An Open Letter to Trump Haters

Dear Trump Haters-

I just wanted to point out a few things, but first I would ask you to take a deep breath, put social media and CNN aside, and just think about what I have to say. 

Short version:

1. Before running for president, the media, political and community leaders, and most of the public really liked Donald Trump. They admired his ability to build wealth, and to recover from losing wealth and building his empire back up.
2. No president is without skeletons in the closet, a huge ego, and the ability to say stupid things. 
3. The media is not telling you the whole story, and often they're not even telling the truth. They don't show you everything, and they tell you what to think about what they do show you.
4. Just because it's in a meme or said by a comedian or news anchor doesn't make it true. 
5. Last point- do some research, don't form your opinion of any man, including President Trump, based on what you hear from those who despise him. 

Long version:

Caveats are required nowadays, so here are mine. Trump is egotistical and often tweets or says things that are embarrassing. He's behaved immorally in the past, and it's well-documented. I don't agree with everything he says or does, as is normal with any politician. I fully acknowledge that he is a pompous egotist.

A couple of points to consider: a huge ego is a hallmark of people who run for president. So is sexual promiscuity (this seems to go hand-in-hand with power). Bill Clinton's forays into naughtiness are well-documented, and stories of JFK's extra-marital relationships are generally accepted as truth. It wouldn't suprise me in the least for stories of other presidents' infidelity or promiscuity to be many-- they've just managed to remain secrets. As far as we know, Trump's misbehavior in this arena is behind him. 

As for the dumb things he says- do you remember when George W. Bush was president and SNL decided to make him look like a moron? They took a few gaffes and made a running gag out of the "idiot president", and now I bet you believe he's a buffoon, a nincompoop, and ill-educated. Bush has a degree in history from Yale. Yale. He's not stupid. 

But when any popular media outlet decides to label someone a certain way, it becomes "common knowledge" among the public. Even if it's just not true. Biden is a gaffe machine, and no mainstream media outlet, no running SNL sketches, no liberal talk show hosts make fun of him. Obama surely said things that he shouldn't have, things that could have been mocked (everyone does), but we didn't hear about them. But everything Trump says is sliced up, held under intense negatively-biased scrutiny, and blasted over every media outlet. And from comedians to news anchors, whatever they decide the public opion should be is spread across the country, and people believe every word. Yes Trump says some stupid things- even his supporters acknowledge that. But not everything he says deserves the level of outrage it gets.

Long caveat. Also Trump has weird hair. Acknowledged.

Here's what I want you to really consider. Look back 10 years ago, and Trump was a media darling. Obama said something akin to "Everyone wishes they were Donald Trump," -- said with a smile, not as a criticizm. Trump was lauded by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others. Not one single person thought for a second that Trump was racist. None. 

(photos are hyperlinked to sources)

Then he did the unthinkable and declared himself a Republican and ran for president against the queen of the Democrats and, even worse, won! The media went berserk! Someone decided to label Trump a racist. They took a comment Trump made about a gang of thugs, and a reference to him calling a country where it's horrible to live a hell-hole (I think), and proclaimed that those words made him a racist. And it stuck. 

There are people who truly believe that he is racist. You're probably one of them. But if you listen to his entire speeches, if you consider the context and who and what he is referring to, none of the statements paraded out as racist actually are. Racism is putting one race above another, and he does not do that. In fact, under his guidance the U.S. unemployment rates among black people are (or were before the covid craziness) the lowest they've ever been.

But the narrative continues to be spread and people believe it at face value.

Trump with Alveda King, MLK's niece

If your opinion about Donald Trump has been formed by memes, social media posts, CNN, MSNBC, etc., and so-called comedians' opinions, you're not actually deciding for yourself. None of those people will play his entire speeches. If you watch CNN's coverage of a speech and then watch the whole thing elsewhere, you'll be shocked at how little they show you. I'm not going to go into why the mainstream media doesn't want you to see the rest. Hopefully you have enough of a brain to figure that out. Unless the brainwashing works, you will.

I remember the first time I heard the suggestion that the media wasn't telling us the whole truth- this was like 18 years ago or something- and it was like waking up. I thought- wait a minute, what!? Then I compared certain news stories and how the media had reported them vs. how a conservative radio personality reported them - he told a much more detailed, full story. (I don't remember specifics, just the feeling of waking up). I was shocked, amazed, and I immediately stopped believing what I was told or shown by even my local news.

One example of modern news media. Scary.

I encourage you to do your own research. Balance your media diet with the other side, and look behind what you're being taught by meme culture and media (including movies, books, TV shows, podcasts, and music). There is (naturally) an agenda to take down Trump any way possible, even if it comes to lying and slander, and the media are 100% complicit. 

Is he perfect? Of course not. I'd rather not have to defend the guy- I'd rather you did your own research and formed your own opinions, but it seems like social media culture has been enough for you. If the person on your TV or in the video you're watching hates Trump and slanders him, that's good enough for you. Please stop and think. 

Do you like your life? Do you like having a job? Do you like having the freedom to improve your life through education or training or entrepreneurship? Do you enjoy your car, your phone, your TV, your laptop, and other benefits of capitalism? Then you really should consider maybe not voting for those who are ready to push capitalism off a cliff and replace it with their version of what's good for you. Because that's what is happening.

There's so much more I could say, but I'll wrap it up. Just please, use your brain. It's a good brain. It can make its own decisions and judgments.

In the meantime, I'm scared to let people I work with know I'm a conservative. Is that how you want the country to be? Should I be afraid to share my thoughts publicly? Do I deserve to be attacked for asking someone to consider whether what you've been told is true? This is not right, and the flames of hatred, judgment, and now, violence, are being flamed by the media and the Democrat politicians (pay attention to what they say). Trump is not to blame for any of it. He has tried to patch up the division that developed during the last administration, and his opposition has blocked those efforts every step of the way. Do you want to live in an America that hates white people (aka racism)? Do you want to live in an America without police? I mean, really? 

THINK. And then go educate yourself. You can do it. 

God bless you and God bless America. 

Masks

You don’t care and you probably won’t read this whole thing, but this is why I have issues with masks. My reasons are not political, but based on logic, reason, and my personal experiences. I don’t write this so you will debate me. It’s just to state my reasoning and my point of view. Please don’t attack me. I’m more fragile than you realize.

I’ll start with the personal:

• -       I have anxiety which manifests in many ways, but one major way is by affecting my ability to get enough air. Wearing a mask makes me somewhat panicky because I am not getting fresh air. So, yes, you will see me touching my mask a lot, because I’m pulling it away from my mouth enough to breathe. If you have never experienced this kind of anxiety, you really, truly don’t know what it’s like, and I imagine I’m not the only person who experiences it. Some people are fine breathing warm, stale air through a mask, but it freaks me out.
• -       Wearing a mask for more than a few minutes makes my nose runny, which is kind of ironic because if I’m not wearing one, my nose is dry and not emitting moisture. Which leads to logic and reason.

Logic and Reason:

• -       How do viruses spread? ON MOISTURE PARTICLES. They are not free-roaming through the air. For someone who is breathing normally, through their nose, germs do not escape their nose hairs, linger in the air until an unsuspecting human comes along, then clamber up their nose, past their nose hairs, and lodge themselves in those mucous membranes. The evidence people share that masks are better, such as the photograph of the girl blowing into cold air to make mist with and without a mask, universally include a person forcing air, whether through a sneeze, cough, spit, or blowing. Normal, gentle breathing through the nose does not expel enough moisture to carry viruses. This used to be common knowledge before everyone jumped on the bandwagon of terror.
• -       I am not sick. How do I know this? First, I don't breathe in close proximity to others, and now that there is plexiglass everywhere, I don’t even talk to cashiers without the barrier. I’m not breathing in anyone’s germs. I’ve had a long habit of washing my hands when I get home from shopping- this because stores can be really gross. Thus, I have protected my own mucous membranes. Now, you will yell at me that I could be asymptomatic. Well, if I’m not coughing or sneezing, see the first point here.
• -       Propaganda is a tool that is used by companies, governments, and religions. It’s real, and they use it because it works. Propaganda isn’t always inherently evil (aka Nazis) but is usually manipulative and that sends my antenna straight up. If you’re being manipulated, it’s often because someone has an agenda and is bending the truth to convince you of something. Propaganda being gleefully spread by most of you, billboards, and advertisers:

o   You are in danger- see “stay safe”. Whenever I hear this I think, “Why? Is there a grizzly in Walmart? A lion lounging in my yard?” With an extremely high recovery rate, I suspect I am safe, even if I’m exposed and happen to catch it in spite of my precautions. I would much prefer “stay healthy”.

o   You are selfish [bad] if you don’t wear a mask- see “I’m doing it for…” or “a mask isn’t to protect you, it’s to protect others [from your dangerous self]”. This is blatant manipulation and I’m shocked more people don’t see that.

-       Positive test numbers do not equal deaths. The number of CASES are being used to justify mask mandates (at least in Utah). Logic tells us that the number of cases will go up when you test more widely. This is not equal to deaths or hospitalizations.

-       It’s being said a lot, and I have to agree with the logic of it- if masks prevent spreading the virus, then why social distance and plexiglass? If social distancing works, then why masks? And if masks work, then why keep anything closed or limited? Open movie theaters, resume normal operations at the zoo! If they are as effective as the propaganda tells us they are, then why are we still sitting so far apart at church? And if we’re staying far apart, why do we need to wear a mask? The lack of logic sends me in circles.

-       I was on board for the “flatten the curve” slogan. For a few weeks. Then that was forgotten and now we have been convinced that we are not safe and won’t be safe until we have been vaccinated from this. When will that be? There are promises, there are developments, but I hesitate to use a brand new vaccine, especially if it’s been rushed to the public to quell the terror.

So the question I have for everyone who is pro-forced-mask-wearing is this: until when? We will never be “safe.” It’s a virus. The likelihood of us rendering it incapacitated by well people wearing masks is unlikely. It will still survive on moisture particles for a few minutes when someone sneezes (which most people remove their masks to do, btw), and someone else will neglect to wash their hands before eating and may get it. Do you want this to be forever? “If it saves ONE life, then yes, I’ll wear a mask forever!!” I hear you say. Well, that’s bully for you, but the truth is a non-mask wearing person isn’t the one who killed grandma. The virus did. That’s what viruses do to those with underlying problems. Any virus.

I will wear a mask when required, but I’m absolutely not wearing one when I am outdoors. I will simply stay away from public places as much as possible. Which is depressing. I went to Costco yesterday, and in the hour or so that I was there (wearing my mask- don’t yell at me), I noticed that a lot of people just look defeated. We aren’t smiling at each other (something that has been unequivocally proven to be important to humans), and we aren’t connecting or interacting. We have come to believe that everyone around us is dangerous, and that we are too. This isn’t healthy societally or psychologically.

Let’s look at the numbers in Utah. As of today, Utah has had 447,806 people tested, with 526,288 total tests reported (not sure how that works), and of those, there have been 32,572 cases, 1,984 of which required hospitalization. The number of deaths for the state is 235. 235 is .72% of 35,572. Less than 1% of diagnosed cases have been fatal, which is horrible for them, but is a very, very small percentage.

To compare, the black plague wiped out 30-60% of the entire population of Europe- not just people who caught it. Why do I bring up the plague? Because the world is acting like covid is a plague. Like it is so deadly and so dangerous that we need to lock ourselves in our homes, avoid any contact with other humans, and cover our faces every time we leave the house. Covid is not a plague. It’s a virus. It’s deadly to a number of people, most of whom have some other underlying condition (meaning they would probably also have died had they caught the flu), but it’s no plague.

The decisions about how to handle this were based on faulty projections that there would be millions of deaths, and that has proven not to be the case. But there’s no going back. This is the freight train of fear and it’s unstoppable and will go on as long as the news and politicians let it.

I would much rather focus on the positive. In Utah, those numbers mean that 32,337 people have had the dreaded covid and lived to tell the tale. That’s a fantastic number- 99.28% of people in Utah who have been positively diagnosed have survived. I’ve heard personal testimony that for some people it’s like a bad cold, and they’ve been sicker in the past, which should also give us hope.

And the numbers are even better if you’re a kid or teen- which can’t be said for flu, which kills teens every year.

But what do I know.

The Flat Curve

I've been having thoughts about the enemy: Coronavirus, aka Covid-19. If you want to respond with a rebuttal or two, that's great, but please be nice to me. I'm a tad fragile, emotionally, right now, and besides, I would be nice to you, so that's kind of what I expect from others. 

Flatten the Curve

What does it mean to flatten the curve? It means to slow the spread. It was never meant to stop the virus. We locked down to help slow down the disease so our hospitals would not be overwhelmed like those we saw in Northern Italy and in Iran and other places. We now have half-empty hospitals all over many states in the U.S. and some are even having to furlough employees, or send them somewhere else to work. So either flattening the curve by lockdown worked, or some places are less populous and maybe wouldn't have had overrun hospitals anyway- we'll probably never know for sure. 

Slow the Spread

So we've done that part, right? We've slowed the thing down. That accomplished, it's time to start rolling back the lockdown and getting small businesses open and running again. 
WAITAMINUTE
If I say that 👆 in our current emotionally and politically charged climate, I will be accused of "not caring about lives" because people have come to believe that ending the lockdown means people will die. 

However, I have a thing to say on that.

What You're Not Being Told

What everyone seems to have forgotten about flattening the curve to slow the spread is that people are still going to die. Probably the same number of people as would have died had we not locked down. Suppose the estimates were that 200,000 people would get sick and 10,000 people would die from the virus in the U.S. (I'm just grabbing numbers here, no stats or actual estimates). Slowing it down means that instead of all 200,000 getting sick in March and April, they will get it over many more months. And that entire 10,000 would still be projected to die. But no one is saying this- it's brutal, it's painful, but it is true.

We literally cannot remain in lockdown until a vaccine is ready or until people stop getting the virus. A vaccine could take years if it ever comes. You remember the common cold, right? Super common virus, and... no vaccine. And the harsh reality is that poverty is no picnic, either. We are trading time for people's ability to feed their families and pay their bills. I'm not being hyperbolic, either. The 10,000 are still expected to die, remember? Just more spread out than if he hadn't locked down. But the longer the country remains shut down, the more people will lose their jobs or businesses. 

Am I saying we should put their jobs ahead of lives? Of course not. But... sadly, those lives are part of the projected losses to the virus anyway, remember? That sounds cold. I know, our elderly and immune-compromised are people whom we love. We can't imagine "allowing" them to get sick. 

But we can't stop it from happening, guys. Eventually, most of us will get it, and it will be up to individuals to try and stay healthy, just like with other viruses that go around. 

And That's the Thing

Consider this: Those in power who decided the lockdown was necessary knew this going in. They knew that they were just postponing most of those deaths, not stopping them. 

But for some reason the rhetoric and language has changed from "slow the spread" and "flatten the curve" to "If you go back to normal, people will die and it will be on [insert politician's name]'s head." 

Um. No. This virus is not any U.S. citizen's fault. None of us are to blame. None of us set it loose on the world, and none of us has the power to contain it. That's the stark reality. It is going to kill people we love as well as people we don't know. It's deadly.

The virus has become a political football and many people are not thinking for themselves-- the shaming of business owners and employees who want to work is appalling. How can we not be supportive and excited at the prospect of returning to something like normal? How can we not be thrilled if a company feels like it can start paying its employees again? 

Don't get caught up in the rhetoric you are hearing online or on the news or comedy shows you are watching-- stop and think. 

Flattening the curve was done to SLOW the virus down, not to STOP it. Don't get that mixed up. 

So Now What?

Remember, it's not an all or nothing world. There are many choices. 

This is where good old American ingenuity comes in. We're not helpless, nor are we at the mercy of politicians. We have to find a balance between further destroying the economy (and real peoples' lives) and doing what we can to protect the most at-risk.

We could start by opening businesses in counties that are best equipped-- near-empty hospital, people naturally distanced from each other (some of us are spread out, not like NYC), and still ask people to do a couple of common sense things:

1. If you are sick, stay home. 
2. If you go out and are worried about sharing something you may have picked up, wear a mask. 
3. If you are worried about your health, take the same precautions you would with any virus.  
4. I would even say that if your company is able to function with employees working from home, maybe they could do so for another month or more, depending on where you are in the country.

And trust people. I truly don't know anyone who will be actively trying to get others sick. We can elevate our sanitation standards, we can teach our children to wipe down their desks and chairs and we can protect those most at risk and get people back to work.

Asking Questions

So the question is: We are locked down until... what? Until the virus is gone? Not going to happen- reports are coming out about it mutating, which will make it even more difficult to defeat. If we are locking down until we slow down infection rates, well, that has been achieved in most of the United States. It's time to move forward, scary as it is.

And we all need to start really considering what we're being told-- ask questions-- don't just absorb the emotions fed to you through your screens-- stop and think. Don't be manipulated. 

Let's remember that we are all human beings here, trying to do the best we can with what we have. We are all trying to survive and thrive, and we can be more supportive and positive and less emotionally reactive and scornful of those who disagree with us. 

Slow down, think, and really question what you are being told. We aren't getting all the information, nor are we getting the whole story, becase a lot of things here are UNKNOWN. But people will still speak about these issues as though they are experts. Don't believe everything you hear, even if it's from someone you like and respect. It's time to get this country back online. We can do it, together. 

Misfits in the Church

When I was young, I was very, very shy. I hardly spoke at all. We moved every 2 years, so I also didn’t have a lot of friends. One here and one there until jr. high, when we finally settled long enough for me to get comfortable with some kids, as well as finding my love for performing- drama and music. When I started college, one of my home evening brothers was a boy I had been in 2^nd or 3^rd grade with who remembered honestly thinking I was a mute, because I was so quiet back then.

I remember being in Beehives and going to Brighton camp. I was so uncomfortable, so scared and so friendless. But the leaders pressured me into going, and I went. I loved the camp songs, but otherwise I was, not hyperbolically, miserable. I remember going out for a rock repelling activity and I was so scared that I refused to do it. The camp counselors really put on the pressure, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it—I am terrified of heights. Granted, it’s good for us to face our fears in a safe way, and granted, it might have been a turning point in me building some self-confidence, but surrounded by girls who didn’t like me and adults I didn’t know was not the time or place for me to face that fear. I was petrified. On Wednesday of the camp week, the bishop came up and I insisted I needed to go home- I was sick, I was on my period (for one of the first times…) and I had to go home. So, he took me home. I’d never felt so relieved in my life. I was safe at home. (This was post-crazy-abusive-mom-leaving.)

I’ve never been very good at making friends at church. Partly because we moved every 2 years, but also because I’ve never fit the mold—not even now in adulthood. I love the Lord and I love the church, and I’ve never struggled with obeying the Word of Wisdom or other standards, but I’m different. I was not the girl that glowed with confidence and Spirit. I was introverted (as I still am) and quiet and no one really liked me.

Jump forward a few decades and I have a daughter who is, like I was, introverted, quiet, “shy,” and not everyone takes the time necessary to get to know her. In her case, we’ve lived in this house since she was just over one-year old, so she has had the opportunity to make friends and get to know the kids in the neighborhood. This has not been easy for her, though. It’s very hard when you’re not like everyone else. She doesn’t smile a lot in public. She doesn’t laugh easily (in public) or know quite how to fit in. And that’s OKAY.

I promise, I’m getting to my point.

In the church (at least in Utah?) as adult leaders, we have a tendency to want the kids to conform. I’m not talking about the church standards here, I’m talking about things like activities and behavior. Katie didn’t want to go to the dance at Youth Conference. She was away from home, waaay out of her comfort zone, and she’s never been to youth dances and doesn’t think she’ll like them. A few things:

1.      Yes, she had to go because that’s where everyone would be and she couldn’t exactly stay in her dorm.

2.      Yes, she should do hard things, absolutely. Definitely. And I constantly encourage her to do so.

3.      Yes, it is good for us to get out of our comfort zone and try new things.

That being said, how we handle kids who are different needs to be addressed. As well as realizing, as with my rock-repelling story, that there is a time and a place for growth. It doesn’t have to be determined by you when someone else is ready to grow.

As an aside, it really doesn’t help that her two best friends moved out of the ward and out of the town a few years ago, leaving her basically alone in the ward.

Katie has leaders who are absolutely trying to do the best thing for her and who love and care about her. However. Instead of pressuring her and telling her all the reasons she should like something or should do something, it would really be nice if someone would just say, “you know, I can see that you really don’t want to do this. This stuff can be really uncomfortable. I’m sorry you have to go, maybe you’ll have a better time than you think.” Or something like that.

She texted me that she’s sure I’ll hear about it because she didn’t mean to be rude but she was being talked to about the dance and one of the leaders kept touching her arm and my dear Katie doesn’t like that, and she finally said something like “you’re really stressing me out right now!” and had to go outside and have a good cry. This, friends, is a panic/anxiety attack. They didn’t mean to push her into that, and they probably don’t even realize that is what happened, but Katie is an even bigger introvert than I was at her age, and has massive anxiety and that is what happens. She didn’t mean to be rude, but I’m sure it seemed rude. And maybe she was rude. I wasn’t there.

The way we treat kids who are different, the misfits, needs to change. We need to stop trying to force them into a mold. We need to love them AS THEY ARE and stop and think about how the Savior would handle the situation. We need to change ourselves a little bit.

Not everyone understands what it’s like to have anxiety and panic attacks. Not everyone understands what it’s like to not feel like anyone likes you in this group you’re forced to be with. Many people don’t know what it’s like to be “different”. Katie, like I was before her, is different. She doesn’t always smile, she doesn’t always say the right thing or get excited about the “normal” things. She runs on a low energy level that I can’t explain- she gets that from her dad—and she is difficult to really get to know. I get it. She, like me, sometimes overreacts to physical stimuli—loud music, flashing lights, confrontation, touch, etc.

I need to figure out how to say what I’m thinking here. What would be a better way to handle her? Don’t handle her. Love her. Take her aside, one on one (don’t gang up on her), and quietly explain that she can’t stay alone in the dorms, so she does have to go to the church with everyone else, but that she can probably take it at her own pace and see if she can find a friend to dance with or see if she can hang out in the hall if it’s uncomfortable or something. 

Yes, it’s good to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Yes, it’s good to do hard things. But it’s not a church leader’s job to decide when and where those things happen. It’s their job to offer opportunities and love the kids as they are.

I’m very worried about Katie ending up with the world’s misfits and leaving the church because she doesn’t feel like she has a place here. Like she doesn’t fit in, so she’ll go find people who will accept her as she is. She’ll look for a “tribe” and she’ll find it. They’re out there. For young rebellious men in inner cities, there are gangs. For quirky girls who don’t fit in at church, there will be groups who feel oppressed by the church’s standards and would LOVE someone like Katie. There are places she will go if she doesn’t find her place here and that terrifies me.

The world is full of people telling young folks they don’t have to conform or fit in. Maybe the church needs a little more acceptance and a little less conformity. I’m not talking about sin—I’m talking about basic things. These kids need to feel accepted just as they are. The quiet kid or the kid who talks too much. The kid who is gangly and awkward, the kid with greasy hair, the kid with wrinkled clothes, the kid who doesn’t have any friends, the kid who doesn’t smile, the autistic kid, the undiagnosed issues kid. They need to feel like they matter in this place and time. Telling them that only goes so far. We have to show it. We need to listen and not just lecture. We need to love and care about where they are and not just push them to be where we think they should be.

Does this make any sense? I don’t know. I’m just so worried.

Thoughts on Being Mormon: The One Thing I Can Give God

Thoughts on Being Mormon: The One Thing I Can Give God

Mosiah 4:22 says “And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.”

Thoughts on Being Mormon: 2 Nephi and Consecration

These thoughts are a little disorganized, but I know what I'm thinking:

I noticed several uses of the word “consecrate” in this week’s reading of 2 Nephi, chapters 1-8. Here are the ways it is used:

“The Lord hath consecrated this land for…thy seed”

“He shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”

Nephi “did consecrate Jacob and Joseph…[as] priests and teachers”

Jacob speaks of “having been consecrated”

“This land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring”

“May the Lord consecrate also unto thee this land”

Because it jumped out at me, I looked up the definition in the dictionary.

con·se·crate

verb

1. make or declare (something, typically a church) sacred; dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose.

"the present Holy Trinity church was consecrated in 1845"

• (in Christian belief) make (bread or wine) into the body or blood of Christ.

"they received the host but not the consecrated wine"

• ordain (someone) to a sacred office, typically that of bishop.

"in 1969 he was consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda"

synonyms:

sanctify, bless, make holy, make sacred;

     So when the scriptures speak of the land being consecrated, I take that to mean that it is dedicated as sacred, for a divine purpose. And when a person is described as being consecrated, it means he has been set apart, blessed, and made sacred through ordination. The consecration of the American continent for divine purpose is an important historical event. Many current residents of the United States know that it is a special place, but feel that white European-descended Americans ought to feel guilty because of the scourging of the Native American people who were “here before us.” While I sympathize with what those people went through, and I do feel that they were discriminated against, and abused, murdered, and their lands were plundered, it’s equally important to recognize God’s hand in what happened. In order for the Gospel to be restored, Europeans had to settle this land. And in order for that to happen, the native peoples had to either share, or be destroyed. In reading the prophesies of the Book of Mormon, we learn that it was inevitable that they would be moved (or killed), to make room for the “white man” to settle. This is because they had turned away from God, from Jesus Christ, and had fulfilled the prophesies given to Lehi and Nephi so early on in the Book of Mormon. Tragic though it was, it had to happen.

        Likewise, in order for the Children of Israel to return home, someone will have to be moved out of Israel, I imagine. More and more, I’ve been thinking about how we are in the end days, and this has yet to happen. The ten tribes are still “lost”, but I think it will be fascinating to learn just where some of our ancient European forbears came from. If some of them started out in Northern Israel, and were carried away and eventually scattered, my Irish ancestors could have descended from ancient Israelites. Maybe. We just don’t know. But I find it intriguing to think about.

Notes on Being Mormon: Charity,The Pure Love of Christ

I've spent some time pondering and studying charity, and I've reached a few conclusions that I hope you agree are worth consideration.