Stealing!

I don't do it, generally. I definitely have though. Especially when I was young--middle school age. And I have never stolen from an individual, only a company. I went on a "something for nothing" kick for a while. It was dumb, but that isn't what we are talking about.

We are talking about music and movies here, and digital copies at that. As of right now I don't steal them, I have at one point done this, but I do not now. I don't burn music that is not mine and I don't burn, or copy, movies that are not mine. I really want to though. I have a couple differing opinions on the matter.

I can't stand when you watch a movie and they have the warning about stealing digital content at the beginning. It says, "you wouldn't steal a car would you? You wouldn't steal a purse would you? Then why would you steal a movie! It is the same thing!" I don't agree that it is the same thing at all. In all of the previous examples that they give if you took that possession from someone the other person would not have the possession any longer. When you burn a CD that isn't yours you do not take that possession from someone else so only you can have it. You actually make the work of the artist or director more viewable to more people. You duplicate a copy of it. As a smart person I know once said "Dang straight, if I could burn a copy of a car I would definitely do it and not feel bad." I agree with her--I would burn a car if I could also. You are not removing the right of anyone else to own the copy of music if you burn it, you are actually letting more people have the opportunity of owning it.

Now you may say that you are depriving the person who spent their time making the work of money. This is true overall, you are depriving them of money. I have heard the argument that it is okay to do it if you would not have bought the album anyway. I don't completely disagree with that, but I do think there is a principle that implies that if you weren't willing to fork over money to get it you shouldn't have the right of owning it. I probably agree with that also.

I think the best argument against burning CDs and DVDs is that it is stealing. No matter how we justify it the fact remains that you are obtaining something that has property rights associated with it and taking it without purchasing those rights of ownership. This is stealing, plain and simple. Again, I have done it, so I hope you don't think I am trying to be holier than thou, but it is stealing.

Now this is where the situation gets muddy for me. I think there is something to be said about forcing industries to respond to both the needs of the customers and consumers and also, and more importantly, technology. The recording and music industries have a bad business model right now. The current business model worked great for people back in the day when a person didn't have the financial resources to spend tons of money on making the actual copies of CDs or even records. But now a person could submit their recording to iTunes and receive the vast majority of the money and not really need a middle man like a record company. They need to rethink the way they distribute music and movies. Most importantly, I think if more and more people steal music and DVDs they will have to change the way they do business to meet the needs of the consumers. And remember, we are not actually depriving people of the CD when we duplicate it, so the heart of one of the Ten Commandments, hurting another person, isn't happening.

Here is an example of a different business model:

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9811013-7.html

And here is an example of how that same model started to change things:



In the article it talks about how Radiohead bypassed the record label and released their own album. They also let people CHOOSE how much they wanted to pay for it, and getting it free was an option. Some are guessing that Radiohead didn't actually lose that much money. Without needing to pay a record label they probably did close to as well, also they permitted more people to obtain their music, probably increasing the amount of people who will see them on tour. Suddenly concerts could be the big money maker, not the albums that are released. I think people stealing their music, and the amount of money they lost to the label, encouraged them to pursue this course. It seems to be working rather well for all parties (well, except for the record label, but I hope they go out of business. And that isn't mean, how many of you are bemoaning the fact that the typewriter business bellied up as you type on your computer?). Radiohead has now, as the second article attests to, stopped releasing the album for free. But the nice thing about the experiment is that it showed that if people keep stealing albums the music industry will be forced to refigure the way they do things. That makes me want to steal.

So I dont' know how I feel about stealing. Well, I know how I feel about stealing, but I don't know about copying digital content. I want to not steal but I also want companies to change their business model and meet our needs. And I don't think they will change the model unless they start making far less money. Also, it is non-violent resistance to record label tyranny (okay, I agree, that was pushing it).

I would love comments. You can even leave the comment, to which I would agree, that stealing is stealing, plain and simple. But hopefully you will write a more detailed argument one way or another. Remember, my biggest reason to steal is that it really doesn't hurt anyone, at least not to a degree to which it matters.

Wavering in my "They Don't Matter Stance!"

So the University of Denver emailed me yesterday. They decided to up my scholarship money to 20,000$ a year. It was at 15,000$ before. I called last week and asked them for more money. I didn't have much of a reason to, I just wanted to pay less for law school. I thought it wouldn't hurt--it's not like they would take the previously offered money away. So they told me they would get back to me and I got that email yesterday. I am very grateful for it. I was rather excited.

You would think that this would further my opinion that my grades don't matter anymore. I have been accepted, I assume (hopefully) that I will graduate, and you only have to pass your classes to graduate. I have been saying all semester that I was attending school for fun this semester (for the first time) and not just for grades. I also declared that I didn't care what grades I received. I think I was partly right/partly wrong.

You see, I am taking Spanish 205 this semester. I took Spanish 102 two years ago. I had a hard semester and received a B in Spanish 102. Then BYU's Spanish Department decided to change the program and make 101 and 102 for people who had no Spanish in high school and made 105 and 106 the equivalent for people who had had lots of Spanish before going to college. So I would have then went to Spanish 201 and then 202 and then 205 to graduate, because you need to reach Spanish 205 to fulfill the foreign language requirement. Well, having a class every day in college seems rather ridiculous. Especially when the rest of your schedule is set up for alternating days and you have to fit in class everyday for just one class. Not to mention also that I pretty much didn't work last year so I could study for the LSAT (good choice, judging by my scholarship) and decided that this year I was going to actually make some money to pay for my wife and two children. So fitting in a class everyday was impossible.

So I had to skip 105, 106 and jump right to 205. The jump was way too high for me. I fell way behind in the class.

Getting to my point--I took a Spanish test today and was depressed. I have never done really bad in a college class. In fact, I think over 70 of my first 95 credits were in the A range. So this semester is making me think differently. It is just depressing to get that many problems wrong on a test. Also, I failed a good amount of classes in high school and only achieved an a in one class for one semester my whole high school career. The one A was also gym class. So I was a horrible student. I am familiar with failing. But I realized I am a different person now than then--in many ways. I just don't like to fail. It has made me somewhat depressed all day. In fact, while riding in my car to school today I was thinking "dang, I am so blessed, this is exactly how I always hoped life would be." I was on cloud nine (how did that expression come about?). Then the Spurs beat the Suns, and I hate the Spurs, and then I bombed my test. I was feeling down from then on.

For some reason even when getting good grades doesn't matter, it actually does matter to me. I just don't know why. People will probably leave comments about how doing your best always is important. I don't buy that. If it really doesn't matter if you get good grades or not then it really doesn't matter. I am willing to hear the arguments though as to why it does, I just haven't heard any good ones yet. But it does matter for self-esteem, I just like to do well when I do things.

Anyway, I am learning new things every day. I think this experience will teach me that I need to do well no matter how much things matter. I admit this grudgingly, because I really don't think it does matter. But for some reason peace does not come to me when I am doing poorly.

Lessons learned.

Also, I am amazed at how quickly my happiness/peace can change. I don't feel bad very often, so when I do it really catches me off guard.

10:30 in Periodicals and People are Studying Away

Finals are a scary time. Even the deepest recesses of the library are still full at 10:30. The library is open until 2am for finals. Students show quite a good amount of dedication. I want to leave pretty badly, but I have lots of Spanish to do.

Only about three or four more days of this and then I am done for the WHOLE SUMMER! I am really with anticipation.

On a Lighter Note

Okay so this is how this conversation went:


Walmart Employee: “Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?”
Customer: “Yes, I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.”
Walmart Employee: “Whatchu want on the cake?”
Customer: “Best Wishes Suzanne.” And underneath that “We will miss you”.

The Second Are Things Evil or Are Attitudes Evil

I am vacillating somewhat now on my stance. I have spoken with many people about it and there is just something about actually doing an act that changes the dynamic. I have been thinking about this scripture a lot for the last couple of days and I think there is something to it that has to do with this situation I have been pondering about. Here is the scripture:

2 Ne. 2: 21
And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.

Now I know this scripture isn't exactly the same, but for some reason I was thinking this has a lot to do with what I was pondering about. Let me give an example of the trouble that I was having mentally.

Let's say you have two men. They have been raised exactly the same, same opportunities, same everything. Both of the men want to have an adulterous affair. I am not talking about the thoughts that pop into anyone's head and they can't control those type, I am saying those random thoughts pop up in their head and the dwell on them and they actually want to cheat on their spouse. Now let's say that one of them does, and the other one wants to but never has the chance. Is the one that actually did it in more trouble? If they are standing before God is God more lenient on the one that didn't do it because he couldn't find an opportunity to than he is the other? I have a hard time saying he is more lenient just because the guy couldn't find the opportunity. I was thinking that if God condemns the person who didn't just as much as the person that did commit the act then it couldn't really be the act that was the determining factor, it had to have been the attitude.

But I don't know if I agree anymore with myself :) I was thinking about this last night (after a two hour conversation with my father-in-law) while laying in bed and I realized I think it is different. The reason I do is because of that scripture--the person who didn't commit the act still has days left in his probation--HE HASN"T COMMITTED the act, so there is still hope (not that there isn't HOPE if he did, but you know what I mean). He can still avoid the act. Now granted, that does change the scenario with my two theoretical guys because the premise is that they both WANT to commit the act. But I just have to acknowledge that when you commit the act the situation is different--for some reason. My point before was that it was the heart of the perpetrator that is at issue with God, and I still think that is true, but something changes when you actually commit the sin.

I really don't know how to put into words what I am thinking. I really wanted to be right--spiritually--on this point, so I have been praying a lot about it lately and asking God to help me recognize the truth. Maybe this is what Joseph Smith meant when he said something to the effect of "revelation is when your heart tells your mind something your mind does not know." I think that is what I am feeling now--there is something significant about actually doing the act. I still have all the troubles with making my impression and my thoughts meet, but that is what I think.

If anyone has any insights I would love to hear them. The problem is I can't articulate what I am thinking enough to make it make sense to others. For some reason it is coming off that I am trying to justify action, when I am actually saying thoughts are as condemning as actions (although this whole post is that I don't really believe that anymore). But help me out, if you can. I would love to talk about it in person if that can be arranged with anyone.

Either way, I think the Spirit has whispered to me that action changes the game, even though your heart might want to do something, actually doing it makes it even worse. That makes sense when I write it, but for some reason thinking about it makes it so it doesn't make sense. Posting on this has made me realize more about revelation. I think this is the first time when my mind REALLY didn't think something but I just know the truth is the opposite of what I am thinking.

Interesting...

My Favorite Professors

BYU has great professors. I have been very impressed with about 98% of the teachers that I have had. If a person really wants to learn BYU is a great place to do this.

But there have been some teachers that I think are exceptional. I would like to give them a somewhat public thank you for what they have done for me and for what they have taught me.

Aaron Eastley
He was one of my favorites. Mostly, I just love his passion. I think some people teach because they don't know what else they want to do, but Prof Eastley seems like he sincerely loves teaching. Also, I like how you know exactly what he expects. There were never any surprises with him. I think he had some good perspectives on what makes good literature (I disagree with him on one point though, while Virginia Woolf was undoubtedly very influential and helped shaped much of what we read today, she is not enjoyable to read. He and I have very different feelings about Mrs. Woolf). Also, for the most part, I really liked the literature he chose for us to read. I had him twice and both reading selections were spot on for me. Also, I think he is exactly the kind of teacher that BYU would want to hire.

Daniel Muhlestein
In every way just exceptional. When I think about what kind of a professor I would want to be if I ever became one I think of Dan Muhlestein. I really liked how we dealt with the meat of issues in his class. Also, I think many of my teachers weren't that many steps above me in skill (that sounds cocky but it wasn't meant to). But Dan Muhlestein was heads and shoulders above me. I can't even hold a candle to how well he knows and can describe theory.

Gloria Cronin
She asks hard questions (Muhlestein does also). She is great at analyzing life too. I think I am better at pondering as a result of her. But probably her greatest contribution to me personally was that she made me write much better. Most teachers just grade your paper and then hand it back. It definitely takes less effort. But Dr. Cronin went the extra mile and almost demanded that we become better writers. She would hand back my paper and go over it with me until I got it. She really cared about what we were becoming, instead of just grading our papers to find out how skilled we were when we arrived at our class (which is most teachers approach). She is just incredibly invested in teaching.

Steven Walker
He is just amazing. I think one of the reasons that I like Steve Walker so much is because I think I think like he does, and we usually like people that are like us. He shared a scripture in class today, the one about the two people who approach the temple and one says how righteous he is and the other "wouldn't even so much as lift his head up, but smote his breast and cried, 'Oh God, forgive me a sinner." That is my favorite scripture, and judging by Professor Walker's comments on it he loves it too. I think we have similar views on things. That could be why I like him so much, he likes the things I like and he has the same feelings I do. But he also just loves his students and tries his best to help them.

Kent Brooks
I TA for Brother Brooks. He is just an incredible person. I think he is one of the most Christlike people I have met. He has been a great help for me. And overall I wasn't very impressed with the religion teachers at BYU, but I thought he was incredible. I had his class before I TAed for it. Mostly, in his class I felt the Spirit every day. He taught with the Spirit in a profound way that touched my heart. Also, I grade all the journals that students pass in. I always think of how much of an incredible asset Brother Brooks is when I grade them because I read how much he touches people's heart and helps them improve their lives and relationships with others. I value my association with him a great deal. Also, he is patient with me :)

And that isn't the end of the list of teachers I thought were good, but those were probably my favorites. I really liked Keith Johnson also but I want to go to bed. There are others too. My Spanish teacher now is pretty amazing. But I just wanted to give them a little recognition.

It is strange that I am graduating. It has gone by so quickly. I feel so blessed to have been able to go to a great school and learn so much. Education truly liberates people. I am going to miss taking classes at BYU and associating with great professors.

Kylee and the Kids

I just love them so much!

I am just amazed at how good of a person Kylee is. I have spoken with a lot of people about their divorces. One such conversation a couple of weeks ago made me really laugh. Someone knew another person who just got divorced. He said that he got divorced because after he and his wife got married she went crazy. I laughed vocally, which probably wasn't the best thing to do. Not that this doesn't legitimately happen in some cases--it does--but I just think that is what every divorced person says. You always hear about how the other person went crazy and was too difficult to live with. Anyway, that wasn't my purpose in bringing this up.

If Kylee and I ever got divorced (God forbid) I don't think I could ever say anything like that. In fact, I think if we ever did get divorced I would say "I really messed that up." Mostly because Kylee is just an incredible person. I think, most likely, I know her better than anyone else on earth and I would have to acknowledge that she is almost by all accounts a very righteous person.

On a funny side note, she does have one sin that she does pretty consistently (I don't want to sound too biased :) Kylee exaggerates in an incredible way. If we are arguing, we have done this once or twice, she will exaggerate to make her point stronger. We all do it, so I don't think I am calling her out or anything, but she does it a lot. The funny thing is that she does it even when it doesn't matter. If she says,"I called you 8 times" I will look on my phone and it will say she called twice. Then she will say, "Yeah, it may have been twice!" I just think it is funny.

But, seriously, she is incredible. Where she really excels though is in being a mother. I have an incredible Mom, and she was amazing. I always knew growing up that my Mom loved me so much, I never even questioned it. And she was the incredible kind of Mom that would always try to make me think I could accomplish anything. Also, not only that, but my Mom would also let me know that her love was absolutely unconditional, which is how I think every mom should love. I knew her approval of me was conditional, but her love never was. I believe this helped me a great deal. It made me realize there was always someone in my corner. My Mom was just exactly the person I needed to become who I needed to become, and she still is.

And the thing that makes me so happy is that Kylee is just like my Mom. Kylee is incredible. Literally, Kylee's biggest concern is how good of a mother she is. I know that this is more important to her than houses, cars, jewelry, or anything else. She just wants to be a good Mom and wife and give our kids all she can. Also, as Elder Ballard said yesterday, being a Mom is incredibly demanding. She devotes all her time to the kids. I am learning to be more helpful and I try to give her breaks from them more often now, but even when I do, they are what she does all day. Already her sacrifices for her kids are amazing.

Sometimes I think Kylee deserves better than me. I think everyone has this impression at some points in their life about their spouse. But Kylee, to me, was God recognizing how hard I have tried to make my life right and she is the gift I received from God in return. Not that women are possessions that are given away, but you know what I mean :)

So I would be miserable if I ever lost her, through my own actions or something really sad like death. I used to think, when I acquired the "eternal prospective" that if I ever lost my wife it wouldn't be so bad. I thought this because I just thought "well, we are sealed, we will be together in the next life, I will just miss her." I know this isn't the case anymore. Marriage has given me a new perspective and taught me something about the depth of loss for a spouse. I think it would be incredibly hard to deal with the separation. There would be hope, but that hope would only slightly mitigate how I would miss her during the rest of my life.

This is somewhat an ode to Kylee. I have been thinking lately, "I just love her so much." She is incredible. And when I think about the two little kids that we have had, Mikelle and Jonah, I just feel unworthy to be so blessed. As much as I love Kylee, the interesting thing is that it had to be developed. I didn't love her this much when we first were married. In fact, in hindsight, I wouldn't even really call it love. When we were dating I just thought she was a really good person. When I was pondering about marrying her I can honestly say I never thought, "Oh, I just love her so much." My thoughts were more along the lines of "she is just such a good person and would be an incredible wife and mother. I just want to make sure that she is never out of my life." I know that isn't the Hollywood concept of love and romance, but it is the truth. I think the Hollywood style romance is fickle and always changing. Infatuation goes in spurts and waves. But the love that I have for her, my complete respect for the person that she is, isn't fading or fickle. You could say I married her on the promise of the life that we would have. It has worked out perfectly.

Also, I have realized that the more and more I serve her the more and more I love her. I pray that our love will grow very often, and the answer I always seem to get from God is to serve her. We love the things we serve. If we serve money and our job, then money will become what we truly love. If we serve a people as a missionary, we will come to love those people. And if Kylee and I serve each other and our kids, and devote our lives to each other and our children, then we will love each other and our children with a fierce love, which is what is happening. I realize that if I don't serve Kylee and help her around the house or with the kids, then I don't feel, actively, my love for her as much. She becomes more like a room mate and someone I share life with, not a wife. It wasn't like that with the kids as much. I think God establishes in us an automatic love for the children, especially in the woman. Although it might be because they do serve their children by being sick, carrying them for nine months, and childbirth. But even though I didn't do those things there was still a degree of automatic love for my kids. But this didn't exist when Kylee and I met. I chose to love her, and I continue to do so. I made a choice to love her. I am glad I made that choice.

Which brings me now to my biggest point. To me, marriage is something that is long-term. That seems intuitive, but I don't think people really think that. I remember when Kylee and I were married I knew we were never going to get divorced. I knew, although they didn't say this in the temple wedding ceremony, that it would be during "sickness and in health, for better or for worse." But even then, there were things I thought I would divorce her for if she ever did them. I would have never divorced her if she became paralyzed or something sad like that, but I would have divorced her if she cheated on me. But my thoughts on that have changed dramatically. I really think I would stay with her during the "better or for worse." I would stay with her even if she did cheat on me. Now I don't think it would be completely unconditional, for instance, if she was actively cheating on me and didn't want to stop, I would clearly divorce her. But you know what I mean. As long as she wants to be married to me I am there for her. I think that is what marriage is all about. When you get married you are saying in essence: I want to go through life with this person. I want her to be my other half. I want to face the challenges of life and the joys of life with this person at my side. I want to struggle with them, love with them, do the dishes with them. My purpose in life is to make this person happy, and hopefully their purpose in life is to make me happy. Hopefully our purpose in life is to make our marriage better. My biggest concern is her, her biggest concern is me, and our biggest concern is our children. We are married to provide a support for our spouse through life. I am here for her through any trial she may have, just as she would stay with me through any trial I may have. If the world quits on her I am the one person that will never quit on her.

And so, now you know how I feel about Kylee as well as my words can express it. She is just incredible. I have an incredible wife and two incredible children. In other words, things are perfect. I have a faith I love, I had the opportunity to get an education at a fine school. I am actively living the American Dream. I have been given every opportunity to take the best of what my parents have passed on to me and to add to it. Most of all though, I have been given the opportunity to change in the truest sense of the word, to become a new man because of Christ. I have a family that I can change, improve and become better with. I have food (which is an incredible blessing considering how many people don't in the world, we sometimes forget that), shelter, clothing. In other words, I have everything anyone could ever want.

Kylee and my kids are really the pinnacle of blessings. God has established a perfect plan in which we come to earth and learn to be like Him in these little family units that mirror the ones we will live in in the next life. The greatest joy in life is found within the family unit.

Kylee doesn't read my blog very often, so the nice thing is that I can profess my love to her and our kids on this blog and she doesn't even know about it :) I just wanted everyone to know how grateful I was for my family. I also wanted them to know how amazing Kylee is. Kylee, Mikelle and Jonah can motivate me to be good like nothing else in this world can. Whenever I think of how incredible of a man I will have to be to ensure that Kylee is sufficiently loved, and how incredible I will have to be to prepare Mikelle and Jonah to go out and face the world, I know it will only be possible through God. I really think he gave me such an incredible wife and kids so I would have a celestial touchstone to compare myself to.

In other words, I am just really grateful today for all that I have. I have a lot.

Conference!

Wow, what an experience. I was amazed at almost all the talks. They were just incredible.

I was especially blown away with Priesthood session. All of you ladies out there should read the addresses from Priesthood in the Ensign. They are incredible. Lately I have been wondering about different aspects of the gospel and every question that I had in conference was answered in Priesthood. It was an incredibly edifying experience.

Also, during Priesthood session I had an incredibly strong feeling that President Monson is called of God. I know it is obvious, but the Spirit's sweet reassurance was still very welcomed.

Also, as you can tell, I have a lot of opinions, probably (almost definitely) all of them are not right. I love hearing from the Apostles and Prophet when they speak because they are great at bringing people back in that have different views. What I am saying is, I talk about these things a lot, but I readily recognize that sometimes I am simply wrong and I love that we have people who receive revelation from God that can bring us back into the right way.

I know those men are called by God. I know that God speaks to individuals when he speaks to the masses. I can't express how grateful I am for this.

Are Things Evil or Are Attitudes Evil?

We talked about this yesterday in my Bible as Literature class.

I don't think things are evil, I think attitudes are evil. We were talking about various different things, about alcohol and other things of a similar nature, and someone mentioned how evil they are. I am acknowledging that for the most part, things are evil, but I don't think that is the concern on God's part. I think God is concerned with the attitudes that lead to behaviors, not as much the specific behaviors (although he is surely concerned with some behaviors).

For instance, I don't think God thinks that alcohol is evil. In fact, he says pretty much that much, when he says it is for the washing of our bodies (mouthwash) in the Word of Wisdom. He clearly doesn't feel like alcohol is evil. But I think culturally we think it to be. I knew someone who wouldn't use alcoholic mouthwash because they "wanted to avoid even the appearance of evil." I think when Latter Day Saints consume alcohol it isn't necessarily the alcohol that bothers God as much as it is what the consumption of alcohol means--you are not listening to his council and his prophets. So all of a sudden your heart isn't in a place that will listen to God or his servants, and this is what scares God more than the actual alcohol does.

Think of it this way, when Christ comes again he will destroy all pornography. Pornography, in one grand moment, and suddenly, will quickly become a non-issue. So we can clearly see that pornography doesn't worry God, at least in an eternal way. But this is the rub, the attitude that persisted in people's hearts to look at pornography could theoretically, and realistically, endure in someone's heart forever. God isn't worried about the pornography, he is worried about someone's heart being in a place that it shouldn't be in.

If a person commits adultery I don't think God worries about the actual sex. He doesn't care about the actual physical act that existed between the two people. God cares about the lack of love for the spouse, for the adulterer's heart being far from HIm, and for the fact that they are putting off the Spirit of God. He cares about the attitude that existed in the heart of the adulterer, not the act.

We have come to worship, in an opposite kind of way, sins. We think that the sins are what keep us from God, when I think in reality it is the attitude that enabled us to do the sin that keeps us away. And this attitude isn't a convenient attitude to hold, because it makes you consider all your acts. So if I skip my priesthood meeting I could easily think "well, priesthood meeting isn't very important, it doesn't really matter if I go." I think to some extent, a person could be right when they think that. But I would think, if I skipped Priesthood, that an attitude led me to not go to my meeting. An attitude made it so I didn't go and try to increase other's faith by sharing my own. An attitude let me think that I could not make time for spiritual things and still survive spiritually. So this attitude of attitudes being evil and not actual acts makes me think much more about what I do or do not do. The Priesthood wasn't the best example, but you get the point (hopefully).

So what I am saying is, if my child comes up to me and says "Dad, I fooled around with my girlfriend" I won't freak out because of the act, I will freak out because of the attitude, or mentality, that was in my son's mind when he committed the act, not the act itself. I will do my best to help him, or her, see that their attitude, not the act, is what is going to keep them from God.

Another way to look at it is this, if my son wanted to fool around with a girl (and not in the "everyone is naturally attracted to someone way, but in the "I really want to fool around with my girlfriend way) I would think that he needed to change his mentality. If he didn't even do it he would still need to repent, because at that point he wanted to do it. So regardless of the act the attitude would need to change.

Personally, I think God cares about the end result. Evil acts are simply the manifestation of evil attitudes. Evil is, to me, doing something that is against the will of God, or won't bring happiness, which I think is the same thing. God doesn't care what sins we committed, he only cares what our hearts are like. This attitude of attitudes being important put the impetus on us to ensure that our hearts are right with God. It is a difficult life to live.

What If He Said It Would Be This Weekend?

What if during conference this weekend President Monson announced that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, even at the door? What would you do?

I heard a quote from Joseph Smith quoting Amos 3:7. He said that if "surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets" why wouldn't he tell the prophet of his return. I think it is a valid point. I don't care if he does one way or the other, but I do think it seems like the prophet would know when it was soon. He is going to come like a thief in the night, but overall he would still have this type of arrival even if the President of the Church said it was soon. With 13,000,000 members out of 6 billion people I don't think many people on the earth would know about it. And even if they did know about it, they would just make fun of us probably and say, "Oh, one more religion trying to predict the day, it will be funny when they are wrong!"

I am not trying to say anything about the roles of prophets or anything like that. I am just asking this question: If President Monson said Christ was coming "very soon" what would you do for the rest of the weekend? Or week? Or year?

Although we know he is coming soon, I am not really sure what I would do if it was extremely imminent (besides repenting a little more. I repent consistently now, but clearly everyone would make a conscious effort to do it a little more earnestly). I know one thing I would do though, I would go by some food storage immediately, just because there are going to be some crazy times before he comes again. We have a little, but not a lot.

So what do you think? Would you quit your job? Would you move back to be around your parents? Would you apologize to people you haven't apologized to? Would you forgive those who need your forgiveness? Would you give more of your goods to the poor? Would you make a more conscious effort to say I love you? Would you bear your testimony to loved ones who should have heard it a long time before?

What would you do?