For You A Thousand Times Over

Usually on Sundays after Church I take a nap. It is a good day to worry about nothing and just sleep. Beautiful sleep...However, 3 Mos talked of this book called the Kite Runner. It happened to be I had the book in my bedroom closet. I assumed it to be one my wife had picked up somewhere, but it turns out she doesn't know how we got it either. I started the book Saturday night before bed, and instead of sleeping, I spent Sunday reading the whole thing. What an amazing story. I cried so many times...How does one write like that? How does one make up a story like that? His new book comes out sometime this summer and I cannot wait to read it. Does anyone know the author's background?

What Am I Fighting For?

Ugh. Man, I was so sick two Saturdays ago. I was puking, diarrhea-ing, dazed, empty, and vacant. So, I came to a decision, one which I've been mulling over the past few months. What exactly am I fighting when it comes to the Gospel and the Church? For the past 4-plus years I've been working and going to school, and I'm one (or used to be) for action in Gospel matters. I was always 100% in my home-teaching, I did my best in my extracurricular callings, and although I wasn't a hundred-percent on FHE or scripture reading, I felt comfortable somewhat in my efforts. Well, when I decided to go back to school, I knew the sacrifice I would make to do so, and now I'm on the other side of that decision. I think I've been missing dearly the opportunity to serve the Lord in those capacities. So, I decided to can all the angst, forget about it, and restart again with my Gospel efforts, since I've been so richly blessed undeservedly. I've decided to follow the commandments (scriptures, prayer, faith, repentance) without rationalizing inaction in those areas, and just LET IT BE. The rest will take care of itself. It's only been a week and a half, but already there is a peace which is not from this world, or not of my own mental-making; I'm not confident in the my own estimation of my standing before the Lord, but I'm getting there.

P.S. I'm still wickedly conservative in my views. Don't mistake my new (re)direction for tolerance of the stupid.

I Want To Be A Rancher

1000 more Zarqawis=1000 more bombs!

I have something I must confess: I was a little saddened when I hear of Zarqawi's death. Here's why: Being the American enterprising capitalist Texan big-truck driving meat-eating heterosexual Christian that I am, I thought of a business idea solely for the pleasure of CEOs of major oil corporations. A big-game ranch! I'm sure you've heard of ranches in the U.S. that have exotic game such as ostrich, emu, water buffalo, lions, tigers, komodo dragons, endagered African antelope, etc. stocked so the average joe could spend a weekend hunting conveniently in the U.S. without having to travel the globe to acquire big game trophies and meat. That is what I want to do, but with a little twist.

First of all, I will buy a couple of acres in central Texas. I will then contract with the U.S. military to purchase terrorists caught in war and set them loose on my ranch. Then, to recoup my money used to purchase the terrorists, I will lease the ranch on weekends to Big Oil CEOs, Republicans, and basic white people to come hunt the terrorists! I will charge by the head, meaning I will charge more for big name terrorists than the average run-of-the-mill loser terrorists who we kill in large numbers everyday anyway. At night, to rile the sensitivites of the terrorists to make the hunt more interesting the next morning, I will broadcast Jewish preaching over loudspeakers the whole evening. I can't go wrong! I will be performing a (worldwide) public service by eradicating the terrorists, I will be making a profit, taxes will go down because less money will be needed by the military because I'm paying them, and the terrorists will die happily believing they are martyrs in their twisted fantasies. Everybody wins!

In case you are thinking of ripping my idea off, I have a patent on it, and I will sue, as it is the U.S. way to do!

How Are The Virgins, Abu?

It is a wonderful day.

Hey I've Got Something To Say, I Killed Your Baby Today

I was thinking of the Book Of Mormon, where the Lamanites were a scourge to the Nephites whenever the Nephites started to stray off course of their moral bearings. The Nephites became very prosperous in their times of relative peace and very rich, which led to periods of decadence. These decadent times would then be marked by war-mongering by the Lamanites, who would enslave or kill the Nephites until the Nephites would repent and turn back to the Lord. The parallel I'm drawing here is for the times I live in. Isn't the Book Of Mormon written for us and our times? I think it would be pretty safe to say we are in a period of decadence unmatched by any time in history. The United States fosters some of the most disgusting pornography in the world. We are forced to debate Constitutional Amendments on marriage. Laziness is fostered by our government. Our government leaders get away with murder, literally. The United States is not the only country guilty of this decadence; it seems to me to be a worldwide movement. However, the United States has the Constitution, a document allowing the most individual freedoms for anyone in the world we believe is inspired by God. So who is our scourge?

I think it is a multi-faceted answer, but one which stands out, and I believe this, is Islam. What a screwed-up religion. I had a hard time debating this with myself, trying to see the world from their point of view, reading history to see how much involvement the United States has in fostering their beliefs in murder, and I just don't get it. What really convinced me and made it clear was the ransacking of Paris last year and the WORLDWIDE MOVEMENT of violence and destruction after a...cartoon. Now look at Canada. Seventeen Canadian Muslims were busted with plans of the same old Islamic crap (including beheadings) before they were able to carry it out. I wonder when it will happen here in the U.S. again. As Christians, unless you're a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, we tend to empathize and turn the other cheek in order to allow both ourselves and the offenders space to grow better. Islam is not like that. The war we are in is religious in nature, and no amount of political maneuvering is going to make peace with Islam. Islam is slavery, and therefore naturally repugnant to all freedom-loving peoples. Maybe that is why there are so many suicide-homicide bombers in Islam. They know no better and rather choose the freedom death offers rather than live enslaved by their own religion.

I don't believe this war started in our times, or even mortal times. This war was fought in biblical times, Book Of Mormon times, and will be fought to some extent in the future. This is an extension of the war started before the Earth was created, except now there is the physicality of the flesh to deal with. Freedom versus slavery. So, there you go. My thought of the day. If I've offended anyone, good.