Just_A_Guy

For me, though, part of the revelation process is "studying it out in [my] mind", which in turn entails finding out how other people have interpreted and applied a principle. I don't see any harm in offering opinions on such threads, so long as those opinions are clearly identified as such.

Socially liberal (to a greater or lesser degree) but fiscally conservative.

Indeed. Two Danites carrying violin cases will be appearing on your doorstep posthaste.

The most presidential thing Obama has done . . . (Yes, I did post this in the right thread. Really. Read the link.)

Snow, Utahrulzz is absolutely right. Everyone knows the GAs have no sense of humor whatsoever.

I don't think there's any official clarification. (personal opinion coming:) Me, I pay on gross. I'd watch the tax refund issue, though. If you wind up getting more in tax refunds than you actually paid (which is entirely possible, given certain income levels and certain refundable tax credits) - IMHO, that's "income" and should be tithed. I'm not sure it's particularly relevant. Tax is tax, tithing is tithing, and payments of one are not applicable towards amounts owing on the other. IMHO: No; because it isn't "increase"--you already owned the car (which you presumably purchased years ago with post-tithing funds), and when you got the rebate you lost the car. My law firm is set up as an LLC. I only pay tithing on the amounts I actually pay myself out of the LLC's surplus. However, at some point twenty or thirty years down the road I'll retire and sell off my practice, and at that point I anticipate tithing 10% of the proceeds of the sale.

Grandmakabipbip, just because someone who happens to be a prophet says something, doesn't automatically mean it's the word and will of the Lord. Case in point.

Rather than trying to "guide her" towards the cheapest ring possible, I'd just tell her flat-out what your overall finances look like and what your ring budget is. If, after all that, she nevertheless demands you purchase a ring that is patently beyond your means . . . you guys may want to have a few talks. :-)

My wife and I will get the vaccine. Our three-year old will get it if we can find someone administering a thimerosal-free version of the vaccine. Not sure if our one-year-old will be getting it or not.

If you think 21st century SLC is a cesspool, try first century Jerusalem.

This is sounding strangely familiar . . .

No. But it does not follow that Lincoln would ally himself with the Democrats, any more than it follows that Jefferson would ally with the Republicans). Neither of these guys had any compunctions about being involved with the formation of a new political party.

Slightly off-topic, but I thought this was interesting. Granted, it's hardly a scientific survey (and from what I can glean, the number of protesters was probably more on the order of 500K - 1 million, not 2 million).

(Warning: Speculation coming.) If you assume that deceased people are still able to somehow labor on behalf of--or even occasionally minister to--their living progeny, then wouldn't those spirits' capacity to assist the living be immeasurably increased once they had received the additional power that the Endowment brings? Also: Does our lineage as seed of Israel (through Ephraim, or one of the other tribes) contribute to our perfection? How? If so, wouldn't our lineage as a seed of our father, grandfather, great-great grandmother, etc. similarly contribute to our perfection?

GrandmaAri, copyright law is pretty sticky. Suffice it to say that, regardless of "fair use", cutting and pasting of articles in toto is certainly impermissible, and even pasting more than a couple of sentences is asking for trouble. Bear in mind that as a moderator, Pam's job isn't just to make sure LDS.net can win if it gets sued--it's to keep LDS.net from being sued at all. In situations like this, it's best to tread lightly.

I'm speechless . . . I've never been propositioned on the internet before.

I challenge you to find anywhere that God said government-provided, single-payer health care in a non-theocracy was OK. Euthanasia is an idea of tyrants, who can come from either the right or the left.

Yes; only the drug of choice was apparently aspirin or a close relative thereof.

Story here. Hmm. How many key witnesses to racketeering investigations (that just may implicate high-level state and federal officials) just happen to drop dead--and conveniently inform the police, with their dying breaths, that no, it wasn't foul play--IN FREAKING CHICAGO?!?

Boy, am I behind the times! I see "Wilson" and I think, "Woodrow?" At any rate: Obama said "The reforms I am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." This is verbal sleight of hand if the bill contains no meaningful mechanism as to how health care providers are to distinguish between the citizens and the illegal aliens. And it doesn't. And he knows it.

Good luck, Maxel.

There are many Church members who believe that plural marriage, as taught by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, was divinely ordained. If we can't have it now, we can have as close to it as possible. Which means government should encourage adultery--right? In all seriousness: There are some things that, if God (or His properly designated servants) ain't gonna do it, ain't no one oughtta do it. The United Order, you'll recall, has a meaningful opt-out provision. Will ObamaCare?

Anne, do you know how long it had been--prior to Wilson's lamentable outburst--that the President had heard two words spoken together from a House Republican over the issue of health care reform? Five months. Five months. He has refused to meet with the opposition over this matter. In fact, he had hoped to have this whole thing done before the August recess. There was never any intent of having Republican input on health care reform. Moreover, the President has repeated this mantra that the Republicans have no plan. That is demonstrably untrue. Can we put this myth of Obama's bipartisanship to bed now?

Let's tone down the histrionics. The fact that no one helped the dead does not mean there were not plenty of living people who were helped. I don't think there are many who object to such infrastructure projects as you mention (though they may prefer that some of these be handled by state, as opposed to federal, governments). Most don't even object to Medicare/Medicaid, in principle. What we object to is government trying to do things which are more efficiently done in a free market (and make no mistake, a "free market" is not what we currently have with respect to health care), government's stripping people of the incentive to take care of themselves, and government's ultimately holding the power of life or death over every individual in the country. Physician, heal thyself. How does envy figure into this "love"?

I was at BYU; I'd come out of an early-morning "historian's craft" course and was on my way to a Portuguese class in the old SFLC. I stopped into some department office or other where they had CNN going, and saw one of the buildings (don't recall which) go down. For reasons that still bewilder me, BYU did not cancel classes that day. Randomly: I met my wife that next Sunday; she was one of the speakers in Sacrament meeting.