Scripture Sunday Mosiah 2:38

CS Lewis once said that he would gladly remove the doctrine of Hell if he could. Like many of us, he was very uncomfortable with the idea of eternal damnation. I'm not that uncomfortable with it, in certain cases. Serial killers and monsters like Hitler do deserve eternal damnation and yes, while we are all sinners, few of us are at that level of sin.

This passage might mean people who turn away from the gospel are in a state of mortal sin and are forever damned, but I don't go that far either. I can not imagine a God that condemns people who leave the church and sends them to the same place as those I mentioned above.

Iran

Trump is apparently toying with using military force in Iran because they shot down a drone in international waters. I find it incredibly disturbing that he Tweeted about Obama going to war with Iran (and Trump wasn't in favor of it back then) but now that he's in office, military force against Iran might be acceptable. Politics is full of hypocrites and hypocritical actions, but when innocent lives are put at risk, your hypocrisy becomes gravely serious and gravely evil.

The worst part about having "anti war" sentiments is the company you are forced to keep. So many advocates of the peace movement are deeply delusional to how human nature works. Yes, there are bad people in the world, sometimes those bad people run countries, and no, they don't respond to hearts, soft language and cuddles. Most people who are anti-war can't comprehend that yes, sometimes war is necessary. But it's not in this case.

Album of the weekend

The Eagles-Greatest Hits

And now for something completely different volume II. Last week I talked about Radiohead, a band I don't like and still don't like. This week I've been challenged to continue listening to music that isn't really my thing, and I accepted the challenge. So I downloaded "The Greatest Hits of the Eagles", a band I'm familiar with, but only moderately so.

My first impression is that most of these songs put me to sleep. "Take it to the Limit" and "Best of my Love" shouldn't be listened to while you are driving because they act like the musical form of valium. The only song I enjoyed the album (and that's a relative term) was "Take it Easy" and even that one I thought was mediocre. Obviously, I'm not an Eagles fan. I find them unable to decide if they want to be a rock band or a soft pop band or an easy listening band or a country band. 

But, they are popular, insanely so. I don't understand their popularity at all, but that's clearly on me. They do have talent, they aren't Nickleback, but like Radiohead, this just isn't my type of music. 

My quest to find music I don't normally listen to but enjoy continues. 

Trucker charged in motorcycle accident

You've probably heard that seven people were horrifically and tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in New Hampshire. Now, a truck driver has been charged with seven counts of negligent homicide. This is just devastating all around. I've been on that road many times and while I don't drive a motorcycle, I have a friends who do, including a very close one. My heart breaks for everyone involved.

In fact, my heart breaks for the driver of the truck too. While we don't know the details (I don't) I'm reasonably sure this guy didn't wake up in the morning and look for seven people to kill. He didn't wake up wanting to kill people. No, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable for his negligence. No, that doesn't mean he should be let free. What it does mean is that, as of right now, he probably didn't have the intent to kill anyone.

Thankfully we live in a society of law and not mob justice. He's entitled to a trial and we'll see what happens during it.

New Taylor Swift song

No, I haven't heard it or seen the video and no, I'm not going to. I've only read about the "controversy" and wanted to discuss a few thoughts I had.

-Taylor Swift is not brave. No, it's not brave to paint everyone who opposes the homosexual political agenda as backward, bigoted or homophobic. In fact, the dominant culture has accepted homosexuality 100%-that's why virtually every single corporate logo has gone "rainbow" this month to celebrate gay pride. So Taylor Swift is about 10-15 years too late if she wanted to take a stand for gay rights.

-If Taylor Swift was brave, she'd come out against gay marriage. Given that polls show an increasing majority in favor of gay marriage, it's not brave to say something that all your friends, fellow celebrities, fans, and family will agree with. So no, Taylor Swift is not brave, cutting edge, innovative, or particularly interesting.

And by the way, like I've said 1000 times before, I'm pro gay marriage, pro gay adoption, etc. I felt that way in 1999, I feel that way now. But I'm not stupid either.

My bachelor weekend

I'm very happily married, and my significant is a mentor in a Masonic youth organization called the International Organization of Rainbow for Girls, shortened to "Rainbow". They had a weekend getaway this past weekend and I had a weekend all to myself. My best friend lives in Minnesota and he was also at retreat this weekend. My other friends were busy so I had a weekend all to myself.

Some guys would go to a strip club. Some guys would go to a bar. Instead, I stayed home, played Fallout, watched baseball and made soap, the picture above. It smells strongly of lilac but sadly, the swirls weren't as good as I would have liked them to be.

It's my hope that your life has hobbies, because they are one of the many things that make life living. Sometimes our hobbies cross genders (I'm the only heterosexual male who likes making soap) and I'm sure there are girls who like working on cars or who are obsessed with hunting and football.

Motivational Monday

This is a sweet, sensitive, and positive meme that you'll often see on Facebook. It's also completely useless.

I've noticed in life that the people who post things like this are often the most cruel, snotty and greatly lack self awareness. As a general rule it's never your successful friends posting quotes about success-it's usually those in pyramid schemes who are in way over their head. It's never your friends in happy relationships posting things about what makes relationships happy. It's never humble people who say they are humble. And quite honestly, it's never the best people among us who post things like this.

Scripture Sunday Ether 4:11

In order to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, one must first believe in its existence. After all, if you don't believe in Heavenly Father or the Holy Spirit in the first place, anything kind of feeling or emotion that you experience will just be that-feeling or emotion. Don't get me wrong, not every feeling or emotion is the Holy Spirit talking to you, but a huge thing that separates the LDS church from traditional Christianity is the belief that you can "just know" certain things.

This passage explains in a much better way that I can that belief and practice. In order for you to experience the Holy Spirit, you must "believe these things that I have spoken him will I visit with manifestations of My Spirit, and he shall know and bear record." This passage over simplifies things a bit, but it's a good place to start.

Andrew Dice Clay

Many, many years ago Andrew Dice Clay was the subject of the current moral panic and religious parents were up in arms. He was, of course, banned in my house which made it so much more enticing. So when I went over to a friends house and he had the album, I immediately had to listen to it. I remember laughing at the time-imagine that. Something raunchy and dirty made my 13 year old self laugh. 

I wsa bored a few nights ago and I decided to Youtube old clips of him. I sat there, not offended in the least, but not laughing either. I don't get his act. Sure, in theory anyone who is preforming in front of an audience is playing a character, so he's probably not like this in "real life". Even so, his act isn't funny. It's one thing to be offensive-Bill Hicks was inarguably one of the greatest comedians of all time and he could be quite vulgar, but at least he was funny. Andrew Dice Clay isn't. 

Album of the Weekend

Radiohead-OK Computer

I tried. I really, really did.

People say this album is life changing, and God knows it's gotten more critical acclaim than Blonde on Blonde (a spectacular album) did. So, because I'm always asking people to open their mind and try new music, I tried to listen to this again. After all, I like their song "Creep" that came out on a prior album.

And no, I still don't like this album. I don't like Radiohead, and frankly, I think they define everything that I dislike in modern British music.The entire album reminds me of those people in college who wore berets in freshmen English class and tried to tell you how deep Tori Amos music was when in reality, they don't like her music either but they are just trying to appear cool and hip in front of their friends.

By all means, try this album out. You might like it. I hope you do. But I don't get it. I didn't get it back in 1997, and I don't get it now.

Visiting the Dominican Republic soon?

I hope you rethink your plans. Maybe it's just media hype, and I'm willing to believe it is, but the Dominican Republic seems like a very dangerous place. I'm reading about news stories every day and it seems that tourists are checking in any time they like but they can never leave. I wonder when the state department is going to issue an official warning about the country. 

I'm not sure what is going on there. As a general rule most international travel is pretty safe, and for countries that rely of tourism, they keep the touristy parts of the country extremely safe. Mexico is the perfect example. Unless you plan on going into cartel controlled territory, you are going to be just fine going there. It doesn't seem like the same can be said about the Dominican Republic, at least right now. 

Should friends try dating one another?

Oh, this is such a tough question. I am big believer that men and women can be friends-even good ones-without being lovers. I am a very lucky man who has wonderful friends whom I value greatly of both genders.

When it comes to a relationship, you need a foundation of friendship in order to survive long term. Mutual interests and beliefs are important-but if you don't like spending time with the other person the relationship has no chance of long term survival. Here is where it gets complicated-if you've been friends with someone for a long period of time you need to tread very, very carefully if you take the relationship to the next level.

Sometimes a friendship is much more valuable than a relationship. Friendship is an overlooked and often downplayed relationship in todays society. Instead of risking a long term friendship to see if there is something more, you should probably hang on to what you have. Friends are easy to find if you aren't a total asshole. Good friends are much more rare and much more valuable.

Is life getting worse?

No.

Life is actually getting better every year. Every year technology advances isa year that our lives become better. It is very easy to complain about how bad you have it from a heated home up in New England in the dead of winter. In reality, your ancestors would have killed for half of the modern conveniences that we have today. I cringe when someone complains about modern conveniences from an air conditioned house in Florida too, for the record.

It's also sad/interesting to me when religious people complain about the immorality of the world. Every single generation thought that changes in technology would bring about end times. When the automobile was first announced, the preacher Billy Sunday thought it would be the of the world. When the telephone was created, the same thing happened. Computers are no different and now people bitch about "those damn millennials and their cell phones". I can't wait to see what millennials will complain about when they get older.

Mainstream media

Is there a mainstream media bias towards liberal causes? Of course there is. Does it matter? Not nearly as much as it did in the 1980's. Yes, even some liberals were bothered about how biased it was back then. Now, it doesn't matter nearly as much because we can get our news from so many different sources. If I worked for the mainstream media (CBS, NBC, ABC, New York Times, Washington Post) I'd be terrified. Their sales and ratings are in a a free fall and there is no way they can get back to where they once were. The way they deliver the news is a dinosaur in todays society.

I've seen conservatives rail about the media bias, but in reality it doesn't matter. Trump winning sort of proved that the mainstream media has lost a huge amount of power. Virtually every mainstream media source was against him and yet he still won. In a few years, the mainstream media will have even less power. The average viewer/reader of the network news and newspaper is considerably older than the average American (no, that's not an insult)-those people I think watch the networks and read the papers more out of habit than idealogical agreement.

Scripture Sunday Moroni 8:17

Okay, this is one of those passages that I do not understand. Children are wonderful ,they are a blessing, they are little angels-but they are also naive and well, childish. Our faith shouldn't be naive or childish, even though my fear is that many Christians, especially LDS, do take a blind eye to the world and focus too much on their own culture and surroundings....just like little children.

No, just disagreeing with a passage in the Book of Mormon or the bible doesn't make you have a lesser faith. In fact, being able to disagree with this or that passage can give strength to other people who also have disagreements but might be unable or too frightened to share them. So this, along with several other passages in the Book of Mormon, are ones that I don't particularly like or agree with.

Amazing Valedictorian speech

A valedictorian at a California high school gave an amazing speech.  I wish I had her courage at that age. Hell, I wish I had her courage at my age!

The system failed her to some degree- incompetent teachers, useless staff in the main office,  guidance counselors who do nothing and take credit for it (like the immortal movie Clerks said, my guidance counselor was pretty worthless too) and yet this girl thrived. What is more important than thriving is that she pushed back.  She let everyone know that her school system was a joke, and now it's immortalized. I hope and pray that this story goes viral.

My deeply unpopular opinion is that society over values teachers. Are there good ones? Of course.IN fact, one teacher in 8th grade was the one who inspired me to be a writer. But guess what? There are also incompetent and lazy ones and the public school system is filled with red tape, uncaring administrators and teachers who don't care or are afraid of innovation.

This girl reminds me of one of my heroes. The kid in the famous short story, "The Emperors New Clothes." I can think of no greater compliment.

Album of the weekend

Nirvana-Nevermind

What more is there to say about one of the greatest album of all time? Sure, that's a very powerful thing to say about an album. After all, other albums defined generations (Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde). You can also argue that Nevermind wasn't the first grunge album, so Nevermind wasn't the sole reason the hair bands died, nor was it the first of it's kind. 

Many things make this album spectacular. From the lyrics that perfectly encapsulated a generation "Here we are now, entertain us" to the outstanding punkish/metal sound of the music. If you don't own this album, you should immediately download it. If you don't like this album, then you need to re-evaulate not only how you view music, but your entire life as well. 

Rising suicide rate among men

Sadly, I get the feeling this story will be ignored. The suicide rate is rising for poor white men in rural areas.  I don't want to say that I'm "happy" that this story is getting some media attention, after all, I wish this story didn't exist-but I hope and pray that this story goes viral because the issue is so important. 

It bothers me when men are lectured to and their wants and well beings are ignored. Ask yourself this-in General Conference, has their ever been a speaker who told men "You guys are doing great, we love you, and we want you to be healthy and happy?" If I'm wrong, please tell me. We often hear people say those things to women than men get admonished for not being better fathers and husbands. Well, quite frankly, men need support too, and this study shows it. 

Spectrum!

We had two weeks on uninterrupted cable/internet, but that was expecting too much. Spectrum is once again playing games. If I don't post for the day, that's probably why.

Cancer Patient jailed for buying chocolate marijuana

Just like the title says, a cancer patient was jailed because he ordered chocolate marijuana to self medicate.  Note to the state-this dude had/has level four cancer. Level four. That's extremely serious and sadly, the outcome is never good. If he wanted to self medicate with marijuana, cocaine, or anything else, leave him the Hell alone. The biggest coward in this entire situation was the prosecutor, who didn't have the backbone to toss this one out because of his sickness.

Before we go any further, yes, people with cancer are still accountable for their actions. If you have stage four lung cancer but still decide to rob a liquor store, you should be charged for your crimes. But ordering chocolate marijuana bars is not the moral equal of robbing a liquor store.

Joking about sensitive topics

We all have sensitive topics and on the other side, topics that we aren't sensitive about at all. The past several years have brought extreme sensitivity to the public. Usually, we didn't know the topics that everyone was offended by but with social media becoming so dominant we know now everyones issue.

I've noticed that gluten sensitivity seems to be a seriously hot topic issue. You can joke around about someones mother. Their child. Their grandchild. Their dog. But Goddammit you say anything about Gluten and the gloves come off pal. I'm not sure why. In fact,  I'd like to see why jokes about Gluten are as bad as commenting about their religion.

A bitter life truth that I've noticed is that people with real diseases want to be treated normally and usually have great senses of humor about it. People with controversial (I'm too polite to say made up) diseases demand special treatment. I seriously feel sorry for comedians now a days.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 9:42

First off no, the church isn't against education. In fact if they were, BYU wouldn't exist and the prophets and leaders would advise against young people going to college. That doesn't happen. Also, the church isn't against rich people. If they were, than the church would set a salary cap and anyone making more money than a set limit would not be allowed in the building. That doesn't happen either. 

To me, this passage is talking more about pride. It's fine to rich, it's fine to be educated. The moment it becomes sinful is when you think your riches or education make you a better person than someone who doesn't have your level of success or your level of education. To those people putting pride above anything else, than He might not be able to enter them. 

Softball player salaries

A softball player complained about the lack respect and more importantly, the lack of money, that her profession gets.  Needless to say, some people who don't understand basic economics were jumping to her side and demanding she get paid more than the bat boys do for the New York Yankees. Bluntly put, in this life you basically get paid what your skills are worth, and sometimes in a free market, that isn't much.

No, that's not me being sexist or saying she isn't worth anything as a person. What it is me saying is that in a free society where people choose how to spend their money, people place a higher value on the skills needed to be an MLB pitcher than a professional softball pitcher. Therefore, the MLB player will get paid for money for his talent. Sadly, this could go for the bat boy as well-if the skills that the bat boy has are more marketable than a softball pitcher, than yes, he/she should get paid more  for it.

Album of the weekend

Stryper-To Hell with the Devil

Stryper is an amazing band. Not just an amazing Christian band. Sure, they are without question the most overtly Christian metal band out there, and they are the daddies of the Christian metal movement-but to label them just as a "Christian band' is to marginalize them. One of the greatest comments I've read on FB was someone saying "I'm an atheist, but Stryper is one of my favorite bands." Wise man.

"To Hell with the Devil" is their most well known song, and with good reason. It's their best song and it is their anthem, the one they usually play during an encore. The other big hit off the album, "More than a Man" is also iconic for them. Sadly, this song has their power ballad "Honestly" and it is probably the one song that people who don't now anything about them enjoy. Like all other power ballads, it's not my thing, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, you might like this one. Overall, this album is worth a download, even if you don't like Christian rock/metal.

New York to ban declawing cats

Perhaps the only intelligent law to come out of New York state. A bill is being debated and it would ban the declaring the cats.  First off yes, I hate cats. I think they are annoying, lazy and relatively useless to society. I also know that few people are more sensitive than cat owners-so flame on. I'm a dog guy, not a cat guy.

But I could not be more in favor of this law.

Declawing cats take away their best protection against predators and leaves them defenseless, not to mention that the actual process of declawing cats is incredibly painful. If you choose to declaw a cat, you owe it to them to make them strictly an indoor cat (which you should also do, given that outdoor cats generally live much shorter lives). You don't have to like cats to view this law as a huge positive.

Netherlands teen "euthanized"

A Netherlands teen was euthanized due to the "unbearable pain" she has dealt with because of being sexually assaulted as a child.  If it even needs to be said, my heart breaks for the child, the parents, and frankly, they euthanized the wrong person. The one that needed to be put down was the monster who raped her.

I'm actually in favor of euthanasia. If you are in unspeakable pain with a terminal illness then yes, you should be legally allowed to end it, and yes, it's moral to do so. I truly, truly don't understand people who want to prolong the inevitable and watch the person suffer. In fact, when someone passes away after a long illness one thing you often hear is "Well, at least they are better off." Yes, they are, and if you are against euthanasia you need to ask yourself why you insist on keeping them here in horrific pain for days, weeks, months...or more tragically, even years.

But I'm not stupid either. Stories like this trouble me deeply. She's young, so young, and her making the choice to end her life at such a young age in nothing short of devastating.

Tattoo plagiarism

Remember the TV show Ink Master? I follow a guy on Facebook who was on the show, his name is Aaron Is. A great tattoo artist from Tampa. I've never gotten tattooed by him and I don't know him personally, for the record, but I admire his artwork.

He has posted a few times about people copying other tattoos as their own. One was a local person, and this one won a contest with a tattoo that looks very much like a tattoo he didn't design. Sure, he added a snake to it and turned her head around, but other than those changes the tattoo is the same.

I'm not sure that plagiarism is illegal-but there should be consequences. It's easier to copy and paste in the world of the internet, but on the flip side it's easier to be called out for it as well. 

CTE and football players

I was reading up about a football player named Richie Incognito. This guy has a history of nasty behavior and inappropriate conduct and yes, he should be banned from the NFL. He won't be, because pro sports doesn't really have any morality. Even my favorite sport, baseball, is lacking in that area. If you are talented, then you can get away with thuggish behavior. To be fair, it's a rule in life, not just in sports.

A friend mentioned to me that this guy might have CTE, the brain disease that is caused after repeated hits to the head. I have no doubt that this guy has serious problems, but you want to know a dirty little secret? That isn't an excuse for his behavior. Just because you have a debilitating and tragic brain disease doesn't mean you act like a bully or a thug. The blunt, uncomfortable truth is that your personal problems, no matter how tragic, don't give you the right to inflict pain and misery on others.

Scripture Sunday Alma 34:33

I agree that the end of the world probably isn't coming any time soon.  Yes, I know that every single generation in the history of civilization has thought that they'd see the end times. So no, I don't think that the end times will come in my lifetime. Of course though, as a believing Christian, I do believe they will come eventually. And we better be ready.

This passage begins with "I beseech to you that you do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end." If you do procrastinate, you might be too late. When the truck comes barreling down the highway your first/last thought won't be "Hey, I wonder if this Jesus guy was telling the truth ?" So you better start thinking about this beforehand. The passage ends with "if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed." Alma seems to be warning us about the truck coming down the hill and us running out of time.

For the record, I'm having problems with Spectrum yet again so if any blogs are late, blame them. 

Tae Kwan Do diares III

So, like I mentioned before I'm taking Tae Kwan Do classes after many years of taking Ed Parker karate, many years of taking a break from martial arts, and many years of sitting on my ass doing nothing staring at the ceiling and wonder what character to create in Fallout while I smoke weed and blast Megadeth. I'm an orange belt now (Yay! Seven months of commitment!), and no, I'm not saying that I'm ready to enter a Mortal Kombat type tournament. In fact, I just got knocked down three times last night in a sparring contest.

Oddly, it didn't hurt my pride to get beaten so badly by someone who is 15 years old or so. First off, the kid was a higher belt than I am. Secondly, I am one hundred percent positive that the kid could have kicked the ass of anyone reading this. I'm glad I showed up and got maybe one or two kicks in, thus scoring a point. The final score would have been 200-2 in his favor, that's for sure.

It's weird to get into a fight, even in a highly controlled environment. I haven't been in a fight since high school, and because I was small and frail and weak, I got whipped. No one came to my aid either, so I probably deserved to lose back then. Now, it's a totally different world and yes, I wonder why I'm doing it too.

I'll keep you updated on the continuing journey.