Discussing sexual topics on a Mormon blog is always a delicate thing. First of all, such topics often make many people feel uncomfortable. But frankly the most unpleasant part of the whole thing is that if you try to explain the Church’s position on sexual issues you are always accused by the doubters of being judgmental, intolerant, etc.

This post on the FAIR blog does an excellent job, in my opinion, of dealing with an extremely difficult topic: masturbation.

Does the Church believe that masturbation is wrong? Yes. Is it a grave sin akin to fornication or adultery? No. But it clearly is something that should be avoided and is something for which we should repent.

Given that young people are exposed to a long list of TV shoes and movies that treat masturbation as normal and perhaps even laudable, it is a pleasant surprise to see a well-done summary of the Church’s position that is both logically presented and well-documented.

Here are some of the highlights of the FAIR blog piece:

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This is a guest post by H_nu. H_nu is a research scientist with a PhD in one of the physical sciences, and a love for quality literature. He describes himself as more conservative than Mormon, and has little patience with Mormons In Name Only. He finds internet Mormons quirky, because they are intolerant of those they consider intolerant. His favorite word is hypocrisy, and expects this post to garner some.

Cautionary Subtitles: Spoiler Alert. Adult Material Alert.

I’ll admit I’m completely conflicted about this blog post. I’ve been thinking about this for the last three days, having watched the movie on Wednesday night. I have never watched the stage production, and was only aware of the of the content by listening to the British cast recording, reading Victor Hugo’s book, watching the 25 year Anniversary special, and the 1998 film adaptation. I was familiar with the “adult content”, and thought the apparent good of the film would overcome the “adult content”.
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This author makes the following point: giving people money they did not earn, either through the lottery, or through endless entitlements, makes people unhappy.

(Note to readers: we can all agree that temporarily giving people money so they don’t starve or so they can keep the lights on — the types of programs carried out by the Church — are not what is being discussed here. We are instead discussing a lifestyle of endless entitlements or earning money without working for it. It is worth pointing out that Church aid very often involves asking people to work for the money they receive.)

From the article:

But hitting the jackpot generally leads to unhappiness. A famous 1978 study of major lottery winners in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that while the winners experienced an immediate happiness boost right after winning, it didn’t last. Within a few months, their happiness levels receded to where they had been before winning. As time passed, they found they were actually less happy than they had been before winning.

Does this suggest that money makes us unhappy? Not at all. There is a huge amount of research showing that money, when earned, has a generally positive association with happiness. The problem is when it is unearned, when raw purchasing power is untethered from hard work and merit. Above basic subsistence, happiness comes not from money per se, but from the value creation it is rewarding.

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After the horrific massacre in a Connecticut school, we heard over and over again about how violent crime is on the rise in the United States.

Such claims are false. In fact, murders are the lowest they have been in decades.

And in case our liberal lurkers think I am taking this information from some right-wing gun nut site, I would refer them to the source, which is, ahem, a left-wing site:

http://leftcall.com/u-s-crime-rates-1960-2010-the-facts-might-surprise-you/

To quote from those gun-crazy left-wingers:

While the 50-year low for murder per 100,000 was in 1962 and 1963 with 4.6 per 100,000, those years were actually down a bit from the rest of the 1960s which ranged from 4.8 to 7.3. What was the 2010 number? – 4.8 per 100,000 – That’s a tie with 1961. Yes, you read that correctly. The murder rate, indexed to population was at a near 50-year low in 2010. Compare that to the worst year, 1980, when the rate was 10.2 per 100,000.

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Today we are going to discuss the issue of “why don’t greedy companies pay their employees higher salaries?” I have been hearing this a lot lately, both in my personal interactions and in the media. So, bear with me why I try to explain this issue in the simplest terms possible. I am struck that surprisingly few people understand the basics of how businesses work, so I will be trying to do a little educatin’.

I have started several small businesses. I have also worked in a corporation where I had to hire and fire people. So, I have first-hand knowledge of how small businesses work and how large corporations work.

Again, bear with me, but I think we need to first define what a job is. A job involves one person renting out his time and experience to another person or group of people. It is a voluntary transaction that is mutually beneficial. So, if you have a job where you work 40 hours a week and make $40k per year, you have made a voluntary decision that it is worth trading your time, which is valuable, for money, which is also valuable.

Let me emphasize the voluntary nature of this transaction. Unless you are a slave (in which case send me an email so I can find a way to help you), you have voluntarily decided that at the time you took the job it was the best thing available. You have free will. When you took the job, you could have decided to take another job, start your own business or not work at all. Nobody forced you to take that job (again, unless you are a slave).

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