I was not going to address the George Zimmerman trial on this blog, until I was forwarded this essay from “Mormon Iconoclast.” The post gets almost everything important wrong, but I think it is instructive because it explains a lot about modern culture and why we have so many problems in the world. Bottom line: a lot of smart people, including the author of this post, are simply incapable of logic and critical thinking, and it is truly a sad thing to behold.

Let’s start, however, with a two things that the author, by accident apparently, gets right. He agrees that the verdict was correct, ie that George Zimmerman was not guilty. So, even a post as bad as this one can get that basic point right. And he points out that Zimmerman’s actions, i.e. killing another man, will cause the person doing the killing a lot of grief. Again, this is true and fairly obvious. Zimmerman will be a marked man the rest of his life.

Let’s go through the Mormon Iconoclast post point by point looking at actual facts and evidence, as opposed to the emotional blather we get in the post.

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One of the most striking messages for me when I first read the Book of Mormon is the constant condemnation of people who are “learned.”

I am thinking of 2 Nephi 9:28, which famously says: “When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.”

In the Book of Mormon we are constantly hearing about lawyers who are “learned in all the arts and cunning of the people; and this was to enable them that they might be skillful in their profession.” (Alma 10:15). Sherem, the first anti-Christ introduced in the Book of Mormon, was learned and had perfected the art of flattery.

But there is much, much more: 2 Nephi 27:20 says of the scriptures: “The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.”

We are warned that the learned become “puffed up” (prideful) because of their learning (2 Nephi 9:42). People begin to distinguish themselves by the fact that they are learned (3 Nephi 6:12). In 2 Nephi 28:15 the learned are compared to those who commit whoredoms!

All of these references to the “learned” in the Book of Mormon raises an interesting point: what they heck were they learning and how were they learning things? Continue reading →

In the concepts in Jim Collins’ book, “Good to Great”, he discusses the key points from his research on how the best companies go from good to great. Last time, we discussed Level 5 Leadership. This time, we’ll discuss the next important thing: Getting the Right People on the Bus.

One of the problems with many companies is they hire people who have specific talents, but the people are not the “right fit” for the overall goals of the company.  Note that this is a bus, if a person does not fit in one seat, they may fit well in another seat (position), however if they are a bad fit for the bus, there is no seat that will fit them well.

There must be a shared vision that carries the company to success. Continue reading →