Short Memory

Dallin H. Oaks gives 3 fingers

In this photo, LDS Apostle Dallin H. Oaks is giving three fingers.  I have heard hypocrisies from this guy on other occasions, but he distinguished himself again in last weekend's (October 2013) LDS General Conference. 

I believe that churches should formulate whatever teachings and policies they want to.  The argument over gay legal marriage in America is silly.

Meanwhile, read the following from the AP:
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The Mormon church cannot condone same-sex marriage, even if that stance might be misunderstood or prompt accusations of bigotry, a top church leader has said.

No matter what legislation US states or nations passed, human laws could not "make moral what God has declared immoral", Apostle Dallin Oaks told the church's biannual general conference in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

He urged members to remember that their first priority was to serve God, and the policies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were based on God's decrees, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The church's eternal perspective did not allow members "to condone such behaviors or to find justification in the laws that permit them", Oaks said. "And unlike other organizations that can change their policies and even their doctrines, our policies are determined by the truths God has declared to be unchangeable."

Associated Press in Salt Lake City 
Sunday 6 October 2013 22.16 EDT
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I just think Oaks's temerity and gall are breathtaking.  He suggests that the Mormon Church would not dream of changing its "doctrines".  Is his memory so short, that he does not remember the Church changing its doctrines regarding priesthood for African Americans, the taking of plural wives, and the identity of God (Michael/Adam)?  The Church changed its prohibitions against abortion, did away with the Seventies, canceled the gathering, changed the sacred temple garment, gutted the temple ceremony with its penalties and more, etcetera, etcetera. 

I am reminded of an earlier hypocrisy from Oaks when he argued vigorously for freedom of religion in America (despite the Church's vengeful persecution of Fundamentalist Mormons for a hundred years).  What is this guy smoking?

I don't argue for the Mormon Church to solemnize nuptials for gay people, but Oaks does what a lot of stupid people do - he confuses religious matrimony with government marriage contracts - two completely different things.  The Church already drastically changed its own definition of marriage, stripping the New and Everlasting Covenant of its critical plural component.  It has no business telling the states how to dispense secular marriage licenses.

Oaks is an intelligent guy - he was BYU president, a state Supreme Court justice, and a University of Chicago (Illinois) professor.  I wish he would use that intelligence to get the story straight and quit deceiving the millions of faithful with the myth that the Church diligently preserves divine, unchangeable doctrines.

I'm Shocked

Last year, Obama, Reid and Pelosi shoved Obaminacare down Americans' throats.  The people are still barely learning the extent of the fraud and insanity built into the health care "reform" scam.  One as-yet-unimplemented provision of it is that, when you go to sell your house, you will have to pay a 3.8% tax on the transaction to pay for this nightmare.

I remember that when it came to crunch time, several Democratic congressmen would not vote for the bill if it contained any provisions to use public funds to pay for abortions.  These representatives were placated by a (weak) promise that the President would issue an executive order to forbid that from happening.  I remember some pundits commenting that such an executive order could end up having no teeth.

So it has come home to roost.  All this week, the two parties have been tussling over how much to cut the budget deficit ($60 billion or $100 billion).  As I write this tonight, the media are reporting that the sticking point is the several hundred million dollars previously set aside to support Planned Parenthood (90% of whose funding goes to kill unborn babies).  Republicans are refusing to agree to any budget compromise that would allow federal money to continue to go to the baby-killers.

The Democratic politicians are blasting the Republicans for using this issue to hold up the agreement and for risking a government shutdown.  They say that the Republicans are jeopardizing the "health of women" (some Planned Parenthood offices perform medical screenings).

I'm shocked that so many Democratic politicians are so stridently pro-abortion, and that they are so desperate to keep the money flowing to Planned Parenthood, that they are willing to let the government shut down over it.  Shame on you!  How do you sleep?

Growth Industry

Boy, I bet everything that could possibly be said about the evils of CPS/DCFS has been said. If I have any meaningful observation to make, it is with a touch of cynicism.

My wife will occasionally get emotional - really emotional. Occasionally, she gets really disappointed with me for some dumb thing I have said or done, and it turns into a squabble. She says stuff like, "How could you be so thoughtless?" and I say stuff like, "Hey, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, can you let it drop?" She says, "No, I can't let it drop - you are going to sit here and listen to me." I say, "Can't we please talk about it tomorrow?" She says, "No", so I try to exit stage-left until she gets re-composed. It's funny, because, at times like that, she'll say even harsh things and insist that I absorb them and take them to heart, then the next day, she pleads with me to not remember any of the stuff she said the night before because she had being saying things she didn't mean !!!!!!!! It always seems like a big waste of energy to argue for hours over some dumb, petty little thing, but women are women, and we love them, don't we?

In the world of business, if a tire blows on the company vehicle, the first priority is to get it changed and get back on the road. There's no merit in analyzing the broken glass that got stuck in the tire, or arguing for hours over whether the new tire should have a square or triangular tread pattern. In business, you have to weigh where to invest your energies for the greatest profit potential and not fuss endlessly over whether the new tire costs $65 or $70.

Texas CPS gets to break that rule of wise use of resources. The Texas Supreme Court literally drowns the Texas child welfare machine in paper money. It is a very cozy relationship. I actually cracked up today when I learned that the 17 year old YFZ girl brought somebody else's baby for the DNA test. I hear her saying, SCREW YOU, TEXAS (though perhaps in sweeter, FLDS terms) and thumbing her beautiful little nose at the callous machine. It's a tar baby, Texas! If you want to crush the people of the YFZ ranch, you are going to have to kill them first. You already messed up with the first invasion. You lost your credibility, so give up!

Yet Texas is trying to save face. It is scrambling to find and pin some dirt on somebody. No, the FLDS are not perfect (like the rest of Texas's citizens aren't), but I don't see the business case for spending countless millions of tax-payer dollars on hounding a small religious minority which, until recently, had a tradition of marrying at young ages like all of our ancestors. Texas needs to realize that no sum of money will weaken the spirit and resolve of these devout people. Our country is bankrupt. We are in a monster recession. Millions of innocent fetuses are murdered every year, with not a peep of protest from CPS. When it comes to one or two sixteen year olds who have a kid, methinks Texas doth protest way the hell too much!

I know you hate this strange religion, the religion of our ancestor Abraham, whom half the world's population reveres as the father of many nations. HYPOCRISY !!!! I am sick of government duplicity and fraud. The government is broke ($12.2 Trillion broke). Any money we spend now has to be borrowed from a bank who will inevitably want something other than worthless paper money in return. It is arithmetically (and lawfully) impossible for our descendants to repay the debt.

I would say that it is time to quit quibbling over stupid, petty, bigoted stuff, quit whining over one flat tire, quit throwing good money after nothing. Half of our country's workers are public "servants", employed by government, producing nothing, supported by the business proceeds of the private sector. CPS is a growth industry which can justify its continued existence and growth only if it can convince lawmakers that it serves a salutary role and is saving, rescuing and blessing America's families and children, and is the true guardian of their "best interests". Am I the only one who sees something apocalyptically sinister in this?

Renn.