A Solution to End the War on Terror...

To bring to an end the worldwide war on terror, imagine the following dialogue between “W” as Josey Wells, and Osama as Ten Bears. The question here – is George up to it?

"Ten Bears: These things you say we will have, we already have.
Josey Wales: That's true. I ain't promising you nothing extra. I'm just giving you life and you're giving me life. And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another.
Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life."

Men can live together without butchering one another.

The Burden of the Mormon Curse of Ham

I have ordered, from Amazon, a 2 volume work entitled “The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery,” edited by Junius Rodriguez. These two volumes have some relevance and importance to members of the LDS faith and their Black brothers. Specifically, there is an entry titled “The Curse of Ham”, edited by Dr. Albert Wachtel of Claremont College in CA. We should note that Professor Nibley taught at Claremont before coming to BYU.

Mormons should embrace and accept his advice concerning the misinformation about this supposed ‘Curse of Ham’ promulgated by Church leaders for more than one hundred and thirty years following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. It may be a difficult task for Mormons to accept scripture over the statements of ethnically biased leaders of those times including Orson Hyde, Heber C. Kimball, Brigham Young, James E. Talmage, Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie among many others. Let me quote from Professor Wachtel in a newspaper article: “No association between sin and skin exists in the (Bible) text. A reasoned analysis demands that race be declared an irrelevancy. But the issue at hand is not rational. Alas, it is a matter of faith, long held claims, compounded by a concern for appearances. The present saints of the Mormon Church are reluctant to contradict beliefs on which their predecessors made pronouncements. Not only did those figures mistakenly think Black people were cursed through Ham, but they also mistakenly associated Black people with fratricidal Cain…The way out of the Mormon dilemma is to profess deeper faith in the advanced morality of the first scripture on which their beliefs rest. That scripture suggests that the family of Cain drowned in the flood, since Noah’s family, the only survivors, were descended from Adam’s third son Seth.”

Further, he suggests nowhere in the Hebrew text does it present any grounds for invoking Cain and no moral value system based on skin color. There simply is no basis for connecting the dots of skin color to sin, neither the fratricide of Cain nor the episode of Noah’s drunken and naked state.

Inasmuch as many of us have friends, family members who are Black and we have a serious candidate with African ancestry for the office of the presidency of the US, perhaps as a New Year’s resolution we can distance ourselves from this racial mythology of an earlier era much in the same way that President Spencer W. Kimball did with lifting the priesthood ban in 1978 and also putting to rest the Adam God theories of Brigham Young.

A personal note here to those who are close and have been, particularly my former business partner, James B. Moore, deceased, and Brother in the Gospel, I say thank you for not holding this against us.

A Mormon's Prediction for the US to be Nuked

The decision to use atomic weapons near the close of WWII on the Japanese civilian populace has been fractious lingering to this day. Having visited the Peace Memorial at Hiroshima several years ago I found it both a chilling and very moving experience. Given the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the rise of the terrorists in our age some have said it is not a matter of ‘if’, only ‘when’ a weapon would be loosed on America. The ability to accomplish this has become much easier. For example, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki weighed more than 10,000 lbs. Today’s weapons are so much smaller. They have shrunk in proportion with computer hardware. The first 1 gigahertz Mac was deemed to be a super computer and was for a time banned from sales to the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations. After all those Macs could calculate and crunch the numbers for missile trajectories. Time was when whole rooms at the Merrill Engineering Buliding of computers could not move as quickly as the Intel Duo Pro Mac I am using to post this piece on my blog.

Popular authors, as in Tom Clancy, have written about a doomsday scenario for the US in the book and film, “The Sum of All Fears” where terrorists gain control over a weapon and detonate it on US soil. Perhaps the most sobering statement and prediction growing out of the Hiroshima atomic bomb was made two days after the attack by then First Counselor in The First Presidency, J. Reuben Clark, I quote: “Its (the atomic bomb) use to kill will become the aim and practice of all nations. Sometime our children’s children will have it turned against them, that they, too, may be exterminated, annihilated. When that time comes they will have no moral weapon against it, for we, their ancestors, will have cursed hmanuty by its first use; they may (also) have no physical weapon to combat it. And humanity may be as depraved and Christian virtue as dead then as now. Our posterity must pay the penalty, to the last farthing.”

A sobering if not frightening appraisal by a very intelligent and wise man as to the nature of man, politics and of the world. Truly he was one of the great leaders and thinkers in the 20th Century LDS Church.

The First Presidency Condemns War

At the height of WWII on the 3rd of October 1942, the First Presidency of the LDS Church, President George Albert Smith, First Counselor J. Reuben Clark and Second Counselor David O. McKay issued a statement published in the Deseret News renouncing war and the requirement of proclaiming peace. In part the statement read, “We renew our declaration that international disputes can and should be settled by peaceful means. That is the way of the Lord.
We call upon the statesman of the world to assume their rightful control of the affairs of nations and to bring this war to an end, honorable and just to all. Animated and led by the spirit of Christ, they can do it. The weeping mothers, the distraught and impoverished wives, the fatherless children of the world, demand this be done. In this way only will enduring peace come; it will never be imposed by armed force. Hate driven militarists and leaders with murder in their hearts, will, if they go though to the end, bring merely another peace that will be but the beginning of another war.
We call upon the Saints the world over to pray to God constantly in faith, nothing doubting, that He will bring His purposes speedily to pass and restore peace again to the earth to bless His children.”

Three things stand out about this First Presidency message. First, it flies in the face of common sentiment and views about WWII. Cessation of hostilities was the requirement to bring about a negotiated peace with the combatants, namely Adolph Hitler and General Tojo. Second, war does not bring peace and is no solution in resolving international conflicts. Peace brought about through war is only a temporary condition, a respite, while the stage is set for the next conflict. Lastly, those prosecuting this war, on both sides, which must include the several leaders even heroes of the ‘greatest generation’, could be included in the category of ‘hate driven militarists’. Credit for the writing of this statement has been assigned by historians to President J. Reuben Clark. Perhaps not many know that he had a long career prior to his call as a General Authority in the US State Department. At the time of his call he was the US Ambassador to Mexico. Had Gov. Alf Landon of Kansas defeated FDR in one presidential election Ambassador Clark would have been named Secretary of State in the Landon administration.

Christmas is a time of hope and peace yet sadly the message is lost upon so many in this land and this church. Perhaps, if nothing else we can agree at least to “pray constantly in faith” to restore peace again to all of Heavenly Father’s children.

Mitt and Mike -- Different sides of the same coin?

It seems a few of my friends and family members, (siblings, not my children), are exhibiting a religious prejudice or animosity toward Gov. Huckabee. Maybe it is payback for the decades even a century and a half of perceived ill treatment at the hands of the traditional Protestants and now the evangelicals towards Mormondom. I am certain it has something to do with Mitt’s slipping and Mike’s surging in the polls. It seems to me we have given Gov. Mike the same treatment many in Mormondom are unhappy about with the reception Mitt has received from Pat Robertson and many others on the right.

I wonder if Mike knows his Arkansas history very well. Do you suppose he knows about some others from Arkansas who came earlier to our mountain meadows a hundred and fifty years ago? Maybe we could dust off the welcome mat for Mike and see what he is about before we so easily dismiss him -- all the time complaining how the radical right has dissed Mitt.

Unlike Mitt, Mike seems to be a real guy and he is the same today as he was a few years ago when he was running for his state office. Mitt seems to have some credibility issues, i.e. who has talked with God, if any since Moses, and if he 'saw' his dad march with Dr. King among others

Catholics 1 -- Mormons 0

This in the Trib today may have been missed by some but it merits consideration. The Rev. John Wester, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, spoke before a business group in St. George recently. He said the real answer to closing chasms in the debate over immigration, is found "in changed policies and changed hearts. Whatever side you're on, pro or con [on immigration]. We need to bring a sense that we are all children of God." He made five points. Those points are:

1. Remember all people are God's children.
2. Show hospitality to family, friends and strangers and treat everyone with dignity.
3. Listen to people and realize each person has a story peculiar to his or her life.
4. Ensure churches are involved in the immigration debate because they are global in scope and vision.
5. Be generous and remember that to whom much is given, much is demanded.

Regrettably, I have not heard anything on this level of charity or compassion toward the undocumented in any LDS General Conference or over any pulpit in Mormondom.

Appropriate words for this Christmas Season and any time of the year.

A Christmas Card

John Adams on America and George W

Our second president observed this and it applies to our forty third and America in the 21st Century:

"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak, and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws."

Wal Mart and Child Abuse in China

A piece brought to light on Mother Jones News documents the abuses of Wal Mart and a Chinese Christmas ornament factory where children work in sweat shop conditions up to 15 hours a day and 7 days a week. They are paid 1/2 the Chinese minimum wage of 26 cents per hour. Wal Mart said they would investigate but they have done nothing to date. The conditions of this Wal Mart supplier were brought to light by sympathetic temporary Chinese high school workers who brought in cell phone cameras to take pictures of the abuse.

If you bought your ornaments at Wal Mart, take them back. Boycott this place that always offends and exploits always. As Americans perhaps we should better control our passion to consume which creates such a burden on the innocent and only fattens the purses of a few.

War and Children this Christmas

“Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay Close by me forever, and love me, I pray; Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, And fit us for Heaven to live with Thee there.” So the lyric goes for the 3rd stanza of the Christmas Hymn, ‘Away in a Manger’. That is my prayer for this little Iraqi boy and so many, many, others who are caught up in the ugliness of war.

Please God bless all these dear children wherever they are….

Chill Music for Eddie F.

What a pleasant discovery while watching a Long Island PBS affiliate last night. For the first time I heard and saw a very talented trumpeter, Chris Botti. I now have three albums downloaded on my IPod. He is to smooth jazz and the trumpet what Andrea Bocelli is to opera and vocal music. In fact, they perform a duet together on one of the albums. One critic quoted in Wiki said, "Botti's music was a cut above much of the 'outright elevator muzak genre' of Kenny G.... Botti is capable of a lot more." I never liked Kenny G and grew weary hearing it at a local restaurant in Bntfl. I no longer frequent.

Eddie, I hope you too have discovered Botti. His music is a powerful counteractant. Load up your IPod and let go of some Mormon weltschmerz even only for a few tracks.

The Legislature and Ancient Astronauts

It is with some dread that a few of us await the start of the next legislative session. Already the artists on the hill are at the drawing boards creating new looney toons. Let’s hope none pass as law. The Tribune published a piece (Trib article) about a bill that would deny worker’s comp to the undocumented. Many of these persons work in difficult circumstances and perform the work most of us gringos would reject.

Sadly, our congress has been unable to address the matter of immigration forcing states and even communities to shoulder the role of immigration enforcement.

Critics say this bill like so many others is flawed and too broad. The only ones it will hurt are those who are injured, their families as well as add to the burden of the hospital ER’s.

I wish the legislature would just confine their activities and debates to the topics of evolution, creationism, flat earth theories, the lost 10 tribes, ancient astronauts and maybe Sasquatch. Just leave the rest of us alone to live our lives.