Rationalization and Other Made-Up Stuff

Recently, I watched an old favorite film, Back to the Future. I listened to the commentary this time through, learning in the process what is perhaps not really all-that-secret of a Hollywood secret: Filmmakers make up a lot of stuff.

One of the filmmakers said that when it comes to science fiction movie plots, there's always a bit of actual science thrown in with a lot of made-up stuff. The flux capacitor, for example, is (gasp!) made-up science.

It can go the same way with religion. Throwing in a bit of actual doctrine together with made-up stuff comes in the form of rationalization.

In one of my favorite talks of the latest general conference, Elder Neil L. Andersen spoke on this topic:

"In today's world, the question 'What is truth?' can be painfully complex to the secular mind. ...

"Caught in today's confusion, it is no wonder that so many consign themselves to the words spoken 2,500 years ago by Protagoras to the young Socrates: 'What is true for you,' he said, 'is true for you, and what is true for me, is true for me.'"

This reminds me of one of the phrase "I'm just living my truth," which you see a lot in social media and in the culture right now. The thing is, there is no such thing as "your" truth. There is the truth, which exists independent of your opinion, and then there is your opinion, and the two do not always meet.

John Adams said: "The truth is always the truth, in spite of our feelings."

Elder Andersen continues:

"In opposition to the truths of eternity, there always have been counterfeits to distract God's children from the truth. The arguments of the adversary are always the same. Listen to these, voiced 2,000 years ago:

"'[You] cannot know of things [you] do not see. ... [Whatever a person does is] no crime.'

"'[God is not blessing you, but] every [person] prosper[s] according to his [own] genius.' (Alma 30:15, 17)

"'It is not reasonable that such a being as ... Christ ... [would] be the Son of God.' (Helaman 16:18)

"'[What you believe is a foolish tradition and a] derangement of your [mind].'" (Alma 30:14, 23, 27)

I am troubled as I see a great deal of this type of rationalization among friends and acquaintances on social media. I've observed multiple friends, including returned missionaries and otherwise faithful Church members most of their lives, let doubts fester and faith decay to the point they leave the Church.

My heart hurts for them. Like Nephi, I am "grieved for the hardness of their hearts" (1 Nephi 7:8). I am saddened for the loss of covenants that would bless their lives and their families' lives in exchange for a road fueled by rationalization that leads only also to anger, bitterness, and cynicism.

In a January CES fireside address, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on the snowballing of doubt:

"'Doubt, unless changed into inquiry from reliable, trustworthy sources, has no value or worth. The stagnant doubter, one content with himself, unwilling to make the appropriate effort, to pay the price of divine discovery, inevitably reaches unbelief and darkness. His doubts grow like poisonous mushrooms in the dim shadows of his mental and spiritual chambers. At last, blind like the mole in his burrow, he usually substitutes ridicule for reason, indolence for labor, and becomes a lazy scholar. Doubt is not wrong unless it becomes an end in and of itself. That doubt which feeds and grows upon itself, and breeds more doubt, is evil."

This is not to say that it is wrong to have questions or doubts about doctrine or events in Church history. Everyone does at some point. But if you feed the beast, as the old saying goes, it will come to you every time it's hungry.

Whenever I have a doubt or a question, I think of the many, many times I felt the Spirit burn and testify of the truth of the Restored Church, the Book of Mormon, and other important issues. That knowledge is crucial as I study out issues and work them out through study, prayer, and pondering.

In the same fireside, Sister Ruth Renlund said:

"The blogosphere cannot replace scripture study and reading the words of living prophets and apostles. Foster your faith by going to trustworthy sources to find answers to your questions."

Yes, I realize the irony of sharing that quote in a blog post.

Sister Becky Craven, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, also spoke on rationalization at general conference:

"Because of our mortal nature, don't we sometimes rationalize our behavior, at time referring to our actions as being in the gray, or mixing good with something that's not so good? Anytime we say, 'however,' 'except,' or 'but' when it applies to following the counsel of our prophet leaders or living the gospel carefully, we are in fact saying, 'That counsel does not apply to me.' We can rationalize all we want, but the fact is, there is not a right way to do the wrong thing!"

In an April 2016 general conference talk, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said that a lot of the rationalization so prevalent in our day not only comes from those who have left but also from those still within the Church:

"The Church in its divine mission and we in our personal lives seem to face increasing opposition today. Perhaps as the Church grows in strength and we members grow in faith and obedience, Satan increases the strength of his opposition so we will continue to have 'opposition in all things.'

"Some of this opposition even comes from Church members. Some who use personal reasoning or wisdom to resist prophetic direction give themselves a label borrowed from elected bodies---'the loyal opposition.'

"[T]he Book of Mormon describes three methods the devil will use in the last days. First, he will 'rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good' (2 Nephi 28:20). Second, he will 'pacify, and lull [members] away into carnal security,' saying 'Zion prospereth, all is well' (verse 21). Third, he will tell us 'there is no hell; and ... I am no devil, for there is none' (verse 22), and therefore there is no right and wrong. Because of this opposition, we are warned not to be 'at ease in Zion!' (verse 24)."

It's a day in which the mobs "(teach) for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9). I'm grateful for the gospel and also for the living prophets, seers, and revelators, who help us to see "things as they really are, and ... things as they really will be" (Jacob 4:7).

Post-Easter Egg Hunt

The kids finally had their annual Easter egg hunt, albeit a week after Easter. This is because Easter Sunday this year did not align with either our Sunday general conference breakfast or fourth-Sunday family dinner.

Anyhow, we met up at Mike's and Jana's home in Layton Sunday for both family dinner and the kids' Easter egg hunt. Jackson took the time to organize the Easter egg hunt, and he did a great job doing so.

Everyone got a basket or bag full of plastic eggs and goodies inside them, which made for a lot of happy kids.

After this, we had our monthly family birthday party for our April birthdays: Graham (3), Jenna (16), and Jackson (11).

Graham was particularly grateful for his Kylo Ren light saber and Kylo Ren teddy bear:

JB is becoming a favorite of a number of the niblings, including four-year-old Kate here (but, then again, JB has pretty much been a favorite from the first family dinner she attended):

Her cousin Kylee is also a favorite:

In short, it was another great family dinner and Easter event for us.

General Conference April 2019 Review

The latest general conference of the Church was held a couple of weeks ago now. I certainly enjoyed all of the talks I was awake for (forget the fact that I slept through 1½ sessions on Saturday; but I guess that's why they put them online and also publish them in the Ensign in May).

I'm sure you've dying to hear my take on this latest conference. (Admit it, both of you readers; you have been tossing and turning many a night.) So, here it is.

 - We all need to get our houses in order. That was certainly an overarching theme. Pres. Russell M. Nelson said, "Time is running out." When a prophet of God says something like that, better sit up and listen. And then get up and do something about it.

 - The era of temple building is moving forward boldly, with a number of additional temples announced. JB and I watched the Sunday afternoon session at her parents' home in Grantsville, and when a temple was announced for the Tooele valley, they were overjoyed at the news.

 - In our aforementioned dinner out with the Del Carpios and our other Peruvian friends, Elder Del Carpio (who is an Area Authority Seventy) told us a number of things he learned in the general authority training meeting he had attended that Thursday morning. One of the emphases was on the gathering of Israel, and that theme was certainly reflected in many of the conference talks.

Another is on the reclaiming of the one sheep that has strayed from the 99, which was part of the rationale, as he understood it, in the Church reversing its policy on the baptism of children of same-sex parents (a hot-button topic, to be sure, and one I'll discuss a bit more in a future post here; so, buckle up, both of you). See Chapter 10 of Acts for a reference on how the gospel was spread from the Jews to the Gentiles in New Testament times.

 - According to Mormon Newsroom, another item Pres. Nelson shared at one of the general authority training meetings was this statement: "If you folks are not being persecuted on a daily basis, you are not doing your job very well."

Wow. Are we to expect, then, that persecutions of and against the Church and its leaders will increase? And does this apply to all of the other members of the Church, as well?

It certainly sounds like it.

 - Priesthood session, now a once-a-year meeting, returned for this conference, for which my brothers, my nephew Luke, and I gathered at Mom's house to watch Saturday night. The entire First Presidency spoke, and when Pres. Nelson stepped to the pulpit, I was fully expecting a social media fast, not unlike the one he challenged the sisters to take six months ago, for the brethren.

This did not happen. However, he did speak of something no less important:

"Brethren, we need to do better and be better in how we honor the women in our lives, beginning with our wives and daughters, our mothers and sisters.

"It is the foremost duty of each man to love and care for his wife. Become one with her. Be her partner. Make it easy for her to want to be yours. No other interest in life should take priority over building an eternal relationship with her.

"Nothing on TV, a mobile device, or a computer is more important than her well-being. I invite you to do the following: (1) Take an inventory of how you spend your time and where you devote your energy. That will tell you where your heart is. (2) Pray to have your heart attuned to your wife's heart. (3) Seek to bring her joy. (4) Seek her counsel and listen.

"Her input will improve your output."

It sounds like I have a great deal of homework to work on for (at least) the next six months.

Weekend in Midway

JB and I have now made it a whole year as a married couple!

To celebrate our first anniversary together, we went out of town for the weekend to stay at the lovely Zermatt resort up in Midway (our original destination for our honeymoon before I got laryngitis and JB injured her back). While we were there, we also ventured to nearby Park City to tour the Utah Olympic Park, which was one of the highlights of the trip for us both.

The Olympic museum contains many interesting and interactive displays, including this game in which we had to balance a marble on its downhill skiing run:

Outside, we took a look at the snowboarding jumps:

After this, we went on a guided tour of the bobsled, luge, and skeleton runs farther up on the hillside via bus.

At the top, we got this eagle-eye view of the ski jump:

It's a heckuva view, and it was mind-boggling to think of the many athletes who have run these courses with a level of fearlessness I do not possess.

The "Funereal Philosophy"

Well, as it turns out, April 15 is, to paraphrase President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a day which will live in infamy. On this calendar date, Abraham Lincoln died, the Titanic sank into the Atlantic Ocean, it's Tax Day, and, if you've been watching the news today, now unfortunately the day on which the great French Roman Catholic cathedral Notre Dame burned while all the world watched in deep sadness.

It is also the day that Dad left us---two years ago today.

In the 730 days that have transpired since then, I've learned some important lessons. Most importantly, I use the words I love you more often to those closest to me, and I am trying harder to mean what I say in both word and deed.

I recently read the biography of Elder Richard L. Evans (1906-1971) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In this book, he teaches: "There would be much more human happiness if some of the eulogies we offer after others are gone were uttered before they go. And there are many things we would be grateful we had done, if we wouldn't wait until we wish we hadn't waited. ... Don't save all those sweet songs and charitable thoughts and kindly words for funerals. Put a bit more of the 'funereal philosophy' into the living of life while there are still ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts to understand" ("Tell Him Now!", The Man and the Message, p. 294).

That's great advice, and something I am working on every day. Where I have erred, I will do better.

We love you and we miss you, Dad.

Conference Breakfast/April 2019

The latest general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was held over the weekend. As is our custom, the boys congregated at Mom's home in North Salt Lake Saturday night to watch priesthood session together while snacking on Costco cheesecake.

We also gathered as a family at Mom's home again Sunday morning for breakfast, after which we watched the Sunday morning session of conference together.

JB and I also took advantage of the opportunity to deliver birthday presents to our April birthdays (Graham, Jenna, and Jackson), like the Fun Aunt and Uncle we are. Jackson was particularly grateful for his new Infinity Gauntlet from the Avengers movie series.

We spent the rest of conference Sunday out in Grantsville at JB's parents' home, where we have a dual role as Fun Aunt and Uncle with JB's side of the family. It's a tough job, but we are more than qualified to do it.

Our Dinner with the Del Carpios

Last week, some good friends of mine from Peru, Elder Fernando and Janett Cuba Del Carpio, were in town for general conference. (Janett's father was my mission president in the Peru Lima Central Mission.) We were fortunate to be able to meet up with them for dinner Thursday night in downtown Salt Lake City at City Creek.

We were joined by Nana and Carlos Nieto, Peruvian friends who live in Magna. (Nana was also served in our mission.)

What else do you go out to eat when you're with your friends from Latin America---when the nearby American places are closed, anyway---but Italian food? It seemed a logical choice. It was an enjoyable evening out, and it's always great to reconnect with friends from my mission days.