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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/23/21 in all areas

  1. laronius

    What is charity?

    The scriptures teach us that charity is the pure love of Christ, a very succinct answer. The problem with succinct answers is that sometimes we fail to dig any deeper feeling we already have THE answer. But the scriptures also hint, or perhaps more than hint, at charity or God's love being more than a divine attribute. In Lehi's vision the tree of life is the ultimate goal of the righteous. Nephi later learns that it represents the love of God and that it "is the most desirable above all things" and "the most joyous to the soul." We also learn that if we advance in perfection in every other way but charity we are still NOTHING. In Moroni 8:25-26 perfect love seems to be the end goal of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are other treatments of this topic in the scriptures that also seem to encourage us to not be so satisfied with such a succinct definition of charity, the pure love of Christ, not that it is inaccurate in any way but that it in itself is so deep with meaning that we are only scratching the surface if we stop there. So I'm interested if anyone has more in depth definitions or light shedding experiences that can flesh out this incredibly essential quality, if quality is even a broad enough term to call it.
    2 points
  2. Traveler

    What is charity?

    I believe that such things we learn line upon line upon line and precept upon precept upon precept. I also believe that we are given spiritual gifts of truth (Mornoni 10) so it is not so much that we know so much about a thing as it is that such truth are sprinkled among the Saints that we can increase in knowledge by the nuggets of truths through spiritual connections to others. But it is not so much to think, know or understand the doctrine of such a thing but rather that we become the example of all aspects or our understanding. However, I believe we cross a spiritual threshold when our understanding turns from what we can gain to what we can sacrifice and "give" to others. That like Enos we are no longer concerned or centered in OUR Salvation, OUR Blessings, OUR Understandings, OUR Eternal Glory, OUR Celestial Accomplishments, OUR Repentance, OUR Will, OUR Desires or OUR anything. And intern we submit all such by and through Agency and then like Christ we suffer and sacrifice (which includes forgiveness and releasing any claim or justice for all transgression against us) and exercise mercy for the good and benefit of others. And if we meditate on such things - Charity is the opposite of all that Satan and his followers desire, seek and tempt us (including Christ) with. The Traveler
    1 point
  3. Issue 4: the federal government didn’t order the economy to shut down; (some of) the state governments did. Why should Utah, which has basically been open for business for the last year and whose economy is humming along, be subsidizing the coastal states’ draconian measures? If California or New Jersey feel their citizens deserve restitution, they are free to pass their own relief packages for their own residents.
    1 point
  4. mordorbund

    Views on Stimulus

    The strongest argument in favor of stimulus is that the government is morally obligated to pay restitution for the damages it caused. The ones in power shut down economies, so their budgets should reimburse businesses for their losses. The problem I see with this is that 1) it's already too late for many businesses. They're already closed. 2) How do you determine how much they're owed? Perhaps look at each business' quarterly filings from 2019 and pay them the difference? Note that this would be FAR more than is proposed by any stimulus legislation. 3) Where is the money coming from?! Revenue raised in taxes of course - which means the government needs a strong, rebounding economy to rebound the economy! Sorry government. You caused this mess, but I think you should just say "sorry" and give me a hug rather than try to set my broken arm.
    1 point
  5. The moral argument against federal stimulus is grounded in the realization of where stimulus money comes from: taxes. If only people who paid taxes were getting the stimulus then it would just be a tax break. Instead we have the federal government taking money from one group and giving to another. The analogy often used is imagine I found out that you're struggling financially so I reach in my pocket and give you $600. I tell Carb what's going on and he hands over $600 also. No one is objecting to this (until we find out you're the subject of the charity thread - but we can forego that discussion for now). Where it becomes morally wrong is when I go to Carb and tell him you're struggling financially, and he WILL give you $600 or I will forcibly take $600 from him to give you. The fact that it benefits you does not make it any less of a robbery. What suddenly makes it okay when I don't do it myself but instead vote for some faceless government to bully on my behalf? The logistical argument against federal stimulus is the variance in cost-of-living across the nation. $600 will go a lot farther in Provo, UT than it will in New York City. Rapid inflation (also known as a "soft default" for government loans) penalizes saving. Similarly, income tax penalizes high wages, sales tax penalizes high spending, and property taxes penalizes ownership. Yet despite these penalties we still see wages, spending, and ownership. So there's a tradeoff. In the case of inflation, the economy can handle some, but you don't want so much that it stifles lending (if I loan you $100K today, I want to know that the 200K I get back in 30 years is worth more than the $100K I'm giving you now). You've grouped UBI and stimulus together, but note that these are 2 different things. We used to have a few posters promoting universal basic income, but I haven't seen them for a while. Is UBI something you'd also like to discuss or do you want to keep this focused on stimulus?
    1 point
  6. This has been a struggle for me since I joined the Church. I try to be at every service project and take my children so they can learn. I understand I'm required to serve and try to be open and look for every opportunity. I don't care if I'm the only one there and we talk with the boys about keeping it to ourselves because humble service isn't about the accolades. It becomes more and more apparent that we are frequently serving the same few people who are either perfectly capable of serving themselves or continuously willfully refuse to improve their situation. My heart is so hard towards a few of these people when their names come up every single week. I still do the service, but it isn't with the right attitude. I'm still cheerful and friendly, but inside I'm sour. I'm really not sure how to improve this and I feel horrible for feeling this way.
    1 point
  7. Carborendum

    Views on Stimulus

    I am actually for the initial stimulus. But I'm not for these later waves, including the most recent check from the outgoing administration. If the same amount is given to every citizen in the country, then the citizens get to vote with their dollars on what companies they want to support because they offer useful products at a good price. And it lets us decide what a "useful product" is. I would have added a joint legislative and executive request/encouragement for those who don't need it to donate it to someone they think needs it or donate to a worthy cause. I would not draw an arbitrary income level based on a year old financial statement (tax returns). When done in this manner, a stimulus is not a matter of the government choosing winners and losers. The only other question is "how much?". Now that is really the problem. If it is too small, it really won't help anyone. If it is too much, it will do too much damage to the economy. Since it is the nature of politicians to give out candy, the upper limit will always be ignored and economic ruin will follow. -- just as it did in Argentina under Peron. And that is the exact sort of thing we see in the current stimulus bill that will eventually make its way to the President's desk after they invoke the nuclear option.
    1 point
  8. Fether

    Views on Stimulus

    Is inflation so bad as long as the market stays active and the standard of living continues to improve?
    1 point
  9. JohnsonJones

    The Gospel

    It is in the Lord's hands to judge on whether someone has had that opportunity to receive the gospel in this life or not and then rejected it. There are many variables and we do not understand all of them. It is correct though in our current teachings, if someone truly had the opportunity to accept the gospel in this life and rejected it, then they have limited their options in the next, as you say. How that is judged is not really known to us. For example, if you have someone such as my mother whom I gave a Book of Mormon to and talked about the church with from the time I was baptized, did she actually reject the gospel? She never spoke ill about it, but she never seemed to tell me that she actually got a strong witness and knew it was true. Without that witness of the Holy Ghost, as a reasonable person, did she actually have the opportunity to know it was the true church or not? My hopes are that she has the opportunity to fully accept the gospel and the ordinances thereof for the greatest rewards she can obtain...but the judgements are the Lords and not mine to make. Now, if the DO reject the gospel in this life, they will have opportunities to accept the gospel and ordinances in the next life, but their rewards are limited (as you say). They will not be able to receive the highest degree of glory or rewards, but may be given lesser rewards. As the Bible says, (KJV version) in John 14.
    1 point
  10. Go back to the tried and true methods.
    0 points