bhcs

I agree with what you have said. But I think the problem we face is more complicated than the freemen vs. kingmen scenario. To take another Book of Mormon example, read Alma 10 & 11 (espcecially 11). Amulek contends with Zeezrom and his lawyer cronies. The lawyers could only earn money if they were employed and therefore they made sure they were constantly employed. Now, it was for the sole purpose to get again, because they received their wages according to their employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might get money according to the suits which were brought before them; therefore they did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek. (Alma 11:20) Think about the vast number of people who make a lot of money through lobbying, consulting, reporting, advising, advocating, and, yes, litigating their way through our political system. They have jobs because we are a nation divided. They get gain because we are stirred up to contend one with another. I don't see our current political situation as freemen vs. kingmen scenario, or even a Good vs. Evil scenario. There is no 'Good' side to choose, no way for a 'freeman' to stand up for his beliefs. Both sides of our political spectrum need each other and the ensuing conflict in order to maintain their own relevance. Both need people to be worked up and angry about single issues and not principles, it's easier to manage. Since the '60s we have had what are called the Culture Wars. In actuality, we have had an explosion of contention. Another BOM scripture: For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. (3 Ne. 11:29) Which is why I don't have great hope or belief in political movements or idealogy. Individually, we still must fight the good fight. As a nation, or groups, we are left only with false choices. We either have reached, or are quickly reaching the point prophesied about here: And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound. D&C 45:27 So, yes. America is coming apart. The whole world is coming apart. We are tearing it and ourselves to shreds.

This has been an interesting read. I have always believed that we start out 'keeping the letter of the law' to help us learn and become 'converted' to true principles. Once that conversion takes place our hearts are changed and we are able to understand the principle more fully and, therefore, more fully put it into practice. The Pharisees of old built a 'hedge around the law'. This seems like a good idea. The Lord told them to keep the Sabbath holy. So they limited the number of steps they took on the Sabbath and rigidly controlled their activities. And, sure enough, they didn't break the commandment. They also didn't learn the principle behind the commandment - nor did they progress towards a greater understanding or conversion. We Latter-day Saints, like all followers of Christ, still need the law to help us come closer to Christ. And some us (maybe all of us, at times) can fall into the same trap as the Pharisees. For example, we still need Prophets to tell us to avoid R-rated movies. On one hand, if we were all truly converted (which I know I am not), I think we would be able to choose correctly for ourselves what sort of material is suitable and what is not. We wouldn't need the Prophet to tell us. On the other hand, many feel justified in watching PG-13 movies which glorify things wholly out of line with the teachings of Christ. To me this is a classic letter of the law/spirit of the law dilemma. Personally, I think the same is true of things like Home Teaching. If we were converted we would actively seek out and help our neighbhors. We are not, so it needs to be a commandment. I believe that the Lord's goal for us is to become truly converted or 'born again' as our evangelical friends like to say. That conversion happens individually to us every day in a small way as we strive to make progress. When it happens collectively to us as a group of believers, I believe we will need fewer commandments, not more, because we will be more like Christ. We will no longer desire to do evil, but good continually. See Mosiah 5:2

Great quote. BTW, I think it's awesome that you are a Saprissa supporter!

You are probably right. To be fair, his words were not couched in softness. However, I mean no offense to him or anyone else. Obviously, this is an issue that hits close to home for me. Anatess, thank you for your post. Actually, I agree with you. In my first post I stated that I was open to some form of the much 'ballyhooed' public plan OR a truly free market. My negativity, which I fully admit does exist, is not towards health insurance as a business per se, but towards the undue influence that businesses who provide health insurance have over our government and therefore our lives. I am one person with one vote. I do not have the financial resources to contribute heavily to political campaigns, employ lobbyists, or sway government leaders. The health insurance 'industry' does. This is not a level playing field. So I do feel pessimistic. I don't think any thing in regards to health care is going to change. The stakes are too high for these businesses (which are very large) to allow it to change. The disease I have is called Multiple Sclerosis (or MS for short). It is a progressive neurological disease that affects some 300,000 Americans. There is currently no cure, but I am hopeful that one will be found in my lifetime. What makes MS so hard and so expensive is that it will NOT lessen the length of my life: I will probably live until an average age accruing whatever medical costs for both treatment of the disease itself as well as for whatever disabilities the disease causes. For this reason, a diagnosis of MS is a cause for an immediate denial by insurance companies. And I can't really blame them. I don't see how to make it profitable either. Which makes me wonder about the viability of health insurance as a for-profit exercise. There will always be people like me who are a bad investment. Again, I really don't know what the answer is. Typically, I favor market-based solutions over nationalized ones. Having been on the losing end of this market-based solution, however, has made me question the wisdom of our current system. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite. Maybe that means I am placing my personal needs above principles. I just don't know. I do know that I could work my way out of poverty. I could learn my way out of ignorance. But, until the Lord sees fit to heal me or our current system changes, I'm stuck being sick.

I don't necesarrily think that 'government run healthcare' is the answer either. I do take exception to Maxel's implication that anyone in favor of reform is someone who refuses to work and is merely interested in 'screwing the prosperous'. Trust me, I get small-government political ideaology. I largely agree with it. What we have now is not a small-government system. We have a system in which monied interests use the goverment to enforce their monoply and ensure their profit. Health insurance is not about making sure people get the healthcare they need - it's about making as much money as possible while paying out as little as possible. In other words, it's a business. My experience has made me rethink how I view the world. Maybe, in the realm of healthcare, their is a better model to use when making decisions about how to keep people healthy. Maybe this is an instance in which markets don't work. Maybe not. I really don't know. I do know that I have never shied away from hard work. I've always paid my share. I don't want to take away anyone's 'hard-earned money'. I simply want to be able to take care of myself and my family. As far as healthcare goes, I am a loser in the current system. I work my butt off everyday to change my situation. I may win out or I may lose even bigger. Either way, I can't help but view healthcare in this country as anything but a very cynical enterprise.

I don't know what the right answer is to the question of healthcare in this country. I do know, by very painful personal experience, that your question is in some ways a false dilemma. I have a chronic, debilitating, progressive illness. Within the next 10 to 15 years, I will most likely become completely disabled (i.e. unable to walk, work, feed myself, etc.) When I became sick, I had just started my own business. At the time, we had a high deductible, "temporary", private insurance since that was all I could afford. The insurance company didn't wait for the diagnosis - they dropped us as soon as I saw a doctor. I have been routinely rejected by insurance companies since then. And with good reason - the only treatment for my condition starts at $1700 a month. To get assistance from the government, I have to be declared 'disabled'. Which I am not, currently. One day I will be, unless I get access to the above-mention costly treatment. The advice from the Medicaid people was to do whatever I could (including lying) to get declared disabled now - they can't help otherwise. I opted to not do that. When I got very ill and could no longer work, I sold my house and moved in with family so I wouldn't default on my mortgage. Through it all we have managed to never miss a payment for all the MRIs and doctor's visits or any of the groceries we put on credit cards. I have since improved somewhat and can work now. I just bought a small house so my wife and kids could have their own space again. It costs less per month than the medication does. At this point, my only insurance options are to get hired by a very large organization (private or public) or go it alone. Currently, I am going it alone. I am doing all I can so that when I am disabled, my family will hopefully have the financial wherewithal to make it. I just want the ability to take care of myself and my family. The system we currently have does not allow me to do that. It is skewed in favor of those who seek to profit from the business of providing health insurance. I don't know if a 'public plan' is better. I do know that what we have now is a farce. I am not a unique case. There are many who have fallen through the cracks. I believe those cracks are getting bigger and every year more people will fall through them. Maybe that belief makes me, as you put it, a man who will not work and who is only interested in screwing you out your hard-earned dollars. But I don't think that's true. There must be a way that health care can be affordable and available to everyone - even those like me who are un-insurable simply because we are not profitable to the insurance companies. I am open to many types of solutions - from the 'public plan' to a truly free market where insurance and drug companies can't wield power over consumer choice. In answer to your question and to your scripture, I offer this one: Mosiah 4

I didn't find anything objectionable about the article. In fact, it was somewhat comforting for me. I really don't have problems or questions about doctrine (of course what I consider to be doctrine is fairly narrow these days - the standard works and present day counsel - I don't worry about the stuff in between). My problem is one of culture. I don't fit in with the monolith of LDS culture in Utah county (where I currently live). I never have. I have spent many years of my life trying to and the attempt very nearly drove me crazy. In the MTC I learned about social conversions and spiritual conversions. They say that often social conversions come first - then spiritual conversions come later. For me it is the other way around. I have given up on the social conversion. I have started to learn to just let things go. My politics, my world view, my experiences just don't match up with those of the people around me. So what. Those things aren't really that important in the long run. Sometimes going to church drives me crazy. Sometimes the wackiness of the local culture irks me or someone I know. When that happens, I try to tell myself that most people are sincerely trying to do their best. I try to take the good and leave the bad. I think the 'middle way' the article is advocating is a similar approach. Take things line by line, step by step. I think it is funny that there are some people who feel perfectly at home in the LDS Church, some who like the culture but have problems with the doctrine, and others who believe the doctrine but struggle with the culture.

Lovely, Here's my best shot at being honest: Often members of the Church seek to justify the way things are rather than closely examine why they are. For me, the Priesthood ban is on of those things. My personal opinion is that it never was a revelation. It was a prejudice. Rather than correcting the prejudice, we justified it with extra-doctrinal nonsense until we finally came to the point that the Lord had to step in and fix the mess we had made. The Lord expects us to be productive servants and not need to be counseled in all things - yet we still screw up. This issue is one that has, and still does, trouble me greatly. I am a convert to the Church and, like you, I have spent many years 'discovering' the interesting gems of LDS history that would undoubtedly have squashed the tender testimony I had when I was baptized. Yet I am still around. The only way that I have found peace is to let go of the idea that the Church and its leaders are infallible. At no time has God excused you, me, or anyone else from our own agency. It is not enough to rely on a sermon, a leader (at any level), or an institution to guide you through the storms of this life. We all have to form our own individual relationship with that Deity who made us. I don't make the choices I do because of what a prophet wrote down millenia ago or a month ago. I make the choices I make because I am trying to move closer to my Father. I make a lot of mistakes. A lot. Those words those prophets wrote so long ago and the ones they are writing today often help me on that journey. When they don't help, I put them aside. We are not here to be church members. The church is here to help us to return to our Father. It is temporal and changing. He is not. It is fallible and mortal. He is not. I often feel lost in the culture that springs up around the Church. I have to remind myself that the culture is of men. Men are imperfect. Two scriptures that help me are here: 1 Cor. 13:8: Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away and Moroni 7:46-47 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. The gosepl, at the end of the day, is a simple thing. We must love each other, forgive each other, and accept the atonement of Christ. Everything else, prophetic or not, will eventually just fall away into unimportance. I hope this helps.