Debating counsel from leaders. I wonder sometimes if there are those that spend too much time picking apart the words of the Church leaders. I wonder what value there is in looking for the meanings behind the meanings. I wonder if there isn’t at least a slight bit of danger trying to “read between the lines.” I wonder if in such situations, folks aren’t just trying to justify their own, contrary positions. Not totally unrelated, I wonder if some folks rely too much on the positions of their peers, simply because they (the peers) are outspoken, well-spoken, or both. Sometimes I think people confuse education with authority. The ability to clearly express oneself doesn’t make one an authority on a subject, nor for that matter even a reliable source on a subject.

Love, tolerance and acceptance: I think that too often as a society we interpret the commandment to love one another as a commandment to be tolerant or accepting of one another or, more precisely, with a commandment to be tolerant and accepting of otherwise unacceptable behavior. I say ENOUGH ALREADY! It’s long past time for people to take a stand against unacceptable behavior. One only need look back over recent history to realize that the more society tolerates unacceptable behavior the more acceptable that behavior becomes and consequently, the more base we become as a society.

Expressed another way, think of a scale from 1 to 10, with one being the most crime-free society or the most utopian society and 10 being the worst. Let each of the numbers in between represent whatever behaviors you wish them to represent, so long as the behavior associated with each number becomes increasingly worse as the number increases. One doesn’t have to think about it very long to realize that as our utopian society becomes more tolerant and more accepting of behavior number 2, behavior number 3 starts looking better or at the very least “less bad.” Such continues to be the case as we move up the scale.

I say again, a command to love another is not, in my humble opinion, a command to tolerate another’s unacceptable behavior.

Discrimination. I’m about to the point that if I hear someone else claim they’ve been discriminated against because society won’t accept their behavior as “normal”, I may give them a discrimination 2 x 4 upside the head. The whole argument is so nearly absurd as to be unworthy of discussion. I’m not talking about legitimate claims of discrimination because of race, religion, sex (male vs female) or age. I’m talking about those who feel they are “entitled” to some societal benefit despite the fact that they haven’t complied with the requirements for obtaining that benefit. Rather than conforming to what is acceptable, they wish the rest of us to accept their alternative positions and bestow upon them their “rights.” What a load of crap.