Friday, June 18, 2010

Why Can't We All Get Along?

If there's one thing that bothers me, and there are plenty of things that bother me, it's people demanding tolerance while showing intolerance. What I mean by this is that there are people out there who want, even demand, that people accept them and their beliefs. There is nothing wrong with that, except for maybe the demanding part. There's no sense in demanding that people accept you because you can't control what other people think or do.

What is wrong with this is these same people who want to be accepted, immediately point a finger and announce "racist" or "discrimination" to those who disagree. Certainly, not everyone is like that. There are plenty of people who will be respectful of others' beliefs no matter how different those beliefs are from their own. It seems to be a growing trend though to point fingers and react violently toward people who aren't "forward thinking" enough.

What's wrong about this way of thinking and action should be obvious, but apparently it isn't. The best way of describing why pointing fingers and being intolerant of others while demanding tolerance from them is by asking this question, "Why would you expect people to respect you and your beliefs if you don't respect what other people believe?" We each have the right to express our views, especially when they differ. No one has the right to force their opinions on someone else or rather no one has the right to make someone else believe the same thing as another.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Great Book!

When I read books, I read a lot of books. I have currently 5 books that I've started reading and have yet to finish. That's not including reading General Conference talks and the scriptures. There are some of those 5 books that I haven't picked up in months. The reason for so many books is that most of the books that I'm reading are informational books so they're a little harder to get through in one sitting. There's also the fact that there are just so many good books that I want to read so I try to, at the same time. I wanted to mention one in particular that I just picked up again. It's called, Just and Holy Principles: Latter-Day Saint Readings on America and the Constitution.

This book was actually a required book for my American Heritage class at BYU. I kept the book after the class was over, because I thought that it'd be a good book to keep. I saw it in my bin of books that my mom brought with her when she visited. I've been thinking a lot lately about the Constitution and was really excited to read what prophets, apostles, and other church authorities have said about America and the Constitution.

I've only made it to the prologue, because it's amazing. I kept reading parts to Ashton yesterday and we'd talk about it. Then we switched books and he read parts to me from Ezra Taft Benson, Wilford Woodruff, Dallin H. Oaks, and others. I couldn't believe how right on they were about what we'd be facing, or what we were facing and what we continue to face. It really shouldn't amaze me, because these are inspired men, but it was like they were here and, of course, some of them are, like Elders Dallin H. Oaks and Jeffrey R. Holland. They talk about communism, socialism, the separation of church and state, the Constitution, and other topics.

There are so many good quotes that I could pull out from the book. There are so many that I want to share because they address problems that we are facing. One of the sections that impressed me was President Ezra Taft Benson's talks. Among other things, President Benson talked about 5 principles that are basic to understanding the Constitution. He talked about the principle of agency. We have the right to choose for ourselves and not be forced into "government guaranteed security programs" (117, 119-120). The next principle is the proper role of government in which he quotes Doctrine and Covenants section 134 verses 1-2 and 5. The third principle is the source of human rights. God gave us our rights, not the government. It even says so in our Declaration of Independence. The next two principles go hand in hand and I want to quote them.

"The fourth basic principle we must understand is that people are superior to the governments they form. Since God created people with certain inalienable rights, and they, in turn, created government to help secure and safeguard those rights, it follow that the people are superior to the creature they created.

The fifth and final principle that is basic to our understanding of the Constitution is that governments should have only limited powers. The important thing to keep in mind is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves, have in the first place. Obviously, the cannot give that which they do not possess.

By deriving its just powers from the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft, and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property nor to force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will. Government is created by the people. No individual possesses the power to take another's wealth or to force others to do good, so no government has the right to do such things either. The creature cannot exceed the creator (120-121)."

(These principles came from President Benson's talk The Constitution - A Heavenly Banner on September 16, 1986).

I think the role of government has gotten way too big. It's a big problem when the government is creating more jobs than the private sector, not to mention spending way more money than we have. We're paying for those government jobs, bailouts, and everything else the government does. The creature, the government, is exceeding the creator, us, and that needs to stop.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Weekend Full of Fun

It was a long weekend, but a fun one. We started by celebrating my birthday on Saturday. I realized Saturday that this is my last year of early twenties. Then Ashton pointed out that this was his last year of twenties. That made me feel better. Ashton did a good job of picking out my presents and I only guessed one of them so he was pretty happy about that. It doesn't get much better than a Spain World Cup jersey and two music books for the piano, especially since it was the music for Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. We got to spend some time with his family too since they were up for the weekend and the Bolder Boulder which was yesterday. We finished off the day with dinner at Red Robin and watching soccer at home. While we were at Red Robin, Ashton asked me if he should tell the server why we were there. Thankfully, the server wasn't there to overhear. I had to remind Ashton that if he did that, his birthday was next and that I'd have no problem telling the people at whatever restaurant that we went to that it was his birthday. He really does not like it when people at restaurants sing to him. He looked a little sad after that and said that sometimes he wished that his birthday was first. I'm not. He didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday so I didn't have to sit through people singing to me. Ashton did sing to me later so that was fun.

Sunday was just nice day at church and then at home. I actually got to see some people from Maine, too! That was a surprise for both of us. They were in Colorado visiting family and their family happened to be in my ward! It was fun to see them and catch up a bit.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day up at Ashton's aunt's house hanging out with family. They allowed us to bring Dusty with us so she got to participate in the festivities too! The kids loved her, although they were a little scared at first. Dusty was very good with them although I'm sure she would have liked them better if they had fed her. It was fun to see everyone and hang out.

Today is our 3 year anniversary! We probably won't do anything too special for it since Ashton actually has to make up the hours he got off yesterday. That was kind of a lame deal since the building was probably closed for Memorial Day so he couldn't work (and didn't really want to), but he didn't qualify to get holiday pay. In any case, I'm glad that he's such a hard worker and willing to make up the hours so we don't have to take the hit in pay. I love my hubby and so happy that we've been married for 3 years. Here's to many more!