LDS Mom denied temple recommend for breastfeeding

It's a busy week for LDS news. A mom in Utah was apparently denied a temple recommend because she was breastfeeding during ward services.

Breastfeeding is guaranteed to start a fight. People are either passionately for it or passionately against it. Not being a parent or a woman, I don't care one way or another. It's not something I've ever put great effort into thinking about.

However, LDS believe in obedience. They believe in it hardcore, actually. In the LDS world, your stake president and bishop are acting in the name of God, and to refuse them is like refusing a request from Him. Not being her bishop or stake president, I can't say what I would have done. It's attracting controversy though, that's for sure.

Sam Young is beginning a hunger strike for LDS kids.

Sam Young, an LDS activist is going on a hunger strike in order to "demand" that LDS leaders change how leadership interviews children. 

First off, I think Sam Young is a very compassionate and noble guy. I admire his intentions. From what I've read he's still an active member of the church and I admire that too. Change from within is often times more successful than outside forces demanding "change".

A hunger strike is a great way to get attention for your cause. However, you have to be really determined. If you quit after two days (and no, I'm not saying Sam Young will do that) you'll seem like you are doing it for personal attention instead of attention for your cause. Bobby Sands died during a hunger strike and I seriously hope Sam Young doesn't.

Praying for a quick resolution for this.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 4:26

Ever wondered why LDS give 10% of their income to the church? This passage is why. It tells active LDS to "impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to what he hath." The leaders of the church have said that the magic number is 10% of your income, and that's said in other places of the bible and Book of Mormon. This passage is also interesting to me that it mentions that we should "visit the sick" as well-so it's not just money that we should be donating, it's also our time.

The church is very strict about tithing. If you aren't a "full tithe payer" then you can't enter into the the temple. For many people, they think this puts a price tag on the temple. It's also well known that tithing should come before bills and food payments-though in fairness I don't know a single LDS who pays tithing before those bills unless they are really rich and don't have to worry about where their food or rent will come from. 

I certainly wish the leadership of the church was less strict about the issue of tithing-some members will never be able to experience the joys of the temple because they can't afford it. It's very easy to talk about having more "faith" when you don't have to worry about your daily needs. 

Jail time for plastic straws?

In the "only in California" news section, a city has approved jail time for using plastic straws. I wish I was making this up, and I pray I'm not right. In fact, this is one time where I hope I'm wrong and that this is truly "fake news". According to my research (granted not much of it) it seems like this is true.

Jail time. For serving a drink with plastic straws. Read that over again please. Several times.

Like many things that claim to "save the environment" banning plastic straws is relatively useless and more of a pain in the ass to people, but it makes environmentalists feel good about themselves, and like we all know, that's all that matters.

We have problem with our jail population. It's way too easy to go to jail in America. Useless drag laws are the main culprit, but environmentalists demanding jail time for things like this is also a major concern. This law is absurd.

Album of the Weekend

Kiss Symphony: Alive IV

I like this album a lot. First off, it has all their classic songs that Kiss fans enjoy. "Love Gun", "Black Diamond", "Strutter", "God of Thunder" and many more. Fifteen of the songs are also done with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which brings new life and energy into the music. 

We all know Kiss is about the money and they have 45 "Greatest Hits" albums. If this was just one of those, then I'd strongly advise you to ignore it. It's totally different, and as fresh as these songs can be. I will never find Kiss songs stale, but I do find myself having greater gaps between my periods of Kiss obsession.

This album is without question one of their best albums and a fitting end to the Alive saga.

Gas station owner facing murder charges...

A gas station owner is facing murder charges after shooting a man who stole a six pack of beer.  Before you claim that the thief got what was coming to him, consider this. The thief wasn't using deadly force to steal the beer. In fact, he was fleeing. The owner of the gas station followed him out and decided to kill him. Over a six pack of beer.

No, stealing beer isn't cool. Stealing isn't cool. Yes, you should be arrested for stealing anything, including beer. But no, you don't deserve to die because you stole some beer. 

Using deadly force should only be done as a last resort, to defend your life or the life of someone else. And even then, using deadly force isn't pleasant. Police officers probably don't like to shoot people, even bad people. Oh sure, we all like to play tough guy and take the law into our own hands, but the prosectors here (and I'm not a big fan of prosecutors. They'd indict their own mother if it got them publicity. Morality means very little to too many of them) have every right to fully press charges for murder against the store owner.

Another made up receipt story

Many years ago, a waitress in New Jersey named Danya Morales claimed to have been given a nasty little note instead of a tip. You can read about the story here.  Of, of course the story has been forgotten and Ms. Morales has faded into the distance, but it's happened once again.  You can read about this story as well right here.

We are all quick to jump on any claim of hate speech or discrimination. It makes us feel good about ourselves. We can pat ourselves on the back and talk about how compassionate and tolerant we are. Never do we apply the skepticism we should, simply because that takes away from our sense of superiority. After all, no one would make up a fake claim of discrimination and no one would make up a "hate crime" right?

Turns out some people would.

Brewers pitcher under fire

A Milwaukee Brewers pitcher is under fire right now for some Tweets he made as a younger man. The Brewers fans gave him a standing ovation in his first time back after the All Star Game.

While I don't condone the Tweets, I'm assuring you that if I looked at everything you've posted on social media I could make you out to a bad person too. He was young and foolish, and while that doesn't mean he was right to say what he did, he should be given the benefit of the doubt. Like many other people I'm increasingly concerned about how easy people get offended these days. He was a kid when he made these stupid comments and they shouldn't even be addressed.

We live in a "gotcha" society nowadays. Anything you do will be critiqued, and at times the judgments can be incredibly unfair. Hopefully he has learned from his mistakes of the past and he can begin to move on.

Shooting at an LDS ward

Apparently there was a shooting an LDS ward yesterday.

Right now I am in prayer for the victims. Just awful. 

Scripture Sunday Ether 12:41

All Christians want to seek Jesus, and this is another Book of Mormon passage that recommends for us to do that. Regardless of all the prophets and apostles being nice men (and most are) and being wise, intelligent, practical and all that-if they don't lead you to Jesus than they are failing at their job. In some ways, the entire purpose of the Book of Mormon is to lead people to Jesus. Moroni is writing this passage as yet another reminder of it's true purpose. 

Why is FDA approval needed for medicine?

Imagine this scenario:

"Hi, I'm a spokesperson for the FDA. We recently approved a drug that could save 1000 lives!." Read that phrase slowly. I think that means that 1000 people died waiting for the FDA to drag it's feet and approve a potentially life saving drug. The FDA might mean well, but like many government agencies I think intentions are not good enough. You need results, and results matter when peoples lives are potentially at stake.

I've been thinking about this since Congress passed the Medical Practice Act, which should be praised by both sides. Does it make patients at risk for potential snake oil salesmen? Not really. Once word gets out that a cure isn't really working, the markets "invisible hand" will take over and in the long run, the snake oil seller will be put out of business or in the worst cases, thrown in jail (as they should be). If you or a loved one is dying, why do you have to wait for the government to tell you if it's okay to take this or that treatment?

Album of the weekend

Motley Crue-Shout at the Devil

Surprisingly this album did not get good reviews when it first came out. Motley Crue doesn't have the shallow lyrical content of Kiss and doesn't have the dark brilliance of Guns and Roses-so people have a hard time classifying them. Like most hair bands Motley Crue is underrated by trendy hipster magazines like Rolling Stone. Motley Crue is without question one of the better hair bands out there.

My favorite song off this album is the title track-which I find to be one of the best hair metal songs of the era. It's loud, cocky and arrogant-just like the era it represents. "Ten Seconds to Love" and "Helter Skelter" (the classic Beatles song) are the other two betters songs. This album is a better than their first release, "Too Fast for Love" and not as good as "Dr. Feelgood" or "Girls, Girls, Girls".

Big blue wave

The mainstream media said nothing about the red wave that happened in 2014-2016, and that's expected. They aren't sympathetic to republicans in general and the republican victories of that time were totally unexpected. From the moment Trump won though, we've heard nothing but talk about the upcoming "big blue wave" that is supposed to happen in the November elections.

First off, I'm not sure it'll be huge. I expect the democrats to win more seats-that almost always happens in the first mid term election after the party in power has been in power for a few years. That's partially why the republicans won in 2014 and 2016.  It won't be cataclysmic for the GOP and it won't be earth shattering for the democrats. It'll be like any other normal election.

I remember in 2008 when I had a "friend" tell me that the republicans will no longer be in existence after the Obama landslide. Where was he in 2014? Crickets. Politics is largely a tennis game. No side wins for an extremely long period of time.

WWE NXT on Saturday

Last Saturday I went to a WWE event a few towns over. I am not the biggest WWE fan as an adult though I liked it as a kid. I prefer Impact and the independents, but even those I almost never follow anymore. 

I attended a WWE NXT event, which I was told was like their minor leagues-young wrestlers getting ready for the big time and gaining experience in front of smaller crowds. There were no bad seats, and the total cost was only 40 dollars for about two and a half hours of action. I strongly suggest going if you have the chance-dirt cheap and very entertaining.

I don't watch the WWE tv shows, so all the wrestlers with one exception were new to me. Seeing everyone preform for the first time gave you a new and interesting experience-you couldn't tell who the bad guy or good guy was. (I'm no expert, but I've always been told that the heel, or bad guy, carries the match. If I'm wrong, I apologize.)  

Wrestling tells a story, and if you don't know who the characters are it's up to them to tell you with their actions in the ring. A good wrestler can do that, while a bad wrestler usually can't. I don't know how many of those in the ring on Saturday will be superstars, but many of them did exactly what they were supposed to do.

Papa Johns founder resigns

This guy is obviously a good businessman but doesn't have a clue how the real world works.

Even if he was "just joking" like Roseanne Barr or trying to make some point like....I don't know....he should have known better. First off, if that's how he really thinks of people, he should have been let go years ago. Second, if he isn't a racist then he still should be let go based on sheer stupidity. Using racial slurs might not make you a bigot, but it does make you a fool.

The biggest losers in this are the 99.9% of innocent employees who did nothing wrong but now will be punished by it. I feel sorry for the franchisees. The taint of what this idiot said might destroy the entire chain.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 4:19

Are we not all beggars? A famous saying is that Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar about a crust of bread and there is of course some truth to that. After all, part of being a Christian of any denomination means accepting that you are a sinner and not perfect, much like a beggar. So in that case, we are all beggars. And yes, another famous Christian quote is "There but for the grace of God go I" so again, it's never a good thing to forget how quickly God can humble you. Of course we should always do what we can for the poor and hungry.

But that doesn't mean you have to empty your bank account for any cause that comes along. You need to learn how to say no. We've all seen news stories where the beggar at the red light drives a better car than you do and only begs because they know they can beat the system. Yes, that's an exception but it still happens. You also have beggars who beg for money to support a drug or alcohol habit. That's not something you want to really contribute to either, given that it can lead to their deaths.

So yes, we are all beggars and there always is a chance we will be in the future-but we need to remember common sense and not be doormats.

Being a Christian blogger/speaker/writer

It must be tough being a Christian blogger, writer or speaker. You can't make a great living off of it-churches usually don't pay great speaking fees-but the bigger issue is that people will pry into your personal life and look for the slightest thing that you did that could be considered "anti-Christian." Gone though a divorce? Then Catholics won't take your phone calls. Like to gamble? Count out the Methodists. Enjoy the occasional beer or cigar? You won't be speaking at BYU.  I get it, all these churches have every right to set their own high standards but my fear is that many good people don't get involved in ministry because they aren't perfect, and they know it.

The bar is set absurdly high for Christians. If you dare to become a pastor but in your previous life you had premarital sex-you better hope and pray that doesn't come out. There is, of course, a huge difference between what you did five -ten years ago and what you do now. My fear is that the standard of behavior for Christian writers/bloggers/speakers/pastors/ministers is so high that we're pushing out good people who have great ideas just because of past mistakes.

Album of the weekend

Reality Bites Soundtack

And now for something completely different.

A movie I absolutely love and a soundtrack that I don't like (with few exceptions) but since it reminds me of the movie I find it in my collection. Sorry for the run on sentence there, but that explains why I'm reviewing this album.

The songs like "Stay" by Lisa Loeb and "Going, Going, Gone" The Posies aren't very good. In fact, the only people who like both songs are people who I wouldn't have anything in common with musically. No, that doesn't make them or I wrong, it just shows that we wouldn't have much in common. I do like "My Sharona", the only song on the album that I think is worth a download.

So why review the album instead of the movie? Because it's album of the weekend, not movie of the weekend. I saw it again recently and while I don't like the music that much, I just love the movie. So go see it and don't get the soundtrack.

Hillary gearing up for "one more run"

Yeah, I'm not even going to link this to a news story. There are rumors going around that Hillary Clinton is thinking of making a comeback for the 2020 presidential race. It's not going to happen, and even if it does, she'd get massacred in the primary. Hillary Clinton is many things, but she's a very smart politician. Even if she isn't, her husband is and he knows she would be crushed. Will she listen to him? Probably not.

In case we forgot, the last election was among the most depressing elections in history. Very, very few people where happy about their choices, and Trump only won because the person the democrats nominated was universally hated. It would be a miracle if Hillary ran again, and I just don't see it happening.

David Hogg has armed security

David Hogg, one of the survivors of the Parkland school shooting, has armed security guards.  He's apparently promoting a new book about gun control and about how this generation will finally stand up to the second amendment and start serious gun control. That's a conversation worth having, even if I fundamentally disagree with it. The issue that I have is that he apparently has no problem walking around with armed security guards while wanting to take my guns away.

He's a celebrity and I think it's very smart of him to have armed security guards wherever he goes. If I was him, I would too. But you know what? I wouldn't stop you from having a gun as well. In fact, I wish everyone was armed-it would be a more polite society (and much safer) if we took personal responsibility for our own safety.

Of course I feel sorry for what happened to him, like I do for all survivors of mass shootings. However, we pick and choose who we listen to based on if we agree with them or not. I'm sure there are survivors of mass shootings who are in favor of gun rights, but we don't listen to them nor feel as much compassion for them as we do those we already agree with. That's sad, it's part of human nature, and it's something we all need to work on.

Trump Supreme court pick

So, it's been announced who Trump is picking for the Supreme Court. Brett Kavanaugh is replacing the legendary moderate Anthony Kennedy, who frequently voted in favor of abortion rights, gay rights-but also gun rights, in favor of Bush in Bush vs Gore and other times in the conservative voting bloc. He was difficult and hard to pin down, disliked by both liberals and conservatives. I admired him and agreed with him quite often.

Abortion advocates are shaking in their boots right now, but they have no reason to. The right to abortion isn't going anywhere, and neither is gay marriage. Once a right has been bestowed on the population, it's virtually impossible to take it away-yes, this goes for gun rights as well. The left should be worried that Trump will replace a moderate with someone more likely to swing to the right, but it won't make any great impact on the controversial issues.

"Educate" yourself

Has someone ever told you this? It's incredibly condescending, isn't it? When someone says this to you it's their way of telling you that what you think is idiotic. It's also their attempt to place themselves on a higher level-obviously implying that you somehow lack the knowledge of said topic. I see people say this all the time in regards to conspiracy theories and pseudo science.

Don't get me wrong, education is important, in fact it's very important. There are different ways to "educate yourself" though. The biggest way is to listen to experts because yes, they know more than you do. They "educated" themselves by dropping huge amounts of money and huge amounts of time on their professional training.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 15:25

Whenever something terrible (cancer, accidents) happens to children, we all wonder why. It's a horrible thing for obvious  reasons-they remind us of innocence personified and to think they have to go though such a horrible thing can rock us down to the core. I am not a parent but even the thought of children getting shot in a school, dying in a holocaust or having some horrible disease just breaks my heart.

This passage reminds me exactly what it says, that little children have eternal life and their salvation is virtually assured. While original sin does effect all of us, children below a certain age are immune from the consequences until they are baptized. It's a tough life and sometimes horrific things happen to innocent people. This passage can be quite comforting to those who have lost children, though I understand totally that nothing can comfort a grieving parent.

Attacked for wearing a MAGA hat

In a startling display of love, tolerance and peace, a teenager was attacked for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. Oddly, the people who claim to be tolerant and loving will apparently beat the Hell out of you if you don't share their views.

I'm not surprised by this. I think we all know that those who claim to be tolerant are often the least among us. It's the same with claiming to be a "good person" or "humble". If you really were any of those things, you wouldn't have to tell us, we'd be able to see it for ourselves. If you have to tell us, you probably aren't any of those things in the first place.

We are a deeply divided nation and it's not going anywhere soon. That's fine, I don't expect us to sing "Imagine" with people whose views are vastly different than ours. What I wish all of us did is not engage in violence towards those who disagree with us.

It's not a smart idea to wear a MAGA hat in public. It's asking for trouble. It's also not a smart idea to attack someone wearing a MAGA hat-they are the ones most likely to be armed and most willing to defend themselves.

Album of the Weekend

The Ramones-Adios Amigos!

Every band has a shelf life and nothing lasts forever. That includes our favorite bands. While no one likes to see their favorite band break up, it's better to break up when you still have talent rather than hang on and keep producing albums that aren't up to the same quality as your previous ones. Adios Amigos, the final studio album by the Ramones, is a good enough final album. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's not an embarrassment or a sign that they didn't have it anymore. It was the final album, a decent album, and time to move on.

My favorite Ramones songs are the short and powerful ones off their first few albums-basically every song off "It's Alive", the best live album by them and by any other band in existence. Adios Amigos has a few songs like that, including "Scattergun", "Cretin Family" and the cover song, "I Don't Want to Grow Up". All good songs that would fit on the other albums mentioned. Other than that, the album isn't very good. Joey's voice isn't what it was and it's beginning to show here. I'm glad they stopped with Adios Amigos-no need to go anymore. The show was over, and while it didn't end on a high note, it's nothing to be ashamed of either.

News Junkies

I'm seeing more and more people taking a break from paying attention to the news. For some, the news is "too toxic and depressing". That's fine, and I understand their POV-but I can't do it personally. Being a news junkie is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing, because you are informed and see what's going on in the world. It's a cruse, because you are informed and see what is going on in the world.

Like all hobbies, being a news junkie is hard to explain to people who don't share your passions. What's worse, by not understanding your passion they'll try to dismiss it-by acting superior to you or thinking they are somehow better because they don't have the interests. To be fair, people do this all the time and look down on interests they don't share. People who don't play video games look down on those who do, people who don't hunt look down on those who do, etc.

If you need to take a break from the news, fine. Go do so. But don't look down on those of us who need the constant information stream.

Happy Fourth of July everyone! 

Oregon State Pitcher

The MLB draft took place last month. It's an interesting event to see players who one day will be the future of the game get assigned to different teams. The trek from high school/junior college/college player to the Majors is a long one, and not many players are successful in achieving the final goal. The competition is intense, and the higher you get in the minors the more difficult it gets. This draft  was interesting-one of the most talented pitchers in college baseball, Luke Heimlich from Oregon State, was not drafted.

He plead guilty to sexual assault on a child when he was still a minor. The child he assaulted was apparently a family member. His crime was disgusting beyond words. Oregon State claimed not to know about it, but that's garbage. The college coaches do deep background on players, and even though his conviction was probably sealed because he was also a minor at the time of the offense, I find it difficult to believe that the Oregon State pitchers didn't know about it. After all, a newspaper reporter found out about it, so it apparently was easy to uncover.

The Kansas City Royals are looking into signing the kid, and GM of the team has said that "everyone is guilty of something" and "we all deserve a second chance". True, we are all fallen humans and yes, we all deserve a second chance, but few of us are guilty of such a grave sin as this. I have zero sympathy for Heimlich-none at all. He lost his chance to be an MLB player, and the Royals would be delusional to sign him.

Big Brother!

Big Brother, the classic CBS reality TV show is back! This season there are no returning players, and I could not be happier for that. The past few seasons I haven't paid much attention to the show as the season went on. Probably because I've seen the players before and had no interest in seeing them again. Last season was also pretty hateful and vile-it was tough to watch. I'm hoping that this season provides gameplay and strategy without the hate and bullying that last year had.

It's true, you can't win this game without being a little underhanded and be a little bit of a backstabber. You can't tell someone "Okay, we're voting you out now." or "I'm in an alliance with you but I'm only out for myself." Reality shows don't work that way, especially Big Brother. One of the interesting things about this show is seeing how people interact with each other when half a million dollars is at stake.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 8:17

According to Mormonism, the definition of a Seer is "someone who can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be rewarded, or rather shall secret things manifest and hidden things come to light." We are (to the best of my knowledge, I could be wrong) not the only church that claims to speak for God, but we are one of the only churches that claims to have a Prophet or Seer to lead us.

The power of revelation is a difficult thing to define in such a skeptical world. The world expects that our prophets and seers can tell us what lottery numbers to pick or who will win the World Series. So they set the bar incredibly high and then complain when our prophets don't do that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they can't do that. If Russell Nelson wins the lottery tomorrow it'll probably be because God tells him the numbers.

But revelation and prophethood don't usually work like that.  God tells His prophets how to run the church and that's generally what they get revelation for. He can show what will happen in the future if we disobey certain teachings, (Proclamation of the family comes to mind) and the Prophets then tell us what the outcome will be. I think they are more the keeper of the keys than of the car then the drivers. Revelation is a funny thing.