The Golden Path

Should You Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?

2011-12-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Whenever you face a hard decision, a great way to find out if it's right or wrong is to carry it out to it's most extreme example. So let's do just that, which one of these would you vote for?

Adolf Hitler Joseph Stalin

Stalin was responsible for 20 million deaths. Hitler was responsible for only paltry 11 million. So I guess you cast your vote for Hitler eh? You gotta go for the lesser of evils, right? Does that sound appealing?

This choice might make you ask "why are these the only choices?"

Well, there are other choices, but here's the reality, Hilter is polling at 47% in the Iowa straw poll, and Stalin is the clear front runner for the GOP nomination. There are a couple third party candidates and other people going for the Republican nomination who haven't murdered anybody, but let's face it, they really don't have a chance of winning.

THAT'S why these are really the only two choices; they're the only ones with a chance of winning. Right?

Is this why you have no choice? Because you feel responsible for the outcome? I remember arguing with my Grandma when I was a kid because she had voted for Ross Perot. I knew how the vote had been split and cost George Bush the election to Clinton. You always have to look at the final outcome of the election and vote accordingly. We didn't love George Bush, especially after he raised taxes, but better him than Clinton, right?

But are you responsible for how other people vote? What are you responsible for? What can you control? So there's no confusion, I'll tell you: No, you aren't accountable for other people's decisions, you are responsible for only your actions, and you can only control what you choose to do. If your choice is between Satan and Jesus and every single person is going to vote for Satan, does it matter if you vote for Jesus? If everyone else is sinning, does it matter if you repent?

The answer to that, is yes. It's important because it matters to you.
What justification do you ever have for choosing evil? Can God make an allowance for that? Is it sometimes the only way to vote for evil? Do we live in a universe where it you have to choose evil? Is it necessary to choose evil to be righteous? [Again, the answer is no, there are no contradictions in the universe.]

"Well, Kenneth, you're being a bit dramatic now, we're talking politics, not morality." Why do you then refer to the choices as "lesser of evils?" Ok, let me explain why morality has everything to do with politics. Is it moral to force someone else to do what you want? Even if it's for a good cause, even if it's for their own good? Where do you get the authority to suspend their free agency? Does God ever take away free agency?

If you answered yes to any of those, then you are in direct opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you don't believe in the gospel, it is not important because the gospel [coincidentally...] corresponds to the facts of reality. So, judging by only empirical facts which we can prove exist, you are also in opposition to the demands of man's survival and life.

Our current government claims the right to initiate force against its citizens. So who you vote for matters very much. Will you vote for a tyrant who will continue to deny you your agency, or for someone who will respect and uphold your rights? I wouldn't care at all what you chose except for the problem that the decisions of the rest of you continue to affect my freedoms by you upholding and supporting evil, yes, evil men and policies.

If you think I'm wrong, then it is up to you to use facts and logic to show me why. Please comment.

Consider the Odds

2011-10-06T10:21:00.002-07:00

Satan stated his mission and purpose very clearly; he would continue his war against agency, with blood and horror.

How would he accomplish this? With tyrants who destroy and false priests who oppress. In other words, religiously and politically.

Politically, he would use wicked men who seek for power and gain. What is a tyrants power? Control over men. Without masses to oppress, tyranny is no fun. Through the use of military power, Satan's little helpers murder and enslave for the sake of more power and gain.

Religiously, he would teach false doctrines. Ironically, it was Korihor the anti-christ described exactly how, "And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges.Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God—a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be."

And what method of operation will Satan use in these realms? He takes the truth and mingles it with the philosophies of men. Satan rules by deception.

How deep does the deception go? To the bone and sinew. If he can make you unconsciously accept a false premise, then he doesn't have to work hard at all on anything that follows. If your foundation is flawed, then every decision you base off of it will be flawed also. And so, with everyone duped, church members included, all he must do now is distract us from questioning our basic assumptions. And that is no problem with the 24 hour news cycle of brain dead pundits arguing back and forth.

Now, having been born into this world where the self-proclaimed prince, by all qualitative and quantitative standards is winning, what do you think the chance are you escaped untouched? Do you really think you could have spent your entire life growing up in a swamp and never once gotten dirty? It is the height of idiotic hubris to think you're an exception. You are screwed up and deceived in ways you cannot fathom. Righteous or not, in some way, excuse the expression , you are Satan's bitch.

But Kenneth, that can't be true! In American politics we have a two party system, one right, one wrong. One good, one evil. Clearly I have picked the correct side.

How cute of you.

Can you think of any other two party systems in history? Let's start with the Book of Mormon; a record of two nations that fell to utter destruction. Of course we have no need of a story like that in the best country on earth! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Let's look at the Nephites and Lamanites. Which side was righteous? The Nephites of course, oh wait, what's that Mormon? Did you say something?

"And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue— And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts..."

Wait...ohhh... Murdering, torturer, cannibal rapists huh? Well that's not that bad I guess.

What about the Jaredites? When millions of people fought to the death down to the last man, which side was righteous, Coriantumr or Shiz? Let's see, well, I bet we could find out if we found out which side Ether joined. Oh wait, nevermind, he hid in a cave and didn't fight.
"It is by the wicked that the wicked are punished”.

So now, who is right, conservative or liberal? Should we vote for Romney or Obama?

When you're already on Satan's road it DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU GO RIGHT OR LEFT!

Dear Future Kenneth,

2011-09-30T12:18:00.001-07:00

I write to you today from... THE PAST!!! Yes, future boy, from across the space-time continuum I write to you to let you know that I am living quite happily as a blacksmith in 1885. Also, you learned things today that you must NOT forget. This will be a refresher, a pump primer, and a how-to manual should you ever forget again.

It seems that the knowledge of how to really LIVE in a way that brings you joy and prosperity is something withheld from you by your typical means of apprehension. These lessons are to be learned by faith, on your own, so that you may struggle and fight and win the glorious victory for yourself. And I suspect also so as to give personal experience which will endue you with credibility and gravitas that you may testify with boldness and power to the benefit and instruction of others.

So how to live the good life? 1.) By moving forward in faith, acting in a manner that pursues your values. Chad gave you a vital nugget of truth last month when you thought you were trapped in a pit you could not get out of for lack of willpower. He taught you that taking the first step makes every following step possible. If you set a small and simple goal and then achieve it, you will gain willpower, grace to do more. Action creates its own self generating momentum. Do one thing, and you will then have power to do two things.

Consider the gym. You cannot curl 150 pounds. No. You cannot. But you can curl 120 pounds. So do that, and soon you will be able to curl 125 and so on. So you see, you can curl 150 pounds, just take time out of the equation. Success is inevitable It starts to click doesn't it? Suddenly that odd story about mustard trees and birds lodging in it makes a bit more sense.

But you lacked a vital bit of knowledge on the day you learned this and so you haven't been happy since. Chad taught you how to grow things in your garden. But he didn't mention that you can't grow things in salted soil. And why should he? He probably thought you already understood that basic prerequisite. Almost everybody does, it is a natural thing to assume.

So what is the salt? 2.) What kills any ounce of willpower and hope? (Hope being belief that good things, goals, and achievement are possible to you). Fear and doubt, your two shadows. Yes, it is surprising that after 29 years, this is still a problem. But you see right there, that is violating law three.

3.) That which you focus on expands. It is worthless to devote even a second to self-critical thoughts. Why? Don't you deserve it? Don't you need to feel like crap to motivate yourself? All questions aside, just answer this one: has that ever worked? Then stop it. Any concentration or focus on anything other than achieving your goals is concentration that is NOT focused on your goals. It doesn't matter what you are distracted with if you're distracted.

Just like you can't escape the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah if you're headed towards them, you can't be creative and excited to work on the book if you're constantly thinking of Minecraft. Want to desire to learn french? Watch a french video. Want to get desire to write? Read what's already there. Want to get desire to play Minecraft? Think about Minecraft. Do you see how simple this is? That which you focus on or expose yourself to is the wind that will catch your sail and propel you. This is why true doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behaviors. It shapes you desires and goals.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” -Alexander Graham Bell

You could feel that things weren't working and you feared that they never would and so again, you retreated to entertainment. You looked for distraction from this terrible thought, anything to take your mind off this terrible anxiety and dread. And as always, it brought you no relief. You cannot enjoy recreating if it is not a pair in the balanced reconciliation of opposites. Opposition in all things or there can be no happiness. Without work, play turns to ash in the belly of your starving soul.

Your every thought must be put toward productive means, not soul sapping despair. And not diverted to the anxious denial of distraction. It is damning. It is a brick wall, a stumbling block. Your fears and doubts are specters. They are figments of your overwrought and misused imagination. THERE IS NO SPOON. The only thing which holds you back is you. Looking at an obstacle means you aren't looking at your goal. You create the obstacle simply by thinking one might exist, in fact, you are unlimited. What can hinder you? What can you not climb over. No power in the 'verse can stop you. Except you. Only your choice to ponder on failure and uncertainty. Don't be scared by your responsibility, rejoice and embrace it, you control your destiny.

“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.
God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe.”
-Jeffrey R. Holland

It is all so simple. You are not broken or deficient. You do not lack ability which normal people have. You simply choose to make a thousand tiny wrong decisions at every juncture. Only a day into this new vision, yet I see clearly that this is true. Path is open before you, thought by thought. One right decision after another, and your soul revives, your blood starts to flow, your breath returns. Fire is kindled from the embers. And Helios calls for you. Glory beckons you to take your place and grip the reins.

There is something more we would have you know: you can do this. You CAN do this, and you can achieve your dreams. So dream.

Your One Choice

2011-09-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

It was again reiterated to me that we can only exist in one state. And if it's not love, it's loves opposite. I'm not saying full blown genocidal hatred, but even if you are only slightly over the line into annoyance, dislike, and slight loathing, you are still on hate's side. And it sucks.

I was driving to work today completely frustrated with how hard it is to love myself in my imperfection and let the warmth and peace of the Spirit flow through me for even a second. And then I remembered something, I didn't struggle too much with living in that happy peace back in February. I remember it specifically because for about two weeks, I DID love myself and it opened the door to pure bliss. It is a state of constant joy. I felt like my bones were on fire, my body tingled, and my guts seemed to have been replaced with warm, fuzzy blankets. It was wonderful!

But then I stopped. And I knew I was making the decision to stop. I stupidly allowed cynicism and captiousness to enter in to me. You see, I had a swell idea for a funny rant-post over on my angry blog. It wasn't directed at any person, but apparently, that doesn't matter. As I cogitated on all the giggle inducing things I could put in this new post, the peace began to wane, planning and creating my post gave me brain-jollies though, so it didn't seem like such a bad trade off. And when I finished writing and creating, I was proud of my humorousness and felt happiness in this small accomplishment. But all my tingly-fuzzy-electric-joy had drained out, replaced by cynicism. It didn't matter that the post was glib and used heavy hyperbole, I focused on negative, and since the eye can only concentrate on one thing at once, I was filled with darkness, it displaced the escaping light.

You aren't a compartmentalized person in this respect. You can't ride two horses with one butt. You have one perceptual filter. If you view others in love and forgiveness, you will also view yourself that way. If you look outwardly with negativity and fault finding, you will look inwardly with the same. You are filled by whatever your eye is single to. It is as simple as that. My life is, at the moment, a sad example of that truth. Glorying in smugness and looking incisively may be fun, but it is not without it's consequences. The choice is between love and loathing; of self and all others. In this case, there truly is no other way.

Your Religious Litmus Test

2011-08-05T10:19:00.001-07:00

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; returning evil with evil is standard operating procedure for humanity. We act like animals or children, or rather, we react. Acting would imply forethought and decision. When attacked we lash out reflexively.

In the book Dune, the reverend mother had Paul's hand in a nerve induction box where he thought his hand was burning, feeling agony as flesh fell off his bones, all the while the reverend mother held a poison gom jabbar needle against his neck. If he withdrew his hand, he would die.

"The old woman said: 'You've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There’s an animal kind of trick. A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind...”

And what was the purpose of this test?

To see if he was a human.

To prove that he was more than the sum of his base instincts. He endured the pain and lived. What makes us different from all of our reactionary, animalistic brothers and sisters on earth? Do we pass the test? Or do we meet their hatred with enmity, rudeness with bitterness, offences with grudges, annoyance with dislike, callousness with hard feelings, haughtiness with contempt? "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?"

That is the the test. That is what is to separate us from the rest; that which makes us different from the homogeneous whole. Otherwise, we are no different from degenerate humanity ruled by their lower selves. Otherwise, we aren't worth our salt.

In a world where all is darkness, we have to be different, we have to be the light of the world and show them that there is another way. Why turn the other cheek? Because it is the most radical, iconoclastic thing a person could do. It isn't expected. It shocks the mind into disequilibrium. It makes people ask The Questions that open them to learning truth. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, it is the Power of God.

But what of justice? What of being wronged unfairly? Are we not to have satisfaction? That depends on what scale you'd like to live by. Justice is the lower law. If you desire to be justified by this lesser law, you are free to do so, and you are free to receive its lesser rewards. When slapped, you need not be slapped again.When sued at the law and you lose your coat, you may keep your cloak. When compelled to walk a mile, you need not go another. But you are not living up to the Master's charge.

If we, as disciples of the Prince of Peace don't choose the higher law; to project love like the burning sun, then we're playing for the other team.

Amorphous, Ambiguous Evening Doldrums

2011-04-11T20:37:00.001-07:00

The phrase floating around my head this last week has been "the guilt of existence." I've got this existential funk thing going on in the evenings. Part of it is something I learned from my Mom; a version of the unfortunate Relief Society Syndrome where instead of feeling like I have to be perfect like Sister Jones, I feel the need to be productive. Don't get me wrong, I waste a crap-load of time recreating. I only suffer from a mild form of it.

Yet still, it creeps up and strangles me on a regular basis. I feel the weight of needing to do something of value, produce something, create something, work on the book, go to the gym, study for grad school, read an educational book, etc.

Today was the same, a sadness crept over me as I left work. Except it wasn't from the driving need to be productive. It was a sadness I couldn't put my finger on. I went to the gym even though I didn't want to. What else was I going to do? Go home and eat? So I mechanically hefted around bits of metal and felt my aging body groan. Luckily, in this mindless repetition, a dialogue ensued.

Why are you sad?

I dunno.

If you could choose anything right now, what could you do that would make you happy?

Nothing really. All of the activities I'm thinking of that I usually like to do wouldn't really fix the problem.

Why is that?

Because they'd just be a distraction from the problem... Oh, so I guess there's a problem. What is the problem?

( I see a rock in the middle of a stream with the water parting around it.) Yeah, there's something disrupting my flow. What is the rock? (I see "responsibility" written on it.) Oh yeah. That makes sense. Except none of the responsibilities I have are depressing! This is totally irrational. I LIKE getting up early and being productive. And getting up a half hour earlier tomorrow morning is not going to kill me. It will be worth it to go to the temple. So what if that means I have to be in bed at ten? Why is that depressing?

It isn't! Man, this is stupid. ( I began to envision trying to smash the rock down under the water and realized that that is exactly where it should be. Responsibility provides the bed, the foundation that supports the joy flowing over the top. Our happiness is a product of acting according to our values, and responsibilities are tied into my values.

And so from there, just like storm clouds passing out from under the sun, the depression passed too. I smiled, and felt it. I still don't really get it. But it was enough to break through. Part of my new peace was simply the knowledge that the dialogue could and did happened at all.

I came home to an unexciting evening where I ate dinner and typed this. Now its time to get ready for bed. And I am content. What changed? Only my perceptions.

I think if we aren't happy, its caused by one of two things generally. Either we aren't acting in a manner that conforms with and pursues our values, or we believe something that isn't true. In my case, it was letting in the false belief that going to bed at ten and getting up at six is depressing. Okay... Where'd that come from?

Tracing its origin is hard and confusing, but I think it goes back to a time when I felt like I needed to cram all the recreating in at night that I could because soon it would be bedtime, and then the dreaded next day would start with school and work and all the whips and scorns of existence. Except the next day isn't dreadful anymore. But the belief is still hanging around, the neural circuitry is still intact, trying to make me sad. Now I have to consciously be aware of it and purposefully eliminate it. And when the bleakness creeps up with the setting of the sun, I have to remember that it isn't real.

"Knowing there's a trap is the first step in evading it." -Dune. No more of these stupid ambushes. I'm not taking any of my feelings for granted natural states anymore.

Sacrilicious

2011-03-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Today in Sunday school, the teacher asked if anyone knew what this was a picture of. My answer: Jesus meets Aquaman. I think I'm hilarious.

How to Be Happy

2011-03-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

People are naturally judgmental jerks. It's the default and status quo of mortality. But if you live by the sword, you die by the sword; if you view other people through the harsh lens of criticism, you will also view yourself the same way. In other words, you won't be happy. I am in the middle of a life lesson where I'm discovering that it really is that simple. As simple as a light switch.

It's true that we live in a universe of black and white. Light and dark are the opposite fundamentals in our existence, and we cannot be happy if we do not learn to discern the difference. But there is a great difference between judging between good and evil, and being judgmental of people.

In this binary universe, people are conflicted bundles of gray; mixtures of light from the principles we are living, and darkness from those we aren't. But while we are gray in aggregate, the state of being that I'm talking about, happy or judgmental is simply on or off. You are either living in joy, or judgment. There is no in-between here.

I know this observation clashes with your perceptions, so hear me out.

First of all, the extent of the true, unfettered joy of existing and of the gospel, (the kind that made Ammon faint) is something very very few people even know exist. I'm 29 and I'm just barely being able to enjoy slivers of it for minutes or seconds at a time. Its an ebullient, peaceful sort of pure joy that makes you vibrate with energy. And I had never felt this once in my life until I began to identify, acknowledge and work through my emotional problems so I could begin to love myself.

There was an entire reality of being that I was completely unaware of,

and that despite being an upstanding, temple attending, generally righteous and striving sort of guy. Two years ago, I would have scoffed in derision at this idea. After all, if you keep the commandments, you get the blessings, right? (Well, yes, but who knew accepting happiness was so hard?) But despite my hubris, the first law of wisdom is, "you don't know what you don't know." And I didn't. And maybe you don't either.

You've experienced joy before, but how much? Have you hit the upper threshold? Are you enjoying the maximum amount of all the happiness possible in mortality? (You'd be really stupid if you said no. How would you know for sure?) Isn't it exciting to know that you have not yet hit the pinnacle of joy? That you do not yet comprehend just how much higher the happy can go?

Second, our sporadic and shallow dips into joy are extremely brief. We are like AC current, oscillating back and forth so rapidly between extremes, that we accomplish nothing and average out to a joyless mediocrity.

And third, I think that our perceptions are off. Namely, the day to day mental and emotional state we live in is not as positive as we may think. If other people are anything like me, then the state is one of a lazy negativity; reactive pride that is exemplified by:

talking about people behind their backs
being critical of others failings, weaknesses, and decisions
using terms like idiot and moron
having road rage
and annoyance with, and dislike of people

It's a condition that seems almost neutral because it doesn't require much work or active or intense hatred, because it's just the habit we're in. Walking around in this paradigm doesn't make us completely miserable, but it doesn't allow us to be very happy either.

If that isn't enough to convince you, then perhaps my pronouncement of personal experience will be. This last week I was living in joy. As soon as I started to get annoyed with drivers and call people idiots, the joy vanished. And no amount of going through the motions was able to bring it back. I let myself slip back into enmity, into the pride that President Benson warned us about in his seminal address.

When I began to judge others harshly, I unavoidably began to judge myself harshly as well. As sure as the sun will rise is scientific fact, I believe that we cannot hold a double standard. We see the world with only one set of eyes, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot mix oil and water. Charity is grace and compassion, it is unrestrained love and acceptance. Enmity is hostility, opposition, hatred and loathing. How can you hold these opposites inside yourself at the same time? You either have charity, or you don't. The absence of charity means that enmity fills its place by default. There can be no vacuum or void there. You have one or the other

You may say "I try to love others." Let the prophet Yoda translate that for you: You are failing. You do, or you do not. "Trying" is failure. "Trying" means grasping at an abstract concept that you don't feel because you're still holding on to sarcasm, cynicism, condemnation, and contempt.

If we would like to experience more intense peace and joy, we can, but it is pegged to our willingness to love... period. To love everything, ourselves, God, and others; it is the same thing. You cannot separate charity and have just one target for it. Charity is yes or no; universal or nonexistent. Thus it is.

We have to be willing to change the way we view reality. The way we view and judge ourselves needs to be done with tremendous compassion and love. This is the key to unlock motivation, achievement, glory, and all the blessings of heaven.

To Thine Own Self Be True

2011-03-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of profundity this last month. The best kind, the self-revelatory kind. For years I've been a very mediocre salesman; drawn to the freedom and the ability to earn based solely on my efforts. The problem, maybe not so obvious, was that I wasn't drawn to sales, but rather the results of sales. My heart was never really in it. Providing good customer service certainly was, I was neurotic almost about that. But never the actual sales. I never worked very hard and so never got much out of it. Least of all the satisfaction I yearned for that only comes from hard work. That said, and this takes some effort,

My name is Kenneth, and I'm not a salesman.

It's been a hard paradigm shift. That's not who I am, not what I'm passionate about, not what motivates me, and not what makes me happy. It was a whole lot of banging my head on the wall in the attempt to build character. I thought that it was just a matter of trying harder. Riiiight, and if a fish just tried hard enough, it could breath air. No, its not about trying harder in the wrong areas, its more important to concentrate on your strengths; to do what you're good at and enjoy.

I was miserable because it was such a herculean effort to force myself to make a couple hours worth of calls a day, a week even. So in this state of constant failure and dereliction of duty, I beat myself up, sought distractions from the demands of reality, and self-medicated myself into a woeful state beer-gutedness. (A state which is now demanding hard atonement on the elliptical altar.) I wasted a lot of time, produced nothing, and have nothing to show for it but a sizable belly and self-loathing. Way to go champ!

I had to learn to apply an old lesson I knew to a new circumstance: Willpower without motivation is drudgery. Trying to pull yourself up by your boot straps and use sheer power of will to do something your heart is not in will bring only misery.

And your level of joy, or misery, is the measure of the validity of your choices.

Men are that they might have joy. Its the natural state you're supposed to be living in, every moment, right now. I wasn't happy, so why did I do it? Well for one, I'm just plain not that smart. I thought the higher value was slogging through the trenches of despair with a stiff upper lip. I wanted to develop strength of will and enjoy the benefits of working on commission. But that was nowhere as important as being true to myself.

What does it mean to be true to yourself? It means acting according to your self-interest; making the best possible choice given all the options. It does not mean being reckless or hedonistic, because that would not be in your best interest. It means being your better self, without trying to change who you are. It means finding your groove, your -ness, and then rocking it. It means having your own summer of George everyday. It means valuing your self first, being selfish, in the good way. It doesn't mean conforming to some idea of who you think you should be, or who someone else thinks you should be. It means being truthful about how you feel; saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

But all of this is not so easy as following our whims. If we only did that, we wouldn't experience much. I've often lamented that I don't have one driving passion in life, but maybe that's only because I haven't found it yet. People are often so reluctant to try new things. I recommend someone watch Firefly or Community, or read Dune or Ender's Game, and they drag their feet. But when they finally try it, they're like, OH MY GOSH, THIS IS AWESOME! And we both think, why didn't I/they try this before? What if that new thing you haven't tried yet is the next chocolate? What if you haven't even found your favorite thing yet? There's all of this awesome and joy just waiting right under your nose, but you're ignorant because you haven't tried it yet. You dolt.

The truth is, we don't really know who we are, we're strangers to ourselves, and learning who you are is a process that takes active work over decades. (I think a person who knows themselves fully is called a god.) Learning who you are means taking risks, trying new things, putting yourself in different situations, and doing things you're afraid to try. Never stepping out of your comfort zone means your joy in life has maxed out. And when its topped out at 5%, ignorance isn't really bliss. It's just sad. You're not living up to your own potential and that makes you not so smart. But that's just human nature. We stay in bad or less than ideal situations because we're comfortable there. It may not be good for us, but at least its familiar. And as bad as it is, we foolishly think the big scary unknown outside our personal bubble must be worse.

So as it now stands, I'm trying to step up. I'm giving fear the finger and I'm being true to the small portion of myself I'm familiar with. I haven't met all of Kenneth yet, but I'm excited get to know me, because I think there's a pretty good chance I'm awesome.

Stress

2011-02-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

What is stress? Let's say it's a physiological response caused by the perception of a threat. What does stress do to you?

increases blood pressure
diverts blood away from organs to the heart, lungs, and muscles
muscles tighten
breathing increases

It's the primitive fight or flight response designed to save our lives from imminent death. But in case you haven't noticed, you really don't face death as often as you get stressed. Now days we get stressed out by work, traffic, and relationships.

So what good is stress in these circumstances? It isn't. Stress makes you stupid, literally. It affects your cognitive performance and memory. How is that going to be useful in any way? It could lead to some very satisfying boss punching, but again, not helpful in the longterm.

So what can stress do for you? Here are some awesome benefits:

depressed immune system!
increased risk of heart attack!
belly aches!
acid reflux!
hives!
depression!
frenzied anxiety!
sleeping problems!
obesity!
irritability!

Why wait? I hope its obvious that stress is a state contrary to the nature of happiness. It has nothing to do with peace and contentment.

The real question is, can you learn to control it? Or are you at the mercy of circumstance, chance, and external events?

If you answer no, then I regret to inform you that you are not a human, nor a child of God, nor capable of even reading this. If you say you are hostage to circumstances, then that implies one of two things, either you are different from every other human on earth, or God Himself is a hostage to external events, one who is acted upon, and not the supreme act-er of eternity. So which is it? Do you have free agency or don't you?

You're on scary ground right now, because if you admit that you have control over what you think and feel, then you're also admitting that you are responsible for your choices, and for your own happiness. It may mean admitting that you are the reason you have been miserable. You don't have the safety blanket of blame anymore! Yikes!

If you have been choosing to be miserable for days or decades, then you might feel pretty stupid. But it's all okay, because you've learned the lesson now, and now your life can truly begin. You passed the first hurdle, congrats. No need to beat yourself up. We all do stupid things and evade reality at times. I've generally spent 29 years doing it.

How can you control stress? Well, there is something called the primary and secondary appraisal. Your primary appraisal is when you are faced with an event. You consciously weigh the situation and decide, is this a threat, a challenge? Then your secondary appraisal is, what am I going to do about it?

Consider an example. Rent is due, and you only have enough money to cover rent or pay your tithing. What is your primary appraisal going to be? Is this a threat? If yes, then this is going to stress you out. You'll fret and go into panic mode, making yourself sick with worry and hopelessness. Your secondary appraisal will then be to probably pay your rent, and try to make up the ever widening gap next month.

If you know that God is not a liar, then your primary appraisal will decide this isn't a problem. There will be no reason to feel any panic or worry. Your secondary appraisal will be to pay your tithing and then stand still and wait with the utmost assurity that you'll be fine. You may exercise unlimited faith, because you know the Good Shepherd delivers His flock. You get to enjoy the transcendent peace of hope, the fruit of adherence to true principles.

I remember as a kid sitting at the dinner table in AGONY because I had to eat something I didn't like. I spent hours of my childhood kicking against the pricks of reality. My primary appraisal was that eating those terrible vegetables would kill me. And the stress of the dilemma probably came close to killing me. It would have been so easy to just hold my breath and eat the food and then go play. But I CHOSE not to. I chose very unfun conniptions instead, completely unnecessary pain and suffering because my primary and secondary appraisals were wrong.

I'm not so different as an adult, but instead of brussel sprouts and casserole, now its self-doubt and fear. Both completely irrational and joy killing.

Yes, the demands placed upon us are not always fun, and then will require focus and dedication, but we can choose to respond with alacrity or anxiety. Independent of circumstances, the choice of happiness, as always, is ours.

More on Bad Fashion Choices

2010-12-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

I try to be aware of reader fatigue with my topics. So I feel a need to defend myself with this post being one of many in the same vein. The topics I write about are of universal interest to every human interested in the abundant life. They are applicable across the board, and if everyone would learn and internalize the lessons I preach, we'd be living in Zion right now and nobody would have a complex about anything.

It is common for little children to assume that they were responsible for their parent's divorce. They reason that the parents broke up because they weren't a good child. They take the blame and feel terrible for something they had nothing to do with. Kids do similar things in all areas of life. They find themselves in a situation which is way over their heads and react poorly to it, making false interpretations and taking ill-advised courses of action.

The bigger children we call adults are no different. Most of life's situations are over their heads though they don't realize it. The first example happened when Satan showed up with some delicious fruit for Eve. She had a strong start, "wait a minute, you claim to be my brother but you're trying to get me to go against what Father said?" Sound reasoning, but then Satan cleverly pulls his ol' truth-out-of-context trick. The deceiver knows that truth cannot exist out of context so he replies, "bup-bup-bup-bup, no, Eve look, I haven't mentioned Father, I'm not talking about Him. Forget that and just look at this, concentrate only on this one truth."

He held the truth in isolation. Yes the fruit will give you knowledge and make you wise, it is the way Father gained His knowledge, and to progress you are going to have to go down this road. In the tunnel vision of the moment, Eve responded to the truth of Lucifer's words and ate the fruit. And boom! just like that, stretch marks and cellulite.

She took the truth out of context: removed it from her hierarchy of values. We all have a hierarchy. We know killing is wrong unless it is superseded by the need to defend yourself. Thou shalt not kill is trumped by a higher law. Eve forgot the higher law of, "but God said not to, period." Her principles were jumbled and upside down.

So immediately the childlike Adam and Eve were thrown into the deep end. They didn't know what to do and reacted poorly. Satan, being the punk he is, was immediately there like the mischievous older brother lying to his younger siblings to scare them. Like Bill Cosby convincing his little brother he was adopted, "The police are your mother and father."

Satan immediately gets them all worried about something that didn't matter too much for kicks and giggles. He introduces one of his greatest tools within the first few seconds of mortality; toxic shame. "You are naked! Father will NOT be happy when He sees that, you'd better hide." And Adam and Eve believed him, being completely out of their depth, not being mature enough to recognize the lie they were falling for, they made dorky leaf skirts. I think this sort of prank is probably the equivalent of sending a girl to Auto Zone to buy blinker fluid.

Luckily Father soon shows up and fixes the problem, giving them something that would truly cover them.

Yet we all keep falling for Satan's stupid and destructive stupid prank. We wear our own fig leaf skirts today trying to convince everyone else that we're with it, we're covered. Bluster and bombast in place of peace and confidence.

If there is any suffering in mortality, toxic shame is surely the tumor that causes it all. It is the genesis of the ego, it is cancerous pride, and as such is the root of all the bitter fruit this world has to offer, divorce, hatred, war, grudges, racism, rudeness, and anger.

Put Bitter for Sweet

2010-12-23T12:50:00.001-07:00

Boiling down Satan's tool of deception yields one result: semantics. Isaiah warned us about how the wicked would misuse words, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

Through semantic manipulation Satan creates confusion and shackles our ability to think. Because a word is a symbol for something real, whether it be a concrete or an abstract. And if you have two people trying to talk about something for which they have different definitions, you might as well both be speaking different languages, because in effect, you are.

Remember 1984 by Orwell? The government tightly controlled the language Newspeak. They did this because they knew that if you can remove a word, then people are left without a symbol to express a concept, e.g. freedom, rights, immoral, etc. Without the tool of language to give you the ability to work conceptually, a mind is likely incapable of higher abstract thinking.

Well, since Satan can't take words out of the dictionary like Big Brother, he has to simply muddle our definitions, and he does a bang-up job I can tell you. As one example of the bastardization of language, look at the word "altruism." When you hear it, the first thing you think about is probably helping others. But the implications of the word usually involve you as an unwilling sacrificial lamb for the purpose of helping others. It no longer means helping of your own free will and out of your heart, but rather as a duty which is expected of you and which you are compelled to do.

90% of my time in political debates is usually devoted to trying to get people to define their terms and understand the way I am defining mine. Most folks don't think about how they are being interpreted and believe that words only mean one thing that everyone knows. This lead to a whole lot of apples and oranges conversations where you argue for an hour and never realize you're talking about different things. I once wasted an hour arguing a point with someone, who it turned out agreed with me the whole time. They just thought I meant something different.

No intelligent conversation can exist if you aren't on the same page. It often takes well thought out questions to probe their intent to see if they understand what you are saying, and what they're saying for that matter. Often, they will be unaware of what exactly they mean themselves. You have to do double the work, first you have to explain your definitions. Second, you have to draw theirs out of them, put them in context and then point out the flaws in their premises. You've got your work cut out for you.

I am weary of arguing and getting to no conclusion. Debate has taught us to be contrary for its own sake, to use rhetoric and demagoguery instead of truth to advance our positions. Truth has long since ceased to matter in debate. Politicians and commentators are in it to stroke their egos and get power and gain. If we are ever going to find solutions that work, and stop this nightmare of a government, we have to set aside the stimulating for the substantiative. Mutual understanding must be the bedrock of all our conversations. So before you talk to anyone about anything of any importance, please, for the sake of my head remaining in an unexploded state, define your dang terms.

Kenneth Translates Stupid Into English

2010-12-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

You know what the difference is between a bunch of shrieking howler monkeys fighting over a banana and the United States Congress is? The monkey's are fighting over an actual banana. Congressmen fight over money that we don't actually have. The United States has been in debt for over 70 YEARS STRAIGHT! Can you imagine a household being run that way? Every month we sign up for another credit card so we can transfer the balance over. Allow me to translate government newspeak into household terms for you.

Short-sighted and shallow idiocy abounded on NPR this morning. Here are some highlights.

"Yes, there are bridges to nowhere and many other examples of abuse, but Johnson says not all earmarks are bad. 'If you look historically at the Port of Miami, most ports in America, all of our ports were built through earmarks. It's how the U.S. Army Corps is budgeted and funded. It's like, all of a sudden, earmark is a dirty word,' Johnson says." -Bill Johnson, director of Miami's port.

Comparison: Consumer debt is okay because it let us get our BMW, jacuzzi, and 52" plasma TV.
Principle functioning in abstract: Having stuff you need is good.
Application: Earmarks are good because they give you stuff.
Unintended Consequence: There will be hell to pay when the piper gets here. Each day we defer our repayment, the problem gets worse.

"A good place to see your earmarked federal dollars at work is in the Everglades. Contractors ... are [building a] bridge that will allow water to flow freely through this section of the Everglades.

It's a $400 million project, largely funded through congressional earmarks. According to Kirk Fordham, head of the nonprofit Everglades Foundation, it's money well spent.

"On the Everglades, we know you get a 4-to-1 return on the investment, and we know it's going to create 26,000 construction jobs in the short term and as many as 420-some thousand jobs over several decades," Fordham says.

Comparison: It's okay to go into debt to pay your kids allowances.
Principle functioning in abstract: Providing employment is good.
Application: Earmarks mean jobs.
Unintended consequence: Killing the golden goose. Giving someone with arterial bleeding a shot of adrenaline to momentarily make their heart beat stronger-hastening their death.

Heard of phonemarking? It's a process in the United States of America by which Congressional lawmakers directly contact a federal department or agency which is a recipient of federal appropriations to secure money for their favorite causes outside of the congressional appropriations process.

"And with phone marking, there's almost no paper trail. So its very difficult to prove any kind of insider deal making. One reason we know about it at all is because agency heads have complained about the number of requests they get when earmarking has been cut down.

That makes a good argument says Vermont Democrat Peter Welch for keeping earmarks. 'It's not as though, quote banning the earmarks necessarily means that you'll cure what are the legitimate complaints about earmarking, and in fact you may just drive them underground."

Comparison: If I take away my wife's checkbook, she'll just steal money out of my wallet to buy her fur coats.

Principle functioning in Abstract: Choose the lesser of two evils.

Application: This form of corruption is better than others.

Unintended consequence: Choosing evil means corruption continues; the root of the problem is not being addressed.

"For his part, Mr. anti-earmark himself, Republican congressman Flake is skeptical that anything will totally end corruption in Washington, but banning earmarks is worth it. 'I don't know how you ever stamp that all out. But at least it puts it on the margins, and that is progress.' Even if it does mean more of earmarking's evil twin, phonemarking."

Comparison: I don't think my abusive husband will ever stop beating me.
Principle functioning in abstract: I don't know what else to do.
Application: Might as well stick it out.
False dichotomy: If we don't use earmarks, the only other option is phonemarks.
Unintended consequence: Nothing ever gets done because the focus is on the symptom and not the disease.

Abused women stay in abusive relationships for a couple of reasons. But the underlying motive behind their decision to stay is that they cannot conceive of anything better. Congressman Flake gets a hearty "well duh" from me when he says he doesn't think corruption can ever be stamped out. Long ago we passed a sign that said "No Outlet." It DOES NOT MATTER WHERE WE TURN NOW. We are already on the wrong track. There literally are NO solutions to this problem other than turning around and getting out of the dead end. We can argue and try different options until the sun burns out, but it won't matter what we do, nothing will fix the problem. No amount of band-aids will fix the cancer.

Until you get rid of the dog, you won't be rid of the dog poo. See how those things are related? The root is bad, the fruit is bad. We will have debt and corruption and earmarks until the day we put a bullet through old Yellers head. The government claims power to appropriate our earnings by force. That is corrupt so how can you ever expect the politicians not to be corrupt? Are you stupid? Come on.

Of Choice and Consequences

2010-11-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Way back before I was even an itty bitty zygote, Bruce R. McConkie gave a talk entitled The Seven Deadly Heresies. He spoke of specific falsehoods that crept into the thinking of some folks in the church. He said he did not think they were too prevalent in the church. I'd like to address a misconception that I think is quite common among the saints. (IMHO)

I am coming to realize that God is not an interventionist.

But He does intervene. In some ways He is so intimately involved in our lives; "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." I know that He has a hand in guiding us, He places "currents of divine influence in [our] [lives] that will lead [us] along the individual plan He would have [us] fulfill here on earth."1 He reaches out to us with "tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after [us]and drawing [us] back to the fold."2 He is so kind and merciful. Like Nephi, I can say I have been visited many times, He has whispered peace, softened my heart, and wrapped me in His arms of love. Never have I had any experience more miraculous than these. He is perfectly aware of us and aches when we ache. He laughs with us, and sometimes, good naturedly, at us.

Yet despite all this, there is a veil. We signed up for this life and it's trials, hardships, and rules. We are the mad scientists of morality, left alone in the laboratory with dangerous and explosive chemicals. We are allowed to do whatever we want in this lab. Sometimes we blow ourselves up and others get hurt too. We don't choose the consequences, but we do get to make the decision, good or bad, harmful or not.

I don't think God would do anything so important as sending His children to earthly boarding school without an immense, nay, perfect amount of planning. Yet all of His engineering was done so as to respect our free will and leave our agency intact. In other words, our actions can supersede His plans for us.

What I'm trying to say is that we give God too much credit for what happens to us. We are bound by the laws of causality and there is rarely a reason for Him to step in and turn cause and effect on it's head. Without consequences, no one would ever learn anything, which is precisely the reason we needed to come to this mortal realm in the first place, I presume. As Sayyadina says, if God bent back every branch and pointed out every stone on our path, we'd never learn.We are here to make our beds, then lie in them.

In many instances, the bed was made for us before we got here. We are born into a certain set of circumstances which usually don't change; our ethnicity, our parents and their parenting style, our opportunities, our socioeconomic status, or our genetic code with all its lurking gremlins, waiting to ambush us with disease and death. And that's pretty much that. We chose to come here to endure pain and trial. We came to be tested with our eyes wide open. And I think that because our agency is absolutely sacred, we chose the trials we'd face. I imagine that before we came to earth, we had a sit down with Father, and with His wisdom and our desires for growth, the two of us carefully mapped out a mortal course where we would find the experiences that would help us to grow the most, and learn the specific lessons which we both agreed were most important for us to know.

So when bad things happen, I think it is incorrect to ask why God did this to us. Chances are, He didn't, we did. We should remember that it is either the bad luck of living in a world full of imperfect people affecting us with their bad decisions e.g. drunk drivers, gossipers, and Justin Bieber, or it is us coming face to face with the lessons we chose to learn in premortality.

Seems rather sadistic doesn't it, that we chose these trials? What we lack now, we had then; vision. We knew where we wanted to go and we knew the trial by fire it would take to get there, and with our eyes open, we chose the hard path of glory. You made the decision when you saw things clearly enough to know you would not fail.

So pat yourself on the back, you've got this.

1. Richard G. Scott http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=1648
2. Orson F. Whitney http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon227.htm

By Popular Demand: My Talk from Church

2010-11-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Festivus, I’m going to begin with the airing of grievances. I have a short laundry list of do’s and don’ts, which I feel are worth mentioning. My 95 theses if you will.

Testimony meeting is for testimonies, not travel logs, not thankamonies, not emotional promiscuity. It is also not open mic night at the comedy club to try out your new material.

When you close a talk, you close in the name of Jesus Christ, using His Messianic title. But you don’t say “in the name of thy son.” Not unless you’re praying, because you are speaking to us in a talk, and thy means “your,” and we are not somehow the collective Father of... You see the confusion. Thy is your, thee and thou are you in their accusative and nominative cases respectively.

When you are called to give a talk, sitting on the stand is NOT the time to begin to prepare it. No one can wing a talk. It is not possible, you’re wasting 100 peoples time.

Its Kirtland, not Kirkland, that’s Costco’s brand.

If you haven’t noticed, the zippers on your scriptures make noise. Closing them in the middle of someone’s testimony or lesson, is rude. Please stop.

If you open the door, please close it softly.

The monthly magazine the church puts out is the Ensign. Not ensin. We don’t stop at stop-sins.

And its apostatize, with a t, apostasize sounds like some sort of satanic aerobics program.

I ask for 100% of the focus of your mind and heart. I’ve spent hours over the course of weeks preparing my remarks. I’m not going to stand up here and waste your time with fried froth and spiritual Twinkies. And if you aren’t concentrating, then you are denying the Holy Ghost the opportunity to change your heart and fill you with desire to be better.

I would like to testify of the mercy and kindness of our Heavenly Father. It think one of the worst problems in the church today is unbelief. Not unbelief of the gospel, but unbelief that we can enjoy it. We believe the atonement works, but not for us. We believe that somehow Heavenly Fathers greatest blessing don’t apply to us. We damn ourselves, and deny Him the opportunity to bless us when we believe that because He must respect our wishes.

“For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.” D&C 88:33

Our view of a capricious, reactionary God who vengefully punishes us for sins and mistakes is a gross distortion of the truth. If we think our bad actions in the past brings some sort of karmic retribution from God, then we are denying repentance and the atonement of Christ. It is a sad example of how we distort truth as we try to view it through our cloudy and dark personal perceptions, projecting our motivations, thoughts, and feelings onto God.

On the contrary, the scriptures tell us “I the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth unto the end.”D&C 76:5 “Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin: and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them.” D&C 111:11. As fast as we are able! Heavenly Father is eager to bless us and to reveal Himself to us, but He can’t when we don’t believe. The only thing affecting the speed of the blessings we enjoy is us.

(“Willingness to bless us” See also: D&C 112:10, 136:29,32,41, 41:1, 59:15-16,23, 103:31, 11:13, 1John 14-15, Rom 8:32, Alma 33:8, Alma 33:16. “Willingness to reveal Himself” D&C 110:7,8, 133:10, Alma 33:16, D&C 11:6.)

One of my favorite books is Dune. In this book is the concept of “the golden path.” The main character is a sort of messianic figure who, through the use of substance called spice, is able to see through time. He can see all the future possibilities, and all the infinite branches and paths which can spring from one decision. He sees that humanity is going to be threatened, and if it is to survive, there is only one path that must be followed. Any deviation will result in destruction. The golden path is the best way, and the one that ensures survival. In our lives, we have a golden path, but it doesn’t matter where we are starting from. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done, what possibilities we’ve closed off by our choices, wherever we are, we may still choose that personal golden path. There are good and better paths, and there are best paths as well, seeking the best prayerfully will lead to our highest satisfaction and joy.

Competing for the place of Kenneth’s favorite quote of all time comes from Elder Holland,

“God expects you to have enough faith and determination to, enough trust in Him, to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic.) He expects you to embrace it and shape it. To love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. God isanxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream, in short, He can’t if you don’t believe.”(Sept. 12^th 2004 CES broadcast.)

What can stand in our way with such an amazing promise? Father is more kind and loving than we can comprehend with 100% of our minds.

Scriptures

Living in mortality can be easy, but only if you are studying your scriptures. When talk about reading the scriptures, what we are talking about is an intellectual, spiritual, emotional process. To remind me of this, in the front of my scriptures I wrote, don’t read these words, feel them. It reminds me to let them in, to let them change me, to let them have an impact. Because cold intellect doesn’t matter; it’s like an unlit campfire. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. Not those who read, those who hunger and thirst. Those words define desire. Our whole soul, all faculties are engaged. And then the scriptures function as a step up transformer for the spirit, which is what the whole process is about anyways.

So are you feeling the meanings behind the words? Remember, words are only symbols. They are referents of real things. If all you do is read the words in the scriptures with your eyes or hear them with your ears, you will have missed the entire point. We have to read with our hearts, with our spirits, to recognize the symbols and really feel the meaning of the words. We have to engage all the faculties of our soul. What are faculties, your body has faculties, you can throw a baseball, you can sing, you can jump and climb, you can write. You have these faculties. We need to become familiar with what they are and how they work if we are ever to enjoy a fullness of the Holy Ghost. Alexander Graham Bell said,

"Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

Like a blind person reading Braille, you have to go over those words and feel them; let the symbols trigger the realities they stand for in your mind’s eye. That’s when you’re doing it right. That is when you receive the mysteries of the kingdom, like a well of living water springing up into everlasting life. That is how you walk away from your scripture study feeling like you got something out of it. It is this focused pondering that invites revelation. This is what strengthens your soul. This is standing in holy places. In holy places we are safe from temptation. The one holy place we need more than anything must be within ourselves.

Temptation

“Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”

That is a great visual. You can’t smuggle lit torches under your shirt without some painful and smelly consequences. But the scripture says bosom. How is that word used in the scriptures? Paradise is referred to as Abraham’s bosom; Jesus Christ is in the bosom of the Father. We are told that the spirit will make our bosom’s burn in certain circumstances. Zion of Enoch will be received into the Lord’s bosom. This from Isaiah, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them into his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” That is one of those scriptures, that hearing with your heart will fill you withprofound peace and comfort.

For some reason we’ve all trained ourselves to stop paying attention whenever anyone reads anything. Maybe we anticipate being bored to death by someone reading 18 verses straight. Whatever the case please try to overcome this natural tendency for your eyes to glaze over and I promise I won’t bore you.

So back to bosom, it comes from the O.E. bosm "breast; womb; a ship's hold," If it comes from a certain Proto Indo-European base then the primary notion would be "enclosure formed by the breast and the arms"). And the narrowed and more modern meaning that makes us giggle didn’t show up 1959.

So there is this sense of being internal. When Christ says the Father and I are one, it makes sense, He is in the bosom of His Father. They are perfectly unified. We, as lambs can be carried in the bosom of the Savior, encircled about in the arms of His love.

Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? This has to be the best no-duh rhetorical question ever. In this sacred and holy space where the Spirit dwells with us, this very inner part of us, who we are, can be the host of destructive fire. Who cares about our clothes, this would burn our flesh. Temptation is a fire. And it feels like a fire, when we see something enticing. What a great word. From the old French "to stir up (fire), to excite, incite. It stirs up our emotions, our passions, our lusts. It’s like giving the natural man steroids. If you feed him, he will very quickly get too strong to conquer. You have to lock the natural man in a closet and starve him down to a desiccated corpse. Unfortunately you can’t kill him though. Just add water and he pops back to full strength. I’m sure we’ve all been there, like king David, righteous and holy and then we let in one little temptation, we flirt with the idea, we don’t immediately cast it out, and the battle is lost again.

That is why the majority of our fight against sin must be one of avoidance. You can’t fight Chuck Norris and win. Not dying is the only way you can win. So you run away at the first sign he’s close, when the birds stop chirping, when the earth seems to tremble, and when you sense the presence of a magnificent beard, you are outta there.

How does Christ tell us to avoid temptation? Through watchfulness unto prayer. Each day of our lives in mortality is like a walk through a grizzly bear preserve. There is a chance that we won’t run in to a bear. But most likely we will, and then we’re bear chow. It would be scary enough to walk around grizzly country, but what we’re facing is much worse than bears, its Satan’s special forces. He has snipers and ninja assassins working for him. They are hiding in every bush, waiting to strike, they are setting land mines, claymores, and Burmese tiger traps. They do not sleep, eat, or retreat. Without wearing the armor of God, we are dead on arrival.

The entire fight is preemptive. We are told to watch and pray always, that we might not enter into temptation. Well, watch for what? For the first sign of temptation. And be praying you may escape it. Recovering alcoholics don’t drive down streets with bars on them. Why? Because they know that’s a fight they are going to lose. Please recall King Theodin of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings. He had that creepy nasty advisor Grimma Wormtongue who would whisper in his ear and guide his actions. Theodin was under the power of the evil wizard Saruman and Grimma was working for him. This is a wonderful analogy for us because we’ve each got our very own Grimma wormtongue playing shoulder devil whispering in our ear. Except he’s not external, he is within us, the natural man, we are our own worst enemy.

We aren’t strong enough to fight temptation head on, because deep down we wantto sin. The only thing we are strong enough to do is run. That is why we watch and pray. The natural man’s got home court advantage, and has scored before I even realize I’m playing in the game. The point of mortality in this respect is to bridle and control every base desire until we can replace them with holiness and not have to fight them all the time. It is all about changing our desires, to get to that point that Alma talked about where the very thought of sin is abhorrent to you. It’s easy to be good when sin is about as appetizing as dog poo.

The Heart

It’s time to put on your thinking hats and your lab coats cause we’re now going to come at this like scientists. I’m going through the scriptures right now compiling verses which teach a doctrine. Pay attention and see if you can assemble the principle.

For I, the Lord, have decreed in my heart…

There is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.

Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in thine heart and with thee with which I, the Lord, was not well pleased

Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou shalt have a gift if thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

Did you hear the theme? Your heart is the center and creator of your life and destiny.

The scriptures say Satan seeks to rage in our hearts. Rage from the same root as rabies, rage in our hearts, in our very core where the Spirit dwells, where Satan seeks to reign, where every epic battle of morality is fought. The heart is the seat of your desires, the place from which you make every choice that shapes youreternity. This is a place that deserves more security than fort Knox. The heart is the center, the creator of your life; it is the seed of destiny.

So let’s go back to that last scripture, how does it relate to the heart? Let me read it again.

And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

Why? Why will you always abound in good works if faith hope and charity are in your heart? Because apple tree’s make apples. And having godly attributes at the root of you make for godly actions.

Pride

So if you aren’t filled with love, if people annoy you, if you get road rage, if you hold a grudge, refuse to forgive, if you fight with people, if there are those you just can’t stand, if you want to strangle your boss, if you want to punch a politician in the face, if you gossip… Then the problem is in your heart. Then you are not in the paradigm of charity, you are in the paradigm of pride. These are two opposite states. They are (vocabulary word for the day) antithetical.

The reason we have a hard time loving people is because we have an incomplete knowledge. There are a few things which help me immensely in ridding of enmity from my life. One of my favorite lines in verse is from Lord I Would Follow Thee. “In the quiet heart is hidden, sorrow that the eye can’t see.” Everyone you meet is fighting the hardest battle of eternity as they pass through mortality. President Lund said,

“The heart is a tender place. It is sensitive to many influences, both positive and negative. It can be hurt by others. It can be deadened by sin. It can be softened by love. Early in our lives, we learn to guard our hearts. It is like we erect a fence around our hearts with a gate in it. No one can enter that gate unless we allow him or her to.In some cases the fence we erect around our hearts could be likened to a small picket fence with a Welcome sign on the gate. Other hearts have been so hurt or so deadened by sin that they have an eight-foot chain-link fence topped with razor wire around them. The gate is padlocked and has a large No Trespassing sign on it.”

Deep down, everyone of us deep down is still a tender child, longing to be held by our mother. The only reason that anyone would ever be spiteful or mean, the only reason they would ever say something hurtful to you, gossip about you, inconvenience you on purpose, yell at you, or do something hateful, is because they ache inside. Because they are suffering from a lack of love. They don’t love themselves and so they are absolutely miserable. That is why they act out.

Knowing this, how can we not have compassion for them? When someone is acting haughty and prideful, it is to cover up their feelings of inadequacy and weakness. They are using their ego to hide their shame. They seek to feel good about themselves by comparing themselves to others, not knowing that comparison is the cancer to happiness. As soon as you see someone better than you in your estimation, it hurts your self esteem. And the bolstering you think you get from believing that you’re better than someone else is a fraud. It isn’t built on anything real. Remember that the great and spacious building was the representation of the pride and ego coverings of the world, and it had NO foundation. Can anything be more precarious or ready to fall to utter ruin?

You see, deep down in our subconscious, we feel it, we know we have nothing to stand on, and it makes us neurotic. It is the reason this world is so crazy, everyone is desperately trying to hang on to a sense of well being. And it makes us act nuts. It is the cause of the Prozac generation. The Lord described this frenzied state of mind in Deuteronomy,

“Thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were evening and at evening thou shalt say, Would God it were morning for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear.”

And the people who seem to have it the most together are usually the ones with their fears buried deepest. Have you noticed it’s always the tough guys who cry first when they talk about their moms?

These false ego coverings are in Satan’s best interests, President Benson says that enmity, or this pride, is the power by which Satan seeks to reign over us. Notice as soon as Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, Satan shows up, ‘oh look, you guys are naked, how embarrassing, see, at the bottom of everything you are flawed and unworthy of love. You better go make yourself some aprons out of those fig leaves so no one sees how broken you are.’

Now how long do you suppose clothing made from green leaves is going to last? Yeah as long as you don’t move or sit down, they’ll be just fine. They are just as flimsy as the ego, as bluster and pride. So what does Christ do? He makes them coats of skins; I like to think that the skins were from an animal sacrificed in the similitude of Christ, symbolic of the atonement. The word Kawphar in Hebrew is the word which “atonement” comes from, it means to cover. Christ gave us something that would truly cover our nakedness.

When we know that we are justified, and sanctified from the foundation of the earth, when we know that we are loved infinitely, we then know that we are valuable, worthy of love, worthy of our own love. We will then see that love is all that matters. We’ll look at all of our brothers and sisters, even the annoying ones, with compassion and love. We cannot live in joy unless we understand that we must be filled with love. And we won’t be fully happy until we stamp every bit of peace killing enmity.

Choosing to get angry and to have those nasty dark rainy cloud emotions inside of us IS a choice, and what is the result of holding on to them? It doesn’t bring happiness; it brings misery, so you’re kind of stupid if you choose to keep them. As it has been said, holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. There was never a more perfect analogy; it is poison to light, joy, and the Holy Spirit. And that state of darkness makes you unfit for the kingdom of God.

You are allowing yourself to be held hostage to external forces. You are giving up your agency because you are being purely reactionary. Acted upon. You are letting others decide if you’ll be exalted. You’re allowing others to decide if you’re going to be happy. That’s really dumb. We must love ourselves first in order that we may love others. Life is not a struggle grit your teeth, and beat yourself up for 60 years until you can begrudgingly start to finally tolerate the SOB’s around you. That’s not how charity works. The struggle is to retain grace and to fully accept Christ. And that means accepting His love for you. It means forgiving yourself as fully as He forgives you. When you do this, charity is just the way you are, you see yourself and others clearly and it isn’t a struggle, it isn’t hard.

Goals

“In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!”

That is the Green Lantern oath. Every member of the green lantern corps has a green power ring and with it, they are able to do nearly anything, fly, create protective shields, shoot plasma, and even travel through time, basically anything that the wearer can imagine. But it is limited by the one thing it runs on, the willpower of the wearer. There are thousands of books written on will power and how to take charge of your life. They inspire me for a few days, and then leave me feeling guilty and worthless because I fall back into laziness. I would be the worst green lantern ever. Will power has its place in our lives, but I don’t think it was ever intended to be our engine. I have never had enough will to do much of anything. Setting goals is like banging my head against an invisible wall. They never get done. I write them down, I tell people about them, I put them in a place where I can see them. And I always fail. I don’t believe in goals, at least not in the traditional sense.

Consider for a moment, cars, specifically, let’s say the Ford GT 40. It has a powerful V-8 engine and can do over 200 MPH. But to get this monster going, you have to use the starter motor. They’re a little thing, about the size of a football. When you turn the ignition, the battery gets the starter to engage the fly wheel and that cranks the engine. The starter has the power to make that V8 turn over. It is vital, but if you decided not to use the engine and tried to run the car off of just the starter, you might get half a mile before your battery was dead, and it would be a jerky half mile. It just isn’t strong enough to move an entire car.

Will power has its place but I don’t think it is designed to run your life. Whenever we try to use it for that, we end up stuck with a dead battery. Back to comic books.

The green power ring can do some amazing things, but it can be supplemented. There aren’t just green lanterns, there are also blue ones, allow me to quote from Wikipedia,

“Blue power rings are fueled by hope; they give their users the most power, but they must be near an active Green power ring to tap into their full potential. Otherwise, the blue rings are only capable of default abilities (flight and a protective aura). This is because hope is nothing without the willpower to enact it. Blue rings must be fueled by true hope in order to operate at their user's command.”

I have tried to pull myself up by my boot straps, grit my teeth, and get things done. But without the heart being a part of will, you are in a miserable self-made hell. And this how you burn out. So why not use the engine instead? You’re usually going to end up doing what you want to do anyway, why not try to harness and change your desires then? We’re going to go on a little side track now, but we’ll come back to goals and how to change our desires.

Hope

Kenneth’s number one rule of life (which I stole from Merrill Bailey who spoke here a couple of weeks ago) is Live in Joy. Lehi says that we are that we might have joy, Joseph Smith said that happiness is the object and design of our existence. It is the value that we should all be seeking, and there is one universal way for every human to get it, and it’s through obedience to the commandments. So in other words, if we want that joy, we must be acting in faith. To have faith, we need 3 things according to Brother Joseph. First, the belief that God exists. Second, a correct knowledge of his perfection, attributes and character, because if we didn’t know He was perfectly loving and merciful, just and fair, we couldn’t put our absolute trust in Him.

So knowing these things, the last thing we need is action according to the principles and commandments He’s given, cause when you believe, you want to do. You see that it is in your best self interest to follow the commandments. Exaltation is the highest joy possible and the path to it is obedience. Now because we know God isn’t a liar, we can 100% trust that if we keep the commandment, we get the blessing. As certain as the sun rises and sets, as certain as Kenneth would sell his soul for a piece of chocolate cake, we can have hope that we will get the blessing.

This is one of my soap box topics, but I’ll repeat it until I’m sure every one of you have memorized it. Hope does not mean to wish. The way it is used in the scriptures is not the way we use it today when we say I hope the Packers win the super bowl. And not understanding the proper definition confused me and stalled my progress in the gospel for years.

Hope is joyful expectation of fulfillment; it is desire and confidence in the ends of your beliefs and actions. There is no uncertainty in hope as it is used in the scriptures. When we act in faith, we may with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, (Because we are conforming ourselves with the laws of the universe) and that surety maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

When we find something that we believe will make us happy, we seek after it. And our joy and progression are only limited by our choice. This brings us to Kenneth’s stolen rule for life number two; You get exactly what you want. I don’t mean Lamborghinis magically appear in your drive way if you want them bad enough, what I mean is you are free according to the flesh; and call things are given which are expedient unto you. And you are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil. Your free agency is inviolate.

God CANNOT take away your agency lest He cease to be God. It is a law of the universe. You are in charge of you, and you can have eternal life in the Celestial kingdom if you want, the only way you won’t be exalted is if you choose not to be. God respects you enough to let you damn yourself. He has to by law. So you are going to get what you want. When you choose not to keep certain commandments, that is just fine as long as you’re cool with the results of those actions, Heavenly Father can’t stop the consequences. There’s only way to circumvent the laws of reality that govern cause and effect and that is through the atonement, and you already know there’s only one way to access that.

Life is a “choose your own adventure” book, starring you. As the hymn says, God will force no man to heaven. So whatever you want out of life, you’re gonna get by your actions, or inactions. If you want the terrestrial kingdom, that’s fine, I think you’re stupid to settle for a gummy bear when you could have an entire ice cream Sunday instead. But Heavenly Father wants you to be as happy as you will allow yourself to be. Notice I said as happy as you allow yourself to be.

Blessings are never force fed. You can sit at the Lord’s banquet table and not eat a scrap. A lot of us go on such a hunger strike in this very room on a weekly basis. This is why Jacob says to the pure in heart, “feast upon his love.” Don’t just go to the feast, eat. Being obedient and pure in heart is no guarantee of joy. You have to cash your pay check. You have to use your agency to make the decision to receive the love and enjoy the happiness. Jacob says to lift up your head, stop moping around in your belly button. You have to “receive” the pleasing word of God into your hearts, not just hear it, you must let it have place in your psyche. Allow it to have its effects on you, choose it and not render it inert by inattention and disregard.

And how is this done? Of course through our active thought and decision to do so. Jacob says we may feast on His love, IF your minds are firm forever. A mind must be constantly reminded to be firm. Lax is the default position. Unthinking instinct is the routine. Remember to remember. We are told by Alma that our souls have faculties, and they must be aroused. I think that is the same reason that when the angel came to King Benjamin, he said wake up. And Benjamin woke up, then again the angel said again, wake up.

Alright now back to goals, and using willpower to start the hope engine. I especially delight in truth concerning the human condition, and one of the most profound quotes I’ve ever heard comes from President Packer

"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."

In other words, if you are stuck in a rut, if you are like me and find yourself wanting to want to be better, then the best way is to immerse yourself in doctrine. Recall President Bednar’s parable of the pickle. If you sporadically dip a cucumber into brine, it won’t change. If we want our natures to be changed, we must immerse ourselves in the brine of the spirit. Then our attitudes and desires will be changed, then being righteous will be easy, that goal of temple attendance will be no problem because we want to go. It’s not about being miserable and hating life as you drag yourself around out of duty. We are to live in joy. Going to the temple will not make you burn out if your heart is in the right place.

I’ve been trying to go once a week since I got back from my mission. Epic fail. There was a time when I did burn out, and I didn’t go for 8 months or so. If keeping living the gospel is stressing you out, then you aren’t doing it right. Life is not hard. Christ said his burden is easy and his yoke is light. Sin is hard. You may say, well I’m keeping the commandments and I’m still miserable. Well, that goes back to your agency. One of the things we get to choose, is how we feel. Viktor Frankel said,

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Please keep this in mind, in that space where we must make a decision, if we are functioning on incomplete and imperfect knowledge, we will find misery. If Satan can mix just a little error with our truth, then we will be a few degrees off course and miss the mark. If you aren’t happy, then I would suggest with all my heart you pray for Heavenly Father to send you a mentor to teach you the lesson you’re missing. I’d be miles behind without the mentors I’ve had in my life.

So if you want to do something better, or have desire for it, immerse yourself in the doctrine. When I am struggling with my diet (and there is never a moment I’m not) all I have to do is pull out muscle and fitness magazine and read an article. Like magic, I am filled with desire to act according to the truths I’ve been reminded of. Immersing yourself in the reality of true doctrines serves to remind you that your goals aren’t just annoying actions to be checked off a to-do list, but instead a source of joy and satisfaction in-and-of-themselves including the benefit of the actual goal!

It is my testimony that the gospel is joy, and in the name of Jesus Christ the Savior, I testify with Brigham Young, that in regards to the spiritual blessings, peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost, we "live far beneath our privileges." Those gifts and blessings which eye hath not seen and ear not heard, are available in some part to us now, to “any saint willing to separate themselves from the world and to receive millennial blessings in their lives. And any person who today abides the laws that will be kept during the Millennium will receive, here and now, the spirit and blessings of the Millennium in his life.” (The Millennial Messiah, 682)

Glee Sucks

2010-11-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

With all the understanding of human relationships of a 5 year old, the writers of Glee continually show how much they disrespect the intelligence of their audience. The quality of their writing indicates they think their target audience is has the sophistication of the Dora the Explorer demographic.

Despite their obvious derision for humanity, they are still laughing all the way to the bank. The Britney Spears episode drew a record 13.3 million viewers. Shooting fish in a barrel doesn't adequately paint the picture, think more of quadriplegic gazelles in a Lion habitat. Or like sniping at a fat farm, with dollar signs painted on the little porkers like bullseyes.

Glee sold out. They are seeking ratings at any cost and cashing in on the knowledge that teens are suckers for maudlin tripe. They realized people kept watching even after they stopped trying and just went with it.

The non-sequitur has a new poster child with the artificially engineered conflict. One episode is enough to make you question your grip on reality, nothing follows, nothing makes sense.

Characters don't follow arcs, they don't show natural human progression, they are simply chess pieces to be yanked back and forth to create whatever outlandish scenario the sadistic writers have concocted in their hellish lair this week. The dialogue would be more convincing if it were written by robots and the vacillating character motivations are more mystifying than the success of reality television. This results in a lot of round pegs being brutally jammed into square holes and glued in place with syrupy emotion manipulation. It is a show geared to those not "burdened with an overabundance of schoolin," or maturity for that matter.

As much as it hurts to say, the one dimensional characters of Avatar showed more emotional realism than this grotesque aberration of human sentiment.

Yet Glee is a train wreck and we can't stop staring, just like watching obese people run. Even though every characters' actions would make sense to only schizophrenics, I can't stop coming back for Sue Sylvester's witty quips. I'm sick and I know it.

Science Vindicates the Kenneth

2010-11-08T14:07:00.001-07:00

I came to consciousness this morning to NPR's Morning Edition reporting on a story about things you can do to prevent the common cold. I was half asleep, but I'm pretty sure that they said the exact same things I always have said about immunity: avoid stress, sleep deprivation, and zombie bites.

Through the brutal experience of my prolific illnesses, illness so frequent that I put pot-bellied HIV'd African kids to shame, I have gained some insights:

1.) When I go to the gym regularly, I don't get sick.

"Those who exercised five days a week for 20 minutes or more experienced about 40 percent fewer days of illness compared with those putting in less than one day a week of activity. 'It takes getting out most days of the week to see an actual benefit," Nieman says." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131094125&ft=1&f=1001

2.) Proper sleep is mana to your health potions. HP+5

It really is a no brainer when the Lord tells us plainly that going to be early insures we aren't tired in the morning, and getting up early invigorates our mind and body. An "invigorated" body sounds like a healthy one to me.

"People who slept less than 7 hours were 2.9 times more likely to get sick than people who slept 8 or more,' says Sheldon Cohen, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon."

3.) Stress = dead Kenneth walking.

Really, all these seem common sense when you hear them, but common sense also used to call for leeches to fix blood problems, so I'll gladly thank science for true knowledge. I've had premonitions of sickness based on my mood. There was a night I got intensely depressed, I don't remember why, but it was gall of bitterness style. Rancorous darkness overwhelmed me, and somehow I knew that this blackness was sapping my health, that it was the straw to break my immunological back. I was sick the next day.

"The risk of getting the common cold also seems to be tied to stress. None of us can rid ourselves of all of life's little stressors, but the research suggests long durations of stress wear us down."

Inspired by this story I sat up in bed, throwing some feisty punches at the air,"I'mago thuh gym!" quoth I. When I got there, I discovered a fabulous article in Discover magazine which I sweated all over while doing cardio. It also backed up some thoughts I've had and things I've learned by experience.

1.) Poor impulse control is systemic; gluttony is correlated to lust.

"In the brains of obese people, the regions that regulate sensory information from the mouth and tongue are more active, suggesting that they may experience the sensations of eating differently. While sensory processing is elevated in many of these subjects, other research shows that their reward sensitivity is lower. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and other areas involved in inhibitory control are underactive; the heavier the person, the lower the activity there. 'Overeating downregulates your inhibition control,' Wang says." http://discovermagazine.com/2009/sep/05-i-didn.t-sin-it-was-my-brain/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=

2.) Ego is a fake and pathetic defense mechanism.

"Most of us perceive ourselves as slightly smarter, funnier, more talented, and better-looking than average. These rose-colored glasses are apparently important to mental health, the psychological immune system that protects us from despair. “Those who see themselves as they truly are—not so funny, a bad driver, overweight—have a greater chance of being diagnosed with clinical depression,” says Julian Paul Keenan, director of the cognitive neuroimaging laboratory and professor of psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey."

I've written extensively on this topic, so I'll be brief. We all think we're broken, so we cover ourselves with pride to hide our shame. Apparently honest people don't run from it, they embrace their suckitude and get depressed. The atonement provides the only source of relief from the pride malady.

3.) Self-deprecation is just another form of pride.

"Righteous humility has traditionally been depicted as the virtue that opposes pride, but the work of Keenan and others calls that into question. He is using TMS to disrupt deliberate self-deprecation—the type of unctuous, ingratiating behavior that seems humble but is actually arrogance in disguise. Patterns of brain activation during self-deprecation are fundamentally the same as those during self-deceptive pride, Keenan is finding. Both are forms of one-upmanship. 'They’re in the same location and seem to serve the same purpose: putting oneself ahead in society,” he says."

4.) Visualization is a powerful tool, and cuts both ways.

"Similarly, people asked to imagine themselves engaging in aggressive behavior actively suppress activity in the prefrontal cortex, where social information is processed. By deliberately inhibiting our natural social response, we make ourselves detached enough to strike out."

Private Vengeance is Working Through This Testimony!

2010-10-31T16:26:00.001-07:00

The law of undulation as coined by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters describes the constantly changing state of our lives. The master tempter Screwtape writes to his apprentice nephew,

"Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation—the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks. If you had watched your patient carefully you would have seen this undulation in every department of his life—his interest in his work, his affection for his friends, his physical appetites, all go up and down. As long as he lives on earth periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty. The dryness and dullness through which your patient is now going are not, as you fondly suppose, your workmanship; they are merely a natural phenomenon which will do us no good unless you make a good use of it."

This is not a causal law of the "prick us do we not bleed?" variety. Instead more of an axiom which predicts behavior such as, "wrong us, shall we not revenge?" Or, "if you offer a Mormon promises of fabulous income, will they not become trapped in a multi-level marketing scheme selling smelly candles?"

No area is exempt from this undulation, and so it is that I have been in a trough lately in the meekness (forbearance under injury and abuse) department as witnessed by my response posts to Nicklaus and Missionmom1.

I don't think either of them meant to attack me personally, but for some reason, I took them pretty personal. I felt like Murky Dismal had come into Rainbow Land and started drop-kicking Sprites.

I admit, it was indulgent on my part. I don't get to use my sweet nun-chuck skills to fight off ninja attacks too often, but my verbal arsenal has ample opportunity to kick butt and take names. Not that I've been looking for a fight, or walking through rough neighborhoods at night hoping that I get a chance to lambaste somebody upside the head with my keyboard of justice. No, I really was a sleeping giant startled awake by an imagined attack. I snapped into Vietnam flashback mode, Napalm blazing and torrents of Agent Orange gushing. Charlie never saw it coming.

That's the problem, I was asleep, I wasn't awake and aware and ready to react well. I perceived an attack, and rather childishly lashed out. It was more sophisticated than most standard lashings out, but certainly not mature nor Christlike.

What disturbs me is that a few months ago, I wouldn't have responded like I did. I still would have draw attention to every irrational point, and shredded every fallacious argument, but I would have done it in complete serenity with no emotional engagement.

It's terrible because, after all, I know better. I know that all attacks come from a place of weakness, of vulnerability; from the ego, from the lack of self-love. Getting upset at hurtful, or seemingly hurtful words from an adult is NO different than getting upset when a four year old calls you a name. Their motivations are no different. Adults are just kids with mortgages who have more sophisticated ways to act childish.

A few months ago, Rainbow Land was completely invulnerable because I decided it was. We can render any attack completely impotent by simply deciding that it is. How can you really take it personal when an rug-rat calls you a poop head? It's laughable, and just as laughable when it comes from an adult because the intent and motivation are the same, regardless of the sophisticated guise the enmity wears.

So it's time to recommit, to be a juggernaut of brotherhood, a fortress of patience, and an inert sanctuary of unfailing peace. Let's hope the next trough is more shallow than the last.

To Nicklaus

2010-10-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, what is it with people pretending to read my blog lately? This is a forum for honest thought, inquiry and learning, not uppity snobbery. Please keep your prideful, intellectual masturbation to yourself. And forgive this very real tone of annoyance, my fuse is shorter than normal today.

"It is difficult to present an argument to a statement that does not present content or context but rather speaks of pragmatistic ideals. I am surprised to see the absolutist tone of your position; it suggests that those who do not follow this path to truth are “trapped in the same closed circuit” or that these followers that have dwindled in unbelief have all been hypnotized by Satan’s dogma that 'THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.'”

The context for this blog is found in dozens of previous posts. It is impossible to restate every political principle I believe in for every new post. That = No one reading the blog.

I'm sorry you're unable to think in abstracts, as you clearly must be, when you say I provided no content. The title clearly states the theme.

I am a proponent for nothing that resembles pragmatism.

Absolutist tone? I'm not sure what you mean, but I am suggesting people reanalyze their beliefs. In matters of truth I suppose you could say I am an absolutist. In any compromise between food and poison, death is the result. I am for 100% truth.

"It poses the question: have you asked yourself the terrifying question that you so carefully constructed? When I read Joseph Smith I do not read the tone of absolutism. When I read Gandhi, I see a person who does not radically fight and damn his neighbors for their path. Rather, I see him carry more of the abuse, more of the punishment, more of the misfortune."

Have I asked myself the terrifying questions? I am no hypocrite, and I have not come thus far without star- magnitude-intensity introspection, see
http://indiscriminateemotionalwhoring.blogspot.com/2010/10/soul-manifesto.html

Again, no idea what you mean by reading Joseph Smith with a tone of absolutism. Merely using his example that when people's traditions are challenged by cognitive dissonance, they fly apart like glass rather than accommodating the new truth. I now feel justified in quoting Brother Joseph further,

"getting anything into the heads of this generation ...has been like splitting hemlock knots with [cornbread] for a wedge and a pumpkin for a [hammer]"- Joseph Smith Jr.

Is it damning your brothers to point out that their path is one of error? Is that what missionaries are doing by teaching the truths of the gospel, damning their brothers' path? If we use "damn" in its meaning of the stopping of progression, then I am not damning anyone, merely pointing out that they by their error are damning themselves. And I'm trying to use my knowledge to assist the cessation of all damning actions. Again, see the "Soul Manifesto" post.

"I do not see a path. I see a well written statement of radical conservative ideals that suggests absolute rational demanding one to shrug off Ran’s world of deceit and greed."

I am diametrically opposed to Conservative ideals and all other statist philosophies. Did I not include Conservatism in my examples of false dichotomies? Yep, sure did.

What is "Ran's world of deceit and greed?"

The only thing I'm absolutely demanding here is that people use rational thought to discover truth.

"It seems you use fear to support your argument. Absolutism is a mode of using fear to manipulate. Perhaps one should consider the statement: 'I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.”

And it SEEMS, your percepts are flawed if you think I'm using fear to support my argument. Explain to me how an invitation to examine our thought processes to discover truth is manipulation by fear?

Perhaps instead of suggesting I consider the litany against fear, you should check every single ill-informed and false premise you built this little tirade on.

"There Is No Other Way"

2010-10-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

As I've said before, the brainwashing process of being raised and socialized in fallen world is like being born in the Matrix. The self-proclaimed "god" of this world is working constantly to bring hell to earth; to reign with blood and horror, to oppress and destroy. And he's doing a super job, you cannot deny.

Consider this for a moment, truth is light and knowledge, a knowledge of things as the were, are, and will be. Satan seeks to make us as dark and ignorant as possible. How should he accomplish that? Obviously his greatest tool would be through untruth, through misinformation and lies. Think of the impact that one little false belief can have, if you've not seen this, its short and worth it.

It's a funny example but it illustrates perfectly. President Uchtdorf in General Conference a while back gave a talk based on something he learned back in his days of being an airline pilot. If you are just a few degrees off course, you will end up hundreds of miles away from your destination.

Now, having the gospel in your life is not insurance that you know everything. Learning is a life long process, and giving up what our parents taught us can be darn near impossible. As Joseph Smith said,

"I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions..."

Recall the scripture that says how Satan accomplishes his purpose, "And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers."

Lets add to traditions of their fathers, traditions of their schools, their country, their political parties, and their peers. We are steeped, yes, completely saturated, fully immersed in the pervading influence of tradition. And I am not primarily speaking of religious tradition in this post.

"Train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old..." we rarely depart from the programming of our upbringing. Even as we start to grow up and change our opinions, we should not think ourselves out of the woods yet. In the effort to differentiate ourselves and find our own beliefs, Satan is standing ready with all the philosophies of men, ready to help us swap out one false belief for another. Truth isn't on his menu. To use an example from our world today, Republicans become Democrats and Democrats become Republicans, each one thinking they have now found the road to enlightenment. In reality, they are trapped in the same closed circuit, forever chasing their tails in error.

Ask yourself the terrifying question, what dearly-held belief of yours might not be true? What value have you clung to with all your might, mind, and strength, cherished, promulgated, and honored because it was taught you by a loved one?

Do you really think you've managed to live in Satan's swamp your entire life and not gotten a speck of mud on your pure white clothes? Really?

Satan isn't just interested in what you think, he is immensely involved, and maybe more so, in how you think. If he can teach you flawed methods for thought, he doesn't have to worry about coming up with new lies, you'll find them naturally yourself because you're unable to think your way out of a paper bag. Here is where he concentrates his full attention; the philosophies of men. They are mingled with enough truth to be convincing, but alloyed with enough error to damn us in our thought and progression. If we are trained to use irrational thought processes, then he owns us, and no further attention is needed.

One of Satan's most effective and powerful deceptions is the false dichotomy, the doctrine that there are only two options to follow, only he will show us which two they are. He gets us onto his path and then shows us a fork in that path giving us the illusion of choice. Really, we are on his road all along, and this is the reason we see such polarization in our world today, Conservatives vs. Liberals, Jingoism vs. Terrorists, red vs. blue, and so forth.

With a country divided so neatly into 50/50 blue vs red, do you really think there is even a slight possibility that one of those parties is right? That Satan hasn't rigged his entire system from the beginning? Really?

I've talked to many good people over the years, and when I show them that there is a better path, there is a third option, there is a right option, they seem unable to conceive of it. Satan's words seem to ring in their ears, deafening their logic with, "THERE IS NO OTHER WAY."

There must either be force and tyranny, or chaos and anarchy, there is no other way. We must trample human rights to protect them, there is no other way. We cannot have property rights if we hope to defend our life and liberty, there is no other way. Without involuntary taxation, the government would collapse, there is no other way.

This is the mode of thought the devil wants us in. It destroys faith. It prevents us from acting according to true principles because we think they cannot possibly be practical.

And hence, my brothers and sisters, the reason for the miserable state of the world today.

° ° °

Are you ready to take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes?

Soul Manifesto

2010-10-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

It was a little over a year ago I wrote something similar to this today, (http://indiscriminateemotionalwhoring.blogspot.com/2009/09/ibid-to-whom-it-may-concern.html),
but it is worth saying again. I've been pondering lately (especially in light of my last post) how people perceive me.

It takes a discerning eye to know when I am glib and when sincere. I write that you may know me better; I have always had a desperate need to be understood and seen clearly.

There are a very precious few people walking this planet that truly know me. And not because I am an enigmatic wrapped in a riddle, simply, I think, because no one believes me when I tell them what I think and feel.

The reason The Matrix is such a great movie is because it gives such a powerful analogy for life. Just like everyone in the matrix believes that the illusion they are presented with is real, so we are born into a matrix. But ours isn't a virtual reality world created by computers, ours is a false and satanic mental lens through which we view the world. No one escapes being socialized into the telestial world; brainwashing for all.

Pride is the universal matrix we are born into; the default. It filters everything we see, tainting it, and distorting truth. It's built on comparison, on ego, on deriving our false self-esteem only from thinking we are better than others. We never stop judging people and ranking ourself, comparing ourselves to others' talents, looks, and abilities.

Vital to understand is that we all project ourselves on others. We view other people as thinking the same way we do, having the same intentions and motives as us (if we're honest about it.). We have a hard time believing that other people are different, after all, everyone grew up in the pride mindset, why should they be different? We are all fish in the ocean of pride and anytime we see someone acting differently from the norm, we think they must just be pretending, that it's pretense, that under that facade of kindness is just more haughtiness. And so our assumption of their true colors makes us hate them even more.

I do not swim in your ocean.

President Benson's talk on pride is glued into my scriptures and jocularly titled D&C Section 138. I have highlighted it as the scripture it is and it it written in my heart. I can quote many sections verbatim.

I have a constant, self-omniscient voice in my head that holds every one of my thoughts and feelings up the light. It asks these basic questions.

1.) Is this true?

2.) Are you biased in anyway?

3.) Are you using any defense mechanisms to avoid uncomfortable truth?

4.) Are you feeling enmity toward anyone?

5.) Have you fully forgiven everyone?

6.) Are your intentions pure for what you're saying?

Self-honesty is one of my greatest strengths. I may vehemently defend my position, but if I find I am in error, I will immediately discard my old belief. I'm not afraid of being "diminished" or "losing face." How stupid to worry over such things!

Knowing that the pride matrix dominates the thoughts of almost all others, I am not surprised that no one understands me. It doesn't surprise me that most people assume that I am arrogant, and a haughty, insufferable know it all. They think my correction, advice, and shared knowledge must be done because I think I'm better than everyone else.

I am a contradiction, I shouldn't exist. I am the iconoclast, the air-breathing fish. I don't like the games. I don't derive my worth from the pecking order. The whole idea of competition and enmity sickens me.

In actuality, I hate drama. I love knowledge and truth and teaching the same. I don't feel superior when I teach, I don't do it to stroke my ego. (Those in the pride paradigm will think I'm lying now as well.) Whenever I feel I'm in danger of getting too close to the ego line with what I'm saying about myself, you'll be able to tell because I'll lay it on thick with the irony or hyperbole to check myself and be reminded how ridiculous it is. I'm not perfect. I'll admit I allowed myself to get emotionally riled up as I wrote that last post to Missionmom1. I was not able, as I usually am, to dispassionately regard the cold, hard logical facts.

Because, as Muad'Dib said, "Kenneth's just a softy who feels bad when people say he hurt them without his intending to." I am a sensitive person, and careful to step on egg shells so I don't say anything that would hurt another persons feelings. So it's especially upsetting when I'm accused of doing something that I painstakingly avoid.

That's who I really am. When I get criticism, in a loving way or not so loving, I evaluate it and see if there is some truth in it and then try to improve. That's what I care about, improvement and progression. I'm happy for truth no matter the source.

We all wear masks sometimes though, and most especially here, I wear the mask of sarcasm, cynicism, and criticism. I used to really be like that, and its taken years to begin to grow out of it. I've described myself as a optimistic cynic in the past, or a realist, able to be engaged in exhaustive and brutal critiques while being as happy and content as a summer's day on the inside. I get pleasure out of analyzing things, such as why a movie sucked. As I dissect it, I like to be scornful because it makes me giggle. And I like making fun of scooters, because it's good clean fun. I say outrageous things for shock value and laughs, attention whore that I am. I make off-handed comments that I don't mean because I find the reactions so very entertaining. Yes, I am a 13 year-old, and, I laugh at well placed fart jokes too

When it comes to the principles of politics, I am not afraid of throwing a brick made of cognitive dissonance through anyones head. I don't apologize for stark defense of truth. I speak with forcefulness because the subject demands nothing less. I call error for what it is, it is my duty as a thinking human, let alone a priesthood holder.

I've grown a lot in the past 4 years. I may have began with Indiscriminate Emotional Whoring, but now I walk The Golden Path. I still carry vestments of my former self, but I am a new creature, constantly in growth and newness; the ouroboros.

So it may seem like I'm a schizophrenic when you jump between my different types of posts, my bombastic sarcastic pop-culture posts, my sincere gospel posts, and my uncompromising political pronouncements.

But not all are me. Even when donning a childish, indulgent mask, I don't bear any malice toward anyone. (At least not for more than a couple seconds.) It is true that I throw up my hands on a near daily basis with an exclamation of the stupidity of humanity. Contempt en masse, but charity individually. I would defend that position by saying I'm not perfect, but I'm not sure that I'm wrong to be that way, (cause seriously, this world is ridunckulous.)

I try desperately to love everyone and frankly and instantly forgive. I feel as uncomfortable as a lobster in a boiling pot whenever I have contempt toward someone in my heart, and I cannot do another thing until I replace it with love, or at least neutrality.

I love my life. I love you. I am a well of gratitude and serenity. I am a disciple of the Prince of Peace. My life's ambition and purpose is to be a healer of broken hearts, and a teacher of pure knowledge, and a defender of truth.

Bi-lal kaifa

To missionmom1

2010-10-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Comment from Public Schools: The Retard Factory

"sorry big guy. offensive taken. you didn't use the word retard to mean to slow down. using the word retard just marginalizes people with special needs. even you know that. certainly you could have used another word without mocking my child and millions like her."

Since it seems that I cannot let one word of fallacious argument pass by without response, this deserves an answer. I would say that I don't intend this post to be offensive, but since you completely disregarded that request last time... I guess you'll do what you want.

"you didn't use the word retard to mean slow down."

Really? Cause I kinda said exactly that I did. So do you claim to have the power of discernment? Or is it ESP? You suggest that,

1.) You know the thoughts and intents of my heart, and
2.) I am lying.

So it must be a natural or God given ability to look into my soul. Which is it?

Since I quoted the definition of retard from Oxford English Dictionary with the meaning I intended to use, I think its safe to say I was carefully considering my words. Had my intention been to offend, I would not have taken the time to define my term and ask that you NOT take offence! I am aware of the pejoration of the term which is precisely why I used the dictionary definition, because THAT and THAT ALONE is the thought I wanted to convey.

"sorry big guy. offensive taken."

Well, thanks for considering my heartfelt plea and then doing the exact opposite. I assume from your handle that you are LDS, let me quote Brigham Young,

"he who takes offense when no offense was intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense was intended is usually a fool." -Marion D. Hanks, “Forgiveness: The Ultimate Form of Love,” Ensign, Jan 1974, 20

And now President Benson,

"Pride is a very misunderstood sin...the central feature of pride is enmity, enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellow men...the scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. They withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings...the proud are not easily taught. They wont change their minds to accept truths,because to do so implies they have been wrong...our degree of pride determines how we treat our God and our brothers and sisters."

"using the word retard just marginalizes people with special needs. even you know that. certainly you could have used another word without mocking my child and millions like her."

Thanks again for implying that I am mocking your child. I also eat babies and push old women down stairs. Lady, I don't know you from Eve. Who the hell are you to know my heart? (Now I'm being prideful, despite my best efforts. Can you blame me? I'm not yet mature enough to not react when punched in the face.)

Its obvious that you have had struggles raising you daughter. I'm sorry for that. It is also obvious that you have an unthinking crusade built on assumptions against a word, a symbol for an abstract.

The most major problem here in your statement is your denial of truth. You read my words, heard my beliefs, and then completely rejected them. It is for the speaker to define their terms that there be no confusion. I did away with ambiguity, and left no room for confusion. But you set that aside and rode in on your haughty high horse anyway. I would say that you perceived an attack that did not exist, but I made sure that it wasn't at all possible to construe it as an attack. You chose to perceive a kitten for a lion because you had a chip on your shoulder.

You chose to superimpose your bias over my words and see only what you wanted to see. You chose not to accept it in the spirit which it was given, you chose not to seek first to understand, then to be understood. You read but you did not understand; you missed the message completely because of your "false traditions," false assumptions, and preconceived notions born of pride.

Yes, I am now making assumptions about your intentions, the difference is that I have evidence on which to do so. I know the modus operandi of the pride paradigm. A humble person would not have lashed out as you did. A=A.

You made up a fantasy story about who I am and what I meant and supplanted the truth with it. You distorted reality. Might as well look at the sun and say that it does not shine, for that is exactly what you have done.

Please set aside your illogical, emotional reactions in the future and deal in only what truth is presented to your senses, without filtering it through your biases first. Maybe try that old judge-not-love-one-another thing. You can choose to believe in your heart that I intended to offend you, but I'm afraid the evidence just doesn't bear that out.

Public School: The Retard Factory

2010-10-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Dummyville: Population America.

Lest you be offended, I mean retard in it's original sense: To hold back, delay, or slow (a person or thing) with respect to action, progress, etc. (thanks to the OED for that.)

It's really hard to argue with me on this. Did you see the now famous clip from O'Reilly on The View? If you haven't endured it yet, here ya go. Don't pay attention to the politics of it, just the arguments.

This show deserves twice the scorn SNL gives it.

Have you met Joy Behar?

According to Wikipedia, she's a comedian. Coulda fooled me. This woman who has a masters degree, was obviously never required to take and pass a critical thinking class. Bill cites a poll in which 68% of Americans are opposed to the mosque, which you may learn more about here,

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/113747-poll-public-strongly-opposes-ground-zero-mosque-

Behar: Where is that poll? Where is that poll? I wanna see that poll.

O'Reilly: You wanna bet on that? You wanna bet on that? I'll show you that poll in a minute.

Behar: All I'm saying is I'm an American too.

First of all, what on earth does it matter how many are for or against it? Does that lead us to any truth on the matter? Not once do we get close to a discussion of the principles involved. What was your point exactly Joy? First you deny the poll exists (with no reason to) then you have to back pedal with something that does not follow. Do you know what a non-sequitur is Joy? It's Latin for "your're a moron who can't think." At this point I'm looking for something hard and concussiony to bang my head on. And then it gets worse.

Whoopi makes it a giant point to say that it was extremists that attacked us on 9/11. Tell me Whoopi, what made them so extreme that they were on board the mass-murder/suicide train? Oh right, it was their religion. So they were Muslim extremists, huh?

I miss when you said smart things and wore stupid hats.

When confronted with the fact of their religion, she delivers this brilliant rejoinder, "What religion was Mr. McVeigh in?"

Well, for the record Whoopi, he said "Science is my religion." He wasn't even a deist. He believed " the universe was guided by natural law, energized by some universal higher power that showed each person right from wrong if they paid attention to what was going on inside them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh

So Whoopi, I've answered your question, now kindly explain what the hell it had to do with anything. You can't make an illogical argument and assume that we'll think you're smart because you strung two thoughts together. Random connections of thought is called schizophrenia, not intelligence.

But I really appreciated the yelling, talking over each other, and the childish storming out, and the moral indignation. Not only was it classy, it showed that you are able to put emotion aside and use reason. It showed that you cared more about truth than feeling like you're a good and caring person.

Thanks to Barbara Walters who wins the only-intelligent-comment-of-the-day award,

"we should be able to have discussions without washing our hands and screaming, and walking off stage."

She quickly lost the kudos however when she asserted Bill was demeaning all Muslims without bothering to ask him what he meant.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood. How many times must it be said!? You were a journalist for hell's sake! Fact check Barb, fact check.

This mosque debate is confusing and heated. Don't people have the right to sell property to whomever wants it? Don't Muslims have a right to build mosques? But I heard that they support Hamas, isn't that supporting terrorism? Isn't it an insult to everyone who died on 9/11?

Like I said, confusing! To come to any conclusions, we need 1.) Facts and 2.) Principles. Thankfully, Craig Biddle gives us both,

"As of this writing, the essential publicly available facts regarding the Ground Zero mosque effort are as follows: A group of Muslims, headed by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is seeking to erect a mosque (which they call a “community center”) on private property a few hundred feet from Ground Zero. Rauf refuses to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization;6 he claims that the United States is partly responsible for the attacks of 9/11;7 he alternately says that he will and will not disclose the sources of funding for the mosque;8 and he claims that “the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than Al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims.”9 (This last claim must be understood in light of the fact that, according to Islam, there is no such thing as innocent non-Muslims.)

Let us pause here to acknowledge that such facts alone are enough to justify outright and universal moral condemnation of Rauf, the other mosque backers, and anyone who affiliates with them. Such facts alone are enough to warrant a full-scale investigation of Rauf and everyone involved in the so-called “community center.” Such facts alone are enough to spur civilized people to do whatever is within their legitimate power to stop this mosque from being built. Such facts alone are enough to warrant a nationwide boycott of all businesses involved in the vile project. But—as damning as such facts are—they are not enough to justify government force against Rauf and company, because such facts do not constitute evidence of criminal or enemy activity."

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2010-fall/ground-zero-mosque-spread-of-islam.asp

This is an amazing read. How would you like to come to a final conclusion on what is right in this debate, to no longer wonder or simply be guided by whims? How would you like to be able to prove it with logic? How long halt ye between two opinions? Go read the full article.

You Mean the Book of Mormon is Relevant?

2010-10-11T15:34:00.002-07:00

Scripture study has been lack-luster of late, languishing even. I'm stuck in the account of the people of Limhi and feeling rather unimpressed with the entire experience. The problem is, I've been reading the scriptures lately, rather than pondering them. So I asked myself, what symbols can I find in this story? That question made all the difference between being spiritually fed or not this morning.

The people of Limhi were tired of getting slapped around by the Lamanites, tired of being slaves. So they went to war and the result was Nephite pwnage. Three times they got the crap kicked out of them. It took that long for them to pull their heads out,

"And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies. And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions."

The got it, they put their trust in the Lord. So what was the result? Did the Lord deliver them? Nope. As has been said, the atonement is not a trampoline, it is a safety net. The Lord doesn't hand out the Get Out of Jail Free cards like a politician hands out pork. Something this valuable requires more than flippant carelessness.

"And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.

And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger."

Things slowly got better as they submitted to the will of the Lord. But they hadn't learned their lesson yet and the bondage persisted.

"And the king himself did not trust his person without the walls of the city, unless he took his guards with him, fearing that he might by some means fall into the hands of the Lamanites."

Limhi is being smart and playing it safe. And he's focused too,

"And now all the study of Ammon and his people, and king Limhi and his people, was to deliver themselves out of the hands of the Lamanites and from bondage."

This story is a great parallel of how the Lord sometimes deals with us. First, they tried to go it alone. As silly as that choice seems, I know I have made it often. And when I finally get fed up of wallowing in the gall of bitterness, I ask for relief. Many times He has snatched me out of the fire. But most times He throws down a rope. He is ever watchful and ready to help, but He is no helicopter parent, always hovering over us, saving us from ever making a bad decision.

He allows us to grow as he helps us stand on our own feet. "By degrees" is the key phrase. We slowly begin to fight against sin and reclaim our lost and abused agency. He delivers us from our stupidity one step at a time as we turn our back on sin and walk away. I've had to slowly step back into the light many times, grace for grace, step by step.

The only way to do it is to bring all your focus to bear on the process, making all your study to deliver yourself from bondage. Hit it M.C. Bell!

"Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus." — Alexander Graham Bell

Thanks B. It requires constant awareness of the enemy and how precarious your situation is. Almost a quasi-omniscience of your thoughts: constant meta-cognition. Like Limhi, you know you are vulnerable. You know that temptations that you used to brush aside like feathers now hit like bricks. You know you can't withstand a direct attack, so you make sure your guard is constantly up, you stay in the city and let the walls of holy places protect your weak heart. When you can't fight, you have to hide, you have to avoid.

I think I've gone on about temptation ad nauseam in the past, but it bears repeating. We are commanded, "suffer none of these things enter into your heart." The entire battle against sin is in the heart. Once you let it in, it changes you, it supplants righteous desires, and you want to sin. When you want to, you're gonna, you've already lost even if you haven't acted on it yet.

So when the temptation comes you have to have been so utterly dedicated to defensive measures by offensive righteousness, that you don't give the temptation one iota of your concentration. Let it go, don't stay near it, and don't give it another thought. I'll leave you with this lovely image, let it pass over you, like holding your breath as you walk through a fart cloud.

Dextrous or Sinister?

2010-08-14T06:28:00.012-07:00

Little children are ego-centric and incapable of empathy or perspective taking. They are sympathetic, when you're sick, they'll bring you their teddy bear or favorite toy to make you feel better. They see everything from they're own perspective, they can't help it. This is also why they don't mind coming after your crotch with the fist of fury. (I'm going to start wearing a cup at family parties.)

As we get older I think our ego-centrism matures, it is still the lens through which we view the world in certain ways. We use large scale Freudian projection on humanity. Dishonest people tend to see the world as full of liars and cheats, seeing their reflection in everyone else. Happy and good people see others in the same way. And clowns... they see you as cattle, brainless cattle, fit for the slaughter. Everyone you meet acts as a mirror in some way, showing you what you are.

There are many gradations and varieties here of course but today I want to filter out two basic characteristics, trust of humanity, and distrust. Stemming from these glass half empty/full positions, we can make some tidy lists:

Trust vs Mistrust

Optimism vs Pessimism

People will do what's best vs People will never do what's best

Let individuals make choices, it'll be fine vs. People make the right choices only when forced

You can do it, believe in your dreams vs. You're screwed unless someone helps you

You can over come challenges vs. Those challenges are insurmountable on your own

People are generally good and smart vs. People are evil idiots

You get the idea. Now when these two perspectives are applied to politics, the two will generally conform to either conservatism or liberalism. As you know I am not a sympathizer with either ideology. But if I had to choose the one that was closest to my views, it would of course be the Whig party.

(Hence the trap of the cliche republican-Mormon; smart enough to see truth but not smart enough to sift out the philosophies of men contained therein. Presented with two crappy choices, and thinking that's all there is, you choose the lesser of evils.)

As Aristotle said, "A speech has two parts. You must state your case, and you must prove it." So unlike any politician you've ever heard, I'll actually do that.

Gun control is fueled by mistrust of your fellows, believing that only those trained by the state are qualified and smart enough to be trusted with one. You can't just let any psychotic have a gun, billy-bob has a less teeth than years of education. But this is a case of misplaced trust because even as they mistrust anyone who isn't from the government, they completely trust those who are thinking that laws can do away with crime. that if there were enough cops and guns were only allowed for the police, we would be safe.

The other side believes most people are trustworthy of a weapon. But realistically they know that there are exceptions to the rule and so, wanting to be safe and responsible for their own safety, many are packing 9mm's of justice in their respective armpits or butt-cracks. They aren't naive enough to believe that in a massacre, cops will burst in to the rescue like the X-men and save everyone. I suppose they base that belief on the evidence of history: Trolley Square, Columbine, Virginia Tech, or any of the other 50ish massacres since 1996... Oh wait, oops, check out the complete list! http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html#axzz0wb9vbrNo

Could law rid the world of crime? Yes, very nearly. If you'd like to know more, you can read about this system of government in 1984 by George Orwell, or V for Vendetta by Alan Moore. Removing freedom can completely eliminate crime! Swell! huh gang?

Affirmative Action. Conservatives don't like it because it makes arbitrary quotas and makes the playing field slanted and lumpy. It does away with fairness, making it harder to hire qualified people. Then you have terms like "the token black guy." Let's be honest, does that sort of thing help us see people as people, or as ethnicities? Seriously. Liberals contend that fair means doing away with personal bias by fiat. If they won't play nice, we'll make em! Racism can be eliminated by laws, they think. The result is a system where men are judged on the color of their skin and not on the content of their character...That reminds me of a speech, was it the Gettysburg address? I don't remember. Yeah, there are racists, but not many. People are generally good, lets support them and put the bigots out of business, eh? On the other hand, we have people won't do the right thing unless we force them... Hey, that reminds me of something I've heard before too...

Welfare. People can't make it alone. They can't be trusted to get insurance and save wisely. I've got to admit, this is probably more true than it used to be. But I still believe that if you let the colon candy hit the fan, people will quickly mend their ways. (That is unless you enable them and shield from consequences, then they'll continue to act a foo!) I also believe in helping others so I know that nobody is going to starve. But the other side believes disagrees. I reminded one of these people last week that recently 40 of the worlds billionaires including Gates and Buffet have pledged to give away half of their wealth during their lifetime or at their death.

Also, “Americans increased their charitable donations significantly in 2006 to more than $295 billion -- a record, according to a study released June 25 by the Giving USA Foundation, which reports on charitable contributions.

Not too shabby. That's almost a thousand dollars per citizen! Did that persuade him? Nope, still unimpressed with Americans goodness. With the current economy, I bet that's dropped significantly, but considering depressions don't happen without a government causing them, it's Uncle Sam's fault anyway.

So there's just a couple of ways that perspective determines action for yah. Disagreement?

Judge Not

2010-08-09T15:56:00.002-07:00

...that ye be not judged. Most of the judgement we pass on others doesn't consist of condemning them to hell. I think most of us are sophisticated enough to realize that we can't make a call like that without looking awfully presumptuous.

We have been told to make righteous intermediate judgments such as, I shouldn't hang out with that crack dealer; I don't want to die in a drive-by. Or, that guy's a pedophile; I think I'll find a new babysitter. Or even, my friend is abusive; I think I'll stop hanging out with them. Simple things, you know?

The judgments we usually make, on ourselves and others, are the judgments of "shoulds."

He shouldn't have cut me off, he should get his fat @$$ out of my fast lane, he should realize how stupid he looks on that scooter, etc. But these aren't the only kind, there's also: someone should have said "hi" to me at church today, she shouldn't be so mean, he shouldn't smoke, he's an RM he should know better, I shouldn't have screwed up again, etc. The "should" implied here is that other people should be perfect. Such a retarded statement implies that you should be perfect too, which is why you punish yourself for screwing up. This kind of idiocy is what leads to family grudges, murders, and that family who hasn't been to church in 30 years because they were offended.

These are the judgments that are a problem. When your mind is busy passing judgments it isn't finding reasons to love and serve. In fact, it's souring your mind and heart to the person and the rest of humanity usually. Its also keeping you from loving them, and when the injunction is to love your neighbor as yourself, that's a problem.

Judgment is a clot in your artery, the myocardial infarction, the fifty car pile up, the 400 lb linebacker between you and the goal. You cannot be judging and also be fulfilling the commandment to love others, you just can't. So there you have one of the grand keys of how to live the gospel. Its a decision you make in your mind which frees your heart to do what it was built to do.

Maybe it sounds hard to just decide to stop. It was for me, but then I was made aware of a couple of preliminary facts: 1.) I didn't pay for their sins, so I really have no right to editorialize on how fast they should progress eternally. Just like they can't say how fast I should be on my way to exaltation. 2.) There are no should's. Yes we have been given commandments, and they are worded quite imperatively, but we don't have to do one of them. Earth life is really a lot like that old game show where people tried to grab money out of the air in that tube they were stuck in. You can grab as many blessings as you want or none at all. This is a choose your own adventure, so just think of the commandments as things to do if you want to be happy now and later.

Everyone has their agency to be happy or not, to obey or not, to send threatening letters to Justin Bieber's hair or not. Frankly, it's none of your business what anyone else decides to do. Even God isn't judging. Christ said "I judge no man." The natural, eternal laws of the universe are already in place to do the judging so God doesn't have to. He is completely free to simply love us.

If that's not enough of a reason, it gets worse. If you really think about it, you realize that being judgmental makes you douchey. It's the classic case of the Backstreet boys calling the N'SYNC gay. You are an imperfect loser as much as the next guy. And so to make your pathetic ego feel better, you compare yourself to others, as if that would give you any lasting comfort or self-esteem! So, moral for the day, don't be a douche.

I Guess I'm Kinda Radical That Way

2010-06-19T15:44:00.005-07:00

I advocate a life of reason. A life in which action is based of knowledge of principle, not merely belief. One in which you trace all thoughts to their point of origin and ask, "why?"

An "unexamined life" is a blindfolded man in an obstacle course who is ignorant of why and what it is that buffets him. It is a suspension of cognition; a decision to live life based on hunches and beliefs.It is the unexamined life which is the root of neurotic fear that robs life of joy. Decisive action is always hobbled by the uncertainty of the consequences it will bring.

Castles built on clouds have no foundations, the slightest breeze threatens their whole structure. Not having a logical reason for what you believe in is having a gremlin made of fear living in your subconscious.

I like to poke that little gremlin with a stick. And I like to shake flimsy foundations. It makes people all manner of uncomfortable. My mind is a brick looking for a window. Now, I'm not completely sadistic. After I do get my kicks from the mental torture of exposing someone to their ignorance, I try to educate them. The problem is, most people are just so ridiculously prideful, they "fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions."

A person like that "may uphold some abstract principles or profess some intellectual convictions (without remembering where or how he picked them up. But if one asks him what he means y a given idea, he will not be able to answer. If one asks him the reasons of his convictions, on will discover that his convictions are a thin, fragile film floating over a vacuum, like an oil slick in empty space- and one will be shocked by the number of questions it had never occurred to him to ask." -Ayn Rand Philosophy: Who Needs It, pg 40.

All the problems in the world stem back to these people with no rational philosophical basis, no integrated way of apprehending and integrating the concepts of reality. Oh yeah, also cause they can vote.

Who needs philosophy?

The answer is everyone. And you and I thought philosophy was for stuffy professors more interested in looking smart than being decisive and accountable. But no, philosophy is vitally important because every thought, evil and stupid or good and wise, is underpinned by philosophy.

More from her Logicalness, Our Lady of Reason, St. Ayn,

"But the principles you accept (consciously or subconsciously) may clash with or contradict one another; they too, have to be integrated. What integrates them? Philosophy. A Philosophic system is an integrated view of existence. As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation- or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind's wings should have grown."

Satan's best friends are philosophers. Not everybody likes religion, so he can only use false teachers so far, but pseudo-intellectuals, they're universal. The have a dumb idea, write a book and their ideas get parroted around by everyone until they become part of the natural endowment of an education of assumptions. If Satan can get you to deny basic facts of metaphysical reality, then it doesn't matter what religion you belong to, he has you.

Urinals, Golf, and the Spirit (3 of 3)

2010-06-11T20:32:00.003-07:00

Okay, now for the boring part where I wrap up all the uncomfortable over-sharing about my sphincter and how it has anything to do with golf or the gospel.

Being able to hit the ball straight and relax enough to void my bladder are just two branches of the same tree. And what is that magical tree you ask? Um. I don't know. We'll call it the Zen tree. And it is this same meditative state where the spirit is in control of brain and body which is required to open myself to the promptings of the Spirit.

I can feel the Spirit normally, but the intensity is not as strong as it could be. If I really want to feel it strongly, I have to meditate. I have to go to my honest to goodness happy place in my mind. It is only when I am in this perfectly safe place that my mind can let down the walls I have built to protect myself. The walls are an involuntary action, like the pumping of my heart; I don't directly control it. But in the same manner biofeedback allows you to speed up or slow down your heart by relaxing or stressing, I can indirectly calm myself so that those walls go down. (At least until I break my concentration to go, "Hey I let the walls down!" Then they go right back up.)

Is it weird that soft muscle tissue, swinging a club and the spirituality are related? Regardless, getting the results have a common mechanism; they are contingent on removing fear. What is fear? At it's functional core, it is allowing outside influences to control you. It is relinquishing your agency, choosing to be acted upon, becoming a puppet.

So long as your mind is playground for the tormentors of fear, and doubt, you will not have the requisite serenity to use the faculties of your mind, body, or spirit.

Seek Learning by Faith

2010-06-08T10:58:00.003-07:00

Life is the process of discovering how all those sayings and aphorisms you have heard are true, I've often said. When you hear some saying like, "fake it til you make it," instinctively your spirit recognizes it's truth but your brain doesn't. And you struggle with it. With any luck, and a little metacognition, you eventually learn why its true.

If we wait for complete intellectual understanding of a principle before we act on it, we will be missing out on the benefits. It's just better to obey in the dark. And for more than one reason. First, to have your spirit recognize truth but fail to act on it weakens you. Second, if you take that step forward in the darkness, in other words, seeking learning by faith, you find the path is lit just a step ahead and you gain the intellectual knowledge as well. By doing, you learn the lesson, and that happens exponentially faster than just trying to figure it out by thinking. Just like we came to mortality so we could learn by experience, there are just some things you never can really KNOW until you do them.

You will hasten your intellectual acquisition of principles by putting them into action before you fully understand them.

The brain is a pretty impressive computer. But a computer isn't smart, its just a computational machine, and the results it spits out are only as good as the input given it. Because we are so woefully ignorant of almost everything, it is pure idiocy to think we can rely upon our intellect alone gain truth of unknowns. Especially when it comes to metaphysical truth. Spiritual data isn't empirical, so the brain is unable to apprehend such things without the spirit's first hand evidence of metaphysical unknowns.

You can't discover the existence of planets in the solar system with a microscope, it's the wrong tool. Likewise, our spiritual receptors, function independently from the body. Our eyes are sensory inputs for light as the ears are for sound. But your ears can't see light and your eyes can't hear, neither can your brain grasp the pith of spiritual concepts. It can sketch vague outlines, but how quickly we forget the core of truth and fall back into sin is proof enough that our brains are not the receptacles of virtuous principles. Our spirits require constant nourishment as surely as our bodies to survive, as they atrophy, so does our understanding of Truth. "And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries..."

The means of "seeing" spiritual light is our spirit, that which is light and truth, in other words intelligence. We are intelligences and we have through the light of Christ, connection to infinity, to the vast ocean of all truth. In all things, through all things, etc. We have the ability to recognize truth because our very being resonates with it, in absentia of that 3 pound lump of mush twixt your ears.

Urinals, Golf, and the Spirit (2 of 3)

2010-06-01T16:17:00.003-07:00

To the layman, golf is just hitting a little ball around with a stick. How could such a seemingly pointless game be such a raging addiction? That is the right question to ask, it goes much deeper than that.

Something magical happens when so many, many factors all converge, when you do everything right and the swing is perfect, the moment of connection is flawless and the ball goes straight. Anyone who golfs can tell you that that is more rare than finding an honest politician.

It takes so many things to make that magic moment happen. You have to line up correctly, make sure you keep your head down, knees bent, left arm straight, grip just the right tightness, fluid swing, not trying too hard, keeping the club face squared, swinging in a strict arc, not moving up or down. All of these variances are measured in millimeters. And the worst part is, if you try and think about any of these things when you do it, you will screw up.

To golf well you have to have to clear your mind of periphery. The amount of concentration required to hit the ball right is of godly proportions. You have to get into that zen state where all is calm in your mind, where you are truly at one with yourself. Golf is meditation. It is all in the mind. The swinging of the club is simply a byproduct of it, the manifestation of your state of mind.

I suck at golf when people are watching me. Anxiety about doing it wrong is fear, and fear is the par killer. You screw up every time you let yourself fear. You can't be self-conscious or it will ruin your game. That is one of the reasons ( I have heard but don't know if it's true) Tiger Woods' dad used to shout racist epithets at him while he practiced. You have to tune out every single thing in the world. Your zen state has to be 100% pure. Every fractured shard of your conscious mind must be called back and brought to bear on this one thing.

Continued in part 3

Urinals, Golf, and the Spirit (1 of 3)

2010-05-31T11:10:00.003-07:00

"Stage fright." "Performance anxiety." Or even better, "The Agony of the Sphincter." Men in bathrooms everywhere stand at urinals, desperately trying to go pee pee. All alone, no problem, but whenever there is an audience of more than just you, everything puckers right up. Based on my informal empirical observations, I estimate around 10% or more of men suffer from this.

Some men try to coax the little guy to relax, "Who's the big boy? You are, that's right." Others try to take their mind off it by doing something else. I was next to a guy yesterday who spit into the urinal compulsively, we're talking every 3 seconds. It didn't work. He eventually pretended, he was done, flushed, and left. Without washing his hands I might add. Some guys will give up, but feeling that pressing biological need more keenly than desiring to save face, will bail to a stall for relief.

That's the problem with standing 18 inches away from someone trying to do something so private; its just not private, you can hear whether they're going or not. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees it as an unspoken race to see who can go first. That can be some crippling pressure. (And where is this anxiety, this pressure coming from? Is it real? What is real?)

I've tried texting before to take my mind off it. That works fine until you drop your phone in the urinal. I'm more careful now.

The funny thing about stage fright is, I never had it until I was told what it was. Since that fateful day in 1997 when that jerk face Cody told me about it, I have suffered from UAD (Urinary Anxiety Disorder. I claim credit for coining that term.) As far as I can tell, the only medical treatment that would work for it is copious amounts of alcohol. But that's kind of inconvenient for those who want to operate machinery, motor vehicles, maintain employment, etc.

This example really hits the point home, "Fear is the mind-killer."

Isn't that insane!? It's all in your head! Before the suggestion everything was fine. After it, my reality changed. So what does that tell you about your ability to control your reality?

It's taken years of training, but I'm now mostly cured of it. My performance, not coincidentally, is linked directly to my self-image. If I'm feeling confident and awesome, then there's no problem. I've found that controlling it is an indirect process. Thinking about it makes it worse. You have to come at it sideways. (Screaming "RELAX DAMN YOU!" Just doesn't seem to work for some reason.)

Continued in part 2

The Book of Kenneth

2010-05-28T16:41:00.002-07:00

From Kenneth, chapter 9-16-09

Romans 9:1-31. The Jew sought for the law of righteousness but didn't attain it because they tried to get it by works and not by faith (And to do that, all works would have to have been perfect). Christ fulfilled the law of righteousness by being perfectly righteous. He'll share His prize money with us if we are His friends. Or we can choose to try and do it ourselves. But that would be like trying to win the Tour de France on a tricycle.

When we accept His laurels by the law of faith, we take on His journey too, in that we follow Him. But also in that His actual journey is what we accept in place of our own. We are subsidiaries; all power and life given by him. We do His works. Not our own because our own don't count towards our salvation. But we press on in obedience because those are the terms of His new agreement.

You still must trike your way across France, but as a solo ride. Justice on a bullet bike is no longer your competition. The only competition left is your own fear.

LOST

2010-05-25T18:49:00.004-07:00

It's all over. Now the armchair-quarterback vultures of TV writing may descend and pick apart the bloated corpse. We're really all just jealous that we aren't J.J. Abrams, but he isn't perfect, and it is our solemn duty to point out his failings.

We are OBSESSED with stories. What did we do before movies and TV? We read books. And before that we just sat around and told them. With the exception of the unfortunate slew of reality shows recently, stories is most of what TV used to be.

We love to hear about people doing great things, facing challenges, and overcoming them or failing miserably, falling in love, breaking hearts, and beating the odds. And LOST had all that and was one helluvah story until like well, the last season. The last season had all that, but I didn't care as much, and that was because they focused on the events more than the people. It felt like the story had been derailed and was being held hostage by events.

All that being said, I liked the finale, but I'm not thrilled. It was a pleasant sort of feeling, like eating at a Chinese buffet and being relieved to find that you DON'T have chronic dysentery; it can always be worse.

We know that the writers didn't have any clue where they were taking the show. As someone on io9 commented today, the story meandered around like a monkey that had gotten into the gin.

It was all done by the seat of their pants and so you had this amazing build up where I imagine they were taking every cool idea they had and throwing it in without a clue of how it fit into the big picture. The first 5 seasons were thrilling and harrowing and it was made all the better because I felt like it was going somewhere. They built up and built up and in the end it collapsed under the weight of its own mythos. They made such a complex and rich tapestry and in the end it was just too much for them. So they kind of did a cop-out ending, but not an unsatisfying one. In the end when they should have zoomed out to reveal the big amazing tapestry in all it's glory, they kind of... didn't. And what they did show us turned out to be not as cool as all the build up lead us to believe.

Kind of like when Cody got me a dream catcher for my birthday. Worst. Friend. Ever.

Or like being up so close to what must be a Van Gogh cause it's so awesome and when you zoom out it's just a portrait of Mr. Potato Head.

For 5 seasons we were tantalized by the island and its mysteries. "Why?" was always the question, why Jacob, why the smoke monster, the others, the button, Widmore, etc. And those why's burned and itched us like herpes. And it seemed like all that stuff was important, especially with Locke always saying that it all meant something. We just couldn't see how but we hoped deep down that he was right, that this story was going somewhere and we weren't just watching people being buffeted by random events as they wandered around an island. But when we got to the finale and we thought they'd give us some cream to soothe our itchy parts, they decided to side-step the answers to all of those why's. Damn them. If Locke was right, we'll never know. They actually kind of gave loyal fans the bird on that one.

J.J.: "Guess what, none of it matters. Psyyyyyyych! You just got punked, I'm Ashton Kutcher, I'm awesome!"

But without the characters we cared about, we wouldn't have given a rats anus about buttons, hatches, or time-travelling Scotsmen. While all the little things were important, they weren't the most important thing. They decided to throw us a huge eschatalogical curve ball. And it wasn't right that they teased us with no resolution like they did, but they didn't forget that reason we watch is because of the relationships, not the events. Although the events could have been way cooler. Because everyone knows that that is the essence of good story; relationships. Unless you like action movies, but if that's the case, you're hopeless in your testosterone fueled, NASCAR loving, wooohooing-in-the-theater-at-transformers-2, ball scratching bad taste.

And watch this, it has a couple of questions...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291

Art?

2010-05-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Originally written 8-31-09

I had to take Art 1010 to my great misfortune. It was basically a course in visual torture. One of our first assignments was to study a Picasso painting. (I know, the unspeakable cruelty makes me shudder.) As if that wasn't bad enough, this week we have to look at the collection of African, Oceanic, and American works. I found this little gem as I perused. Now I ask, is there something a little fishy about this "masterpiece?"

How about now?

I know that no one ever claimed that all art was good. I just wish we could establish some standards. This next beauty, I like to call, "If Looks Could Sterilize"

Is this supposed to be some sort of chastity doll to kill any inkling of sexual desire for a woman? If this is a taste of what I have to look forward in the marriage chamber, then consider me officially on the market as a certified eunuch.

I guess my big question is in these cultures, did they know they were making dorky kitsch like this? Were they just trying to make a quick buck selling to gullible Relief Societies?

I mean, did all the art museums of the 5th century get destroyed where all the good stuff was? Do we only have these remnants of nauseating detritus because they were found in every homes china cabinet? Did ancient husbands walk by their wife's curios with grudging grimaces just as they do today? Or were these things considered cool?

I just think you shouldn't have to rank art in terms of gag-reflex. I think looking at a painting should be an enjoyable experience. It shouldn't be like going to a second grade art exhibit. Speaking of 2nd grade caliber work, check out little Hank Matisse's masterpiece.

I wonder how long his mom hung this one on the refrigerator before it "just disappeared."

I think the worst part of art has to be the stuffy "scholarship" by pompous, fulsome snobs. Consider this "revolutionary" piece of mishmash.

Yes, Warhol was a master wasn't he? You see his genius plainly don't you, he took a picture and then used different colors! Wowee huh? News flash Warhol, we've got Photoshop, and too many ten year olds who know how to use it.

The truth is in most cases, art is the emperors new clothes. You get a couple of people together who decide something is cool and viola! Snap bracelets, Prius's, Michael Moore; all things that aren't really cool but that a majority of idiots embrace en mass. Kind of like Nickelback.

My Mouth was Talking, then I Learned Something

2010-04-24T13:27:00.004-07:00

I was hiking today and talking to my brother about how people don't respect us. He feels like I do, that because of our personalities, people don't immediately respect us or take us seriously. It's like natural born salesmen. Some people have it, and some people don't. I like to think that every single one of us has a distinct color, if you will, to our personality. No two people have the same vibe. When you meet someone, you can instantly begin to pick up on who they are because of the vibe they put out.

Point is, you can't fake it or change it. Your vibe is who you are. So I could pretend to be serious and gruff and try to intimidate people into respecting me but it would feel disingenuous. Part of our conversation today was about the woes of working for douche-bag managers. He is not loving his job right now. And I can relate. Here's what it all boils down to, there are two ways to get respect, one is through fear, and the other through love.

Sorry for more Star Wars, but Yoda is smarter than most people,

"anger, fear, aggressions...easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight... consume you [they] will."

Luke asks if the dark side is stronger,

"No. Quicker, easier, more seductive."

And so Yoda has taught is with perfect clarity how Satan works. Douche-bag managers are such because they use flawed tactics to achieve their goals. They use fear and intimidation in the quest for power and respect. It is easier, it works faster, it gets results, but they do not last, nor are they very good results. Their employees hop into line when they come around, but when they leave, the employees gossip and backbite about what a jerk they are. True leadership and respect come by love. But these are harder. They are more passive than active. Where fear quickly compels, love draws allegiance slowly, persuasion builds over time.

Those who know me, I think respect me, and that is because they know I love them. But the douchey types of people don't, and I finally figured out why. They are stuck in the paradigm of comparison, pride, and self-esteem by being better than others. Fear is all they know. For one so entrenched in a narrow minded view of the world where every other person represents a threat to their sense of well-being, love and non-competitiveness are completely alien concepts. Of course they don't respect me, I am an enigma to them! They carve out a place for me in their pecking orders and try to keep me in their rat race. But I don't stay there. They see that I reject the entire basis of their pissing contests and their coolness ranking system. I refuse to conform to their ideas and play their game, that in and of itself if threatening to them. Then they despise me all the more for thinking I don't have to conform to their expectations.

It was quite a surprise to realize that today.

So while not everyone will like me, and I can't force them to, I can continue to love and be an electro-magnet of positivity, throwing out happiness everywhere I go. And those who have eyes to see will be drawn to me. For the rest of the people who don't get it yet, I can only be myself and keep loving them so that one day they'll see that it is okay to be themselves. I can only let my own light shine, unconsciously giving other people permission to do the same. As [I am] liberated from my own fear [of judgment], [my] presence [will] automatically liberate others.

God cannot force anyone to like him or obey his commandments. So all he does is love us, and when we feel that love, we want to obey and respect him because of it. Satan may rant and rend the earth, and the elements will momentarily cower and respond to his compulsion, but as soon as he turns his back, they return to the way they were. There is no lasting power in fear, kingdoms built on it will always crumble. Love endures forever, without compulsory means, it flows forever and ever.

Stupid Fake Yoda WAS right!

2010-03-18T08:10:00.003-07:00

While I still maintain that George Lucas was randomly stringing together words to try and sound deep and zen-y, he did actually get this one right. Long scoffed for the pseudo-sagacious sound of "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering," the monstrous c.g.i. abomination that body snatched our beloved puppet Yoda had a point. And I submit that the reason it is scoffed at is it sounds oversimplistic and random, but to come to that conclusion would take a whole lot more introspection than the average person has.

This morning I was sitting on the couch praying and my brother came into the adjacent kitchen. Instantly, I was mad. Then I realized why. For some irrational reason, I was afraid of being made fun of for praying (which would obviously not come from my brother.) Praying with your eyes closed makes you vulnerable to ridicule in some way apparently. I felt exposed, therefore in danger, and therefore afraid.

When he came upstairs he was also making all sorts of "morning noises." Those are annoying, but annoyance really is just anger that reality isn't meeting your preconceived notions about how life should be. But there is a chance that they came from fear too. You see, they were pulling me out of my reverie. They were harshing my Spirit mellow. So the attendant fear was that I wouldn't be able to get back into the holy haze or stay there so long as that persisted. It was a threat to my well-being. Perhaps the anger was directed at myself too since I was unable to concentrate with distractions, ergo I am inadequate.

I don't know, maybe fear wasn't a factor in the second instance. But Yoda was right that our fear of our own inadequacy or powerlessness leads us to adopt the defense mechanism of anger. It makes us feel powerful. It covers our weaknesses, we think. But to any wise enough to be above the fray of 5 year-old tantrums, it shows us for the childish adults we are.

Moral Courage

2010-03-13T11:35:00.004-07:00

You've heard this in various iterations I'm sure,

"Courage is being afraid and doing it anyway."

We like this sentimental rot because it sounds good. It hits that center of our brain that makes us like chick flicks, babies, and cats dressed up like people. But we rarely ever stop to think about "cute" stuff with any rational thought.

The first Presidency's message this month is on moral courage. President Eyring says that the Atonement is one of the things that gives us courage to keep the commandments. Let me demonstrate how courage alloyed with fear is a distortion. Because if the Atonement gave us a gift, mixed ever so slightly with fear (or any other sort of evil) it would be itself evil.

Let us rather define courage as "caring more about doing the right thing than the negative consequences which may come."

It all comes down to this; all fear is irrational. Period with an aspirated /p/. Fear is acting counter to your self-interest. You may be afraid of pain after a hard workout at the gym and the difficulty of moving for the 4 days afterward. But it is better to endure small hardships for your own greater good. You may think people will make fun of you for letting your true self show. Well, they probably will. But look at the destructive, damning, and self-sabotaging results of not being yourself. Courage is doing the smart thing and the thing which will bring the most happiness. Fear is like a cancer, a distortion of healthy life patterns. If fed, it will grow and take over the entire body until it has completely paralyzed the host. It robs of taking action for our joy. It is the height of irrationality.

Consider the catechism of the lectures on faith,

Question. Is there a being who has faith in himself independently?

Answer. There is.
Q. Who is it?

A. It is God.
Q. How do you prove that God has faith in himself independently?

A. Because he is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; without beginning of days or end of life, and in him all fullness dwells.

Observe that God is God because He has ultimate faith in himself. If we are to be exalted, we must do the same. This is why B.H. Roberts tells us regarding the near sacrifice of Issac on Moriah, "Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham."

Thus, where there is ignorance of self, ignorance of how we will act in all extremity, when faced with the greatest hazards of life, there is uncertainty. Where there is uncertainty, there faith cannot be. We must have a perfect knowledge of who we are and how we will act, this is the reason we will be "tried as Abraham;" it is to make us powerful.

Overwhelmed

2010-02-27T12:07:00.002-07:00

Overwhelmed means you are failing to act. At the very core of being overwhelmed you are focusing on how you feel about what you have to do rather on the steps you must take to do it. In essence, you are choosing to deny responsibility and act according to what you know is true. Even if it's only for a short time, that is what you are doing.

Last week with the two 2 1/2 hour presentations I had to do, the paper I had to write, and the other various assignments that were due, I allowed myself to feel overwhelmed. I thought only of the list that must be done. Rather than sitting down and planning the work, then working the plan, I dwelt on the frenzied feeling and the depression that comes when you let yourself be paralyzed by dread.

So my first mistake was not looking at reality; it was possible to do all required of me. Think about it for a minute, have you ever REALLY tested your limits? Or when you thought you were getting close, did you give in to despair? If we objectively appraise our capacity, we will see we are FAR more capable than we ever imagined in our wildest dreams. I firmly believe few of us really know our limits, we always allow emotion to stop us from achieving what is possible.

My second mistake was to choose to treat the symptom rather than the cause. I chose to try and alleviate the stress I felt by entertainment. Instead of working, I spent a couple of hours creating a comic book cover (which was awesome by the way.)

So that obviously didn't help me get anything done. And I couldn't really enjoy doing it fully because of the nagging dread that never left. If you remember previous posts, this was like the inept fig leaf apron that really sucks at doing the job it was intended for. This was like a lollipop and a band-aid given to treat a cancerous tumor. Bad idea. Or like arguing about where to put the deck chairs on the Titanic to prevent it from sinking. We love to distract ourselves with important sounding busy work. I love the line from Connor O'berst's Another Travelin' Song,

"I'll fight like hell, to hide that I'm giving up."

And most times we're aaaaalmost good enough to believe the lies we tell ourselves. But then that dishonesty fractures our little brains and we have plenty of other dysfunctional ego-defense mechanisms that tend to manifest themselves. Looking at reality isn't always pleasant. It's easier to withdraw and hide from the world.

When I started writing this, I thought that there were two things we could do to be overwhelmed, but as I wrote, I realized that it is the same cause in everything. I am not having a "Kenneth is great!" day. I'm really not liking me today, not satisfied with myself and progress. Because of that, I am doing a little reverting. I am now feeling stress from little things that I usually deal with okay. Like that big invisible wall between my dad and I. Like my fear of displeasing him. So I thought these emotional issues were another cause of being overwhelmed. But they actually all still go back to the same cause; dwelling on negativity and refusing to act. If there's a problem, fix it. If there's an emotion it can be changed. Just do it.

You can obsess, fixate, and worry about something, and you can be stuck for ETERNITY worrying about it. Or you can roll up your sleeves and fix the problem, remove the stress, be happy and stop WASTING YOUR VERY LIFE.

Divine Providence

2010-02-13T21:39:00.002-07:00

Some people expect to never be exposed to pain, discomfort, and inconvenience because they think they are good people. I, with President Faust suggest that they may not be as good as they think they are. What a stupid mindset. Some people lose their very immature faith in God because they experienced the death of a family member(s).

"I prayed my 200 year old grandpa wouldn't die and he did anyway!"

How very asinine! Even the more tragic deaths of children and the young. Where did you get this idea that you were exempt from mortality? Whence the arbitrary limits you've set on the amount and frequency of pain you are allowed to endure? Get a life!

But I digress. I'm here to talk about how nice God is. The car I'm driving broke tonight. Now, I could get mad at God for "letting" this happen and think that the second law of thermodynamics should be suspended in my life. But I ain't no suckah. Entropy is just part of the universe we live in and deity is not going to go mucking about in the natural laws which frame our existence. However, He does do a little bending here and there in His kindness.

This is the worst possible time that this could have happened with the workload I'm facing this semester. Couldn't God have waited for a more convenient time? No, don't be stupid. I have deduced from this experience that providence functions within general parameters which I now term, ahem,

Microintrerventional Providence.

He isn't going to prevent bad things from happening, He's not going to make sure you only get trials at convenient times, BUT He will pull strings on a smaller scale. He is doing the things which allow you to say with relief, "this could be a lot worse."

You see, my car broke down right in front of my house. It's not the first time either. Back in '97 or so, the Galaxie ate it hard a street up from home, like, it dumped 5 quarts of oil in the street! I remember jogging home that night with a face splitting grin that this had not happened 15 miles earlier. I was so thankful for this little tender mercy. Or that night my Motorcycle stopped running right after I pulled off I-15 into Kaysville around one in the morning. Though further into the cold months of autumn, it was an unseasonable warm night. I got to take a push my bike on a peaceful walk about a mile up the road. I was able to coast most of the way home. All in all, not a terrible experience. (I think I must have signed up for the trials-through-mechanical-woes life-path in the preexistence, they seem to be the meat and potatoes of my problems.)

So even when things are bad, as they sometimes will be, we can be happy knowing that our gratitude and Fathers mercy spared us a worser fate.

Currents of Divine Influence

2010-01-28T21:42:00.010-07:00

There are a couple of often quoted, well known statements by general authorities that are seem to be almost universally known among us in "the church." To our great misfortune this is not one of them.

( Maybe we can use this one in place of the false and fictional, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." No, actually He never said that at all.)

"The Lord has placed currents of divine influence in your life that will lead you along the individual plan He would have you fulfill here on earth. Seek through the Spirit to identify it and carefully follow that direction that the Lord has put in your life. Align yourself with it. Choose, willingly, to exercise your agency to follow it. Do not be overcome by concentrating solely on today, its challenges, difficulties, and opportunities. Such preoccupations must not totally capture your attention so as to consume your life. Oh, how I would encourage you to weave deeply into the fabric of your soul the recognition that your life now is a part of a much bigger plan the Lord has for you. You lived part of it in the premortal existence, You were valiant there and came here because you wanted to grow and enjoy greater happiness. What you decide to do now will affect how well you fulfill that divine, personal plan He has for you.

I do not fully understand how it is done, but this divine current does not take away your moral agency. You can make the decisions you choose to make. Should your choices be wrong, there is a path back--repentance. When its conditions are fully met, the Atonement of the Savior provides a release from the demands of justice for the errors made.

It is wondrously simple and so incomparably beautiful. As you continue to live righteously, you will always know what to do. Sometimes the discovery of that may require you significant effort and trust on your part. Yet you will recognize what to do as you meet the conditions for such divine guidance in your life: obedience to the commandments of the Lord, trust in His plan, and the avoidance of anything that is contrary to it. The more closely you conform your life to the doctrine of the Lord, the more capacity you will have to do what the Spirit inspires you to do." -Elder Scott

I was thinking about 311, one of my favorite bands, and marveling that they exist. How on earth did 5 people who all get along so well, 5 people with the same desire to make music that blends funk, rock, hip-hop, rap, metal, and reggae, EVER manage to find each other in Omaha Nebraska in the 1990's? Stop and think about that for a second. It's miraculous. I'm not kidding.

Am I saying that their divine currents were leading them together to make a band? Maybe. Father certainly wants us to be happy. Maybe they were a band before they came to earth and asked to be born in the same place and time. Maybe. You know, a Saturdays Warrior type of deal. Maybe more likely though, they used other natural laws.

That's kind of my point, we have so much going for us. We have the guiding hand of a loving Father to guide our lives through the most fertile parts of our wildernesses. To make sure our lives follow the golden path of best possible outcomes. But in addition to that, we have the law of attraction which we can use as we will. We can decide what we want and love, and the universe will begin to order itself around our desires.

"I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills..."

Maybe the band members just let who they were shine and followed their desires and dreams and the law of attraction just brought them together.

We are the mad scientist in our own little life's laboratory. We can make what we want of it. We must be careful to make sure our desires align with God's so that we attract the right things.

Opportunities come when we are prepared and seeking. "God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe. " -Elder Holland

Some people choose to start charities, climb mountains, invent airplanes, write books, love and serve, and go to the moon. Other people just blog about doing great things. It's your life.

Thank Heaven Chistmas is Over

2009-12-27T17:29:00.003-07:00

I used to be able to rant here and call people stupid for fun. But now I've learned that stupid people get offended. So I'll try to be nice. Don't worry, I still love you, I just like to be inflammatory. (Oh, and be careful, there are some swears here.)

I'm grateful we are past the biggest seasonal hurdle. I finally get some relief from the soap-boxing of the Charlie Brown School of Bitching, specializing in degrees of commercial-indignation. The stress of holding in all my "shut-ups" is all gone!

Have you ever noticed that Charlie Brown is depressed through almost the entire Christmas movie? It isn't until the end that Linus reminds him that Christmas is to celebrate Christ that he pulls out of it for a brief second. He was so busy concentrating on his own depression and what Christmas is not, that he failed to think about it's real meaning.

Oh, and stop telling me to remember the true meaning of Christmas too.

But even after Linus quoted Luke 2, Charlie got distracted with exterior things, like tree decoration. Even as he enjoyed the warm fuzz of pondering the tidings of great joy, he allowed himself to be distracted by Snoopy's immaculate first place Christmas decorations. Then he said, "I won't let all this commercialism ruin my Christmas." He's just heard the story of Christmas and then MISSED THE WHOLE POINT. It's not commercialism that's ruining Christmas, it's not thinking about Christ that's ruining Christmas. Letting our focus waver is the problem. (And also, there are the same amount of commercials and ads on TV during Christmas as there are every other day of the year.)

When you concentrate on what something is not, you don't have any attention to give to what something is. Don't think about moist, rich, delicious chocolate cake. Don't! You did it, didn't you? When your goal is to not do something, you will not do very well. If you want to stop something, you have to start doing something different. Instead of whining and concentrating on the things you don't want, do the things you do want.

And let me address the militant Christians out there. "Happy Holidays" is a perfectly good greeting. It in no way robs you of your Christmas joy. We say "holidays" because there are multiple holidays around Christmas! Contrary to what the Christmas crusaders think, "Happy Holidays" isn't hell-brewed secular bleach designed to dissolve the fabric of Christianity. It just recongnizes that not everyone is a WASP. Did you Merry Christmas nazis ever consider that the atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu's, Shintos, Daoists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and plenty of other people DON'T celebrate Christmas, and that would therefore be an inappropriate greeting?

That's like saying "have a great conference weekend" to a non-Mormon. It doesn't make sense, and it makes you sound like a pompous ass. Ass-uming that everyone believes exactly as you do is arrogant and annoying.

Don't let your zeal for defending the principles of righteousness be distorted into insensitive jingoism for a dumb cause. Take all that righteous indignation and direct it towards something real. How about doing away with enmity for instance that causes all these distracting and taxing feuds in the first place? How about worry about building Zion instead? Good grief.

Mixed Metaphors or Similie Salad

2009-12-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

As my brain woke up in my bed this morning, I saw the base of the Salt Lake temple. I saw how the stars, moon, and sun went right up to the sky in vertical order. It is a simple symbol, but the further we move upwards, the more light we are able enjoy. It gets brighter. It's like climbing a mountain, as we go ascend, the pollutants are left below us and the obscuring atmosphere thins. The light is stronger and we can get sunburned much easier. Spiritual sunburns are a good thing, instead of our skin darkening with a tan, our soul becomes brighter and unalloyed. Or like flying toward the sun in a space ship, the magnitude of the sunlight grows. Have you heard of albedo? It is the amount of light that a planet reflects. The moon for example has a very high albedo, it is quite bright. If it was made of dark lava rocks, it would obviously be less reflective. We, like planets, receive light from the Son, and each of us has an albedo. We are different though in that rather than just simple reflective mirrors, we are more like fiber optic cables. We are conduits of light, we absorb and reflect. We through our faithfulness are able to change our purity and therefore change the bandwidth of light that passes through us. The goal in the end is to be perfectly clear, perfectly bright and one with the light. The goal is to be so saturated in light that one day we are perfect and become a source of the light ourselves, filled with perfect love.

Pseudo-Intellectualism

2009-11-24T08:44:00.007-07:00

One great flaw I see in the thinking of mankind today is what I call the myth of collective intelligence. I woke up today to NPR as usual, and they were celebrating the 150 anniversary of The Origin of the Species by Darwin. Darwin being posthumously coronated as the de-facto anti-Christ and emperor of the secular Catholicism of science by his sycophants. His devotees think that a theory of science can serve as a plausible substitute to any religious ideal ever espoused. If evolution happened, then clearly there cannot be a God, goes the logic. Hearing his name causes my sphincters to constrict, and it is not because he has a different idea of the origin of man than I do. It is simply because his ideas are heralded as universal truth with more vigor than any Christian evangelist ever had. And it is all created and furthered by sophisticated gossip.

The cycle is as old as time, a person comes up with an idea. It is controversial, people naturally divide up into the ever present two adversarial positions, and because the skeptical position persists after the believers have declared the debate closed forever and the ultimate truth revealed, those who question are seen as the April-fools, clinging to their quaint and antiquated mysticism, their embarrassing religions.

How dare you Neanderthals question science!

The country bumpkins possessed with mystical heresy should be burned at the stake in the eyes of the pseudo-intelligentsia. Clearly to deny science is to say the sun doesn't shine. There is no question.

Their haughty hubris is breathtaking. The same goes for global warming. They say the debate is over, it's time for action. They refuse logical dialogue and dialectics. Like a toddler with their fingers in their ears and their tongue out, they are right and no amount of silly facts can change their mind.

And here is where I say that there is a myth of collective intelligence. The idea is that because society benefits from a handful of scientists and inventors, somehow their erudition is extended as a quality of all their lesser contemporaries.

But this is no standing on the shoulders of giants, we are simply the dust being blown about by the stirring of the robes of the educated.

Consider this scenario, if massive apocalypse occurred today and you were one of the only people left, society had crumbled, technology destroyed, what could YOU do? Do you know where to find ore? How to refine it? Can you make gun powder? Do you know where to find saltpeter? Can you find oil? Drill for it? Refine it? Make a car, make gas, build a microwave, explain wave-particle duality, build a rocket, make a pencil, glasses, contact lenses, deodorant, toothpaste, make plastic, lay asphalt, grow food, make a thermometer, explain weather patterns, make a reverse osmosis water purifier, generate electricity, make a match, identify a seed?

Could you do ANY of those things? You really don't know much. You'd be living in a cave and plundering what was left of the supermarket food. You'd probably be wondering how to track deer and how to make an arrowhead out of flint. You'd probably also be wondering what the hell flint looks like.

Almost everything in your life is second-hand knowledge. You benefit from the genius of a minuscule minority. But because you're alive, you feel a part of it. You feel national pride when you marvel at the prowess of our military. You chant "we're number one" and talk about how bad ass the Stealth Fighter is. But you don't really know jack. Your subscription to Popular Science only give you the illusion that you have some idea what is going on. But you are part of it now in the future! You get all the awesome technology. You feel superior.

You know that there are scientists in lab coats somewhere that believe something. And you figure they look pretty smart with said lab coats and thick glasses on, so you trust them. I mean, hell, they make X-boxes, iphones, and breast implants, why not trust them?

They say global warming is real, that man causes it, and that if we don't massively change our entire lifestyle, the earth will die. And you believe them. Because there are pretty people on the TV who tell it to you everyday. You don't want to disagree with the beautiful people, that would make you look dumb, after all, if it's popular, it can't be wrong. Besides, they told you that there is a consensus among the scientists. What more do you need to hear? All those scientist can't be wrong, can they? and statements with absolutes are ALWAYS true.

No, I trust scientists, like the ones who wrote in the encyclopedia Brittanica who said in an edition that because women's brains were smaller, they shouldn't be educated because it would harm their delicate sensibilities and overwhelm them. Or the science of medicine that suggests leeches and blood letting. It makes perfect sense, and was an undisputed fact of medicine. Or the scientist of the 1970's who warned that an ice age was upon us and we need to spread soot over the arctic to melt the ice and therefore save us from freezing to death. Action was needed! Disaster was imminent! No, I trust science, immutable, unchangeable, infallible science.

There are so few independent thinkers out there. It kills me. Inquiry is challenged and looked down on. Questions are ridiculed. The THEORY of evolution has been accepted as absolute truth and is no longer taught as a theory. We teach according to the best knowledge that we have, but we never add the caveat that theories aren't proven. Evolution and global warming are a mass of non-sequiturs. Scientists find one data point and based on that extrapolate a universal theory. They find an arm bone and build a human skeleton around it. It's all just guess work. Based on what we KNOW we can make an semi-educated inductive leap, but that does not preclude the need for further evidence nor remove the need for us to maintain healthy inquiry and skepticism.

Show me one time in history when an undisputed scientific theory has NOT changed or been revised for more than 100 years. For the most part we are stumbling in the dark as a race, and the occasion accidental flashes of light have somehow convinced us of how superior our minds and knowledge are.

I suppose my message to most of you out there is that you aren't very smart, you haven't had a critical thought in your lives, and you are excellent parrots of the loudest shouting voice, no more. Instead of teaching you to think, your public school just indoctrinated you with suspect information and ideological leanings. You have taken the blue pill. Now that you know that, please take the red pill.

I Know Why the Caged Celebrity Shaves Their Head

2009-11-20T18:57:00.004-07:00

Why is it that we feel a need to assert our individuality when, lets say for example our amorous overtures are rebuffed? I've heard of women, who, after being dumped go to get a makeover. Accompanied ( enrobed and smothered) of course by their bolstering and verbally affirming posse. And as a personal example, I've shaved my beard and buzzed my own head.

Why is that? Well, I think I understand poor, crazy, old Britney a little bit better.

Or, why is it that when in my solitude, my scatological references directed at nothing in particular increase with heretofore unheard of frequency? With a blank stare off into space with no one around, out comes something excremental. When the agency of others gives us lemons we never think about making lemonade. We just want to rub the juice into life's eyes? Why all this acting out, what's with the tantrums?

Malcontentedness in the soul is like lightning, and always has to find the path of least resistance out. So I buzzed my head. I said some naughty words, (to no one in particular save perhaps the universe it's self.) And I did all these thing knowing that the result of a potty-mouth is nothing positive. Knowing that I look retarded with a buzzed head. (My self-esteem lives in my hair.)

I think when those things which are out of our control act upon us, we feel the need to remind ourselves that we are acters (sic). That we have control of something. Even if it is our hair, or our words. When we feel lost in the shuffle of fate and the sting of agency's whips and scorns, we feel the need to do something, anything, just to feel like we are in control. To feel that we have some sort of say in our lives. To reassure ourselves that while we may be tossed about on the waves, we can still shake our fist at the ominous skies. In the extremes to feel power, we can even result to self-destruction far worse than a bad haircut. In some cases, it comes to anorexia and bulimia. "I may not control anything in my life, but I can control what I eat," etc.

We all have that need of agency. The Gadsden flag sums it up aptly with it's iconic serpentine archetype of the fighting spirit, "Don't Tread on Me." I have fangs, and I will bite. The little I AM at our core needs to be heard, needs to make choices, needs to control something. So we make our ill-forged and sometimes ridiculous badges of honor to show whoever cares that we exist.

That I am a person.

I am here.

I do what I want.

And I don't care what you think. (At least today, we'll see about tomorrow when I have to go out in public)

State of the World Update 11-7-09

2009-11-06T08:49:00.005-07:00

At Fort Hood in Texas, a crazy Muslim went on a shooting rampage. This terrible tragedy that left 13 dead teaches an inescapable lesson. If don't want to have such a massacre like this again

We must have gun control for the Military.

Fact: He shot people with guns.

Fact: If we take away guns, we'll have no more massacres.

In other news, the pendulum continues to swing eternally in it's ever deepening rut. It appears that Democrats are in danger of losing seats in the house and senate this next election. We are glad to hear that Shiz will receive more support than Coriantumr this time around. Time to give the other side a chance at fixing things.

Finally, even if a blanket is 20 years old, it may not have ever been washed frequently. If you do decide to wash a green one with your load of whites, be prepared to look like a Mormon Leprechaun.

A Peek Into Insanity!

2009-10-15T09:58:00.005-07:00

From: Conversations while brushing my teeth October 15th 2009

Brain: Kenneth, you're feeling kinda poopy today, arentcha?

Me: Yeah.

Brain: Why is that?

Me: Cause I have no self control.

Brain: And why is that?

Me: Cause I ate cookies for breakfast and spent an 2 hours on the internet when I should have been studying.

Brain: Why'd you do that?

Me: My, my, you are full of questions today, aren't you brain?

Brain: Sure am, but you didn't answer me.

Me: Well, I think I'm medicating myself for emotional problems.

Brain: So you think your lack of self-control is an emotional problem?

Me: Well, sort of I guess. I mean, I know my life breaks down when there are emotional problems.

Brain: What sort of problems, Kenneth?

Me: Well, you know I use "well" a lot, right?

Brain: Duly noted, please continue.

Me: Well, I know I need to, should be, have to, start studying for my test, I have lots of homework to do and I don't want to. So I have these requirements which I admit I placed upon myself, but nevertheless, I don't want to do. So I do something else instead.

Brain: Like researching the Constitution and checking Facebook?

Me: Precisely. Did you really need to ask?

Brain: Nope, that's just for fun. Now, why the good breakfast followed by hot chocolate and the five cookies?

Me: Wait, brain, I'm not done with the other thought. Please stop interrupting.

Brain: Sorry, go ahead.

Me: Okay, so, you notice I also say "okay, so" a lot too, right?

Brain: Sigh.

Me: Sorry, sorry. Okay, so I have these shoulds, these needs, yeah. And my little "I AM" inside says, I should do these things which are important, but instead I'll waste time in distraction, I'll run away instead of confronting...

Brain: Kenneth? Kenneth? Hello?

Me: Yeah, what?

Brain: Kenneth, did you just spend another 20 minutes on Facebook?

Me: I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations. As I was saying, I run away from doing the hard work that my life requires. Basically, I am going against the universe when my "I AM" makes the call to avoid doing what is necessary. This weakens my character. Not only that, my will, agency, and ability to choose are diminished because I am giving up my right and place and responsibility to act. So I become a slave to things that I am supposed to have control over, like my whims and appetites. They assert themselves and claim the control and power that I am abdicating by my sloth and inaction. Doing this then makes you, Mr. Brain, my arch enemy cause, you and the entire universe of justice and logic are all like, Kenneth, you suck, look how weak you are. Now of course this all makes me feel bad and so I of course run to the cookie jar to feel better.

Brain: Kenneth, isn't eating cookies just going to sabotage your healthy goals and continue the painful cycle and make you feel EVEN WORSE than you do when you shirk your homework.

Me: Shut up Brain, you don't even like me.

My Continuing Education

2009-09-27T10:17:00.002-07:00

American's are good at eating elephants; one bite at a time. Focusing on small things gives us some confidence of our competency. Dividing, categorizing, weighing and discriminating helps us make sense of the big, scary, confusing world. The alphabet, we know backwards and forward, but making words with the letters is hard business. Integrating facts and concepts into one great cohesive whole is the essence of education. Fear stops integration when it requires accommodation, and since people usually believe what they want to, they fail to learn truth.

Being socialized imprinted you with a set of beliefs and notions about the nature of reality, many wrong, but comfortable by their familiarity. As I said, we are very good at separating and distinguishing between things. We are not so good at seeing how things fit together. We have the circulatory system, and nervous system and never the twain shall meet. We do not commonly consider them as connected. The many pieces of our bodies are cloistered and unintegrated in our self concept. We like our cold hard facts straight from the science. If there isn't a study with objective measures, then it might as well not exist.

I'm reading "Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child" by John Gottman. If you don't know who he is, then you probably aren't a family studies major. Let me try to explain him to you. He is like Dr. Phil, except smart. Anyway, let me share some facts (scientific ones with lab coats and clipboards).

Emotionally intelligent kids have higher social competence, academic scores, less stress, more positive emotions, lower resting heart rates, are less prone to violence, and less prone to depression. This is all pretty impressive, but even more so is that according to their mothers reports, they get fewer infectious illnesses such as colds and flu's! (The last time I got sick, I woke up feeling ultra low and depressed in the morning with a sense of hopelessness, by that night, I was sick.)

Many parents believe that kids cry because they want attention. The parents see the behavior as a power struggle. Some see their kids as having nothing to worry about, no real problems to justify feelings of sadness or fear. When kids get angry they are punished for having a negative emotion, or parents lovingly laugh at how cute they are when mad. Parents tell their kids that there's no reason to be angry/scared/hurt. But by doing this they invalidate their children's feelings and they are teaching them that they can't trust themselves. With this track record of having emotions ignored or punished, they aren't able to name what they feel, they are cut off from their inner state. They are slaves to their emotions because they don't trust themselves or know how to label what it is that is going on inside. They don't know how to regulate their emotions and they aren't even aware of them.

No wonder they act out in school, fight with their siblings, can't concentrate, and get depressed. Children come like computers full of scrambled data and sensory inputs but without an operating system, they don't know how to process the data. Babies are a mass of undifferentiated chaos, they don't even have a self of self in infancy! Everything is a chaotic blur, they very slowly begin to learn that they are separate from world, they have to be taught the basics about everything, that is a dog, we don't hit others, you are feeling anger right now, here's how to deal with it, etc.

They need to be able to recognize what emotions they are feeling, learn that it's okay to feel them, and know how to deal with them appropriately. Parents give them the structure to be able to organize and integrate all the many components of themselves and the world. This is the main thrust of the book.

Now of course that is bollocks. We as educated adults know that emotions exist in a vacuum and have no actual effect on the body or mind. If a kid is depressed, you get them Zoloft. Pills fix everything.

One father interviewed in the book said something that resonated with me and echoed my thoughts.

"Whenever I'm feeling sad I know it means I have to slow down and pay attention to what's going on in my life, to find out what's missing."

Please notice the natural human default state is joy if all is in order. It is our nature, men are that they might have joy, now, all the time. I think it's pretty clear that emotional problems can lead to physical ones. Think of that depressed person who is always sick, the Eyore's of the world. They complain constantly, seem to have more physical problems than normal, and get sick constantly. They are totally turned inward with heads buried in their belly buttons, they don't take joy in the little simple things. Their frame of mind determines their lives line upon line until they built a castle of hopelessness and depression.

Thinking a thought is so much more than a thought. Each one initiates a complex process, releasing a flood of neurotransmitters mood altering and chemicals. Scientific studies found that when you smile, happy drugs are released in your brain. Just like that.Think sad thoughts and sad chemicals get sent out. So goes the captain, so goes the ship. The whole body responds to the emotional state of soul, which imprints it's instructions on the brain.

This occurs because there is a physical reality of our spirits and how they work. Not being able to detect it through science or the 5 senses makes us think of all of it as insubstantial and ethereal. But there are rock hard physical processes occurring that we can only be aware of by the spiritual senses we were born with. The physical senses are taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell, but what kinds of senses do spirit's have? We know there is physical light and spiritual light. We cannot perceive the latter with our physical eyes. Orson Pratt speaks of a "sense more powerful, more extended, and more glorious, than all the other senses combined." Are the emotions connected to our spiritual perception of this light?

Let me share some scriptures and statements by apostles for your consideration.

“I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy; and then shall you know, . . . all things whatsoever you desire of me, . . .”

“This burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm light shining within your being.”

“These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels more than one hears.”

"I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”

How is this communication occurring? Presumably through the power of God, is that reasonable? What is the power of God?

"That [Christ] might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ... which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space... even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne..." -D&C 88

Some how, a thinking feeling spirit made of intelligences has been bonded to our amazing physical body machines. How is that accomplished? How does the spirit access the brain? Does a spirit have organs? Does a spirit have the same organs? Does the spirit have a circulatory system? If so, what does it pump instead of blood? Adam and Eve's physical bodies had no blood until the fall, before that is was a "spiritual fluid" according to Orson Pratt. If a spirit has a circulatory system, what is it's purpose? How is it connected to the physical body? What functions does it perform?

Who can deny emotions are a huge part of our soul and existence? We constantly feel something don't we? Now lets say that we are unaware of them and unable to make sense of them. Couldn't this ignorance cause a host of problems? Emotions aren't localized in the brain, they run through the whole body. Don't we say things like, "I carry my stress in my shoulders"? And don't we? The "energy" of our emotions affects us all over doesn't it? Tightness in your chest, weakness in the knees, stress headaches? Stress is a powerful emotion with lots of physical effects. When stressed, we know that exercise helps release it. It's possible to hold on to stress. Its possible to to take a deep breath and literally let it go. Having an unresolved emotion is like having something stuck in your throat choking you, we just aren't as acutely aware of the seriousness.

How do these feelings move through us? Maybe the way they move through us is not through physical sinews, veins, or nerves. Maybe their conduit is through a system belonging exclusively to a spirit. What if these conduits can become blocked just as an artery gets clogged? We know everything is matter, some matter is just more pure and hence undetectable to the crude version. Regardless, SOMETHING real is happening.

What if negative emotions are like plaque in the arteries? We can still function with partially clogged blood vessels, but we aren't running optimally. What kind of issues can emotional blockages cause? Can holding in repressed anger give you headaches? Maybe. Can holding on to a sense of your worthlessness give you a permanent tightness in your chest? Yes, I know that one personally.

What if this emotional reality going on inside our bodies is well known and not shrouded in mystery and obscurity? What if what I'm talking about has been passed over and ignored by us because of our snap judgement of word choice? What if intelligence, Light, and spirit, has been called chi?

What if the meridian system through which chi moves through the body is nothing more than the spiritual conduits through which our Light and intelligence flows?

Let me share some quotes from a kooky eastern energy medicine website:

"The word Ch'i has many translations... but it can be thought of as the activating energy of the universe. Ch'i is the pure, harmonizing and free-flowing energy that sustains all of life. It can be neither created nor destroyed."

"Which giveth life to all things...through him that quickeneth all things..." D&C 88:13,17

"Ch'i is the source of all movement in the universe The motions of the stars and planets, the radiation from the sun, and the patterns of our thoughts and emotions occur because of Ch'i."

"He is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made... hath given a law to all things, by which they move in their times and seasons; And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehende the the earth and all the planets." D&C 88:7-9,41-43

Ch'i is the bridge between the body and our consciousness. Because the body, Ch'i and consciousness or spirit are linked, a change in one may easily affect the other two. The mind leads and the Ch'i follows; the Ch'i leads and the body follows. Ch'i is the midpoint or interface between the body and mind. Directing the Ch'i enables us to make changes in both body and mind.

"Thus each one of us is a dual being: an immortal spirit body, clothed with a body of flesh and bone. As defined in scripture, the spirit and the body constitute the mortal soul." -Bible Dictionary

Ch'i also binds things together. It is what keeps the constituents of our bodies from separating and dissipating. When the human body loses its breath of life, the original energy (life-force) leaves it, allowing the body to decompose. Ch'i flows throughout the universe, and it also flows through humans.

In all things and through all things, the light of truth... The light which proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space... which is in all things, which giveth life to all things. D&C 88:6,12 -13

I don't think the common understanding of Chi is all true, but it is worth consideration. As I've said before, Mormons are good with macrocosmology- we know about Godhead, prophets, and priesthood, but as far as the microcosmology, what effect faith has on matter, what effect does intelligence have on our minds, why does the Spirit enliven our mind and body, our knowledge is severely lacking.

If there is a truth in hell, the Latter Day-Saints claim it, but only when it conforms to our culturally engrained and socially acceptable notions of truth, right? Do you really think you exist in mortality unscathed by any error? Do you think knowing the gospel provided you sufficient insulation from ever picking up a falsehood while growing up in a telestial world? Is it possible that our education in school didn't bring with it a foggy lenses through which truth (a knowledge of things as they are, were, and are to come) is colored and obscured? I could go on, but you get the idea.

You really should read this. http://tuberose.com/meridians.html

Ibid (To Whom it May Concern)

2009-09-20T17:13:00.003-07:00

When I began this blog back in the day, I named it Indiscriminate Emotional Whoring because I knew that I was emotionally unstable and immature. I was afraid that this would be no different than all the moody emo teenagers who share their dark poetry and cut themselves. So the name was tongue-in-cheek, as a not so subtle reminder to me to keep the unbridled
self-disclosure under some semblance of control.

I've grown a lot since and become much more stable. I think I might actually be sane enough to finally get married even! My point here however is that while I still express my less-filtered thoughts here from time to time, I still can say like Joseph Smith, "No man knows my history." Or maybe more apt, like any number of big-angry-black-women on daytime talk shows, "Y'all don't know me!" This being the case, I feel it important to introduce myself to you all.

My name is Kenneth Jeppesen, and I love you.

I may forget your name, I may not talk to you, I may avoid eye contact because I feel self-conscious, and I may be hurt or angry at you from time to time, but I still love you the whole way through. Charity is the pure love of Christ, and while this gift is not a every second constant in our lives, I work on building the "pure love of Kenneth." The pure love of Kenneth may not motivate me to do Mother Teresa type things but it is a constant companion in my head that tells me that everyone is flawed, and I need to love them anyway. The pure part means that the love is not conditional on others pleasing me and doing good things. It is constant that is not pegged to performance.

Even when I say negative things, I have NEVER intended to intentionally hurt feelings. I haven't done anything like that since probably elementary school. I really am I nice guy, I've never flipped anyone off while I've been driving. Cussed at them in the safety of my own car? Yes, but when I do the little man in my head reminds me that I do dumb things too and so I need to forgive everyone as I want to be forgiven. Then he asks me what has happened to make me feel so insecure with myself that I would compare myself with others.

Another thing to remember about me is that I think differently from most people. (Duh right?) I say things that sound offensive, brash, harsh, and off-color. But to me, they exist as abstract thoughts, in abstentia of the real things they represent, they don't have the same impact for me. In my mind, I throw out a stimulus and get a response. It's like a game to me. I love how words can be strung together, the eloquence they have and their sheer power. Spitting out a sentence full of critical descriptions in a movie review is no different to me than knocking over a 5foot tower of Lego's. It's the thrill of a little boy learning what he can do. So my words are careless, blunt and many times unintentional. Knowing that language is more like a game to me, I try very hard to be sensitive to those around me and never say anything hurtful. I feel awful when my clumsiness unintentionally damages anyone.

People think I get mad when I talk politics, but really I am just excited to meet on the stage of ideas. I love putting on the intellectual boxing gloves. I take nothing personally when I argue these things and make no attacks on a person.

The words I string together here are used most usually to represent concepts. Christ used analogies to teach concepts and lessons, like the pearls before swine metaphor. While He used swine to represent uncaring people, He certainly never intended that the audience walk away feeling that they had been victims of a personal attack and had been called pigs. Nor do I.

If I were to say "Piss off," it should be interpreted as: Kenneth has had his feelings hurt because his core need of adequacy has been attacked and so he's trying to defend his fragile sense of self by representing his sadness with an imperative that is not intended to cause pain. It is a little cry from a two year old of "ouch" and "be nice you jerkface." The little man in my head, even in the act of me thinking it would say,

"Kenneth, you can't hold a grudge. You can't have unkind or harsh feelings towards any member of this earth. People who say things that hurt you usually don't mean to, and the ones who do it on purpose only do it because they hurt so much inside and don't like who they are." It is true that holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Brigham Young said, "I repented about as quickly as I committed the error." Or J. Golden Kimball said, "I repent too damn fast." As quickly as I get angry, I see the anger for what it is, and instantly remember that I cannot begrudge anyone. I fight with all I have to put away every mean thought. Love wins every battle in my soul, I cannot be burdened with sin like that, it's far too heavy for me. I give forgiveness even if none is asked for because I know I need to for my own good, sanity, and joy.

So as I use words as my art form to create concrete expressions of my pain and frustration, know that they never intend to convey animosity or hostility. They aren't an attack on you, I reserve my attacks for dumb movies, "smart" cars, socialism, and unicycles. Not people. (Unless en mass, groups, not individuals. I still love the individuals. Criticism is my mind being a brick looking for a window to recreationally smash. As I mature I'm sure someday I will even have to stop making comical attacks on them too just so no one takes it personally. Someday.)

So while I may not make much eye contact with you, it's only because I am uncomfortable with myself. I love you and have empathy for you. If you took offense where none was intended, if you felt hurt by something I did, I am sorry. And I hope that you will unburden yourself and forgive me, because life's hard enough already. And that's the way it is.

Sacrifice is Evil

2009-09-01T17:45:00.003-07:00

What's this you say! What heresy is here!? No my friends, semantics is a tricky hurdle. In listening to an interview with the goddess of reason, Ms. Ayn Rand, she said that sacrifice is "to give up some value that is important to you for something else which is a lesser value or non-value." When our desires mirror the desires of God, to make a sacrifice is evil. God never sacrifices. In the true sense of how the word should be defined, it is to give up something of lesser value for something of greater value.

Brigham Young said, "I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making a sacrifice for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and exaltation, and for nobody else."

It has always rubbed me wrong to hear people talking of how hard it is to sacrifice. In all those instances, they are giving up and trading something of low value for something better, whether they realize it or not. Seeing the world backwards like that puffs up our pride as we don the robes of false humility and make ourselves sanctimonious martyrs.

It is seeing the world clearly, seeing what is truly and objectively valuable. The right path is the best path, let there be no weeping and wailing. Take pride and eternal joy in your decisions that lead you down roads of greater privilege, opportunity, happiness, and peace. Don't begrudge and sell your values short.

Regarding prayer, our problem is, we treat it as if it were some mechanical process, disembodied and segregated from any sentient interaction. As if it were automatic, like turning on the sprinklers. We say thing like, "prayer works." That is as incomplete and out of context as saying that "carpentry" works. No, a carpenter, works. It is a person acting, not a process. Prayer is a conversation with a person, and it is not instituted to be a mystical means of acquisition.

It is more like hiking to the mountain top to receive wisdom from the wise man. You may gain knowledge of how to obtain what you desire, and He is a merciful and generous giver of gifts, but more likely spending time learning from him will refine and change your desires. It will give us fresh perspective and teach us to be most wise and to value what is best for us. We go to talk, and to share, we go to commune, to have two sided discussion. We go to receive wisdom and knowledge.

My Response to Mike Wallace 50 Years Late

2009-08-27T11:51:00.006-07:00

Ayn Rand was interviewed 50 years ago by Mike Wallace. Ayn said that it altruism is evil because it holds that a man must serve others to justify his existence.

Wallace retorted, "We're taught to feel concerned for our fellow man, to feel responsible for his welfare, to feel that we are as religious people might put it, 'children under God and responsible one for the other.' Now why would you rebel, what's wrong with this philosophy?"

Ms. Rand of course gave an answer typical of her brilliance, but I'd like to go more in depth than she did.

Should we be our brothers keeper? Yes, according to the majority of Americans ' Judeo-Christan heritage. But does our brother have the right to hold a gun to our head to force us to be his keeper? No.

We hear clamor from Washington about needs. About how people need health care. Some people need a BMW, but who is to provide them with their needs? At whose expense are they to be obtained? May I present to you my list of needs and demand you provide me with them? Who is to define need for anyone but themselves? It comes down to one question,

whose opinion matters most?

The answer is, to each his own. My opinion matters most to me, it is the only opinion with the power to govern my life, because who has the stewardship of my life? Was that something entrusted to me for better or worse, or was it given to you?

Satan got his can kicked out of heaven for rebelling. Rebelling against what? What was his one HUGE error in his thinking? He wanted direct power, direct stewardship over everyone of us. He wanted us to be mindless robot extensions of his own will. For that, for pursuing something so blatantly rebellious against truth and right, he was sacked. To use force, "in any degree of unrighteousness," against another persons agency is the cardinal sin of Satan. (I speak of initiating force, it can of course be used on criminals who have initiate force, coercion, or deception on another human soul.)

So what right do you have to force your opinions and philosophies on me? Who says that your views are right? Do I have any right to force my opinions and philosophies on you? Neither of us can do that. We are each sovereign. You can say "I believe in helping others, share your money with me." I can say that "I believe in never giving to charity."

Stalemate.

Even if you and 300 million of your friends believe the same thing, you still have no right to force me, because collective action has no unique moral authority. If it's wrong for one person to do it, it's wrong for two, four or 300 million people to do it. "You're not the boss of me," is what it boils down to. Even a 3 year old understands that when big brother or sister tries to meddle.

The conclusion you should be starting to clearly see right now is that no matter how good you think your intentions or ends are, you cannot justify means that consist of forcing others to do what you want. Government is only a collection of people, therefore, they have no special moral authority either.

When I talk to people, they always say, well, if you don't like the society we live in, you can go somewhere else. There is major problem with that. They are in effect saying that this is a no human rights zone, and you can leave. But the world unfortunately looks like this.

Do you see the problem? Antarctica is about the only place without an oppressive government.
You can't just say that we're going to support tyranny here, and you can leave if you don't like it. What if everywhere else supports tyrant too? Why have human rights if you can vote them away? Human rights have to be respected, period.

You have to have a baseline of how humans should interact with each other. There has to be a common standard among all people, where at least if we don't agree on everything, we can agree on enough to not bully each other. This baseline standard I speak of has to be based on reason, logic, and objective reality. It can't just be something Christians agree on (because they know their right.) It has to be something that even the atheists can get on board with.

Christians and Mormons talk about our God-given rights. What about the guy who doesn't believe in God? We have to say that rights exist by virtue of our existence. Endowed by a creator, is fine for some, but for all, naturally possessing them because we are a thinking entity.

Life, liberty, and property (since property, not just land, is needed to support our life.) Those are your rights. Anyone who tries to take any of those from you, even if it is for "your own good," your own protection, for a hospital, for roads, for a better society, for a baby with AIDS, is evil.

Humans can use their powers of reason, and come together in cooperation and unity. We can use our reason to use persuasion, long-suffering, and gentleness to show others what is in their best self-interest. We can interact without bullying. We can interact in peace, and each follow what is best for us. We can decide that it is worth paying for hospitals because we want to be taken care of when we get hurt. We can feel charity for the child with AIDS and do all we can to help them. We don't need a satanic dictator to make these decisions for us. A utopia, is a world where you are truly free to enjoy your rights. Like minded people with intelligence will see the benefit of living in a united order. They will come together because it is good for them personally.

On a religious note, Zion can only be built up upon the principles of the celestial kingdom which I mentioned earlier. Jesus will not come with a big stick and finally force us to love each other. He will not be a benevolent dictator. He will initiate no force to make anyone join his church or live in Zion. The gospel is unchanging. No force then, now, or ever. Even for a greater good. A human soul is the greatest good and worth in the universe, yet the omnipotent God of this creation will not use force on a soul. He cannot or He would cease to be God.

Benevolent dictators can accomplish a lot of good. But all that good was accomplished using evil means. Every evil act for another's good creates a deficit of good. It's like stealing from a bank, and saying, "But I was going to give it to charity!" The charity could certainly use it, but it was still wrong. Until humanity can come together and agree on true human rights, Satan will continue to reign with blood and horror by virtue of his governmental systems which are corrupt by nature, because they deny human rights. We have to leave them behind all together and start with a clean slate. Respect for human rights is the answer to our problems.

Comment and Discuss please.

This is Your Brain on Kenneth

2009-08-19T21:11:00.007-07:00

Your life is built one second at a time. That sounds stupid or cliche but its true. We are repeatedly told that the brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time. We can have the illusion of multitasking only because our attention can shift super fast, flitting about. Your entire life is built, shaped, and structured by the thoughts you have every now. How long can you think about one thing? Its pretty hard to focus on just one thing for more than a couple seconds. Try it. And what is frightening or empowering, depending on how you feel about owning your life, is the fact that the thoughts which are dominant and prevalent, define us.

When a thought is frequent, the brain rewires itself around that thought. The brain takes its commands, no matter how destructive. The mind is the boss, and the brain jumps to make itself adn the body obey. If someone tells you're worthless, and you give that thought anymore attention than just a passing blip on your radar, the thought, which should be thought of as a seed, will begin to grow and swell and if left long enough, put out roots. You can grow those thoughts into mighty oaks with your constant attention e.g. nourishment. And then you turn into a pathetic, whiney loser who has no life because they manifested being worthless. So now, they are worthless. (Eternal sense, yes.)

Thoughts of inadequacy can cripple, debilitate, and turn to neuroses if left unchecked. Notice that the precursor to action, and therefore situation and destiny, is thought. Creepy right? One simple little thought that we keep rattling around inside is sufficient to transform our universe.

Luckily, for those of us who aren't so good at acting in our self-interest, for us who hold on to negative emotions and short circuit our well being, the brain is highly plastic. It is in a constant state of rewiring itself to fit whatever input you give it.

Thousand mile journey's, one step.

Standing on the moon, began as one thought in JFK's soon to be ventilated brain. (Ooh, bad taste, right?) Greatness is a process. If we can be content to live in this very moment and trust progression in its imperceptible passage, we will be gods. All things are ours.

Beating the Dead Horse More

2009-08-10T11:35:00.005-07:00

Hello blogosphere. Let's talk about our blame addiction a little shall we? Most everyone would rather blame some target for problems because they are either:

1. Lazy

or

2. Ignorant of causality, (refer to number one.)

People blame God for bad things that happen because they think He should be a helicopter parent and never let anything bad happen, stuff our pillows with cotton candy while we sleep and make chocolate rivers. (Incidentally, I do support the chocolate water-ways proposition.) And if only Daddy had bought them that pony for their 8th birthday, they wouldn't have such a jacked up marriage today.

The President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world, so he's a fat juicy target for blame. He always gets the bad rap for the economy. We should be clear on exactly what he can do. Indirectly, the government can really create some FUBAR situations. Imagine an idyllic river with flowers growing on the banks. That flora is pretty resilient, if you leave it alone it will grow. It's got water, soil, and sun, only occasionally are there problems with drought or unexpected frosts in the spring. But then you have a meddling do gooder who comes along with some bright ideas...

His ideas may sound sophisticated and good on the surface. He wants to protect the flowers from the droughts and the frosts, the flowers, which were doing just fine before farmer George showed up. So he diverts most of the river away from the flowers to his gravel field cause... you know... gravel... needs water. Or something like that. The flower suffers, but the rain still falls, and it holds on. The farmer thinks the sun is too bright and harsh and so he puts up a shade, and the flower suffers.

The farmer can't force the flower to grow, his control is indirect. He can slowly strangle it to death though by withholding what it needs or he can leave it alone and let it do it's thing. When Farmer Barack promises to create new flowers, you can be assured his manure supply is facing no shortages. So he creates thousands of new unnecessary bureaucratic positions. New jobs, hooray! Let us rejoice! I have an idea! What he SHOULD create 300 million new government jobs, that way, EVERY American will have a job! This is brilliant! Wait a minute...

Where does the money for their paychecks come from. Oh. Taxes, huh? Where do taxes come from? From people creating value in the form of goods or services, taking of natural resources, and applying their cognition and sweat into industry, to produce something useful for man. They PRODUCE. They CREATE value. They do so because they have incentive to. They are trying to provide for themselves and their families. They want to prosper and have nice houses, cars, tv's, steaks, golf clubs, etc. And they can have all those things as long as they work hard at producing and trading their valuables for other valuables they want more. But when the government plunders their hard earned money, they don't have so much incentive to produce since the mob will be taking their percentage, now do they?

Government modus operandi is to steal from the flowers to help create more weeds. Water the gravel field to create more weeds. They do not appreciate the difference between useful, productive crops and parasitic weeds which steal resources from being put to better use. They only see that there is now more vegetation than there was before, and they pat themselves on the back for a job well done. The productive crops don't get enough water, they die, and the ones that hang on don't produce much. And they don't have the ability to propigate like they used to because the resources aren't there. The new generation doesn't even spring up because there isn't enough water to get it to the germination stage. The drought comes, and and everything collapses.

This is the country you live in. Isn't it great!

Ronald Reagan, "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

Amen, amen, amen, and duh.

Flag Waving and Sparklers Aside...

2009-07-03T22:49:00.006-07:00

I have been told more than once that I am "young and idealistic" while the more seasoned individual to whom I was speaking was "older and realistic." This is truly terrifying, because the ideals which I was espousing were never wistful pipe-dreams of a world without war, poverty and hunger, which adolescents so often fall into, rather, I was advocating for freedom from tyranny and right over wrong. It seems that those so called "realistic" people I talk to have let hope die. They see themselves in an imperfect world and have given up trying to affect even a small part of it. Because they cannot fix it all, they are content to be a muted bird in a cage, who has been captive so long, that it sees it's imprisonment as a necessary evil, and the only way they and others can exist in society.

I contend that ideals such as freedom and right are worth dying for, yet I am called unrealistic.

But lets look at which side is truly unrealistic. I am not so naive to believe that human nature can be changed and controlled through even brutal force. Those who argue with me believe in a world that can solve crime, racism, poverty, and hunger, and all that through the use of new laws and governmental force.

If we could just pass one more law!

They believe that if we just pass stricter gun laws, we can prevent massacres at schools. More and more laws, and if those don't work, then guns should just be made illegal altogether. (Since the UK outlawed guns, I heard it is so peaceful there that they don't even have police anymore!)

They believe if we just tax the rich enough, we can end poverty. They believe that discrimination can be done away with if we just have enough rules. Who is really the unrealistic one? Who has failed to grasp the basics of common sense and human nature? Most I talk to never engage in critical thought, they get stuck on the panicked feeling, "But we have to do something!" And what follows are illogical arguments and stupid laws.

I believe in a world where there is still war, still hate, still problems, but a world that is a utopia none the less because human rights are protected. Because the government never interferes in the affairs of men with unsolicited force.

Of course the path of least resistance is force. Using the big stick and foregoing the speaking softly has ever been the way of the world. Brutal severity with your screaming 6 year old is always easier than words. Whether they believe in the devil or not, they have fallen prey to Satan's most dangerous line, "There is no other way." This is the lynch pin of their flawed philosophy. They are unable to conceive of any way in which humans could interact with each other using persuasion, patience, and logic. In their minds it is impossible to convince someone what is in their best self-interest, and because of that, we have to force people to do the right thing for themselves.

They believe government must be a babysitter instead of a mediator between adults.

This worldview belies that they do not even trust themselves to do the right thing. It is a sick kind of Stockholm Syndrome; they have exchanged frightening liberty and dreaded responsibility for security where they may restfully cease to think and cease to worry.

On this Independence day, lets put away jingoism and those ravishing swells of unthinking patriotism as we watch the fireworks, and instead remember that the fight for Independence was not won in 1783. A king across the sea was never really a threat. Our most terrifying enemy has ever been and always will be the decay of freedom from within, from demagogues who slowly wrest our liberty from us with every new law and with every speech from their whited sepulchres of legislation.

This Independence day, may we awake to a sense of our awful situation. Akish, Jared, and Shiz are yet in our promised land. If we stand by and do nothing, our fate will be that of the extinct civilizations which were here before us,

and we will deserve it.

Transformers 2

2009-06-27T21:43:00.005-07:00

Michael Bay took a three hour dump and called it Transformers 2. But wait, there's good news! Even as this steaming pile of Hollywood doo-doo cools, he is strenuously grunting out a sequel to it! Oh boy, I can't wait! This movie was insulting to my intelligence. It was the typical formulaic summer blockbuster, its mission was to capture the 2 second attention span of the sort of inbred's who are responsible for Nascar and the election of Obama. Lest you accuse me of being a crotchety old man, let me remind you how much I adored the first film, it was well done and enjoyable. Part two still had enjoyable moments and the fast-paced funny humor albeit in much skimpier proportions. Transformers 2 however is analogous to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Solid start, then straight down the crapper. Figure one: It falls somewhere in between crappily entertaining and the acid trip that Johnny Depp called Pirates 3.

Thirty minutes in, I began to wonder when it would be over. The jive talking "Jar-Jar bots" as they have been so aptly named, were enough to make me start looking for something sharp to cut myself with. Mercifully "Jazz" had few lines in the first film and was eventually killed, but the twin gangsterbots with their ebonics was a nightmare revisited and intensified. It was the acme of really low quality comic relief, just think of any of the Star Wars prequels and you'll get the idea.

Because the producers obviously didn't care about quality, there are the glaring continuity/reality problems that distract and annoy. "

Oh, look, our heroes have been transported to the middle of the Egyptian desert and Shia has hurt his hand! Oh, no problem, he'll probably pull some gauze and a finger splint out of his @$$. Yep, looks like he did. Wow, is he a boy scout? That is being prepared!

Because of the little things like this, along with the big ones, this isn't even passable escapism. And in a time when meddling progressives have managed to cause an economic quagmire by removing accountability from capitalism while leaving all of its greed intact, we could really use three damn hours of blissful unawareness. Maybe it's just me being crazy, but I think if you're going to spend 200 MILLION dollars, you should try to make something awesome that you can be proud of.

There was, of course, the gratuitous obscene humor thrown in to placate the masses and their vacuous minds. When you show two dogs humping, its worthy a chuckle, but when you follow that up with a robot doing it to Megan Fox, it's just cheap. There was a point in the movie when the mouth-breathers in the theater were clapping at some inanity that enraptured their little minds that I turned to Brett and said, "Eff this whole country, I hope someone nukes us." ( And if North Korean foreign policy continues, I may get my wish.)

You like cookies, don't you? Sure, we all do. We like them cause their sweet. Well, the sugar makes them sweet, so the more the merrier, right? Lets triple the amount we put in the recipe, then they'd be 3 times better! Wouldn't they?--

This at least seems to be Michael Bay's thinking. Rather than taking film making seriously and producing something of quality, he took all the superficial elements and cheap gimmicks in the cheap-greedy-hack tool belt, and packed them into one movie: The truncated love story that has climax's with less dialogue than the ingredients label on overpriced theater popcorn, the obscene humor that makes teens uncomfortable and laugh too loudly, the slow motion heaving bosoms outpacing the explosion, the cheese ball aphorisms and trite platitudes, the thrity-second melodramatic save-yourself sentimentalism, and the one dimensional government @$$hole that acts as foil to our plucky hero. *Yawn*

I want my $9.50 and 2.72 hours back. The fact that a film like this makes money is tantamount to genocide, because it represents the extinction of intelligent humans and their preferred entertainment.

Neanderthals: 1, Cro-Magnons: 0.

Apes winner, Chuck Heston, loser.

The inferior have prevailed with their sheer majority of stupidity. If the dregs of society blow their respective Meth budget's all at once, a couple of visionless phonies get rich, and the sad parade of chintzy cinema plods on. The few of us left from the apocalypse of quality can sit in our bomb shelters with our LOTR DVD's and wait for starvation to take us.

Let's Redefine Idiot Box

2009-06-11T14:40:00.004-07:00

"Smart Car," the ultimate misnomer, the ultimate irony. Anyone who buys one of these Dorkmobiles should be beaten every year at the county fair for the rest of their, hopefully short, lives. It is a testament to humanity's need for a cleansing. It is obvious that unless controlled, people will go horribly, horribly wrong.

Dangerous? Nah... Look at those ample compact zones. The Smart Car is described as having a hard shell like a nut. Not dangerous, its just like your skull hitting cement. It holds up pretty good, but now your brain is pate!

I, with Glenn Beck thought the Prius looked like a retarded UFO, but somehow, this is worse. Did they think having a three foot wheel base would make it cute? It looks like its ALREADY been in a head on crash at 80, they just smoothed out the crinkles.

It's green though. Oh yeah, VERY green, a whopping 33 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway. The engine is .7 litres!

My family has a Metro. It isn't going to win any beauty pageants, but, it doesn't look like an inbred downie. It gets over 50 MPG overall, and on a trip to Manti it got well over 60. But you don't have to drive a car that won't do over 75 MPH for conservations sake.

Reality check factoid: My Civic, with an engine more than DOUBLE that size, averages 38-42MPG overall. Oh yeah, also, it looks nice. (Not mine, just in general, they CAN look nice)

Recap:

Looks simultaneously like the face and ass-end of a pug
Crappy gas mileage
Did I mention you lose all credibility as a human being and make the case for genocide?
In a crash, your body turns to mush, but the car holds up great!
Way over priced at around 20 K
2 seats, no trunk space/ Metro: 4 seats, trunk space

This Should Make Life Easier

2009-05-30T09:30:00.003-07:00

Retrospective is really needed to see our progress clearly. Without that, the thousand little moments of inspiration, the gentle promptings and "divine currents" that Richard G. Scott said were placed in our life, may go undernoticed. Only when we look back can we see that all of those things had a point, they were not random events but directed tender mercies. I'd say it's "funny" or "coincidental" as I look back on the things I've been learning lately. Perhaps "engineered," "serendipitous," or "provident," would be better terms. As Merrill Bailey, my institute teacher and ersatz Jedi master always says,

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

Looking back on my celestial curriculum, there are definitely common themes and progression. I started writing this post in February, it began as just a thought that caught in my head, but since, this thought has turned into a trail head. I've found more and more, and been led to new sources to further my learning on this subject. I know that the Lord is not lying when He says that "[He] will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them." -D&C 111:11. That line upon line business comes as fast as we let it.

To be honest most of the new knowledge came from Brother Bailey. I went to see him a couple of weeks ago, and in talking to him I realized that 90% of what I have learned in the last five years, originated with him. All these great and powerful deep thoughts that have furthered my spiritual progression and knowledge of the gospel, had their genesis with him. The new doctrinal insights I gained from him have been the keys to unlock the scriptures to me in new ways. They have been the catalyst for greater revelation and a more complete knowledge of the gospel. I only mention this to give him credit, because much of what I write here is my brain regurgitation's of his thoughts. ( Apologies to Sayyadina for the visceral description.)

I own a book, it is a good book, a great book. It has some of the best advice I've ever received: Keep the feeling of the celestial room with you. This is so simple! It struck me with such force. This is tangible, this is doable. This is easy. I have a hard time saying to my brain,

"Remember to love everyone today Kenneth."

That is all an intellectual process and there are way too many roots on that path to trip me up. But concentrating on the emotional aspect of it makes your thoughts naturally fall into place. When you feel good, your brain has good thoughts, it just naturally flows. But when you feel crappy, using thoughts to change your emotional polarity is just hard. Living in this way, holding this state of celestial equilibrium within us, not only hones our spiritual senses, but produces an effective barrier to any darkness. There are too many obstacles in the brain. If we can only concentrate on the feeling, our task is greatly simplified. The feelings lead naturally to the thoughts. The brain likes to take control of the body, but it really isn't smart enough to run things properly. The brain likes to weigh and judge everything. My brain seems to think it's job description is to be a shallow, paranoid-schizophrenic. Always looking at others and seeing how they are better or worse than I. It's quite the consumptive enterprise, all that cognition being devoted to something so counter productiveness! Comparison is the cancer to happiness.

We all wear white in the temple. Why? Well, to show that we are all equal, so no one shows up in their Prada temple dress and can snub the person in the Shopko temple dress, right? I really don't think so. That line of reasoning still shows that we are in a comparison perspective. The sameness the dress code enforces there acts as a mask to cover our judgement. The homogenous dress there doesn't exist to cloak ourselves, it is to strip away our false coverings and show that when you boil down all the extraneous garnishments, we REALLY ARE all the same. It's not just a nice thought for an hour until we go outside to our respective Festiva's and Lexus's.The scales we use in our constant ranking and hierarchical mindsets don't exist in reality.

If we are true to form, we should be naked in the temple. Adam and Eve were until they got garment to cover their nakedness. For obvious reasons, the order of things is switched up a bit. But those whites should be thought of as our nakedness, all the same at our most basic and core nature. We can clothe ourselves with the atonement, and realize that everyone else who is covered properly is covered just as we are. We can keep this in mind and realize that it is IMPOSSIBLE to judge someone else when we consider that we are wearing borrowed clothing too.

The only time we start to judge is when we put on our fig leaf aprons in place of our garments. That is when we realize we are naked and we feel shame, so we come up with a really ridiculous solution to hide ourselves from ourselves. Because we are shamefully aware of our own situation, we have to find our sense of worth by comparing us to someone inferior, We then look at other peoples aprons and we get snide and snippy because our ego covering is so much better than theirs. But as is their nature, leaves get brittle awfully fast and require massive amounts of upkeep. The constant maintenance of our facade keeps us so engaged with our pseudo-shelter that we fail to worry about any of the other necessities of life, like food or water. Sustenance on earth really is a package deal. If we have living water, we also have the bread of life, and if these, then we also have our nakedness covered by eternally durable means.

Back to the mindset then of getting out of the brain and working with the heart, I truly believe that there is more going on here than just an emotional/intellectual processes. But, more on that later.

This I Believe...

2009-05-27T08:01:00.002-07:00

Government has a right to pass laws to help consumers make better choices, like making light bulbs illegal.

If the government doesn’t tell car companies to make fuel efficient vehicles, they will not be made.

The elite, highly educated group of our leaders is equipped to govern my life better than I.

The United Nations protects the world from nuclear proliferation and human rights violations by passing resolutions and sanctions.

It is better to make cheeseburgers illegal than to let people die of heart disease.

The government will make better choices in directing businesses than the business owners who only care about greed.

Government should be a safety net against poverty, failure, hatred, offensiveness, and bigotry.

I have a right to be fed, sheltered, educated, healed, clothed, warmed, and entertained by those who are more capable than I.

Peace can be achieved through force.

If enough laws were passed, we could completely eliminate crime, poverty, and disease.

I am just leasing my land from the people; I can never truly own anything.

The government will make better decisions about the education of my child than I will.

The will of the people overrides any opinion, position, freedom, or belief I have if it’s for the greater good.

Governments can prevent crime and make life better by passing laws.

Without FEMA taking an active role, people cannot survive natural disasters. The lasting destruction of hurricane Katrina is proof of this.

The current welfare system does not do enough to provide reparations for the African Americans who have been locked into a cycle of poverty because of the enslavement of white Anglo’s.

There is virtue in sacrificing yourself for the expense of the larger group.

Rights exist in the collective, not the individual.

If I don't have help from the government, I will not be able to meet the challenges of an unfair world on my own.

Humans will not do what is in their own self interest; they must be shown what is in their best interest.

People will not make good choices if left to their own judgment.

People need to be controlled if war, poverty, illiteracy and hate are to be avoided.

People do not have the wisdom to govern themselves properly.

A person’s skin color makes an uneven playing field and so it is just for minorities to be allowed to have the first dibs at career and educational opportunities. Your ethnicity should give you privileges that don't exist for other people because of your disadvantages.

I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the content of their character, skills, talents and abilities, but be given special privileges because of the color of their skin.

Minorities are inferior, and so they require special help from the whites who are more capable.

Judges should concentrate less on the law and more on feeling what is right and understanding why people committed the crimes.

In a world where hate won’t exist, where everyone will understand one another help each other.

We do not have the right to take the life of someone who takes life. They have violated a law, but we must be better than they are or we are murderers too.

Fetal tissue is not yet life, and so the woman’s choice of what to do with her body takes precedence.

Rights are created by the constitution, so only Americans have those rights. That is why it is okay to hold the enemy combatants at Guantanamo bay, without trial.

America has created more evil in the world, environmental destruction, and a lower quality of life by exploiting people for their labor through capitalistic excess than any other country and must be punished by giving its extravagant lifestyle to show the world that it is wrong.

Anyone can be talked out of hating you if you just try to understand and love them for who they are and what they believe.

I have the right to other people’s substance, but not my own.

The government can make wiser choices about how we should spend our money.

Private property rights should be abolished because they cause war and greed.

Profit is bad because people should work for the benefit of others first and not be selfish.

Unfettered capitalism is a cancer that has destroyed the environment and the goodness of men by making them only care for money.

Enforced morality such as in China in the 50’s is better than the moral decay that greater amounts of freedom have now allowed in the more capitalistic economy.

I Just Love This

2009-04-28T06:34:00.002-07:00

Of Cold and Timid Souls Unacquainted with Victory or Defeat

2009-04-18T11:38:00.002-07:00

Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled
AP -Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:02:48 PM
By WILLIAM FOREMAN

Action star Jackie Chan said Saturday he's not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he's starting to think "we Chinese need to be controlled."

Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China's southern island province of Hainan.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said. "I'm really confused now. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic."
Chan added: "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

The kung fu star has not been a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement in his hometown of Hong Kong. Since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, voters have not been allowed to directly elect their leader. Several massive street protests have been held to demand full democracy, but Beijing has repeatedly said Hong Kong isn't ready for it.
The theme at Saturday's panel discussion was "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," and Chan had several opinions about innovation in China.

He said that early in his career, he lived in the shadow of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. He said that during his first foray into Hollywood, he struggled to establish his own identity, so he returned to Hong Kong. After spending 15 years building his reputation in Asia, Chan finally got rediscovered by Hollywood, he said.

Chan said the problem with Chinese youth is that "they like other people's things. They don't like their own things." Young people need to spend more time developing their own style, he added.
The action hero complained that Chinese goods still have too many quality problems. He became emotional when discussing contaminated milk powder that sickened tens of thousands of Chinese babies in the past year.

Speaking fast with his voice rising, Chan said, "If I need to buy a TV, I'll definitely buy a Japanese TV. A Chinese TV might explode."

Oh wow. No commentary needed here.

Buddah Is My Homeboy

2009-02-25T21:53:00.004-07:00

Desires are funny things. They have power. They are vibrant. They seem to be actually living entities we create. By our thoughts they exist, by us they are upheld, by us they are changed, or by us they remain, agreeable to our will. You can make yourself sick thinking about something you want. Our only power over them is that we have the ability to feed them, or starve them. Look at the unbounded avarice in children when their minds are focused on their desires. Children have unparalleled focus when they want something.

It consumes them.

This middle path avoids the extremes.

According to the Four Noble Truths, desire is torment. Unrequited desire is the path to, and cause of suffering. Which is why I try to live as an ascetic monk, denying even the very existence of women. This may sound a little extreme, but the alternative is much worse. If you don't deny women exist, then you see Valerie Poxleitner of the band LIGHTS, realize she is the paragon of cuteness and an inferno of creativity, this of course means that you end up falling hopelessly in love, and then realize that she's in Canada and doesn't know who you are.

I'd rather pretend women don't exist.

As I said, power over desires consists in our feeding them or not. Sure, sure, I could watch her music videos and vlogs till my eyes turn into raisins. Which I did. But that would just make it worse. And it was.

Bad.

So, I'll just forget she exists. This desire for her is not attached to hope, I have no reason to believe she is my eternal companion. Any desire which may not be coupled with eternal hope is a path to disappointment. I can however exercise hope that I do have an EC out there. You see, eternal things can be counted on.

The safe route is the Middle Path, kill desires, delay gratification, avoid extremes. It's a road with no bumps, no disappointment, but also no excitement. So until Valerie drops out of the sky and declares her undying love, I'll just play Super Nintendo.

Farewell

2009-02-23T20:33:00.004-07:00

I tried to make it last. I did what I could, but in the end,

it's just not working.

I held on for too long. I guess I just thought it would get better.

Wished it would get better

Wanted it to.

I just kept remembering the good times that we had and I didn't want it to end.

It was cruel of me to lead you on, when I knew,

I knew

that we didn't have a chance.

I never thought it would come to this.

We were so perfect together.

So much, so strong,

we were.

Were.

I'll always cherish what we had.

It was a good run, and I don't regret it for a minute.

So the time has come. I'll not mourn for what we could have been.

No tears. We have to go on without each other.

I wish I could say that you'll be alright, but I think we both know that you don't have much time left.

I just can't be there for you anymore.

This is it.

Goodbye.

P.S.

A drunk 10 year-old with autism could write better dialogue.

P.P.S.

And plots.

And a manic Labrador in a room full of crotches has better idea of where it's going.

Collectivism: Satans BFF

2009-02-14T09:42:00.002-07:00

WoopWoop! All aboard the logic train. Time to catch the 10:15 to Saneville, where mayor is Kenneth and all the people are happy! (The happiness is just the methamphetamine in the town well.)

There is not such thing a as "collective rights." A group of people can't have rights unless every individual has those same rights. If not, then that would mean that one person doesn't have rights, but two people do. You don't have any rights unless there are two of you. Does that make sense? No.

0+0 ≠ 1 This does make sense though, right?

If the individual has no rights, then a group of individuals don't either. Zero plus zero is zero. Okay, good, I see the six year-olds are still with me.

In collectivism, the group only has the rights that the whole votes on. It is a cannibalistic system which believes the whole itself greater than the sum of its parts. The majority is the mob, they can do what ever they want to the minority because they voted. We call this "Democracy." More like "Democrazy!" HA! Oh, I kill me! But anyway, the minority of the group, having only what the majority wants it to have, becomes the sacrificial lamb. They are enslaved to the rest of the people, yes, enslaved, just like Megatron wants. They are sacrificed for the good of others. Let me illustrate with a little parable:

Majority: "We want a library, but we need money. Who's got money? Blackie has money, lets take his!"

Blackie the Minority: Uh, that's my money, I earned it. You can't have it.

Majority: Yes we can, we voted.

Blackie the Minority: Oh drat.

It's really that simple. If they have a right to take away his property, they can take all of it. He is their slave, literally and truly.

How is that fair? Blackie is yoke like an ox, the servant of everyone else. Doomed to carry whatever load they pile on him. America right now needs an emancipation proclaimation for all people. The slaves were barely upgraded by it. It only put them on grounds to be looted as evenly as their former owners. Just like Mr. Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." He used to be a freewheeling poor guy without a care. But now after having inherited a fortune, he has been shackled by "middle class morality." Cousins he never knew he had have turned up out of the woodwork, looking for a handout. Everyone expects him to support them now.

Friends of Satan, most of them found in public schools and Mormon Churches,(Zing!) say that we need our freedom and liberty, but that doesn't include property. That is really stupid. Allow me to explain, in the garden of Eden, Adam was SET! Free food. Easy living. Then he got kicked out of the parents basement and was told he had to make his own food now. By the sweat of his brow even! "Work," the worst of the four letter words. He had to go be a farmer and make his own bread, or he would starve to death.

We are not in Eden. The same rules apply to us as to him. We get here and we do not have manna from heaven to sustain us. We have the responsibility to take care of our own survival. If we have no rights to the fruits of our labors, we are enslaved, because when you don't eat, you die.

So if we quicken the earth, tend our gardens, and grow our food, we have a right to it. If we exchange our labor for money and then money for food, we have a right to it. Because we WORKED for it. It would not exist if not for us. Property is an extension of ourselves. It is a result of the effort of our minds and muscles. The work of the mind is especially important. Some will extol the proletariat and their back breaking labor as the most vital, but brute force of muscles did not create the car, the microwave, and the cell phone. It was the mind that conceived of the furnace, the refrigerator, plastic, Teflon, and chocolate. We determine what we do and do not need. We decide what to do with what we have. That's called stewardship. Look it up. Until the Master revokes it, we can be poor, crappy, and evil stewards with our stuff. The day of reckoning will come, but not from anyone of our fellows.

You have a right to life. But you have to support it. You have a right to your property, but you have to create it first. You don't have a right to anybodys else's stuff though. If you are too stupid, lazy, or ignorant to have as much as others, that's your own damn fault. They shouldn't be penalized for your idiocy. Remember the story of the lazy grasshopper and the ants? Yeah.

Remember Lucifer? He typifies evil: indiscriminate use of force. More than anything else, he wants power over others. He said to God, "Give me [thine] honor, which is [thy] power." God has power, only because he loves and respects all things. They honor him, all the universe, all intelligence knows that He is the righteous judge. If He were to sin, He would lose, as it were, "the mandate of heaven." For the mandate is the judgement of all exists, all that is. God may not ever disregard the rights of any creature, or He would cease to be God.

Satan wants power without responsibility. He is the ultimate super villain. We know the cards he holds. He announced to the world what his plan was, to rule with blood and horror. He would use oppressive priests and tyrants in government. Korihor gives away Satan's playbook when he rails against the church. Since God's ways are perfect, when Satan accuses His church of wrong doing, he is only pointing out the failings of his own false church. Korihor says that the priests glut themselves off the labors of the people and keep their minds bound down under false traditions. In reality, that is the hallmark of the Great Whore. The priests preach for hire, glutting themselves on the people to pay for gold, silver, fine twined linens, and harlots. They keep the people docile and pliant by preaching lies to support their evil works. The people are enslaved by deception.

In the political arena, he is just as devious, and his plans dovetail perfectly. He controls the educational and cultural institutions, thus his socialization is brutal and complete. We are taught collectivist ideology from the time we are children. We are taught that the group is more important than the individual, that any sacrifice for the greater good is justified. Having such a low opinion of ourselves, the stage is set for the tyrant to come in and reign with his blood and horror.

There can be no celestial governance without the consent of the governed, and the absolute sovereignty of the individual being held inviolate. The law is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is no mere aphorism, not some nice cliche to give us warm, fuzzy, kumbayayas. This is the LAW of the universe. All things respected and treated as equals. Loved as the self is loved. Love of God, love of others, love of self. They are a 3 for 1 package. They cannot exist separately.

Back to the beginning. Where do rights come from? Do they magically appear when a group coalesces? That is absolute nonsense. What is giving them? Might as well be a fancy unicorn who farts rainbows. Collectivism is pure mysticism. Rights are inherent by nature of existence. Because you have the power to act, you are your own sovereign. You think, therefore you are. Rights are not even "God-given" as we are prone to say. If a right can be given, it can be taken away. In that respect, we are on equal grounds with God. As Joseph Smith said, we are "coeternal" with him.

Because you have agency, you are responsible for your actions. Does this all make sense now?

A Response

2009-02-10T17:45:00.006-07:00

My friend is in a play, this is his blog:
http://saltlakeactingcompany.wordpress.com/

This is my response.

The wonder of art, acting specifically, is that it presents the human condition. Great works provoke us to deeper thought, they can point us to truth we may have overlooked. They raise questions which have universal impportance. They inspire us to action, whether it be physical or mental by causing us to confront an unknown in our mind. These themes have appeal to everyone because they directly relate to our lives. They are relevant, they are salient. How to act in time of crisis, the moral dilemma, they realities we would hope to avoid. We are constantly searching for the proper way to live more and to understand the world more fully. No matter the level of complexity, all stories may be boiled down to their core issues. The simple truths, the principles. Honesty, courage, the dangers of (fill in the blank.) The message of the show is the tapestry of the truths woven together. What to be, what to do, what not to do, how to be happy, how to be safe.

The manner in which these truths are conveyed do not have equal merit. You can train an animal with love and reward, or you can beat, starve, and scare it into obedience. Either way, it is trained, but the ends never justify the means. Evil may be represented without of its portrayal being evil in and of it's self. A rape may be portrayed, the painful reality and the life changing sorrow, all without a graphic sexual act included.

If theatre's purpose is to hold a mirror to humanity then my job is to hold up sophistryto the light so that it may be exposed as error. There is in the acting community at large it seems, a compulsion to grind axes. Why this lust to "push the envelope," to be dangerous? Is this the defiant rebellion of adolescence revisited? The need to conform to nonconformity? To stand out and be different? To show how shocking you are capable of being? To get a thrill that something you do can viscerally offend people and make them cringe. What does that mean to "push the envelope?" To be dangerous? If these statements were appraised with any level of scrutiny, I suspect the impetus behind them would be found to be rather juvenile. What exactly is the message of something dangerous and edgy?

"Only when we face the dangers of what is out there can we truly be prepared for it."

True. But to know of danger and to be force-fed garbage are two very different things. To be aware that predators play on the Internet is vital to anyone's safety. But is it necessary to share every conceivable detail of depravity? When you know the truth, you have no need to see and learn an infinite number of lies. One truth destroys them all.

It has been said that, "The best theatre holds a mirror up to the audience and… demands them to look at the reflection no matter how ugly it is…”

This must not go unchallenged. What is the intrinsic value in this? Why must we gaze at what is ugly? Humans delight in beauty and joy, we are made to create and be joy and beauty. This is our nature. There is certainly the morbid fascination which we all feel when confronted with ugliness, but it only fascinates us because it is contrary to our nature, and revolting. We want to see how close we can get to the edge. It gratifies our basest senses. But what value does it hold? There is no virtue in staring at evil. It is neither valuable or "responsible" to display evil. Why should anyone want to be exposed to darkness when we have been expressly told that,

"That which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.”

If it is not of God, then it is of Satan. That is a simple truth. Those who would argue it is a grey area would do well to consider that grey is a mixture of black and white. No matter how much white is added, the black will always be there. As children, we see the world in black and white. As we age and mature, we enter a mindset of moral relativism because we are now able to distinguish the shades of grey. There is a final level of comprehension which precious few reach. The final stage is critical thinking, and those with it are not immobilized in a world of confusing greys. They able to use higher reasoning skills to separate between the good and the bad and make judgements concerning what is right and wrong despite the complications, subtleties, and intricacies. Those stuck in relativism see the critical thinkers as childish because they, unlike the relativists, are able to come to final decisions. The relativists therefore assume that they are stuck in the first stage. But it is those in relativism that are indeed stuck. They are paralyzed by inaction because they cannot apprehend the truth amidst the falsehoods.

"I understand that I may not be able to always “feel the spirit” while performing, but I don’t think the play will influence me to begin online sexual web-casts either."

This type of fallacious argument is called reductio ad absurdum. No, doing a small evil thing will not immediately lead to big evil thing or a complete refutation of your religion. It is ridiculous to imply that anyone hearing you would think such a thing. Rationalization is never found without its vestments of absurdity.

The acknowledgement that you do not feel the spirit during the play, however vaguely it was worded to conceal and deny culpability, is your admission of guilt. There is nothing more to say. When the spirit leaves, He does so because the behavior, environment, or situation, is evil and therefore unacceptable for anyone who seeks to follow the Exemplar of mankind.

As your friend suggests, there is no maybe, you should not be doing those kind of shows. Your friend had just cause to lose all interest, because something which could have been valuable was tainted. Like poison in the otherwise useful and life giving well. The addition of the one ingredient was sufficient to counteract any good thing that could have been taken away from the experience. To claim that this play has value that cannot be had by other means would be to suggest that I can't get water from any place but the toilet bowl. There are other sources, better options. Dark Play has valuable lessons in it, but their existence does not justify the dirty millieu. It is like the proverbial dog poo in the cake. One turd ruins the whole thing. And what is gained in the end of it all? Could your friend not learn the lessons of your play in a way that does not damage her relationship with God?

While Mormons can certainly be accused of narrow mindedness, this is not one of those times. Your friend is making a wise and informed decision to avoid that which is harmful. We cannot compromise what we know is right. We cannot capitulate to evil. Satan doesn't need us to commit large sins to win, he only has to deflect us from our course, ever so slightly. He only has to distract us from the influence of the Spirit so that he may blind us with his half-truths and pseudo-logic. When the Spirit is absent from us, we are spiritually blind to truth and a sitting duck to be blown about by every wind of false doctrine.

Must every variation of evil, every shade of grey be played out in lurid detail in order to learn a truth? Is it impossible to be taught the the truth in light? Or should we make our children watch pornography so they know it's bad? Should we hold their hands on the red hot stove burner so they know not to touch it, or should we just teach them that it hurts?

Evil exists in the world, there is no denying that. But our purpose on earth is do avoid it and deny it a place in our lives. We do not have a responsibility to search into every work of darkness and parade it constantly before us. The medium of acitng is a valuable one because it allows truth to be represented and then analyzed. But not all truth is worthy of our senses. Not all representations of reality are worthwhile. Dangers may be warned of without the peripheral garbage. These unnecessary embellishments are defended because it is in context. It is suggested that something would be missing without them. That is certainly true, darkness would be missing. Again, truth may be represented, even dark truths, without the medium of their portrayal being evil. Dangers of the Internet and lessons of honesty do not require filthy language or suggestive themes.

That mirror you hold up does not reflect my face. I am not humanity. I am not guilty by association. I have no need to waste my very self by ingesting filth. I have no desire to cheapen myself. I don't need to gaze in to hell to know to avoid it, I have only to look to the light to know what I value.