I grew up in places with a lot of room to play.  At one house we had woods in the backyard that led to a dammed up creek.  We tied a rope to one of the trees and jumped from a ledge, catching onto the rope, letting go at just the right moment to land right in the middle of the pond.  

Growing up, a favorite movie for my family was The Princess Bride.  One of the most memorable scenes came after Wesley and Buttercup, having conquered the many obstacles in the fire swamp, come out the other end and meet Count Rugen and his lackeys who are ready to arrest Wesley and bring Buttercup back to Prince Humperdinck.  After Buttercup bravely gives herself up to save Wesley’s life, a smiling Count Rugen lies about their destination, “Come, sir. We must get you to your ship.”  Wesley replies with the classic line, “We are men of action.  Lies do not become us.”

We are told to love the sinner, if not the sin. What about loving the creation, if not its creator?

The following is adapted from a Sacrament Meeting talk given by the author, Amy Howell Oglesby:

My assigned topic today is the 12^th Article of Faith: “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law”.

On the subject of religious freedom, Elder D. Todd Christofferson has said, “A robust religious freedom is the freedom to live one’s religion or belief in a legal, political, and social environment that is tolerant, respectful, and accommodating of diverse beliefs”.

Like any good millennial, I recently decided to butt into a Facebook debate about gun control. In the wake of the recent tragedy in Las Vegas, a friend shared a popular video from last year of President Obama assuring a town hall questioner that “I’m not trying to disarm you.” Another friend commented with the usual second amendment talking points: “but good guys with guns,” “laws don’t stop criminals,” and “are we going to regulate anything that could be used in violence/suicide?” 

Two years ago my state representative Greg Hughes held a town hall meeting where he promised his constituents Utah's poor would have better health care access under a Republican president. We now have a Republican president. Speaker Hughes has found that he can't get his special waiver for a capped Medicaid expansion because the person who needs authorize it resigned, the day after meeting with him.

In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin rose from relative obscurity when he shocked the country with the claim that many State Department workers were colluding and aiding the Communist Party.  McCarthy’s communist accusations continued to gain momentum until the nationally televised Army–McCarthy hearings in early 1954. During that hearing, McCarthy charged that an aide of Army Counsel Joseph Welch’s had ties to a Communist organization. In full view of the American public, Welch defended his aide, countering McCarthy's voluble assertions with a stern response that ultimately ended McCarthy's career: "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness…Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"

I was serving as Ward Mission Leader in North Carolina during the 2012 election. The members of my ward were some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Kind, charitable, loving. But it didn’t take many months of Obama vs. Romney campaigning until I came to a somewhat surprising realization: I began to hope the missionaries would not bring politically liberal investigators to church meetings until after election day.

The Boy-Man Who Would Be King, or, The Bawdy Politic

Recent GOP attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, Obamacare) have caused a lot of angst in the medical community. Nearly every major physician, patient, and healthcare advocacy group has come out in strong opposition to the current Senate bill, or Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). The American Medical Association (AMA), in a rare moment of courage, has taken the lead with their Patients Before Politics campaign.