Yesterday Dan Bachman, one of the truly great gospel teachers in my experience, taught a Sunday School lesson, out of "Teachings of the Presidents" (Lesson 17), which was particularly memorable for two reasons:
1. It was his last lesson. Dan has a new assignment as counsellor to the president of the Logan Temple.
2. The lesson took me back to 1961 when I met two missionaries of the LDS Church in Australia...and they taught me about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...and the great Plan of Salvation.
As Dan talked my mind went back to that special experience. Was it the story of Joseph Smith and his first vision which captured my attention? Was it the coming forth of the Book of Mormon? Was it the presentation of the Plan of Salvation? I had to conclude that for me, it was without doubt the Plan of Salvation...which in reality encompasses the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Religious discussions with my student friends, while interesting, were never compelling. There were always too many questions...and never an answer to the age old question...who will be saved in the end? What about little children? What about those who never heard of Christ in this life? Most of my friends were Catholics, and while I admired them for their commitment to God and family, it was obvious that I was a lost soul from their perspective.
So following Dan's lesson I asked Paul Norton, who served as a Mission President in Chicago, what was his experience and that of his missionaries, in that regard. He answered quickly..."It was the Plan of Salvation which was that special spiritual experience which led people to baptism". He added "I interviewed a lot of people before their baptism. It was amazing to consistently hear people say..."when the missionaries taught me the Plan of Salvation, it was as if I had heard it all before...it rang true...I wanted it to be true...I hoped it was true...for the first time in my life, everything made sense"."
In short form, the Plan of Salvation (of Redemption, and of Exaltation), as revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is as follows:
We are all children of God.
He is literally our Father in Heaven.
Our individual intelligences have always existed.
The Father created us as spiritual beings...intelligences clothed with spirit bodies.
Jesus Christ was the first born in the Spirit.
There were many noble and great spirits.
Lucifer was among them.
God the Father instituted a Plan for the advancement of His spirit children.
The plan was presented to us in a great council of all spirits.
The Plan involved us coming to an earth, obtaining a physical body, being tested, dying, resurrecting and returning to our Father as immortal beings.
Jesus was the creator of this earth.
We were to be given moral agency...freedom to choose good over evil.
It was obvious that all would sin...and fall short of the perfection necessary to return to our Father.
The Father's plan required that one would need to go to earth to atone for the sins of the world. Jesus volunteered to implement the Father's Plan...the Atonement...and the Resurrection.
Even so, it was apparent that some would be lost, because we were to have choice.
Lucifer presented a plan which would guarantee that all would be saved...if the glory could be his.
Lucifer's plan was attractive to many...it involved giving up our agency, but it was safe.
Our Father rejected Lucifer's plan and accepted Jesus' eternal offering.
There was war in heaven.
Lucifer...and one third of the host of heaven were cast down to earth.
Their punishment was to never have a physical body.
Their commitment was to tempt and torment man...to thwart the Father's Plan.
The Father ensured that His children received guidance through Prophets...and angels.
Jesus , being one with the Father (Elohim), was the Jehovah of the Old Testament
Jesus was born of Mary in the meridian of time.
He was the literal Son of God
He was the only begotten (of God) in the flesh
Jesus grew into manhood without sin...the only such man to ever live on earth.
At age 30 he commenced his ministry.
He did only the will of his Father.
He testified of his Father...that his Father sent him
In his great intercessionary prayer he said: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."
He implemented the eternal Atoning sacrifice.
He took upon himself the sins of the world through unspeakable pain and suffering.
He suffered himself to be slain upon the cross.
He took up his body on the third day.
As a resurrected being he showed himself first to Mary saying: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father, but go unto my brethren and tell them that I go unto my Father, and your Father, unto my God and your God."
He then showed himself to his Apostles and then to thousands.
He ascended to his Father...and stands by his side to this day.
Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection.
Because of Jesus, ALL will be resurrected...the just and the unjust.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost is the messenger of the Father and the Son...the Comforter.
The apostle Paul greeted the Saints of his day as follows: "Grace be with you, and peace, from God our Father and his Son Jesus Christ." That marvellous salutation incorporates the core of the Father's Plan. "Grace" in this context refers to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. ALL will be resurrected through Christ...but only those who accept Jesus as the Christ, who exercise faith in him, who are willing to humble themselves before him and repent of their sins, and be baptized, will be made perfect through the Atonement...and return to the presence of the Father. It is through Christ that we are saved...after all we can do. Salvation in this context refers to returning to the presence of our Father and the Son. Jesus intends to take the truly humble by the hand, and through his Grace, present them to his Father ...pure, and holy, even perfect.
"Grace" in another important context, is an enabling power...power to help each of us deal with the trials of this life, through our faith in Christ. Thus Paul's salutation is a sweet blessing of Power and Peace...in this life...and Salvation in the world to come.
And what about that big question? What about all those who never heard of Jesus in this life? What about the Saviors admonition that we can only enter the Kingdom of heaven through baptism? The grand answer is that ALL will have equal opportunity to learn of Christ and the Father's Plan. All will have the opportunity to exercise their agency. All will have opportunity to repent and be baptized...if not in this life, then in the life to come. "All who will come, may come, and partake of the waters of life freely. But all who will not come, the same are not compelled to come..."
Still...ALL will be resurrected...unto varying degrees of Glory...the highest being...in the presence of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Those who would not be comfortable in their presence will dwell in a kingdom in which they are comfortable. Jesus said: "In my Father's house are many mansions...if it were not so, I would have told you".
Little children are automatic heirs of Salvation...and do not need baptism.
Those born without the capacity to comprehend, are heirs of salvation without baptism.
Those who would have accepted Christ had they been taught of Christ in this life are heirs of Salvation...but require baptism.
Mormons have taken on the immense challenge of identifying their ancestors and baptizing them vicariously "for the dead" in temples which are now scattered throughout the world. I am just one of an army doing this work. It will continue to be my passion until I can no longer do it. Mormons will continue to expand this grand work until the Lord himself comes to accept their offering in righteousness.
It was this grand Plan of Salvation, which captured my attention in 1961. I thought then...it would be wonderful if it is true...I began to hope that it was true...today I can testify that it is true.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Real Culprits in This Meltdown
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Monday, September 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Big Government: Barack Obama and Democrats blame the historic financial turmoil on the market. But if it's dysfunctional, Democrats during the Clinton years are a prime reason for it.
Read More: Business & Regulation. Obama in a statement yesterday blamed the shocking new round of subprime-related bankruptcies on the free-market system, and specifically the "trickle-down" economics of the Bush administration, which he tried to gig opponent John McCain for wanting to extend. But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.
Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties. The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but "predatory."
Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the '90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck. And it was the Clinton administration that mismanaged the quasi-governmental agencies that over the decades have come to manage the real estate market in America.
As soon as Clinton crony Franklin Delano Raines took the helm in 1999 at Fannie Mae, for example, he used it as his personal piggy bank, looting it for a total of almost $100 million in compensation by the time he left in early 2005 under an ethical cloud. Other Clinton cronies, including Janet Reno aide Jamie Gorelick, padded their pockets to the tune of another $75 million. Raines was accused of overstating earnings and shifting losses so he and other senior executives could earn big bonuses. In the end, Fannie had to pay a record $400 million civil fine for SEC and other violations, while also agreeing as part of a settlement to make changes in its accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.
But it was too little, too late. Raines had reportedly steered Fannie Mae business to subprime giant Countrywide Financial, which was saved from bankruptcy by Bank of America. At the same time, the Clinton administration was pushing Fannie and her brother Freddie Mac to buy more mortgages from low-income households. The Clinton-era corruption, combined with unprecedented catering to affordable-housing lobbyists, resulted in today's nationalization of both Fannie and Freddie, a move that is expected to cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
And the worst is far from over. By the time it is, we'll all be paying for Clinton's social experiment, one that Obama hopes to trump with a whole new round of meddling in the housing and jobs markets. In fact, the social experiment Obama has planned could dwarf both the Great Society and New Deal in size and scope.
There's a political root cause to this mess that we ignore at our peril. If we blame the wrong culprits, we'll learn the wrong lessons. And taxpayers will be on the hook for even larger bailouts down the road. But the government-can-do-no-wrong crowd just doesn't get it. They won't acknowledge the law of unintended consequences from well-meaning, if misguided, acts.
Obama and Democrats on the Hill think even more regulation and more interference in the market will solve the problem their policies helped cause. For now, unarmed by the historic record, conventional wisdom is buying into their blame-business-first rhetoric and bigger-government solutions. While government arguably has a role in helping low-income folks buy a home, Clinton went overboard by strong-arming lenders with tougher and tougher regulations, which only led to lenders taking on hundreds of billions in subprime bilge.Market failure? Hardly. Once again, this crisis has government's fingerprints all over it.
Posted Monday, September 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Big Government: Barack Obama and Democrats blame the historic financial turmoil on the market. But if it's dysfunctional, Democrats during the Clinton years are a prime reason for it.
Read More: Business & Regulation. Obama in a statement yesterday blamed the shocking new round of subprime-related bankruptcies on the free-market system, and specifically the "trickle-down" economics of the Bush administration, which he tried to gig opponent John McCain for wanting to extend. But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.
Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties. The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but "predatory."
Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the '90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck. And it was the Clinton administration that mismanaged the quasi-governmental agencies that over the decades have come to manage the real estate market in America.
As soon as Clinton crony Franklin Delano Raines took the helm in 1999 at Fannie Mae, for example, he used it as his personal piggy bank, looting it for a total of almost $100 million in compensation by the time he left in early 2005 under an ethical cloud. Other Clinton cronies, including Janet Reno aide Jamie Gorelick, padded their pockets to the tune of another $75 million. Raines was accused of overstating earnings and shifting losses so he and other senior executives could earn big bonuses. In the end, Fannie had to pay a record $400 million civil fine for SEC and other violations, while also agreeing as part of a settlement to make changes in its accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.
But it was too little, too late. Raines had reportedly steered Fannie Mae business to subprime giant Countrywide Financial, which was saved from bankruptcy by Bank of America. At the same time, the Clinton administration was pushing Fannie and her brother Freddie Mac to buy more mortgages from low-income households. The Clinton-era corruption, combined with unprecedented catering to affordable-housing lobbyists, resulted in today's nationalization of both Fannie and Freddie, a move that is expected to cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
And the worst is far from over. By the time it is, we'll all be paying for Clinton's social experiment, one that Obama hopes to trump with a whole new round of meddling in the housing and jobs markets. In fact, the social experiment Obama has planned could dwarf both the Great Society and New Deal in size and scope.
There's a political root cause to this mess that we ignore at our peril. If we blame the wrong culprits, we'll learn the wrong lessons. And taxpayers will be on the hook for even larger bailouts down the road. But the government-can-do-no-wrong crowd just doesn't get it. They won't acknowledge the law of unintended consequences from well-meaning, if misguided, acts.
Obama and Democrats on the Hill think even more regulation and more interference in the market will solve the problem their policies helped cause. For now, unarmed by the historic record, conventional wisdom is buying into their blame-business-first rhetoric and bigger-government solutions. While government arguably has a role in helping low-income folks buy a home, Clinton went overboard by strong-arming lenders with tougher and tougher regulations, which only led to lenders taking on hundreds of billions in subprime bilge.Market failure? Hardly. Once again, this crisis has government's fingerprints all over it.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Cattle Duffers (Rustlers)
Missy's father, Scott Winslow, gave us a great book..."Outback Heroes: Australia's Greatest Bush Stories", by Evan McHugh. It includes a story about Harry Redford, whose claim to fame is that he was Australia's most famous "duffer" (cattle rustler). In 1870, he stole 1,000 head of cattle in Queensland, and with two associates drove them south to Adelaide, a distance of 1,500 K, through previously unexplored territory. It was an epic journey. He was eventually arrested in New South Wales and tried in Queensland, two and a half years after the event. The jury acquitted him, even though the prosecution produced clear evidence of his guilt. The judge was furious. Apparently this was not an uncommon outcome in early Australia, founded as it was by a convict class.
The author explains that Redford had stolen the cattle from land owned by absentee landlords in England. They owned fifteen (15) stations (ranches) and thousands of cattle in Queensland. In fact, when police informed the station managers that 1,ooo of their cattle had ended up in Adelaide as steaks, they scoffed in disbelief. They had so many cattle that 1,000 had not been missed in over a year. So public sentiment was not always on the side of landowners, especially the absentee type. One judge, in a duffing case, complained when the jury returned the following verdict..."Not guilty, but he needs to return the cattle". The judge was enraged by the jury's impertinance and sent them back to continue deliberations. The jury returned with a revised verdict..."Not guilty...and he can keep the bloody cattle." Ah...that's the Australia that I love. It's a great read.
The author explains that Redford had stolen the cattle from land owned by absentee landlords in England. They owned fifteen (15) stations (ranches) and thousands of cattle in Queensland. In fact, when police informed the station managers that 1,ooo of their cattle had ended up in Adelaide as steaks, they scoffed in disbelief. They had so many cattle that 1,000 had not been missed in over a year. So public sentiment was not always on the side of landowners, especially the absentee type. One judge, in a duffing case, complained when the jury returned the following verdict..."Not guilty, but he needs to return the cattle". The judge was enraged by the jury's impertinance and sent them back to continue deliberations. The jury returned with a revised verdict..."Not guilty...and he can keep the bloody cattle." Ah...that's the Australia that I love. It's a great read.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Pole Beans
I've said before that I love my vegetable garden. We have always planted pole beans. They stand over 7 feet tall. They look great. In recent years, we have cut production down to one 50 foot row of beans. That is still way too much, because picking beans is a real pain. Kathie bottles them on occasion, but one batch produces more than we can eat in a year. Every year at this time I wonder why we plant beans. If they are not picked every two days they get "big and gross" as Kathie says, and I throw half of them away. We do share the harvest with neighbors, but I think I grow beans just to keep me humble. There is a metaphor for life in the effort. Only those who have picked pole beans will understand.
I've never seen anyone pick a row of beans perfectly. The little suckers hide. No matter how careful one is, someone else can come along behind you and find a whole bunch more. I just can't believe that I can be so thorough, then look back down the row and see beans hanging in plain sight. What's with that? I spend an hour picking, and in that time it looks like they need to be picked again. Kathie has often walked along the row behind me picking beans, making smart remarks about my harvesting abilities. It's a frustrating job. It's annoying. I understand why our children so disliked picking beans. Well...our children (with the exception of Andy) hated the garden, or any yard work, for that matter. The fact that I always expected the job to be done perfectly probably did not help. And to top it all off, it seems like we fight a running battle with bugs which cut the leaves in the spring and eat beans throughout the summer. Left without treatment, the bugs will kill the entire crop before the end of summer. Even if we dust regularly, the bugs will leave some beans disfigured so that more must be discarded.
But that speaks to the human condition. No matter how hard any of us try, we will not get through the summer of our lives...perfect. We will all make mistakes...no-one is perfect. Before the final harvest, we will all have faced personal battles...our own weaknesses...or the trials of life...or both. There was only one who ever lived who was perfect. Fortunately our Father in Heaven does not expect us to be perfect. He wants us to give it a good try, but he knew long before we came to this earth that we would fall short of perfection. So He came up with a magnificent Plan for our Salvation. His Son volunteered to implement the key part of the Plan. The Atonement wrought by Jesus the Christ satisfies the demands of justice. Based only upon the condition of our humble acceptance of Him as our Savior, and sincere repentance, He intends to take each of us by the hand, at some future day, and present us to His Father, pure and holy, and blameless...even perfect. Whereas, none of us can harvest beans perfectly, the Savior did not fail in His assignment...and none will be discarded.
So maybe I will continue to grow pole beans. They may remind us to be humble...more accepting of the human condition...more willing to love each other...more willing to love the Master Gardener, who loves us more than any of us can imagine.
I've never seen anyone pick a row of beans perfectly. The little suckers hide. No matter how careful one is, someone else can come along behind you and find a whole bunch more. I just can't believe that I can be so thorough, then look back down the row and see beans hanging in plain sight. What's with that? I spend an hour picking, and in that time it looks like they need to be picked again. Kathie has often walked along the row behind me picking beans, making smart remarks about my harvesting abilities. It's a frustrating job. It's annoying. I understand why our children so disliked picking beans. Well...our children (with the exception of Andy) hated the garden, or any yard work, for that matter. The fact that I always expected the job to be done perfectly probably did not help. And to top it all off, it seems like we fight a running battle with bugs which cut the leaves in the spring and eat beans throughout the summer. Left without treatment, the bugs will kill the entire crop before the end of summer. Even if we dust regularly, the bugs will leave some beans disfigured so that more must be discarded.
But that speaks to the human condition. No matter how hard any of us try, we will not get through the summer of our lives...perfect. We will all make mistakes...no-one is perfect. Before the final harvest, we will all have faced personal battles...our own weaknesses...or the trials of life...or both. There was only one who ever lived who was perfect. Fortunately our Father in Heaven does not expect us to be perfect. He wants us to give it a good try, but he knew long before we came to this earth that we would fall short of perfection. So He came up with a magnificent Plan for our Salvation. His Son volunteered to implement the key part of the Plan. The Atonement wrought by Jesus the Christ satisfies the demands of justice. Based only upon the condition of our humble acceptance of Him as our Savior, and sincere repentance, He intends to take each of us by the hand, at some future day, and present us to His Father, pure and holy, and blameless...even perfect. Whereas, none of us can harvest beans perfectly, the Savior did not fail in His assignment...and none will be discarded.
So maybe I will continue to grow pole beans. They may remind us to be humble...more accepting of the human condition...more willing to love each other...more willing to love the Master Gardener, who loves us more than any of us can imagine.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The Real Political Problem
Last Sunday, a young couple, who were new to our Ward, spoke in Church. As part of that tradition, they were asked to tell the Ward members a little about themselves. The wife explained that she was a city girl...her husband was from a cattle ranch in Montana. She said that when he took her home to the ranch, she was absolutely stunned...she had no idea that people still lived like that...his family were cowboys...ranchers. There lies the problem; it is just a shadow of the larger problem which plagues politics in the USA today.
I was once part of the problem myself. When I arrived in Utah, from Australia in 1965, I must admit that I was surprised to see real indians...and cowboys...men and boys in cowboy boots and big cowboy hats. From my perspective it was as if they were "dressing up" or "playing a part"...it was hard to take them seriously..."you mean you dress like that every day?". Well, yes they do, as I discovered. Out in Wyoming there is only one significant difference between a cowboy from the 19th century and a cowboy from the 21st century...one rode a horse and carried a rifle in a scabbard...the other drives a pick-up truck, with a rifle hung in the back window. Other than that, nothing much has changed...they think pretty much alike. Freedom and values like fierce independence and self-reliance still rule.
When our son Nate served an LDS mission in New Your City...speaking Spanish...he actually found New Yorkers who had never heard of Utah. Some even asked what country Utah was in. Some had such limited education and sense of place, that they actually thought New York City WAS the United States...that New York City was the beginning and end of it. There's obviously a serious problem there. But for many eastern Americans the United States still ends at the Misssissippi. And it is still a fact, in every day language, that Chicago is located in the "mid-west"...the West is everything beyond the Mississippi...and it is still largely unknown to the liberal elite who refer to the Great Plains states as "fly-over" states.
Even more difficult to believe, there are people in the big cities who have no idea where meat comes from...or where milk comes from. Many have no idea that there are millions of good people in the "fly-over" states producing the food that ends up in the stores which they frequent in the big cities. Here in Logan, we have had foriegn students from Utah State University stop by, to ask if they could pick apples in our orchard. They had never seen an apple on a tree. That is surprising to anyone who lives at the supply end of society... closer to nature. In a previous blog I noted that I grow a vegetable garden. Many do in small towns. I was once told "you can trust a man who grows a vegetable garden." That must be because being close to the dirt produces a certain primal appreciation of nature; a connection with the natural cycles of life...which is reality.
But it's not the less educated who pose the greater problem. In my previous blog about Presidential Politics, I said that Barack Obama lives in different USA than I. I believe it. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.
Obama is an educated man, an attorney even. However, I would bet that even he grew up with a limited view of the USA. He has lived and worked most of his life in Chicago. I would bet that until his recent exposure to national politics, if he could tell you where Montana was located, or Utah, or Idaho...he would have had absolutely no idea what made a small town westerner tick. He would not be able to relate to the experience of growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, where generations farmed the same plot of ground, where one friend's dad was the mayor, another's was the preacher...where people trusted each other and helped each other...where no-one depended on government for anything... where no-one locked a door to anything...where patriotism was the unquestioned norm...where people celebrated the 4th of July together...and proudly pledged allegiance to the flag ...even died for it...and families prayed together. Barack Obama would not be able relate to their life-style and values, just as we cannot relate to the values of a man who can sit in a church for twenty years, while his minister preaches hatred and vitriole like "God Damn America!"
So when John McCain announced Governor Sarah Palin, of Alaska, as his running mate...one segment of the country said "YES! YES! YES!" because they could immediately relate to her...she was part of their USA...another segment said "WHAT?...Where in the hell is Alaska?" and "What does she know about anything? She's from a small town...she was educated at the University of Idaho for Pete' sake? Where is Idaho anyway? How could Idaho or Alaska produce a person of substance who knows anything about anything?"
And that is just from the left-wing US media elite. Some, so-called news people, claimed that they even laughed in their newsrooms, at the announcement of Sarah Palin. Eastern liberal sophisticates, are annoyed that McCain would select anyone whom they had not approved...someone other than their social equals...Palin didn't go to the right schools, she shoots guns for heavens sake, she knows how to gut and dress an elk...worst of all...she has five children...one born with special needs...and she did not have an abortion. To them, the selection of Palin is an affront to their view of the USA...and their values.
I think they are all about to get an education about what really makes America great. Some of us can hardly wait to hear Sarah Palin tonight...and to hear her debate Joe Biden in the future. As a Mormon I find it interesting that I still don't know what religion Sarah Palin is, or if she has any religion at all. It does not matter to me. What matters is that she and her husband have their heads screwed on. They are our kind of people. They live in our USA. What was really impressive, was Sarah Palin's response to media questions about her daughter. "How did you and your husband deal with the discovery that your 17 year old daughter was pregnant." "We handled it as any other American family would...with love."
I was once part of the problem myself. When I arrived in Utah, from Australia in 1965, I must admit that I was surprised to see real indians...and cowboys...men and boys in cowboy boots and big cowboy hats. From my perspective it was as if they were "dressing up" or "playing a part"...it was hard to take them seriously..."you mean you dress like that every day?". Well, yes they do, as I discovered. Out in Wyoming there is only one significant difference between a cowboy from the 19th century and a cowboy from the 21st century...one rode a horse and carried a rifle in a scabbard...the other drives a pick-up truck, with a rifle hung in the back window. Other than that, nothing much has changed...they think pretty much alike. Freedom and values like fierce independence and self-reliance still rule.
When our son Nate served an LDS mission in New Your City...speaking Spanish...he actually found New Yorkers who had never heard of Utah. Some even asked what country Utah was in. Some had such limited education and sense of place, that they actually thought New York City WAS the United States...that New York City was the beginning and end of it. There's obviously a serious problem there. But for many eastern Americans the United States still ends at the Misssissippi. And it is still a fact, in every day language, that Chicago is located in the "mid-west"...the West is everything beyond the Mississippi...and it is still largely unknown to the liberal elite who refer to the Great Plains states as "fly-over" states.
Even more difficult to believe, there are people in the big cities who have no idea where meat comes from...or where milk comes from. Many have no idea that there are millions of good people in the "fly-over" states producing the food that ends up in the stores which they frequent in the big cities. Here in Logan, we have had foriegn students from Utah State University stop by, to ask if they could pick apples in our orchard. They had never seen an apple on a tree. That is surprising to anyone who lives at the supply end of society... closer to nature. In a previous blog I noted that I grow a vegetable garden. Many do in small towns. I was once told "you can trust a man who grows a vegetable garden." That must be because being close to the dirt produces a certain primal appreciation of nature; a connection with the natural cycles of life...which is reality.
But it's not the less educated who pose the greater problem. In my previous blog about Presidential Politics, I said that Barack Obama lives in different USA than I. I believe it. THAT IS THE PROBLEM.
Obama is an educated man, an attorney even. However, I would bet that even he grew up with a limited view of the USA. He has lived and worked most of his life in Chicago. I would bet that until his recent exposure to national politics, if he could tell you where Montana was located, or Utah, or Idaho...he would have had absolutely no idea what made a small town westerner tick. He would not be able to relate to the experience of growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, where generations farmed the same plot of ground, where one friend's dad was the mayor, another's was the preacher...where people trusted each other and helped each other...where no-one depended on government for anything... where no-one locked a door to anything...where patriotism was the unquestioned norm...where people celebrated the 4th of July together...and proudly pledged allegiance to the flag ...even died for it...and families prayed together. Barack Obama would not be able relate to their life-style and values, just as we cannot relate to the values of a man who can sit in a church for twenty years, while his minister preaches hatred and vitriole like "God Damn America!"
So when John McCain announced Governor Sarah Palin, of Alaska, as his running mate...one segment of the country said "YES! YES! YES!" because they could immediately relate to her...she was part of their USA...another segment said "WHAT?...Where in the hell is Alaska?" and "What does she know about anything? She's from a small town...she was educated at the University of Idaho for Pete' sake? Where is Idaho anyway? How could Idaho or Alaska produce a person of substance who knows anything about anything?"
And that is just from the left-wing US media elite. Some, so-called news people, claimed that they even laughed in their newsrooms, at the announcement of Sarah Palin. Eastern liberal sophisticates, are annoyed that McCain would select anyone whom they had not approved...someone other than their social equals...Palin didn't go to the right schools, she shoots guns for heavens sake, she knows how to gut and dress an elk...worst of all...she has five children...one born with special needs...and she did not have an abortion. To them, the selection of Palin is an affront to their view of the USA...and their values.
I think they are all about to get an education about what really makes America great. Some of us can hardly wait to hear Sarah Palin tonight...and to hear her debate Joe Biden in the future. As a Mormon I find it interesting that I still don't know what religion Sarah Palin is, or if she has any religion at all. It does not matter to me. What matters is that she and her husband have their heads screwed on. They are our kind of people. They live in our USA. What was really impressive, was Sarah Palin's response to media questions about her daughter. "How did you and your husband deal with the discovery that your 17 year old daughter was pregnant." "We handled it as any other American family would...with love."
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