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A Joke...

Satan: Knock, Knock...
Man: Who's there
Satan: God...
Man: God, who?
Satan then leans over to God and says, "See, I told you I was winning!"

Interesting Scripture

If you haven't read 3rd Nephi for a while, you should. My family and I just finished chapter 16. This chapter talks about the gospel being taught to the Gentiles and then to the house of Israel. Verse 10 gets into specifics about "when" this will happen, "At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hipocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them." Then in verse 15, "But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them...that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of my people..."

Is it just me or does this sound a little too close to home?

The not so scientific poll...

I was hoping to get a little larger response to the poll I was running so I could gather a little more accurate numbers. However, I'll take what I got and run with it. The question was: How are politics and religion related? The answer choices were:
- They cannot be separated.
- They should be treated as church and state.
- They have no relation.
- Who cares?
So the results were: a) 53% b) 38% c) 7% and d) 0%



I am proud to say that no one voted the who cares. The worst thing that someone can do is give up and just take what comes. In today's social climate that would be very much like running down the Snake River in an inner tube without a paddle or life jacket. Whatever your views are, do not give them up for complacency! Find your voice.

Next, we had one vote for 'no relation.' I am trying to figure out if this was someone trying to spice up the poll or if this was a real and valid opinion. Ghandi once said, "Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." In my opinion, when one has the power to control the other their destinies are forever intertwined.

I shouldn't have been surprised that there were nearly as many responses here as there were for the 'cannot be separated' choice. However, I personally have a difficult time understanding this point of view. I like this quote by Einstein, “Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions." To me, it seems like separating politics and religion would be somewhat like trying to separate the two sides of the brain. While each side is responsible for different functions, it is difficult to function without one and either side can be over or under developed. In this way, I believe that church and state are impossible to separate in politics. Look at the presidential election. The candidates were not separated from their religions. Mitt Romney was scrutinized for his ties to the LDS faith, Obama for his past association with the Muslim faith and current ties to the radical Christian faction of Reverend White. I think that these discussions of a candidates religion is healthy. Will our president, who has stewardship over all of us, pray for guidance? Pray for peace? Pray for inspiration?

Lastly, religion and politics cannot be separated. I hope that up to now you have understood what I think to be a rational opinion for why I think this was the clear choice. When your 'state' can dictate to you how you will practice your religion or a religion becomes the state and overtakes healthy debate and discussion, both spell disaster. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state and never its tool." Both politics and religion are an indelible part of our lives. The real trick is to strike a balance, a rhythm in our lives between the two. Do not let your religion take over to the point of complacency in political involvement. Transversely, do not let politics take over your life in such a way that you lose your connection with God. And to end with a quote by Justice William Rehnquist, "It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of constitutional history. . . . The establishment clause has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly forty years. . . . There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build a wall of separation [between church and state]. . ."

Waiting...

With all that has transpired this month, I keep expecting for my 'Old Faithful' opinion to boil up and spew a little more onto this page. However, I have felt relatively peaceful. There was one exception which you can read about on my family blog but right now, things are pretty darn ok. Tomorrow I plan on writing a little piece on the results of my poll. I will probably be posting another so stay tuned....

Unexpected Perspective

I had the opportunity to attend BodyWorlds this morning with my wife. It brought some perspective that I was not anticipating. For those of you that are not familiar with the exhibit, it shows, in great detail, the different systems of the human body. As we walked through, it became very apparent to me that there is absolutely no way that we were not designed and built by chance. God had everything to do with how we were put together and how each system and function was skillfully, if not artfully crafted into one super complex organism.


I also found it interesting that fewer (and I mean a lot fewer) people went to the portion of exhibit that showed the development of a fetus. As we looked at a "specimen" that was only 9 weeks developed, it was easy to see that this little child has 10 toes, 10 fingers, facial features and a heart. I think that every woman that is considering abortion should be forced to see this exhibit. I think that many, when shown that the 'problem' developing within their bodies are living, beating, children, they may seriously reconsider what they are doing. If what we know now was known back then would there even be a Roe vs. Wade? I doubt it. There is too much scientific evidence now, I believe, that would show that those little guys have feelings, feel pain, and should, again my opinion, have just as much right to life as we do.

The thing I didn't expect to see at Body Worlds? A camel.

The Silent Killer

I had a unique opportunity to attend church with my parents this morning. My parents are currently serving as Inner City missionaries in a downtown Salt Lake City ward. A good portion of their ward is composed of refugees from across the globe - chiefly from Africa but there is a good mix of ethnicity throughout the ward. My Dad serves as a counselor in the bishopric there.

As I sat there and sacrament meeting started, I really started having an "awakening" of sorts. Here I sat in a room of people that had nothing - literally nothing. They had no country of their own, they had none of their belongings and, in talking with my Father about various members of the ward, some did not even have complete families. Many of these people were forced to flee for their lives with nothing but what they had on their backs. Many of them lost children and many others lost beloved sweethearts. Yet here they sit, singing the hymns with great vigor, they participated earnestly in classes, and were very sincere in their desire to become closer to the Savior. As I further discussed this with my parents, they shared the experience of participating in a Fast and Testimony meeting in this ward. They have so many testimonies shared each month that the people begin filing up to the stand before the bishopric member is done with their testimony and there is never that awkward pause while others wait for the spirit to work on someone enough to pop them out of their comfortable seat to share.

I compare this to my own ward and my own service. It is a rare experience to not have that 'awkward pause' in our ward. Hymns are sung at a mush-mouth hum volume at best as only 1/2 the congregation actually removes the hymnal from the pew and cracks it open. I think about the way I serve in my calling.... is there more I can do? Am I really 'magnifying' or just fulfilling? We need to do more to "Awake and Arise!"

In my estimation, complacency is killing us. It is killing our country and dulling our spirits! Pres. Monson said, "We are a prayerful and faith-filled people, ever striving to be decent and honest. We take care of each other. We try to show love to our neighbors. However, lest we become complacent, may I quote from 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon: “At that day shall [the devil] … lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls.” 1

Someone has said that our complacency tree has many branches, and each spring more buds come into bloom.

We cannot afford to be complacent. We live in perilous times; the signs are all around us. We are acutely aware of the negative influences in our society that stalk traditional families. At times television and movies portray worldly and immoral heroes and heroines and attempt to hold up as role models some actors and actresses whose lives are anything but exemplary. Why should we follow a blind guide? Radios blare forth much denigrating music with blatant lyrics, dangerous invitations, and descriptions of almost every type of evil imaginable.

We, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, must stand up to the dangers which surround us and our families." (full talk here)

I invite you to join with me in recommitting yourself to the gospel. Not just go through the motions but to actually partake - feast even on the opportunities we are given each week. I will pray to overcome my own complacency - not only in my religion but in my duties as a citizen and a neighbor. Let us overcome this silent killer together. Sorry this ended up so long!

My nation has lost its God... Can you help look for Him?

With this holiday season in full swing, I reflect on what it must have been like to live half a century ago. For those of you who know me, you know that I am absolutely fascinated by the automobiles from this era. These cars were made before the government stepped into the auto industry and mandated what type of car they could build. That is probably why the classics are still classics. They are pure, unadulterated imagination come to life. Anyway, that's not where I was headed when I started...

50 years ago, I realize there were problems, that it wasn't a perfect world. However, there is one aspect of the past (if only it was just one) that I long for, the acceptance of Christianity. What have we become in the name of equality and diversity? Godless. But not really. You see, I believe that worshiping is one of those human characteristics that is built into us. Something that we do for fulfillment. If we do not have a God to worship, we choose cars, or money, or anything that we can take to an excess. There is always a way to spend our time that tips our hand to what we worship.

Nowadays it seems that it is okay to be anything BUT Christian. You can be gay, atheist, Muslim, or agnostic and sometimes near on to a terrorist and we as a nation will be tolerable towards your beliefs and lifestyle - sometimes downright cater to it and yet if you are a Christian, you are often treated as if you have a mental disorder.

I recently read a story of a small town in Michigan that passed an ordinance that allowed the local mosque to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers throughout the town. (http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/3026297/detail.html) I recommend the read and the thoughts that it provokes.

I guess the big thing I don't understand is why we have come to the point of complacency where we allow such small percentages of the population lead us around by the nose? By us I mean our representatives and judges mostly. My theory? The majority in this country has their head down, working hard and trying to take care of business. We don't have time to boycott or protest. We are too busy making jobs, raising families and trying to do what's right. I can only imagine what our Founding Fathers must think of what we have become. They must be heart-sick. So, how do we take action? If voting isn't enough where do we go from here? That is the trick question.

Anyway, I realize this is a bit random this morning but these are simply my wanderings... Heres a little "ditty" for you...

In God we Trust... nevermind God, we'll take it from here. After all, people have other God's you know? You can't be hogging all the attention. I'll tell You what, we'll give You Sunday and then we will divvy out the other days to the other gods - including the ones we don't even know we are worshiping. I know, I know, you gave us all 7 days and every day we get air to breathe but you've gotta understand, we need equality, we need tolerance. If we don't give those other gods some air time, those leftys are gonna flip! It will be ok, we'll still pray in secret. In fact to make sure we don't make anyone feel bad, we won't use Your name in schools, in government, heck - we'll even take Your name off of our money if we have to. I mean, it's for peace, right? Aren't we supposed to be a peaceful people? This otta work... What? You think we should do what? Take the persecution? Stand up for You? pfft... that's why You're not in charge anymore. Thanks for the advice, God, but we know what we are doing, we've learned all we need to from You, we'll take it from here...

Moving Forward

Our country is deeply divided. In the recent decades each political party has felt the sting of defeat. As conservative Christians, we have probably felt the sting a little deeper because of the lack of representation from either political party. However, what has divided this country is the inability to let go of this pain of defeat. Many dwell on this pain and let it fester into a full blown infection of retaliation. Let us not do that. As conservatives, our message appears to be in the minority for the moment, however, let us do all we can to unite our wounded country. While it will continue to be imperative to fight for righteousness and justice, let us not fight for political justice but justice for all, for citizens, for children of God. Let us do all we can to heal political wounds through service, civil conversation, and conservative actions.

I invite you to join with me in daily prayers for our political leaders. The Savior said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matt 5:44) Righteousness will prevail but we must do our part in the fight for right. Though perilous times are ahead of us, know that they are all part of Heavenly Father's plan. Let go of the hate and hurt and lead by example and love. This too, shall pass.