What Does Government by the People Mean?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Preamble of the United States Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (Emphasis added.) 

“We the People” established the government of the United States, according to the Constitution. President Abraham Lincoln also spoke about the people on November 19, 1863, when he spoke at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle at Gettysburg was one of the decisive battles fought during the Civil War and took place July 1-3, 1863. President Lincoln said the following:  

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Emphasis added.) 

Government by the people makes a difference as shown in what is happening in the European Union. In his article published at The Daily Signal, Peter St. Onge wrote about the economic situation in Japan and the European Union. 

New numbers say the European Union has joined Japan in the “lost decades” brigade, with per-person gross domestic product in dollar terms nearly flat since 2008.

According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, while disposable household income in the U.S. is $51,000, it’s just $39,000 in Germany, $34,000 in France, $29,000 in Italy, and $21,000 in Greece. For perspective, Mexico is about $16,000.

Why is Europe fading? Simple: Government took over. Government spending is nearly half of Europe’s GDP, which hogs physical resources – steel, workers, etc. – while predatory tax rates punish production and welfare tempts workers away. Nobody produces, everybody takes.

Add in mandates from environment to social policy that hike prices and slap straitjackets on companies, and the smart ones leave, the rest grimly soldier on, staying in business till their factories wear out, then it’s lights out.

In short, it doesn’t pay to produce in Europe. Atlas is shrugging.

What’s driving the takeover is a toxic combination of vote-buying welfare and crony handouts to corporations. I’ve mentioned in previous videos Europe’s stream of trillion-dollar “stimulus” bills that went to corporations, while welfare spending consumes 1 in 3 dollars in countries such as France and Italy. In the U.S., it’s still high, at 23%. In South Korea, for comparison, it’s 15%.

While the corporations feast on government handouts, the taxes that sustain Europe’s welfare state come from the small and medium businesses, who are getting wiped out. Today, the U.S. has 33 million small businesses. Europe, with one and a half times the population, has just 24 million. Half as much per capita.

The difference is even greater with new startups. Europe’s venture industry is six times smaller than the U.S., which has just two-thirds of Europe’s population.

Americans are currently in the midst of a presidential election that will determine the direction that the United States takes in the coming years. Do we want the government to become more powerful, or do we want the power of the government to rest with the people? Kamala Harris will steer America further down the road towards socialism and communism. If you like that idea, by all means vote for her. Donald Trump supports the Constitution – no matter what his enemies keep saying – and will help America to regain its footing for government by the people.

Each of us has a choice about the future America that we want to see. I will be voting for Donald Trump because I do not want my posterity to lose their freedoms.

Why Does God Chasten His Children?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Helaman 13-16 in a lesson titled “Glad Tidings of Great Joy.” The lesson covers the story of Samuel the Lamanite, one of the greatest stories in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The lesson was introduced by this paragraph. 

The first time Samuel the Lamanite tried to share “glad tidings” (in Zarahemla (Helaman 13:7), he was rejected and cast out by the hard-hearted Nephites. You might say it was as if they had built an impenetrable wall around their hearts that prevented them from receiving Samuel’s message. Samuel understood the importance of the message he bore and demonstrated faith by following God’s commandment “that he should return again, and prophesy” (Helaman 13:3). Like Samuel, we all encounter walls as we “prepare the way of the Lord” (Helaman 14:9) and strive to follow His prophets. And like Samuel, we too bear witness of Jesus Christ, “who surely shall come,” and invite all to “believe on his name” (Helaman 13:6; 14:13). Not everyone will listen, and some may actively oppose us. But those who believe in this message with faith in Christ find that it truly is a message of “glad tidings of great joy” (Helaman 16:14).

This week’s lesson teaches several principles: The Lord gives warnings through His prophets (Helaman 13). God invites me to repent (Helaman 13-15). God sent signs and wonders to testify of the Savior’s birth and death (Helaman 14; 16:13-23). Chastening from the Lord is a sign of His love (Helaman 15:3). Prophets point me to Jesus Christ (Helaman 16).

I could discuss any of the above principles, but I feel prompted to discuss this one: “Chastening from the Lord is a sign of His love” (Helaman 15:3). Many people question the existence of God and reason that a loving God would not allow terrible things to happen to good people. This is far from the truth because adversity is part of the tests, trials, and tribulations of life. 

We are here on earth to prove ourselves. Will we yield our agency to God and do His will, or will we yield our agency to Satan and do His will? Samuel’s words contain many stern chastisements, but Helaman 15:3 gives us perspective on chastening from the Lord.

3 Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.

A loving parent who sees their beloved toddler run into the street would chasten the child in some way – hopefully with words of teaching and not words or actions of abuse. If the parent did not love the toddler, they would not care if the child played in the street. The same is true of Heavenly Father. He loves all His children and wishes all to find happiness and joy. Therefore, when they do something wrong, He chastens them in order to teach them.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke on the topic of chastening and parental love in the April 2011 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ. In his remarks, he gave three purposes for divine chastening: “(1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path.” Elder Christofferson expounded on the three reasons, and I encourage you to study his talk if you wish to learn more. “As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten” (churchofjesuschrist.org)

How Can We Protect Parental Rights?

Families are stronger when parents understand and fulfill their parental responsibilities, and strong families strengthen communities, states, and nations. However, families grow weaker when government takes over parental responsibilities.

According to Elizabeth (Troutman) Mitchell, a widowed mother lost her then-14-year-old daughter to the foster care system of California in 2016. Years later, the daughter regretted her attempts to transition, and her mother is raising a warning voice to other parents about allowing their minor children to “make irreversible changes to their bodies.” By the time that the daughter reached the age of 22, the mother and daughter were good friends, but their journey was far from easy. Mitchell wrote of the journey as follows. 

The mother of two, whose husband had died years earlier, was accused of emotional abuse for forbidding her teenage daughter from binding her chest and wearing male clothes. Her daughter was taken from the family and placed in a foster home for a few months….

The Daily Signal reviewed Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services documentation in which a social worker, referring to the then-14-year-old with he/him pronouns and a male name, details the daughter’s time in foster care, her accusations of emotional abuse against her mother, and her later renunciation of the claims.

The mother had to hire lawyers to regain custody of her daughter and clear her name of the abuse charges. The charges would have disqualified her from continuing to pursue a career as a Christian counselor.

After a few months in a packed foster home in a dangerous neighborhood, the daughter asked to come home. She admitted to lying about the abuse, saying that she got the idea to accuse her mother of abuse from people online who said that was the ticket to getting away from her family….

The mother hired two attorneys to get her teenager back and clear her name. She said she felt like Child Protective Services was looking for reasons to tear her family apart….

After the daughter returned home, she called social workers on her mother a few more times, accusing her mom of abuse for refusing to buy her male clothing. The mother received a California Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) violation for declining to take her daughter to a program at the Los Angeles LGBT Center for LBGTQ+ youths ages 2-25 called Rise….

At age 17, the daughter admitted to getting a prescription for testosterone from a therapist behind her mom’s back. She took it for a few days, but she told her mom she felt God was telling her to stop.

The mom said she couldn’t have gotten through the difficult time without her faith community. She left California a few years ago, partially because of how her parental rights were disrespected there….

This is not the first time the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has taken a daughter away from her mother over transgender ideology….

Some states, such as California and Minnesota, are passing laws that allow the government to end parental rights over transgender issues. There is much information on the internet, and youth today are technically savvy in finding it. They are also quite capable of keeping such information secret from their parents until they are well indoctrinated in whatever topic that they are researching.

Wise parents will keep communication channels open with their children and be a safe place where their children can take their concerns and questions. Questions should also be wary of any distance that their child is putting between them. Parents must be aware of politicians who will aid in destroying parental rights and cast their votes for only those who will protect parental rights.

The family is the core unit of society in time and in eternity. We must protect the family and family responsibilities. We must support those individuals and organizations that support the family. We can keep our families strong, and strong families will strengthen our communities, states, and nations.

What Is the Latest Win in the Battle for Life?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns free speech. According to Joshua Arnold in an article published at The Daily Signal, the latest win for life is about the abortion pill reversal. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. made the ruling. Arnold explained as follows. 

A federal district court ruled Thursday that pro-life pregnancy centers in New York may inform women “that the abortion pill reversal (‘APR’) protocol is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use, with her doctor, to reverse the effects of a first chemical abortion pill and thereby, help to save the life of her unborn child.”

District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr., a Trump appointee, granted a preliminary injunction because the pregnancy centers are “likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment Free Speech claim, and they are suffering irreparable harm each day that their Constitutional freedoms are infringed.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had initiated a civil enforcement action against 11 faith-based, pro-life pregnancy centers that were part of Heartbeat International to censor their speech, alleging that informing women about the APR protocol was “misleading advertising.”

In response to James, Alliance Defending Freedom challenged the constitutionality of her enforcement action in federal court, on behalf of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, a pregnancy center network with 51 locations in the state, and two of its members, Gianna’s House and Options Care Center.

“Women in New York have literally saved their babies from an in-progress chemical drug abortion because they had access to information through their local pregnancy centers about using safe and effective progesterone for abortion pill reversal,” said Caleb Dalton, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel. “But the attorney general tried to deny women the opportunity to even hear about this lifesaving option.”

Elected abortion activists have sought to restrict pro-life pregnancy centers from offering the APR protocol, which literally reverses the work of a chemical abortion. In April 2023, the Colorado Legislature banned APR on similar grounds that it was ineffective. At first, the state agreed not to enforce that law, but a federal judge eventually enjoined the law in October on religious exercise grounds.

However, studies show that the APR protocol has saved the lives of over 5,000 unborn babies and has a success rate of up to 64%-68%.

“Many women regret their abortions, and some seek to stop the effects of abortion drugs before taking the second drug in the abortion drug process. Taking supplemental progesterone may give them a chance to save their baby’s life,” Dalton added. “Women should have the option to reconsider an abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent in this case truthfully inform them about that choice.”

The right to speak freely is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In this case, speaking freely and truthfully about the APR protocol can and does save the lives of unborn babies.

Is Tim Walz a Stooge for China?

News reports claim that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Democrat candidate for Vice President, visited China at least thirty times. Many people wondered why Walz would do so. The answer may be coming out into the open. An article by Robert Schmad, a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation, reported the following information. 

During his time in Congress, Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz worked to secure millions for a Minnesota-based lab that worked on a variety of projects with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, now widely seen as the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walz, who is Kamala Harris’ running mate, worked to earmark a total of $7 million for the Hormel Institute in Austin, Minnesota, and praised the work of the publicly funded research institution, the Washington Examiner reported.

However, the Minnesota research center on multiple occasions worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, which many suspect was the origin point of the COVID-19 virus, including on COVID-19 research in 2020 and bacteria research in 2024….

The Wuhan Institute of Virology operates under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party’s State Council, the Examiner reported. The institute “has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017,” according to the State Department.

Lawmakers claim that there is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In May, the federal government cut off funding to the EcoHealth Alliance, a publicly funded U.S. nonprofit that allocated subgrants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research in part because the research it funded was not conducted with proper oversight.

Walz has described himself as a “strong advocate for The Hormel Institute” and has visited the research center to discuss how it can receive more federal funding, according to the Examiner.

In addition to collaborating with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Hormel Institute has also done considerable work with the Beijing Genomics Institute, which the U.S. Defense Department has designated a “Chinese military company,” meaning that it is “directly or indirectly owned, controlled or beneficially owned by” the Chinese military or otherwise a “military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base.”

Walz has come under fire from lawmakers and conservative critics for his stance on China. The vice-presidential nominee has attended several events set up by members of a nonprofit connected to a Chinese Communist Party intelligence agency.

Schmad explained that in 1991, high school social studies teacher Walz taught his students that communism means “everyone is the same and everyone shares” while discussing life in Communist China.

Schmad also discussed an August letter written by House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to the FBI. Comer explained that the committee recognized that “Gov. Walz has longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that make him susceptible to the party’s strategy of elite capture, which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”

In addition, Comer’s letter to the FBI included this sentence: “Reporting about Gov. Walz’s extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities while serving in public office raises questions about possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor – and, should he be elected, as vice president.”

When the Daily Caller News Foundation requested comments, neither the Hormel Institute nor the Harris campaign replied.

How Will You Commemorate September 11, 2001?

September 11, 2001, is one of those days that many Americans know exactly where they were when it happened. Other such days in my life include the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. They are all events that are difficult to forget because they had such an impact on our lives.

September 11 is one of those days that Americans use as a marker of the type of nation that America was before that day and what kind it was after that day. This site defines September 11 this way: 

The nation changed forever on September 11, 2001. Many Americans remember a country before and a country after, and for many young Americans, only a country after. Terrorist attacks causing tragic loss of life at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in sight of the nation’s capital, and a quiet field in southern Pennsylvania led to conversations and reflection on American identity, patriotism, security, and service that resonate today.

September 11 became a National Day of Remembrance and a day of service. The actual event brought people “together to grieve family, friends, and strangers.” It has now been 24 years, and we still come together to grieve. A day sometimes known as “Patriots Day” or “Day of Remembrance,” September 11 is now “an annual day for many Americans to remember, reflect, honor, and mourn.”

The National Park System has the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, “as a memorial to 40 passengers and crew who thwarted an additional attack preventing the loss of more lives.” There are also memorials in New York City and the Pentagon. I have been to the site in New York City, and my hearts strings were pulled as tears recognized the devastation. There are other memorials in communities across the nation.

September 11 has also become a day of service. “To honor the spirit of sacrifice made that day and the sacrifices that continue to be made by community members, first responders, and members of the armed forces and their families, we unite in a National Day of Service happening in communities and public lands across the country.

The local units of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints performed acts of service across the country. Service opportunities are organized through JustServe.org. In checking the site, I found at least six ways to serve on September 11. 

Who Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?

My VIP for this week is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of once-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Both Kennedy brothers were assassinated. RFK Jr. was a candidate for POTUS but withdrew from the race to throw his support behind former President Donald Trump.

RFK Jr.’s withdrawal from the presidential race is causing more problems than his candidacy. Hans von Spakovsky discussed the RFK Jr. problems in an article published at The Daily Signal.

Early voting is starting in many states, both in-person and through the absentee balloting process, which makes resolving the issue of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remaining on state ballots an immediate problem.

Wherever practical, election officials have a solemn obligation to their voters to remove a candidate from the ballot when that candidate has dropped out of the race so their votes aren’t inadvertently wasted if they are unaware of that fact.

That is why the refusal of election officials in Michigan and Wisconsin to remove Kennedy from the ballot is so troubling. A state court judge in Michigan also refused to force the secretary of state to remove Kennedy, bizarrely claiming that “elections are not just games” and that the secretary is “not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office.”

“Whims”?! Kennedy has ended his candidacy and is no longer running for president. Voters have a right to be fully informed of this when they are voting. That includes not being given the opportunity to waste their ballot by voting for a candidate who remains on the ballot due to the “games” the partisan secretary of state in Michigan is playing, even though that candidate is no longer in the race.

But even in states that claim it is “too late” to remove a candidate from the ballot and that it will be too expensive to redesign and print new ballots, election officials have a duty to inform their voters that a vote for a candidate like Kennedy, whose name remains on the ballot, will be a waste of their valuable franchise. And there is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to do that, which can be accomplished quickly and without any delay.

Von Spakovsky suggested two things that should be done immediately if States refuse to reprint their ballots without Kennedy’s name on them. His first suggestion is a simple but short notice such as the following being enclosed with every absentee ballot: “IMPORTANT NOTICE TO VOTERS: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is listed on the ballot as a candidate for the office of President of the United States, has dropped out of the race and is no longer a candidate. Due to the late notice of his ending his candidacy, we were unable to prepare new ballots without his name. All voters should be aware that a vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be a vote for a candidate who is no longer running for office.”

Von Spakovsky’s second suggestion is for election officials to “create signs with this very same notification for posting prominently inside every polling location used in a state for both early voting and in-person voting on Election Day. Designing and creating such a sign can be easily and quickly done; and getting copies printed, again, by any commercial concern (or in-house in counties with printing facilities), could obviously be done with almost no delay.

However, the two above suggestions for notifying “absentee voters and preparing signs for in-person voting should be a secondary plan.” The first plan should be to “make every effort to reprint new ballots that correctly list the candidates actually running for office.” Von Spakovsky then gives his reason why officials should take the necessary steps.

Any refusal by election officials to, at a minimum, prepare such notices will be a

violation of their duty as public officials to fairly and honestly administer the upcoming election. Given the ease of this solution, it will be hard to imagine any refusal to implement it that is based on anything other than election officials engaging in partisan misbehavior that is intended to misinform voters and manipulate the results of the presidential election.

Election officials who engage in that type of misconduct are betraying the public trust and should not be in office.

There are reports that RFK Jr. won “historic legal victories” because “appeals courts in Michigan and North Carolina” struck “his name from the presidential ballot,” as he requested. 

Is Health Care Guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the Democrat claim about health care being a right and not a blessing. The Democrat Party platform in 2016 proudly proclaimed, “We believe as Democrats that health care is a right, not a privilege.” In 2020, the Democrat Party platform was “We must guarantee health care, not as a privilege for some, but as a right for every single American.” Now in 2024, the Democrat platform is “Health care should be a right in America, not a privilege.”

Democrats believe that if a lie is repeated often enough that people will accept it as truth. This only applies to those who do not study the U.S. Constitution. Health care is not a right! Steve McKee published an article at The Daily Signal about this topic. 

Decades before Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris began chanting the mantra, leftists [of] all kinds have seemed to believe endlessly repeating “health care is a right” will somehow make it true.

But it’s not. And claiming it to be one is lazy, ignorant of natural law, or just plain deceptive.

It’s important to first clarify that proponents of health care being a right are ultimately advocating for universal health insurance. All Americans already have access care at some level. More than 90% of the population is covered by private plans, Medicare, or Medicaid, and even those with no insurance whatsoever can’t be turned away from an emergency room for financial reasons.

Admittedly, that’s a limited and inefficient option that satisfies no one, but it’s the paying for health care, not the provision of it, that’s the core issue.

That pinpoints the problem of claiming health care as a right; namely, it ain’t cheap. I don’t know anyone who isn’t in favor of all Americans having convenient access to high quality care, but its provision, like the provision of any service, requires the labor of others.

That’s something no one can presume. As the cliché goes, your rights to swing your fist stop at the tip of my nose.

“Free” health care requires doctors, nurses, techs, and all the people who provide the equipment, machinery, medicine, and supplies in the vast health care system to unwillingly bear the cost. That’s not only immoral, it’s unsustainable. If beer, bread, and basketballs were free, there would soon be no beer, bread, and basketballs.

English Enlightenment-era philosopher John Locke wrote that we are all born with inalienable natural rights that are God-given and can never be taken away. Among the rights Locke cited were “life, liberty, and property,” the latter of which was exchanged for “the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence.

Note, however, that none of those rights require the labor of others. Even the last one is a right only of pursuit, not attainment. Government is there to protect our rights, not provide them.

McKee explained that the Genesis of the Democrat understanding of “rights” date back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1944 State of the Union address.

“As our nation has grown in size and stature,” Roosevelt said, our “political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.” He proposed a “Second Bill of Rights” that included the right to “a useful and remunerative job,” to “earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation,” to “a decent home,” to “a good education,” to “adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment,” and yes, to “adequate medical care.”

What a wonderful world it would be if all these things could be ours simply by declaring them to be rights. Unfortunately, somebody must pay for them.

McKee continued by explaining that Roosevelt’s idea of a “Second Bill of Rights” was never introduced in the U.S. Congress, but it was included in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was ratified in 1948.

This international wish list guarantees, among many other things, “the right to rest and leisure,” including “periodic holidays with pay” (Article 24); the right to “food, clothing, housing and medical care” (Article 25); and “the right to free elementary education” (Article 26).

How Do You Remember the Lord?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Helaman 7-12 in a lesson titled “Remember the Lord.” The lesson was introduced with the following information. 

Nephi’s father, Helaman, had urged his sons to “remember, remember.” He wanted them to remember their ancestors, remember the words of the prophets, and most of all, remember “our Redeemer, who is Christ” (see Helaman 5:5-15).

It’s clear that Nephi did remember because this is the same message he declared years later “with unwearyingness” to the people (Helaman 10:4). “How could you have forgotten your God?” he asked (Helaman 7:20). All of Nephi’s efforts – preaching, praying, performing miracles, and petitioning God for a famine – were attempts to help the people turn to God and remember Him. In many ways, forgetting God is an even bigger problem than not knowing Him. And it’s easy to forget Him when our minds are distracted by “the vain things of this world” and clouded by sin (Helaman 7:21); see also Helaman 12:2). But, as Nephi’s ministry shows, it’s never too late to remember and “turn … unto the Lord your God” (Helaman 7:17).

This scripture block teaches several principles, such as “Prophets reveal the will of God to the people” (Helaman 7-11); “My faith in Jesus Christ must be built on more than signs and miracles” (Helaman 9; 10:1, 12-15); “The Lord gives power to people who seek His will and strive to keep His commandments” (Helaman 10:1-12); “The Lord wants me to remember Him (Helaman 12). However, I feel impressed to discuss this principle: “Pondering the word of God invites revelation” (Helaman 10:2-4).

Have you ever felt downtrodden, anxious, or confused? Nephi, the son of Helaman, felt “cast down” (Helaman 10:3) because he was doing his best to call the people to repentance, but nothing was working as it should. Here are the applicable verses.

2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.

3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering – being much cast down, because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities – and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:

4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou has done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments (Helaman 10:2-4).

When Nephi was “cast down” – downtrodden, anxious, or confused – he “pondered” what the Lord had already shown to him. As he pondered, the voice of the Lord came to him to bear him up. The Lord is the best Person to help us when we are “cast down.”

The word ponder means to think about something deeply and thoroughly; to consider something carefully before reaching a conclusion; to weigh a problem carefully before deciding what to do; to meditate.

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained, “When we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit” (“Serve with the Spirit,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 60).

The question is, “how might you create a habit of pondering?”

Why Would Trump Be Good for Pennsylvania?

Parents should teach their children to always be themselves and to put forth their best words and behavior. By doing this, they will not need to hide their words and actions from yester year. When individuals have integrity, other people will know who they are and what they stand for, and they can strengthen their families, communities, and nations.

The United States is currently in a presidential election between Democrat and current Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican and former President Donald Trump. Harris and her vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz have held exactly one joint interview in more than forty days. Trump and his vice-presidential candidate JD Vance have been in at least one joint interview, but they have also been in solo interviews, townhalls, and news conferences nearly forty times in the same period of time.

One set of politicians are open and available to speak to anyone at any time, and the other set avoids reporters, interviews, and news conferences. There is one presidential debate and one vice presidential debate scheduled, so the candidates will face off on the same stage at least once for each pair of candidates. The presidential debate will take place next week on September 10 on ABC News that was scheduled by the President Joe Biden campaign before he “dropped out of the race in July.”

Trump spoke “about a wide range of issues” during the town hall event. Fred Lucas shared six takeaways from the town hall that should have been a debate. If it had been a debate, news anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would have hosted it. Trump indicated that he would have preferred a debate. 

1. ‘More Terrorists’ in 3 Years Than 50 Years

Trump talked about the border policies under the Biden-Harris administration, noting that 21 million illegal immigrants have entered the country – “larger than New York.”

“More terrorists have come into the United States in the last three years than I think probably 50 years, there has never been anything like it,” Trump said. “If they won, you would have not 20 million, you would have 100 million people.”

“You won’t have Social Security, you won’t have Medicare, you won’t have anything,” Trump continued….

Trump also talked about the high crime by illegal immigrant gangs in Colorado [and discussed how Venezuelan gangs are taking over the city of Aurora] ….

In Aurora, Colorado – a Denver suburb and sanctuary city – Venezuelans are about 40% of the immigrant arrivals. Members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua reportedly took over an apartment complex called The Edge at Lowry, which was the site of a shootout last month.

2. ‘Other Things Perhaps, But We’re Not Weird’

During the interview, Hannity mentioned Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Hannity said Walz “wants free college education, legal drivers licenses [for illegal immigrants].”

Trump noted that members of the Walz family endorsed him….

Walz was among the first to refer to Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “weird.” …

“There is something weird with that guy. He’s a weird guy. JD is not weird. He’s a solid rock,” Trump said. “I happen to be a very solid rock. We are not weird. We are other things perhaps, but we’re not weird.”

 

3. The Debate and the ‘Most Dishonest Network’

Trump talked about the ABC News debate that will occur next week – so far the only debate that Harris has agreed to.

“They are the most dishonest network, the meanest, the nastiest, but that is what I was presented with….

4. ‘I Got Shot At. I Got Hit’

Trump made an almost joking reference to the assassination attempt against him from July 13 in Pennsylvania. He was making the case that he could have had better things to do than run for president….

5. ‘These Clowns … World War III’

Hannity showed clips of Harris saying she had the “courage” to not use the phrases “illegal immigrant” or “radical Islamic terrorist.”

“She wants to be politically correct, and we can’t be politically correct anymore,” Trump said.

He referenced the Hamas terrorist attack last year on Israel and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Iran having the money to fund terrorism groups….

“I understood nuclear for a long time, the power of nuclear weapons. You need a president that’s not gonna be taking you into war. We won’t have World War III when I’m elected. With these clowns that you have in there now, you’re gonna end up having World War III. It’s going to be a war like no other.”

6. ‘Even if You Don’t Like Me’

Hannity showed past clips of Harris saying that she wanted to ban fracking. She has recently reversed her position.

As a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris said “there is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

But Trump said, “Pennsylvania cannot even take a chance” on what position she would take as president….

Trump stressed this is a case where voters might even put aside their personal feelings.

“You’ve got no choice. You’ve got to vote for me,” Trump said. “You’ve got to, even if you don’t like me, you can say I can’t stand that guy, but there’s no way I’m going to vote for her. You have to have fracking.”

Harris has flipflopped on many of her issues, and people with integrity do not flipflop. People with integrity will be themselves in all circumstances. By doing so, they will strengthen their families, communities, and nations.

What Are the Top 7 Lies of Tim Walz?

Why anyone even considers voting for Kamala Harris is beyond my understanding. Are such people blind to the damages done to the United States and world by the Biden-Harris administration? Are they so consumed with hate for Trump – drummed up by the media parroting the lies of Democrats – that they would vote for four more years worse than the last four? Do they understand that Kamala Harris is so far Left that she is further left than Bernie Sanders? Do they really want their children and grandchildren to live in a socialized nation?

Then there is the question of Kamala Harris’s choice for a vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz. She could have chosen someone who would have pulled her administration more to the center, but she did not. She chose a vice president who is more far Left than she is and one who has ties with China. Besides, he is a purveyor of “a string of lies, errors, and prevarications stretching back to his earliest days in politics, fibbing about everything from his military service to whether he won an obscure award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce as a 29-year-old man.”

In an article published at The Daily Signal, Ben Johnson shared “a far-from-exhaustive list of the mistruths Walz has communicated.” His list is as follows: 

1. Stolen Valor #1: Serving in War

Walz served 24 years in the National Guard, an honorable action worthy of praise in its own right. During his National Guard service, Walz was stationed in Norway and, when a different unit deployed to Afghanistan, he took its place in Vicenza, Italy from Aug. 3, 2003, until 2004, according to NPR. Walz retired in 2005, as the unit he led was about to be deployed to Iraq.

Yet over the years, he has implied he faced combat during the War on Terror, as well as allowing others to repeat the claim without correction. In a video clip the Harris-Walz campaign shared of a 2018 event calling for gun control legislation against law-abiding citizens in violation of the Second Amendment, Walz said, “We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” The campaign muddied the waters, telling CNN, “In his 24 years of service, the [g]overnor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country.” A Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson, Lauren Hitt, later claimed Walz “misspoke.”

Yet the errors had piled up for years….

2. Stolen Valor #2: ‘Retired Command Sergeant Major’

Walz has repeatedly referred to his rank as “retired command sergeant major,” including in the official Walz-Harris campaign biography. Yet Walz actually retired as a master sergeant, because he failed to complete required coursework at the U.S. Sergeants Major Academy when he quit his unit in 2005 to run for U.S. Congress….

3. Walz Claimed His Wife Conceived Through IVF

The Democratic Party has repeatedly claimed the 2022 Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade, has unleashed a torrent of pro-life laws that threaten everything from miscarriage care to in vitro fertilization. Walz claimed to have a very “personal” connection to IVF, claiming he and his wife, Gwen, owe their two children to IVF. In fact, Walz invoked the Lord’s divine providence for the controversial procedure. “Thank God for IVF, my wife and I have two beautiful children,” Walz told MSNBC in July. Walz weaponized the issue against Vance in August, alleging, “If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF.” (Vane has spoken in favor of IVF, a controversial procedure in which 9 out of 10 children are never born and unknown millions have been “discarded,” aborted, or abandoned.)

But in an Aug. 19 interview with Walz’s wife, Gwen, Glamour magazine reported that the couple did not conceive via IVF at all. The Walzes participated in a different fertility procedure, known as intrauterine insemination, in which sperm are injected into the uterus. Gwen Walz thanked a nurse in her neighborhood who assisted her “with the shots I needed as part of the IUI process.” …

4. Walz Misled About His 1995 DUI

As a candidate for Congress in 2006, Walz apparently misled voters about his 1995 arrest for driving under the influence. Walz had claimed the entire arrest was a misunderstanding, based on hearing loss from his valorous military service. But CNN reported:

According to court and police records connected to the incident, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska. Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, showing he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time.

Walz accepted a plea deal, admitting that he put himself and others in danger by getting behind the wheel….

5. ‘Outstanding Young Nebraskan’?

When Walz ran for the House of Representatives in 2006, his official campaign biography stated that in 1993, he “was named the Outstanding Young Nebraskan by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce for his service in the education, military, and small business communities.” Yet he never won any such award.

“We researched this matter and can confirm that you have not been the recipient of any award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce,” wrote Barry Kennedy, then-president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, in November 2006….

6. Phony Headlines

Despite the Democratic Party’s continual warning about misinformation – something Walz has erroneously said is not protected by the First Amendment – the Harris-Walz campaign has doctored headlines in its online advertisements.

The campaign reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaign ads that presented actual news stories from The Associated Press, USA Today, NPR, PBS, CNN, CBS News, and other outlets – but with glowing headlines written by campaign staffers. The intention is to convince readers the unbiased reporters heaped praise on the candidates….

7. ‘White Guy Tacos’

Walz appears to have even misled the American people about his palate. In an online video, he apparently stated that “black pepper” is the spiciest food he eats, although Walz has a taste for spicy food….

Is America Headed Towards a Second Civil War?

It is no secret that Americans are fiercely divided between liberals and conservatives with a few million people known as independents hanging out in the middle. The division is both wide and deep, and it is growing wider and deeper.

Neil Howe is a demographer, historian, and author, and he has remarkable success in predicting the future. According to Tyler O’Neil at The Daily Signal, Howe “says a civil war in the U.S. is far more plausible than most people think, and he dismisses the reasons Americans often discount that possibility.” 

In 1997, he published a book with Bill Strauss, “The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy – What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny.” In that book, he suggested five catalysts for a major crisis – and four of the five have already come to pass.

“One of our events was a crisis over the debt, which would issue forth in a new tea party movement,” Howe tells “The Daily Signal Podcast.” He calls it “just completely random that we happened to use that phrase,” which the tea party movement adopted in 2010.

“The other one was a WMD [weapon of mass destruction] attack on New York City,” Howe says, noting the eerie parallel with Sept. 11, 2001. “The other one was the [COVID-19] pandemic, and the fourth one was Russia invading a former Soviet republic,” such as Ukraine.

The final potential catalyst? “A nullification crisis, where one or more of the states would actually nullify federal regulation, which would lead to a new secession movement,” Howe says.

Howe has a generational theory that “America should expect a major crisis about every 80-100 years, and we’re due for another ‘rendezvous with destiny’ such as the Great Depression and World War II.” Howe calls these happenings “fourth turnings.” “They force society to create a new order in the civic ‘outer world’ about 40 or 50 years after ‘awakenings’ drive people inward, seeking order in their spiritual ‘inner worlds.’”

Howe notes that “our politics have taken on this kind of Manichaean style, where the red zone and blue zone are so mutually exclusive in their sense of themselves, their agenda for the nation’s future, that it hardly even matters who’s leading the party.”

(“Manichaean” refers to the tendency to view one side as perfectly good and the other side as perfectly evil, and it traces back to a world religion that arose with the prophet Mani in the 200s A.D., which taught that the physical world is evil and the spiritual world is good.)

He cites Carl Becker, who authored an essay in 1941, “The Dilemma of Modern Democracy.” When most of what you’re talking about is the width of sidewalks and the diameter of sewer pipes, just coordination issues, democracy works really well,” Howe says. “But when you’re talking about issues that virtually define who you are, it doesn’t work. He said no one is going to accede to a vote count that goes 51% against you.”

“You are not going to give up everything you believe in just because you came up three votes short,” he explains.

This is not the first time that there has been a great division in America. Howe claimed that similar divisions took place “in the 1770s, the 1850s, and the 1930s.” However, the current polarization does not have neat lines of division like that of the U.S. Civil War. When The Daily Signal noted this fact, Howe replied that “blue cities in red states actually makes conflict more likely.”

“There are two ways in which we enter this fourth turning very differently from earlier fourth turnings, which are worrying,” Howe says.

First, he notes, “government is so huge going into this fourth turning,” while most fourth turnings require government to ramp up in order to face existential threats.

Second, he notes “the size and global power of our military” make the U.S. a central player in world affairs, so a U.S. Civil War will have massive ramifications across the globe.

“If it requires our forces around the world to stand down for six months, the entire world will remake itself,” he says. “The entire world, for better or for worse, depends upon our presence to be what it is.”

Howe also notes that during a civil war, one side often asks for external help: “This is a rule through all civil wars.”

The discussion then considered when such a civil war would start. In fact, there was no civil war during previous “’mini starter crises’ of 9/11, the tea party movement, COVID-19, and the Ukraine war did not ‘catch fire’ and ignite the massive existential crisis that defines a fourth turning.” The author’s answer was, “The survival of the country has to be at stake.”

“With regard to World War II, I think FDR made the case – it was very persuasive for the country – we did not want to be the only democracy left on earth,” he explains.

“This is the way incentives work,” Howe says. “You’ve got to feel everything’s on the line to push you to do something.”

Things have to come to a head in order to force people to come together and create a new order in society. How exactly that will happen is yet to be determined.

With all the evils in the world – human trafficking, child sexual slavery, gangs, drugs, and the new axis of evil (Russia-China-Iran) to name a few, I wonder if the new order in society will be brought about by the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The signs of the times are becoming more frequent and obvious.

One of the most obvious signs is the way that people – including a sizable portion of residents of the United States – and nations are blaming Israel for not doing more to solve the problem with Hamas. They do not seem to understand that Hamas could stop the war with Israel today or tomorrow, but they do not want to stop it. They want to destroy the nation of Israel and destroy all Jews. That is their goal, and they make it obvious.

God will never allow the Jews to be destroyed as a nation. The Jews are God’s chosen people, and He will protect them with His power.