Utah's Republic

Archive for the ‘Civics’ Category

This is a cool organization. They are all about transparency in government and they have a couple of cool apps for handheld devices. I have a Motorola Droid and love it and my favorite app is “Congress” by this Foundation. Congress lets me “favorite” senators and representatives and keep tabs on everything they sponsor, vote on, what they tweet, when they’re on YouTube, etc… I can also get ill reading a general listing of all the insane bills being put before congress and how they turn out. It’s cool to also see the full history of a bill, when it was introduced and how it moved through the system.

There is also an iPhone app called “RealTimeCongress” which sounds somewhat similar but doesn’t indicate it’s the same so perhaps one of you with an iPhone can leave a comment if it seems to function like the Congress app for Android.

Here’s a link to the company page full of projects they’re engaged in:

http://sunlightfoundation.com/resources/

I also emailed the company to ask if they were doing a similar app for states and they said they are but it’s not going to be ready any time soon. If you’re a programmer, it looks like you may be able to join some of their projects and help out.

This is mostly for those of you that are LDS, but of course, if you’re not, you’re still welcome to read it. :) The talk by Marion G. Romney I reference below, is one of the greatest sermons ever given exposing the evils of socialism and how it destroys the agency and freedom of man. It contains an excellent lesson in the background of socialism and the extreme importance of the U.S. Constitution. I believe all people would be benefited by reading it regardless of religious preference.

A couple weeks ago when my op-ed reply to Brian Jackson appeared in the Deseret News, someone posting under the name “LDS Liberal” responded to someone with this statement advocating socialism:

“OK
Do you live in a Family?
City of Enoch was what?
1st Century Christians practiced what?
Nephites/Lamanites had what in common?
The problem I see is that Religion actually teaches Socialism.
Do unto others….
Give to the poor and the needy.
etc., etc., etc.
Too bad we can’t recognize Religion and the Bible as History — you’d really blow a gasket.”

I tried to post a comment but it never got to the board. What I posted was essentially this.

First of all, these 3 scriptural societies did not practice socialism, they practiced what was called the United Order and it was fundamentally different from socialism. How important is this distinction? So important, that at the 1966 April General Conference of the LDS church, Elder Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles started his talk on this subject by saying this:

“What I am going to give you now is a statement I have prepared in answer to the question, “Is Socialism the United Order?” Some of you may have already heard it. This is the first time I have ever attempted to give a talk a second time. My excuse is that the Brethren have asked me to give this talk here tonight.”

Elder Romney’s talk is much longer than a normal conference talk which also shows the high value the leadership of the church placed on ensuring these doctrines were taught. I am going to post a pdf of his talk here with my own highlighting for those that want to just skim it, but I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. One relevant quote I found in the talk is:

“We have much to do, and fortunately for us the Lord has definitely prescribed the course we should follow with respect to socialism and the United Order.

Constitution God-inspired

He has told us that in preparation for the restoration of the gospel, he himself established the Constitution of the United States, and he has plainly told us why he established it. I hope I can get this point over to you. He said he established the Constitution to preserve to men their free agency, because the whole gospel of Jesus Christ presupposes man’s untrammeled exercise of free agency.”

…[quotes scriptures]…

“These scriptures declare the Constitution to be a divine document.”

There you go folks, the official position of the LDS church is that the U.S. Constitution is a divine document.

Oh, and as for the comment from “LDS Liberal” about families practicing socialism, that would mean nobody in the family has any private property. Try to tell your teenager that his iPod really belongs to everyone. :)

“Socialism is not the United Order” by Marion G Romney (click to open PDF, right-click to save PDF to your desktop)

I would like to congratulate the candidates that made it through the primary election and thank all those who felt strongly enough about the issues to run. Putting your name into “the hat” and making the commitment to run is a big endeavor and nobody can take that effort and experience away from you. Thank you all for making the effort.

Election results can be viewed at this link for Utah:

http://electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/main.html

For Utah county and ASD, you can view them here:

http://electionresults.utah.gov/xmlData/Utah.html

For those that have returned to gloat that the incumbents I was not in favor of all made it through, have at it.  The area below is just for you. :)

I got this email last night from a friend and watched the 16 minute video.  My friend was right about it being a momentous piece. The video is about helping veterans and others and Salt Lake City gets a prominent mention for the LDS church’s Welfare Square that helps so many people. In the latter half, a disfigured veteran is interviewed and after that I think the interviewer does a great job summarizing his experience. Please watch it at lunch or with your family tonight.

*************

Dear Friends,

You may want to gather your family and loved ones around and watch this 16 minutes together. It could very well change the life of everyone in your sphere of influence.

http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=56&load=3492

D.

PS  Don’t miss the final one minute.

Someone sent me this great clip of John Wayne. Makes me want to watch some of his movies. What a great American.

I caught a few minutes of Neal Boortz’s show the other day and heard him reading from an article he’d found online and thought it was excellent so I looked it up.

The article was about what constitutes a “right” and was based on the author’s reading of another author’s article on the new healthcare “right” that liberals are talking about.

Here’s a link to the first article:
Brent Batten: New rights do make a wrong
Brent Batten: New rights do make a wrong

Here’s a link to the one Neal read parts from on air:
Guest commentary: New ‘rights’ are wrong by Don Richmond

Here’s a clip from Don’s article:

Brent Batten was absolutely correct in his column of March 25 when he stated there is no right to “the fruits of another group’s labor.”

The Declaration of Independence holds that rights are “self-evident.” However, it is the failure to grasp the true nature of rights which has brought this country to its current condition. It remained for the 20th-century philosopher Ayn Rand to explicitly identify rights as “moral principle(s) defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context.” Rights pertain only to “freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by other men. … Rights impose no obligations on (others) except of a negative kind: to abstain from violating (your) rights.”

The source of all rights is the right to life, and its sole implementation is the right to property, the right to use the products of your efforts to sustain your life. The rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the rights to enjoy your life and use your property. Rights are an objectively necessary requirement of human life, principles which apply equally to all persons and at all times. In sum, rights are freedoms for rational beings to take the actions necessary to fulfill and enjoy their lives. Any alleged “right” which violates these rights is not a right, but an excuse for a crime.

The Salt Lake Tribune reprinted an article from the NY Times entitled “Why state legislatures should not pick U.S. senators.” The author points out how a wealthy robber barron named William Clark, essentially purchased a senate seat by paying off his state legislature. Actions such as these led to the creation and passage of the 17th amendment which put the election of senators into the hands of the people.

The author correctly points out that this is corrupt politics at its worst. However, he is incorrect in his assessment of the 17th amendment.

When the Founding Fathers created our government, the “checks and balances” we often talk about came because of the conflict designed into the system. Each branch of government has the ability to strike at another branch. The congress with its House and Senate has to pass legislation through both. The Senators used to be appointed by the states to further enhance the conflict so that when House members who were elected by popular vote made promises to the people, they could be held in check by those who were looking out for the State interests and wouldn’t have the same body they were looking out for. Senators were to protect the interest of the states while Representatives were for the interest of the people.

It would have been far better that instead of passing the 17th amendment, we had made it a felony to contribute to a state legislator if you were running for office. If we had done something like that rather than put the 17th amendment in place, we wouldn’t have the outcry for states’ rights these days because the states would still have an advocate in the Congress.

If we would make the world better, let us foster a keener appreciation of the freedom and liberty guaranteed by the government of the United States as framed by the founders of this nation. Here again self-proclaimed progressives cry that such old-time adherence is out of date. But there are some fundamental principles of this Republic which, like eternal truths, never get out of date, and which are applicable at all times to liberty-loving peoples. Such are the underlying principles of the Constitution, a document framed by patriotic, freedom-loving men, who Latter-day Saints declare were inspired by the Lord.

It is highly fitting as a means of making the world better, not only to urge loyalty to the Constitution and to threatened fundamentals of the United States government, but to warn the people that there is evidence in the United States of disloyalty to tried and true fundamentals in government. There are unsound economic theories; there are European “isms,” which, termite-like, secretly and, recently, quite openly and defiantly, are threatening to undermine our democratic institutions.

Today, as never before, the issue is clearly defined—liberty and freedom of choice, or oppression and subjugation for the individual and for nations.

As we contemplate the deplorable fact that within the brief space of one year, ten European nations have lost their independence, that over two hundred and fifty million people have surrendered all guarantees of personal liberty, deeper should be our gratitude, more intense our appreciation of the Constitution, and more strengthened our determination to resist at all costs any and all attempts to curtail our liberties, or to change the underlying system of our government. (“Essentials of a Better World” 698)

California school officials are in shock by what one teacher posted in his classroom.

This story caught my eye. Wow Nancy. After all these years of telling churches they had no say in things related to government, now you are telling them to instruct their members to support your reforms? That’s amazingly hypocritical.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/06/pelosi-urges-catholic-church-play-major-role-immigration-overhaul/

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday urged Catholic leaders to “instruct” their parishioners to support immigration reforms, saying clerics should “play a very major role” in supporting Democratic policies.”