Mormon Bloggers

Greetings, Gentle Reader, What does America have that makes it different from other countries? We have good weather. So do most of the other countries around the world. We have beautiful views. So do other countries. We have some really good people and some really bad people. So do other countries. So what’s the big deal? More and more Americans are being taught to think that America is not an exceptional country. We even have large numbers of college students who are being taught that we are a bad country. They are being taught that Marxism and Communism, for instance, are superior system of government to the one we are guaranteed in our Constitution. They are being taught that America is a racist country, where minorities are oppressed and abused. They are being taught that their country is selfish, though no other country on earth gives to others, especially in catastrophes, as ours does. They are being taught that we abuse the people of other countries. They are, in fact, being taught... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings, Gentle Reader, Our financial situation in this country has become downright dangerous for some of our people. Though we almost (but not quite) understand where we are now, how did we get there? It seems to have happened this way: Politicians in very high places got involved in some things they did not understand and started a destructive ball rolling down a pretty steep hill. As it rolled, it pick up a little bit of financial this and a little bit of financial that. By the time it hit the bottom, it had become wrapped up in a staggering percentage of most of the world’s economy. Let’s begin at the beginning, a very good place to start, to quote a delightful song: During the Clinton presidency, there arose a tremendous political outcry against mortgage lenders who seemingly discriminated against minorities. Minorities were denied loans more often that whites. Instead of analyzing the data to find the reason for the denials, newspapers trumpeted their own interpretations of... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings, Gentle Reader, As I watched a man discussing this upcoming election, he bowed his head and asked Heavenly Father to give us wise leaders. So what responsibility do we have in this “wise leaders” business? Do we just ask for them and automatically get them? I don’t think so. Why? Because we have to do the actual voting that brings those wise leaders into office. Too bad there are so many “slips twixt cup and lip”. Let’s examine a few. Let’s say a very wise man runs for office. He should be an automatic winner, right? Not really. Why? Because he must run the gauntlet of political assassination, before he could get into office. Think I have overstated it? I haven’t. Let’s use the newest celebrity as an example. Let’s discuss “Joe the plumber.” Joe Wurzelbacher, an aspiring small business owner, asked Obama about getting his taxes increased if Obama was elected. Obama responded that such an increase would be necessary to “spread... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings, Gentle Reader, We have always referred to the election season as “The Silly Season.” We had good reason for this bit of levity. Seemingly sane people can be persuaded by the smoothest talker in town to vote for the worst, dumbest, most crooked guy in town. They will vote themselves a tax increase without a second thought. All it takes is smooooth packaging, by a smooooth talker. Somehow, this year the silly season has ceased to be silly. It has become fraught with a level of danger to which we are unaccustomed. Voting for someone who says he is going to cut our taxes, when his history says he will raise them, is silly, but not dangerous. Voting for the guy who says he will give us the moon all wrapped up in shiny paper is silly, but not dangerous. Now we are being persuaded to vote for a guy, some of whose cohorts think and say is Jesus Christ. That scares me. Neither of today’s candidates is Jesus Christ, but we are being encouraged to think one of them is precisely... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Gentle Reader, As I was spending some time this morning in prayer and contemplation, it occurred to me that the candidate for whom we should vote in this election is dependent on whom Vladimir Putin, Ahmadinejad, China’s leader, Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Columbia, etc., want to see elected. For whom would they vote if they could vote in our election? Would it be the old war horse, who would bomb them into people-paste if they attacked us (and they know it), or would it be the dimpled darling of the anti-America university professor set, the hero of the pathological Bush-hating set, the world citizen? It will be one or the other, and we need to consider carefully the ramifications of getting the wrong one. We may get the wrong one anyway, no matter for whom we vote, but we must not help to elect him. We should remember that James Madison, president during the war of 1812, genius of the Virginia Plan that became our Constitution, was the worst one we... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Gentle Reader, Honesty has become an endangered species in our country, assuming one can label honesty a species. How did this happen? It’s not just the usual level of dishonesty; it has reached a level I haven’t seen before. Part of it is surely because of the election, but it seems to have become acceptable to make a statement that is diametrically opposed to a politician’s position taken a week ago. That’s bad enough, but I hear those in the news media doing the same thing. This has always been true in countries where the government is definitely not “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” That is to be expected, but in Americans, it is inexcusable.Now, if it only were true in our politicians and in Hollywood, we could live with it, because those two sets of people have always been that way. What is worrying me is the everyday people who seem to be learning from the denizens of Hollywood and the inhabitants of the seats of political power. More... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Gentle Reader, Considering the financial news of the day, this might be a good times to discuss finances: We have been reminded on a regular basis that there always have been, and there always will be, tricky times in the financial world. The ticket for us is to be prepared. Unfortunately, that can be more easily said than done. A good man of my acquaintance said that he had put himself through college by being a janitor, and now, he was putting his children through college by, once again, being a janitor. That dear man always had at least as many expenses as he had money. He will probably never become rich, but he has always had enough for his and his family’s needs. Such people learn to be frugal, and that frugality stands them in good stead, when the financial world gets the hiccups. So, how about the rest of us? Have we learned to keep ourselves out of financial deep water, or do we tell ourselves (regularly and often) that it will be okay. After all, we know how to swim.The... Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings, Gentle Reader, What do you think is the most destructive force or event, so far as the health of your family is concerned? There are a lot of candidates. Bad friends, drug and/or alcohol addiction, inattentive parents, an irresponsible parent, abusive parents, an unfaithful parent, predatory friends or relatives, etc. Actually, it is probably none of the above. The most destructive thing I have seen in my years and in my experience is divorce of the parents. Now, I have to qualify that at least a little bit. The actions of the custodial parent are tremendously important. If that parent is stable, supportive, constructive and in charge, the children may not do too badly, but if they end up with the least responsible of the two parents, they are in for a very rough ride. Even worse, they are probably in for a rough life, as are their own future children and marriage partner. Unfortunately, if the non-custodial parent is disruptive, irresponsible and demanding of visitation by the... Read the rest of this entry »