Healthy Sexuality and Chastity

                Families and marriages are strengthened as all members gain an appropriate understanding of sexuality and why chastity is important.  Parents can help their children have healthy and happy marriages by appropriate and timely teaching of the purpose of sex and why it is a good thing between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully married.

                This article by Julie de Azevedo Hanks, PhD, LCSW, and entitled “Healthy Sexuality and Chastity:  5 Ways to Teach Your Kids (Without Making ItAwkward)” has some good ideas for teaching children “the birds and the bees” naturally from the beginning of their lives.   “… my husband and I have used anatomically correct terms when talking about the human body, invited questions about birth and breastfeeding, talked about how babies are born, and have even gotten into a few specifics….” 

                The author continued by describing how she answered her eight-year-old daughter’s question:  “`But wait, Mom.  How on earth does the sperm get in there in the first place?’  I explained to her what happens to our bodies when sexual attraction and physical arousal take place and how the sperm gets into the uterus.  `Hmmmm, OK,’ she replied, pondering my answer.

                “I saw this as an opportunity to expound upon these ideas and explain not just the how of sexual intimacy, but the why as well.  So I continued.

                “`Sharing your heart and your body with someone in ways that feel really good allows you to continually create loving feelings in your relationship, and it’s part of what makes my relationship with your Dad so special land unique.’  We talked about how sharing your heart and your body with another person is a way to create a bond, and that our Heavenly Parents really want us to share our body with someone only after we have fallen in love and gotten married and made a covenant to love that person forever….”

                The author described her experience in these words:  “As we spoke about these weighty, yet sacred topics, I could sense she was beginning to ponder the significance of the power of procreation and sexual expression.

                “It was a beautiful and surprisingly not awkward conversation.  As a mom and therapist, I felt pleased and satisfied with how the conversation unfolded naturally, and how my daughter and I felt closer because of our discussion.  I was really happy that I could be the one to teach her about her amazing body, her power to express love in physical ways, and her potential to create a body for another person….”

                Parents who accept the responsibility to lovingly and appropriately teach their children about sexuality and chastity can strengthen their children against many of the temptations of youth and young adulthood.  When their family is strengthened and prepare, they will strengthen their community and their nation.

State of the Union

                Barack Obama gave his final State of the Union address – or was it.  I did not watch this one either.  Glenn Beck thinks Mr. Obama will usurp the opportunity of the new President and give the State of the Union before the inauguration.  “Just hours ahead of what the White House is dubbing President Barack Obama’s ‘final’ State of the Union address, Glenn Beck predicted it will not, in fact, be his final national address.  `Mark my words,’ Beck said on The Glenn Beck Radio Program Tuesday morning.  `Next year, he will deliver another State of the Union.’”  The article continues by reminding readers that of all the Presidents, only Jimmy Carter gave a State of the Union address just prior to leaving office.  Since Mr. Obama is an evil worse President than Mr. Carter, none of us should be surprised at the suggestion.

                The Rev. Franklin Graham posted the following statement in anticipation to the State of the Union address.  “Tonight the president is set to give his final State of the Union address….  I can tell you the state of our union.  Our nation is broken – it’s broken morally; it’s broken spiritually; it’s broken politically; it’s broken racially….  The state of our union cannot be fixed unless we repent of our sins individually and ask our nation to do the same.”

Power of the Word

                Alma, an ancient American prophet, had recently dealt with an Anti-Christ by the name of Korihor who was teaching false doctrines to the people, and Alma convinced him of his errors.  Shortly thereafter Alma departed on a missionary journey in company with some of his friends and two of his sons.  The missionaries went to observe the religious practices of the Zoramites and found that they had corrupted the doctrines of the gospel also.  The Zoramites believed that God was only a spirit; they did not believe in Jesus Christ; they worshipped God on only one day each week and never mentioned Him again until the next week; they considered themselves to be the only people acceptable to God; they dressed in costly apparel and cast the poor among them out of their churches.

                After watching the Zoramites on their day of worship, Alma was concerned about how to reach them with the truth.  The Nephites were anxious to reclaim the Zoramites in order to bring them to the truth as well as to keep them from joining with the enemy, the Lamanites.  As Alma had previously had good results from preaching the word of God to other people, he decided to do the same with the Zoramites.  He knew that the Zoramites had already had the truth and rejected it, but he decided to give them another chance to hear it.

                I have always been intrigued by the following statement in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ:  “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just – yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them – therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5).

                I find this statement to be very interesting, and I assume it does not make sense to many people.  How can words be more powerful than swords?  What makes the preaching of the word of God so powerful?  In order to answer these questions, we must have an understanding about the word of God and how it is communicated to us.  With this understanding, we can know that the word of God is powerful because it is the truth.  We can know God’s word is truth because God would cease to be God if He spoke anything but the truth.  We can also come to the understanding that the word of God is carried into our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost because bearing witness of the truth is one of the missions of the Holy Spirit.

                I found more understanding by these words stated by Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in a discourse about the innocence of children and our need to teach them properly.  “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.  The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.  … That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel” (“Little Children,” Ensign, November 1986, 17).  

                This statement implies that people behave badly because they do not know any better.  We can teach our children, grandchildren, and others correct principles – the doctrines and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As they gain understanding of those teachings, they will slowly bring their behavior in line with the doctrines and principles.

                Just as we begin by teaching the basics of the gospel to our families, Alma started at the beginning to teach the poor among the Zoramites.  In Alma 32 Alma asks his listeners to experiment on his words.  “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

                “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.  Now, if ye give place, that  seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves – It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me “ (Alma 32:27-28).

                Alma continues to teach the people the importance of having faith in the word of God.  He taught them to plant the seed of faith in their heart, nurture it with care until it gains roots and grows into a tree.  Then they can enjoy the fruits of their faith.

                I once thought of the Zoramites as some people who went off the straight and narrow path a long time ago.  This time as I studied these chapters, I realized there are “Zoramites” among us.  There are people who attempt to corrupt the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and any of us can fall for their line of thinking if we are not vigilant.  I can now see that I must follow the same advice that Alma gave to the poor Zoramites.  I must be diligent in my scripture study and prayer in order to stay in tune with the Holy Ghost.

                Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called Alma’s discourse in Alma 32 “brilliant.”  “In [the] brilliant discourse [of Alma 32], Alma moves the reader from a general commentary on faith in the seedlike word of God to a focused discourse on faith in Christ as the Word of God, grown to a fruit-bearing tree, a tree whose fruit is exactly that of Lehi’s earlier perception of Christ’s love.  … Christ is the bread of life, the living water, the true vine.  Christ is the seed, the tree, and the fruit of eternal life.

                “But the profound and central Tree of Life imagery in this discourse is lost, or at least greatly diminished, if the reader does not follow it on into the next two chapters of the Book of Mormon” (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 169).

                Faith in Jesus Christ and in His words is the first principle of His gospel.  We can develop and strengthen this faith by studying the scriptures and being obedient to His commandments.  We can then be witnesses of the power of the word of God.  I know there is power in knowing the word of God, understanding the doctrines and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and bringing our behavior in line with our knowledge.  I know that the word of God can change lives for the better.

Democrat Corruption

                The FBI has expanded its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email usage.  They are now looking to see if there was an “intersection” of Clinton’s work at the State Department with the Clinton Foundation work.  Of course, the FBI is focusing on Clinton’s personal server and the classified material found on it.  Clinton says there is nothing going on because the FBI has not contacted her, but the FBI said the organization does not have to notify the subject.

                “Inside the FBI, pressure is growing to pursue the case.  One intelligence source told Fox News that FBI agents would be `screaming’ if a prosecution is not pursued because `many previous public corruption cases have been made and successfully prosecuted with much less evidence than what is emerging in this investigation.”

                There are now “at least number 1,340” classified emails under investigation.  There are also “about 100 special agents” working on the investigation with maybe 50 additional agents working on it temporarily.  The charge would apparently be “public corruption.”  The question remains:  Will Hilary Clinton actually be indicted? If so, will Mr. Obama pardon her?

                On another front, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, is in trouble because Democrats are concerned about the continued losses in the House and Senate as well as Wasserman Schultz’s “blatant favoritism of Hillary Clinton.”  “Calls for the resignation of Ms. Wasserman Schultz are rapidly increasing in both frequency and intensity.”

Ted Cruz

                Ted Cruz seems to be gaining on Donald Trump.  There are all kinds of articles about Ted Cruz, such as this one about leaving an “Empty Seat  at the State of the Union if he is elected President.  His empty chair would represent “the over 50 million unborn children killed since Roe.”  He made his statement in response to an announcement that Mr. Obama planned to leave an empty seat at the State of the Union “to honor the victims of gun violence.”

                Mr. Cruz did not mince words when confronted by a 30-year old woman who was brought to the United States illegally as a child by her parents.  She wanted to know if he would deport her.  Even though the confrontation as charged with emotions, Cruz said, “I would note, if you’re a DACA recipient it means that you were brought here illegally, and violating the laws has consequences….  And one of the problems with our broken immigration system is that it is creating human tragedies and there are human tragedies when people break the law.”

                Mr. Cruz went on record in August 2015 as wanting to amend the Constitution to end birthright citizenship for the children of any person here illegally:  “I think birthright citizenship as a policy matter doesn’t make sense….  We have right now upwards of 12 million people living here illegally.  It doesn’t make any sense that our law automatically grants citizenship to their children because what it does is it incentivizes additional illegal immigration.”

                Donald Trump raised the question about Mr. Cruz’s birthright citizenship and suggested he “squash any forthcoming legal challenges over being born in Canada and his eligibility to serve as president.”  Mr. Cruz claims the matter is settled legally and the men should focus on real problems facing our nation.  Legal experts say Mr. Cruz’s mother is a natural-born citizen, which makes Mr. Cruz a citizen in spite of the fact he was born in Canada.

Executive Gun Control

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday involves the latest executive order by the man who lives in the White House.  He used his executive powers on January 4, 2016, to bring about changes that should be made by Congress - again.  AWR Hawkins at Breitbart.com outlined the “five most offensive aspects of those gun controls.  

                Those “five most offensive aspects” are as follows:  (1) The changes “would not have stopped any recent mass shootings….  Every mass shooter and high profile shooter in recent memory – with the exception of those who stole their guns – bought their guns via background checks.”  (2) In acting “without any legislative due process,” Mr. Obama’s “expansion of background checks is an affront to freedom in general….  Americans have been selling guns privately since 1791 – that’s 225 years….”  (3) The freedom to purchase a gun “can be denied a gun for purely financial reasons or if you are on Social Security…. [anyone] believed incapable of handling their own finances.” 

(4) Federal Firearms License holders (FFLs) “are federally recognized firearms dealers” and will have to jump through “one more hoop.”  (5) The “executive action  … means using tax-payer money to pay for something the private sector has no interest in funding.”

Humility

                Have you ever wondered about the difference between humbling ourselves and being compelled to be humble?  I have been intrigued for a long time about the experiences of Alma and his people compared to those of King Limhi and his people as found in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 19-24.

                The prophet Abinadi visited the people of wicked King Noah to call them to repentance; he told them that they would come under bondage if they did not repent (see Mosiah 11:21).  When Abinadi returned after two years and found that the people had not repented (see Mosiah 12:1), he delivered an even stronger warning.  This time he told the people that many of them would be slain, suffer famine and pestilence, or be destroyed if they refused to repent.

                This time Alma believed the words of Abinadi and wrote them down.  He began to teach the people; those who believed him repented and became righteous.  This group was forced to separate themselves from the majority of the people who remained wicked.  Both groups eventually came under bondage because they did not repent with the first warning, but there were great differences between what happened to the two groups.  One group voluntarily repented, and the other group was compelled to repent.

                The majority of the people rejected and killed Abinadi; they continued in their wickedness.  They were divided, contentious, and brought into bondage by the Lamanites.  Many of them were killed including King Noah; his son Limhi began to reign.  The smaller group listened to Alma, who believed the words of Abinadi; they developed faith, repented of their sins, and were baptized.  The Lord warned them to flee into the wilderness to escape King Noah’s soldiers.

                King Limhi’s people endured bondage and went to war with the Lamanites several times in attempts to gain freedom; they eventually accepted their bondage.  Alma’s people prospered and built a city; they lived in righteousness and prospered exceedingly.  While Alma and his people continued to live in peace and prosperity, King Limhi and his people recognized their plight; they repented and turned to the Lord.  They were compelled to be humble and to accept their bondage.  As they became more righteous, the Lord blessed them by degrees.  They gave wine to the Lamanite guards and caused them to be drunk.  Limhi and his people escaped under the cover of darkness.  The next day they were pursued by a Lamanite army but were not overtaken.

                The Lamanite army discovered Alma and his people and put them under bondage.  Alma’s people stayed faithful and endured their trials patiently.  The Lord eased their burdens and strengthened them; He eventually delivered them out of bondage.  The Lord caused a deep sleep to come over the Lamanites, and Alma and his people escaped during daylight hours.

                From the experiences of these two groups of people, we can plainly see that it is better to humble ourselves than to be compelled to be humble.  President Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) taught the following about humility:

“Humility, of course, is not a sign of weakness.  Humility does not mean timidity.  A person can be humble, powerful, and courageous.  The Prophet Joseph is a good example.  Humility is an acknowledged recognition of our dependence on a higher power.” (See The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 369.)