Having never read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ original book on Tarzan, “Tarzan of the Apes,” I decided to pick it up a week or so ago. It brought me back to my teenage years when I loved Burroughs’ science fiction about trips to Mars and Venus. There is something about Burroughs’ style that appealed to me as a teenager and appeals to me today.

Now I can see what it is: his heroes are old-fashioned gentlemen, and something inside me really likes that and even liked it when I was a wayward teenager.

I mention this because Jettboy took a lot of heat for saying that we Mormons are the last traditional moralists. He is factually wrong (there are plenty of other religions with lots of traditional moralists even today), but his overall point is correct: we as a society have practically abandoned the idea of traditional morality being something to which we should aspire.

Not so with Burroughs and Tarzan.

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I’ve seen a fair amount of comments on Facebook poking fun of the Utah legislature for passing a law making gold and silver legal tender in the Beehive state. One Democrat said Utah should make salt legal tender because Utah produces a lot of salt.

Here’s a description of the bill:

The measure would recognize as legal tender gold and silver coins issued by the federal government — not just their face value, but also their value in gold and silver or to a collector, and exempt sales from personal gains tax. It also would order the state to study whether Utah should establish an alternative form of legal tender, such as one backed by silver and gold.

“It will put some pressure on the federal government. That’s the goal here because right now we have a dollar that’s just running away with inflation and our hope is that this is a little bit of a shock that’ll say we want to deal with inflation,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, Senate sponsor of the bill.

I’m having problems understanding the concerns here. Perhaps you can help me out.
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One of the great things about owning an iPad (or other e-reader) is that you can read literally thousands of older books for free. I have been reading dozens of older works that I never got to for one reason or another. And I have been on a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle jag, mostly because his books are accessible, fun and easy to read (unlike some of the other things you read from the 19th century).

Sir Arthur’s first book about Sherlock Holmes is called “A Study in Scarlet.” It is a murder mystery in which we are introduced for the first time to Dr. Watson and the famous Holmes. Two people are killed in London, and Holmes sets about solving the mystery. Much to my surprise, it turns out the primary villain in the story is Brigham Young, whose portrayal is so far from the historical Young that it is kind of campy fun.

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I was discussing the whole issue of legalizing drugs with my 15-year-old daughter the other day, and I asked her: “if you could buy joints on aisle C of Walgreen’s, would more teenagers smoke pot or fewer?”

Her answer: “almost nobody would smoke pot if you could get it at Walgreen’s. It wouldn’t be cool anymore.”

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When I lived in Brazil there was an older woman in our ward who came every Sunday but never got baptized. I was in the bishopric, and one day I was talking to her and I asked her why. Tears came to her eyes, and she gave two reasons: she could not give up smoking, and her deceased father was a Jewish rabbi, and she felt she could not go against his wishes and abandon her Jewish faith.

This woman had a firm testimony that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ. She had a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon and of modern-day prophets. She loved everything about the Church but for her own personal reasons could not become an official member.

I felt very strongly at that time that this woman was accepted in the eyes of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They understood her pain and the reasons for her weakness, and they still loved her. So, I was inspired not to pressure her, to just let her continue on her own journey. I also felt pretty strongly that when she dies somebody will be baptized for her, and she will thankfully accept and continue to move forward.

I see the journey towards getting closer to our Heavenly Father as a climb toward the summit of a mountain. Continue reading →