FAIR's Rising Generation

Archive for June, 2009

The strange quote above comes from Proverbs 17:22 in the Bible. Let’s translate it out. “A merry heart” is laughter. “Doeth good like a medicine” is that it is good for you. Laughing is good for you. Yeah, that comes from the Bible.

But laughter’s not a joking matter (note the pun). Those who’ve studied it seriously have found out laughter actually is medicine. As one university professor stated:

Studies show that humor and laughter help people live longer, happier lives; be more creative and productive; and have more energy with less physical discomfort. Humor reduces stress, fear, intimidation, embarrassment, and anger. Laughter also has extraordinary healing power. When a person laughs, blood pressure decreases, heart rate and respiration increase, the body releases endorphins, and depression declines. After the laughter subsides and you relax again, that good feeling has a lasting effect, even until the next day. Not many medicines will do that.[1]

Usually when I think of medicine, I have faint haunting memories from when I was six or seven. I don’t know why, but for some reason I needed a spoonful of this horribly nasty liquid that vainly tried to mask its horrid taste with cherry flavor. I remember my siblings tackling me, pinning down my arms while I kicked and struggled to be free while my mother came at me with the bottle and spoon like an executioner with bringing the block and axe. If I wasn’t thinking that at the time, its definitely how I felt.

Yet from what the quote above said, that disgusting medicine is still helping me. Why? Because now I laugh when I remember what I then thought was torture of the cruelest form.

Orson Scott Card recently observed the strange priority that laughter, or rather humor, takes for desirable qualities in marriage:

I was starting a lesson on marriage for the priests quorum in my ward, and I asked them, “What do you think is important when you’re looking for a wife?” They sat in stony silence for a while. I think they suspected a trap. Finally one of them said, “Well, it helps if she’s good-looking.” Come on, they’re teenage boys. I didn’t even argue. “What else?” The very next suggestion was: “Sense of humor.” I looked around at them and nodded. “Yeah, I guess she’d better have that.”[2]

Card goes on to say that having a good sense of humor doesn’t mean to be funny, “or comedians would be the first people to get married.” It means that if your are in a situation where you could get angry, embarrassed, insulted, or enraged, laugh instead.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin put it this way. “Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim? There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh.”[3]

While we can’t control everything that happens to us, we can control how we react. If we choose to laugh, we’ll find life more enjoyable, be healthier, and be more attractive to others. And even the Bible says so.

—footnotes—
[1] Gary K. Palmer, “The Power of Laughter,” Ensign, Sep 2007, 32–35
[2] Orson Scott Card, “Marriage Needs Lots of Humor,” Mormon Times, Jun 18 2009, http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/orson_scott_card/?id=9241
[3] Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Come What May, and Love It,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 26–28

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The person who inspired me to do the awesome people profiles in the first place was Paulin Ngobobo. I had read an article about him and the mountain gorillas of Virunga Park in National Geographic and was really touched by his bravery.

To set the scene a bit, Virunga Park is in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There were currently two guerrilla armies and the Congolese army fighting with each other, displacing thousands of people. Tourism drawn by the gorillas used to be a major source of income for the region, Virunga Park being the most geographically and biologically diverse park in Africa, but with so much turmoil, tourists were reluctant to go. With a relatively heavy population nearby, many people turned to burning the old hardwood trees of Virunga park, making them into coal in mud ovens, and using them for fuel. Paulin began to work for Virunga park, and soon found that almost everyone he worked with was corrupt, stealing wages from those beneath them, taking bribes to not report poaching, pocketing tourism money that was not rightfully theirs, or cutting down acres of trees to turn into coal. Paulin took measures to get the park rangers their full and rightful wages, and to stop the illegal coal trade that was destroying the park. He soon found that his superior, Honore Mashagiro was the kingpin behind the coal trade, using his position as park director to smuggle coal out of the forest and pocket a pretty penny for himself. When Paulin started to investigate too deeply into matters, Mashagiro had him imprisoned and beaten.

Then, six mountain gorillas were shot execution style. It wasn’t the work of poachers, because none of their body parts were harvested. Paulin was accused of killing them and it became clear that he was being framed for the murder of six mountain gorillas in an attempt to make him stay out of the way of the illegal coal trade. That, in a nutshell, is what happened.

All I can say is that it takes a lot of courage to maintain integrity when the people around you are corrupt, when times are harsh, and your life could very well be at stake if you try to be honest.

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FRG needs more writers, regardless of age, who are interested in writing a guest post for us, so if you have a message to share you may submit a sample of your words to us via our web form at http://youth.fairlds.org/contact.php.  Chances are good that we’ll like what you have to say and set you up as a guest blogger on our site.

Elizabeth Fry has been on the Bank of England £5 note since 2002. She reformed the way prisoners were treated, promoting humane treatment and fair trials. She was originally moved to pursue this endeavor after visiting the women’s section of Newgate prison. It was overcrowded with women, some of whom had not even had a trial, and their children (who had to go with them to prison). They lacked sufficient food and clothing and slept on the floor with no bedding.  She brought them extra food and clothing, founded a school for the children, and had a chapel built.  She educated the women on important skills such as sewing and also taught them Bible lessons.  She even started a nursing school so that better health care would be available.

One thing that really amazes me is the common criticism that was held against her. She mainly got flack from the press for (supposedly) neglecting her role as a wife and mother. People argued that one could not be heavily involved in humanitarian work without putting house and home on the back burner.  She was married and had eleven children. First of all, I find it hard to criticize anyone who gives birth eleven times. Most importantly, though, I think that being a woman goes far beyond the scope of the household in which she lives. We all know that even for women who have lots of kids, the time spent raising those children is a relatively fleeting part of life. I would submit that feeding, clothing, educating, and empowering people is the role of a woman regardless of her parental status. I also feel that motherhood and humanitarianism go hand in hand; what better way to teach a love of mankind to your children than by example? Strengthening society certainly starts in the home, but it doesn’t end there. We’re all part of the human family, the Celestial family even, so the idea that an outpouring of charity to our fellow man somehow detracts from the family is mind-boggling to me.

Also noteworthy is the fact that, in her journal, Elizabeth Fry notes her mother as the most important influence in her life.  Her mother felt that girls should be educated, so Elizabeth got a full education, which gave her the skills needed to be so influential.  Also, Elizabeth loved to go with her mother to tend to the sick and needy.

That’s my awesome person this week. If you know of anyone, from near or afar, living or dead, personally or not, email me and I can highlight them in a blog post.

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FRG needs more writers, regardless of age, who are interested in writing a guest post for us, so if you have a message to share you may submit a sample of your words to us via our web form at http://youth.fairlds.org/contact.php.  Chances are good that we’ll like what you have to say and set you up as a guest blogger on our site.

So lately I’ve been hearing a lot about the “Great and Abominable Church,” and I think there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the concept.

Of course I know what my opinion on this topic is, but as a Latter-day Saint I had to make sure that it was correct and that it didn’t contradict any proper doctrine or words of General Authorities. I think I can safely say that it doesn’t, but after researching it a small amount, I’ve found a different way of explaining it than what I had originally planned.

The “great” in “Great and Abominable Church” does not refer to a great quality, but a great size, power and influence over the hearts of men. Although we believe that the works and words of God will prevail against this “church,” it does indeed have a great amount of power, and it stretches across the entire Earth.

The “abominable” in “Great and Abominable Church” is easy enough to interpret and pretty hard to misunderstand. It means that this church is an unpleasant thing, and we believe that it is horribly corrupted.

The “church” in “Great and Abominable Church” is what a lot of people seem to misunderstand. Many people (including my Sunday school teacher) think that by church, this phrase is actually meant to target a church. Easy mistake to make–thinking that a word actually means what it’s supposed to mean. “Great and Abominable Church” really means a large group of people with a corrupted view of God. So, the “Great and Abominable Church” is indeed as Jacob described it–“…he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female”.

Thinking that an actual, existing church is the “Great and Abominable Church” is, if I dare say it, kinda mean. One of the things that annoys me most is when people think that I’m going to Hell because I’m Mormon, or in other words, not a part of their church. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who dislikes this, so why should we accuse other churches of being “great and abominable”?

As long as a church encourages its members to be good people and/or to change the world around them in a positive way, I do not believe that we can correctly call them corrupt. The only members of the Great and Abominable Church are those that fight against the true church, A.K.A. the Church of God.

I hope I’ve cleared this up for some people as I personally dislike it when people are high-minded enough to think that the entire world is full of horrible corruption and they and their church alone are the only ones who haven’t fallen to said corruption. The world is full of wonderful, decent people who aren’t Mormon and who may or may not belong to another church, and I know a lot of people who have difficulty grasping that. I know tons of people who honestly believe that the only way to really be a decent, happy person is to be Mormon. I assure you, that although we are prone to being happy, good people we are not alone out there.

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FRG needs more writers, regardless of age, who are interested in writing a guest post for us, so if you have a message to share you may submit a sample of your words to us via our web form at http://youth.fairlds.org/contact.php.  Chances are good that we’ll like what you have to say and set you up as a guest blogger on our site.

I’ve been a Christian my entire life, and I’ve only ever condemned one person to Hell, so I figure that’s pretty good. I think I was eight years old when it happened, and the other kid said he hated Mormons. I don’t know if I actually condemned him, technically speaking; I said something along the lines of, “If you hate Mormons, you will go to hell.” I think that was also after he said he wanted to go to Hell. My big brother told me that wasn’t very nice, and I don’t recall having done it since.

So there you go. I don’t think your average Mormon is really about telling anyone and everyone who doesn’t believe exactly as he or she does that they’re going to Hell. In fact, I don’t even think most Christians act like that.

Unfortunately, it’s the loudest and most obnoxious among us who are most often heard. The New Atheism is rather hostile towards religion in general, but Christianity, being the dominant religion in the world, tends to get the most flack. I would just like to take a moment to thank all the fanatics out there for validating the outlandish claims of the anti-Christian movement.

That said, it isn’t as though the more level-headed Latter-day Saints among us don’t “warn.” However, a threat and a warning aren’t the same thing–but it begs the question: What’s the difference?

I am a very small man about to engage a very big topic. However, if you will allow me to be so audacious, this is the meaning of Mormonism according to yours truly:

The meaning of Mormonism is nothing more than the reunification of the human family. Think of the Gathering of Israel. Think of the Lamanites. Think of the City of Enoch. Think of baptisms for the dead. This reunification is accomplished through love and wisdom, and it is through recognizing and heeding the Holy Ghost that we build up these necessary traits. All three require us to forsake the world–to forsake that which is carnal, sensual, and devilish–all the ways we love to distract ourselves. We are in this lone and dreary world for one reason–to figure out how to transcend it, ie, to get out. Christ shows us the way; he is the way…the one who ensures our ultimate triumph. He died on the cross to give us all a second chance ad infinitum. That, and he tells us everything we need to know to move on and up. Nevertheless, the responsibility to answer the call of discipleship and Sainthood resides squarely on us, and effectively taking up that responsibility requires integrity.

Through fasting, the paying of tithes, adherence to the Word of Wisdom, etc., we strive to transcend the cares, appetites, and lusts of this contracted sphere–mere distractions that serve one purpose: To keep our minds and hearts from acknowledging the Still Small Voice, the Gateway to Christ and His Saving Gospel–The Holy Ghost.

People who serve God by serving others don’t utter threats; they warn. A warning comes from those who care about your well-being. Jesus warned those he cared about; I can’t account for everything in the Bible, but I do believe that is how God engages us today–through warnings rather than threats. Following his example, we call the world to repentance because we want to have our brothers and sisters alongside us in the next stage of our progression.

The highest Christian ideal is to love your enemies and lay down your life for your friends. This is pure charity. This is what qualifies you to act in Christ’s behalf…to be a Fisher of men.

However, let’s take a closer look at this metaphor. To go fishing is essentially to kill. That is, the fish you catch will eventually die because they can only exist for so long in an unsuitable environment. When you go out as a missionary, you are essentially persuading people to give up their old selves. Baptism is symbolic of ritualistically dying and being reborn as a completely new being. For people who don’t understand death, becoming a Mormon is like an abortion of all that one is (or perceives him or her self to be). Let’s keep in mind exactly what we’re asking prospective converts to do.

The metaphor works rather well–those who lack faith are afraid of change because they see it as an end, not a beginning. What’s more, they will avoid change for as long as they can–until Christ ultimately succeeds in saving them.

But there is a life beyond this one, and death is sweet to those who believe in Christ. We do not threaten. We hardly even warn. To me, teaching the gospel is nothing short of spreading the good news. Yes! A place does exist without violence, oppression, poverty, and death. Yes, there is a place where families and communities flourish and grow; and people, even strangers, uphold and cherish one another. There is a place to study the mysteries of God in peace and quiet–a place of rest where Social Darwinism is but the memory of a bad dream. It is there that we continue to grow in wisdom and love, closer than ever before to the life-giving light of Christ.

We warn because we want to see all of God’s estranged sons and daughters–our brothers and sisters–in that special place with us. Joseph Smith said the purpose of building up Zion was to remove the fear of death from mankind. When we finally build something of lasting permanence, we will have risen to the next level (and conquered death). Not only do we warn, but we also plead. Not only do we plead, but we also invite with open arms and broad smiles. May we as Latter-day Saints never lose sight of why we do it, and may we together show the world that our war is not driven by hatred and ignorance laced with threats, but divine charity, wisdom, integrity, and devotion to God.

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FRG needs more writers, regardless of age, who are interested in writing a guest post for us, so if you have a message to share you may submit a sample of your words to us via our web form at http://youth.fairlds.org/contact.php.  Chances are good that we’ll like what you have to say and set you up as a guest blogger on our site.