With Optimism and Gratitude

Perhaps things have calmed down a bit by now despite the uncertainty that continues... My values as a conservative remain unchanged and it is likely that we will have a president that will challenge those values on many fronts going forward. I believe that the majority of Americans will have their lives--at least their financial lives--get worse in the coming four years. But who knows... maybe I'll be proven wrong about this and the leftist establishment. Nothing would be a more welcome surprise. 

Time will tell... 

It doesn't seem like we have much control over these issues outside of a single vote among millions. It's easy sometimes to get lost in despair being blown about by these partisan winds of power struggles. In the words of King Theoden, "What can one do against such reckless hate?" 

I believe in absolute truth. God is the source of it, for where else would it come from? If there is no absolute truth, we are doomed to confusion via moral relativism that will have mankind in constant conflict with itself until extinction (though some could argue this is the condition we live in anyways). In ancient scripture one way God conveyed this truth to his people was through prophets, and part of my church is a belief that there is a prophet today. What have they been saying? President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet for much of the late 90's through 2008 often talked about optimism. It was during this time that I adopted the simple word "optimism" as the key to happiness. I know it's probably easy for me to say considering my relatively simple life, but I still honestly believe that happiness is a choice and not a state enacted upon us no matter who we are. It may be an incredibly difficult choice sometimes, and sometimes it might not be "happiness" but rather "peace" that we choose, but I still think that whatever happens it is a choice available to us. All of us. I also believe in modern day apostles. One of our current apostles, Elder Dallin H. Oakes, gave out this portion of truth about finding strength in anxious times: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2020/10/strength-and-guidance-for-anxious-times?lang=eng.

Additionally, our current day prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, spoke about gratitude (here). It's easy sometimes to focus on everything that is going wrong. President Nelson said to maybe try shifting our focus, so here's some things I am grateful for:

1. I am grateful for this knowledge: "All things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things." -2 Nephi 2:24. And "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." -1 Nephi 11:17. These two scriptures combine to let us know that God is in charge and He has our best interest in mind, even if we don't understand why some things happen the way they do.

2. I am grateful for my family and my faith. I have often called these the anchors to my happiness, but more than that they provide me with purpose in life, something I would probably be severely lacking without.

3. I am grateful for modern technology that allows us to take on modern problems like pandemics without having to hit the panic button. Life goes on so we keep living it, trusting that the human innovation and the unconquerable human spirit will move us through the most difficult times. 

4. I am grateful for America. It was divinely founded and the world is a better place because of it. 

Anyways, these are only some of the things I am grateful for. I could get into the smaller stuff like Kraft Cucumber Ranch and lemon scented dish-washer soap, but I'm trying to keep it a little real this time around. 

Before I finish here, this is not to say that we just lie down and take what happens. There are a lot of questions to be answered regarding our electoral process and the people deserve the answers. But after all we can do, hopefully we face the future with optimism and gratitude. I say we choose happiness!

My Theology and Conservatism

 I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have probably mentioned that a number of times in this blog, but since this is my second entry after a four year hiatus I probably need to reiterate the fact (in case that also wasn't made apparent by my referencing and linking my church's second article of faith in the last entry). My faith is a HUGE part of who I am, and therefore it plays a huge part in the values I espouse relative to temporal matters as well. 

"...Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." Moses 4:1. In case anyone reading this is not of my faith, this is an account from the LDS standard work called the Book of Moses which is comparable to the the book of Genesis. This particular line pertains to the War in Heaven (wherein God put forth a plan and purpose for our mortal lives here on earth) and it is credited not to God the Father or His Son Jesus Christ, but to Lucifer. Basically, he offered an alternate plan to God's--"Give me the power and I will MAKE people good."

Does this sound more like the political left or the right?

Of course there are so many out there who would claim that Trump has no shortage of power-grabbing and impositions on the public--hell, you could probably argue that any politician running for office adopts this slogan in some form. However, the universally acknowledged difference between Conservatives (ideally represented by Republicans) and Liberals/Leftists (ideally represented by Democrats) is that one is for bigger government than the other. One of these parties uniquely calls for big government solutions to all of America's big issues (healthcare, gun control, public education, income inequality, climate change. racial injustice, pandemic outbreaks) and a lot of the smaller issues (obesity, gay rights, hate speech regulation). I suppose the exception would be immigration in which the guilty party wants NO government regulation at all, but this relates more to a separate issue I will briefly address later. 

If anyone reading this would dispute any of the above examples, please comment! All of this I have pulled from the media and experienced very little of it first hand myself, so if you can provide evidence to refute or support my claims I will gladly discuss. I am yet looking for more truth.

"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down." -Moses 4:3. What's so wrong with wanting people to be good? Nothing. FORCING people to be good, however--and not even to be good, but rather YOUR idea of what is good, then we have a problem. It defeats the purpose of mortal life. I believe that in God's plan, it was more important that man be FREE rather than man be good. That way, he may choose for himself, and CHOOSING good is way more impactful than being good at gunpoint (yes, ultimately the government enforces all its policy at gunpoint). This is why I believe that God's relationship to man is primarily manifest through covenant--it's an invitation. His hand is always outstretched and we are free to accept it in our lives--with the greater reward AND responsibility that comes with greater light--or not. So, which party promotes agency and which party restricts it? I know I am now free to choose whether or not to have Health Insurance without paying a penalty. 

Again, up for discussion here. What freedoms have been restricted and granted under separate administrations? 

Some would argue that the freedom of choice is exemplified in a woman's right to choose an abortion. The term "Pro-Choice" however is actually a huge misnomer, but I will keep my argument here along spiritual lines: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been very clear about abortion. Honestly, I wouldn't have an issue with abortion if it weren't for my theology. Part of me, the harshly practical Ebenezer Scrooge part, thinks that people opting for abortions would probably be bringing the kids into some pretty crappy situations anyways... but what I consider absolute truth has declared the fetus to be a living human, and that's where the matter lies.

When it comes to abortion, Trump may not have always been against it but he is now. He is also attempting to put a very strong pro-life judge in the Supreme Court. The other side... well, just check Planned Parenthood's webpage to see where they stand.

Ok, now let's do a little exercise. You have to bet a thousand dollars on determining which party of the two major parties someone is going to vote for based on ONE thing they tell you about themselves. 

1. "I am an atheist."

2. "I hate America."

3. "I think marriage is a prison for women."

Sure, extreme examples but that's the point of the exercise. The left will never be outright about its anti-Christian, anti-America, and anti-family agenda, but it's all there in Marxist theory. These three things, with America representing small government democracy, all get in the way of the big state. Only Bernie is outright communist, but most politicians on the left have espoused socialist, big state ideals. It's also all there in the demographics, which if you are honest with yourself on the above exercise you could see how the left caters to certain mindsets. According to my theology, America (1 Nephi 13), the family (everywhere), and Christ (also everywhere), are all central to God's plan. Who would be the most invested in attacking these things?

Some evidence regarding anti-Christian theory: 

DNC Resolution Regarding Religiously Unaffiliated Demographic (see Paragraph 5 in particular) 

Legal attacks on Christian/Catholic organizations that refuse to teach or espouse LGBT principles based on religious belief

Obama's remarks--though somewhat justified--about wicked deeds of Christian past when defending radical Islam

I also find that many of my LDS friends defend leftist movements like BLM by citing the teachings of Jesus. There is a big problem with this however, and only by ignoring this critical teaching of Jesus can Christians still wholly support the modern incarnation of the Democratic party: You cannot pull the compassion of Jesus's teachings out while ignoring the personal responsibility! " 'Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?' She said, 'No man, Lord.' And Jesus said unto her, 'Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.' " -John 8:10-11. Here the compassion of Jesus's forgiveness is also complimented by his admonition for accountability with the instruction to "sin no more". For those who say that "Jesus is going after the 99th sheep" or "We mourn with those that mourn" regarding BLM, consider the personal accountability of each individual upon which the narrative is built. While it is still a tragic loss of human life, 90% of the "victims" had long criminal records, resisted arrest, and endangered the police involved in the altercations. Are the advocates of BLM truly mourning, or are they throwing an unjustified tantrum? I think this nitpicking of Christ's teachings leads to softer, weaker devotion to Christian values, and is therefore another attack on true Christianity.

Anti-American theory:

I don't care what you think Kaepernick or LeBron's intended messages are, when young Americans see their role-model athletes (though they really shouldn't be role models) kneeling for the anthem, the message they are getting is "America is bad. America is racist." Who are these guys' biggest supporters and who is calling them out on their hypocritical elitism? No links needed here.

The policy for open-borders is also an anti-American policy. Apart from the chants of "No border, no wall, no USA at all" just the idea of unmitigated immigration compromises security immensely. Who cares though if it brings in a swarm of blue voters!?

Also Monday is Columbus Day, or as the PC crowd would call it, "Indigenous People's Day". I have talked to a few who believe that Christopher Columbus was a monster and should never be celebrated, but I believe this man was inspired by God to lay the foundation of the discovery of the New World. Why? Well, this particular man is also referred to in 1 Nephi 13 (v. 12).

Anti-Family theory:

The celebration and promotion of the LGBT community may not be viewed as anti-family by most people, however, to deny that the redefinition of the family and marriage does not bear consequences on the family is dishonest. I only came to this conclusion due to the church's stance on such back in 2008 despite many of my friends wanting to treat revealed doctrine like civil rights. What does this have to do with the left? 

I have always believed that feminism up to a point is a good thing. Women should respect themselves and not throw everything away for the first guy that pays attention to them. Then there's bad feminism, which is basically the "all men suck always" mentality. It's pretty obvious how this is harmful to the nuclear family and it's also pretty obvious where these type of people always throw their votes.

In conclusion, I believe in absolute truth. In an age where truth is bent, broken, and outright ignored by both sides of the media and man is motivated by selfishness to manipulate the masses, I find hope in my belief that God still speaks to man and He is a source of truth that cuts through all the noise. This is why my theology plays such a big part in my personal search for truth, even when it comes to politics. Frankly I find it kind of troubling that so many of my LDS friends will support the pro-abortion party because Trump says mean things, but if any of you are reading this please help me to understand more and let me know your reasoning! The leaders of my faith yet remain politically neutral, but I'm not sure that will always be the case as the polarization intensifies and the mask falls away to reveal the leftist party as what I think it truly is: The great and abominable church (1 Nephi 13:4-6).

Why I Am A Conservative and My Thoughts on Primary Issues of 2020

 It has been over four years since I put anything here. What would bring me back except politics in an especially politically volatile time.

I am about to write some conservative stuff here. It's not necessarily pro-Trump, but it's definitely not against the man. I have lived as one who payed $1800 extra taxes due to ACA so he won my vote just by getting rid of that most unconstitutional mandate. I have lived among minorities for the last five years and I have seen the lies affect my relationship with my neighbors more and more--lies not from Trump but from Obama who was the man specifically positioned to end the race debate once and for all (instead he fanned the flames). I see how ISIS attacks went from happening every other month to basically non-existant since the global apology tour was replaced with an America-first administration. I saw how Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords while Obama told the American military that climate change would be their greatest adversary. I have also lived long enough to remember when climate change was called global warming and it was caused by aerosol cans instead of fossil fuels and cow farts. More than anything, I have seen the kind of people that are attracted to the democratic left versus those who still believe in the second article of faith. I'm not saying all who vote Democrat are terrible people, it's just an attractive party for people who are down on their luck and decide to blame society for their problems while also depending on society to fix their problems. 

In most political discussions I have had with those on the other side of the aisle, I am often told why I think the things I think. "You only think those things because you listen to right-wing media." It's not that different from an anti-LDS bible basher telling me what I believe before I can let them know. The previous paragraph shed light on the first-hand experiences (even if some were observing patterns of media) I have had that solidified my stance as a conservative, but if I was to sum it all up in one sentence I would use the words of the late Herman Cain: Less government, less taxes, more individual responsibility. No matter what you think about corruption on either side, we can all come to the consensus that the left/democrats/progressives are for bigGER government, and things like the Green New Deal, ACA, and gun bans are strictly leftist policy (though Romney might have done his own version of ACA had he gotten elected... but that's more about Romney being questionably conservative rather than conservatives fixing problems with massive government reform). 

So I want to talk about now the two biggest things that seemed to ruin 2020 for everybody: COVID 19 and racist police government overreach and media fearmongering.

I lost my job directly due to COVID 19. Working downstream from the oil and gas industry when everyone suddenly stops driving their cars and Eastern countries don't raise oil prices to compensate for that steep drop in demand means companies like Chevron have to start cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses (literally hundreds of millions, that's not an exaggeration). As someone working among engineers without an engineering degree, I saw the culture shift in my company from "we're happy to have you if you can bring us revenue" to "we can only afford the best of the best" and knew my time with my company was limited. Now, even though my future is uncertain, even more so in an eviscerated economy, I am one of the more hopeful ones! I can't imagine what it's like for the millions who are supporting families that lost their livelihoods because of mandatory economic shutdown. So I ask the question that nobody on the left will as they swing their emotionally manipulative hammers about having empty seats at your dinner table... how do we balance the cost of economic depression and the cost of human life? It sounds draconian just to ask that question, right? But that's just how much we've been socially engineered to kill these sort of conversations before they even happen. My stance was to leave it up to the individual to assess the risk in their own lives and to their own families and let them make the decision of whether or not they would physically go to work or keep their business open. But individuals suck and would make selfish and uneducated decisions putting others at risk... so, do you trust the government to NOT suck and make educated decisions for everyone? They are fallible people just like us with limited knowledge--and the knowledge on COVID is still pretty limited judging by how one side says it's a moderately more dangerous flu and the other side says it's the end of the world. What's our stance on masks at the moment? Considering this, what's a possible incentive for media and government to overblow this virus into pandemic status and kill the economy? It has nothing to do with it being an election year, right?

The other issue is of course systemic racism and the BLM reaction. I was sure from the outset that all the cases from Michael Brown to George Floyd (and beyond) were all tragedies morphed by the media to cause chaos, confusion, and division among the public. But then a lot of my friends who are also members of my faith came out in support of the movement, so I felt I needed more truth to decide whether or not this movement was really as toxic as I suspected it being. I reached out to five people and had four good conversations with the fifth telling me to "screw off". I asked for specific evidence that they had witnessed in their lives to justify the support of a movement that was resulting in riots and mob rule. Through their collective responses I came closer to the center on this issue, especially realizing that the racist pockets in the deep south are a bit bigger than I thought--but it still wasn't enough evidence to justify the nation's reaction to all this. I remain convinced that the media benefits from our fear and divisiveness, that most left-wing outlets like CNN and MSNBC turn profits and gain influence by showing us an America just as dramatic as the fiction on TV that it competes with for our views. 

Systemic racism is the perfect leftist problem. It is impossible to pinpoint, therefore impossible to disprove, and there's nothing you can do about it... except hate conservative America and vote Democrats into office for all eternity. On the other hand I can point to evidence that America has long since overcome its worst race problems--evidence like the existence and thriving of three major entertainment industries that are participated in, if not dominated by, minorities (those being professional sports, the music industry, and Hollywood). Evidence that on almost every job application I fill out I can put my race down if I want to... why? Why is that relevant again? Evidence in the fact that we had one of the most inexperienced and undeserving politicians become president--twice--and he was a black man (ironically rivaled in inexperience only by our current president). Evidence that no law or social contract actually exists that is racist against people of color. Evidence that we have such an emotional reaction to the word "racism" that it can derail someone's career as quickly as being a rapist. You only have to change one letter in the word... (And for anyone who would argue that Trump is a racist and it didn't derail his career, I know what evidence you would cite and I would destroy that argument with a mere shred of context). But then all this still doesn't disprove it because there's still an ethereal miasma of racism hanging over America holding black people back born from internal biases and leftover consequences of racist policies four generations old... and I am racist just for pointing out these evidences and asking questions about it. Right? 

I didn't vote for Trump in 2016. It's not because he said gross things during his campaign or said gross things in his past but because I didn't think he represented the conservative ideals I am invested in (again, less taxes, less government, more individual responsibility). Since he got rid of the ACA mandate, my vote was his to lose, and after four years of legislating more conservatively than I anticipated him doing despite being a petulant child on social media, he hasn't lost it. Nevertheless, I am still seeking truth amidst all of this so I invite discussion from anyone who made it this far.