There is a lot of confusion over exactly what the Word of Wisdom asks in regard to eating meat. Some, argue that the Word of Wisdom essentially commands that we only eat meat when plants are scare, such as they were in winter in the early 19th century, or during times of famine and therefore we should not be eating meat regularly and should instead have an almost or completely plant-based vegetarian diet. Having studied the Word of Wisdom and the rest of the Doctrine and Covenants on this topic, I have concluded that those arguments are incorrect. In this article I will demonstrate that, while the Lord warns us not to waste animal life because He will hold us accountable for each one we take, there is nothing in the scriptures, once correctly understood, which tells us that we should only eat meat in times of winter or famine. Indeed, repeatedly in the scriptures the Lord announces that He is pleased when we eat meat and that He created animals to be used by humans as sources of food and clothing.
Category: Life
Nonviolence in Early Christianity, Part 2
This is the second part in a series tracing the teaching of what we today call nonviolence in ancient Christianity after the end of the biblical era. I pick up where I left off in Part 1, in the mid-Second Century AD/CE and go all the way through the Third Century AD/CE. In the process I cover such topics as tribalism, nationalism, abortion, violence, the role of government, a Christian’s place in government, whether a Christian can hold political office or not, the military – both from the perspective of a soldier who converts to Christianity and a Christian who is thinking about joining the military, justice, political idolatry, the Second Amendment, gun ownership, natural rights, the universal nature of the Church and Christianity, and the hypocrisy of the world’s ideologies. The teaching of these ancient Christians carrying forth the ideals of Christ confront, counter, and dismantle the cunning craftiness of the world’s doctrines through the application of the truths of the Gospel.
The Psychological Origins of The State
Typically when discussing politics and the origins of political movements, countries, and ideas one defaults to history as a way to explain and understand what has happened in society. This obviously makes a great deal of sense as it helps us to see where some movement or idea has come from, how it has functioned in the past, how it is effecting the world today, and to theorize about what most likely will happen in the future due to its influence. But, as a means of actually understanding the whys and wherefores of these issues the historical method can only produce half answers. History cannot tell us what it is about the human condition that leads us to making the choices we do, it cannot explain what about the human mind leads us to doing the things that we do. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do so. In fact, I recently completed a series of articles looking at the origins of the State that does just that – it examines the psychological origins of the State, what about the human mind leads people towards Statism. This is a collection of those articles in a single place.
Why You Shouldn’t Vote
During the 2020 American Presidential Election I authored or shared three articles that explained why people in general, and Latter-day Saints specifically, should never vote, at least not in a statist political system where the victor will be able to use the violence of the government to force his ideas upon the masses. In these articles I address the unethical nature of voting, the effectivity of voting as a means to bring about real change in the world, and the ways that taking part in the system legitimizes and empowers it to do evil and immoral things in your name, encouraging and commanding people obey politicians violates the laws of God as a matter of the government’s standard operation procedure. This page acts as a place where I have collected those articles in one easily accessed source for future reference.
The Origins of The God-State
There are many historical works on the rise of the modern State and the origins of its power. Many of them trace the development of the modern state from the end of the Medieval all the way up through the present day, drawing attention to how particular national and global crises – mostly wars and economic collapses – have resulted in the growth of the power of the centralized state as a solution to these problems.
As with all history, understanding these facts is very important to understanding how we got to where we are today. But in answering how they all too often neglect the why things are the way they are today.
Why is it that people have turned to the State for temporal and material salvation?
Why is it that men and women lavish religious levels of adoration and faith upon the State and its operatives?
Why is it that people have given it so much power?
What about humans and the way we think has convinced us, seemingly en masse, to turn to the State for salvation?
Using the writings of eminent psychologist Dr. Carl Jung, I try here to answer these questions; I answer not how the God-State came to be, but why humans have created the God-State in the first place.
The Hope, Dreams, and Realities of Christmas
Christmas Day is a day replete with meanings. The birth of the child Jesus was also the birth of Christ the Savior and the Nativity cannot be separated from the Crucifixion or the Resurrection in its meaning and purpose. And because it is so connected to the Atonement it is also connected to all the hopes, dreams, and fears that lurk in the minds of men and which they act out in their lives for good and ill. The Nativity is therefore rich and deep in meaning for all people a sit holds the promise of all the light, joy, healing, and eternal exaltation that Christs promises to all the world, not only those who follow Him. It is the promise of life immortal to all and life eternal for all. And that is always worth celebrating.
Christians, Guns, and Killing in Self-Defense
In the United States guns are an inescapable part of everyday life. Depending on what state you live in you could be surrounded by people either carrying a gun secretly or openly. Even outside the USA it is a rare country that doesn’t glorify its military and soldiers as armed heroes of the nation who do the work of fighting and killing which all within the country’s borders. The entertainment of the world is awash with violent heroes whose solutions to the problems of the world is to kill anyone who stands in their way and not even ask questions about it later. They’re just assumed to be right. Everywhere we turn violence is idolized as the ideal and justified in endless ways. But are these ways of the world also the ways of Christ?
The short answer is no, they are not. A Christian should reject killing, even in self-defense, and should instead rely upon the power of God as the only true source of safety one can have in the world. Guns, bullets, and bombs will never keep you safe. They are merely idols whose worship demands human sacrifice – your life or theirs. Instead of of focusing on killing or getting vengeance upon his or her enemy the Christian should be working to forgive and redeem his or her enemy.
The Lockdowns Are Killing Us
We have repeatedly been told that if you do not support the state ordered lockdowns then you oppose science, hate your grandparents, and want people to die. Well, the results of the lockdowns are starting to become too obvious for this delusion to hold up. Reality is setting in and no matter of vitriolic propaganda or perpetuated ignorance can disguise the truth any longer. The lockdowns have devastated the mental health of millions of people and suicides are skyrocketing across the planet. The fear, terror, and anxiety induced by the vulgar and ignorant media coverage of the virus coupled with the government ordered lockdowns which have turned billions of free people into prisoners in their own home have resulted in mass riots in dozens of cities all over the Earth. The elderly are dying from the misery and isolation caused by the lockdowns and have started protesting, demanding their rights to see their loved ones returned. Scientific studies are being released that prove the lockdowns didn’t reduce deaths from Covid-19 no matter how strict the procedures were, meaning the lockdowns have only killed people. Challenges to the legality of the lockdowns and the ability to enforce them have begun to spring up. No matter where you look, one thing is again and again proven an absolute fact: the lockdowns are a complete failure that have done nothing but destroy lives and kill people and must be ended immediately, without delay.
The Complexity of Existence and the Reality of God
The prophet Alma taught that “all things denote that there is a God.” The very complexity of the Universe, of the possible Multiverse, and the narrow, impossible odds against such existing complexity and the random development of any life at all, much less the complex and intelligent life of Earth, suggests that all of it did not simply spring out of the ether as part of a continuous cascade of impossibilities. The most logical and reasonable conclusion that can be reached once one begins to take into account all that we have learned about existence (and considers all which we have no idea or understanding of) is that this all is no accident. There is a Designer who has guided and created this Universe upon the exact principles necessary for which existence to flourish and life to develop. Today’s article is an introduction to the scientific evidence which leads to the most logical conclusion of how everything came to be how it is – that it was designed this way by a Creator, a God.
When We Should Break The Law
From our earliest days, when the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum suffered in Liberty Jail and died in Carthage Jail, to the Saints spending nearly 30 years resisting Federal anti-polygamy laws, practicing civil disobedience and being willing to go to prison in order to serve God, on down to the modern day we have examples of the lives of great Saints who have repeatedly broken the laws of the land in order to do what is right and to serve God. Latter-day Saint history is full of rebels and rogues, people who would rather be exiled from the nation, who would rather be killed, than disobey the Lord. So how is it that so many of us have become so milquetoast about standing up the government tyranny? Why is it that so many of us think that the Saints should “strictly obey the laws of the government in which they live,” even when such laws aren’t just wrong or immoral, but even when said laws actively compel us either to disobey God or punish us for obeying Him? While there are numerous reasons, one of the largest is because Latter-day Saints have misinterpreted the Twelfth Article of Faith, D&C 58:21, and D&C 134:5 as giving commandments to the Saints to obey the law and to comply even with evil laws. A close examination of these scriptures though, as I attempt here, show that such interpretations are, by the large, gross nonsense.