Why liberty is so important? Why does it matter to us today? Why wouldn’t we want those in power to “fix” the world for everyone even if it means trading our freedom in for subservience to the social and political agenda of those in power? What is liberty to begin with? How do I even know if I am losing it or not? By the end of this article, I will have done three things. First, I will have expanded on what the nature of liberty is in greater detail, so we know exactly what we are talking about. Secondly, I will then provide an analysis of why liberty is so unpopular in our modern age. Finally, I will offer an argument for why liberty should be more popular and why it should be embraced by all people.
Author: William H. Douglas
The Christian Origins of Individual Freedom
What does it mean to be free? How do you protect liberty? What role, if any, does the government and/or religion play in liberty, either in protecting it or degrading it? These are important questions that we need the answers to if we are to realize our potential as individuals and peoples. In order to understand what freedom is, how we gain it, how we preserve it, and how to increase it in the future, we must know the history of the ideas of liberty. All of those things is what this article is all about.
Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young Teach That People Live on The Moon and The Sun?
In their never ending efforts to discredit the Latter-day Restoration of the Gospel anti-Mormons search for any information they can find to make the prophets sound crazy, because if you can discredit them then you can discredit the work they did. Among the accusations that are hurled at early Church leaders is that Joseph Smith taught that the Moon is inhabited by people and that Brigham Young believed that beings lived on the Sun. In this article I will present the sources for these accusations in full (as opposed to the incomplete and partial quoting that anti-Mormons usually use) and place these quotations in their historical context, showing what people from the most respected scientific minds to the most common laborer believed about possible life on the Moon and Sun. Once I have done so I will demonstrate that nothing that Joseph Smith or Brigham Young said or believed was incongruent with the scientific knowledge of their day and that their statements do not disprove or discredit the Restoration of the Gospel or the veracity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
What Were The Political Views of J.R.R. Tolkien?
Dr. J.R.R. Tolkien is the most important fantasy writer in all of history and the most important writer of the 20th century. His two most famous works – “The Hobbit” and its sequel trilogy “The Lord of The Rings” – are the foundation of the entire fantasy genre. The themes and ideas of his writings have captivated people for almost a century now and nowhere is his keen insight into the nature of humanity, history, and society better demonstrated than in his writings about government and what we would today called the State. Tolkien in his own private letters identified himself as an anarchist. In this article I will be exploring exactly what he meant by calling himself an anarchist, why we should be paying attention to his insights about government, and the economic ideals he championed, which are fundamentally free market in nature. Using his public works and his private letters as sources, I will demonstrate that Tolkien was, in modern terms, an anarcho-capitalist.
G.K. Chesterton’s Insights Into Mormonism and Polygamy
Being mocked in the news media is nothing new for Latter-day Saints. It has been a constant part of our history since the Restoration commenced. What is rare is having non-member critics whose insight is keen enough to help even Latter-day Saints understand our faith. Just such a rare example is famed Roman Catholic essayist and writer G.K. Chesterton’s 1911 article, “Mormonism.”
Not only does Chesterton’s insight help Latter-day Saints better understand the origins of plural marriage/polygamy and why it is part of the Restoration of All Things, but he offer other keen insights as well. In this short article he ably dissects the false tolerance that dominates in the present day. He also correctly explains that if you want to understand people and history you have to understand the religion that provides the basis for the actions individuals and societies engage in. In so short an article there is great depth here that applies to the current era of history.
“Salem’s Lot” – The State is a Vampire
In this LDS Book Review I review one of Stephen King’s earliest and best novels – the vampire horror story, “Salem’s Lot.” Printed in 1975, “Salem’s Lot” tells the story of a ragtag group of small town folk as they fight against a powerful source of true evil, the Master Vampire Kurt Barlow as he converts the town of Jerusalem’s Lot into vampires. The story contains numerous themes that stand out to a person of faith – including battling against true evil as Barlow isn’t just a vampire but he is specifically a worshipper of Satan and sacrifices at least one human child to the Lord of Flies in the book. This novel also has some powerful things to say about government and the State. So in this review I don’t just review the book I also explore what it means to compare the State to vampirism as the book does, the true meaning of religion as a cosmic force, and the conflict between God and the government. The story of “Salem’s Lot” couldn’t be a more apt metaphor for what the State does to individuals and society and what we must do to drive a stake through the heart of the State and reclaim our individuality and liberty.
What Mormon Women Had To Say About Polygamy – The Great Indignation Meeting
The discussion of plural marriage and the practice of polygamy among the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dominated by a lot of ignorance, error, and anti-Mormon lies. While it is no surprise that non-members would believe these things the degree to which members of the church view polygamy as oppressive, anti-woman, and abusive is shocking and depressing. In an effort to correct these lies I have appealed directly to the words of the women who lived polygamy themselves and what they had to say about their lives. For that I turned to the printed account of The Great Indignation Meeting, a mass protest meeting held by the women of Utah in 1870 wherein they declared the ways that polygamy elevated them in society and protected their rights, denounced federal efforts to violate their human rights by making polygamy unconstitutional, and announced that they would rather die than submit to the oppressive laws of the government that would deny them their rights to plural marriage. The words of these powerful and intelligent women absolutely demolish the lies of anti-Mormons and promote the truths of the Restored Gospel.
What Does Mormonism Teach About The Meaning of Life and Life on Other Worlds?
What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose behind Creation? Why am I here? Am I alone here? Are humans alone in the Universe? Is their life, intelligent life, on other worlds? If there is, what do they look like? What do they believe? How do they live? Is everything just one big cosmic accident, one great big empyrean joke?
These are some of the most meaningful and important questions that we ask ourselves. The Universe seems dark, chaotic, and full of impassable distances, and looming terrors. And it doesn’t give up its answers easily. But there are answers to our questions, a balm for our troubles, answers to our prayers.
There is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it answers all those questions and more. That is what this article is about.
What Christians Should Think of Memorial Day
Today I want to share a talk that a friend of mine delivered the Sunday before Memorial Day in 2017. He used Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s General Conference address, “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear,” to counter the endless bombardment of propaganda that takes place at this time. My friend told the truth about the pro-state, pro-military lies that inundate us, preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and focused on the Gospel’s demand that we renounce violence and fear as means to achieving our social, political, or economic ends. In turn he also talks about the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, the US military, the idolatry of worship weapons as if they can keep you safe, missionary work, serving our enemies, loving those who hate us, and the way to build Zion.
Stephen King’s Roadwork: A Parable of Life in a Fallen World and the Light of Hope
Using the lesser known but well written Stephen King novel, “Roadwork,” as a jumping off point, this article explores the vicissitudes of life and how it seems like mortality just piles suffering and pain on top of suffering and pain until we either are crushed under the weight, seek escape in mind-numbing hedonism, or snap and engage in retaliatory violence at the world that has so hurt us. I explore how this happens and why it happens, augmenting the fictional story with a real life example of Marvin Heemeyer, a man driven to the breaking point who struck back at his persecutors, and why we don’t need to similarly give in to such despair. There is a source of hope in the despair, a blinding light in the darkness that can rescue us from the suffering and depression in life. That Light is Jesus Christ which I explain as the solution and salvation to the problems of the world. There is a better way than either suffering or vengeance and the is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power it gives us to tame the monster within us and create a world of light and joy.