WHY UTAH MATTERS

I want to the thank Judge Robert James Shelby for his decision to set aside the rule of law in favor of the legal standard of "feelings". By doing so, he has crystallized in my mind the importance of teaching and incorporating the Word of the Lord in your home, so that your family can differentiate between Good and Evil. 

I commit to so do, beginning today, the first day of 2014.

For those of you who don't know, Judge Robert Shelby set aside the rule of law in Utah that marriage is between one man and one woman in favor of (and I quote) "the standard that people who love each other should free to marry." Of course, he wrote that this only applies to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. To which I tweeted, "What a Bigot! How about the 35,000 polygamists living in Utah? Don't they deserve to legally marry the one THEY love?" I hope the polygamists march en masse to Mayor Ralph Becker's office. He was SO EXCITED to be the first to officiate at a SSM, he can be the first for a polygamist marriage too.

You may recall from my post on June 29th "Dancing on Law's Gravestone", my lament that we witnessed the death of the rule of law with the SCOTUS decisions. We are truly living the age of the Judges "...Where every man did right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)

Where does that standard stop? Why does it apply to SSM, but not to the judge in Montana who validated the conviction of a man found guilty of raping a 14yo. She killed herself, and the judge set aside his penalty of 10+ years to time served plus 30 days because he could. People are screaming loud about him setting aside the rule of law "because he can."

But I digress. I'm going to come out of the closet. Whether you believe it or not, or agree with me or not, I know that this life is not all there is. I know that we live after we die, I know that there is a purpose to this life, that there is a purpose to the life we live after we die, and that we lived before we were born on this earth with God. I know that the main reason we live on this earth is to prepare ourselves to return to God and live in His presence forever.

I believe that there are things we must do in order to qualify to live in His presence, starting with accepting Him and His Word. To that end: I'm going to strive to do only those things which will aid me and mine, and you and yours to return back to the presence of the Father.

For example:

--Making sure you have an opportunity to hear the Word of the Lord and accept His gospel so that yours and mine can make a decision to accept or reject him.

--Creating an environment where you have the opportunity to exercise your agency to accept or reject.

To that end, unlike many who promote "if it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my back it is of no importance to me (Glenn Beck)" I believe I have a duty not to destroy your agency by my actions or the actions of others. Agency is destroyed by believing the lie that "you should do your own thing baby" or "let others do their own thing because it doesn't impact me." Examples are:

--Being high 90% of the time destroys your cognitive agency, therefore I will not vote to legalize marijuana or other drugs

--Having sex with young children destroys their agency, therefore I will not vote to legalize sex with children

--Normalizing evil destroys agency because it sets evil, rather than good, as the standard and destroys hope, therefore I will not vote to legalize evil

--SSM destroys agency because it teaches the lie that you do not have to be obedient to the laws of baptism or celestial marriage in order to return to the presence of the Father.

Therefore, I will not vote to legalize, or condone by my action/inaction, SSM. If I really care about you, why would I help you do something which will virtually guarantee you are kept from the Father's presence?

By condoning, I mean taking the position that because it doesn't impact me personally it's ok. Some among us, including me, have voluntarily entered in to a covenant to establish the Word of the Lord not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors and our posterity. For me, that's not in the abstract. 

Like the starfish story, I may not be successful fighting against the tide of the 99 other evils, but I can make a difference against One.

Wishing you a closer relationship with God in 2014, that you may find the true Peace you are seeking by following the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.