#BLINDOBEDIENCE

Almost anyone who might accidentally stumble on this humble blog would know that Mormon president Russell Nelson has asked his followers to spend a week giving thanks. He feels this will turn the tide on the world's problems and create healing.

I think a 96 year old has come up with a ridiculous idea and apparently no one at Mormon Inc. has the ability to make him see the obvious...

This is already the time of year when people give thanks...it is called Thanksgiving.

What is next up on the false prophet agenda?

Extra days of Christmas? If we go back to the 12 days of Christmas will Covid go away? If Mormons everywhere buy a partridge in a pear tree will evil be stopped in its tracks?

More New Year's resolutions? If all Mormons make more goals they do not keep for 2021 will it be a better year than 2020?

Will the Mormon Church allow drinking one day a year on St. Patrick's day in the hopes that its members can more closely bond with potential Irish converts?

How about more eggs at Easter? More fireworks on the 4th of July? More candy at Halloween?

All of these things are ridiculous I know, but not any more so absurd as giving thanks at Thanksgiving and calling it a revelation from a prophet.

I have also noticed that not many Mormons are giving thanks for JESUS the savior of this planet.

They like to focus on family. Families that will all go to Hell without JESUS and a laser-like focus on Him.

Here is my list of things I am grateful for every damn day...

I am grateful for the Most High GOD who came up with a way that others could become like Him (but still answer to Him).

I am grateful for Jesus Christ, the true son of the Most High God, who suffered immensely in a superhuman effort to save sinners like me.

I am grateful for the knowledge that salvation is between and individual and GOD, and not between families and middle-men like bishops, stake presidents, and general authorities.

I am grateful for the last prophet to walk the earth, Joseph Smith, and his equally noble wife Emma, and for the too easily overlooked brother Hyrum for all of their sacrifices to get a restoration of truth started in the 1800s.

I am grateful for the knowledge that the Holy Ghost is really the Holy Spirit and is NOT a personage. It is the influence of GOD that fills the immensity of space.

I am grateful that the Holy Spirit helped a hard-headed fool like me to leave a religion that prided itself on its specialness, and did almost nothing to help poor and needy people in the world.

I can never repay JESUS for what HE has done for me, and I will forever be in his debt.

If you are going to give extra thanks this thanksgiving, the only things that you could never be grateful enough for would be the life and Atonement of Jesus Christ and the incredible unselfishness of the Most High God!

Joseph Smith's Message of Love and Hope for the World

 If I were a billionaire I would pay to have every person on the planet receive the following information. Since I am a "thousandaire" I will use the limited tools at my disposal. 

According to a prophet of God, Joseph Smith, Life is a no-lose proposition. 

GOD wins by giving His children a vehicle to experience the consequences of good and evil.

We win by learning the difference.

We win just by having the experience. 

GOD wins by seeing who loves Him when He is not around.

Stop believing the false dichotomy of heaven/hell or good/bad or win/lose. 

Live the rest of your life by trying to learn as much as possible and serve as many people as you can. 

Trust GOD. He is real. He loves you. 

There is nothing you can do to stop Him from loving you. 

Stop trying to earn your way into Heaven.

Stop comparing your righteousness with those around you. 

We are all sinners. That is no excuse to sin.

We are all potential divine beings, but that is no excuse to think you are better than anyone else. 

Start loving others and yourself. Most of all love GOD.

GOD wants to be in a relationship with you regardless of your past choices.

He is waiting for you to reciprocate His love so He can make you whole again.

All of these ideas have been stolen from Blake Ostler's book

Fire on the Horizon: A Meditation on the Endowment and Love of Atonement

I am not smart enough or spiritual enough to come up with any of these concepts on my own.

41,456 Extra Dead Americans (and Counting)

There has been a lot of criticism of Sweden's supposedly lax approach to Covid-19. While the vast majority of the planet has been employing lockdowns out of fear, Sweden has not. Initially the Swedes had lots of cases of Covid and apparently a lot of deaths relating to it. Just ask CNN.

As of October 31. 2020 the death rate per one million people in Sweden is 587.

The death rate in the United States is 712. 

If you subtract 587 from 712 you get 125.

If you multiply 125 times 331.65 (there are 331,653.000 people in the US) you get 41,456.

That number is only going to go up. Sweden's death rate will go up a little and the US's will go up a lot. 

Apparently Sweden cares more about their people than the media portrays.

We may all need to move to Sweden in order to avoid tyranny and literal death.

JESUS the Messiah

Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Atheists, and Agnostics have only one critical thing in common...

Each group needs JESUS or they will go to Hell and suffer for their own sins.

You do not need to read the Bible to find JESUS, but it helps. As CHRIST pointed out to the Jewish experts on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) there is no salvation in scripture study. The scriptures point to JESUS.

You do not need to read the Book of Mormon, but it helps immensely. There is no salvation in reading it, but it is filled with people being saved by relying on "one Jesus Christ, a son of God."

You do not need to accept that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but he did assist in bringing forth a lot of information that points to CHRIST. There is no saving power in Joseph Smith. He was a man almost infinitely more righteous than I am, but he cannot save you. Joseph knew better than most that JESUS is the center of salvation and everything else a mere appendage.

You do not need to join a church, and religion probably is a hindrance on the path to GOD. You can find CHRIST while religious, but it makes it harder. 

JESUS was not just a being who did some awe-inspiring miracles. He brought people back from the physical grave, to show He had power to bring people back from a spiritual death.

JESUS was not just the smartest person that ever lived with dozens of great stories that even a child could understand. He is way, the truth, and the life.

JESUS was not just the best teacher in history, He is the model of a saved person.

JESUS is not just the son of GOD, He is a GOD.

JESUS is the only way to salvation. 

To take a quote from The Shawshank Redemption and modify it for our purposes here:

"Get busy repenting and finding CHRIST, 

or get ready to spend some time with Satan."

Tricking a Virus: Refer to previous post for an update

 I added some ideas to the end of my previous post. You can decide if it is better or worse.

Combination = Alliance Part 2: Fear can fool a virus

Just in case there is someone even lazier than I am that reads this blog, I submit the following discovery.

After waiting 45 years to look up the word "combination", as in "secret combination" from the BOM, I caved and used dictionary.com.

Just as the title explains a combination can be an alliance. I always guessed it was something like that, but now I am sure Gadiaton and Kishkumen and company had a covert alliance. Their goal was power, kind of like all the fools running this world right now...with the exception of those sensible Swedes.

That last sentence is NOT ironic. Sweden understands that a global virus is a "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later" conundrum. The Swedes have wisely opted to not destroy their country in a misguided attempt to trick a virus into not infecting anyone. The foolish leaders of the rest of the world are now dealing with crippled economies and the continued rise in Covid cases. Most importantly the death rate goes up in the land of wishful thinking (US) and the death rate has flat-lined in Sweden. There are vastly fewer hospitalizations in Sweden than the US. 

This is kind of like the gospel. We can repent now and avoid having to pay for our sins later. JESUS has already paid for those sins, and it would be eternally tragic to waste his infinite efforts to save us. 

That would be dumber than trying to think a virus will go away if everyone stays inside.

A Desolating Scourge

desolate (verb) desolated, desolating

1. to lay waste, devastate

2. to deprive of inhabitants, depopulate

There has been too much talk about Covid-19, and I am sorry to add to the total tonnage about this touchy subject. Some people are scared because their cousin died from it, and so they live in fear. Others do not know anyone who has succumbed to this virus, and so they party like it is 1999. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. 

I feel this is serious illness, but not serious enough to suspend common sense. I am an out of shape 55 year old, and I have not yet gotten it, and if I do, I might die. That would put me in the minority of humans. Most people who get it, do not die. I feel for those who suffered from this even if they did not die. I feel for the families of those left behind. 

I also feel for those who have lost loved ones to any other tragic end.  I had a sister die of complications from Celiac disease. I miss her, but I do not expect governments to take drastic measures to protect us from wheat. 

There has been some talk in the Mormon world that this virus is part of the calamities of the last days. I would agree that the power grabs by every country on the planet (except Sweden) might be a sign of things to come. I would disagree that the virus is a "desolating scourge."

Desolating does not mean killing part of a population, it means you eliminate everyone. The Jews were supposed to make the Land of Canaan desolate, and when they did not finish the job, they triggered their own eventual demise. 

I have never met GOD, and I obviously do not speak for Him. I am fairly certain that if there is a desolating scourge to come, it will kill everyone GOD targets. Not just old people, and not just 1 or 2 or 3 out of every 100 people would get it. Lots of people.

When GOD unleashes a scourge that makes desolate, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind what is happening. There will be no debate. 

GOD is patient, until He isn't. Covid is serious, but it is not the end of the world. Stop worrying about something you cannot control like a virus, and start focusing on repenting and finding GOD.