America's Founding

This post is the first in a series of posts that will discuss the founding of the current US government.  I wanted to write about this because I wanted to learn more and think more about the founding.  I was watching one of the news stations and was appalled by the bickering between a Democrat and a Republican.

I think that we can do better than our current system of government.  But not in the sense that I think our system is broken but that our the way in which most party members approach the system and their respective interpretations of the founding documents.

As an example, the current discussion about the "Fiscal Cliff" brings a lot of contention.  Both parties see that there is a fiscal problem in our country.  The economy is performing poorly, and we don't have enough revenue to cover our expenses.  Instead of cooperation, there is a positional bargaining negotiation taking place between the parties in power.  This is how the system is broken.  At the same time there are fundamental differences between the principles each party uses in configuring a solution.

What I hope to accomplish through this series of posts is to formulate my own opinion, independent of what any media or outside source is telling me, about how the system should work and an interpretation of the founding principles.

As well, I will try to reconcile the conflicts between those founding principles.  An example of this might be "what role does morality have in deciding constitutionality of laws?"  The main example of this is my mind right now is based on the question of homosexual marriage.  The issue is not as simple as everyone makes it sound. Many against it justify their position based solely as a moral issue.  Many in favor of it justify their position based solely on their interpretation of constitutional equality.  The conflict for me is how a Christian should answer this question.

But answers to these types of issues will come only after a deeper analysis at the founding documents.  So that is where I will start, with the Declaration of Independence.

I Believe in Christ!

This morning I was reading about the destruction that occurred on the American continent at the time of Jesus' death.  After the destruction stopped, Christ spoke to the people and explained that the wicked had been destroyed and that they had been spared, not because they were righteous, but because they were more righteous than those that had been destroyed.

Christ's call to the remainder of the people was this: "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."

I want all to know that I do believe in Christ.  I have accepted His call.  I follow His commandments.  I strive to obtain the eternal life that He has promised.  I know that Christ is merciful because He tells us that this salvation is for all; for everyone who repents and comes unto Him.

Lessons Learned from Lachoneus

Who is Lachoneus you ask?  Lachoneus was a government leader of the Nephites here in America at the time Christ was alive in Jerusalem.

I am writing about him because of what the United States is going through right now.  After the presidential election in November, I saw a lot of posts on Facebook about how the end was coming because Obama was voted to be president again.  There were plenty of other posts urging the first posters to calm down because Obama was the right choice.  Still others, taking a step back, discussed the way the system works in the US and how damage can be reversed even if Obama's policies were bad for the nation, or that the Republicans still ran the House and could act as a check.

I don't presume to know what will happen with the US because of anything.  I really don't have a good grasp of what drives Americans and how any of our policies truly affect the macro economy or the world around us in political ways.  I am, of course, driven by my own biases on which principles are better.

Luckily for you and for me, I'm not going to talk about them now.  As I was reading in 3 Nephi this morning, I was reminded of the above mentioned events because of the story of Lachoneus.  Again, Lachoneus was a Nehpite leader (political) at a time when there was a band of robbers known as the Gadianton Robbers.  These robbers were known to loot, steal, murder, etc. and yet their numbers were still growing because of dissenters from the Nephite and Lamanite nations.  Those Lamanites who were converted to believe in Christ became Nephites.  Those now known as Nephites were invited by Giddianhi, the leader of the robbers, to join them.  He threatened that if they did not join, his band of robbers would attack them and kill them.  This really isn't the point of the story though.

What is important is Lachoneus' response.  Without saying our government is wicked or that we really are at the point of national destruction, for those who believe that is where we are, the response is important to you.  His response was "he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them."  After causing the people to gather together, building fortifications around the entire population, and setting up guards around them, he said unto them "As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers."

This is the point, no matter who our leaders are, no matter who our enemies are, the way to deliverance is through faith on Christ, repentance, and obedience to his laws.  The Nephites lived under these conditions for years, but eventually they beat the robbers.  The righteous may again suffer, but in the end, Christ will deliver them.

So my invitation to you is have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, and follow Him.  Then have hope that He will deliver you.

House Rules

While we were eating dinner tonight, one of our boys was complaining about having to eat pizza.  My wife told him that she knows he likes all of those ingredients and that he was being mean by complaining about it.  As an objective observer, I thought to create this meme.  This is for moms.

Nine Eleven

I was reminded that today was 9/11 by all of the Facebook posts urging remembrance.  We definitely suffered a great loss as a county, and many people individually.  My mind turned to the perception we have of the attacks and what it is we should be remembering.

I am curious about our relationship with Japan and whether that could help us know how heal.  In WWII our nation bombed Japan with two atomic bombs.  Thousands upon thousands of innocent individuals were killed.  How did Japan forgive us for that?  I don't mean the government, because I bet the government just realized they made a bad war decision, but the people.  How did they forgive us?  Have they forgiven us?  What are the Japanese taught in school about America?  Do the Japanese see the citizens of the US as separate from the government?

I don't know how those questions can be answered (well I do, but I don't have time or the money to create a study), but I do see that we seem to be on good terms.

The point of all of this is that however the Japanese learned to forgive us, we should also learn to forgive those who bombed us.  I strongly believe that we should always remember 9/11, and I think the thing we should think about when remembering is "how can I, or how can we create peace, tolerance, brotherhood, etc. among all nations of the world.

There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that creates a lot of talk in the church: 2 Nephi 25:23.  The discussion is about the phrase "after all we can do," and when God's Grace comes into effect.  As a teenager, some teachers said that it meant you had to do your best and then God's Grace would take care of the rest.  More recently I read a devotional, which happen every week at BYU, discussing this topic.  The speaker, Brad Wilcox, taught that God's Grace is an always thing.  For each and every one of us, God's Grace has already saved us.  The "after all we can do" is to say that even after all we can do it is still God's Grace that saves us.  Instead of focusing on what we need to do to get God's Grace, we simply need to accept it and let it change us.
As I was reading today, I found another verse with a similar message: 2 Nephi 10:24.  In this one, there is a message to "remember."  Once you are reconciled unto God, remember that it is only through Grace that you are saved.  A message from Elder Russell M. Nelson indicates that the ordinances of the gospel provide reconciliation with God.  Therefore, the message in the scripture seems to say, even after you have done what you have been asked to do - obtain the ordinances of the temple - it is not your actions that save you, but God's Grace.  The question is, do you have to do things then to be saved by Grace?  Can non-action prevent you from being saved by God's Grace?
Alma 41 teaches all about what happens after death.  Basically, all men are resurrected (spirit and body reunited, never to be separated again), and all men are brought before God to be judged.  Some have taught that the judgment before God is actually a self-judgment.  If we are righteous, we will feel comfortable in the presence of God and we will stay (C.S. Lewis also taught this - The Great Divorce).  If we are not comfortable, we will choose to leave, and the more unrighteous we are, the further away we will want to get.  Whatever our choice in that moment, God's Grace has already saved us, we are in His presence at that moment.  Thus it is how we let God's Grace change us, that will determine our end state.

Called on to Renounce Religion

Mitt Romney was recently called on by Rev. O'Neal Dozier to renounce his Mormon religion because, as he asserts it is a "racist" religion.  I want to assume for this entry that whatever the reverend says is correct.  Aside from the assumptions that Mormonism is racist due to its the timing of allowing African Americans to receive the priesthood, and that racism is bad, the reverend must also assume that people should not affiliate with organizations or entities that are racist.  I say this because without that assumption there would be no logical connection between his assumptions about the church and his call for Mitt Romney to renounce his religion.

So, since I am making all the same assumptions as Rev. Dozier, I would have to request that everyone who is associated with anything that ever was racist, must renounce that organization.  Which would mean that every single American should renounce our nation.  Why?  Because our nation was racist.  African Americans were counted as property, they were slaves.  Since, to Rev. Dozier, people should not affiliate with organizations that were racist, nobody should be affiliated with the United States.

Does that seem right?  No, it doesn't.  Not to me at least.  As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  has commented, there is no identifiable reason for why the church did not permit African Americans to have the priesthood until 1978.  I do not believe the church is racist, so I think the reverends request is absurd, but I also think that his request is absurd because it doesn't make sense, as described above.