I just need to say this, so don’t think I’m getting all weird on you and abandoning all reason. I've been thinking about this for a long time, now.
In fact, this may be one of the most reasoned and reasonable things I’ve posted here.
We – society, America, humankind – are sick. We are afflicted with a malady that thus far we have been unable to cure. The symptoms of our sickness are manifest in wanton and rampant violence that ranges from the sensational attacks of 9/11, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook to the invisible yet breathtaking ly brutal instances of physical and emotional abuse to children and women around the world and in our own backyards.
An abundance of laws has failed to cure our ills. Program on program taught in our schools has failed, too. Counselors and policemen have failed to cure us. Politicians have really only made us more sick. A thousand billion dollars spent on wars against poverty, drugs and terror have not cured us.
I believe in my heart of hearts – and with all my heart – that the only thing that can or will heal mankind and make our society the healthy place it ought to be are the truths that Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, taught while he was here as recorded in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, and when he was the God of the Old Testament.
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Not money; not others’ opinions; not pleasure; not self. None. If we can really get that far out of our self and our selfishness, then can you imagine the energy, time and resources we would have at our disposal to do good in the world?
2. Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, bear false witness, or covet thy neighbor’s property. John B. Finch, speaking in Iowa City in 1882 said, “Your right to swing your arm leaves off where my right not to have my nose struck begins.” If we ensure that none of our actions are calculated to harm another, think of the senseless pain and suffering we would prevent in the world and in our families.
3. Do not be easily offended; be humble and teachable and obedient. How much do we suffer because we choose to suffer? We allow a wound to fester, we refuse to submit to life’s lessons, we persist in thinking that we can overcome the simple laws of nature and the harvest. How much better we would feel if we changed our ways independent of what others choose to do.
4. Give of your abundance and in your poverty keep alive the will to give. Be generous and be charitable. If a man asks your coat, give him your cloak also. It is not hard to find those around us who are worse off than we. Be kind and gentle. Money is not the only thing we can give. Even the poorest among us can abound in patience, listening and time.
5. Seek goodness in life and see goodness in all around us.
We’ve tried hedonism and humanism. We’ve tried sarcasm and we’re trying statism. None of them have worked. And none will work.
If you’ll allow me to define a word that has very negative connotations, “iniquity,” as simply “not doing what is right, or seeking to violate the laws of Nature,” then I would sum up our problems as a wise old prophet once did. “Ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity.”
Or as another said, “Wickedness never was happiness.”
In fact, this may be one of the most reasoned and reasonable things I’ve posted here.
We – society, America, humankind – are sick. We are afflicted with a malady that thus far we have been unable to cure. The symptoms of our sickness are manifest in wanton and rampant violence that ranges from the sensational attacks of 9/11, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook to the invisible yet breathtaking ly brutal instances of physical and emotional abuse to children and women around the world and in our own backyards.
An abundance of laws has failed to cure our ills. Program on program taught in our schools has failed, too. Counselors and policemen have failed to cure us. Politicians have really only made us more sick. A thousand billion dollars spent on wars against poverty, drugs and terror have not cured us.
I believe in my heart of hearts – and with all my heart – that the only thing that can or will heal mankind and make our society the healthy place it ought to be are the truths that Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, taught while he was here as recorded in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, and when he was the God of the Old Testament.
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Not money; not others’ opinions; not pleasure; not self. None. If we can really get that far out of our self and our selfishness, then can you imagine the energy, time and resources we would have at our disposal to do good in the world?
2. Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, bear false witness, or covet thy neighbor’s property. John B. Finch, speaking in Iowa City in 1882 said, “Your right to swing your arm leaves off where my right not to have my nose struck begins.” If we ensure that none of our actions are calculated to harm another, think of the senseless pain and suffering we would prevent in the world and in our families.
3. Do not be easily offended; be humble and teachable and obedient. How much do we suffer because we choose to suffer? We allow a wound to fester, we refuse to submit to life’s lessons, we persist in thinking that we can overcome the simple laws of nature and the harvest. How much better we would feel if we changed our ways independent of what others choose to do.
4. Give of your abundance and in your poverty keep alive the will to give. Be generous and be charitable. If a man asks your coat, give him your cloak also. It is not hard to find those around us who are worse off than we. Be kind and gentle. Money is not the only thing we can give. Even the poorest among us can abound in patience, listening and time.
5. Seek goodness in life and see goodness in all around us.
We’ve tried hedonism and humanism. We’ve tried sarcasm and we’re trying statism. None of them have worked. And none will work.
If you’ll allow me to define a word that has very negative connotations, “iniquity,” as simply “not doing what is right, or seeking to violate the laws of Nature,” then I would sum up our problems as a wise old prophet once did. “Ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity.”
Or as another said, “Wickedness never was happiness.”
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