Sunday citation

This is a great quote that I found in connection with 1 Samuel 16:7:

"It is not possible to judge another fairly unless you know his desires, his faith, and his goals. Because of a different environment, unequal opportunity, and many other things, people are not in the same position. One may start at the top and another at the bottom, and they may meet as they are going in opposite directions. ... How can we, with all our weaknesses and frailties dare to arrogate ourselves the position of a judge? At best, man can only judge what he sees; he cannot judge the heart or the intention, or begin to judge the potential of his neighbor." (N. Eldon Tanner, "Judge not that ye be not judged," Ensign, July 1972, p. 35.)

Sunday citation

I'm almost done with the book of Deuteronomy, and I've really enjoyed it so far. Genesis used to be my favorite book in the Old Testament, but this time reading through the Old Testament I think that Deuteronomy is. At least it is so far. Here is a comment on chapter 20 from Rousas John Rushdoony in his book The Institutes of Biblical Law:

"Another general principle appears from this law ... that it is not enough for the cause to be holy; not only the cause, but the people of the cause, must be holy, both spiritually and physically."

I just thought that was a very profound statement, and it shows that the most important war should be against evil in ourselves. The best and most effective restraint is self-restraint. This also reminds me of a quote that read a while ago in Susan Wise Bauer's book, The Story of the World vol. 4. She was discussing the pattern of the last couple hundred years where, in different place all over the world, one group overthrows a tyrant only to become a tyrant itself.

"Revolution shatters the structures; but the men who build the next set of structures haven't conquered the evil that lives in their own hearts. The history of the twentieth century is, again and again, the story of men who fight against tyrants, win the battle, and then are overwhelmed by the unconquered tyranny in their own souls."

If the people of the cause are trying to be holy and honest with God and man, this probably wouldn't ever happen.

A Sunday citation

Here is a great quote from Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith:

"Do you spend as much time making your family and home successful  as you do in pursuing social and professional success? Are you devoting your best creative energy to the most important unit in society--the family? Or is your relationship with your family merely a routine, unrewarding part of life? Parent and child must be willing to put family responsibilities first in order to achieve family exaltation. ...

"We have been trying to impress upon parents the need of paying more attention to their children, having a little more of the spirit of the gospel in their homes, a little more unity and a little more faith.; a little more responsibility religiously, spiritually on the part of the fathers; also, of the mothers; more of the teaching of the gospel in the home." (Chap. 4, pgs. 79-80)

A Sunday citation

Here is yet another quote from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow:

"When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated." (Chapter 22, pg. 260)

A Sunday citation

One of the things that bothers me about how society teaches children to be educated and accomplished is that we kind of teach them to focus on themselves. Their attainments become all about them. So when I read this quote from Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, I had to share it:

"One of the best things a young man or a young woman can have in view, in trying to be great, is to have others great also; and not mind spending a little time to improve others. The best way to improve ourselves is to exercise ourselves in doing good to others. Keep this in mind constantly." (Chap. 22, pg. 261)

Why liberty?

These are some thoughts that I've been mulling over recently because of recent events and our country's continual progress towards socialism. Some of this is "doctrine according to Alisa," but I firmly believe everything I write here.

Sometimes I feel that "liberty" and "freedom" are misunderstood or only vaguely understood concepts. Common understanding usually seems to boil down to "doing what I feel like" or "pursuing happiness as I see best." Liberty is hailed all over the world as important to human dignity, and it seems to inspire a lot of passionate actions and wars.

But why do we need liberty? Why is it an innate human need? What does it really mean to us?

With only a shallow understanding of liberty, it is easy to lose sight of its importance to us as human beings. We watch employers abuse liberty and oppress employees. We watch people perform foolish or even evil acts in the name of religion. People withhold from helping those in need physically and emotionally. Children are neglected and abused. And madmen get a hold of guns to take revenge on innocent victims.

The simple solution seems to be to have an overarching authority control people and circumstances so we can be safe and prosper equally. What's the use of liberty if we have an authority that can make our lives peaceful and perfect and safe? We could live in a social and political infrastructure built for us and it would make everything easy.

I think the answer lies in how our Father in Heaven governs us.

God created us in His image and gave us the ability to choose. Then He put us on earth and asked us to walk by faith. Through this, many of His sons and daughters have strayed or suffered greatly. This must be difficult for Him, seeing that He is a god of love. Have you ever wondered why He doesn't come down to earth to govern us more directly and to prevent so many tragedies by His All-Powerful Presence?

I believe that the answer is found in the why of liberty.

Without making important, unsupervised choices, we can't develop into the people we ought to be. Making good choices of our own will without any other influential presence or coercive action develops a power and character in us for good. It is the only way to truly develop a character. Without that development, we aren't any better than puppets or animals.

Heavenly Father understands this perfectly. He knows that if He came to earth and governed us directly in all his might, power and glory, we'd never become like Him. We'd never learn to make those choices of our own will because we'd be overawed by His majesty.

So He asks us to live and work by faith, and to make choices, one at a time, until we develop to our full potential.

Liberty is all about your inner growth.

As parents we take care of helpless infants and make all decisions for them. As they grow, we teach them to think and make their own decisions. We give them tools, gradually as they are ready, to make the best choices possible. According to The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education in the Home, children start to develop logical thinking at about eight or nine years of age. Prior to that, they are in a parrot stage, where they imitate everything, from learning to walk to habits in reading.

This makes sense to me. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I know that children reach the age of accountability at eight years of age, which is when the Lord commands that they should be baptized. Before this, all of the children's mistakes (that come because of mortality and their parents' follies) are covered by the Atonement.

But after that, children are required to repent and do better to be cleansed by the Atonement. According to their understanding, their sins are their own.

Meanwhile, we continue to teach these children to make choices that enhance their growth. Soon, in the teenage years, part of that teaching process is to gradually let go and give them more liberty.

Once the children are adults, they should be in charge of their own lives. And these children, we hope, will continue to make choices that will draw them closer to their Father in Heaven. But we can't restrict their liberty to insure they do. Unless they make those choices of their own will, without supervision or coercion, they can't draw close to God. Their character can't become their own.

If we continue to manage and control the lives of our children after they are capable of making their own decisions, they become dependent on us. They become less capable, less motivated, less responsible and less moral. They lose their innate connection with God because they aren't making the choice to come closer to Him.

When they lose that connection with God, they lose love for their fellowmen, for noble and great things and for anything that might make them stretch out of their comfort zone.

These same parenting concepts apply in our society at large. If we have some "great parent" that makes sure we all share nicely, complete our schooling and that all temporal needs are met, we fall into the same trap. Our inner growth is stunted, and our character is not our own.

But what about some of the horrible things that people have done in a free, capitalistic society? While a free government has laws that protect its citizens from great injustices, it can't prevent all tragedy. It can't prevent all self-destructive behavior. What good does liberty do us then?

A free government isn't all about freedom of choice. And it definitely isn't about the economic advantage it has over an alternative system. It's about honesty, a desire for the welfare of the whole, education, and a belief in God. This is a whole topic in and of itself, and it's not the purpose of my post. But it is necessary to say that the purpose of liberty is supported by these four elements. Without them, liberty can seem a negative thing, more like anarchy.

It's so important that we choose the path we take.

Liberty means growth. It means doing difficult things; being creative; facing the natural world; and having faith in God, man and yourself. It means your character and your choices are your own, as well as any consequences that come with them, good or bad.

Please feel free to comment ... any critiques, differing opinions, additional thoughts. Have you ever thought about why we need liberty?

A Sunday citation

Here is a great quote that I found in the Doctrine and Covenants Institute Manual:

"Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us." (Spencer W. Kimball, "Families can be eternal," Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 4.)

How committed are you to keeping your family intact?

Importance of the family unit in society

Two quotes from the 19th century psychologist, Johann Friedrich Herbart, that I found in Charlotte Mason's book, School Education:

"To the child, the family should be the symbol of the order in the world; from the parents, one should derive by idealisation the characteristics of the deity."

"The education of the children will always remain the holiest and highest of all family duties. The welfare, civilisation, and culture of a people depend essentially upon the degree of success that attends the education in the homes. The family principle is the point at which both the religious and educational life of a people centres, and about which it revolves. It is a force in comparison with which every sovereign's command appears powerless."

I find it so interesting that they recognized the family as the center of society, of culture, of civilization. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was still considered the most important place to begin learning about the world around you.

I feel like in today's world, the importance of the family is greatly undermined. We devalue everything from sibling relationships (especially in media, where it's portrayed as typical and even good for a teen to be more loyal to his friends than his or her siblings) to the mother's role in the home ("What do you do all day?"). Divorce is as easy as ever. There are families with two mothers. The public school system is trying to take over every role of the parent, from discussing the birds and bees to teaching ethics.

I've come up with an analogy for this. Back in the 1950s, fast food seemed pretty cool. No one saw
anything wrong with eating trash. But now we are starting to realize that our bodies need natural, whole foods. It's simply how we are made. Are we going to make the same mistake with families?

The human race has evolved within the family unit. It's how we're made. The family will always be the basic unit of society. The sooner we disassemble it, the sooner we bring on the collapse of all we know. Just as our health is failing because of the foods we are eating, our society will fail because of the disruption of the family.

God set up the first family unit. It's how civilization got its start. If Heavenly Father set it up that way, there must have been a reason. Just as he prepared the earth to give us the natural, whole foods that were perfect for our bodies, he set up a basic governmental unit that was perfect for our emotional and spiritual health.

Please share any comments or thoughts you have below. Even if you disagree, let me know. As a society we need to talk about this.