So I did our tax returns and we are getting a $6100 tax refund from the government. Woo Hoo! That is the best we have ever had, far beating last years $3400. And then I look through the documents, and something kinda weird pops out at me. We only paid $5500 in taxes. So um, how does that even begin to work? Basically having 2 kids is what did it. The government gives "child tax credit" for each of them, and with all our other deductions and credits we ended up getting crazy money back from the government in excess of what we paid.

Now I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. But this gift horse has trillions of dollars of debt that I am going to have to deal with and my children and their children will have to deal with. I don't even believe the government should have ANY right to my income and if I was single at this point, would simply not pay income tax and let the IRS do what it would. But that is no excuse for the government to be giving me a $5500 tax rebate PLUS a $600 welfare check. I mean, we have had a rough couple of months with Märia not working, but overall we pretty good for ourselves. If there has to be an ignorant income tax forced upon the backs of the American people, I want to share at least a little of the burden. And barring my sharing a little of the burden, I sure the heck don't want to jump up on the load and have others carrying me along with it!

The income tax is illegal and immoral. And it just doesn't make sense. The top 1% of American earners pay just over 50% of all income tax. The lower 50% of Americans pay .03% of the national income tax. That is simply unfair and makes zero sense. We should reward success, not penalize it. How can that be considered "equal treatment before the law"?

Here is a statistic that is TRUE that few people ever hear. If you abolish the income tax today, the US government will take in as much revenue as in 2001. That was just 7 years ago! That just shows how much our government has grown out of control. It shows how much spending has gotten out of control.

Abolish the income tax, and eliminate the IRS (as it would become unnecessary) and you have the same amount of income for the government that it took in 2003. Just 5 years ago.

Abolish the income tax. Abolish the IRS. Limit government. National DEfence.

Yeah yeah, I know I sound like a Paul pod. Whatever. Sometimes the crazies are right.

Yeah, so Seporah knows exactly where eyeliner or mascara or whatever this stuph was (hey, im a guy!) goes. Amazingly enough she didn't get any IN her eye, and didn't even get too upset when I washed it out. For your entertainment. =)

I hope you all will forgive me for how long it has been since I have updated. There is some news out there I guess, but it has been busy busy. So let me start telling what I have been busy with and what I have news about.

1. Two babies. Yeah, Märia catalogues their lives very well, and so you all know they are a handful. Enough about them. =)

2. Super Mario Galaxy. Ok, so I haven't actually played this game in about 2 weeks now, but for about 2-3 weeks I played quite a bit of Wii when this game first came out. I have absolutely no qualms about calling this the best Mario game ever. It has firm roots in the original 2D games but expands them into a totally new way. Gravity is constantly shifting so that you never know which way is up. The soundtrack is great! It takes full advantage of the Wii motion controls. If you own a Wii, and have ever liked Mario, you owe it to yourself to get this game.

3. Rokit Fuel. I have put an incredible amount of time into this new company from my good friend Spencer Taylor. The Albrights will remember him and his family from Thanksgiving 2004, when we invited them over to eat with us. He and his father are starting a cereal company and I have had a large hand in building and refining the webpage for it. Look for an official launch announcement here when the time comes.

4. Vudu. I have had my Vudu for about 7 weeks now, and although I love it, until yesterday I couldn't really recommend it. As of yesterday, the price dropped from $400 to $300 and now I feel it is worth the initial costs. The Vudu is essentially Blockbuster in a box. It allows for purchases and rentals of 5000 (and growing!) standard definition movies directly to the Vudu box, and also 70 (and growing!) high definition movies. Basically it is a convenience box. Just like a microwave doesn't do anything that the oven/stove doesn't do, the Vudu doesn't do anything that running down to Blockbuster wouldn't accomplish. But it is so darned convenient! I can sit in front of my TV with the WONDERFUL Vudu remote, and browse through 5000 movies, and press one button and start watching a movie for as little as $2. It also has TV now (12 shows, full seasons, although it will expand). The only real downfall is the studio mandated 30 day sales only on new releases. That means that when a DVD comes out in Walmart, you can purchase the movie (typically for $15-$20) directly to your Vudu box and own it forever. But you have to wait 30 days to rent it for $3. Anyways, I can now recommend it over at Vudu.com

Yeah, there is more than this, but I have been sitting here typing too long already, and Seporah wants something. Have fun, and until next time,

Steven

All updates for the next 5-7 days will be on this static page. This is due to the Mac being in for service. Good news is that it is getting a brand new logic board (motherboard in mac-speak), power supply and display. All on Apple's dime. It has been acting really funky for a long time (sorry Pam, didn't act so great while you were here) but it has gotten worse and worse over the last 6 months really. Anyway, it seemed like it was due to some lowest-bidder capacitors that were crowning. So basically I get a brand new computer in my 3+ year old case. =) Gotta love Applecare.

I will second Märia's post about sleep. Here it is 5:30 and I am up with Felicity. We were both up last night until 10 with her, trying to satisfy whatever she was bellering about (Trusty's word, not mine =). Finally we decided that ONE of us was gonna have to get some sleep and so I got up with her and we hopped and swung and ate bottled breast milk until about 1115 when Felicity finally went to sleep. She was in her swing which was in the living room, and I didn't want to move it for fear of waking her up, so I went to sleep on the couch next to her swing. I slept until about 130 am when she woke up again. Well, I picked her up and took her to her mom and said "tag, your it". Thinking about it this morning with a clearer head and wider, less sleep filled eyes, I probably should have changed her first at a minimum, and perhaps could have warmed up another bottle, but I just wanted to sleep. So I gave the little one to her and am honestly not sure what Märia did or how many times she was up last night, but it was my turn again at 515 this morning. =) You know, it isn't easy typing with a baby in one's arms! But I am up to the task. Left leg is hopping up and down, left arm is falling asleep from the baby, and hands are a typing.

So um, yeah, Merry Christmas to you all! I have a renewed belief in the intrinsic value of sleep. We should transfer our monetary base to it or something. Call it the sleep standard! Ok, yeah, I know, that was an early morning bad political joke. =) Merry Christmas to all and to all a good (eyes closed sleep filled) night!

Some of you will remember these pictures from forever and ever ago. These are of the banyan tree in front of the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki.

Well, we had a Ron Paul picnic right there about 20 feet from the tree this last Saturday. Seporah and I went, leaving Märia and Felicity at home to get some much needed rest.

We were all set up and most of us were there (about 7 guys although some more came later) when this park guide came up to us and told us we had to take our signs down. We had some signs hanging from the tent. He said they were against some park ordinance or something. We essentially said "Show us the ordinance" and sent him on his way. Well, all this time Seporah was playing with the helium Ron Paul balloons and running in the mud and generally doing what toddlers call "having a good time".

So the park rule enforcer guy comes back with the ordinance and a police officer. We all look at the ordinance and it is absolutely obvious that it is not meant to be applied to political signs. Basically the ordinance says that if you are going to put up "commercial advertisement" like signs or fliers and so forth, you have to go through the park and pay them so much money and so forth. This is obviously meant to make sure that Kapiolani Park (the place where the banyan tree and we were) got it's cut of any sponsorships of say concerts or such things. Basically it was meant to apply to Coke and Pepsi, not Ron Paul, if that makes sense.

So I think I am a half decent dad, honestly. I was looking up every 30 seconds or so to check on Seporah while I was reading the ordinance, but I looked down, and looked up, and she was gone! She had been playing over by the banyan tree and then she was gone! No big deal at first, I try to keep my nerves down. But by the time I had walked all the way around this tree and not seen her, I was totally scared. So we ALL scattered to look for her. 20 minutes or so passed of looking. I was on my way back to the picnic area after scouring the first 2 blocks of Waikiki when Seporah's ball comes rolling out of the banyan tree followed quickly by Seporah.

Now really, I walked all the way aournd this tree, but there must have been a blind spot where she had been. I was so so scared, but happy that she had never been in any danger or anything. Really, she never had even been more than 20 feet from the picnic site. =)

Oh yeah, and the police made us take down the signs. Oppressors!

I can't believe I forgot! If you haven't read the previous post, scroll on down and read it before you read this...


Ok, so if you are still here, I take it you read the previous post. Having taken all of those arguments into consideration, and having changed my mind on all those policies, I had to search for a candidate that believed the way I have come to believe.

Vote Hillary!

(lots of sarcasm!!!)

The cliché is that having children makes you rethink life. Well, as I have always said (and been called a racist or sexist because of it) clichés, generalizations and stereotypes exist for a reason. And the reason is that they are generally true. =) This cliché is definitely true, and Seporah and Felicity are making me rethink my political leanings.

So I thought I would start off with why Ron Paul isn't the right candidate for me, and then I would go on to who I am going with now...

1. Ron Paul is against all federal forms of gun control.

If guns were as cheap and easy to get as Ron Paul would like them to be, I would have probably already put a bullet in my head. That is definitely a strike against him.

2. Ron Paul is against the war in Iraq and wants to bring our troops home immediately.

Iraq is looking better and better. The pay is really great and I hear I can't take my kids!

3. Ron Paul is against illegal immigration. He would put up a big wall!

So um... Who would nanny my kids for 13 cents an hour and jump for joy at a $5 Christmas bonus if he deports all the Illegals? Bad idea!

4. Ron Paul if all about home schooling. He rejects allowing the government to determine what and how our children learn. He is also generally for ending the Department of Education as education is not a federal issue.

Come on! You're telling me Ron Paul wants to take away free government day care 9 months out of the year? I want schools to go year round, not go away!

5. Ron Paul wants to end the Federal Income Tax and eliminate the IRS completely. We made it as a nation for well over a hundred years without any income tax he says.

Hey! You can't take away my end of the year paycheck! I have a brand new dependent to claim! What did I have these kids for anyways?

6. Ron Paul is Pro-Life.

The more kids I have, the harder I think about this...


/sarcasm

Well, life has been interesting. We are juggling Seporah and Felicity, watching movies, and playing Super Mario Brothers 3. Yeah, the one for the ORIGINAL Nintendo. Märia is playing the cow, and I am playing the diaper changer and toddler wrangler. Busy busy busy.

The movies we have seen in the last month... :

Meet the Robinsons - very good, a must see for parents and children alike.
Stardust - something of a modern fairy tale. Not modern as in set in the modern day, but modern as in not all fairys and dragons and wizards. It is a story with real meat; it has substance. As I have said before, I am far from a professional reviewer. =)
Hairspray - I actually didn't see it, but Märia laughed all the way through it. =)
My Super Ex-Girlfriend - Highly irreverent. Very very funny at parts, but the sexual humor went over the top at times.
Ratatouille - Best animated movie I have seen in a long long time. I don't know how the pulled off making a movie about rats and frenchmen that I liked, but they did! The rat wants to be a chef and he finds a talentless dish boy to help him do it. And everyone is Jewish =).
The Jane Austen Book Club - Another I didn't see. Märia made it 15 minutes into it, and turned it off. I'll take that as a "don't watch this film".

We are also watching Heroes, although we always seem to be a couple of weeks late. Well, not quite true. Märia always seems to be 2 weeks late, and I tend to be 1 week late. =) Not quite as good as Season 1, but not is all yet lost. The writer's strike will probably do it though.


So, what we've been reading. Well, this will actually just focus on what I've been reading. I just finished Invasive Procedure by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston. As far as I can tell (and I would know), this is OSC's first collaborative work. I know Aaron Johnston from his funny church articles on Nauvoo.com (an OSC domain). Basically he talks about all those things we don't talk about, like screaming babies in sacrament meeting and how we should all have little eject buttons in front of us to eject someone embarrassing themselves or us in fast and testimony meeting. So Invasive Procedure is a thriller about crazy radical genetic scientists who learn to create a virus that replaces bad cells with good cells. I am no professional reviewer, so just trust me when I say I enjoyed it. It is a good book if you are interested in genetic engineering and elite military teams that train constantly in biosuits so that they are ready to hit hot zones, kill the bad guys and neutralize viruses and other biohazards. Fun thriller, but nothing to spin your mind around.

So you want to turn your world upside down? Read The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen. This book will totally change how you think of America and what we are here for, how we were founded and why. Full disclosure: Skousen was a mormon and taught at BYU for years and years as a religion and history teacher. Don't let that scare you away if you aren't mormon. This book has NOTHING to do with a religion in particular, and only a little bit to do with religion in general. It is about the founding of our nation. From the back cover:

The Five Thousand Year Leap tells of the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers which they said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desired peace, prosperity, and freedom. These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years.

These fundamental beliefs are shockingly unpolitically correct, but this book shows "political correctness" in its true light and history. It was a creation by communism. If you disagreed with the government, you were sent to reeducation camps until your thoughts were politically correct. But now, instead of using camps, we use tenure, shame, and other social pressures to brutalize people into ACTING politically correct regardless of what they know to be right. Funny how shame has fallen so out of favor with regards to children out of wedlock or divorced people (who deserve shame for making marriage so much harder on the rest of us) but we can shame a person for driving an SUV or praying publicly without worrying about the PC police. I completely rewatched all the debates after reading this book. And the choice is absolutely simple. We need a statesman who says he will get out of our way, not tells us what he will do for us. The 5000 Year Leap grounds your being in what government's real job is. It isn't to provide for us, or take care of us, or be the net to catch us. Ron Paul wants to get the Federal Government out of our business. I will write a long post on him later, but I am about to post some Seporah vids, and one has a Ron Paul reference, so I wanted to get that out there. Märia is still somewhat politically apathetic, but less so than she has been. =)Um, anything else? OH yeah, Super Mario Brothers 3. We will probably beat it tomorrow. Still just as fun over the last 2 weeks as it was 15 years ago. Luigi stinks! (Märia plays luigi) =)

Felicity Orion Rushing
November 10, 2007
10:47AM
8lbs 4oz
20inches



So we went in because they called us in, as with Seporah. Märia had done a 24 hour urine test, and it came back high in protein. Ugh, Pre-eclampsia again. But she wasn't nearly as sick as she was last time, so it wasn't too bad. They gave us the option of going with an elective cesarian section or inducing labor. Märia decided she wanted to have Felicity vaginally, so we went for the induction! Pitocin started at 5PM on the 9th.



17 hours later, Felicity was born vaginally. This is the first "good" picture taken of her. I took a cell phone picture first to update you guys on that other blog, so it was the first. Märia actually cut the cord and got to hold Felicity for her first 5 minutes of life. After that they took her away and put her under the light to clean her up, suction her out and check her reflexes and such.



Märia actually snapped this picture, probably 1-2 hours into Felicity's life. We were all really exhausted. Märia really amazed me. 4 hours after giving birth her color was back, she was breast feeding and energetic. I mentioned it and she said she was tired and just working on adrenaline. But she sure had me fooled! She really looked great just a few hours later. After her C-section with Seporah she was nearly dead for like 3 days.



Here is one with Märia and Felicity just 1-2 hours after her birth. Felicity went straight to eating and then straight to sleep for nearly 8 hours with only momentary lapses into wakefulness to ask for food.



And another...



We decided to bring Seporah up to meet Felicity at 6PM (7 hours into Felicity's life). She wasn't very happy. She immediately screamed and ran into the corner and hid under a chair. She only visited for like 25 minutes before we decided it was a bad idea. So Seporah and I went out for french fries and ice cream and played at a McDonalds play place for a couple of hours before I took her back to Miss Karen's to spend the night.




















I have to tell this story though. After we came home, we put Felicity in a corner in her car seat. She was asleep. Then we brought Seporah home. Seporah was fine with Felicity as long as she was in the corner in her car seat, but as soon as she woke up and Märia got her to feed her, Seporah sprung into action. First, she screamed. Then she decided to take matters into her own hands. She picked up the biggest thing she could pick up (her tricycle) and then came running at Felicity to bash her into mush. Seriously. I was conflicted as to whether to stop her or grab a camera for this memorable moment, but I made the right choice and Felicity is still alive. =) 24 hours later, Seporah likes Felicity fine and when she walks by her, she pats her very gently on the head. =)

So Märia is pre-eclamptic again so we will probably be having a baby today. We will post pictures and text on blog.stevenrushing.com to keep you updated. The reason for the change is because we can post there from our mobile phone. Once the baby is born and we are back home everything will be moved over to here and back to normal. Pray for Märia and Felicity and everything. Please refrain from calling, we will let you know when anything happens.

Fingernail clippers all over the house are disappearing at an alarming rate. I will defend this last pair. I put it down on the dresser next to the bed. I blink. I blink again. They are gone. The Clipper Culprit has struck again!

I will catch her. Suspect: 3 foot 1 inch blonde female, about 28 lbs. Cute, when she wants to be. She denies it of course, but I will catch her.

First step, find another pair of Fingernail clippers. This is a failure, and I am forced to head to the local hardware store and purchase a new pair. I put them down on the foot of the bed, and wait. I go around the corner of the room, and I wait. Ahh, there she is. The Clipper Culprit waddles in, and grabs them. She looks around to see if she is being watched. I look away. She finds the nearest drawer and hides them under some clothes, looking around the whole while. Busted!
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Ok, here is what I do before a pt test, normally. 3 days prior, I start watching what I eat. I spend roughly an hour in the sauna, sweating off weight, in half hour increments. 2 days prior I eat VERY little, cut back my water consumption by perhaps half, and spend another hour in the sauna, again in half hour increments. I also take a double dose of laxatives before I go to bed, and coat myself in Preparation H and wrap my abdomen in cellophane. The next morning (day before the pt test) I wake up, take the cellophane off (water weight just washing off of me, this REALLY works) and deal with the consequences of the nights laxative. I then take more laxative. =) 2 hours today in the sauna (these are all approximates). No food today whatsoever. (click through to read the rest) Read More...

What does government do better than the private sector? Honestly. Think about it. First thing that will come to mind is probably the military. But come on... I really doubt that the conflict in Iraq would still be going on if a private sector business with half of the resources and half of the manpower had been allowed to fight the war, free of the constraints of Washington politics, political correctness and illogical rules of engagement. But I am starting this off incorrectly. Click Read More... to finish this rant. Read More...

From Erica:

Jacob Burton Smith is finally here!! He was born Saturday, August 11th at 7:28 pm at St. Luke's. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19 inches long. We came home last night from the hosptial and are very glad to be home with big sister Hailey!! We are all doing very well, but tired. Here are some photos.
  
love-Andrew, Erica and Hailey Read More...

Seporah is a crazy monkey, really. We have always been excited to have a kid that really enjoys helping around the house and cleaning up. When we do clothes she brings them to us, and she understands (and has for a long time) where dirty clothes go and where trash goes. She helps take out the "Seporah sized trash" when I take out the big kitchen trash and she puts it in the garbage chute all by herself. But here is where the OCD kicks in. She pushes on the garbage chute until it closes, even though it is spring loaded to close.

Once when we were eating out we got this little wooden cow with holes in it's back to hold crayons. She pulled the crayons out one at a time, and when she wanted another, she would put the first one back in the hole. We were of course used to this behavior, but Märia's uncle Bob said that this was very peculiar for a 16 month old. And since then, we have noticed all the other little things. Her drawers have a "seat belt" that keep her from strewing the contents everywhere. If we open them to get something for her, she isn't interested in ANYTHING until the "seat belt" is closed again and she can't access it! Trash most definitely goes in the trash can. Doors, drawers and cabinets must be shut. And here is the one that convinced me it was far beyond normal.

She pulled out the milk carton asking for milk. I got her some and put it back. And she wasn't happy. I didn't know what was wrong, but she noticed something that was just wrong. So I let her into the fridge to tell me what she wanted. She kept trying to close the milk carton! You know, those half gallon milk cartons? Well, after they have been opened, they never close to where they look brand new. And that was driving her crazy! She kept trying to close it over and over again. And it never could close closer than say an 8th of an inch. Just not good enough for my little OCD girl. =)

I hope I never have to put my little girl in the monkey house, but Märia tells me to look at the silver lining. We probably won't have a hard time getting her to keep her room clean! Read More...

I haven't updated in too long, which is normally when I update! Um, Jason posted a great post on our marathon experience in California, but he left out that small part about how he motivated and pushed me, and seriously laid back so as to finish with me. As proof, he just ran the San Francisco Marathon in 4:40 (we ran ours in 5:38). Congratulations to Jason!

I have spent quite a bit of time recently fighting scammers online. I really hate scammers, who prey on trusting (or ignorant) web shoppers and steal their money. One of the scammers was sending out email that looked like it was from ebay and sent you to a webpage that looked like it was from ebay. It was hosted on a yahoo hosted domain and I contacted Yahoo and got them yanked. I actually tracked them to the middle of Russia and got a call from an FBI rep. It was actually pretty cool.

The second was a CraigsList scam, where people were attempting to have people Western Union them money for computers that they would never get. It was quite a complex setup actually. I tracked them to a guy in Virginia and when I called him up to yell at him and such he played stupid. Well, he was stupid, or computer stupid at least. Just an older guy who had scammers pull his name out of a phone book and register domains under his name and address. I really felt bad for him. So then I contacted his hoster (who happened to be Microsoft Live) and instructed them about the scam, and about how I had talked to the person the domains were registered to and that his identity had been stolen and he wanted them out of his name immediately. So they got shut down by Microsoft and the guy seemed to be grateful.

So that is pretty much been my last couple of weeks. =) Stay tuned for cool stuff from Jason and me. =)

Heya! The new webpage is live and there are a couple of things we should go over. =)

First of all, there is now a way for everyone else to submit news to Rushing Around. Jason and I originally envisioned Rushing Around as being a place where all our families could keep in touch, submit photos and news and articles and the like. Obviously that hasn't happened and that is really ok. Märia and I and Jason keep the blogs coming in, and Russ comments and we are all happy. =) Read More...

Well, I guess this post is aimed mostly at Russ, but hey, whatever. I haven't posted nearly as much as I should recently. I have been really bugged by comment spam on this blog, and I just get so tired of wading through it. Wordpress (the software that runs this site) is a great system, but it seems spam comments just seem to get through. Read More...

It has been a work in progress for a long time.  Basically life has just been too busy and I always take on too many projects.  But I completed the new SeporahsCrib tonight.  There is still a little fixing up to be done here and there, but the blog is kind of going now.  We will try to make sure Seporah keeps it updated.  =)

Email Seporah at Seporah@SeporahsCrib.com!


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I just loved it!

"There are many reasons to shift away from fossil fuels, and we will do so in the next century without legislation, financial incentives, carbon- conservation programs, or the interminable yammering of fearmongers. So far as I know, nobody had to ban horse transport in the early twentieth century." Michael Crichton, State of Fear Read More...

You know that whole covet commandment? Thou shalt not covet your neighbors wife and all that? It really has little to do with adultery or theft, and everything to do with being content. I always thought of coveting as only being bad insomuch as it led to worse sins (such as the above two), but that simply isn't what it is about.

It is about priorities. About choosing to live within your means. About being happy with what we have. About being grateful.

La la la. Cheese Cheese.
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You may remember the the analogies for the atom given in your 5th grade science class. It was often either a piece of paper with a dot in the middle or a football stadium with a football in the middle. You remember the football or the dot represented the nucleus, and then flies spinning around the stadium would represent the electrons. See, scientifically the atom is 99.99999% empty space. And yet we are all made up of atoms. I can feel things. Everything is made up of atoms. And ALL atoms are almost completely "empty". Read More...

As many of you have read on my blog, I recently completed the 8 mile Great Aloha Run. You can read about my experience there, but to be succinct, crossing the finish line with 20,000 other people was absolutely amazing. It literally had me waxing poetic! (ok, so the poem was a requirement of my creative writing class, and NO, you can't read it=) But seriously though, There is nothing quite like running with so many people, and finishing the race. Read More...

But it was fun all the same.

Today I ran the Great Aloha Run. It starts at Aloha Tower and goes to Aloha Stadium, and is 8.13 miles (although I am not sure if they count the part where you run all the way around the stadium=). Read More...

Quote 1:

"The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which it has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.

It was absolutely wrong to discuss war-guilt from the standpoint that Germany alone could not be held responsible for the outbreak of the catastrophe; it would have been correct to load every bit of the blame on the shoulders of the enemy, even if this had not really corresponded to the true facts, as it actually did."


Quote 2:

"There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher Of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. Some things that are true are not very useful...

In an effort to be objective impartial, and scholarly a writer or a teacher may unwittingly be giving equal time to the adversary...

In the Church we are not neutral. We are one-sided. There is a war going on and we are engaged in it. It is the war between good and evil, and we are belligerents defending the good. We are therefore obliged to give preference to and protect all that is represented in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have made covenants to do it."

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Well, I completed this quarter finally. I don't have my grades yet, but I think I got 2 As.

So I got to go to my first launch Saturday night. A friend from work and I were first in line. Out of the first 5 people, 4 had Nintendo DSs, so we all got to play multiplayer together and it was a lot of fun. We were in line about an hour and a half before GameStop opened up and we could pick up our Wiis. So let me give you some first impressions. Read More...

Yeah, I am all done with the move. Heck, most of you didn't even notice! =) That's just how good I am! Okies, well SeporahsCrib isn't back up yet, but give me a day or two, and it will be back up with updates! Read More...

I have been paying a disgusting amount for web hosting, largely because I had planned for much more than I have been using. I have been paying roughly $60 every 3 months plus $15 a year for each domain. 4 domains makes that another $60 a year. My new hosting will be about $100 a year and free domains for life. Unfortunately it will take about 3 weeks for the domains to move over to the new server, so it looks like this site and SeporahsCrib.com will be down for about 3 weeks starting whenever they start it. Sorry folks, but we will be back and better than ever. Read More...

Not that many of you care.

I have been forced to implement a new policy concerning comments. Basically I get too many mortgage, poker and porn spammers on my site to allow anyone to comment. Now you must register on the site to comment.

I would really like more of you to comment though. It makes me feel like someone is actually reading what I write, and cares. You can post a blog here too! All you need to do is click the register link (if you havnt already registered) in the upper right hand of the screen and start a blog! Anyways, the offer is open. Read More...

What, you don't know what all Saints day is? Of course you don't. Heck, most American's don't even know what All Hallow's Eve is, even though they celebrate it! Here's a hint, it was yesterday... Read More...

Well, my first assignment for Speech class is complete, and I thought I would post it up here for you to see. The assignment was to do a 2-4 minute speech introducing myself. I gave the speech at work in front of 7 guys I work with, but there were so many distractions that we had to refilm the vid for my instructor. Telephones and pagers and such. Anyways, here is what I have submitted to my instructor for my first grade. I will keep you posted when I get my grades. =)

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I was listening to a radio show and heard some disturbing news. Apparently some very OLD news. The city of San Francisco is paying for city employee's sex changes as a normal part of medical benefits. They called it a civil right! It is costing something like $40000 for hes wanting to be shes, and $80000 for shes wanting to be hes. And that is just the procedure! You have to tack on hormones and counseling and therapy and the list goes on. Click more to read the rest... Read More...

Well, the military ball was interesting. Not quite what we imagined it would be. It was quite a bit more formal than we expected. The first hour was a real waste of time, as we did not know anyone and it was mostly a "gathering" hour. The people that we went with smartly skipped this hour and only showed up at the beginning of the second hour, when they seated us in the ballroom. Read More...

This talk borrows a little from a lesson by Lynda Needham on Job and a little from a talk by Elder Monte J. Brough titled ìAdversityî, but is mostly original. I will give this talk tomorrow, but you guys get to see it first! (if you get up early enoughÖ) Click more to read the talk...
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Yeah. A friend today said he would buy a Mac, as they are great machines, except that it seemed people who owned Macs were elitist pricks. Lets check out dictionary.com for a nice definition of elitisim... Read More...

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
The Council of Twelve
47 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
February 19, 1981Mr. Eugene England
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Dear Brother England:

This may well be the most important letter you have or will receive. It is written in reply to an undated letter from you which came in an envelope postmarked, September 4, 1980. Your letter enclosed a 19-page document which you had prepared under the title, "The Perfection and Progression of God: Two Spheres of Existence and Two Modes of Discourse."

In your letter and the article enclosed with it, you set forth the thesis that although God knows all things as pertaining to our sphere of existence, there are nonetheless other spheres beyond ours in which Deity continues to advance and progress in knowledge and truth. In espousing and explaining this philosophy you suppose you are harmonizing quotations from various of the early Brethren. Some of these statements emphatically say that God knows all things and has all power and others of them say that he is advancing in knowledge and understanding and is gaining new truths.

When your letter arrived I was aware of the subject material contained in it and in the enclosed article. Because I do not engage in controversy or discussion of divergent views, either orally or in writing, I simply dropped your letter in a drawer and did not bother to read it. Some four and a half months later, in January of this year, I did read your presentation for the first time. I was not at all pleased, but still thought I would have nothing to say to you on the subject.

Over the months various hearsay reports have come to me indicating that you are presenting and championing the views you sent to me. I have now reached the conclusion that it would be wise for me to depart from my usual custom and send you an answer to your letter. I do so out of respect for your parents, G. Eugene and Dora, and for your own personal well-being and for your guidance where your teachings and discussions with others are concerned.

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 2

I shall write in kindness and in plainness and perhaps with sharpness. I want you to know that I am extending to you the hand of fellowship though I hold over you at the same time, the scepter of judgment. My office door is open to you and if you feel the need for discussion with me, my secretary will be pleased to set up a mutually convenient time or times for such.

On Sunday, June 1, 1980, I spoke at one of the multi-stake firesides in the Marriott Center on the subject, "The Seven Deadly Heresies." In that talk I said:

"There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths.

"This is false -- utterly, totally, and completely. There is not one sliver of truth in it. It grows out of a wholly twisted and incorrect view of the King Follet Sermon and of what is meant by eternal progression.

"God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms increase and his dominions multiply -- not in the sense that he learns new truths and discovers new laws. God is not a student. He is not a laboratory technician. He is not postulating new theories on the basis of past experiences. He has indeed graduated to that state of exaltation that consists of knowing all things and having all power.

"The life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is 'Eternal,' using that word as a noun and not as an adjective, and he uses that name to identify the type of life that he lives. God's life is eternal life, and eternal life is god's life. They are one and the same. Eternal life is the goal we shall obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before him. And eternal life consists of two things. It consists of life in the family unit, and, also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fulness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of these things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all gifts of God, which is eternal life.

"Eternal progression consists of living the kind of life God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being, who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow -- why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond my comprehension.

"Will he one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will he discover a better plan of salvation than the

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 3

one he has already given to men in worlds without number?

"The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, formally and officially, by the prophet Joseph Smith in the Lectures on Faith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, he has all power, and he is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation.

"Joseph Smith also taught in the Lectures on Faith 'that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation. These he named as:

1. 
   
2. "'The idea that he actually exists';
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4. "'A correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes; and
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6. "'An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to the divine will.'
7. 
   

"The attributes of God are given as knowledge, faith or power, justice, judgment, mercy, and truth. The perfections of God are named as 'the perfections which belong to all of the attributes of his nature,' which is to say that God possesses and has all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, and all truth. He is indeed the very embodiment, personification, and source of all these attributes. Does anyone suppose that God can be 'more honest than he already is? Neither need any suppose there are truths he does not know or knowledge he does not possess."Thus Joseph Smith taught, and these are his words:

'Without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures, for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would be impossible for them to exercise faith in him.' (Cited, Mormon Doctrine, p. 264.)

"If God is just dabbling with a few truths he has already discovered, we have no idea as to the real end and purpose of creation."

The foregoing quotation is from the published version of the talk. As it was actually given it included the following

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 4

paragraph: "Will he one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will he discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number? I have been sorely tempted to say at this point that any who so suppose have the intellect of an ant and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp -- but of course I would never say a thing like that." I deliberately deleted the last quoted sentence because it does not come out in print the way it was expressed by voice. It was said in such a tone as to draw laughter from the congregation and is of course, a normal use of hyperbole.

In that same devotional speech I said; "There are those who believe or say they believe that Adam is our father and our God, that he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship." I, of course, indicated the utter absurdity of this doctrine and said it was totally false.

Since then I have received violent reactions from Ogden Draut and other cultists in which they have expounded upon the views of Brigham Young and others of the early Brethren relative to Adam. They have plain and clear quotations saying all of the things about Adam which I say are false. The quotations are in our literature and form the basis of a worship system followed by many of the cultists who have been excommunicated from the Church. I also received, of course, your material in which you quote from Brigham Young and others of the early Brethren saying that God is progressing in knowledge.

I assume that you were aware of the foregoing quotations when you wrote me in September of 1980. In the October 1980 General Conference, without as yet having read your material, I said the following:

"True religion is found only where men worship the true and living God. False religion always results from the worship of false gods. Eternal life itself, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God, is available to those and those only who know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.

"It is all the rage in this modern world to worship false gods of every sort and kind. There are those who bow before idols of wood and stone, and others who lisp their petitions to icons and images. There are those who worship cows and crocodiles, and others who acclaim Adam or Allah or Buddha as their Supreme Being.

"There are those who apply the names of Deity to some spirit essence that is immaterial, uncreated and unknowable and

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 5

that fills the immensity of space and is everywhere and nowhere in particular present.

"And there are even those who champion the almost unbelievable theory that God is an Eternal Student enrolled in the University of the Universe where he is busily engaged in learning new truths and amassing new and strange knowledge that he never knew before.

"How belittling it is -- it borders on blasphemy -- to demean the Lord God Omnipotent by saying he is an idol, or an image, or an animal, or a spirit essence, or that he is ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of all truth.

"It is the first principle of revealed religion to know the nature and kind of being that God is. As for us: 'We know [and testify] that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them.' (D&C 20:17.)

"This great God, the Lord Almighty, is a personage of tabernacle. He 'has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's.' (D&C 130;22.) He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has all power, knows all things, and, by the power of his Spirit, is in and through all things."

On Tuesday, February 17, 1981, I was the speaker at the BYU Devotional. My subject was "The Three Pillars of Eternity," under which heading I spoke of the creation, the fall and the atonement. With reference to the omnipotence and omniscience of God I said in that talk:

"Who is Elohim? He is God the Eternal Father. He is a glorified and exalted personage. He has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's. In the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things and has all power -- not simply as pertaining to us or in some prescribed sphere or realm -- but in the absolute, eternal, and unlimited sense. In the ultimate sense, he is the Creator. And anything you may have heard to the contrary, whether in the creeds of Christendom or the mouthings of intellectuals who, in their own eyes, know more than the Lord, is false."

Now may I say something for your guidance and enlightenment. If what I am about to say should be taken out of context and published in Dialogue or elsewhere, it would give an entirely erroneous impression and would not properly present the facts. As it happens, I am a great admirer of Brigham Young and a great believer in his doctrinal presentations. He was called of God.

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 6

He was guided by the Holy Spirit in his teachings in general. He was a mighty prophet. He led Israel the way the Lord wanted his people led. He built on the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph. He completed his work and has come on to eternal exaltation.

Nonetheless, as Joseph Smith so pointedly taught, a prophet is not always a prophet, only when he is acting as such. Prophets are men and they make mistakes. Sometimes they err in doctrine. This is one of the reasons the Lord has given us the Standard Works. They become the standards and rules that govern where doctrine and philosophy are concerned. If this were not so, we would believe one thing when one man was president of the Church and another thing in the days of his successors. Truth is eternal and does not vary. Sometimes even wise and good men fall short in the accurate presentation of what is truth. Sometimes a prophet gives personal views which are not endorsed and approved by the Lord.

Yes, President Young did teach that Adam was the father of our spirits, and all the related things that the cultists ascribe to him. This, however, is not true. He expressed views that are out of harmony with the gospel. But, be it known, Brigham Young also taught accurately and correctly, the status and position of Adam in the eternal scheme of things. What I am saying is that Brigham Young, contradicted Brigham Young, and the issue becomes one of which Brigham Young we will believe. The answer is we will believe the expressions that accord with the teachings in the Standard Works.

Yes, Brigham Young did say some things about God progressing in knowledge and understanding, but again, be it known, that Brigham Young taught, emphatically and plainly, that God knows all things and has all power meaning in the infinite, eternal and ultimate and absolute sense of the word. Again, the issue is, which Brigham Young shall we believe and the answer is: We will take the one whose statements accord with what God has revealed in the Standard Works.

I think you can give me credit for having a knowledge of the quotations from Brigham Young relative to Adam, and of knowing what he taught under the subject that has become known as the Adam God Theory. President Joseph Fielding Smith said that Brigham Young will have to make his own explanations on the points there involved. I think you can also give me credit for knowing what Brigham Young said about God progressing. And again, that is something he will have to account for. As for me and my house, we will have the good sense to choose between the divergent teachings of the same man and come up with those that accord with

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 7

what God has set forth in his eternal plan of salvation.

This puts me in mind of Paul's statement: "There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." (1 Cor. 11:19.) I do not know all of the providences of the Lord, but I do know that he permits false doctrine to be taught in and out of the Church and that such teaching is part of the sifting process of mortality. We will be judged by what we believe among other things. If we believe false doctrine, we will be condemned. If that belief is on basic and fundamental things, it will lead us astray and we will lose our souls. This is why Nephi said: "And all those who preach false doctrines, . . . wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!: (2 Ne. 28:15.) This clearly means that people who teach false doctrine in the fundamental and basic things will lose their souls. The nature and kind of being that God is, is one of these fundamentals. I repeat: Brigham Young erred in some of his statements on the nature and kind of being that God is and as to the position of Adam in the plan of salvation, but Brigham Young also taught the truth in these fields on other occasions. And I repeat, that in his instance, he was a great prophet and has gone on to eternal reward. What he did is not a pattern for any of us. If we choose to believe and teach the false portions of his doctrines, we are making an election that will damn us.

It should be perfectly evident that under our system of church discipline, it would be anticipated that some others besides Brigham Young would pick up some of his statements and echo them. Those who did this, also on other occasions, taught accurately and properly what the true doctrines of the gospel are. I do not get concerned when a good and sound person who. On the over-all, is teaching the truth happens to err on a particular point and say something in conflict with what he has said himself on a previous occasion. We are all mortal. We are all fallible. We all make mistakes. No single individual all the time is in tune with the Holy Spirit, but I do get concerned when some person or group picks out false statements and makes them the basis of their presentation and theology and thus ends up having a false concept of the doctrine, which in reality, was not in the mind of the person whose quotations they are using.

Wise gospel students do not build their philosophies of life on quotations of individuals, even though those quotations come from presidents of the Church. Wise people anchor their doctrine on the Standard Works. When Section 20 says that God is infinite and eternal, it means just that and so on through all

Mr. Eugene England
February 19, 1981
Page 8

of the revelations. There is no need to attempt to harmonize conflicting views when some of the views are out of harmony with the Standard Works. This is what life is all about. The Lord is finding out what we will believe in spite of the allurements of the world or the philosophies of men or the seemingly rational and logical explanations that astute people make.

We do not solve our problems by getting a statement from the president of the Church or from someone else on a subject. We have been introduced to the gospel; we have the gift of the Holy Ghost; we have the Standards Works and it is our responsibility to get in tune and understand properly what the Lord has revealed and has had us canonize. The end result of this course of personally and individually pursuing light and truth is to reach that millennial state of which the scriptures say it will no longer be necessary for every man to say to his neighbor "know the Lord," for all shall know him from the greatest to the least. Joseph Smith says this will be by the spirit of revelation.

If it is true, as I am advised, that you speak on this subject of the progression of God at firesides and elsewhere, you should cease to do so. If you give other people copies of the material you sent me, with the quotations it contains, you should cease to do so. It is not in your province to set in order the Church or to determine what is doctrines shall be. It is axiomatic among us to know that God has given apostles and prophets "for the edifying of the body of Christ," and that their ministry is to see that "we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (Eph. 4:11-16.) This means, among other things, that it is my province to teach to the Church what the doctrine is. It is your province to echo what I say or to remain silent. You do not have a divine commission to correct me or any of the Brethren. The Lord does not operate that way. If I lead the Church astray, that is my responsibility, but the fact still remains that I am the one appointed with all the rest involved so to d