The pretend successful servant did take one hundred talents from his father, and from the publicans, and did trade with the same, and did build gambling halls, and did sell steaks, and did build a school for profit.

The United States ranks 27^th in math, 20^th in science, 17^th in educational performance, 24^th in literacy, 54^th in education expenditures (as % of GDP), 15^th in college graduation rates, and 18^th in reading against the rest of the world. Our homes and classrooms lack infrastructure capabilities as the US ranks 33^rd in internet speeds and access. There was a recent study of the top 14 countries in the world polling high school students against current events and country demographics with the US finishing next to last (thank you Italy). We have so many issues with our educational system the biggest challenge is figuring out where to begin.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Bernie's achievements aren't impressive. He took what many assumed to be a gadfly candidacy and turned it into something that will probably get around 45% of the pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination. But now the question is: where do the supporters of Senator Sanders go from here?

A meme equating Hillary Clinton with Dolores Umbridge and Bernie Sanders with Dumbledore was recently posted in a major Facebook group for liberal Latter-day Saints. This post is nerding out about why it's wrong and what it suggests about Utah going Blue in November.

(SPOILERS ABOUND for Harry Potter / Lord of the Rings / Star Wars / Hunger Games - THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING).

It’s politics season again in America, which means that discussions are heating up on Facebook, in living rooms, and in ward foyers around the country. As someone who has had a fair number of these discussions myself, and as someone who falls solidly on the left side of the political spectrum, one of the arguments I hear most often from my fellow Mormons suggests that I’m in favor of Satan’s plan. In fact, this is one of the most frequent themes of hate mail sent to the LDS Democrats caucus leadership in Utah. Liberals, the argument goes, want to take away our agency. Liberals want to pass laws that, while well-intentioned, actually enact one of the devil’s top priorities since before the Earth was formed: “Satan rebelled against [God], and sought to destroy the agency of man” (see Moses 4:1-4).

For those of you old enough to remember, there was an LDS missionary approach called the Golden Questions. (What do you know about the Mormon Church? Would you like to know more?) This was part of the “Every Member a Missionary” approach used during the 1960s and 1970s. This was used as a conversation starter or door opener to get people to discuss any interest they might have in the church. The idea being to find those people who, for whatever reason, might have some interest in the church.

Senator Mitch McConnell gathered the Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee together and reached a decision that no hearings would be held for a supreme court nominee by President Obama. Mount McConnell was formed, with a signed loyalty oath to boot.

"Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.” Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren."

-- Boyd K. Packer

I am a wife, a mother, an environmentalist, a vegetarian, and a Democrat. And I’m a Mormon.

I believe that we as a society have a responsibility to care for our fellow man. While I believe that everyone should provide for themselves as best as possible, I understand that there are those among us that cannot. I believe that quality healthcare is a right that should be afforded to all men, not just those who have money. I believe that this right is included in the “unalienable” right our Founding Fathers declared we all have to Life.

I believe that every person who seeks a better life should be able to have that opportunity to find it. During my time as a missionary in Mexico I came to understand people a little better. I realized that everyone just wants what is best for ourselves and our families. I feel that as a country and as a society we have the obligation to help those people make a better life for themselves by making it easier for them to find that opportunity, not harder.

I believe in families and that they are central to the success of society. As a society, we have the moral obligation to encourage quality family time. It is absurd to me that the party who is supposed to have “family values” is so adamantly against providing guaranteed time to new mothers and new fathers with their children, especially right after birth. We need to support legislation that promotes families, no matter the makeup of those families, if we want to make both current and future generations strong. These beliefs are rooted in my Mormon faith and in the values I was taught as a child by very loving parents. Much like Harry Reid, I am a Democrat because of these beliefs, not in spite of them.