Except there come a falling away first

That same friend who wrote me previously -- but who doesn't want his name to be mentioned or his arguments to be exposed for consideration and commentary by others -- has written me back. I thought I'd share my reply to him here. He's welcome to join us publicly, if he cares to.

***

Responding to your latest efforts to "proselytize" me runs counter to what my mind (and wife!) tells me to do. (They say I should just shut up and leave you alone!) I would prefer to remain silent -- and not deal with this nonsense -- but my heart says "Doesn't he deserve to know the truth?"

Maybe you don't deserve to know the truth. And probably I don't have the power to reveal it to you. (After all, you already lay claim to being a high priest of the Most High God! You should already know better than most what God is up to, shouldn't you? If you don't, the sin be upon your own head for pretending as much.)

God leaves us to ourselves -- to do and be and believe as we wish. He forces nothing upon us. I recognize that this email may, in fact, be an "imposition" upon you. You are free to consider or dispense with it as you see fit. I make no claim that God has instructed me to write it or to send it to you. I am not writing to be "combative" or "confrontational," but merely to demonstrate that an argument can be made. 

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:2.)

I am ready with an answer, in all good conscience. (One might infer from my silence, however -- were I to remain silent -- that I found your arguments to be persuasive or scripturally sound. I do not.) Out of common courtesy, I thought you should know.

Frankly, I want nothing more to do with your idolatry -- either of "the Brethren" or of the LDS Church. Nephi didn't aspire to "follow (his father) the prophet" nor did he trust that being a devout Jew or a member of the synagogue would "save" him. Rather he sought to experience for himself what his father had experienced, spiritually speaking. That is all. He aspired to become a prophet, not to follow one! Even so, he submitted to his father in all things, even as the law of Moses (and custom) required.

You obviously place your trust in man (or in men) rather than directly (or completely) in God. Unfortunately, this misplaced trust in the arm of flesh routinely breeds dependency, complacency and gross ignorance (as it has in you) and ultimately (for others) sycophancy and aspiration to high office, almost always culminating in unrighteous dominion exercised by those having "a little authority, as they suppose." (D&C 121:39.) 

You're all into "keys," "powers" and "authority," are you not? It's very distressing. Any keys, powers or authority you might have in the LDS Church are counterfeit...unless they are anchored solely and completely in love and in faith in Christ...not faith in some organization, priesthood power, ordinances, men or other such mumbo jumbo.

Unless you are filled with love and the Holy Ghost, you have NO authority from God. (At best, you have only a form of godliness, while denying the power thereof.) Even Nephi, though he were a prophet himself, wrote "And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not." (1 Nephi 10:22.) Without charity and the Holy Ghost, you have nothing...but the works and words of men.

I feel it would be "rude" for me to ignore you, but I also feel it would be rude for me to say what I really think. The kindest thing I could say to you, perhaps, would be to say nothing. But kindness can kill, as well, if one allows another to go on his way in error, uninformed. If I knew the bridge were out...and I saw you going in that direction...and I said nothing, would I not be at fault? Would I not have an obligation to say something to you...at the very least, to inquire as to whether you were fully aware of what was before you? 

Even if you said to me: "I know what I'm doing...and you don't!"? 

I think, out of compassion and concern, at the very least, I should speak up anyway.

So here I go. I share this with you, perhaps only "a little" for your sake (because you've been quite adamant that you are right and I am wrong), but "mostly" because I want to defend the truth, as I understand it.

Not having a "martyrdom complex" nor considering myself "worthy" to suffer for Christ's sake, I nonetheless take solace in His words:

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12.)

You have falsely accused me of having "itchy ears" -- an evident insult and allusion to 2 Timothy 4:3-4, which states:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

You perceive me as  being "[turned] away...from the truth...unto fables" because I tell you the restoration of the fulness of the gospel begun by God through Joseph Smith was "hijacked" perhaps as early as 1832. 

Ironically, this was done by those who, perchance to satisfy their own desires -- to practice polygamy, acquire power, privilege, prestige or position, or just because it suited how they thought things ought to be -- "heaped to themselves teachers" promoting "doctrines" contrary to the teachings of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. (See quotes of Joseph Smith contrasting with teachings by other LDS leaders; Jacob 2:26-30; Alma 1:26.) This departure from the faith in incontestable...unless you make Joseph Smith a liar! (Do you?) Those who went astray disregarded the oracles of God and rejected the new covenant (the Book of Mormon), thereby bringing the whole church under condemnation. (See D&C 84:54-58.) The saints were smitten, driven into the wilderness and afflicted (almost to the point of extinction) for their disobedience and disbelief, as it was prophesied they would be, if they did not repent. This condemnation laid upon the church was never lifted. (See Ezra T. Benson, The Book of Mormon -- Keystone of Our Religion, General Conference, October, 1986; and "I have a Question," Ensign, February, 1991.) 

To cover for their lies and to "justify" secret works of darkness (practiced in the name of God!), former LDS leaders instructed church members and others to deceive (even murder!) and to alter, sequester and obliterate selected scriptures, journals and histories. (These facts are distressing to relate, but necessary to understand, in order that we might not repeat their mistakes and remain deceived. The truth is NOT our enemy, but belief in falsehood is.) 

I invite you to do substantially more investigation on your own to determine the truthfulness of these things, inasmuch as I do not have the interest or inclination to recreate a thorough narrative of the facts or to provide sufficient links to everything that has been brought to light already. You may begin your inquiry by reading Denver Snuffer's Passing the Heavenly Gift, Bret Corbridge's 77 Truths, or Rob Smith's Teaching for Doctrine the Commandments of Men: Tradition in Modern Mormonism, if you are so inclined. (The latter two are available in pdf, if you'd like a free copy.) [This offer applies to anyone reading this. Contact me if you need assistance.]

I know you have already told me you're not interested in what I have to offer and I respect your decision to refrain from reading anything that might disabuse you of what you already "know" to be true. So I'll move on....

Evidence substantiating the latter-day "apostasy" is not now easily discerned by the "average" Mormon who knows little beyond what is shared in Sunday School or seminary; who doesn't scrutinize the scriptures or read much of church history; or who offers up only token "prayers" and vain repetitions as "testimony." It will not be acted upon by anyone unwilling to place on the altar of sacrifice even church membership in pursuit of the truth. Some may ultimately embrace lies (D&C 76:75) -- especially those for whom lies suit their purposes. (I will remind you that those who love and make lies are thrust down to hell. See D&C 76:98-106. You'll note that these same "lovers of lies" are described as followers of prophets.)

Some LDS leaders (including the present crop) have orchestrated official efforts to bury the truth. I saw this happen when my former bishop sought to "silence" me with regard to revealing any truth not currently "sanctioned" by LDS hierarchy, including basic doctrines such as following Christ and receiving the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. (I am aware of far broader efforts to suppress even more information, but why should I bother revealing that here? My endeavor is not to "disprove" the LDS Church, but to announce that God is doing something ELSE!) 

However, the LDS Church's behavior today is little different from that of the Catholic clergy who silenced and persecuted Galileo for revealing truths in conflict with Catholic "doctrine" at that time. (The Vatican has since repudiated its error, but, alas, 350 years too late!)

Truth has sprung from the earth and is now being shouted from the housetops. (Moses 7:62; Luke 12:2-3.) Anyone interested in coming unto the Father in the name of the Son may press forward to discover all truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. (John 4:23; John 16:13; 2 Nephi 31:20; Moroni 10:5.) Modern technology has enabled, even compelled, the release of incriminating evidence exposing the unfortunate affairs of the LDS Church. LDS leaders -- who have claimed, since the administration of Wilford Woodruff, to be incapable of leading the church astray -- now admit they (and their forebears) have led the church (and others) into error: either by teaching from the pulpit odious doctrines the Church now "disavows"; or by lying about it; or by now claiming that true doctrines are, in fact, not "doctrines" at all, but mere "theories" promulgated by "prophets, seers and revelators" who were evidently uninspired and unauthorized by God at that time to give voice and heft to their own misguided notions.

As the LDS Church has on many issues, it now backpedals from its own history, pronouncements and practices. To give just one example, the LDS Church recently condemned Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and most of the other LDS leaders (and members of the Church who followed them) by stating: "Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form."  

So there. Either God and Christ are racists, promoting racism, or Mormon leaders are false prophets. You can't have it both ways.

That would be called double-speak.

I see you do this frequently: placing your whole faith and trust in men (even LDS leaders), with their supposed "keys," powers and "authority," even when they are obviously wrong. This is a grave and damning error. The Lord condemns "trusting in the arm of flesh" (2 Nephi 4:34.) I invite you to read Tanner Gilliland's review of the subject.

God is never wrong. That's why we are commanded to follow and worship Him and Him alone -- not some man, group of men, or even angels!

By contrast, men and angels are to be heeded only when they speak by God's authority -- as evidenced by them exercising God's power and spiritual gifts, with the Holy Ghost attending. Nephi taught: "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ." (2 Nephi 32:3.) The inspired nature of what is spoken today is revealed to us even as it was at the day of Pentecost: not by the character or stature or calling of the persons so speaking -- whether they be God, angels, or even "nobodies" -- but by what is said and by what power it is communicated. If the word being spoken is communicated by the power of the Holy Ghost, it is to be regarded as scripture. (D&C 68:3-5.)

Any apostasy from the truth by "the Lord's only true church" should come as no surprise to anyone. Practically no "true church" has ever endured for any length of time, in any dispensation (other than Enoch's). You come from a background of Catholicism which, itself, was once rooted in truth but has since turned away unto fables. The forces of entropy, superstition, misunderstanding, wickedness and weakness enveloping the Catholic faith now plague the Latter-day Saints. Powerlessness (with regard to the gifts of God) and a penchant for bureaucracy and heavy-handed suppression and oppression of those who speak the truth now pervade both organizations.

You imagine I hate (or oppose) the LDS church and its hierarchy. I do not. I hold no ill will toward any of them. On the contrary, as Jesus and Paul loved the church of their day, so do I. But I cannot allow my devotion to any organization or people, however dear, sway me from embracing and upholding the truth as I see it.

You claimed that I "tend to seek division...rather than unity, edification and Christlike walk." I suppose it would seem that way from your perspective, since anything I say to you with which you disagree must necessarily be labeled "divisive" and contrary to what you see as unifying, edifying or Christlike.

Given the negative opinion you hold of me and my views, it serves neither of us to engage in further dialogue.

Neither Moses nor Abraham were followers of "prophets." They followed God. Unless we do the works of Abraham, we have no fellowship with God.

You say to me (in effect): "I belong to the Lord's only true church and you don't, so I will be saved while you will be lost...unless you repent and rejoin the church." While this simplistic notion is not a gross departure from the true faith, it is nonetheless reminiscent of the self-righteous Zoramites who prayed vainly from their Rameumptom, boasting to God that "we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren. And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen." (Alma 31:17-18.)

I know you don't see it that way, but it pains me, like it did the Zoramites who labored to build the sanctuary from which they were cast, to be cast out by your church.

However, it would pain me even more to partake of your idolatry. I know you mean well. I know the LDS Church is "good" for you. (It was good for me, too...and for my family! To a point.) 

But the leaders of the LDS Church can only take one so far. In the end, you must look to and follow Christ -- not some prophet or organization -- if you are to be saved.

If you don't understand that, you don't understand anything (worth understanding) from the scriptures.

My confession

I felt prompted yesterday to make a public "confession" of my current understanding and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His workings among men. I marveled at how difficult it has been for me to "divest" myself of the "programming" that is all things "Mormon." (It's a very nice, supportive religion to belong to and follow...so long as you're not gay, black, female, the second (or 27th!) "plural wife" of some Mormon honcho, unmarried, divorced, childless, addicted to anything but ice cream or BYU football, unattractive, socially inept or disconnected, not descended from pioneer stock, or particularly fond of "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." (Check back regularly; this list is constantly changing!) There are more skeletons in Mormon closets (and archives) than at Disney's Haunted Mansion! And much heartbreak. No one can "measure up" to the phantasmagoria of "righteousness" that is modern Mormonism. NO ONE. ALL of Mormonism's false gods and goddesses inevitably falter and fail, trusting, as they do, in the arm of flesh.

But then an old friend (whom I've mentioned here before) reached out to me this morning, inviting me back to the fold, with this text message:

3 Nephi 17:5-22; I think of you often brother I pray and hope that you will carry your cross and work your way back and join God's true church- else how will the gathering of Israel be without the stakes of Zion! I miss and think of your family brother!

I miss and think of his family, too, and wonder what will become of all of us. I am still working out my salvation with fear and trembling. So who am I to "lecture" another? What more can I do for myself, my wife and our children? I trust God hears...and will answer me when I am prepared to receive Him.

I replied:

Carry my cross? Work my way "back"? Join God's true church? How will God gather Israel without stakes of Zion?

...I strive to carry my cross daily. I'm striving to return to the Father. (Have you?) I already belong to the Lord's true church. (D&C 10:67-68.) God is gathering Israel, with or without the Mormons. The Zion you speak of will burn up all those (at the Lord's return) who are unprepared, who join with the wicked in their pollutions, perversions and abominations.

I'm grateful that you think of me often with sincere desire to help me and my family -- even if you "de-friend" me on FB and support the organization which (in Christ's name!) casts me out, banishes me from among you and seeks to separate me from my family each and every day! That is, indeed, a heavy cross to bear.... Too bad you're adding to it.

You will not read the books or heed the testimonies which explain in detail how -- as in almost all other previous dispensations (including our Savior's, initiated in the meridian of time in both the Old and New Worlds) -- the devil "hijacked" the latest iteration of "restoration," perverting the gospel and destroying Joseph and Hyrum, its first (and last) prophets.

Consequently you are as the Jews of Christ's day, thinking yourself "saved," "chosen," and "seeing," while you are lost, rejected and blind. (That being said, the Lord is merciful and patient with ALL of us. He is pruning His vineyard as He sees fit and He dispenses light and knowledge to ANYONE who knocks, asks and seeks, with real intent, having faith in CHRIST -- not faith in some organization, "priesthood power," temple ordinances, or the arm of flesh. All these may become idolatry and false worship.)

Those who "succeeded" Joseph and Hyrum (as "leaders" of the nascent LDS faith, but not as true prophets, having not first obtained their errand from the Lord) were punished for their unfaithfulness and were driven into the wilderness, scattered and slain, having neglected to fulfill the Lord's commandments after having disregarded the New Covenant of the Book of Mormon. (That holy book FORBADE the practice of polygamy after the manner of David and Solomon...which is PRECISELY what Brigham Young and others did after Joseph's demise. Joseph VEHEMENTLY, PUBLICLY and UNIVERSALLY CONDEMNED POLYGAMY (in the carnal sense) ALL HIS DAYS!) Those same leaders who embraced and practiced polygamy then extensively LIED about it -- both to the world and to each other -- making a "virtue" of "lying for the Lord." This you call "the gospel of Jesus Christ" and this organization you call "the Lord's true church." You are deceived by lies....

Joseph Smith never denied ordination of the priesthood to ANYONE on the basis of race or skin color. That was Brigham Young's doing. You claim LDS prophets can't lead us astray. The Mormon Church has since REPUDIATED racial discrimination in ALL its forms and has admitted that Brigham Young and others were not authorized or inspired by revelation from God in denying the priesthood to blacks. What do you call THIS if not "leading the church astray"? Holy moly...!

The original temple ordinances were designed to turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers -- to connect the saints with the powers of heaven (the "saved" sons and daughters of God: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.). Thus Joseph sealed men and women to himself -- he being among the truly "saved" -- for he was sealed to Christ (and to others in heaven)! Brigham Young changed this ordinance (not understanding it), sealing the living to kindred dead (even though those dead knew not God nor were "saved" in any sense).

What good does it do to "seal" oneself to the damned, if neither you nor they have the power or knowledge to save ANYONE? Have you been saved? Have you come back into the presence of the Father? Or made your calling and election sure? Do you have the promise, from God Himself, of eternal life? And can YOU promise to ANYONE that, come hell or high water, YOU will save THEM? No? Then what good are your "sealings" if they are not sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (and thus rendered immutable, sure and everlasting)? 

Your temple rites...like ALL your ordinances, are "play acting," substituting for the real thing, UNTIL the real thing is received. You are PRACTICING, petitioning, pleading, and praying...doing ALL YOU CAN until the Lord does HIS part. But in the absence of that part (the LORD'S part), your works will avail you NOTHING. 

Frankly, there is nothing in the Mormon Church to "work my way back" to. You have a nice social club...that persecutes me. Some incentive to return!

May the Force be with you

What’s with all things Star Wars?

Have you seen the “commemorative” Star Wars toilet paper boxed set yet? (This comes close.) 

What hasn’t been branded and marketed with the latest Star Wars campaign? Do we have such vacuous lives that a movie release now gives us focus and purpose? People have been standing in line for almost two weeks to see this thing!

Doesn’t it seem all a bit too contrived? How are everyone and everything now “in” on this? When did we all become Star Wars fans?

As a 15-year-old in 1977, I remember seeing a cardboard cut-out of C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca advertising the upcoming movie. I said to my friends: “This is the dumbest-looking move I’ve ever seen!”

I was so wrong.

When I finally saw Star Wars, I walked out of the theater sensing I had just experienced something spectacular, even mystical. A storyline involving “the Force” — with Jedis, Darth Vader and the Dark Side — was clearly an allegory of good versus evil, God and Satan, something much "bigger" than this world. It was the promise of human progress and redemption. 

Star Wars wasn’t just a movie. It was a religion!

And, as religions go, it became a cult.

I won’t be queuing at midnight to see the latest iteration, but I will enjoy the movie when it comes to the dollar theater…or to VidAngel.

Speaking of VidAngel…that's the best deal in town. You can watch almost any movie, any time, any where, any way you want — with or without vulgarity, obscenity, sexuality or violence — for just $1. I’ve already cancelled Netflix. VidAngel is much better.

They even have Star Wars for free!

Don’t forget to mention I referred you. (I want my cut of the action!)

Don't hold your breath

This will truly be in 200 words or less.

I’m saddened, mystified and astonished that the whole world, it seems, has been taken in by the fraud and folly known as "global climate change"; that anyone would classify essential-to-life carbon dioxide as a "pollutant"; or assume our temperature to be "perfect," to be preserved at all costs (trillions of dollars) or imagine we could change it, or assume it hasn’t always. The hubris, ignorance, audacity and deceit on display (for those who lead this parade surely know they are frauds) are unparalleled. It is as if the whole world were convinced our earth rests on the back of a turtle!

This conspiracy is perpetrated by socialists and crony capitalists seeking to enrich themselves by holding the reins of power and becoming entrenched in the global monetary stream. It is the ultimate power grab and excuse for implementing one-world, totalitarian government. Under its guise, every nation will lose its sovereignty, every breath will be classified as a “danger” to humanity, subject to penalty and control.

Those of us who recognize this folly are not “climate-change deniers.” We are realists who understand the truth.

Seeking Jesus

Documents like this (and its antecedent here) share many elements in common with Denver Snuffer's teachings. These statements amount to pure testimony -- what one would expect of someone who had direct, personal interaction with Deity.

I do not require such testimonies to agree in every particular. I allow for the weaknesses, foibles and misunderstandings of men. (Lehi and Nephi related different versions of the same vision. So did Joseph Smith.) What I look for is testimony that concurs with my own experience and a witness that points to Jesus -- and only Jesus -- as the source for our salvation from sin and death. (I have found no other credible evidence or witness of salvation by any other means.)

If I could distill my experience with the Divine into one concept, it would be that Jesus Christ is the Light and the Love of the world. He is the ONLY way to the Father, meaning only those who are even as He is can attain to what He has attained. He and the Father are one.

This sobering realization causes me to seek repentance -- and Jesus -- continually.

How many mpg???

On my way to work yesterday I discovered someone had left the gas tank nearly empty. A gizmo on my dashboard told me I had only 60 miles left...for my 76-mile commute! (In reality, the Mazda 3 has a “reserve” tank of about 2 gallons, so I was in no danger of being stranded.)

I was already late to work, so driving sub-65 mph to maximize fuel economy wasn’t an option. Still -- even with a “cold” start, morning traffic and several stoplights to negotiate -- I was able to roll into work 38 miles later having gotten 40.8 mpg!

That left another 38 miles to get home...and my fuel gizmo told me I had just 27 left. (I burned off 3 of those driving 2 miles back to the highway!) So how would I stretch the remaining 24 into 36? 

At the stop sign I looked to my left and noted a lumbering “semi” (tractor-trailer) headed my way. He was going slower than the posted speed limit, but I wanted to try this experiment anyway. So I let him pass, pulled onto the highway behind him and set my cruise control.

We were going just 58 mph! He must have had his own cruise control, because that speed never varied one mile per hour either way, except when we came to a stop light. (And there were four of those.)

I reset the fuel monitor. In the previous two miles -- after another cold start, several sharp turns and a stop sign or two -- I had achieved an unremarkable 28 mpg. But now I had dozens of miles ahead of me, a relatively straight road, flat (if not slightly uphill) terrain and a tractor-trailer knocking down the wind for me! How much better could I do?

We were closer than I wanted to be. (So close that I called us "we"!) I couldn’t see where "we" were going! I regularly drove this close in heavy freeway traffic. Even at 80 mph! But now it seemed almost sinful. "We" had plenty of open road. I could easily have a whole lane to myself. (He must have thought I was crazy...if he knew I was back there!)

Since we were only going 58 mph, I thought it was “okay” (just this once) to “fudge” a little on safety. I normally maintain at least “two seconds” of distance between me and the guy ahead of me. But if I backed up that far on this trip, my gizmo told me I would lose all benefit of slip-streaming. So I maintained barely half that distance. That meant I had to keep my eyes on the road! (And on the back of that truck!) I also constantly had to fiddle with the cruise control to maintain the “perfect” speed and distance between us.

Was it worth it? My fuel efficiency shot up 12, 14, even 20 mpg! Pulling into the gas station 36 miles later (on an “empty” tank), I was elated to see I had achieved an astonishing 60.3 mpg on the highway and 55.2 mpg overall! 

Would you be willing (or comfortable) to drive behind a moving “wall” to get those kinds of numbers? (I imagined myself getting “squished” between two semis! Or maybe hitting a tire or other object in the road. Or slamming into the back of that truck if he had an accident!) It was just too easy for me to drift "too close" to him whenever he slowed down. Keeping a “safer” — if not an altogether “safe”— distance between us was just too much work!

But what if I had a technological assist?

High-end Mazdas (alas, not this “entry level” vehicle) come with adaptive cruise control, allowing one’s car to maintain speed and distance behind another vehicle (up to 90 mph). Cars can dart in and out of your path, speed up or slow down, and your vehicle will adjust automatically to maintain a pre-set speed and distance (or match their speed, whichever is lower). With that technology I could find the “perfect” distance behind a semi, press the button, and my 60-ish-mpg fuel efficiency would be served up almost automatically! 

Even without drafting I get mileage in the low- to mid-40s in this new Mazda 3...if I’m careful to go the speed limit!

Still, it’s fun to know that this car can get 60 mpg at roughly 60 mph with a little extra effort and a lot higher blood pressure!

Call to arms

Today I wrote the following to the superintendent of our school district (where I am employed as a science teacher):

Dear Dr. Adams,

I have a license to "conceal carry" a firearm in 32 states. (Alas, California is not one of them!) I would very much like to carry a CCW in California and would welcome the opportunity to conceal-carry on campus as a "backup" in the event of armed aggression and/or use of deadly force against our students and/or faculty. I have received dozens of hours of training in the use of deadly weapons for self defense; was awarded the "expert marksmanship" ribbon in the U.S. Air Force; and as sure as hell would prefer fighting back with a serviceable side arm ("taking the fight to the enemy," as it were) to cowering in a corner, hiding with my students, waiting to be executed.

I invite you, as Superintendent of CVUSD, to advocate on behalf of our district's students and employees by appealing to the legislature of the State of California to empower and authorize select certificated and classified personnel (including trained teachers, administrators, security guards, even bus drivers!) to "conceal carry" for the purpose of insuring/promoting the security and protection of our students and employees. I would be willing to undergo any further training necessary to receive the opportunity to participate in this endeavor.

The presence of trained concealed-carry personnel on campus would not endanger or disrupt educational services (any more than armed law enforcement personnel on campus do now) inasmuch as NO ONE (ELSE) WOULD KNOW until the services of the concealed-carry holder were called upon. Having several well-armed and well-trained employees on campus, operating under strict supervision and guidelines, would best insure the protection and security of our staff and students in circumstances such as those unfolding yesterday in San Bernardino.

No law can written that will, by itself, guarantee the safety or security of any individual. Law-breakers, by definition, do not follow the laws and rule-breakers do not obey the rules. That's why our nation's Founders bequeathed to us the 2nd amendment. 

Thomas Jefferson observed: "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who don't." They'll also get themselves killed.

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Someone quipped (but with deadly seriousness): "When seconds count, a police officer is only minutes away." A deadly attack -- like that occurring yesterday, killing at least 17* and wounding over a dozen more -- can be initiated, executed and completed long before any police officer receives a report of a "disturbance." Thus having a proper means to defend one's self -- including armed resistance, immediately available on the scene -- is the best preventative and deterrent to violence, as well as the best response.

We have been warned that we will be attacked by those who wish to do us harm! Schools are now "soft" targets, practically inviting violent aggression by those who wish to maximize casualties and terror while minimizing armed resistance and, thus, risk to themselves. (The first one to die will be the lone police officer on campus, taken by surprise.) It is inconceivable, indefensible and utterly inexcusable that -- in "the land of the free and the home of the brave" -- we Americans (and Californians) are not now permitted (in violation of the 2nd amendment) to protect ourselves at every moment, but must disarm, remaining defenseless and powerless to oppose murderous evil.

I urge you to act in light of these facts with the best interests of our district in mind.

Sincerely,

--Will Carter

*As of December 3, the actual number was 16 (14 victims, plus the 2 assailants).

Questions

Jared Eastley recently asked a number of questions that deserve answers:

Hey, I need you guys to help me out!  

1.  I can't find where in the Book of Mormon it says that the fullness of the gospel will be restored in the last days, which will result in a great latter day church led by apostles, prophets, seers, and revelators; who will spread the gospel across the globe with tens of thousands of missionaries, which will result in the great latter day Zion.  I'm looking and looking but I just can't find it!  Where in the Book of Mormon does it talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?

2.  I can't find in the Book of Mormon where it talks about the great latter day temple work which is being done, where all these dead people are being redeemed and saved because of our temple work.  

3.  I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it talks about how we all need to get to the temple to be sealed together as families, in order to receive salvation and exaltation.  Where is that in the doctrine of Christ?

4.  I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it says we need to follow the prophet; about how the prophets and apostles will not and cannot lead us astray.

5.  I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it says we need to sustain church leaders as prophets, seers, and revelators in order to be accounted worthy of the saving ordinances or membership in the Lord's church.

6.  I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it says we must may tithing to the church in order to receive ordinances from the church or to be accounted a member in good standing within the church.  I might be wrong, but I don't think we are supposed to charge money for ordinances.

7.  I can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it says that general authorities and apostles should be payed for their service in the church; not to mention the six figure stipends LDS GAs receive today.

8.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that tithing money should be used to pay GA salaries, or to fund extensive building projects, or be used as investment capital, instead of being used to care for the poor.

9.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that priests, teachers, and church leaders should be made popular, or should be accounted as more righteous or inspired than the average church members.

10.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that most people will be saved in the Celestial Kingdom because of our temple work for the dead; or that chances are, you will be exalted, etc...

11.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that church leaders are authorized to disregard, reinterpret, edit, or delete scriptures at their whims; like when the Lectures on Faith where deleted from the D&C in 1921 after the General Assembly of the church had unanimously approved it as scripture and as the doctrine of the church back in 1835.

12.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that church leaders are authorized to change the ordinances; like what has been done with baptism, the sacrament, and the temple rites and ordinances.

13. I also can't find anywhere in the scriptures where it talks about priesthood keys being required to perform ordinances, or to preside in a church, or to tell church members what to think, say, or do.  Or that priesthood keys can or should be used to control, dominate, compel, or intimidate people into conformity with church rule.

14.  I can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that church leaders should demand  they be sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators, and as the only ones holding all priesthood keys, in order for church members to receive ordinances or good standing in the church.

15.  And maybe I'm just going blind, but I still can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that any church, or church leader, or group of church leaders, is in any way immune from the possibility of apostasy, or making very serious mistakes, or of leading the people astray. I just can't find any such guarantee.  

16. I also can't find it anywhere in the Book of Mormon where it says the Gentiles being warned do not include members of any church, even the church that claims to be the true church.  On the contrary, those who belong to "the holy church of God" are rebuked for having polluted the holy church of God. (Mormon 8:38)

17.  And finally, I just can't find it anywhere in the scriptures where it says that all we need to do to be saved is to identify the true church, get all the ordinances it offers, then just do and think as you are told until you die, in order to receive salvation or exaltation.  Easy!  Why didn't anyone think of that in the Grand Counsel in Heaven?  Just do as your told and you'll be saved!  Brilliant!

Seriously folks!  Where does it say all this stuff?   Am I going blind?

Getting Back into the LDS Church

Someone asked me for advice on what to do to "to get back into church and back onto church property," they having received the same letter I received. I wrote them the following:

I'd be glad to talk to you...but I really have no "magic" solution -- or any solution, for that matter. The LDS Church has made NO EFFORT whatsoever to "reclaim" me, welcome me, or even invite me back. From their perspective, I am (like Denver Snuffer, Rock Waterman, etc.) "irredeemable" and "expendable." (I'm assuming you were excommunicated for apostasy. If not, your circumstances may be different than mine.)

My wife has no interest is prosecuting a "crusade" to compel my return to the LDS Church. She is content to let me be "out" forever, if need be, even while she stays "in" with the kids. But even they are starting to "drop out" now, almost two years after my excommunication and a full year since my "banishment." (Ironically, I'm still the most "Mormon" of the bunch in my home, even if I'm no longer a Latter-day Saint!)

I refuse to dishonor the LDS Church's explicit instructions to stay away or their intention to banish me. (The sin be upon their heads.) I make no effort to come onto their property (property which I helped pay for and build upon, through a lifetime of service and sacrifice, at least at the local level). I have never stepped foot on LDS-Church-owned property since the day I received their letter. Not to attend Church. Not to drop off my kids at seminary. Not to hear my wife and children sing in the Church's Christmas Choir performance. I'm not welcome...and they (meaning the Church) couldn't care less.

I have visited BYU (to take my kids to EFY) and I've toured City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City (cringing at the extravagance...my former tithing dollars at work!). But, in general, I've just stayed the hell away from all things LDS as much as possible. I can't even bring myself to wear BYU clothing (my alma mater) anymore! It just turns my stomach! Theirs was a betrayal of the highest order.

I ought to add: I loved the Church. I loved being LDS, attending the temple, striving to honor my covenants and keeping the commandments, etc. (It goes without saying that I wasn't perfect, but at least I tried and loved striving to be so, nonetheless.) The pharisees-in-charge today do not look upon the heart, however; they measure everything by the outward appearance (since that is the measure by which they judge themselves, apparently).

Sadly, they do not know Christ, have never met Him, have never seen Him or heard His voice. Consequently, they don't know in whom to trust or place their faith. When I confessed I didn't "know" that "Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God" as I KNOW Jesus is real and divine, even though I was willing to call TSM a "prophet," they asked me: "Then what do you have faith in?"

My answer to their question astounded them: "I have faith in Jesus Christ!" They just couldn't wrap their minds around or acknowledge that that was "enough." They can only "follow the prophet." He is what they see and hear and know. They have faith in him. One of them who excommunicated me actually said: "Why do we even need the Holy Ghost when we have a living prophet?"

I'm not that much closer to God than they are, I confess, but at least I know God lives! I've heard His voice! He has ministered to me! And I have no illusions that a prophet is an adequate substitute for Christ's personal ministry and salvation. In fact, at no time was my experience in the LDS Church ever truly spiritual or edifying except when the Lord ministered to me personally by revelation, dreams, visions and gifts of the Spirit. His power is inimitable and irreplaceable, except to those who have never known it. They are easily beguiled by changing "policies," ministers to preach to them, and a form of godliness that denies the power thereof. The priesthood leaders with whom I am familiar spent the bulk of their time quoting the Church's Handbook of Instructions rather than the holy scriptures. They did not preach, teach, expound, exhort or baptise by the Spirit, but instead relied upon rote patterns, memorized instructions, and vain repetitions proffered as saving ordinances and exercises. One would starve to death spiritually under their tutelage and ministrations alone! They verily blessed me when they cast me out!

Still, it's hard to be on one's own, as I am. The sabbath day (for me) is particularly difficult. I do not sing the songs of Zion with my friends and family. I do not hear lessons and sermons (however vain, repetitious, vacuous or trite), nor do I socialize with other saints (even if they do not believe in the foundational teachings of the gospel that I do). Being with friends (even misguided ones) was a comfort and "tradition" I was not wont to leave behind. But I've been forced to. The Lord has not seen fit yet to reveal to me -- or perhaps I have been remiss in receiving -- exactly what I'm supposed to be doing now. My sabbath days are far less ritual-filled and "busy" than they were. (But they certainly are far more relaxing now!)

I don't pay tithing as I used to to the LDS Church. (I always paid a full tithe.) At first we devoted those same resources to the poor. But then we became poor ourselves (for a time) and diverted our tithes to just keeping ourselves afloat! (It is time now to reconsider our circumstances and to make an end-of-year "settlement" with the Lord, giving one-tenth of all that we have in excess, beyond our own needs.) The LDS Church, on the other hand, does not follow the scriptural mandate. Their "version" of tithing insures that most members remain perpetually poor...if they pay a full tithe at all, leaving little, if anything else, to savings. This was not the Lord's intent, I believe. The LDS Church, for its part, certainly doesn't practice its own policy anyway. At least the highest leaders of the church DO NOT (from what I understand). They do NOT pay tithing, but spend Church funds as they see fit, even as if those funds were their own money. (I don't see the Church paying for my kids to go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the like, as their children do on the Lord's dime! But I digress....)

As I said, I have no magic solution for you. I take the sacrament on my own. I broke and blessed the bread and blessed the wine (grape juice) this afternoon while my family was at church. Angels did not come down. (They never have, as far as I know.) But I did feel the Spirit. (And not the alcoholic kind either! I don't like the taste of alcohol...not that I've never tried it...I did finally, once they "banished" me...but I prefer non-alcoholic drinks.) 

One amazing "benefit" to being cast out is that you no longer have to follow their regimen, all the rigamarole, religion, and "commandments of men" they offer masquerading as the commandments of God. If God didn't say it to you by the voice of His Spirit (even via His servants), than you may blithely ignore it! (And those in charge are NOT His servants...at least not any that I recognize. I thought they were...right up until they denied that Jesus was their personal Savior.)

"Say what?!" you ask? 

Yes, every one of them consented -- by his silence and the raising of his right hand -- to the statement made by one of them at my excommunication hearing that believing "Jesus is our personal Savior" is "false doctrine"!

They think they are our saviors...that their ordinances and "powers" and "authority" and "keys" bind and seal up others, even themselves, to salvation, while others they have power to relegate to hell. They have NEVER met or known Christ personally. (If they had, they NEVER would have assented to such a foolish idea!) And yet they THINK they have eternal life. They may, in fact, meet Christ someday. And, when they do, I HOPE they are not woefully disappointed. But I fear they trust too much in the arm of flesh. I KNOW they do.

One of them told me he never had a personal revelation, "spiritual" experience, visitation with an angel, etc. Neither had his dad, a "two-timing" bishop! "If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me!" he boasted. For him, the "trappings" of religion and religious rhetoric suffice. The hope of eternal life in the world to come is "good enough," even if he never KNOWS its promise here in the flesh, even if he never meets his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself.

I told him that wasn't good enough for me. Joseph Smith knew God and Jesus. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob saw and knew the Lord. ALL of the prophets testified of Christ. Which of those men today standing at the head of the LDS Church know Him face to face, as one man speaks with another, as Mahonri and Moroni testified THEY knew Him? As Nephi and Jacob did?

The Mormon "religion" today is a FAR CRY from the promise offered at its foundation. I wish to return to its roots.

I want to see and hear and know for myself. I know it's possible. I've experienced some of this for myself already. But I want more. And not just lip service.

Call me at your convenience.

--Will Carter

P.S.: To more specifically answer your question, I've never overtly endeavored to "get back into" the LDS Church. I would not do it merely for my family, for "religious" or "cultural" or "traditional" reasons. The leaders of the LDS Church forfeited whatever claim they had to priesthood authority when they abused theirs, by unrighteous dominion. In my view, the kingdom of God is no longer with them. (Where it is, exactly now, I don't know. But it's not with them, I KNOW that much.)

They told me that to get back into the LDS Church (not to be rebaptized, mind you, but just to attend services!) I would need to seek professional counselling, take whatever medications I am prescribed (what a joke!) and gain "clearance" from the very same man whose ministrations forced my ouster in the first place! 

Going back (for me) would be akin to John the Baptist asking Caiaphas to perform the ordinance of baptism on his behalf! Fat chance. I no longer recognize or accept LDS authority even though I acknowledge that the LDS Church had a positive influence on my upbringing. Consequently I still encourage my wife and children to attend LDS services and seminary (but without me, sadly). I even drop my daughter off each morning for seminary and sometimes shuttle my kids to church. (I stop at the curb.)

There WILL come a day when being LDS will be detrimental, not beneficial, to coming unto Christ. That day may already be upon us (for some). It wasn't for me, but the Church hierarchy forced my hand. I wish you the best in your pursuit of serving and seeking after Christ. May your efforts be rewarded.

Conversation with the Lord

Me: “Lord, do You have anything for me to do? Prophesy to the nations? Explain all mysteries? Heal the sick? Raise the dead?”

Lord: “How about doing the dishes while your family is at church?”

The Lord’s ways are far more down-to-earth and practical than we sometimes wistfully imagine.

Evils and designs of conspiring men

Evil conspiracies abound. But one conspiracy perpetrated by conspiring “king men” striving to enslave “free men” keeps rearing its ugly, phony head.

National “leaders” are ostensibly convened to “combat” “global climate change.” (They formerly called this menace anthropogenic (i.e., man-made) global warming, but when the earth unexpectedly stopped warming 19 years ago, despite mankind’s unabated efforts to muck it all up, they had to change their moniker to global climate change…which was convenient to do…since our climate has ALWAYS been changing, and always will be changing, irrespective of what anyone does about it.

The old joke used to be: "Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!"

Randolph Bourne observed: “War is the Health of the State.” Because employed government workers are happy government workers, they are ever incentivized to keep government and society in a constant state of war (“war on poverty”, “war on drugs”, “war against terrorism,” actual war, etc.) They have now declared "war" against ineluctable, ever-changing Mother Nature. (Heaven help them should their employers — the unschooled masses who pay their salaries — ever discover their shell game!)

Where were these “weather warriors” when we needed them 10,000 years ago, before the last ice age abruptly ended? Why didn’t they step in to combat “global warming” then, before the glaciers covering our continent started melting? I mean, really, what are we supposed to do NOW with those FIVE REALLY GREAT LAKES sitting on our northernmost border? How are we supposed to turn all that fresh, clean water back into barren ice again? 

More importantly, who’s going to pay for it? And clean up this mess? 

(Not me, that's for sure!)

Had our “leaders” gotten their act together sooner, the wooly mammoth, mastodon and sabertooth tiger might still be roaming around and Yosemite Valley, in central California, might still be safely “preserved” under a mile of solid ice! But, no! Thanks to their incompetence, our leaders have allowed millions of fossil-fuel-burning, greenhouse-gas-emitting cars each year to funnel into Yosemite National Park just so methane-farting tourists can hike up Half Dome (a glacier carved away the other half!) and take a snap shot of El Capitan! 

Couldn’t we just go back to the way things used to be…when the earth was “perfect”?

What’s causing all this “global climate change” anyway? Scientist say it’s carbon dioxide. But if man-made carbon dioxide is the culprit, what melted all those glaciers tens of thousands of years ago, before any of us even got here? (One can ask, can't he?)

They say that for every 10,000 air particles, just 4 are carbon dioxide molecules (otherwise known as CO2). A hundred years ago we had just 3 CO2 molecules for every 10,000 particles of air. That’s a whopping 33% increase! Whence came all that “extra” CO2? And what havoc is it wreaking now?

Are the seas heaving beyond their bounds? The earth over-heating? All nature in commotion? All because of CO2? 

Some say we can’t allow CO2 to “pollute” our atmosphere as it did for hundreds of millions of years when dinosaurs happily feasted on plant life “fueled” by as much as 30 TIMES MORE CO2 than fills our skies now. CO2 is plant food and having more plant food causes plants to grow more quickly and healthy, making more trees, more forests, more habitat for animals to live in and even more shade to absorb more sunlight and cool the earth, and…wait, this can’t be right…to convert more solar energy into plant-based food that all of us can eat!

Why would anyone want to stop THAT from happening?

Because some folks think the earth is already WAAAY over-populated. They’d rather have the earth all to themselves (and their favorite animals) than share it with us. Most people are WAAAY too fat, they say, too! So we need LESS food, less plants, fewer trees, less healthy forests, less animals, less people, and, necessarily, LESS CO2. It's a Cloward-Piven strategy to stave off ecological apocalypse by bringing it on!

They call CO2 a “greenhouse” gas not just because it makes plants grow better but because it absorbs and “traps” solar radiation, which can potentially warm the earth. The earth has heated and cooled hundreds of times during its long 4.6 billion year history. It has currently been on a warming trend for thousands of years, so there’s more CO2 in the air now than there used to be. But it used to be A LOT hotter!

Ignorant people (like Al Gore, who got a “D” in natural sciences at Harvard) disregard the increasing insolubility of gases dissolved in warmer liquids, inferring that increasing atmospheric CO2 levels must indicate CO2 is at fault! Forget that CO2 is found only in trace amounts in our atmosphere — meaning “only in very, very small quantities” — and that, as they have warmed from increased solar activity, the oceans have expelled ever more dissolved CO2 into the atmosphere. CO2 levels have risen because of global warming; they are not the cause of it! (Even when they acknowledge this, they still get it wrong!)

But conspiring minds want you to believe that CO2 is responsible for ALL our environmental, geopolitical, and even social ills. Conveniently for them, ALL OF US exhale CO2, so they can hold US responsible! By golly, they propose that each of us pay THEM a global TAX, to save the earth from OURSELVES! They want to PUNISH us for breathing! (In fact, the “final solution” appears to be to get rid of US and our CO2 exhalations altogether!)

They say we need to eliminate CO2! It’s not like “CO2-eating” plants and phytoplankton produce ALL of the usable oxygen we breath or anything…

***

A mind-exercise dramatizing the insignificance of CO2 on global warming:

Imagine a football stadium filled with 10,000 spectators, all wearing distinctive-colored jerseys: 7,800 of them (78%) would be wearing green (we’ll call them molecular nitrogen); 2,100 (21%) would be wearing red (we’ll call them molecular oxygen). That's 99% of the total, leaving room for just 100 others (1%), or everyone else.

But 93 of those remaining "others" would be white (we’ll call them atomic argon); and 4 would be brown (we’ll call them carbon dioxide). There's only 3 left. (That 0.03% is a mixture of methane, hydrogen, helium, nitrous oxide, and what have you). Their numbers (like carbon dioxide’s 0.04%) are just too small to be significant. The brown spectators may, in fact, be just a little bit “louder” and more energetic than the greens, the reds or the whites, but there are only 4 of them among 10,000, so their overall influence is negligible, even inconsequential, at best.

Can you imagine the imbecility of blaming ALL the excess “noise” in a rowdy football stadium on just four moderately energetic fans? 

It gets sillier. There used to be only 3 browns in the stadium a hundred years ago — back when they say the “noise” was “perfect." Now there are 4. Do you think adding just one more fan among 10,000 others would make a significant difference?

Even if it did…at any moment, between 200 and 400 (2 to 4%) of other "gate crashers" — all wearing blue (we’ll call them water vapor) — flood the stadium, spill into the aisles and pour onto the field. Each of those particles absorbs and emits EIGHT TIMES more energy than any brown-clad carbon dioxide particle!

And becuase there are between 50 and 200 TIMES MORE WATER VAPOR PARTICLES THAN CARBON DIOXIDE PARTICLES in the stadium at any given moment, water vapor accounts for roughly 400 to 1600 TIMES MORE “NOISE” (or thermal energy absorbed and released into the atmosphere) than ALL the carbon dioxide in the stadium combined! That makes carbon dioxide (or the influence of that puny number of brown-shirted sports fans) even MORE insignificant.

Imagine 200 to 400 blue-shirted fans (in a stadium of 10,000), each yelling 8 TIMES LOUDER than any of the 4 brown-shirted carbon dioxide fans making a fuss. (Imagine the difficulty of just finding those 4 brown jerseys awash in a sea of 10,000 blue, green, red and white jerseys and trying to “hear” their feeble cries above the din of the rest!) Would you blame any excess “noise” on the pathetically weak (by comparison) cries of just 4 brown-shirted fans? Of course you wouldn’t! How preposterous!

But that’s EXACTLY what government-funded scientists (and their crony-capitalist conspirators) are proposing! 

Why? 

It's dangerous to "read minds," but could it be because they think…indeed, they KNOW…that YOU are scientifically illiterate and can be TRICKED into thinking that CO2 is “bad” and that it needs to be “sequestered” at GREAT expense to YOU, even BANNED, for earth’s sake!

How utterly retarded! How ridiculously foolish!

CO2, being a “trace” gas -- meaning, it is almost immeasurable and utterly insignificant -- is “blamed” for global warming (even though it has practically NOTHING to do with global warming) while water vapor -- FAR more abundant and eight times more energetic -- gets a “pass," completely ignored by the “experts.” 

NO ONE is trying to “get rid of” water vapor (just yet) or eliminate fog, rain, mist and clouds from our atmosphere. No one is blaming global warming on that “evil” dihydrogen oxide!

They're not that stupid.

They just hope you are.

***

Update: Be sure to read the enlightening comments appended to the first article linked above. For many years I showed my students The Great Global Warming Swindle after showing Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Both are worth watching, if only to observe how clever rhetoric and artful dodging can masquerade as truth.