Ezra Taft Benson:

"If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers - normally good Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free - Americans who have been lulled away into a false security." (April 1968, General Conference Report)

Iraq info

Seems pretty pro-choice to me

BioAcoustic Therapy - Interesting

Money Masters - 3.5 hours long

The title of the Book of Mormon

When someone asks where the title of the Book of Mormon comes from, a member of the church will usually explain how Mormon was the prophet who abridged the ancient record and leave it at that. Tonight, however, I was reading in Mosiah, the story of Alma preaching to a group of rag-tag believers, and I realized that the title of our second testament of Jesus Christ is much deeper than that.

In 3 Nephi 5:12, Mormon explains that he was named after the land where Alma taught, and while we aren't given the exact definition of "Mormon," we are told a few interesting things about the place:

1. We're told that there was a fountain of pure water, and fountains, especially of pure water, represent Christ.
2. We're told that there were trees which would shelter the group during the day and hide them from the searches of the king; i.e. a shelter from physical/spiritual danger.
3. In Mosiah 18:8, Alma says, "behold the waters of Mormon" and then begins a sermon that has nothing to do with the actual location (instead outlines the requirements for following Christ), but has been equated with the setting nonetheless.
4. Now read in Mosiah 18:30, and we're told how beautiful the setting of Mormon was to "the eyes of them who there came to a knowledge of their Redeemer." In other words the setting is equated with joy that comes from accepting the gospel of Christ.

So to wrap up my thought: We're encouraged to read the Book of Mormon every day because in recalling the place, IT'S VERY TITLE represents Christ, calls attention to His protection, contains the requirements to follow Him, and hints at the joy of those who will find their Redeemer inside.

Military Commissions Act: Passed 2006

Fascinating theory: Frequency as matter.

Click here for The Elegant Universe.

Implications . . .

I just read this in an article that I came across:

"Light is frequency. Sound is frequency. Aroma is frequency. Emotion is frequency. Vibration is frequency. Music is frequency. Brain waves are frequency. Nerve impulses are frequency. Everything, at its most common denominator, is frequency. Frequency is everything and everything is frequency. In reality, there are no solids. We exist in a universe that consists entirely of energy. Einstein proved this. Frequency defines it."

I think this has some implications for spiritual truth as well. Why is it so important to keep our bodies clean and our thoughts pure? Maybe it has somethig to do with the frequency of the Spirit and our cellular "receivers."

Doctrine & Covenants Section 98

I would love anyone's comments on section 98 of the D&C. I was reading it yesterday and was actually surprised by verses 23 & 24 which deal with the first offense against one's family.

The context of the section is also important because it was given while the saints were under intense persecution (see the chapter heading). It's the Lord's response to that persecution.

Notice when our actions in response to persecution are justified vs. when they are rewarded - both as individuals and as nations.

Any thoughts - especially on vs 24?

Interesting theory

Thoughts on diabolical machinations

Today I was thinking of the scripture that talks about setting a watchman upon the tower to watch over the vineyard. As I thought about this scripture the wisdom of Sun Tzu came into my head. The phrase "know your enemy" from the Art of War is pretty famous and has been repeated so much that it has almost become cliche now.

Then I started to think about how the watchman on the watchtower is expected to recognize both the master of the vineyard and any potential enemies. It seems logical to me then, that God expects us to recognize our spiritual enemy, and I think that sometimes we can be pretty naive about how sophisticated and cunning our enemy really is.

I think most people suppose that Satan is so busy whispering temptations in our ears that he has no time for planning any kind of specific strategy. But as I was thinking about this, I realized that he does have a well coordinated plan of attack, and most of us know EXACTLY what it is.

Not to dwell too much on the adversary, but I think that when he says he's going to take the treasures of the earth and then buy up armed forces, tyrants and false priests that maybe he's doing just that. He meant every word when he proclaimed he would REIGN with blood and horror. I don't think that we really take to heart the fact that SATAN WANTS TO REIGN, not just tempt us to fight and fornicate.

If the entire war in heaven was about CONTROL vs. FREE AGENCY, why are so many unable to see that he wants to sieze power?

The question is WHY? Why does he need it? As I see it, Satan wants to rule so he can destroy NOT ONLY OUR ETERNAL SALVATION, but also every aspect of the earthly experience that he has been denied - to LITERALLY reign with "blood and horror."

Some things that he would need earthy power to eliminate or harm:

1. Our free agency, through any type of tyrannical, authoritarian government.
2. Our bodies through disease, neglect, malnutrition, drugs and inflicted injury.
3. Our families through sexual sins and selfishness.
4. The beauty of our planet through pollution, greediness and misuse.
5. Our relationship with God through sin and distraction.

As I look at this list I can see some of Satan's long-term planning has come to fruition. There are certain bodies of power that influence each item on the list over which Lucifer has full or partial control. Can you think of what they might be?

Luckily, we know that our Father and our Savior will ultimately triumph, but until then we really should be watchful and careful not to put our "trust in the arm of flesh" or in "philosophies of men mingled with scripture."

Interesting and informative on the money system.

Quotes from Buddha:

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."

"In a controversy, the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves."

Quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs"

"Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government."

"Experience has shown that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

"The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force."

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."

Benjamin Franklin:

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Quotes from James Madison:

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

"It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad."

"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

Where does the word "fascism" come from?

Fasces (plurale tantum, from the Latin word fascis, meaning "bundle") symbolise summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity."

The traditional Roman fasces consisted of a bundle of birch rods tied together with a red ribbon as a cylinder. One interpretation of the symbolism suggests that despite the fragility of each independent single rod, as a bundle they exhibit strength. Wartime symbolism added an axe amongst the rods. Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the fasces as a symbol of power since the end of the Roman Empire. Italian fascism, which derives its name from the fasces, arguably used this symbolism the most in the 20th century.

The fasces in the United States of America

1. The reverse of the United States "Mercury" dime (minted from 1916 to 1945) bears the design of a fasces and an olive branch.
2. Two fasces appear on either side of the flag of the United States in the United States House of Representatives, representing the power of the House and the country.
3. The Mace of the United States House of Representatives, designed to resemble fasces, consists of thirteen ebony rods bound together in the same fashion as the fasces, topped by a silver eagle on a globe.
4. The official seal of the United States Senate has as one component a pair of crossed fasces.
5. Fasces ring the base of the Statue of Freedom atop the United States Capitol building.
6. A frieze on the facade of the Supreme Court building depicts the figure of a Roman Centurion holding a fasces, to represent "order". [1]
7. At the Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln's seat of state bears the fasces on the fronts of its arms. (Fasces also appear on the pylons flanking the main staircase leading into the memorial.)
8. Four fasces flank the two bronze plaques on either side of the bust of Lincoln memorializing his Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
9. The fasces appears on the state seal of Colorado, USA, beneath the "All-seeing eye" (or Eye of Providence) and above the mountains and mines.
10. On the seal of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, a figure carries a fasces; the seal appears on the borough flag.
11. Used as part of the Knights of Columbus emblem (designed in 1883).
12. The top border of the Los Angeles Police Department badge features a fasces. (1940)
13. The regimental crest of the U.S. 71st Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard consisted of a gold fasces set on a blue background.

Henry Kissinger - Evians France 1991

"Today, America would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all people of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government."

Herman Goering - One of Hitler's top men.

"Naturally the common people don't want war . . . But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship . . . all you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Abraham Lincoln:

"At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer: If it ever reaches us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher."

Brigham Young - Journal of Discourses

This quote came from a discourse regarding the frequent attacks by various Indian tribes on the saints in Utah:

"Do you suppose you will ever see the time you would . . . live at peace with each other, and have the Spirit of the Lord enough to look each other in the face, and say, with a heart full of kindness, 'Good morning Mary,' or 'How do you do Maria?' You will be whipped until you have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ sufficiently to love your brethren and sisters freely, men, women and children; until you can live at peace with yourselves, and with every family around you; until you can treat every child as though it were the tender offspring of your own body, every man as your brother, and every woman as your sister; and until the young persons treat the old with that respect due to parents, and all learn to shake hands, with a warm heart, and a friendly grip, and say, 'God bless you,' from morning till evening; until each person can say, 'I love you all, I have no evil in my heart to any individual, I can send my children to school with yours, and can correct your children when they do wrong, as though they were my own, and I am willing you should correct mine, and let us live together until we are a holy and sanctified society.'

There will always be Indians or somebody else to chastise you, until you come to that spot; so amen to the present Indian trouble, for it is all right. I am just as willing the rebellious of this people should be kicked, and cuffed, and mobbed, and hunted by the Indians, as not, for I have preached to them until I am tired."

Thoughts on Love (Charity)

In Matthew 22: 36, a lawyer asks the Savior "which is the great commandment," to which Christ responds in verses 37-38, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . This is the first and great commandment." That simple answer would probably have been enough to silence the man and to have made a strong spiritual point. So why did Jesus continue in verse 39 with "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?"

Christ clearly indicates in his answer that loving one's neighbor is "second" in order of importance, yet He also clearly states that it is "like unto" the first. In other words, loving one's neighbor is the second commandment, but it is just as important as the first commandment to love God.

A similar teaching is found in Luke, chapter 10. Only in this account the lawyer continues with an additional question in verse 29: "Who is my neighbor?" To this question the Lord gives the parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches that even our enemies are (or should be) our "neighbors."

I don't think this is stretching because in the Sermon on the Mount we are plainly commanded: "Love your enemies." We are instructed to "bless them," "do good to them," and "pray for them." We are told to forgive them, or we won't be forgiven.

If "life eternal" is "that [we] might know . . . the only true God (John 17:3)," and "god is love (1 John 4:8)," then it only seems logical that "whosoever is [even] angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment (3 Nephi 12:22)."

I know it's not easy to love like Heavenly Father and Christ, but I know that I need to be trying harder.