May

18

My son Luca is a Mormon missionary in the area (Cambridge) where a Mormon Church was burned down yesterday. In his weekly email to us, this morning, he wrote, among other things:

we had an investigator at the stake conference where we had a church building burn down, it was really sad, probably people will start saying that God burned it because it was not the true church…..

Luca is right. In fact, I was reading some of the comments to an article reporting what happened in Cambridge, and I found this comment:

God hath casted his awful verdict upon the heads of heretic! Repent or be astonished by his terrible anger, o you heathen!

And another:

How many signs do those people need?

I do not think they know yet the cause of the fire, but some people attribute to many things to God. The most probable reason was an accident, the second most probable reason was that someone -not God- did it on purpose.

To explain this kind of facts by saying that the wrath of God is on the Mormons, is the same like saying that God is responsible for killing thousands of innocent children every year around the world because of natural disasters or wars.

Probably there is another and more natural explanation.

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Apr

30

It seems like everybody is scared by this new swine flu. I suspect that in the days ahead there will be a lot more than swine flu to cause concerns. However, it is a good idea to take precautions. I have received an email that contained a link to this great video about swine flu. It is produced by stuffmadesimple.com. I think it is worthwhile to watch it.

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Apr

22

I try to avoid commenting politics in this blog, but what I read on CNN.com today made me laugh.

President Obama misinterpreted Cuban President Raúl Castro’s offer to start talks with the United States, Castro’s brother Fidel said Wednesday, appearing to dismiss the U.S. leader’s call for Cuba to release political prisoners…When the president of Cuba said he was ready to discuss any topic with the U.S. president, he meant he was not afraid of addressing any issue,” Castro wrote. “That shows his courage and confidence on the principles of the revolution.” (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/22/castro.cuba.obama/index.html).

What a different interpretation! “To be ready to discuss any topic” did not mean they were willing to make concessions or changes, but simply that they were ready to defend what they believe!

Foxnews.com on the same topics reported that,

The ex-president (Fidel Castro) had previously expressed his admiration for Obama, but this time Castro blasted the new U.S. president for showing signs of “superficiality.” (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/22/fidel-castro-obama-got-overture-wrong

Probably Obama thought it would be easier, or perhaps Obama, as many other leaders in all kind of organizations, thought that his predecessors were not smart enough, or were not following the proper principles in solving a problem. I do not have enough knowledge to suggest policies, but I was not surprised by this turn of events.

I am sure that Obama will change many of his campaign promises when faced with reality, as all leaders need to do. But some do it better than others. We will all see what Obama will do in this and other situations. I wish him well, for the good of the US and the world.

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Mar

25

This is another great video from David on youtube. I was baptized in the LDS (Mormon) Church in 1985 and a few months after my baptism President Spencer W. Kimball passed away and Ezra Taft Benson became the new president. So, he was the prophet of my first years in the Church and I some of his talks had a great influence in my life, such as Flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon and Beware of Pride.

I had never heard the talk contained in this video, but it is worthwhile to listen to this prophet warning us of the dangers facing America (and many other nations).

This videos was inspired to help wake up members of the LDS Church to the dangers they face in America, as seen over 40 years ago by President Ezra Taft Benson.  i have the impression that now things are lot worse and we should all get our homes in order in preparation of the approaching PORTENT storm that Pres.Hinckley warned us about in 1998.

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Mar

19

I need to be honest and say that when I first heard a talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley about pornography in a Mormon General Conference, A Tragic Evil among US,  I thought, “doesn’t he have anything more interesting or uplifting to talk about?” However, I noticed in the following months and years that he and other general authorities kept talking about this topic.

The first time I considered pursuing a PhD in Marriage, Family, and Human Development at BYU, Truman Madsen, the man who first suggested the idea to me, among other things said something like this: “the institution of the family and families in our society are not just having more troubles than in the past, they are in free fall”. It was a shocking idea to me at that time, especially because I had been in the US for only a couple of years, and too busy with school, to realize how bad the situation was in this country. Not that in other countries were a lot better, but as a non-American non-Utah Mormon, I still was under the illusion that here people knew better….

Now, a few more years have passed, and I am realizing every day more that our beloved Prophet was – and how could he not be? – very inspired in talking about this sad topic, and I am beginning to realize that pornography is one of the main reasons of this free fall. Truly, addiction to pornography is more of a symptom than the cause of the problem, but in this case one strengthen the other, especially in the case of young people.

Adults may have a hard time to protect themselves from this addiction, but children and teenagers are really too vulnerable to fight the war alone.

I was reading yesterday a book by Mark B. Kastleman, The drug of the new millennium. It is a very eye opening books, in spite of being sad at times to know more about the current situation. Among other very useful information, I was struck by this passage, about certain organizations that promote free access to pornography for children:

Organizations such as the ACLU and the American Libray Association propose that children ought to have the same rights of unrestricted access to Internet pornography that adults have. Are they serious? If they are, then they either do not understand the devastation pornography wreaks on a child’s or teen’s brain, or they do understand the impact and are completely, and irresponsibly, hardened and aloof to it. They are so narrowly focused on total unrestricted freedom that they cannot see the forest for the tree, and our children will suffer greatly as a result. (It is interesting to note in John Harmer’s book, A War We Must Win, that the ACLU receives substantial funding from the pornography promoters and producers in Hollywood).

It’s all about money. I can’t believe that these people do not understand the problem, but money speaks  louder and they sell thelmselves and an entire generation for money. We really need to listen to the prophets and work hard to protect ourselves and our families, but we need to recognize that there are powerful forces, coming straight from hell, that work in the opposite direction, and that will not stop pursuing their goals. Really we are in the last days, and we need to be prepared and fight the war.

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Feb

25

Today on CNN.com there was an article about life on other planets.

As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there’s new buzz that “Star Trek’s” vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched. Pointy-eared aliens traveling at light speed are staying firmly in science fiction, but scientists are offering fresh insights into the possible existence of inhabited worlds and intelligent civilizations in space. There may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution and author of the new book “The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets.” (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/25/galaxy.planets.kepler/index.html)

According to the Catholic church, a long time ago, the earth was the center of the universe, and Galileo Galilei has a hard time trying to tell the Pope that probably that was not true.

Once it became clear that the Earth was merely one planet amongst countless bodies in the universe, the extraterrestrial idea moved towards the scientific mainstream.

In wikipedia we read that

The Catholic Church has not made a formal ruling on existence of extraterrestrials (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life).

What about other religions? Again, I read in Wikipedia that

Authors of Jewish sources also considered extraterrestrial life. The Talmud states that there are at least 18,000 other worlds, but provides little elaboration on the nature of those worlds, or on whether they are physical or spiritual…

Within Islam, the statement of the Qur’an “All praise belongs to God, Lord of all the worlds” indicates multiple universal bodies, and maybe even multiple universes, which may indicate extraterrestrial and even extradimensional life…

According to Hindu scriptures, there are innumerable universes created by God to facilitate the fulfillment of the separated desires of innumerable living entities. However, the purpose of such creations is to bring back the deluded souls to correct understanding about the purpose of life. Aside from the innumerable universes which are material, there is also the unlimited spiritual world, where the purified living entities live with perfect conception about life and ultimate reality.

However, nothing is more clear about the existence of infinite and populated worlds than the LDS (Mormon) scriptures.

In the Book of Moses, in the Pearl of Great Price, we read about a vision in which God explains to Moses that

And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease…

And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof…

And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten..

But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them (Book of Moses, 1:4;29:33;35)

Since the beginning Mormon theology has been clear about the existence of other worlds and other people. However, since they are all sons and daughters of God, I strongly doubt that they will look like some of those strange extraterrestrial in “Star Trek”. Moreover, based on this last verse, I suppose that we will never be able to find them, until at least the beginning of the Millennium, after the Savior will come back on this earth. Then He will probably reveal all that we need to know about life on other plantes.

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Nov

19

It has been suggested by some that Mormons (and other Christians) hate gays because they worked hard to support Proposition 8 in Califronia, but this is not a fair accusation and misses completely the point.

Mormons believe in loving all mankind and to do well even to their enemies. However, loving our enemies does not mean to agree with wrong ideas, even if they are popular or politically correct. This is the reason because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints decided to support this legal fight to protect marriage.

I quote below a few parts of a very interesting article from Meridian Magazine written by Paul Bishop, a thirty-one year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who describes what happened after Proposition 8 was voted in California

The controversy in California regarding Proposition 8 built to a frenzy in the days leading up to Tuesday’s election and then exploded into anger and violence in the aftermath of Prop 8’s slim passage into law (52.5% to 47.5%)…. Exit polls showed the proposition was supported by 7 of 10 Black voters, a majority of Latino voters, and by people with children under the age of 18 still at home. Clearly, it was supported by all people who believed marriage is a special and protected institution.

Many supporters of Proposition 8 were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and they worked hard to promote their cause – not out of homophobic hatred, but out of a love of Christ and a belief in the sanctity of traditional marriage.

Many of those who opposed Proposition 8 reacted to the defeat by accusing Mormon of hatred. However, Mormons simply believe that marriage was instituted by God and that should be between a man and a woman and used legal means to defend their belief (and they were not the only one, or the only church involved, by the way).

On the other hand, some of the demonstrations against the Church by supporter of gay marriage seem to be motivated by hatred and they singled out the Mormon Church.

These are a few pictures taken outside the Mormon temple that illustrate well this point.

Challenges to our faith are not new. Nor are they likely to go away anytime soon. But, as Elder Hales reminds us,

True disciples of Christ see opportunity in the midst of opposition. We can take advantage of such opportunities in many ways: a kind letter to the editor, a conversation with a friend, a comment on a blog, or a reassuring word to one who has made a disparaging comment. We can answer with love those who have been influenced by misinformation and prejudice – who are ‘kept from the truth because they know not where to find it’ (D&C 123:12). I assure you that to answer our accusers in this way is never weakness. It is Christian courage in action.

I agree with Paul Bishop that there are several lessons that can be learned from the current unrest:

Tolerance is not agreement and should not be a one way street. However, we must still remain tolerant of those who are intolerant of us.

Recognize the adversary at work here – making good seem bad and evil seem good.

We can only be disciples of Christ when we respond to adversity in a Christlike manner. To do less opens our actions to the influence of the adversary and hurts us even more.

We should never take for granted the opportunities we have to gather together in worship. We should never put off the opportunity to attend the temple. For these valuable things can be disrupted and possibly even closed to us – if not permanently, then at least on a temporary basis.

Pray. Often. Don’t forget to include those who are set against you.

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Nov

17

Yesterday I was attending my Sunday school class in my ward (Portuguese speaking ward) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) and it was mentioned a time when, in Brazil, a school teacher had asked the students to present themselves by telling their names, interests, which church they were attending, and a few other things.

That story, to all people present, seemed to come not from another country and time, but from another world. We were all very aware of the situation in the US, where teachers would never have the courage to do that. What a different world that was!

I know that in the past people had discriminated others because of religion, and we all agree that a state religion is not good for freedom, but I wonder if people realize that currently all religions are discriminated in public schools, with the exception of the church of irreligiosity, that is presented as the only truth.

If sponsoring only one religion is bad in public schools, why can’t we make all religions welcomed in our schools, instead of completely banning them?

M. J. Sobran wrote :

“The Framers of the Constitution … forbade the Congress to make any law ‘respecting’ the establishment of religion, thus leaving the states free to do so (as several of them did); and they explicitly forbade the Congress to abridge ‘the free exercise’ of religion, thus giving actual religious observance a rhetorical emphasis that fully accords with the special concern we know they had for religion. It takes a special ingenuity to wring out of this a governmental indifference to religion, let alone an aggressive secularism. Yet there are those who insist that the First Amendment actually proscribes governmental partiality not only to any single religion, but to religion as such; so that tax exemption for churches is now thought to be unconstitutional. It is startling to consider that a clause clearly protecting religion can be construed as requiring that it be denied a status routinely granted to educational and charitable enterprises, which have no overt constitutional protection. Far from equalizing unbelief, secularism has succeeded in virtually establishing it (Human Life Review, Summer 1978, pp. 51–52)

The plan is clear. The following talk by Mormon Apostle Elder Maxwell, given several years ago is really prophetic and illuminates what we are facing and what are the challenges of the future for true disciples of Jesus Christ.

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Nov

6

According to CNN,

Thousands protested California’s same-sex marriage ban in West Hollywood Wednesday night. Californians passed the measure 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent in Tuesday’s general election, countering a state Supreme Court ruling in May that said the state constitution guarantees gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. Passage of Proposition 8 sent protesters into the streets of Los Angeles on Wednesday.

This clearly shows how the election results for these constitutional amendments will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in the US.

Such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life – family, identity, intimacy and equality – stirs fervent and deep feelings.

There is the hope that in the future all parties involved in this issue will act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility. However, I do not expect that this will always happen, unfortunately.

I know that many have criticized the Mormon Church and other organization for supporting Proposition 8. It is important to understand that this issue for the Mormon Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage – a union between a man and a woman and has nothing to do with bigotry.

It is also important to be clear that the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage does not mean that the church condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians, including their rights regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights.

The only ting that the Church is concerned about is that those rights do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.

For more information about the position of the Mormon Church on this topic you may read

Church Responds to Same-Sex Marriage Votes

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Oct

31

Dee Garrett discusses the Civil Rights battle that she went through and how it doesn’t compare to the same sex marriage battle going on today. She mentions how same-sex marriage has an influence – a negative influence – on children.

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