honest in all our dealings, and have our family and personal prayers. We must live the gospel.

Second: We must awaken to "a sense of [our] awful situation, because of this secret combination which [is] among [us]" (Ether 8:24). We must not tolerate accommodation with or appeasement toward the false system of Communism. We must demand of our elected officials that we not only resist Communism, but that we will take every measure to prevent its intrusion into this hemisphere. It is vital that we invoke the Monroe Doctrine.

Then we must put our trust in Him who has promised us His protection—and pray that He will intervene to preserve our freedom just as He intervened in our obtaining it in the first place.

Third: We must do as the Lord commanded us by revelation in 1833: "Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil" (D&C 98:10).

Men who are wise, good, and honest, who will uphold the Constitution of the United States in the tradition of the Founding Fathers, must be sought for diligently. This is our hope to restore government to its rightful role.

Last: We must study the inspired Constitution and become involved in the political process ourselves. I quote the First Presidency statement that was read in sacrament meetings on Sunday, 1 July 1979: "We encourage all members, as citizens of the nation, to be actively involved in the political process, and to support those measures which will strengthen the community, state, and nation—morally, economically, and culturally" (Letter from the First Presidency, 29 June 1979).

I fully believe that we can turn things around in America if we have the determination, the morality, the patriotism, and the spirituality to do so.

My single-minded concern is for the freedom and welfare of my countrymen and my posterity, the freedom of all men.

I testify to you that God’s hand has been in our destiny. I testify that freedom as we know it today is being threatened as never before in our history. I further witness that this land—the Americas—must be protected, its Constitution upheld, for this is a land foreordained to be the Zion of our God. He expects us as members of the Church and bearers of His priesthood to do all we can to preserve our liberty.
May God bless us that, with His help, we will not fail to bring to pass His purposes on earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Although many would like to believe that the "Cold War" is over, and that the "Communist Threat" is gone, I believe that the adversary has just become more subtle than ever. His substitutes may be toned down a bit, but socialism has crept through Europe and Canada, and here in the U.S. as well. The same strategy of encouraging dependence on the state, rather than self-reliance, and on renouncing the laws of God, and dismantling the family as the basic unit of society are in effect more than ever. We are still very much in danger of losing our freedom of religion, as well as freedom of speech, from the loud protests of the very vocal minority. We must raise our voices in unison above theirs to return this land to its God-inspired foundations. We must also realize, as Latter-day Saints, that the world's image of a godless social utopia is no substitute for the United Order. (More to come on that!)

Religious Values and Public Policy

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From "Religious Values and Public Policy" by Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Oct. 1992.

Last April my Church duties took me to Albania. Elder Hans B. Ringger and I were some of the first Western visitors to that newly opened country. We conferred with government officials about the reception our church’s missionaries would receive in Albania, which had banned all churches in 1967. They told us the government regretted its actions against religion, and that it now welcomed churches back to Albania. One explained, "We need the help of churches to rebuild the moral base of our country, which was destroyed by communism." During the past months I have heard this same reaction during discussions with government and other leaders in Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.

In contrast, consider what we hear about religion from some prominent persons in the United States. Some question the legitimacy of religious-based values in public policy debates. Some question the appropriateness of churches or religious leaders taking any public position on political issues. Provoked by that contrast, I will use this occasion to speak about the role of religion-based values and religious leaders in public policy debates.

Questions of Right and Wrong
Fundamental to the role of religion in public policy is this most important question: Are there moral absolutes?

Speaking to our BYU students earlier this year, President Rex E. Lee said:
"I cannot think of anything more important than for each of you to build a firm, personal testimony that there are in this life some absolutes, things that never change, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. They are eternal truths, eternal principles and, as Paul tells us, they are and will be the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Unfortunately, other educators deny the existence of God or deem God irrelevant to the human condition. Persons who accept this view deny the existence of moral absolutes. They maintain that right and wrong are relative concepts, and morality is merely a matter of personal choice or expediency. For example, a university professor reported that her students lacked what she called "moral common sense." She said they believed that "there was no such thing as right or wrong, just good or bad arguments." In that view, even the most fundamental moral questions have at least two sides, and every assertion of right or wrong is open to debate.

I believe that these contrasting approaches underlie the whole discussion of religious values in public policy. Many differences of opinion over the role of religion in public life simply mirror a difference of opinion over whether there are moral absolutes. But this underlying difference is rarely made explicit. It is as if those who assume that all values are relative have established their assumption by law or tradition and have rendered illegitimate the fundamental belief of those who hold that some values are absolute.

One of the consequences of shifting from moral absolutes to moral relativism in public policy is that this produces a corresponding shift of emphasis from responsibilities to rights. Responsibilities originate in moral absolutes. In contrast, rights find their origin in legal principles, which are easily manipulated by moral relativism. Sooner or later the substance of rights must depend on either the voluntary fulfillment of responsibilities or the legal enforcement of duties. When our laws or our public leaders question the existence of absolute moral values, they undercut the basis for the voluntary fulfillment of responsibilities, which is economical, and compel our society to rely more and more on the legal enforcement of rights, which is expensive.

Some moral absolutes or convictions must be at the foundation of any system of law. This does not mean that all laws are so based. Many laws and administrative actions are simply a matter of wisdom or expediency. But many laws and administrative actions are based upon the moral standards of our society. If most of us believe that it is wrong to kill or steal or lie, our laws will include punishment for those acts. If most of us believe that it is right to care for the poor and needy, our laws will accomplish or facilitate those activities. Society continually legislates morality. The only question is whose morality and what legislation.

In the United States, the moral absolutes are the ones derived from what we refer to as the Judeo-Christian tradition, as set forth in the Bible—Old Testament and New Testament.

Despite ample evidence of majority adherence to moral absolutes, some still question the legitimacy of a moral foundation for our laws and public policy. To avoid any suggestion of adopting or contradicting any particular religious absolute, some secularists argue that our laws must be entirely neutral, with no discernable relation to any particular religious tradition. Such proposed neutrality is unrealistic, unless we are willing to cut away the entire idea that there are moral absolutes.

Of course, not all moral absolutes are based on traditional religion. A substantial segment of society has subscribed to the environmental movement, which Robert Nisbet, a distinguished American sociologist, has characterized as a "national religion," with a "universalized social, economic, and political agenda." So far as I am aware, there has been no responsible public challenge to the legitimacy of laws based on the environmentalists’ set of values. I don’t think there should be. My point is that religious values are just as legitimate as those based on any other comprehensive set of beliefs.

Religion and the Public Sector
Let us apply these thoughts to the role of religions, churches, and church leaders in the public sector.

Some reject the infusion of religious-based values in public policy by urging that much of the violence and social divisiveness of the modern world is attributable to religious controversies. But all should remember that the most horrible moral atrocities of the twentieth century in terms of death and human misery have been committed by regimes that are unambiguously secular, not religious.

Even though we cannot reject religious values in law-making on the basis of their bad record by comparison with other values, there are examples of hostility to religious values in the public sector. For example, less than a decade ago, the United States Department of Justice challenged a federal judge’s right to sit on a case involving the Equal Rights Amendment on the ground that his religious views would prejudice him. The judge was Marion Callister. The religious views were LDS. In that same decade, the American Civil Liberties Union took the position that any pro-life abortion law was illegitimate because it must necessarily be founded on religious belief.
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I have read serious academic arguments to the effect that religious people can participate in public debate only if they conceal the religious origin of their values by translating them into secular dialect. In a nation committed to pluralism, this kind of hostility to religion should be legally illegitimate and morally unacceptable. It is also irrational and unworkable, for reasons explained by BYU law professor Frederick Mark Gedicks:

"Secularism has not solved the problem posed by religion in public life so much as it has buried it. By placing religion on the far side of the boundary marking the limit of the real world, secularism prevents public life from taking religion seriously. Secularism does not teach us to live with those who are religious; rather, it demands that we ignore them and their views. Such a 'solution' can remain stable only so long as those who are ignored acquiesce in their social situation."

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has never held that citizens could not join together to translate their moral beliefs into laws or public policies even when those beliefs are derived from religious doctrine. Indeed, there are many sophisticated and articulate spokesmen for the proposition that the separation of church and state never intended to exclude religiously grounded values from the public square. For example, I offer the words of Richard John Neuhaus:

"In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being 'religious' than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb. There is no legal or constitutional question about the admission of religion to the public square; there is only a question about the free and equal participation of citizens in our public business. Religion is not a reified 'thing' that threatens to intrude upon our common life. Religion in public is but the public opinion of those citizens who are religious. As with individual citizens, so also with the associations that citizens form to advance their opinions. Religious institutions may understand themselves to be brought into being by God, but for the purposes of this democratic polity they are free associations of citizens. As such, they are guaranteed the same access to the public square as are the citizens who comprise them."

Read the full text here.

"Settle This in Your Hearts"

2005-01-10T17:01:00.000-05:00
From "Settle This in Your Hearts," by Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1992.

Eighteen years ago from this same pulpit, I pled with those who stood indecisively on the "porch" of the Church to come fully inside. Today my plea is to those members already inside but whose discipleship is casual, individuals whom we love, whose gifts and talents are much needed in building the kingdom!

Any call for greater consecration is, of course, really a call to all of us. But these remarks are not primarily for those who are steadily striving and who genuinely seek to keep God’s commandments and yet sometimes fall short. (See D&C 46:9.) Nor is this primarily for those few in deliberate noncompliance, including some who cast off on intellectual and behavioral bungee cords in search of new sensations, only to be jerked about by the old heresies and the old sins.

Such members accept callings but not all of the accompanying responsibilities; hence, their Church chores must often be done by those already "anxiously engaged." Some regard themselves as merely "resting" in between Church callings. But we are never in between as to this soaring call from Jesus: "What manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Ne. 27:27; see Matt. 5:48; 3 Ne. 12:48.) It is never safe to rest regarding that calling! In fact, being "valiant" in one’s testimony of Jesus includes striving to become more like Him in mind, heart, and attributes. (D&C 76:79.) Becoming this manner of men and women is the ultimate expression of orthodoxy!

All are free to choose, of course, and we would not have it otherwise. Unfortunately, however, when some choose slackness, they are choosing not only for themselves, but for the next generation and the next. Small equivocations in parents can produce large deviations in their children! Earlier generations in a family may have reflected dedication, while some in the current generation evidence equivocation. Sadly, in the next, some may choose dissension as erosion takes its toll.

Some of these otherwise honorable members mistakenly regard the Church as an institution, but not as a kingdom. They know the doctrines of the kingdom, but more as a matter of recitation than of real comprehension.

One common characteristic of the honorable but slack is their disdain for the seemingly unexciting duties of discipleship, such as daily prayer, regular reading of the scriptures, attendance at sacrament meeting, paying a full tithe, and participating in the holy temples. Such disdain is especially dangerous in today’s world of raging relativism and of belching sensualism, a world in which, if many utter the name of Deity at all, it is only as verbal punctuation or as an expression of exclamation, not adoration!

In contrast, those sincerely striving for greater consecration neither cast off their commitments nor the holy garment. They avoid obscenity, keep the law of chastity, pay their tithes, and love and serve their spouses and children. As good neighbors, they "bear one another’s burdens," "mourn with those that mourn," "comfort those … in need of comfort," and valiantly "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places." (Mosiah 18:8–9.)

When the determination is first made to begin to be more spiritually settled, there is an initial vulnerability: it is hard to break with the past. But once we begin, we see how friends who would hold us back spiritually are not true friends at all. Any chiding from them reflects either resentment or unconscious worry that somehow they are being deserted. In any attempt to explain to them, our tongue is able to speak only "the smallest part." (Alma 26:16.) We continue to care for them, but we care for our duty to God more. Brigham Young counseled candidly: "Some do not understand duties which do not coincide with their natural feelings and affections. … There are duties which are above affection." (Journal of Discourses, 7:65.)

Unfortunately, we tend to think of consecration only in terms of property and money. But there are so many ways of keeping back part. One might be giving of money and time and yet hold back a significant portion of himself. One might share talents publicly yet privately retain a particular pride. One might hold back from kneeling before God’s throne and yet bow to a particular gallery of peers. One might accept a Church calling but have his heart more set on maintaining a certain role in the world.

Still others find it easier to bend their knees than their minds. Exciting exploration is preferred to plodding implementation; speculation seems more fun than consecration, and so is trying to soften the hard doctrines instead of submitting to them. Worse still, by not obeying, these few members lack real knowing. (See John 7:17.) Lacking real knowing, they cannot defend their faith and may become critics instead of defenders!

A few of the latter end up in the self-reinforcing and self-congratulating Hyde Park corner of the Church, which they provincially mistake for the whole of the Church, as if London’s real Hyde Park corner were Parliament, Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, and all of England combined!

Only greater consecration will cure ambivalence and casualness in any of us! As already noted, the tutoring challenges arising from increased consecration may be severe but reflect the divine mercy necessary to induce further consecration. (See Hel. 12:3.) If we have grown soft, hard times may be necessary. Deprivation may prepare us for further consecration, though we shudder at the thought. If we are too easily contented, God may administer a dose of divine discontent. His long-suffering thus becomes very necessary to maximize our agency and development. But He is not an indulgent Father.

We "cannot bear all things now," but the Lord "will lead [us] along," as we "give place" in our thoughts and schedules and "give away" our sins, which are the only ways we can begin to make room to receive all that God can give us. (D&C 78:18; D&C 50:4; Alma 32:27, 28; Alma 22:18.)

Consecration is the only surrender which is also a victory. It brings release from the raucous, overpopulated cell block of selfishness and emancipation from the dark prison of pride. Yet instead of striving for greater consecration, it is so easy to go on performing casually in halfhearted compliance as if hoping to "ride to paradise on a golf cart." (Henry Fairlie, The Seven Deadly Sins, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1979, p. 125.)

But is being consecrated and "swallowed up" a threat to our individuality? (See Mosiah 15:7.) No! Heavenly Father is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new and the real self. It is not a question of losing our identity but of finding our true identity!

When, at last, we are truly pointed homeward, then the world’s pointing fingers of scorn can better be endured. As we come to know to Whom we belong, the other forms of belonging cease to mean very much. Likewise, as Jesus begins to have a real place in our lives, we are much less concerned with losing our places in the world. When our minds really catch hold of the significance of Jesus’ atonement, the world’s hold on us loosens. (See Alma 36:18.)

Increased consecration is not so much a demand for more hours of Church work as it is for more awareness of Whose work this really is! For now, consecration may not require giving up worldly possessions so much as being less possessed by them.

True orthodoxy thus brings safety and felicity! It is not only correctness but happiness. Strange, isn’t it, even the very word orthodoxy has fallen into disfavor with some? As society gets more and more flaky, a few rush forward to warn shrilly against orthodoxy!

Remember how, with Pharaoh’s angry army in hot pursuit, ancient Israel aligned themselves with the Lord’s instructions? Moses stretched forth his hand and the Red Sea parted. With towering walls of water on each side, Israel walked through the narrow passage obediently, and no doubt quickly! There were no warnings about conforming on that day!

There are passages ahead which will require similar obedience, as prophets lead the "men [and women] of Christ" in a straight and narrow course.

Becoming more like Jesus in thought and behavior is not grinding and repressing, but emancipating and discovering! Unorthodoxy in behavior and intellect is just the opposite. A little pornography may lead not only to child and spouse abuse, but it slowly sucks out the marrow of self-esteem. A little tendency to gossip can lead not only to bearing serious false witness, but more often to malicious whispers which, unfortunately, "memory will warehouse as a shout." (C. S. Lewis, The Quotable Lewis, ed. Owen Barfield and Jerry Root, Wheaton, Ill.: Tindale Publications, 1989, p. 425.) A little criticism of the Brethren, which seems harmless enough, may not only damage other members but can even lead to one’s setting himself up as a substitute "light unto the world." (2 Ne. 26:29.) Yes, happily, some such prodigals do come back, but they usually walk alone, unaccompanied by those they once led astray!

Jesus counseled His disciples, "Wherefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you." (JST, Luke 14:28.) Getting thus settled precedes consecration. The Prophet Joseph Smith said gospel knowledge "does away with darkness, suspense, and doubt" and how "there is no pain so awful as that of suspense." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 288.) Being settled keeps us from responding to every little ripple of dissent as if it were a tidal wave. We are to be disciples, not oscillators, like a "reed shaken with the wind." (Matt. 11:7.) More members need the immense relief and peace which can come from being "settled" without which those individuals will be like "the troubled sea, when it cannot rest." (Isa. 57:20.)

There is another special reason to become settled: we will live in a time in which "all things shall be in commotion." (D&C 88:91; D&C 45:26.) The uncertainties, upheavals, and topsy-turviness of today’s world will be such that those who vacillate and equivocate will be tossed about by severe turbulence.

Finally, if we shrink from deeper consecration, then we are not worthy of Him who, for our sake, refused to "shrink" in the midst of His deepening agony during the Atonement! (D&C 19:18.) Instead, Jesus pressed forward, giving His all and completing His marvelous "preparations unto the children of men." (D&C 19:19.)

Consider, what if Jesus’ Mortal Messiahship had consisted only of remarkable sermons? Or was further enhanced with healings and other miracles—but without Gethsemane’s and Calvary’s awful but consecrated hours of the Atonement? How then would we regard Jesus’ ministry? Where would mankind be?

Brothers and sisters, whatever we embrace instead of Jesus and His work will keep us from qualifying to enter His kingdom and therefore from being embraced by Him. (See Morm. 6:17.)

May we get settled and prepare now for that marvelous moment then, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

2005-01-03T16:57:00.000-05:00
I have been hearing from various places the question of why God, if he exists, allows such suffering as the current disaster with the earthquake/tsunami, and with the death toll up to at least 155,000 people, it is a very good question.

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said this:
"One cannot look at suffering, regardless of its causes or origins, without feeling pain and compassion. I can understand why someone who lacks an eternal perspective might see the horrifying news footage of starving children and man’s inhumanity to man and shake a fist at the heavens and cry, 'If there is a God, how could he allow such things to happen?'"

"The answer is not easy, but it isn’t that complicated, either. God has put his plan in motion. It proceeds through natural laws that are, in fact, God’s laws. Since they are his, he is bound by them, as are we. I recognize for purposes we mortals may not understand, the Lord can control the elements. For the most part, however, he does not cause but he allows nature to run its course. In this imperfect world, bad things sometimes happen. The earth’s rocky underpinnings occasionally shift and move, resulting in earthquakes. Certain weather patterns cause hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and drought."

(Answers to Life's Questions, Ensign, May 1995)

Not a bad answer, but I remember reading something long ago from Joseph Fielding Smith where he stated that God allows suffering so that our hearts will be turned to Him. I wanted to know more about the spiritual reasons for suffering. I found this talk, "Adversity" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Adversity will be a constant or occasional companion for each of us throughout our lives. We cannot avoid it. The only question is how we will react to it. Will our adversities be stumbling blocks or stepping-stones?

Father Lehi taught his son Jacob that in order to bring to pass righteousness, the Lord’s plan allowed for wickedness. In order for God’s children to appreciate joy, they must also be subject to misery (see 2 Ne. 2:23). To accomplish the purposes of God, there must needs be "an opposition in all things" (2 Ne. 2:11). Our adversities are part of that opposition. Elder Howard W. Hunter explained the principle in a general conference address many years ago:

"We came to mortal life to encounter resistance. It was part of the plan for our eternal progress. Without temptation, sickness, pain, and sorrow, there could be no goodness, virtue, appreciation for well-being, or joy" ("God Will Have a Tried People," Ensign, May 1980, 25).

Some adversities are individual. Others are common to large numbers of our Heavenly Father’s children. During the past decade there have been many examples of large-scale adversities affecting tens or hundreds of thousands or millions. Only a few can be mentioned. In addition to wars in many nations, we have had earthquakes in Japan, California, China, Armenia, and Mexico; hurricanes or tornadoes in Florida and the central United States; volcanic eruptions in the Philippines; flooding in India and North America; and famine and pestilence in Africa and elsewhere.

These huge catastrophes are tragedies, but they may have another significance. The Lord uses adversities to send messages to his children. Isaiah prophesied that in the last days the Lord would visit all nations with great natural disasters (see Isa. 29:6; 2 Ne. 27:1–2). In modern revelation, the Lord speaks of calling upon the nations of the earth by the mouth of his servants and also "by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind" (D&C 43:25). In another revelation, the Lord tells those he has called to teach the gospel:

"After your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, …

"And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people" (D&C 88:89–91).

Surely these great adversities are not without some eternal purpose or effect. They can turn our hearts to God. Nephi was told that the natural enemies of his descendants would be "a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me" (2 Ne. 5:25). The idea of a scourge to cause people to remember God reaffirms a familiar teaching in the 12th chapter of Hebrews: "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Heb. 12:6). Even as adversities inflict mortal hardships, they can also be the means of leading men and women to eternal blessings.

Such large-scale adversities as natural disasters and wars seem to be inherent in the mortal experience. We cannot entirely prevent them, but we can determine how we will react to them. For example, the adversities of war and military service, which have been the spiritual destruction of some, have been the spiritual awakening of others. The Book of Mormon describes the contrast:

"But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility" (Alma 62:41).

I read of a similar contrast after the devastating hurricane that destroyed thousands of homes in Florida some years ago. A news account quoted two different persons who had suffered the same tragedy and received the same blessing: each of their homes had been totally destroyed, but each of their family members had been spared death or injury. One said that this tragedy had destroyed his faith; how, he asked, could God allow this to happen? The other said that the experience had strengthened his faith. God had been good to him, he said. Though the family’s home and possessions were lost, their lives were spared and they could rebuild the home. For one, the glass was half empty. For the other, the glass was half full. The gift of moral agency empowers each of us to choose how we will act when we suffer adversity.

Our adversities can be the means of obtaining blessings unobtainable without them. Young Jacob had "suffered afflictions and much sorrow" in his childhood, but Lehi assured his son that God "shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain" (2 Ne. 2:1–2). After the Saints suffered severe persecutions in Missouri, the Lord gave this beautiful promise:

"Fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks. …

"… [A]ll things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good" (D&C 98:1, 3).

How can adversities be for our good? Speaking in area conferences more than 20 years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson explained:

"It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow into strong characters" (in Conference Report, Stockholm Sweden Area Conference, 1974, 70).

"Every reversal can be turned to our benefit and blessing and can make us stronger, more courageous, more godlike" (in Conference Report, Philippine Islands Area Conference, 1975, 11).

Thousands of years ago, Egyptian taskmasters afflicted the Israelites with heavy burdens. However, the Bible records, "the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew" (Ex. 1:12).

The Book of Mormon contains many similar examples of how whole groups of people can be blessed through common adversities. When the wicked Nephite priests enslaved the faithful people who followed Alma, the Lord blessed them with extra strength as a witness of how he did visit his people in their afflictions.

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord" (Mosiah 24:15).

When Alma the Younger preached to the Zoramites, the rich and the proud would not listen, but many who were poor heard his message. Alma saw "that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word" (Alma 32:6).

Later, during the long wars reported in the last chapters of the book of Alma, many of the Nephites and the Lamanites “were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility” (Alma 62:41). As a result, Helaman and his brethren were able to preach to them, baptize them, and reestablish the Church in their land (see Alma 62:45–46).

With the blessings of God, what seem to be adversities can be turned to the benefit of his faithful children.

For example, on a large scale, we can look on television as an adversity because it brings ugly programming into our homes and undercuts our standards of behavior by making wickedness seem accepted and popular. But television is also a medium we are using to spread the glorious message of the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Many other such examples could be given.

We may look on the shortage of money and the struggle to find rewarding employment as serious adversities. I remember such experiences and feelings, and I am unpersuaded that relative poverty and hard work are greater adversities than relative affluence and free time. You are all familiar with the cycles reported in the Book of Mormon in which prosperity led to complacency and pride and spiritual downfall and in which deprivations led to humility and spiritual growth. I believe that the easy way materially usually is not the best way spiritually. For many, though not all, material wealth and abundant free time are spiritual impediments.

Elaine Cannon reminds us of an important way these blessings come and how we can make the most of them. "When we are pushed, stung, defeated, embarrassed, hurt, rejected, tormented, forgotten—when we are in agony of spirit crying out 'why me?' we are in a position to learn something" (Adversity, 47).

As the Lord explained to the prophet Moroni, "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).

"Have you ever seen someone who has been helpless for so long that he has divested himself of every envy and jealousy and ugliness in his whole life, and who has perfected his life? I have. Have you seen mothers who have struggled with, perhaps, unfortunate children for years and years, and have become saints through it? … No pain suffered by man or woman upon the earth will be without its compensating effects if it be suffered in resignation and if it be met with patience" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [1982], 167–68).

...the words the Lord spoke to the children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, I have refined thee, … I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10; see also 1 Ne. 20:10).

I know that the consequences of the "furnace of affliction" bring eternal blessings. Those blessings are made possible because of the Resurrection and Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know and testify to the truth of Alma’s teaching: "Whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day" (Alma 36:3).

(Adversity, Ensign, July 1998)

Mark Steyn on Polygamy

2004-12-28T16:55:00.000-05:00
Interesting Mark Steyn piece at the Telegraph (UK) on polygamy.
I found this quote particularly interesting, in view of how "religious" the U.S. is considered by most Europeans....

"The YouGov poll on Britons' lack of religious faith, reported in yesterday's Telegraph, confirms that this country is well advanced in its post-Christian condition. Whereas 44 per cent of Britons believe in God and 44 per cent don't, in recent American polls the number who believe is 92–97 per cent and the number who don't is around three per cent. Three quarters of Americans believe in Hell, which is more than the bishops' bench in the House of Lords can say. Most Britons, for good or ill, are content in their post-Christian state. The danger is in assuming it's permanent, rather than an intermediate phase."

What is a Teacher?

2004-12-16T20:10:00.000-05:00
From "What Is a Teacher?" by Paul H. Dunn, Ensign, Dec. 1971.

What is a teacher? The teacher is a prophet. He lays the foundation of tomorrow.

The teacher is an artist. He works with the precious clay of unfolding personality.

The teacher is a friend. His heart responds to the faith and devotion of his students.

The teacher is a citizen. He is selected and licensed for the improvement of society.

The teacher is an interpreter. Out of his mature and wider life, he seeks to guide the young.

The teacher is a builder. He works with the higher and finer values of civilization.

The teacher is a culture-bearer. He leads the way toward worthier tastes, saner attitudes, more gracious manners, higher intelligence.

The teacher is a planner. He sees the young lives before him as a part of a great system that shall grow stronger in the light of truth.

The teacher is a pioneer. He is always interpreting and attempting the impossible, and usually winning out.

The teacher is a reformer. He seeks to improve the handicaps that weaken and destroy life.

The teacher is a believer. He has an abiding faith in God and in the improvability of the race. It was James Truslow Adams who said, "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live."

We are engaged in teaching people how to live.

Elbert Hubbard said, "You can’t teach anybody anything. You can only help him find himself."

That was the genius of the Savior. He taught us divine principles we could apply to ourselves and thus solve our personal problems. The Savior had no peer as a teacher.

Read full text here.