A sad state of affairs

I listened to the news today and was saddened by two events involving young people shooting others with no regard at all to human life. One young German took the lives of 15 people, while another young American took the lives of 10 others, including his mother, uncle, aunt and cousin. How sad this makes me. It is especially disheartening to hear stories like this because well-meaning individuals use events such as this to say we should not have the right to bear arms. I realize the immensity of senseless death, but if we allow our rights to be trampled upon, they will be, especially with a Socialist like Obama in office.

Responding to attacks.

I do not normally include in my rants entire articles on any subject. I often refer to articles and news reports etc., but I always try to cite those (at least informally) in the text. Today I am including a complete article that was emailed to me due to its importance. Living life as a Mormon can sometimes be interesting, especially when others who are not Mormon misunderstand Mormon beliefs. According to the person who sent this to me, the article depicts the official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints view on a controversial subject. What I liked about it, and the reason why I have included it, is that it applies to all religious groups and entities that have been attacked unfairly or have been discriminated against. If we could all respond to our detractors using this method, the world would be a much better place.


SALT LAKE CITY 9 March 2009 Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.
As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.
Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.
Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.
Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.
Examples:
During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.
When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.
When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.
In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.
Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.
If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Global Warming

Raise your hand if you believe in global warming. Come on, I see you out there! If you really don't know what to believe perhaps you should know that there is a conference being held right now in New York City that is being attended by 70 scientists who state that global warming is a myth, and it is propulgated by idiots such as Al Gore in order to make money. These aren't the only scientists that believe the same way, there are over 650 other scientists who recently stated the same thing. I love to research and write papers, and have done a lot of studying on the global warming phenomena and I have come to the conclusion that the earth warms and cools naturally and that all the billions of dollars being spent on proving otherwise are ending up in fatcat wallets who take advantage of governments and other entities to steal money from taxpayers. Science has not shown that the earth is cooling, in fact the opposite is true. The earth is now cooler by 4 degrees than it was 1000 years ago. More recently, the last five years have shown that the earth is growing cooler not warmer. Of course, Al and his friends will tell you that the reason it is getting cooler is due to global warming, but only an idiot like Al would even pretend to believe that, especially since his pockets are the ones being lined with our cash!

My right to pray!

This is a headline of an article I read today: "Private and Christian schools in Illinois are being told not to pray at athletic events". My question is; when did we become so politically correct that now we cannot ask our Saviour, or our God, for assistance in human endeavors? Who do these people think they are that they can tell me that my strength, my faith, my belief in God is something that I cannot call on in times when I really need that strength to help me through? I've said it before and I will say it again; if you give these people who wish to take away our rights an inch, they will keep pushing until they have a foot, then a yard, and then the entire measuring stick will be theirs to brandish over our heads. Now, we are to the point that even if we send our kids to religious schools because we are tired of being told who and what we can pray to, we will still be told who and what we can pray to. I coach at a Catholic school and we pray before every game, even though I'm not Catholic, I will vehemently oppose anyone who attempts to take those rights away. Heaven help us when we cannot even call on heaven to help us!

DOMA

Did you hear the news? Now we have 15 gay couples (that's an oxymoron) that are filing a federal lawsuit to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. In other words we are being forced to acknowledge that gays and lesbians can receive federal funding because they are married! What is really sad about all this is that they are also attempting to overturn Prop 8 that the majority of citizens in California voted to uphold. Radical judges can now rescind what the majority desires, with no reasoning at all. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of gays and lesbians telling me that I have to accept their deviant lifestyle. I don't have to accept it, and I won't. It's wrong, immoral, and deviant.

Jobs, not work!

I listened to the blathering idiots on the radio this a.m. and once again I just have to laugh at what they find important. These two characters were talking about the city of Orem listing one hundred new jobs created by changing a traffic light. The city officials were filling out an application in order to receive a portion of the "stimulus" money that our esteemed President has promised will 'save our economy'. The most interesting thing about this is in four years Barack will be able to say "My plan created millions of new jobs" and people will believe him. One hundred people to change a traffic light, one hundred people to paint lines on the road, one hundred people to move rocks from one side of the street to the other, all those hundreds add up. What the city officials don't tell you is that these are not jobs, they are work. Work ends, jobs don't! We are quickly traveling a road that will become a slippery path to socialism.

Conservatives Arise

There have been a number of prominent conservatives at the recent CPAC convention, many of them touting the same message. "We must return to our conservative roots in order to win back control of the country". The problem I have with that is what they did when they were in control. The acted like Democrats! Spending billions of dollars, wasting money (our money!) and generally acting as if all they wished to do was get reelected. I say we get rid of them all, and start over. We conservatives should determine whether the people we are voting for will actually stand up for our beliefs and if they don't, then just say NO! I'm very tired of listening to politically correct Senators and Congressmen who don't wish to offend anyone. What I want is someone who will stand up, state his/her beliefs and don't back down. If the liberals are offended, so be it!