Political Capitol Presumes to Speak for the Church

The misguided proposal known as "Utah SB 100" continues to lurk in the dark halls of the Utah State Capitol.  In the left-slanted commentary about political dealings in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah, the "Utah Political Capitol" effectively puts foot-in-mouth.

Perhaps emboldened by their apparent success in pressing for government-sanctioned deviant "marriage" practices, the liberal-minded were wont to crow that the LDS Church has come out in support of SB 100, though the "discovery" was somewhat premature.  Apparently an anxious by-product of wishful thinking.

First they were all in a breathless sweat to make the announcement, "BREAKING:  LDS Church Announces Support for State-wide Non Discrimination Law"

Next, apparently disappointed that their spin was somewhat flawed, the group decides that the LDS Church is somehow "Walking Back" the announced support announcement.   "Walking Back" is a polite political term for abruptly changing your stated position.  It frequently accompanies the insinuation that advocates for the former ideology are being "thrown under the bus" in the interest of political expediency.  This elaboration appears to be "CYA" spin to cover up the embarrassing misread of the original Church statement, actually nothing particularly new, a work in progress derived from the Salt Lake City deliberations in 2009.

Finally the Deseret News publishes a statement from the Church explaining this fabricated controversy, clearly a product of wilful misunderstanding.  Apparently the Church feels entitled to actually speak for itself in isolated rare instances.  Imagine that.

Fox13, the local news affiliate in Salt Lake City, applies their own pro-homosexual spin to the story.

My initial examination of the proposed SB100 and why it is still a bad idea.

Revisiting: Counsel from my Dad

My dad always had good advice.  After some hospital time a while back, I asked him to send this letter to our family.

It is still good counsel.

Everybody has their own joys and sorrows, their own challenges.  I have had some hope that in spite of the day-to-day struggles, we could endure as long and through our own hardships, as my Dad.

----
9 Mar 2009
Bill Cobabe

This is the message to the family that I promised yesterday in response to Jim's request.

Dear Family,

I do not know how may of you will read this.  I think it is important that I use this medium to speak to you.  When I talked to Jim last night I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he requested that I talk to my family and try to stop the bitter fighting that is going on via the internet.  King Benjamin (in Mosiah 4) counseled the saints to see that their children do not fight and quarrel one with another.  This is my attempt to do so.

The role of patriarch in a family is not really well defined in the scriptures.  Just because I have lived longer than any of you does not necessarily make me any wiser than you.  I guess my authority in this regard is whatever each one of you grant to me.  I regard your faith and trust as a sacred and precious gem.  I do not take it lightly.  I have lost some sleep and spent much time in prayer and I now pray that the Lord will bless me with the words I need.

In the past few days there have been bitter thoughts and words published in family blogs.  I have to think this is grievous to the Lord and gives great comfort and joy to Satan, who is the enemy to all of us.  There have been accusations and vicious attacks from many sides.   Cruel words which can never be recalled have been spoken without regard to the consequences.  I call upon each one of you to cease and desist right now!

None of us is perfect.  This is a goal we're supposed to be striving for, but will likely not achieve in this life.  To aid us in our quest the Savior has given us some clearly defined guidelines.  I'm sorry I don't have my scriptures with me, but I will try to recall some of them.  Maybe some of you can add to my list.

1.  First of all we are supposed to love each other.  "As I have loved you, love one another." (John 14)

2.  He foreknew we would fail in our attempts to live as we should and has provided a means for us to avoid the consequences of our failure.

3.  He paid dearly in Gethsemane and on the cross for our mistakes. (D&C 19)

4.  His love for us in infinite and without any qualifications.  He grants pardon -- which only He can do.  He forgives us.  Though our sins may be as scarlet, they may be as the driven snow. (Isaiah 2)

5.  Our responsibility is to forsake our sins and repent.  He promises us if we do so He will remember our sins no more. (D&C 58)

6.  He tells us that we must forgive one another of all offenses.  He says he will forgive whom he will forgive, but we are required to forgive all men (women too). (D&C 64)

7.  His brand of forgiveness is that he forgets -- I will remember your sins no more.  He tells us that if we do not forgive in the same manner that we are guilty of a greater offense than the offender. (D&C 58, D&C 64)

8.   He tells us that we are to suspend judgement ".. let the Lord judge between me and thee." (D&C 64)

Well, I guess that's enough of that.  As I said, maybe you can add to the list.  But now I want to take another direction -- the internet.  It is a modern day miracle and can be a blessing in our lives.  So much information, so much knowledge, so much good.  Also so much trash, so much ugliness, and so much evil.  The Lord blesses us with great tools to further His designs, and Satan manages to turn these tools against us.  We must be ever watchful. 

Please, I implore you, don't use this great means to accomplish the work of the devil.  Watch carefully what you write.  Guard your children carefully.  Many of them have or will have their own computers.  Perhaps some of these precious little ones have already been exposed to pornography or other evils.  I don't know enough about it to advise you how to block it, but it is imperative that you make every effort to do so.

Please believe that I love each of you.  I pray often for all of you by name; sometimes that takes a long time.  I want you to enjoy happiness and the Lord's peace in your lives.  You are my greatest source of joy -- all of you.

Finally, I testify to you that the principles that we are taught by our Savior, and by his holy prophets, are true.  His gospel is true.  He is the Only Begotten Son of our Eternal Father.  He created the heavens and earth as a place for Father's children to grow and learn -- to become as He is -- and we can do this.  He has given us the church organization and the scriptures and ordinances and inspired prophets and leaders to help us.  And he has given us a sacred charge to nurture his children in example and precept, that they too may become more like Him.

I pray that we may all succeed in our mission in life and enjoy the eternal life that awaits those who persevere in righteousness.

----

To follow this counsel is more than I have ever hoped for.  But I know that we have to try, and keep trying to the end.  Beautiful blessings will be fulfilled for those who keep their sacred promises.  This is what I pray for daily.

Horse Marriage

A minister in Mississippi makes a relevant point.  A horse wears the wedding gown to illustrate what has happened to government rulings regarding marriage traditions.

Do you take this horse to be your unnatural wedded spouse to have and to hold?

Of course, this will offend many western cowboys who have long loved their horses.

 

We cannot identify what particular legal principle, under the current interpretation of the law, that would prohibit the recognition of any relationship based on mutual love, that would exclude it from being recognized and solemnized by the state as a legitimate marriage.

Family Thanksgiving

Recently we have spent some time with some of the finest people I have ever known.

Last Friday, my son Joey and his wife Andrea.  They shared with us the ultrasound of twin girls soon to arrive.

 

On Wednesday, Gene Cook, Ben, Kathryn and her infant boy Jensen Blackburn came to share lunch.

We enjoyed spending the evening with son Thomas.

 

Thursday we joined Carl and Cindy and their children at their home for the traditional Thanksgiving gathering.

Then on Friday we had a visit with Bill and Youngshin, with Ammon and Elise

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

  

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?  (WB Yeats, 1939)

President Barack Obama's inner circle says he remains defiant and unwilling to face the seismic post-election reality.

 

Utah Betterment

According to an incisive and insightful new analysis at the website 24/7 Wall St., Utah ranks as the worst state in the entire nation for women.

The specifics are not all that relevant.  Obviously Utah just needs to clean up it's act, right away.  If we can just convince the "worst" women to move somewhere else, I'm sure we can field a better performance almost immediately.

Please don't be fooled by the apparent trivial nature of this rank "ranking".  What matters most is making it to the bottom 25.  Indeed, the primacy of the race to the bottom has prevailed in many important issues in this country for many years.   Some of the most popular celebrities of our time are correctly characterized as "bottom feeders".

So I'm advocating a voluntary "Utah Betterment" campaign.  Will all the "worst" women in Utah, please self-identify - and move someplace else.  California and Colorado will joyfully embrace the very worst of you.  So please don't hesitate. The sooner you are gone, the better this place will be. 

And please note - we only seek to rid Utah of the "worst" women, for the sake of a better ranking.  All those who are more moderate in their "worstness" can rest easy, no need for you to pack.

Discriminating through anti-discrimination

Another conflict between individual rights and "anti-discrimination" laws. 

Little satisfaction from "I told you so," but - I told you so.

Ordained ministers are compelled to perform homosexual "marriage" against their will, or face punitive fines or imprisonment.

It occurs to me to ask someone to explain, how exactly does this serve the cause of "anti-discrimination"?

Such laws have been proposed in Utah and are already in place in Salt Lake City.  How do they promote anything but the homosexual agenda?  I am not in favor of discrimination, but these questions obviously go far beyond any original intent.

We have little to look forward to in a future where politically-correct ideas that promote perversion and depravity become the rule of law.   When will people wake up and realize what is happening?

Revisiting: Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Posting again, as this issue is about to be reopened, following the newly legalized fiction of "same-sex marriage" in Utah.

Utah Senator Steven Urquhart, the sponsor of this proposed legislation that pretends to be an "anti-discrimination" measure.

As for myself, this Mormon opposes the proposed Utah Housing and Employment Opportunity Act.  The "opportunity" is a promise of future legal action against any who offend the "gayness" of a "gay".  It is only calculated to "build bridges" to future contentious litigation by minority interests and homosexual advocates.

Now the people of Utah can see where these kinds of legal instruments are taking them.  Deeper into a world where moral depravity reigns, and those who respect righteousness are subjected to more and more government regulation.

The politically-correct invention of problems related to "gender identity" has no merit, and does not belong in the body of Utah law. If Utah citizens were properly informed about the specific nature of the proposed law, instead of attempting to disguise it as somehow relating to some vague "discrimination" hand-waving, I am confident that most of them would see little purpose for devoting any more time on the consideration of such legislation.

The Deseret News article that examines this bill contains a helpful link to the proposed legislation. I believe even a cursory examination of the actual proposal will reveal what is really intended.

What moves this particular Utah Senator to promote such interests is not for me to say.  But what is being sold to Utah citizens as "anti-discrimination" is really only intended to create new legal grounds for special interest litigation.

Excerpt from the bill SB100 that has repeatedly been proposed in the Utah Congress, deceptively being touted as an "anti-discrimination" statute...

        83          (k) "Gender identity" means an individual's internal sense of gender, without regard to
             84      the individual's designated sex at birth. Evidence of gender identity may include an
             85      individual's self-identification, as well as the individual's gender-related appearance,
             86      mannerisms, and other gender-related characteristics.
     

Near as I can judge, this is a solution in search of a problem.  It is the worst kind of politically-correct psycho-babble gibberish, as coined by post-modernist progressives, who view moral values as simply another "social construct".

The idea buried in this seemingly innocent bill is insidious.  Homosexual advocates wish to create some imaginary legal "rights" that give permission for them to play whatever sexual role they fancy that day.  I don't mind humoring occasional mental instability, but this is nothing short of insanity.

What that has to do with any actual discrimination problem is difficult to tell, but it is likely that any of the Utah Congress who dared to vote against it would instantly be smeared as a "bigot," "homophobe," and "fanatic".  Who could possibly vote for in favor of "discrimination"?  It has become one of the nastiest charges in our society.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around why the law would presume to mandate that I concern myself about possibly offending whatever "an individual's internal sense of gender" might happen be at any particular time of day.

It calls to mind a particular scene from the popular film "Ghostbusters".

Peter Venkman: Is there any history of mental illness in your family?
Librarian: I had an uncle who thought he was Saint Jerome. 
Peter Venkman: I'd take that as a yes.

We might tend to think this is a rather arbitrary bizarre aberration, but the very question has been made the issue of a number of high-profile lawsuits, being pressed by homosexual advocates - and won - in state courts throughout this country.

Utah advocates of true principles of fairness are accurately represented at "FairToAll".  I support their efforts to promote equality and fight against discrimination.   As opposed to the shameful duplicitous attempts at misrepresentation of the proponents of SB100, this group represents an honest effort that the majority of Utah residents can stand up for, and be proud of.

In contrast to the overreach of SB100, my impression of HB87, making revision to existing statutory regulations to modernize outdated language, is a fair and sensible legislative approach to implement reasonable accommodations.  

A fair summary of related issues appears in the Daily Herald, the Utah Valley newspaper

Near as I can tell, currently in the State of California, everything is either illegal, heavily regulated by the government, or the focus of some lunatic fringe interest group demonstrating on the streets in protest.  I have no interest in transforming Utah into a similar asylum of common and perennial discontentment.

Let us continue to govern ourselves, promote freedom in all prudence and wisdom, with discussion on the merits of all issues in the public square, in true democratic fashion.

Update on similar issues:  Houston Chronicle

Critics largely take issue with the rights extended to gay and transgender residents under the ordinance banning discrimination among businesses that serve the public, private employers, in housing and in city employment and city contracting. Religious institutions are exempt. Parker has agreed not to enforce the ordinance until the court issues a decision in the lawsuit, likely sometime next year.

Sound familiar?

Homosexual "Marriage"

Viewed from a wider perspective, nothing very dramatic actually comes with this disappointing development.  The encroachment has been gradual and incremental, since the initial "camel's nose under the tent".

 Supposedly, the Supreme Court has spoken by choosing to remain silent.  But nothing precludes revisiting the ignored appeals in the future.  Until the Court issues a specific ruling, the controversy has no closure.

Nonetheless, the homosexual players have become emboldened in their sense of accomplishment, which will result in inevitable greater sense of entitlement. Predictibly, they cannot  ever be satisfied with this concession or any other, but will continue pressing to “normalize” their deviance in other ways.  Already, homosexual partners are anticipating the next step in legal manuvering.  From a Deseret News quote, "Now that this is settled, the focus is getting adoptions done for those couples. That will be the No. 1 priority for them."

 Sadly, there is no lasting happiness to be found in the false promises of such deviant behavior.

I intend no antipathy toward any individuals – I am satisfied that the legal demands have been met, despite the majority of popular voter opposition.  But I have no obligation to recognize things as anything but what they really are.  This is strictly a legal fiction, legalizing homosexual "marriage", not some higher moral standard.

In my view, it is not and never will represent anything to do with principles of equality.  And it clearly violated democratic ideals, to have federal courts dictate what voters can approve, and have approved.

I predict that the sense of vindication and hubris will prove to be pyrrhic and ephemeral, as are the rewards of all of Satan’s enticements.

We will continue to decry and oppose the tide of evil, as with legalized abortion and other such offensive and evil abominations.

Official response from the Church as appropriate to this occasion.

I am in a difficult place, trying to reconcile the counsel for civility with current events.  But it has ever been so, even with followers of Jesus in former times...

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

  

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Life in the world continues…

October 2014 General Conference

High on the Mountain Top

October 2014 LDS General Conference

Saturday AM Session

President Monson:  Welcome to Conference

Elder Boyd K. Packer:  Repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Elder Robbins:  Which Way are you Facing?

Sister Esplin:  Sacrament

Hymn: Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah

Elder Chi Hong Wong:  Church Members Working Together in Rescue Assignment (Cantonese)

Elder D. Todd Christofferson:  Every Subject's Soul is His Own

Choir

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:   Our Ability to See

Notes 

 

 Elder Robbins was specially inspirational for me today.

He reiterated a message from Elder Packer about "facing the right way".

And he talked about those in Lehi's dream who pointed their fingers in scorn, causing the faithful to stumble and fall away in their feeling of shame.

When others demand approval in defiance of God’s commandments, we must always keep in mind that we are striving to be disciples of Christ, and which way we should face.

I have abandoned my attempt to take notes while watching the Conference broadcast.  This has been my custom for years.

Not up to that kind of multitasking any more, I'm afraid.  I didn't even follow through with transcribing my notes onto my blog from last April.  My capacity seems to be progressively diminishing little by little.

Sorry.  Makes me feel sad to realize.  It might be easier to simply pass on, than linger in my malingering.  Nevertheless, I will keep doing what I can, until I can't.

Saturday PM Session 

President Eyring:   Sustaining of Church Officers

Elder Dallin H. Oaks:  Love One Another

Elder Neal L. Anderson:  Bless Them That Curse You

Elder Tad R. Callister:  Teach Children to Pray

Hymn:  Redeemer of Israel

Elder Jörg Klebingat:  Principles for Righteous Living

Elder Eduardo Cabaret:  The Savior Invites Us To Follow Him (Spanish)

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:  The Poor and Needy Shall Not Suffer

Elder L. Tom Perry:  Come Unto Me, and I Will Give You Rest

Hymn:  Abide With Me 

Notes

Elder Oaks is so reliable, a tower of strength and counsel to challenge us all.  His name so appropriate.

I almost always weep during Elder Holland's talks.  His compassionate themes are moving and spiritual.

Saturday Priesthood Session

Elder Quentin L. Cook:  Decisions and Choices

Elder Craig C. Christiansen:  Know for Youself that the Gospel is True

Elder Dean M. Davies:  Humanitarian Relief Efforts

President Deiter F. Uchtdorf:  Lord, is it I?

President Henry B. Eyring:  Priesthood Probationary State to Prepare

President Thomas S. Monson: Steering the Course

Missionary Choir:  Ye Elders of Israel

Notes 

President Uchtdorf's message hit hard, for me.  Really hard.   I need to review it when it is published.

Lord, Is It I?
 
I fear that it is...

Sunday AM Session

President Henry B. Eyring:  Personal Revelation

Elder Russel M. Nelson:  Sustaining the Prophet

Carole F. McConkie:  Women Support the Prophet

Elder Robert D. Hales:  Know Jesus Christ

Elder James J. Hamula:  Sacrament in Remembrance of Christ

President Thomas S. Monson:  Walking As Jesus Walked

Notes 

 

President Eyring made several references to his involvement in the Teton Dam Disaster in 1976.  Hearing recalled some tearful memories - I was there too.

I was impressed that Sister McConkie reiterated that faithful women in the Church support Church leaders.  It struck me as a direct refuting of the "Ordain Women" challenge.

Sunday PM Session

Elder M. Russel Ballard:  Stay in the Boat

Elder Richard D. Scott:  Opposition in All Things

Elder Carlos A Godoy:  Patriarchal Blessings (Portugese)

Elder Larry S. Kartcher:  Caught in the Riptide

Elder Allan F. Packer:  Focus on Requirements of Exaltation

Elder Hugo Martinez:  Bringing Souls to God (Spanish)

Elder David A. Bednar:  First Aid for All

President Thomas S. Monson:  Closing

Notes

Stay in the Boat - Elder Ballard.

Such a timely and appropriate message.

I am still trying to figure out exactly how this counsel dovetails with Elder Oaks' admonition for greater civility.

Another marvelous Conference, giving me a lot of cause for personal reflection.

I will ponder these things in my heart...