Forgiveness Matters

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trainwreckAmerica is having a bad year.

It seems like each week, and almost every day there is some sort of violence being perpetrated on one group or another by some other group or another who feels slighted or aggrieved. This year’s presidential election has not helped the national mood either. We live in this zero-sum game world now where we’ve taken justice into our own hands, because we must win at all costs, or make the people with whom we disagree pay for what we perceive as their sins against us and humanity. Daily, in the media, we hear pudits screaming that people who do not agree with them, “will pay”. My own social media feed is filled with articles written by foil-hatted fools who predict the end of world if their guy (or gal) does not win, or if justice is not served up right away. The anger and frustration is tangible.

Are you tired of it? Because I am.

We need to be having a discussion as a nation that is not about politics, or groups, or whose side will win and what they will do to the losers.

The real discussion we should be having is about forgiveness. Forgiveness Matters. Here, I’ll hashtag it for you #ForgivnessMatters. Now go and tweet that out, but first think about it and let it soak into you head. FORGIVENESS MATTERS.
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Revelation during the Fort Collins Temple Dedication

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Some readers may know that the Fort Collins temple was dedicated over the weekend.  You can read about it here.

ft-collins-temple-cornerstone3-2016

To sum up the details:  President Uchtdorf was in town with Elder Renlund and several other Church officials.  On Saturday there was a massive cultural celebration in Hughes Stadium, where the CSU football team plays.  More than 20,000 people were there.  On Sunday, President Uchtdorf placed mortar around the cornerstone and presided over three dedicatory sessions.

During the dedicatory sessions, many chapels were consecrated as extensions of the temple so all baptized members could watch the dedication.  We gathered in our local chapel with two of our baptized children.

All of the events were surrounded by a peaceful feeling of the sacred.  I kept on thinking back to past temple dedications — especially the Kirtland temple dedication in 1836 — and how temple dedications are accompanied by the Spirit and very often personal revelation.

And the exciting part for our family was that my wife and I had some personal revelations of our own.

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Stop the Contention

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fightingI’m one of the Gospel Doctrine teachers in my ward. It’s a calling l love, but am terrified of all at the same time. Teaching the gospel to adults is very hard, especially when I feel like I’m the least experienced in the room. But it’s good to feel inadequate sometimes. It pushes me to rely on the Lord a lot more to do my calling the right way.

This year’s course of study has been The Book of Mormon and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Over the last few weeks as we’ve wound our way thru the chapters in the Book of Alma and Helaman there are stark patterns that emerge that parallel our day. Some people call it “The Pride Cycle”, but basically it’s the story of the human condition since the beginning of time. People are good, they are blessed, then become prideful and wicked. They fall, and become enslaved – either to their own vice and are destroyed , or are literally taken away as slaves to be humbled. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Sometimes the cycle repeats itself several times in the course of a year.

Right before the Savior’s visit to the Nephites in 3 Nephi, this cycle becomes particularly vicious, with the people dividing themselves up into tribes and with the Gadianton Robbers bearing down on everyone they can. At the death of the Savior, the land is broken up, there is great destruction and the Nephite civilization is destroyed, with “the more righteous part” of the people being left to pick up the pieces and start over. Continue reading →

Church asks members to oppose legal marijuana, assisted suicide

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This Deseret News article says it all:

The LDS Church’s First Presidency is asking the faith’s members in four western states to oppose bills that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide and recreational marijuana use.

Church President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors sent a letter Wednesday to Mormons in Colorado, where Proposition 106 would legalize physician-assisted suicide.

“We urge church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to measures that would legalize physician-assisted suicide,” said the letter signed by President Monson, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who make up the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They sent a similar letter Wednesday to Mormons in Arizona, California and Nevada about marijuana legislation.

“We urge church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana use,” the letter said.

I don’t think the Church could have been more clear:  the Brethren oppose the legalization of marijuana, and they want members to make it clear that they oppose the legalization of marijuana. Taken in conjunction with the Church’s opposition to medical marijuana in Utah, it seems clear to me at least that our leaders do not want latter-day Saints to support marijuana legalization in any form.  (Note to readers:  there may be some nuances that I am not aware of:  if you disagree with my description of the Church’s position, please let me know in the comments).

I am a libertarian-leaning person, and I voted for marijuana legalization in Colorado.  To be clear on my position:  I don’t think anybody should use any drug, including cannabis, recreationally.  I think recreational marijuana is bad for you.  My support of legalization in Colorado is primarily on practical grounds:  many juries will not convict people for MJ possession or for growing MJ because of overwhelming support for marijuana legalization in Colorado.  So, cops used to spend months tracking down violators, and prosecutors used to spend months putting together a case, but then juries would let people go because they thought marijuana should be legal.  It was getting to the point where prosecutors could not even empanel a jury.  So, from a purely practical standpoint, it didn’t make sense (in my mind) for police and prosecutors to spend time on such a losing cause.

So, how should I respond to the Church’s growing opposition to MJ legalization?

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The Importance of Religious Freedom

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1st-amendIn all of the political bickering as a result of this election, we’ve lost sight of something very important, preserving our religious liberty. This is not just an important issue for Latter-day Saints, it is an important issue for all people, regardless if they are people of faith or not.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This is the first right enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Freedom of religion, coupled with freedom of speech are the two most important rights, we as Americans, have. Sadly, we know, we see, and we are experiencing the loss of these two rights daily. Lawsuits, political correctness, and people and groups with agendas are working overtime to make sure these rights are diminished, or only protected for certain classes of people, and that people of faith are excluded from the public square, and even punished for their faith. Continue reading →