The history of the Church of Christ is full of men and women imprisoned for putting the Kingdom of God before the kingdom of men. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego, Peter James, John, Paul, Abinadi, the brothers Nephi and Lehi, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum the Patriarch, even the Savior Jesus Christ – all of them were imprisoned because they loved God more than men and were loyal to His commandments no matter what the laws of men said. All of there examples, and many more, prove the truth that no follower of Christ can ever expect to find justice in the courts of men. This address from Apostle Lorenzo Snow, on the eve of his imprisonment by the U.S. government for obeying God’s commandments is one of these stories about how a true Christian acts when the demands of men contradict the commandments of Christ.
Category: History
Brigham Young: Anti-Government Activist and First Wave Feminist
Reading through some of President Young’s sermons I have been astounded at the clarity with which he understood and addressed the threat of the State. He understood the threat of its so-called charity and he especially understood the role of public schools as indoctrination centers whose purpose was to implant loyalty and obedience into the minds of children form a tender age. He also clearly understood the threat this indoctrination posed to the Church and the Restored Gospel. Those who would support public schools he labelled as miserable apostates. Openly.
Interwoven with this are his comments about the role of women in Latter-day Saint society. He consistently calls upon them to be self-independent, to be educated, and to take their place in the workforce of Utah. The only jobs that he saw as not being for women were strenuous physical jobs, otherwise he declared a woman could perform any work any man could. Which was remarkably radical for his day.
A Short History of the Horrific Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
There is nothing controversial or unclear about what is happening in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The only thing that makes it seem confusing is the amount of pure lies and propaganda which are constantly spewed from the political and media talking heads who do everything they can to distort obvious facts into falsehoods which serve those in power. Here I provide a short review of the history of Israel and Palestine in order to dispel the dark mists of deceit which surround this issue and establish what has and is happening in the so-called Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
All The Evidence You Need That War Is Evil
After 21 years of the War on Terror, we have to ask what actually has been accomplished? As the Taliban, the governing powers that the United States supposedly ousted in 2001 after it invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, retake the entire nation within a matter of weeks, you have to ask what has been sacrificed on such an obviously failed policy and was it worth it?
This article is dedicated to answering that question and more. Here I chart out the cost in money, material, and men – in human lives – what the cost of the War on Terror has been, why it has been an utter failure, how it has caused lasting harm to American society while devastating millions abroad, how it has actually resulted in more terrorism, and what we can actually do to decrease the threat of terrorism in the world. The War on Terror has been an absolute horror, an international abattoir, and an utter failure. Here is the proof.
Modern Nations Are Founded On Human Sacrifice
When we look at the people of the past we often react in horror at their actions and question how any people of any age could be so barbaric or cruel. In comparison we imagine ourselves to be so much more refined, progressive, and civilized. We imagine we are simply better than them. The truth is that for all our pretensions, technological improvements, and delusions of grandeur, modern humans are barely any different than our ancestors. We are just as violent, barbaric, and brutal. We are just as cruel. We are just as bloodthirsty. And in no way is this more obvious than the mass, universal prevalence and acceptance of human sacrifice.
Did Early Mormons Practice Socialism?
Here I use the writings of one of the most intelligent men to be a General Authority – President J. Reuben Clark – and his insightful examination of the Law of Consecration as explained in the scriptures, his evaluation of the historical practices of the early church, and the importance of private property, and the modern Church Welfare Program all to answer a singular important question:
Did early Latter-day Saints practice Socialism in Missouri and Utah?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: “Live Not By Lies”
How do we resist the government? After all, it is many and we (or I) am few. How can anyone possibly alter the course of the state? How can anyone challenge the power of the government and force it to back down?
What can one person do?
This article answers that question. Here is the one thing you can do to effectively and meaningfully challenge the authority of the state and effect change in the world around you.
The Truth About the Mormon Pioneers
If you pay attention Latter-day Saint history you can pinpoint the era in which American nationalism eclipsed the truth of our past as refugees and immigrants subjected to ethnic cleansing and oppression by the American state and American people. It is the point in which those first generations began to die and their grandchildren were being born, when the myth of the Mormon American pioneer developed as a way to legitimize the Saints in the eyes of and integrate the Saints into a society that had always hated and oppressed them. Here I attempt to recapture at least part of the truth of our past and address the dangers of this myth and false tradition of our fathers to us as a people.
That Time When Brigham Young Absolutely Demolished Young Earth Creationism
In writing my last two articles refuting some erroneous ideas and false doctrines about the creation and age of the Earth, I cam across a rather fantastic address by President Brigham Young from 1871. In it he teaches that there is no antagonism between science and religion. This is especially true for “Mormonism” as our faith embraces all truth from wherever it comes as part of it. Science and religion are both ways that God makes known the truths that He wants His children to know. His specific comments on the Creation and Age of the Earth do a great deal to dismiss the idea that the Earth is only 7,000 years old and that it was created in six literal days. This address will be enlightening to everyone who reads it.
The Mormon Pioneers Were Refugees and Illegal Immigrants
Pioneer Day is today. Celebrating the first time a company of Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley to permanently settle there, it is the closest thing we Latter-day Saints have to our own church holy day (holiday.) But there is a lot to this story that we don’t tell on Pioneer Day, a lot of our history and precious truth that we leave on the cutting room floor. For example: The pioneers weren’t really pioneers. They were really refugees illegally immigrating into Mexico in order to escape the decades of pogroms, ethnic cleansings, exterminations, and genocide they had suffered in the United States. This article is an attempt to tell this story of our spiritual and literal ancestors so that we can apply to real lessons of our history to the world we live in today and make it a better place, a more Christ-like place, a Zion-place.