The Illusory God of Government

Several years ago (1984) a successful ad campaign for Wendy's Hamburgers featured a little old lady played by actress Clara Peller, who immortalized the words, "Where's the beef?" when shown a competitor's product featuring a large fluffy and yummy bun with little or no hamburger patty.

Well might one ask today with regard to Social Security, "Where's the trust fund?" that was supposedly locked away in the "lock box" Bill Clinton used to talk about. In the category of lies politicians have told me, that one could only be called "The Whopper!" (with apologies to Burger King).

Like most political realities we face today, my fellow Americans, there IS no trust fund with fungible assets. That's what the meaning of the word "IS" is. What we have instead is a "bookkeeping adjustment" made with each year's budget. I will qualify that statement quickly, because it all depends on what your definition of "fungible" is. If you are satisified with an explanation that the trust fund is filled with IOUs from the Treasury to retirees, then you'll be happy to know the trust fund is full of that kind of asset. If you insist on something more tangible, however, you will be disappointed to learn there's no "beef" between the big fluffy, yummy political double-speak going on in Washington today.

The Social Security Ponzi Scheme

That's why Alan Simpson called it a "Ponzi scheme" the other day in his Senate testimony. The original "inventor" was not a man named Charles Ponzi, but when he deployed its tactics his name was forever associated with it and he went to prison for his crimes.

In a nutshell, here's the way Social Security works today:  Paid-in contributions that exceed the amount required to fully fund current payments to beneficiaries are invested in securities issued by the federal government. The securities issued under this scheme constitute the assets of the Social Security Trust Fund. Because under current federal law these securities represent future obligations that must be repaid, the federal government includes these securities within the overall national debt. When politicians wrangle over the budget, it's more than mere political posturing. Nobody really wants to declare the Emperor has no clothes for fear of incurring the wrath of a growing segment of the voting public -- we baby boomers who actually believed there would be something there for us when we retired.

The portion of the national debt that is not considered "publicly held" represents the obligations incurred by the government to itself, the bulk of which consists of the government's obligations to the Social Security Trust Fund.

So what we really have is a "promise to pay," from our government. The actual assets of the fund were consumed long ago.

The trust fund contains the securities that will be redeemed to make benefit payments in the future when contributions derived from payroll taxes and self-employment contributions no longer are sufficient to fully fund then-current benefit payments. (Here's the rub: Whether or not this is a meaningful topic for discussion depends upon one's belief in the sustainability of the unified Federal budget).

Freshmen Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY)

My position, of course, is that the day of reckoning has arrived and our current course is unsustainable. It's the case Mike Lee and Rand Paul, two young freshmen senators are now trying to make to their esteemed establishment colleagues. If we fail to choose now as free men, our freedom of choice will be overtaken by the immutable law of financial gravity and we will land hard.

The number of contributors to the trust fund has been in gradual decline since the average life expectancy of a retiree was 63 years of age. Now average life expectancy is 77, still a little higher for women than for men.

The first POTUS to bring up the nature of what's really going on inside the trust fund was George W. Bush. On February 2, 2005, he made Social Security a prominent theme of his State of the Union Address. The public debate over this issue has never been quite the same since. The fund holds non-negotiable (the opposite of "fungible") United States Treasury bonds and U.S. securities backed "by the full faith and credit of the government."

The OMB and the Empty Cupboard

In an effort to clarify, the bi-partisan and apolitical body, the Office of Management and Budget, describes it this way:

"These [Trust Fund] balances are available to finance future benefit payments and other Trust Fund expenditures – but only in a bookkeeping sense. . . They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits. Instead, they are claims [nothing more than IOUs] on the Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures. The existence of large Trust Fund balances, therefore, does not, by itself, have any impact on the Government’s ability to pay benefits." (From FY 2000 Budget, Analytical Perspectives, p. 337, emphasis mine).

It took me awhile to wrap my pea-sized brain around that admission, but here it is: "You let me take some periodic payments (as in a FICA deduction out of every single paycheck you earn over your lifetime), and I will promise to pay you an annuity someday when you retire. Oh, and don't worry, I'm the U.S. Treasury and I'm good for it."

That's it, my friends. GWB was pilloried for even suggesting U.S citizens might do a better job of managing their own retirement funds better than the U.S. Treasury -- remember "private accounts?" -- and now six years later we're still having the same debate. It centers on one simple feature -- who will choose and make decisions, the individual or the federal government? Nothing has changed much since the original war in heaven where the question was first posed. We're here today because we chose agency, leaving us free to choose. Are these IOUs claims against real resources? Or are they worthless pieces of paper backed by nothing but "good faith and credit?" Shall we be self-determining free Americans like our ancestors, or will we bow to the misrepresentations and fraud of the federal government? For me, the answers to the questions are distilling rapidly.

Krauthammer the Truth Teller

Appearing in his weekly column today is this analysis by Charles Krauthammer:

"The new line from the White House is: no need to fix it because there is no problem. As Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew wrote in USA Today just a few weeks ago, the trust fund is solvent until 2037. Therefore, Social Security is now off the table in debt-reduction talks.
"This claim is a breathtaking fraud.
"The pretense is that a flush trust fund will pay retirees for the next 26 years. Lovely, except for one thing: The Social Security trust fund is a fiction." (Italics in original).

Krauthammer continues:

"Here's why. When your FICA tax is taken out of your paycheck, it does not get squirreled away in some lockbox in West Virginia where it's kept until you and your contemporaries retire. Most goes out immediately to pay current retirees, and the rest (say, $100) goes to the U.S. Treasury — and is spent. On roads, bridges, national defense, public television, whatever — spent, gone.
"In return for that $100, the Treasury sends the Social Security Administration a piece of paper that says: IOU $100. There are countless such pieces of paper in the lockbox. They are called 'special issue' bonds.
"Special they are: They are worthless. As the OMB explained, they are nothing more than 'claims on the Treasury (i.e., promises) that, when redeemed (when you retire and are awaiting your check), will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures.' That's what it means to have a so-called trust fund with no 'real economic assets.' When you retire, the 'trust fund' will have to go to the Treasury for the money for your Social Security check."

I got into a exchange on the forum board the other day in a local newspaper over this very topic. Is there money in the bank, or is this a fraud? You be the judge. It's not a fraud, I guess, if we can all collectively continue to muster and believe the myth the government is being well-run. If we don't believe in the government's ability to pay its obligations, after all, then our money is also worthless, because that's what our money is based upon -- that same promise. It's called "fiat money," "cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die-I'm-good-for-it" money. They used to say, "Don't take any wooden nickels," but now they all appear to be wooden.

Krauthammer puts the final nail in the coffin:

"Why is this a problem? Because as of 2010, the pay-as-you-go Social Security system is in the red. For decades it had been in the black, taking in more in FICA taxes than it sent out in Social Security benefits. The surplus, scooped up by the Treasury, reduced the federal debt by tens of billions. But demography is destiny. The ratio of workers to retirees is shrinking year by year. Instead of Social Security producing annual surpluses that reduce the federal deficit, it is now producing shortfalls that increase the federal deficit — $37 billion in 2010. It will only get worse as the baby boomers retire." (Emphasis mine).

So basically, there aren't many accounting tricks left to invent -- they've all been employed -- and the average American Joe, whom the government elitists always figured was just too dumb to figure all this out, is finally awake and on task. He and his buddies are tossing out the bums who are running this scheme and choosing self-determination instead. Meanwhile, Obama thinks he's got enough people dumbed down and content now that he'll blame the enemy and ride his high horse to re-election in 2012. We have this reality before us, however. Our "watchmen on the tower" have seen the enemy coming from afar off, and the enemy is us unless (and until) we wake up.

True Prophets Always Get it Right


Joseph Smith the Prophet

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it again and again. My belief is anchored in this declaration from Joseph Smith: "We . . . must be under [God's] guidance if we are prospered, preserved and sustained. Our only confidence can be in God; our only wisdom obtained from Him: and He alone must be our protector and safeguard, spiritually and temporally, or we fall." (HC, 5:64).

There is no salvation in the collective salvation being offered by the federal government. If you thought there was, better make other plans and find the real God in your life. The United States of America still has a vital role to play in preparing the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I still believe it, but now after watching Barak Obama and his minions at work for two years I've had to add some "qualifiers." Those include "if" we wake up before it's too late.

President Harold B. Lee, 1973

If you click the link in that last paragraph, you'll find the source for this prophetic statement by President Harold B. Lee:  "Men may fail in this country. Earthquakes may come, seas may heave themselves beyond their bounds, there may be great drought and disaster and hardship, as we may call it, but this nation, founded as it was on a foundation of principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail."

He could have added, "If we hold fast to that foundation of principles." If we do, we will not be deceived into accepting this government we now see as our God. It is illusory, anti-Christ and delusional. What you can see and touch (government) is imaginary at best, and what you can't see and touch (the real God of heaven) ironically "has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's." (D&C 130:22-23).

The so-called "Christian world’s" definition of God is founded on fiction not unlike the Social Security Trust Fund. When the scholars at Nicea defined Him as being "three in one and one in three without any body parts or passions," Christianity went astray. It took a magnificent latter-day theophany of the Father and the Son in a personal appearance to the boy Joseph Smith to put Christianity back on track again. The only problem in the world is it's hard for most to salute a fourteen-year-old's testimony as authentic. But then again, why would he lie? I testify he didn't.

Whenever we allow ourselves to be misled by sophistry, one has only to observe how benighted, deceived and darkened we subsequently become as a human family. Wanting to believe a fiction, cannot, worlds without end, make that fiction into an abiding absolute truth with merit.

Join me in putting your faith in the only living and real God there is -- the one you can't see and touch just yet -- the one that is sending back His Son to clean up the mess we've made. By the power of the Holy Ghost, however, you can feel Him in your heart of hearts where the absolute truth always resides.

I conclude with one further insight from Joseph Smith:

“. . . other attempts to promote the unusual peace and happiness in the human family have proved abortive; every effort has failed; every plan and design has fallen to the ground; it needs the wisdom of God, the intelligence of God, and the power of God to accomplish this. The world has had a fair trial for 6000 years; the Lord will try the seventh thousand himself.” (TPJS, 252).

Planning on government to give you cradle-to-grave security and collective salvation? Better make other plans.

Deep Dark Secrets

A recent tragic story has dominated the headlines and newscasts here in Utah. The 5 Browns is a talented family group of gifted pianists, perhaps the first and only quintet of pianists, who have realized tremendous commercial success together. They are comprised of two brothers and three sisters from the same family, and they are magnificent performers if you haven't seen them or heard them play together.

The tragic story to which I allude is the revelation that the father of this talented family had sexually abused his three daughters when they were younger women. He appeared in court the other day and pled guilty to the charges in a deal that will result in a long prison term.

I do not know the Brown family, and I do not presume to know what happened except for the scant details that have surfaced in the media reports.

What I am familiar with is the dynamic we see repeated here of attempting to hide our deepest, darkest secrets from God.

President Spencer W. Kimball

"There are no corners so dark, no deserts so uninhabited, no canyons so remote, no automobiles so hidden, no homes so tight and shut in but that the all-seeing One can penetrate and observe. The faithful have always known this. The doubters should take a sober look at the situation in the light of the electronic devices which have come into increasing use in the last few years and which are often delicate and tiny but so powerful as almost to annihilate man's personal privacy. . .

"In the light of these modern marvels can anyone doubt that God hears prayers and discerns secret thoughts? A printer's camera can make a negative three feet square. What magnification! If human eyes and ears can so penetrate one's personal life, what may we expect from perfected men with perfected vision!" (President Spencer W. Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, 110-11).

This attempt by fallen mortal man to hide our sins from God is as old as Adam and Eve. "I hid myself because I was naked." As the mortal offspring of Father Adam and Mother Eve, we have inherited that nasty tendency to think we can hide from Him. The truly tragic reality of our mortal existence is our deepest, darkest secrets are rarely hidden from others. We only have the mistaken perception they are. Have you ever noticed how piercingly accurate your awareness is of the mistakes and faults of others? At least you think you know. Then suddenly, as with the Browns, a deep dark secret unknown to their peers emerges and then we become aware of just how little we truly know about each other. But sooner or later truth rises and everyone knows what you thought was hidden away and neatly disposed of in the recesses of your mind and the memories of those you have offended.

We may deceive others for many, many years, but God does exist, He does know us, and we are all accountable before Him. These are absolute truths from which we cannot ultimately escape. We will all die. We all stand before Him to be judged. We learn by experience, there really is no other way, and what we learn compels us in time to trust Him. We learn His mercy through the atonement of His Son Jesus Christ is sufficient for each of us.

President Spencer W. Kimball testified some years ago. "That is an absolute truth. All. . . of the children of men on the earth might be ignorant of him and his attributes and his powers, but he still lives. All the people on the earth might deny him and disbelieve, but he lives in spite of them. . .  In short, opinion alone has no power in the matter of an absolute truth. . .  The watchmaker in Switzerland, with materials at hand, made the watch that was found in the sand in a California desert. The people who found the watch had never been to Switzerland, nor seen the watchmaker, nor seen the watch made. The watchmaker still existed, no matter the extent of their ignorance or experience. If the watch had a tongue, it might even lie and say, 'There is no watchmaker.' That would not alter the truth." ("Absolute Truth," 1977 BYU Fireside and Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Publications, 1977], 138). I wrote recently about these absolute truths we know as Mormons.

When stories like the Browns' surface, there is something salacious and almost magnetic about it that also says something about us. We are drawn to these very public and embarrassing disclosures as part of our "human nature." It is as though we are anxious to discover something about ourselves. Can we hide ourselves from God much longer, or will we, like Keith Brown, think we can sin and remain free from judgment? On the day he appeared in court, his attorney said, "Today was the next step in a very long process of accountability for a reprehensible act." He said the plea deal will minimize the harm a public trial would cause the family. We look upon this train wreck and secretly wonder to ourselves, will I be different? Can I escape accountability for my hidden works of darkness? Can I escape the all-seeing eye?

In our mortal journey there is one indispensable gift for which we must seek. It is the gift of discernment. I don't mean the gift to discern between right and wrong, because the acquisition of that gift is assured at birth, and it is referred to as the "light that lighteth every man" -- the light of Christ. (D&C 88:4-13).

Rather, I speak of the spiritual gift to discern between what is good, better and best. Few people would entertain thoughts of sexually molesting their children. There is a natural barrier between fathers and daughters and mothers and sons over which the vast majority of fathers and mothers will never step, nor are they ever even tempted with the thought to violate that natural barrier. I wonder if a gift of discernment that helps us choose primary over secondary causes isn't really more valuable.

President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer warned: "As we test the moral environment, we find the pollution index is spiraling upward. . .  God grant that we will come to our senses and protect our moral environment from this mist of darkness which deepens day by day. The fate of all humanity hangs precariously in the balance."

C. S. Lewis

There is a classic exchange in the C. S. Lewis masterwork, The Screwtape Letters, which has one of the archdevils, Screwtape, giving instruction to his nephew, Wormwood, about how to deceive those who have become Christians: "The real trouble about the set your patient is living in is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call 'Christianity And.' You know — Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians, let them at least be Christians with a difference. Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing." (C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters [New York: Touchstone, 1996], 115-16; italics in original).

The devil, except in rare instances like this isolated deep dark secret in the Brown family, doesn't need to persuade us to steal or lie or molest our children or commit adultery. All that is necessary for Satan to deceive us is to have true believers merely undersell, understate, minimize and thus underestimate the awesome powers, appropriateness, and relevance of the restored gospel as the antidote for sin in these last days. The magnitude of the sinning suggests we need to step up our game too.

As a society we have made quantum leaps in our ability to harness information, discovery, and technology. I have witnessed young people who have mastered texting on their cell phones to the degree they are doing it with each other in a living room setting, as though a real conversation is somehow passe and antiquated. At the office we chat electronically to co-workers who are a few feet away and we tend to manage by e-mail as a substitute for human interaction.

I wonder sometimes if we are letting go of that which is fundamental and loosening the fasteners day by day that anchor us to the simple truths of the gospel. Some things as long as the earth shall stand will never change, however. I believe those are situations, tangled Gordian knots of human conflict and seemingly impossible resolutions, that can only be realized through divine intervention. The Apostle Paul said in Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:9-10; italics mine). Only in Him can all knots be eternally done and undone.

I bear witness that the real hope of the world is Jesus Christ, who is the Mender of all broken things. He is the "Wonderful Counselor" (Isaiah 9:6). He succors us because He knows us, knows our deepest, darkest secrets, in fact, has already suffered the consequences and the penalties for them and awaits our acceptance of Him as our personal Savior. The road to our self-awareness and acceptance of our accountability before the Almighty God does not have to be "long" and tortuous for our reprehensible acts or even for our choices that tend to mire us in the thick of thin things. I am convinced it can be easy and the burden light, because He promised us it would be if we would come unto Him for our healing. (Matthew 11:28-30).

Having said that, I am acutely aware of mental or social-emotional problems resulting from a chemical imbalance, addictions and other counseling needs that may require intense and extended therapeutic intervention. But I can also assert that even these are not ultimately healed based upon charismatic human personalities or the theories and philosophies of men and women, even men and women of good will. Rather, I rely more upon the blood of Christ, His transforming power to love even the vilest of sinners, the Spirit of God, and the blessings of the holy priesthood. I am eyewitness to miracles I cannot deny despite all the healing man can offer, knowing how therapeutic and helpful they can be. We are warned specifically not to take lightly the things we know through the revelations published in the Book of Mormon and other Holy Writ. (D&C 84:54-61).

I wonder if the "taking lightly" isn't just as good a victory for Screwtape, as a public and embarrassing disclosure of child sexual abuse.

President Ezra Taft Benson

President Ezra Taft Benson said it this way: "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature. . .  Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world." (Italics mine).

President Harold B. Lee reminded us way back in 1970, "We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispensation. . .  The power of Satan will increase; we see it on every hand. . .  We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet. . .  There will be some things that take patience and faith" (in Conference Report, October 1970, 152).

President Harold B. Lee

Then President Lee added a warning when he went on to say that we may not always like what comes from the authority of the Church, because it may conflict with our personal views or interfere with some of our social life. However, if we will listen to and do these things as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, we will not be deceived and great blessings will be ours.

We can give up not only our deepest, darkest secrets to know Christ, but we can keep ourselves aligned with His servants and focused on the things that matter most, are best, and ultimately secure joy and peace for our families.

Remember, the final outcome in the struggle between good and evil is already known, and it is clearly revealed. There is only one question -- on which side of the line do we stand? It was English philosopher Edmund Burke who said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
As we discern carefully and learn to sift through our choices, we may set aside both the sordid and the secondary. As I have given father's blessings to my children, I am often reminded of their goodness and their righteous desires. For them it is not so much a choice anymore between good and evil, but more a choice between an array of good things, some better, some best. They routinely humble me with their goodness and their excellent choices. On those sacred occasions when I lay my hands upon their heads, I feel like Moses, who was told, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5).

For each of us, that "holy ground" can be wherever and whenever we are knit together in faith and love as a family. In those moments we stand revealed before God and each other, and whatever deep, dark secrets remain may be blasted away in a burst of light and truth.

Darkness has no power.

Absolutism and Mormons

I stumbled over a quote from President Boyd K. Packer the other day that set off a series of thoughts about absolutism and Mormons.

C.S. Lewis

There was also another statement Packer's brought to mind.  I will quote first from C.S. Lewis:  "We have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us."  (Mere Christianity, 205).  Because He can only do His thing in us on His terms, we will invariably encounter just how absolute the sanctification process really is.

Anyone with even a cursory testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon and the other standard works as divinely inspired scripture must come to an inescapable conclusion without much effort that the book is filled with absolutisms.  (The emphasis in italics below is mine).

Here's an example:  "Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself."  (D&C 105:5).

Another:  "And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end."  (3 Nephi 27:19).

And another:  "And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.  And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it."  (2 Nephi 9:23-24).

Yet another:  "And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall be damned."  (D&C 112:29).

These are but four examples (there are a myriad more).  It's enough to make the point.  The voice of the Lord comes to us in absolute terms.  How it comes to us takes many forms -- through the whisperings of the Spirit, through reading the Word, through inspired servants and leaders, and through our trusted loved ones who are deeply invested in our success and happiness. 

The Lord Himself as the absolute choice as Savior and Redeemer is fixed and immovable.  "And the Lord said:  Whom shall I send?  And one answered like unto the Son of Man:  Here am I, send me.  And another answered and said:  Here am I, send me.  And the Lord said:  I will send the first."  (Abraham 3:27).  The debate is interesting, whether or not another could have stepped up as the "designated hitter" to replace the Savior had He faltered and withdrawn in Gethsemane and failed to move on to Golgotha in the culmination of His agony, but that's all it is -- a futile and meaningless debate.  How can you subscribe to the notion of a "backup plan" being necessary if you believe our Father in Heaven really absolutely knows the end from the beginning?

The scriptures tell us:  "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."  (Mosiah 3:17).

"And under this head [Jesus Christ] ye are made free and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free.  There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives."  (Mosiah 5:8).

"I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?  I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins."  (Alma 5:20-21).

"And I heard a voice from the Father, saying, Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful.  He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.  And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved."  (2 Nephi 31:15-16).

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.  But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."  (Moroni 7:16-17).

"Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God.  Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved."  (3 Nephi 22).

I have written about the definition of salvation before.  In the scriptures it is clear we must do something to be saved.  It is no mere profession of faith in Christ that saves us.  We must add to our faith repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of all our sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; then we must endure and act upon that faith until the end of our mortal life to be saved.

This is all very absolute language, isn't it?  There are many authors in today's politically correct world who assiduously avoid the use of absolute language.  They would never think of using words like absolute, never, forever, cannot, always, and nobody or everybody.  Here's an example of politically correct thinking and writing, even going to the extreme of criticizing the use of such language:

"Overgeneralization creates a shrinking universe in which more and more absolute conclusions make life increasingly confining. You should not take one fact or event and make a general rule out of it. If you have a tendency to overgeneralize, you may interpret one bad experience at an Italian restaurant to mean that all Italian food is bad. Or maybe an art teacher in high school told you that you likely had no talent for watercolor, so you never attempted to express yourself again creatively.

"Clues that you are overgeneralizing are words like never, all, every, everyone, nobody, or always. These kinds of absolute words are your self-critic’s way of closing the door of possibility, inhibiting your access to change or growth."  (Excerpted and paraphrased from The Self-Esteem Companion [1999] by Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, Carole Honeychurch, and Catharine Sutker).

There is one fact in the universe that creates the general rule that applies to all:  The atoning sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son.  So one begins to understand why the use of absolute language seems to be so reprehensible in today's world.  When priesthood leaders align themselves and seek to align their congregations to the language of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, they are often criticized because the use of absolute language just isn't "sensitive," or "progressive," or "growth enabling."  Well, you decide.  Can you submit to the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind as one who has descended below all things and has risen above all things to save us?  Or do you reject divinely-inspired absolute thinking, writing and revelation?


President Boyd K. Packer

All of this is merely preamble.  Here is President Packer's statement:

"I seldom use the word absolute.  It seldom fits.  I use it now -- twice.  Because of the Fall, the Atonement was absolutely essential for resurrection to proceed and overcome mortal death.  The Atonement was absolutely essential as the means for men to cleanse themselves from sin and overcome the second death, which is the spiritual death, which is the separation from our Father in Heaven."  (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, 79, emphasis mine).

I heard Richard Holzapfel once say that when writing about gospel topics faculty members at BYU are cautioned to let the General Authorities make use of the superlative language, not them.  For instance, when one says, "This is the most important something or other," better for those statements to come from prophets rather than professors. 

But one thing is clear to me.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ make liberal use of absolute language, and when General Authorities and other priesthood leaders make use of that language in their speeches and sermons, we should be paying attention.  Too often, however, we fail to discern between the man and the mantle, assuming we are listening to the man rather than giving obeisance to the inspired priesthood mantle he wears.

Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge said it well:  Jesus Christ is the Way. He is Light and Life, Bread and Water, the Beginning and the End, the Resurrection and the Life, the Savior of the world, the Truth, and the Way.

There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is foolishness.

He offers a well of living water. Either we drink and never thirst more, or we don’t and foolishly remain thirsty still.

He is the Bread of Life. Either we eat and hunger no more, or we don’t and foolishly remain weak and hungry still.

He is the Light of the World. Either we follow Him and see clearly, or we don’t and foolishly remain blind and in darkness still.

He is the Resurrection and the Life. He said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).  Either we learn of Him and have life more abundantly, (John 10:10) or we don’t and foolishly remain dead still.

He is the Savior of the world. Either we accept the blessings of His Atonement and are made clean and pure, worthy to have His Spirit, or we don’t and foolishly remain alone and filthy still.

He is the Way.  (Emphasis is mine above).

As a bishop giving counsel one day in my office, I felt impressed to share this scripture with one who was shedding buckets of tears because of her sins with little or no hope in sight:  ". . . repentance is unto them that are under condemnation [those who have reached the age of accountability at age eight] and under the curse of a broken law.  And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins; And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God."  (Moroni 8:24-26). 

Her drooping head came up out of her hands, her tears diminished, she began to walk eventually with more confidence she could be forgiven, all was not lost, she could look forward in faith, reset herself and walk in a newness of life.  Even the most grievous sins can be forgiven, but only upon the conditions Heavenly Father has set in place.  Those conditions involve the individual, the Church through its judges in Israel, and God.  All three elements must and can be addressed by the sinner who can be healed ultimately by the application of the absolute truths God has revealed.  God can and will forgive, the Church can and will forgive, and the individual can and eventually will forgive himself.

When we are feeling crushed beneath what we perceive may be a violated absolute law of the gospel, and when we reject the nature of the absolute requirements prescribed by the scriptures, we have simply not gone far enough down the path of true repentance.  When sitting in a class once under the tutelage of a master teacher who was asking how salvation is obtained, a bright student suggested an answer from a scriptural source, and the teacher merely suggested, "Keep reading."  The answer had not been complete because the student was omitting the absolute language, the part about being "cast off" (in other places "damned") if the absolute conditions prescribed in the passage were not applied. 

Here's the passage:  ". . . Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.  I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off."  (Mosiah 27:25-27).

It seems to destroy some people who have sinned, to think somehow they can never qualify for eternal life and exaltation because of their sins.  They say, "I can never be worthy enough to. . ."  Pitted against such absolute, authoritarian, heavy-handed expectations, they believe, there can be no hope.  However, properly understood, absolutism is the language of God, His Son, and His prophets.  When we align and put our faith in the Great I AM, who is "the way, the truth, and the life" (see John 14:6), we may rest assured moral absolutism is the requirement of heaven and that "no unclean thing" includes us.  Never believe Satan's lie that you are left alone in your sins to suffer.

All we have to do is submit and align ourselves, then everything is possible in changing.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith reasoned this way:

"But if this life is all, then why this constant toiling, why this continual warfare, and why this unceasing trouble? But this life is not all; the voice of reason, the language of inspiration, and the Spirit of the living God, our Creator, teaches us, as we hold the record of truth in our hands, that this is not the case, that this is not so; for, the heavens declare the glory of a God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork; and a moment's reflection is sufficient to teach every man of common intelligence, that all these are not the mere productions of chance, nor could they be supported by any power less than an Almighty hand; and He that can mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God's own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it; and when once discovered, it will not only receive an acknowledgment, but an obedience to all its heavenly precepts. For a moment reflect: what could have been the purpose of our Father in giving to us a law? Was it that it might be obeyed, or disobeyed? And think further, too, not only of the propriety, but of the importance of attending to His laws in every particular. If, then, there is an importance in this respect, is there not a responsibility of great weight resting upon those who are called to declare these truths to men? Were we capable of laying any thing before you as a just comparison, we would cheerfully do it; but in this our ability fails, and we are inclined to think that man is unable, without assistance beyond what has been given to those before, of expressing in words the greatness of this important subject. We can only say, that if an anticipation of the joys of the celestial glory, as witnessed to the hearts of the humble is not sufficient, we will leave to yourselves the result of your own diligence; for God ere long, will call all His servants before Him, and there from His own hand they will receive a just recompense and a righteous reward for all their labors."  (TPJS, 56).

We may be certain in the language of heaven that ample provision has been made for failure in the perfect plan.  In fact, "failure" at the outset in the Garden of Eden put us on the path back to Heavenly Father.

The absolute necessity for a Savior was introduced from that day forward.  Absolute conditions for salvation were set forth.  Prophets were called with absolute authority from heaven to teach and preach the gospel and to administer in the ordinances thereof.  Absolute truth was sent forth, obedience to which would result in absolute absolution and freedom from stain, enabling absolute grace, salvation, exaltation and in time absolute perfection.

So next time President Packer or any other priesthood leader uses absolute language to describe the path one must take to be saved, listen up.  Absolute language is the language of the Gods, and be forewarned it is not, worlds without end, politically correct.

It is, however, enabling and ennobling -- it is the only true path leading to change, growth, progress and exaltation.  And there is no other way.