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UPDATE: I contacted the Church via Messenger and asked them the same questions as I posted above. After submitting my questions to higher authorities, the official response was essentially a refusal to affirm that President Oaks intended to convey the messages that I believed could be interpreted. Screenshot:

Despite the commonly held 'consensus', I am more than confident that conservative policies are far superior for the purposes of improving the lives of black Americans than are the policies in place and promoted by the left.

I think we can all agree that it is wrong when justice is not applied equally. Despite that, the people who complain about the injustice and the people who lead the cities with high black on black crime and high black death and murder rates all tend to be Democrats and leftists. It is inconsistent to complain about something while continuing to elect leaders who have consistently failed to take meaningful or beneficial action.

I agree with you 100%. But members I know aren't getting the message. The image below is from a social media post of someone I know.

@Vort, That is the approach I tend to take in understanding these things; however, when placed in context it is so easy to see it from the lens I initially asked about, which is the lens through which 'woke' members seem to look at it. This leads me to question what I am missing, because, as noted previously, the actual data doesn't warrant the analysis in the context I am inclined to interpret from the text. If I were on the other side of the argument, I would certainly be pointing to these exact statements as evidence of the reality of those things as I understand them. As much as I often appreciate the 'he who hath ears to hear' approach. At what point is it dishonest for an Apostle to speak with words he is intelligent enough to know will be taken to mean something more than what is being said? Or is it? Anyway, I appreciate your analysis; I just wish it were not so easy for a duality of interpretation to take place. Sadly, I think that duality leads so many, particularly on the 'woke' side, to miss the primary point of healing and overcoming our challenges through a principled focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-oaks-byu-devotional-october-2020-talk#_ftn15 I don't think there is much of a way to read between the lines on this one, and I'm really struggling to understand what is going on. In President Oaks speech today, there are a few quotes that bother me. How are those things appropriate subjects for advocacy? I can only assume he is meaning this from the perspective of the First Amendment; otherwise, it is a sincerely concerning statement. He later quotes President Nelson who in June, responding to the George Floyd incident said: Apparently I missed that statement back in June. Regardless, where are the Brethren coming up with confirmation that George Floyd's death, in addition to police brutality, was for sure an incident of racism? The final concerning quote is this: So this quote makes it sound like police brutality is a specifically racist problem and then goes on to make it sound as though systemic racism is a real thing. These statements aren't given any real qualification and so I am left bewildered as to if the Brethren have received some sort of spiritual confirmation that things like systemic racism and racially targeted police brutality against black Americans is a real issue affecting our country, or if this is simply an opinion that may or may not be accurate, or if it is a misspoken outreach to the snowflakes. In the rest of the talk he condemns many leftist ideals, upholds the Constitution, and calls out the anxiety and fear driven nature of the snowflake generation. Anyway, I'm confused. Any thoughts or ideas to help?

I know for a fact that the second coming will happen sometime within the next 6000 years! Anyway, I'm holding all estimations until after the election and the potential societal outcry ensues. If Trump wins, the Ezra's Eagle people will be watching hardcore to see if he dies or gets assassinated prior to the end of his 2nd term.

Since the onset of COVID, I have developed a new technique that I am hoping may help me avoid future callings: being super opinionated on social media and calling people out for disregarding the teachings of the prophets. 😀 Honestly, one of my favorite things that I heard Hugh Nibley do for one of his talks was he just put his voice to the words of Brigham Young: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/hugh-nibley/exaltation-eternal-life-words-brigham-young/

I was the same. I didn't vote for him last time but this time I am! Also BREAKING: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-china-email-source-verifies

I just watched Rudy Giuliani display Hunter Biden's actual laptop. He also has Hunter's signature on the repair bill. He has seen all the footage and described some of it. It is in the first 10 minor so of this video.

Some members of this forum already know that between January 2015 - July 2019, my wife and I fostered and eventually came to adopt seven children. My amazing wife, in addition to the never ending task of being a mother of seven, made time to dedicate herself to writing a book in order to share her side of our story with the world. I am eternally grateful and proud of my awe-inspiring wife. I love her and my children with all my heart. Our story is nothing short of miraculous and we will ever be grateful for the trials and blessings God has placed in our path. Here is a link to the book, and a picture of my amazing family. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KZ23NKM

That was my mistake. I saw that part right after I posted. I edited my comment for clarification.

Notice the differences!

Notice how the Church has chosen to frame President Nelson's remarks. People are hyping the comments on race, but that was ancillary to the real meaning and intent of his words. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-october-2020-general-conference

I too would love it if we had more of that. Though, once I get to thinking about the implications, I start to feel that just might make it too 'easy'. Christ so often taught in such a way that many could be benefited by His words, while some could truly hear. I sincerely believe that in our ever more divisive climate, "He who hath ears to hear, let him hear, " is the teaching method that will prevail from the brethren.

Did anyone else notice that President Nelson didn't say that black people the world over are victims of racism? I tend to believe the brethren are very calculated in their remarks as they seek to navigate a path that will enable the greatest quantity of people to come unto Christ with as few stumbling blocks as possible. As he spoke of abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice, what comes to my mind is the prejudice that is being perpetrated via education and indoctrination about "white privilege". Notice how immediately before speaking about pains of racism, he spoke of the choices and individual agency we each have, and that our devotion to God is what determines His favor. I see our black brother's and sisters suffering because they are being taught that they are victims and that the white skinned men and women in their society will look down upon them and treat them differently just because of the color of their skin. They are being deceived into supporting movements such as BLM, where the foundational principles are not based in achieving equity of opportunity and treatment, but equity of outcome, via dismantling the USA, families and free market society. The war against our black brothers and sisters comes from the Amalickiah's of our day. All who will allow God's voice to take priority over any other voice, will be led to the truth and able to escape both the temptation to act with prejudice as well as the pains brought on by seeing the world through the lens of prejudice. We thank thee oh God for a prophet! I am grateful for his words and I sincerely hope and pray that all brethren and sisters in the Church will be guided by the Spirit to read between the lines of the great talks given at this General Conference.

The website is back up: https://americasfrontlinedoctorsummit.com Interesting quote from the references page:

That states there is evidence, but the article that talks about the evidence says that the data mostly comes from China, and they can't be sure it was actually asymptomatic spread because it might have come from other interactions.

🤔

Did I not link to a scientific research study that suggests that isn't actually happening? I also linked to a different one yesterday that showed the same thing.

Okay, I amend my statement. That point is no longer valid in KY, but also in most other areas. Hospitals are laying people off.

Cloth masks have been proven to have a 97% inbound penetration rate. Outbound for some reason is better, but the truth is that masks are only useful if a wearer actually has symptoms. Here is a recent study proving this: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2 Even if we were to agree that masks work as we expect, and even if we were to ignore the encroachment upon our individual liberty, asymptomatic people are not spreading this virus like was originally thought! It all made sense at first, but now that we have this data, there is no justifiable reason to implement mandatory mask wearing. We let individuals and businesses choose for themselves what risks they will and won't take. We should still encourage people to wear a mask where it makes sense to do so, especially if they are showing any symptoms, but then we let everyone else decide what they will or won't do. It should be that simple.

This point is no-longer valid. Hospitals here in KY have been laying people off since march because no one is using hospital services since they are being reserved for an imaginary influx of severe COVID-19 cases.

Exactly!