Now, to comment on the tenor of the blog.

I can feel the compassion that Crystal has for people. I appreciate her love and devotion to serve others. What I don’t understand is how so many people in the world think that if I have a different opinion, idea, or desire than theirs, anything I say about my personal beliefs is hatred and contempt for their differing beliefs?

It is absolutely true that many people on each side of the fence are filled with hatred and vitriol for others. As humans, we seem to always need an enemy to feel secure. I denounce anyone who wraps their arguments in hatred and contempt for others.

But, opinions and feelings aside, there are truths that are eternal, the violation of which will bring negative results. Gravity, aging, decay, oxygen, are all laws of physics that we try to overcome, but the best we can do is compensate or postpone the inevitable.

Commandments were given to us by God to show the best way to find happiness and peace in this life and the next. Murder, stealing, lying, backbiting, these are all principles that are universally accepted as bringing negative consequences to those who partake, as well as their victims and loved ones. Sins are any act that brings pain or sorrow to us or those we love.

God is not mean or hateful when he says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” He is really saying, “Please don’t do be unfaithful to your spouse. It will cause you, your spouse, and your posterity more pain and sorrow for years to come than could ever compensate by a few minutes of pleasure. Please do not commit adultery, I don’t want you to be sorry.”

He has also told us many other things will not bring us the happiness we seek, regardless of how it looks to us now. Pride, rebellion, promiscuity, homosexuality, contention, smoking, alcohol, drugs, and many others, will not bring us to the place we want to be. He says this not because he is mean, not because he wants to punish us, not because he hates us, but because he loves us with a love that is so much greater than the love we have for each other.

I don’t follow the logic that homosexuals, because they “are born that way”, get a pass from God’s advice, while pediphiles, rapists, libertines, polymamist and filanderers can’t express themselves. Isn’t what’s good for the goose, good for the gander? Although that is likely where this will eventually lead. Equal perversion for all.

Why should a person who wants to have sex with multiple companions be denied that “right” all of their life. How do they differ from a homosexual? Weren’t they born that way too?

In the 1960’s, I watched the experiment of “free love” and “expand your mind with drugs”. I knew people that were destroyed by their “free love”. Their definition of freedom was not to be bound to any laws they did not want to obey. Real people call this anarchy. Most of the hippies were not as happy as they prophesied they would be and have since abandoned their lives.

Now, 2015. The mantra is “”tweet-url hashtag" href=“https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23lovewins” title=“#lovewins”>#lovewins. That’s not what really happened, #lustwon. The definition of love today is; to not be bound by any laws you don’t want to obey. Sound familiar?

I don’t hate those who sin. I don’t even hate the sin. They are merely bad choices that can be repaired through the Atonement of Christ.

Hate is wrong, regardless of which side you are on, whether you are on the right side or the wrong side. I want all to come unto Christ. That means coming to church and mingling together. The Church is not a resort for the righteous, but a hospital for the sick. If all sins stunk, we would not be able to sit together in church for the stench.

The Brethren are not mean, vindictive, and conspiring men. I know and have worked with several of them. They have faults that at times cloud their opinions, but by discussing issues openingly in counsels, the Holy Ghost changes hearts, and bring the counsel to a consensus with God. I have seen this so many times in my own life as a church leader.

Truth is reason when you have all the facts, truth is eternal. I pray that all people will feel the Spirit of the Lord in their lives. I pray that we will all see our weakness, rely on Christ for strength to do what he has asked us to do, regardless of whether it seems fair, right, or just to us now.