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That’s all true, but in modern times using the terms “pro choice” and “pro life” are the easiest ways to determine someones views on the abortion issue. Of course it’s vastly more complex than that-but those terms suit the argument just fine.

Elder Bednar believes agency is the least understood gospel principle. Do you think his comments would indicate that it's our responsibility not to justify the sins of others? I'm sure he's mostly speaking of our individual actions, but he also mentioned our agency being enlarged, which I take it as impacting more than just self.

What I've seen, individual cops and police agencies are rarely anyone's political arm. The district attorneys in charge of prosecution, however, are another matter. 2020 was full of stories out of places like Seattle and Portland, where cops would arrest and bring in people, DAs refused to prosecute, folks got sprung in time for the next riot. And of course, the decriminalize-stuff movement had a bunch of legislators making things like vandalism and theft not-arrestable offenses. Colorado Springs cops flat out told me they usually don't arrest for simple assaults, unless there are other factors at play. Basically, you can walk up behind someone, deck 'em hard, hang around to get your ticket and summons, then go back to your lunch. Sometimes this can be due to jail capacity too. But yeah, the notion that Mirkwood and team only beats up on maga-hat wearing folks, and turns a blind eye to black bloc wearing flash theft mobs, yeah, doesn't really work that way. Now, when there's protesters and counter-protesters that start fighting, sometimes cops will see things on the ground, and one side ends up getting cuffed. No matter who started it/was more dangerous/engaged in criminal activity, the media and video from the scene will usually be edited and spun to portray one side's narrative. One person's "Rich white guy runs over black student peacefully protesting", is another person's "the elderly driver was surrounded when stopped at a red light, and accelerated to save his own life after they started busting his windows to get at him". Tomorrow marks the 2 year anniversary of this stuff visiting Provo, UT. The video is still up: https://universe.byu.edu/2020/06/30/two-sides-collide-leading-to-march-down-university-ave/ Does anyone else remember all the many ways that thing was portrayed?

Someone is in command on scene. That is usually a Sgt. or higher and they would make the decision. There are a lot of factors that go into play in such decisions. We could play the "what if" game all day long.

I'm seeing lots of active members of the church show their support for the pro-choice movement. I've always felt like pro-choice was incompatible with the views of the church. Am I wrong here? God is pro-choice in the sense that he gives everyone the freedom to choose. But, if you took a covenant to represent Christ, I expect your support to align with Christ, and not the world. Yes, I realize that other people have their agency. But, what about the agency of the unborn that is being completely ignored? Am I missing something? Obviously we allow for the rare exceptions such as the life of the mother being threatened, rape, and incest. But, what about all of those elective abortions? How can a pro-life stance be consistent with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

You know who I like? Paula Abdul. 3 releases over 7 years, appears with Zoe on Sesame Street, then ditches the industry and lives her life full.

I'm not a Sunday School teacher, but I sub pretty regularly. I usually ask what everyone has learned - or what questions they may have had from the lesson material. If no one raises their hand, these are the steps that I more-or-less follow for facilitating/moderating Sunday School. 1. Begin by giving a decent amount of context on what the Israelites were facing (or Saul, David, Solomon, whoever). 2. Ask a class member to read an important passage of scripture from the week's reading 3. Follow-up with that class member that just read - and ask what their thoughts are on the scripture 4. Give my own impressions on the verses that were just read. Talk about the teachings of the church concerning that specific topic, whether it be on complaining, seeking after other gods, or trying too much to fit into the culture of another land. 5. Talk about how those principles are relevant in our day and time. 6. Ask open-ended questions to the class. i.e. How might we be tempted to fall into the exact same traps as the Israelites? And what are ways we can check ourselves not to fall victim to these outside pressures? 7. Let the class take over. Ultimately, the spirit will take over. There's revelation scattered all over the room. The more we stay focused on a specific issue and a specific doctrine, and build off of each other, the more I feel like we understand a passage of scripture in the spirit in which the author intended it to be understood. I will insert thoughts from time-to-time related to the discussion - and will sometimes reel the class back in if we veer too far from the topic. 8. If the discussion dies down, then I proceed to the next portion of the lesson - and repeat the cycle. Usually classroom comments take up 80-90% of the class time. That's the way it's intended to be, IMO. It's really cool when the doctrine is taught, the spirit is felt, and you can see people's eyes just light up.

Sometimes dispersing the riot is more important than arresting the riot.