Midterms Election 2018

The only thing I will say about this election is that we Americans may need to remember the lesson taught to King Croesus as written by the ancient Greek author Herodotus:

“None may escape his destined lot, not even a god. Croesus hath paid for the sin of his ancestor of the fifth generation: who, being of the guard of the Heraclidae, was led by the guile of a woman to slay his master, and took to himself the royal state of that master, whereto he had no right. And it was the desire of Loxias that the evil hap of Sardis should fall in the lifetime of Croesus’ sons, not his own, but he could not turn the Fates from their purpose; yet did he accomplish his will and favour Croesus in so far as they would yield to him: for he delayed the taking of Sardis for three years, and this let Croesus know, that though he be now taken it is by so many years later than the destined hour. And further, Loxias saved Croesus from the burning. But as to the oracle that was given him, Croesus doth not right to complain concerning it. For Loxias declared to him that if he should lead an army against the Persians he would destroy a great empire. Therefore it behoved him, if he would take right counsel, to send and ask whether the god spoke of Croesus’ or of Cyrus’ empire. But he understood not that which was spoken, nor made further inquiry: wherefore now let him blame himself. Nay, when he asked that last question of the oracle and Loxias gave him that answer concerning the mule, even that Croesus understood not. For that mule was in truth Cyrus; who was the son of two persons not of the same nation, of whom the mother was the nobler and the father of lesser estate; for she was a Median, daughter of Astyages king of the Medians: but he was a Persian and under the rule of the Medians, and was wedded, albeit in all regards lower than she, to one that should be his sovereign lady.” Such was the answer of the priestess to the Lydians; they carried it to Sardis and told it to Croesus; and when he heard it, he confessed that the sin was not the god’s, but his own. And this is the story of Croesus’ rule, and of the first overthrow of Ionia.
The Persian Wars, Book 1 - Herodotus

The lesson? Looking past the obscure names and archaic language the point King Croesus learned was that the fate of his kingdom was decided long before he was born as punishment for the crimes of his ancestor. There was little to nothing that could have been done to change his fate, or the fate of his kingdom - the sins and crimes of his ancestors needed to be answered.

A similar lesson is taught in the Christian Bible through the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in punishment for the sins of King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah.

Dear Boy Scouts of America

Dear Boy Scouts of America,

I am an Eagle Scout, I was raised in Scouting and made my childhood revolve around the Scouting program as best as what was available to me in my area. As such, I am deeply ashamed of the behavior portrayed by the Scouts in yesterday's political rally at the Boy Scout Jamboree. 

An invitation to the President of the United States to speak at a public Boy Scout function is not an issue. Behavior is the issue.

President Donald Trump acted inappropriately in his speech by transforming a Scouting event into a political campaign rally. We will never receive an apology from Donald Trump regarding his misuse of the time granted to him - however, it is your duty as the hosting organization to apologize for that misuse. 

A Scout is Reverent - it is part of the Scout Law, to be "Reverent" means to show a "deep and solemn respect", according to the dictionary, and that "deep and solemn respect" includes maintaining a respect for the rules and purpose of an non-political Scouting event. The Boy Scouts of America, leaders and youth alike, violated the Scout Law of Reverence in following the example of President Donald Trump by willingly participating in the degradation and public shaming of Trump's political opponents and rival political ideologies. It is your responsibility to apologize for that violation of the Scout Law - not to mention the violation of official BSA policy affecting political events.

A Scout is Courteous - this is also a part of the Scout Law, with Courteous meaning, according to the dictionary, "polite, respectful, or considerate in demeanor". There was nothing polite, or respectful, or considerate in the behavior of the Boy Scouts of America during that misused Jamboree speech. Is it courteous to angrily boo the name of the speaker's political rivals or competing political ideologies? No, it is not. Do others angrily boo or behave in inconsiderate manners in private or public events? Yes, yes they do. Is that an excuse for you? No, it is not. The Boy Scouts of America is supposed to teach boys to be BRAVE by being Courteous and Reverent even when other people don't want them to be. It is apparent in yesterday's Jamboree speech that your organization has failed to embody or teach that principle to any of those roughly 40,000 participants, and that failure has been displayed to the world.

A Scout is Loyal - this portion of the Scout Law was brought up specifically by Donald Trump as a very political reference to his desire to get whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. In truth, the principle of loyalty in Scouting has nothing to do with politics - instead it is a principle that teaches boys to be dependable, to not retreat when the going gets tough, and to be there for others when you are needed. 

A TRUE Scout would never be more loyal to a specific President of the United States than he would be to another President. A TRUE Scout would never be more loyal to any specific President more than he would be to the Constitution and the rule of Law in his country. A TRUE Scout would never betray his loyalty because he didn't get something he wanted, when he wanted it. A TRUE Scout is supposed to be loyal to both God and Country - that does not mean that a Scout is required to say (or that he requires others to say) "Merry Christmas" in order to truly be an American, or a Scout. A Scout can come from any background, and any religion, and as such a Scout is expected to be loyal to his God, no matter what religion he might willingly be a part of. To accept the statement made by Donald Trump that Scouts must say "Merry Christmas" is to deny the core principles of Scouting and require Scouts of other religions to be disloyal to their beliefs and religion. A TRUE Scout is loyal enough to apologize for his wrongdoing towards others, or towards himself.

It was disloyal to the United States, to the American people, to the principles of Scouting for the crowd of Scout youth and leaders to repeatedly chant "We Love Trump" while simultaneously booing to the names of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It was disloyal to affirm that a Scout must say "Merry Christmas". It was disloyal to encourage the idea that you are not American if you are not a Republican. It was disloyal to cheer and applaud the defamation and slander of journalists by a political figure.

A Scout is Trustworthy - I am an Eagle Scout. I trusted your organization to honor your principles and do the right thing. I trusted your organization to reason out decisions and eventually come to a morally upright conclusion. I waited for your organization to accept LGBT+ members as part of a moral decision that no one is superior or inferior to another human being - regardless of religious, political or moral beliefs - I waited because I trusted in the Scout Law, that you would eventually make the right decision. Now, my trust in your organization and your moral uprightness and connection to the Scout Law is once again in question. Will you honor the principles of Scouting and apologize for the inappropriate behavior of your guest and your members at the 2017 Boy Scout National Jamboree? Will you uphold the Scout Law and teach proper principles to your leaders and youth? Or, will you continue to abandon your oaths and fail to be a beacon of moral fiber in America?

Sincerely,

An Eagle Scout

So, Donald Trump has deleted #BlackHistoryMonth has he? Why is this a bad thing?

Speak English! A Letter to Anti-Immigrant Americans

This is a HYPOTHETICAL conversation, not any actual conversation between myself and any particular Anti-Immigration American. This is a generalized response to the rise in White American Nationalism correlated and fueled by the Donald Trump campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America.

Governor Pence Criminalized Gay Marriage Applications

A few days ago I post the following image on Facebook:

A friend of mine asked for more information on this since this isn't a topic frequently discussed. In response I decided to write this review of the law's actual text so that everyone could see HOW the State of Indiana's Legislature and Governor Pence made gay couples APPLYING for Marriage Licenses criminals.

Indiana HB 1041 isk the law the image refers to. It's wording is very complicated and the bill's language jumps around a lot (plus it has been heavily edited and has had multiple sections repealed) so it is honestly hard to follow. In order for the information to make sense I will have to jump around and connect different passages from the bill together. The bill was signed in 2013 by Governor Pence who was elected to office in 2012.

The Trump Wars

I think most Americans would agree that we are tired of constant warfare like what have experienced these past 15 years. Even Republicans, who make the military their one of their top priorities, seem to be tired of these unending wars.

So, America's fascination with Donald Trump becomes even more confusing (as if it isn't confusing enough already). How many wars has Donald Trump fought so far in this Presidential election alone?

1. The Megyn Kelly War - platform: Twitter, TV; reason - personal dislike
2. The Vatican War - platform: Twitter; reason - disagreement on religious issues
3. The Dick War - platform: Twitter, TV, Rallies; reason - crude insults on sexual body parts
4. The Protesters War - platform: Rallies, TV, Twitter; reason - believes booing and disapproval of him needs to be silenced by violence
5. The Sanders War - platform: Twitter; reason - Sanders' supporters disapprove of Trump and say so, Trump believes Sander's should control "his people" or face violent consequences
6. The Fox War - platform: Twitter, TV, Rallies; reason - Trump believes Fox News is mean to him
7. The CNN War - platform: Twitter, TV; reason - Trump doesn't like CNN's Debate platform, tells CNN to pay money or he won't attend

I know I'm missing some but this is good enough to give a general idea of what Trump's Presidency will be like. First off, it'll be a real life episode of Mean Girls. Second, can you imagine how North Korea, Russia, Iran and other nations will react to his insults? ISIS bombed France because the publishing company drew the Islamic Prophet Muhammad; what will they do when Trump accuses Abu Bakr of having a sexual deformity? If Trump doesn't lead us into a long series of real life wars, we will have a White House media filled with endless Twitter Wars, TV Wars, and Civil Unrest.

If you're wanting Peace in America, Trump is not the way to get it. He already has at least 7 Wars under his belt and he's not even President yet.

Trump vs Sanders - Philosophies of Freedom

Today's world is filled by two primary beliefs: 1 - The belief that everything must be limitless and 2 - The belief that everything must be limited. Both are WRONG and both are RIGHT.

Freedom, Action and Thought all have limitless potential. Everyone has the power (or freedom) to act or think for themselves in every instance. But therein lies the problem, if each of humanity's billions of individuals were infinitely free to act or think as they please there would be chaos as each person would be acting for their own interest regardless of the consequences (to themselves or to others). This is the world we are currently witnessing: the unrestrained belief that each individuals' thoughts, actions or beliefs are superior to anyone else's. Such freedom must be limited or restrained.

Limitations, Laws, and Restraint are also limitless in potential. Everyone, or every law, has the power to exercise unlimited control on another. This too is a problem as it is the reality of Tyranny. If every action or thought of all people were limited or restrained without limit there would be no uniqueness, no creativity, no peace and no enjoyment. We see this in the world around us too. The attempts of various groups to forcibly control or limit the choices of others (and possibly themselves as well) in the name of righteousness is a danger to all of mankind. We also see the attempts of many to forbid a change in society simply to ensure the consistency of the status-quo.

Mormons for Trump?

Anyone who personally knows me will know that I have absolutely no respect for Donald Trump as a person or as a Presidential candidate, I've been quite clear on my views regarding his lack of qualifications and unsafe social/political positions. However, at this point I'm not going to go on a tirade about Trump himself or his views/policies. Instead I want to touch on a few basic realities about Mr. Trump and primarily focus on how terrified I am that Mormons, even "high ranking" leaders (including retired ones) are actually supporting him in his candidacy.

Donald Trump has proven himself to be racist, on multiple occasions and in multiple ways. Most recently he discussed torture tactics and promoted a (false) mass murder story of Americans butchering Muslims and claimed that that was the direction America needed to go in. Click HERE for CNN story. He's also promoted plans to forcibly identify Muslims in the U.S. (very similarly to how Jews etc. were treated in Nazi Germany) and bar immigration to an entire ethnic and religious group of people worldwide. All of this is in addition to other statements made against Blacks and Hispanics.

President Hinckley, one of the longest serving Presidents and Prophets of the LDS Church made his views on racism perfectly and crystal clear: