photo credit: ArGENTNiGHTiNGALE Agency to act implies an awareness of causality: understanding right and wrong and knowing what consequences might or will follow. A person ignorant of causality, such as a mentally disabled person or toddler, is not morally accountable for their actions. Thus, conscious choices made by individuals rely upon an environment where causality [...]

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photo credit: exterface As part of my calling, I have recently been visiting various wards in our stake. Because of this, I’ve had the opportunity to observe a number of people in a church setting. Among the various observations I have made while worshiping among these Saints, one has stood out to me as being [...]

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photo credit: Osvaldo_Zoom Jeff Lindsay wrote a post this morning highlighting the similarities many see between child labor and slavery. Indeed, most of us have been raised in an environment that condemns such an “atrocity”, which allegedly capitalizes upon the young and naïve, often compensates them very little, and sidetracks them from their studies and [...]

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At the start of 2007, I began a year-long service project of quilt-making for orphans and families in Zambia, Africa. My mother had recently returned from a trip there with Mothers Without Borders, and I was doing some fund-raising in preparation for my own trip that summer. She had our family create two quilts during [...]

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My wife and I just returned from having spent the weekend in Cedar City, attending a statesmanship retreat at George Wythe College. I’ve been accepted into their master’s program and started class a couple weeks ago. The purpose of the retreat was to introduce prospective students to the educational model presented by George Wythe. The [...]

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photo credit: a35mmlife Barack Obama has been seen of late as an eloquent speaker, passionate politician, and a uniter. To be sure, his speeches are inspiring and motivational—one comes away from hearing him speak with an upbeat attitude and optimistic outlook on life and politics. However, those who become enamored with Obama are often those [...]

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photo credit: Idleeuw Black. Homosexual. Short. Blind. Crippled. Female. Old. Muslim. According to our government, the person who is classified by any one of these labels (among others) is granted certain rights that protect against discrimination. Crafted in an attempt to provide an “equal playing field”, anti-discrimination laws (such as these) state that a person [...]

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During today’s worldwide leadership training broadcast, Elder Holland discussed the importance of the family in the church and society at large. Speaking of the ideal family, he noted the reality that there are many who do not enjoy this situation in their own lives. Cognizant of this fact, Elder Holland stated that General Authorities teach [...]

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photo credit: minivan cooley In a recent conversation with a family member, I was asked regarding Ron Paul’s effectiveness and his ability to get things done in Congress. This question was posed to benchmark my preferred presidential candidate’s ability to make things happen and see his cause be realized. My response was, in essence, a [...]

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photo credit: Eliza Beth All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree. (James Madison, via Quoty) Proper government, being subservient to the will of its master, the people, has a limited and defined role to play in the lives of its citizens. Operating within its narrowly defined boundaries, government is seen [...]

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