Val's Email Sunday School: What it Means to Prosper

For me, there were a few themes in the reading this week. I’ll focus on just two. There seemed to be a theme of trusting in the Lord, and prospering when we keep the commandments. I have never noticed how many times they link prospering in the land to keeping the commandments until now. This promise is repeated over and over throughout The Book of Mormon. I went and looked it up and the best that I was able to tell, there are at least 20 variations of this promise throughout The Book of Mormon.

That seems significant. So what are we exactly being promised if we keep the commandments of God? What does it mean to prosper? If we look up the word in the dictionary it can mean a few things. First, it means to “succeed in material terms; be financially successful.” Second, it means to “flourish physically; grow strong and healthy.” Third, it can mean to “make successful.” These scriptures appear to be saying that we will be financially well off, physically strong and healthy, and successful, when we keep the commandments. That’s a big deal.

I went to the thesaurus to make sure I knew what we might mean when talking of prospering. It said that variations of this word can mean to “bloom, blossom, do well, flourish, multiply, thrive, advance, arrive, increase, progress, be enriched, bear fruit, become wealthy, do wonders, fare well, go places, grow rich, hit it big, hit the jackpot, make a killing, make it, make money, and strike it rich.” Those all seem like things we would actually want in our lives. Really it appears to be telling us that we’ll be successful in all areas of our lives if we follow God. This really does appear to be the case when we observe some of our best examples of keeping the commandments like President Nelson or any of the apostles. They all have had full, rich, successful lives before they became apostles.

The reading this week is Alma teaching his sons. These are really good chapters because they show us what he thinks is most important for his kids to understand. He teaches them, “whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions . . .God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself; For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.” I liked this a lot because Alma is the example of what we’re striving to be, and earlier in his life he was the absolute worst. He’d done horrible things. God found a way to communicate with him where he was, not because of any worthiness on Alma's part. When being good or progressing seems too hard, it’s nice to realize that Alma was literally awful, going around trying to destroy the church of God, and God was still merciful to him. I think most of us, no matter what we’ve done, never sank to the depravity of Alma who had killed people, lead people away from the church, and tried to destroy Christ’s church. This story should give us hope that regardless of our mistakes, we're not too far gone that God doesn't want to, or can't, reach us.

I had an interesting discussion with a friend once, who pointed out that even though Alma’s conversion story involved an angel, it wasn’t the angel who converted him, but the introspection and the influence of the Spirit of God afterward. Alma talked about how he was tormented knowing the extent of his rebellion against God and all the things he had done wrong. He said that there was “nothing so exquisite and bitter as were [his] pains,” and that “there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was [his] joy.” It’s interesting that he would choose the same word to describe both his torment and his joy, so I looked up exquisite. The thesaurus showed synonyms like perfect, striking, incomparable, and matchless. Another source described exquisite this way, “Exquisite describes something that is lovely, beautiful, or excellent. Exquisite pain or agony is very sharp and intense.” So, it appears that exquisite, when describing either pain or joy is something that is all-encompassing, unparalleled, or overwhelming.

After Alma had this experience where his pain and agony was replaced by joy, he describes himself as being “born of God.” This is somethimes described as being “born again.” Mosiah 5:2 describes this state to us as when a person has “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

Gospel is an old english translation of the Greek “Good News”, so the good news is that all pain and suffering in you can be traded for joy and happiness if we do what’s right and work on converting ourselves to God. This process is called repentance. Following God or Christ isn’t about apologizing repeatedly for violating rules, or submitting to people in authority over you, or submitting to society's training that tells us to be better because of an invisible God who we can’t see or know. Following God or Christ is about coming to understand the “good news” more and more, and realizing that living our lives within the parameter of a prescribed structure leads to success, prosperity, and a joy that can be described as exquisite. That’s what we’re striving for, even though we're all at various points in this process.

Alma had experienced both ways of life. He’d lived lawlessly and selfishly and he’d also lived lawfully (obeying commandments) and selflessly. He had experienced both and dedicated his life to teaching and proclaiming the good news not because he was supposed to, or because he’d been brainwashed, or because society had conditioned him to, but because he knew which was a more fulfilling, satisfying, and desirable way to live. If we haven’t discovered the good news or exquisite joy in our own lives, then our task isn’t to go around trying to convert others to a way of life or a framework of thought (a religion) that we ourselves haven’t fully embraced. Our task is to live our lives and figure it out. We can only bear testimony of the things that we know from experience.

Alma tells us from his experience that “I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.” We’re told again that inasmuch as ye keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.

There are a lot of things I could write whole papers about. But I can’t write it all. So I’ll skip ahead. Alma reassures us that God “will fulfill all his promises which he shall make unto you.” I think maybe a lot of our greatest difficulties come from an inability to accept that God’s got this, that he isn’t a liar. That when he says things he means it. I think we all do it, but it’s very often hard to believe that things will happen a certain way or turn out a certain way when we just don’t see any possible way that it could. We're supposed to trust him when he tells us things, even when we don't understand the "how."

I really liked reading about the part where he says “yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ripe.” He goes on to say that the Lord has said (about this land and the people on it) that “I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy the from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land.” This reminds me of the scriptures that say in the last days all things shall be made known. One such scripture is Luke 12:3 that says “Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

He repeats that “There is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe.” I like these scriptures because when we look at our country and the world and see murders plastered online, hatred, sexual exploitation of children, and everything else that’s overwhelming and horrible, it seems like bad is winning. However, these scriptures reassure us that those things can’t triumph, because God won’t let it. He’s promised that those who keep the commandments will prosper, and those who do horrible secret works of darkness will be exposed and destroyed. If that’s true, life could get really, really interesting as all the secret plots for power or money are exposed.

Alma compares the scriptures to the Liahona, and compares Lehi’s family’s ability to follow the Liahona to the promised land to our ability to follow the scriptures to our promised land. We don’t follow a direct course, not because God doesn’t want to lead us but because we forget to be faithful and diligent, so we don’t progress in our journeys. He says that when we’re slothful, we don’t prosper. Slothful can mean comatose, dallying, inactive, inattentive, lethargic, lifeless, listless, passive, sluggish, tired, unenergetic, slow, tired, or procrastinating. When we get tired and casual, we don’t make as much progress. Alma reminds us that “As much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions…” and that we’ll have peace to our souls. CS Lewis said something similar when he stated, “Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties.”

Val's Email Sunday School: Discerning Truth and Goodness

Alma 32 contains one of the best lectures on Faith that I know of. However, instead of repeating that lecture I’m going to talk less about the formula for how to develop Faith and talk a little bit more about what this lesson teaches us about discernment. In a world where contradictory messages digitally fly around telling us what to believe and what is true, how is anyone to know the truth about anything? Discernment is the key that will help us understand and know what is true. Alma teaches us how to discern if a “seed” is good in these chapters. 

He says that we can know if something is true or good (to me this means we can discern between what is good and evil), by how it affects us. A good seed will “. . .begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”

I’ve thought all week about these words. ". . .it beginneth to enlarge my soul, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." Enlarge, enlighten, delicious. We learn here that those things that enlarge our souls, enlighten our minds and understanding, and those things that are enjoyable, enticing, pleasant, exquisite, and delicious to us, are good. This is really key here. And I don’t know if many of us recognize it, but these scriptures are telling us three key ways that we can know if something is good.

Do the things we spend our time on enlarge our souls? Are we turning outward, and expanding our souls and our worlds? Or are we contracting and shrinking our souls and withdrawing from the world? Are we encouraged to care for and about others? Is whatever we’re choosing to spend our time on expanding our Faith, Hope, and Charity? What about enlightening our understanding? Is our understanding of the world, others, or ourselves being illuminated? Is whatever we’re reading, watching, or doing shedding light on or helping us understand more intellectually? Are we expanding our minds and our intelligence and our understanding? If so, that thing is good. What about being delicious to us? Are the ways we are spending our time, energy, and self delicious to us? Does it make us feel good? Does it make others feel good? Is it delicious? Again, is it expanding us, or contracting us?

Using a seed as a way to discern truth or good is such an interesting comparison, because I think it’s something that we all have experience with, and it’s definitely very clear whether or not a seed is good. When you plant a garden seed, let’s say in a little cup on your windowsill, you have to take care of it a certain way or you know it won’t grow (ie, if you don’t water it at all for example). But if you follow the rules for that seed, giving it light and water as required, if that seed is good, it will sprout. It will begin to grow. It will begin to expand. If the seed isn’t good, it won’t do anything! This is a normal phenomenon. Seed packets even say on them their germination rates, how much of the packet you can expect to be good seeds, and how much you can expect to be bad seeds. 

So I guess these chapters kind of highlighted for me the necessity, when it is not clear if something is good or bad right away, for us to experiment a little (don’t take that out of context, I’m definitely not advocating for trying everything because how else can you know if it’s good or bad). If we can’t clearly discern at first if something is good, we experiment. We try the idea out. We try it on for size. And if it begins to grow, we know that it is good. If it enlarges and expands our souls and our minds, we have further evidence that the thing is good. “Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good . . .”

Something interesting that is also pointed out in this parable and in these scriptures is that good seeds take work for them to grow. Even if they’re good, they still take work and effort on our part to manifest their goodness to us. So, even ideas, like seeds, will take nourishment, work, diligence, and care for us to be able to see whether or not they grow, whether or not they’re good. 

So, they preach this really good sermon about what it means to have faith, and how you can discern good things from bad things. Then they testify of Christ. They spend a whole bunch of time testifying about Christ, and the Atonment, and the Plan of Salvation, Christ’s Redemption, and prayer. The response of the people to this is actually kind of funny: “And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their craft; therefore they would not hearken unto the words.”

The people get together and talk about what they said, and after consulting together they decide to get mad. They’re mad because the ability to discern right and wrong and good and bad actually destroys the hold they have on the people so they don’t like it. So instead of listening to reason and teaching people how to expand their souls and minds, they just go out and “stir up the Zoramites to anger.” They talked about stirring the people up to anger a few times, which is really frustrating. They deliberately didn’t want people to understand how to discern these things for themselves. 

Another part of the reading that I really liked was how Alma and Amulek boldly taught that prayer has more to do with what happens in our hearts than what happens on a public platform. They talk about praying to God all day in our hearts. “Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your afields, yea, over all your flocks.” Pray about your finances and the temporal things you need. “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.” Pray for your home, the things you own, and your families. 

“Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.” Pray for the ability to withstand your enemies, and other places in scripture encourage us explicitly to pray for our enemies, bless them that curse us, and pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. “Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.” Pray for spiritual strength and against the powers of evil. “Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.” Again pray for your finances, job, and temporal blessings. “But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.” So, even when you aren’t praying, let  your heart always be in prayer for your welfare and the welfare of those around you. 

So, to conclude, we have been given a formula that can help us discern what is good, and what is bad. We are told that all things that are good come from God, and we are told also that goodness is light and truth. Things that are good and true are of God. There are three ways we're told we can recognize them. 1) They enlarge our souls, 2) They enlighten our understanding, and 3) They are delicious to us. We would do well to consider the ways and places we spend our time and energy and examine them to make sure that the things that we choose surround ourselves with, to do, and to be and are expanding our souls and minds. We would also do well to understand that “the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.” (2 Nephi 32:8). We are taught here that we should always pray. We should pray about everything that concerns us. We should pray about our welfare, and the welfare of our families, and our financial and temporal well-being, and when we are not praying we should still have a prayer in our hearts. 

Come Follow Me (Alma 32-35)

Val's Email Sunday School: The Virtue of the Word of God

Last week I read about Korhior and the various arguments that people make against God and people who choose to follow him. It made me mad. I know the arguments that people have against religion and religious people and those arguments haven’t changed in over two thousand years. It’s extremely frustrating. This is actually why I postponed email Sunday School and almost didn’t do it altogether. 

I find it irritating that the perception is if you are “religious” you’re superstitious or stupid, just following the brainwashed “traditions of your fathers” or the unfortunate childhood teachings of your parents. It’s irritating that people today think that those who have firm values are fanatics, extreme, or inflexible. It’s really naive and close-minded that people assume those who are religious are just dumb sheep following a spiritual leader because they don’t want to think for themselves. 

Seeking to be a spiritual person who has divine inspiration and guidance is hard work. If we were in it for the ease of being a lame old sheep and following someone without thinking for ourselves, we wouldn’t be doing this. It’s hard. It takes work. It takes self-reflection and self-correction (repentance) when we recognize a better way. In fact, sometimes things get harder when you try harder to be better. We do what we do because we firmly believe it is right, not because we want to control anyone else, or shame anyone else, or hate on anyone else. We are living according to our own conscience. 

Why is this so hard for people to grasp? Following what you know to be right in your conscience and your heart is hard. It’s actually a lot harder than just doing what you want to do, and it’s insulting that people assume that to follow a religious or spiritual leader is somehow brainwashing or lack of intellectual exploration. The people I know who follow God do so for very rational and logical reasons. 

Some of the smartest people I know are religious, and I think that the reason they’re religious is because they recognize the order of the universe and how it is extremely unlikely for so many things to fall into place randomly. Smart people recognize they don’t know everything. Smart people follow the scientific method. Smart people experiment upon things for themselves. Smart people try out the various promises placed throughout the scriptures, saying that if we do one thing, we’ll get a specific result. 

Smart people experiment with Malachai 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Smart people experiment on the challenge in Moroni 10:4-5, “4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” There are many other challenges and promises placed throughout the scriptures where God asks us to try it out, try what he’s told us to do and see what happens.  

At the end of Alma 30, when Korihor is killed, verse 60 says, “And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord: and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.” Ultimately, it comes down to two teams. Good and evil, right and wrong. God has said he will support his children, but the devil does not support those who follow him. It is to our benefit to learn about morality and right from wrong. It is to our benefit to learn to be able to discern what is right, and what is wrong. It is to our benefit, and to society’s benefit, for more people to do what is right because it is right and because they believe that they are accountable to God rather than just society, who only will punish them if they get caught. 

I’ll end with this. “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” When people are frustrating, and the world is raging crazily around us, it would benefit us and society to try to help amplify the peace and stillness we are privy to in our lives. So as the world rages around us, perhaps we should follow Alma’s example and try the virtue of the word of God, even though the world has been very clear that it has no interest in truth or the “hatred” that we’re selling. 

Val's Email Sunday School: The Purpose of Life

In the reading this week for Come Follow Me we continued to cover some of my favorite scripture stories. There were so many excellent lessons that we could focus on, among them the example that the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi set regarding true conversion and what it means to forsake your sins once you know better; the fact that religious freedom was proclaimed in the land of the Lamanites so that there was a true marketplace of ideas in which people could choose for themselves; and Ammon’s soliloquy (Alma 26), which may be the very best example in scripture detailing the goodness of God, his patience, his mercy, and his long-suffering nature. We could write an entire lesson about Alma 26:33-34 alone discussing the example of love that the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi had, and how their love and compassion exceeded that of the Nephites. We could write pages and even books on these few topics alone. They’re all so good.

Instead, this week I chose to focus on Alma 24:27 and Alma 26:3. Alma 24:27 says, “...Thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.” In Alma 26:3 we are taught, “Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.”

Doctrine and Covenants 4:1-3 says, “Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. 2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;” The way I see it, when we are told that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of the people, we understand that the Lord uses many strategies to bring about this “marvelous work” or the salvation of his people. If we have desires to make the world a better place, bring people to truth, or improve the world, we “are called to the work.”

I think a lot of times many of us get hung up thinking that “missionary work” is to show people Christ’s church and get them to get baptized. I’ve never believed that’s what "Building the Kingdom of God" entails. Sure, it may be the eventual goal, but leading people to any true principles or truth is missionary work and bringing about repentance, which as we discussed before is a turning away from the things that are less beneficial for us (sin), to things that are more beneficial to us (adherence to God’s commandments). This is leading people to God and creating a better society, whether they choose to be actively religious or not. If all good things come from God, leading people to that which is good is leading them to God.

So what does that have to do with Alma 26:3? Ammon is talking about having been an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring about a great work. What does this really mean? The Come Follow Me manual encouraged us to look at things this way, "How were Ammon and Alma instruments in God’s hands? Consider looking at tools or instruments in your home and discussing how they are each helpful to your family. How does this help us understand how we can each be “an instrument in the hands of God”?" This was extremely enlightening to me. I'd always thought I knew what it mean to be an instrument in the hands of God. It mean to have God use you in such a way as to accomplish his purposes. However, I'd never considered the implication of the word instrument.

Different instruments do different things. Some specialized instruments are extremely effective at doing something very specific, but they aren't terribly useful outside of that specialty. You wouldn't use a scalpel when you needed a machete. Specialization matters. So why was this so enlightening to me? Well, because I think sometimes we look at ourselves, and maybe we're a hammer. If we look at the world and all we can see is how the world needs a sledgehammer or a drill, we might doubt our ability to be effective or useful in any capacity in bringing about a better world. For example, it appears that in the world today there are a dearth of honest and effective politicians. However, not all of us are cut out to be politicians, and this scripture tells me that that's okay. We shouldn't try to force hammers to be knives, or drills to be saws. Different people will have different ways in which they can affect the world for good, and we need them all. It is through these small, many, varied ways in which we each are threads in the tapestry of the world that we create a bigger picture that is much greater, much more vibrant, and much more amazing than anything we can accomplish on our own. So I reiterate, “Thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.”

In Ephesians 4:1 Paul beseeches us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." At first the word vocation makes it seem like we're supposed to live worthy of a job or a career, but synonyms of this word also include mission, calling, and lifework. So, We are supposed to strive to be worthy of the calling, mission, or lifework in which we are called. And we discussed earlier how we are called to God's work, or called to serve God. While Moses 1:39 tells us that God's work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," other scriptures talk about building the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven on the earth. So, I'm back to us being worthy of the mission or calling in which we are asked to serve (as a hammer, scalpel, or sledgehammer), to bring about more truth, goodness, morality, or righteousness in the world. The ways in which we do this are probably as varied as instruments or tools in construction or home improvement, but we each serve in the capacity in which we are qualified. 

So, again, to me these two scriptures emphasize how the world needs all kinds of people. Sometimes we might look at the sledgehamer approach of others and wish that we could be more like them, or worse, try to be like them. A scalpel will not be an effective jackhammer. Worse, in trying to be something that it's not, it probably won't be an effective scalpel either. So, I believe that the purpose of life is to facilitate the building of a better society and world (Zion, or the Kingdom of God on Earth), and we do this by using our God given talents, interests, insights, and strategies to bring that world about. We will choose to focus on different things in different ways, but that's why personal revelation is so important. As we each work on a small puzzle piece of the world, the picture we have individually might be abstract or confusing. We might not see how anything we're doing fits together with anything else. Our role in creating a more beautiful, just, and free world might seem like it just doesn't make any sense. However, if we can believe that God's got this, we can believe we are where we need to be and we are who we need to be as we strive to be our best selves, trusting that when our puzzle piece of the world puzzle is added to that of others a more glorious and coherent picture will emerge, which will be the marvelous work that God references in the scriptures. Just think of how essential each puzzle piece really is. If one is ever missing from a picture, it's immediately apparent. So are all of our efforts, even if we don't understand how.

#ComeFollowMe
Come Follow Me Alma 23-29

Declaration of Solidarity

When in the course of human events it becomes clear that the rights and privileges of our fellow Americans according to our Constitutional law have been violated, it becomes necessary for the people to band together in solidarity and assume the powers granted to them by God and the Constitution of the United States, to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these citizens of the United States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

The Government of the United States has a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Citizens. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Our government has failed to protect the integrity and independence of the press and the digital public square.

Our lawmakers have passed laws, which often disproportionately affect Blacks and People of Color, intended to maintain the status quo of economic and political power.

Our politicians have sought to put in place barriers to voting to maintain their current balance of power.

Our politicians have deliberately participated in gerrymandering, drawing and redrawing political boundaries, to their benefit and to the detriment of citizens.

Our politicians have encouraged Tribalism and stoked divisions within the country.

Our politicians have ignored the intended pluralism of the Constitution and established a de facto oligarchy to the detriment of citizens.

Our government has failed to put in place measures, like term limits for all political offices, to prevent the centralization of power into the hands of the few when it should be distributed among the people of the United States.

Our lawmakers have repeatedly legislated to bail out corporations with taxpayer dollars to the detriment of the citizens.

Our politicians have ignored the prudence of a sound budget.

Our politicians have ignored fiscal responsibility and sought to spend without limitation.

Our government has eroded the value of our currency, taxing the citizens without representation and diminishing the purchasing power of our savings.

Our courts have ignored the constraints placed upon them to evaluate law and have participated in legislation from the bench and judicial overreach.

Our Presidents have violated the separation of powers mandated in the Constitution and sought to govern through executive orders, bypassing the will of the people and establishing laws without cooperation or input from the House of Representatives or Congress.

Our government has encouraged the Rule of Law to be undermined, allowing money or position to purchase better outcomes in our courts.

Our government has encouraged secrecy and discouraged transparency.

Our government has created pay to play barriers in national politics.

Our government has failed to defend the first amendment and encouraged censorship of speech and repression of religious freedom.

Our government has violated the 5th Amendment by failing to implement measures against illegal searches and seizures with regards to privacy and digital information.

Our government has violated the rights of citizens to due process with the implementation and sustained support of the Patriot Act.

Our federal government and representatives have failed to promote the general welfare of citizens by refusing to work together to coordinate an effective response to our national public health crisis.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. Such a government that refuses to address the concerns of its citizens, is failing to be the guardian of the rights of a free people.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, Digitally Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these United States, solemnly publish and declare, that as citizens we are united in solidarity in our defense of our rights. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to defend one another’s Lives, Liberties, and Right to Live According to our Conscience. We charge our lawmakers with the task of finding, amending, or eradicating all such laws that are in violation of our Constitution and of redressing our grievances which have been listed above.

#UnitedWeStand

"Peaceful Protests" Don't Include Terrorizing Citizens, Bystanders, and Shooting People

Dear Senator Lee,

 

Are we really telling police that their hands are tied? That they can't use force against people who are doing illegal things? What about the government's explicit role in "ensuring domestic tranquility?" I am upset about allegedly peaceful protesters detaining a woman in SLC yesterday, as well as the shooting of a citizen in Provo Monday night. I'm aware that arrests have already been made regarding the Provo incident. 

 

If there aren't laws against so-called "peaceful protesters" impeding traffic, detaining citizens, and attacking cars there needs to be. This is dangerous for people and protesters. Someone, or multiple people, will end up getting killed and then we'll all shake our heads wondering how this could have been avoided and what possibly went wrong. I've seen the videos of the mob attacks in other parts of the country killing and maiming people. I absolutely do not want to see that here. 

 

Impeding traffic isn't peaceful. Threatening citizens isn't peaceful. If police can't respond because this movement has been made about police brutality, and the protests can't be limited because of the First Amendment, then at least protect the citizens by making it illegal, if it isn't already, for people to impede the movement of vehicles, block the streets, or otherwise detain vehicles, especially with malice. I assume actually attacking the vehicles of citizens is already illegal, as is attempted murder. Something must be done to prevent masked people from gathering under the guise of "protesting" and being given free reign to terrorize people.

 

While I support the rights of people to peaceably assemble, I condemn the use of violence and intimidation to try to advance a cause. At what point do we concede that the goal of many in these groups is to stoke terror and fear? At what point do we acknowledge that "mostly peaceful protests" isn't a descriptor that can be used when it involves terrorizing people, attacking people and cars, and terrorizing bystanders? The actual goal of many of these protests seems to be inciting terror, making the regular citizens feel unsafe, and undermining the rule of law. It is not merely an "inconvenience" to stop traffic and refuse to allow the free movement of citizens. This is completely unacceptable. Please encourage harsh penalties for all involved in activities like these, and make new laws if there aren't adequate laws to protect bystanders from the wrath of these mobs. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Valerie Dircks