About a quarter of the people in our ward in Colorado wore masks today, which is more than usual for the last four months or so. Our bishop got up and gave the most common sense talk on this subject that I have seen a long time. He basically told people that the Church believes in free agency, and the Church is urging people to wear masks when they cannot social distance and the Church is urging people to be vaccinated. He asks people to be kind and not make judgements of the people who decide to wear masks and get vaccinated, but he also asked members not to be judgmental of those who decided NOT to wear masks or get vaccinated.

Basically, he was asking people to be charitable and mind their own business when it comes to other peoples’ personal choices. I was very pleased to hear him say this, because the secret to getting along in a pluralistic society is minding your own business. And this is what I have been saying since the beginning of the pandemic.

Regular readers will know that I am against all government mandates regarding the pandemic, and this includes masks and vaccines. And the Church’s statement on Thursday partly supports my position. The Church does not ask for government mandates on masks and vaccines but asks for people to voluntarily wear masks when they cannot social distance and voluntarily decide to get vaccinated.

I want to make it clear that my position on this issue has not changed. I support the Brethren and I support my local leadership. And I believe the science that overwhelmingly shows that masks are nearly useless against viruses, and I have many questions about the vaccines. The more I study the issue, the more I am sure of my position on this issue.

However, there is another argument that all Latter-day Saints need to consider. And that is simply this: we are supposed to follow the prophet even when it doesn’t make sense to our logical brains. So, if we are going to “Steel Man” the prophets’ statement, we must come around to this position, and we simply cannot avoid it. (Steel Manning an argument means presenting the best case of an argument — it is the opposite of Straw Manning an argument, which is to oppose an argument based on nit-picking and not really addressing the central point of the argument).

The prophet has asked us to do something. We should do it. We need to think about Naaman, who was told by a prophet to wash in the Jordan River seven times so his leprosy would be cured, but he at first was angry with this advice because his logical brain told him the advice was ridiculous. But he was told that if God had asked him to do a great thing, he would have done it, so God is asking him to do an easy thing, why not do it? And Naaman took the advice, and he was healed. (Here is a really thorough explanation of Naaman’s story, which you can read about in 2 Kings 5:1-19).

So, comparing our situation to that of Naaman, if we were asked to move to Salt Lake City to take some new Church calling, we would probably do it. But we are asked to do something relatively simple, which is to wear a mask and get a vaccine (I understand these are not simple things for many people, but I am just trying to make the best argument possible for the Church’s position).

My bishop said today that the whole situation reminded him of Lehi and Nephi being told to leave Jerusalem, which of course was a huge hardship for Lehi’s family. But Nephi was blessed for “going and doing” what the Lord asked, and the rebellious members of the family were ultimately not blessed.

I would also like to link a thoughtful post from last year by a mask skeptic who has decided to change his tune because of the Church’s guidance. I don’t agree with some of the points in this post, but I think he makes a very good argument in favor of changing behavior to align with the Brethren. On that same blog, there is a thoughtful post regarding vaccines. Reading these two posts over the next half-hour or so, and considering the arguments I made about Naaman and Nephi provides, I think, the best possible argument in favor of the Church’s position. I would urge all people to consider these ideas.

Church leadership came out with the following statement today:

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent the following message on Thursday, August 12, 2021, to Church members around the world:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants, an unrelenting pandemic. We want to do all we can to limit the spread of these viruses. We know that protection from the diseases they cause can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population.

To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible. To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.

We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders. Please know of our sincere love and great concern for all of God’s children.

The First Presidency

Russell M. Nelson
Dallin H. Oaks
Henry B. Eyring

This statement has already been sent to me several times by triumphant people who hate the common sense things I have written on M* since the start of the pandemic. If you want to see hatred, you should see the emails and messages I get. But even if there are hundreds of people out there who apparently hate me, I do not respond in kind. The Gospel is not about hate, it is about loving God, loving Christ and supporting Church leadership.

I support Church leadership. I support my bishop, I support my EQ president, I support my stake president, and I support all Church leaders including President Nelson, who I have no doubt is inspired.

So, will this message change me or what I write? No, it will not. Here is what the people who hate me do not apparently understand: I have no problem with voluntary calls by the Church or anybody else for people to wear masks and get vaccinated. My concern has always been with government mandates for lockdowns, masks or vaccination. The Church asks for voluntary measures, not mandatory, government enforced measures. I have no issues with that.

When my local ward said we must wear masks to Sacrament meeting, I went every week and wore a mask. When the temple said we must wear masks if we wanted to attend, I wore a mask (and fyi: the masks turned out not to be required when I actually got there, but I was willing to wear a mask to attend. There is a lot of social distancing at our local temple). When a brother I minister to asked me to wear a mask when I visit, I wore a mask without a problem. The Church is asking members to get vaccinated. I have said from the beginning of the pandemic that I am open to getting vaccinated eventually. I have already gotten COVID, and I have anti-bodies, so I don’t need to get vaccinated now. But some day? Sure. I have written multiple times that people at high risk from COVID should be vaccinated.

My primary message today is to the many hundreds of people I know personally and have heard from in the last 18 months who oppose the Church’s position on masks and vaccines. The Church is still true. Nothing has changed. Why is the Church taking a position that you find difficult to support, a position that is not supported by many scientific studies? The Church’s mission is to spread the Gospel. The Church cannot be known as the “anti-vax church” or the “anti-mask church.” In addition, the Church has a long history of supporting vaccines. We cannot expect the Church to say that all of the past vaccines are OK, but the COVID vaccines are not.

To those who oppose the Church’s position on masks and vaccines, there is another important point: we will all be tested in our different ways as to whether we will follow the Brethren, even if we disagree. For progressive Mormons, the test over the last 20 years has been a difficult one, and many have fallen away. The progressives who I most respect are those who say, “I don’t understand and I oppose the Church’s position on this issue, but I still support the Brethren and my local leadership, and I know the Book of Mormon really was translated by Joseph Smith through the power of God.” The progressives who are still going to Church and keeping their covenants even though the Church is against gay marriage, against elective abortion, against government welfare and against the transgender agenda are modern-day heroes.

So, to my conservative friends who oppose masks and vaccines, I say: keep your covenants, keep on going to Church, keep on watching Conference, keep on going to the temple, keep on doing your calling. All will be made clear in time.

So, sorry to disappoint the haters, but I am completely at peace with the First Presidency’s announcement today.

But I do have some questions for readers to consider:

1)Do you support the Church’s positions on masks and vaccines but oppose the Church’s position on gay marriage? How about on abortion or gender identity issues?

2)Do you believe the Church is saying EVERYBODY should be vaccinated, including infants? How about women who are pregnant or people with Guillain-Barre Syndrome? (Keep in mind before you answer that the WHO has said that people under the age of 18 should not get vaccinated).

3)In our ward, we practice social distancing, but most people do not wear face masks. Do you think we are somehow violating the Church’s position?

4)Will you personally try to be kind to people who decide not to get vaccinated or wear masks?

5)Do you only eat meat and chicken during the winter, or “in times of cold, or of famine?” (See D&C 89:13 — if you have ever had a hot dog or hamburger for July 4 in the United States, the answer is no).

6)What do you think Joseph Smith meant when he said, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves?”

7)Are the questions “do you wear a mask during social situations?” and “are you vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2?” asked during temple recommend interviews? Do you think members would act differently if these questions were asked during temple recommend interviews, and why is that?

Book Review: Zion Earth, Zen Sky, by Charles Shiro Inouye

As a historian, Ive read many biographies and autobiographies from people, both famous and obscure. As with most autobiographies, this one generally occurs in chronological order. But that is where the similarities end.

This is the first autobiography I’ve ever read filled with Haiku. Inouye, a Japanese American, shares his life’s story in vignettes that share with us his deepest feelings, learnings, trials and triumphs. It begins by telling us a little bit about his grandparents, born in Japan, moving to America to work. His parents grew up in two different states, but were brought together into one Japanese interment camp during World War II. Release from the camp after the war, and marriage, led them to abandon their former states and settle in (of all places) southern Utah!

He tells of growing up on his father’s farm: hard work, long hours, and his decision to go his own way, rather than take over the family farm. He talks of his mission, college, marriage, divorce, children, remarriage, and many other events in his life.

And while many of these brief stories are interesting in and of themselves, what is of greater worth are the lessons he learned and shares with us that really are impactful. His world view is unlike mine and most Latter-day Saints in the United States. He joined the Church as a youth, but he still was planted firmly in Japanese culture, food, and religion (Zen Buddhism). For this last reference, he shares insights that are useful to members as we grow into an international church with a variety of cultures and backgrounds that are quickly changing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a predominantly white Anglo-Saxon faith in the Great Salt Lake Basin, to a world-wide church with more members in other nations.

As I noted above, the vignettes are interspersed with Japanese poetry, or Haiku. Each of these poems connect closely and directly with the stories. These are contemporary poems that share with us the feelings tied to events in Inouye’s life. After telling about his young adult life, he shares:

a world gone to hell
John Lennon gets murdered and
Mick Jagger goes grey

He compares connections between gospel and Zen teachings. I was surprised at how many important issues are shared: taking care of the poor, focus on doing good things, etc.

In talking about caring for the poor, he notes that Zen Buddhism helps the follower to let go of greed and possessions, and give all one’s excess to those in real need. Comparing this to Zion’s lofty goal of caring for the needy and having “no poor among them,” we learn how short we come to God’s ideal society for us:

the hands that hang down-
my stake president drives a
black BMW

I’d hate to be Inouye’s stake president after reading this Haiku, but there is no mistaking that sometimes in our search for “personal self reliance,” we go beyond taking care of our needs to indulging in excessive creature comforts, while many in the world suffer due to famine, poverty, war, pestilence, plagues, slavery, and destruction.

Another important concept has to do with raking. Inouye discusses the peacefulness one finds in a Japanese garden. Many of these gardens are little more than a few carefully placed rocks with sand surrounding them. They seem to be a place of quiet perfection. But, as the author notes, perfection in this temporal world is fleeting. All it takes is for a leaf from a nearby tree to gently fall upon the sand, and suddenly, chaos disturbs the perfection and order. All one can do is rake and re-rake the sand, hoping to be able to keep up with the entropy continually being introduced in the world.

And so, he calls many things he does in his life, raking. These include scripture study, prayer, service, enduring to the end. We may think we’ve achieved a perfect little world at some point in our lives, but then comes the unexpected storms that shift the sands in our garden. Again, we must rake.

The book is entertaining and interesting. It is also very personal, as Inouye speaks of the spirits that have visited him, his divorce, and trying to break out of his introverted and isolated shell. Again, the Haikus entertain and lay bare the heart of each story.

The last several chapters focus more on spiritual thoughts that touch on both Latter-day Saint doctrine and Zen Buddhism. His views on Satan and those demons who followed him:

“Evil is surprisingly simple. Satan has no body. He and his followers only have pretend legs, arm, mouths and eyes that we give them. They like to make believe they are us. But there is not much to be gained by our believing we are them. They have no  drink or food to give us, certainly no fruit or cookies.”

Of course, this insight is followed by a wonderful poem:

seething with envy-
the dancing bears of Satan
have no hips or lips

Again, he shares his thoughts on the importance of believing in God. A lecturer spoke on the foolishness of those who believe in God. As he listened, he thought,

“Why do we not believe? Why turn that part of our minds off? If someone can sing, what does he or she gain by not singing?”

In other words, if believing in God brings you peace, joy, hope, and happiness, why stop believing simply because some intellectual mocks belief? What do you gain by not believing in God?

Inouye’s experiences often come as if through a child’s eyes. When something different comes to him, he is elated at the new knowledge. At one point in his university career, a science professor brought him some text books. In one book was a picture of the heliosphere. It is the “atmosphere” of the sun that extends beyond Pluto, and includes the solar winds and radiation that gives life to earth. For the author, the thought that the earth not only goes “around” the sun, but also “through” the sun (its heliosphere), brings new life to both our experience in the cosmos and also in the world of prepositions.

I did note a few throwaway thoughts and stories. I’ll share here.one here.

He asked a group of Buddhist monks why they did not encourage the people to study their holy writings, as we do with the Bible here in the West. The monks were surprised by the question, discussed it among themselves, then finally said they didn’t want to confuse the followers. Inouye notes he thought about it and decided it was a good thing, noting that Paul chastised the Greeks on Mars Hill for seeking knowledge but still not knowing the “unknown god.”

As I thought about this, I felt entirely different regarding knowledge. D&C 88 tells us to “seek out of the best books” and to learn by “study and by faith.” We are encouraged by prophets to study the scriptures daily. Even Inouye rejoices in the things he’s learned through decades of study and research. Only recently in Western civilization did we have religious leaders forbid the study of scripture by the average person, claiming they did not want them confused. Tyndale and others lost their lives for translating the Bible into English, wishing that the plow boy could be as versed in scripture as the priest. Such study splintered Christianity into a variety of beliefs – confusion. Yet, it also opened the door to greater light, knowledge, and the very Restoration that Inouye loves.

Yes, there is a risk of confusion. However, the risk comes from not enough study. As Alexander Pope wrote,

“A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.”

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of reading “Zion earth, Zen sky.” As I noted, it was different, very different, than any other autobiography I’ve ever read. I liked how the stories are laid out in short vignettes, each bringing an important life lesson for Inouye and for the reader. I loved the Haikus. The poetry tied stories, themes, and teachings together. Often, they screamed truth, other times they brought a laugh. They illuminated the book.

I hope you will give “Zion earth, Zen sky” a fair reading. Like me, you’ll come off better and from the experience.

Maxwell Institute

Available August 31, 2021

Preorder at Amazon

My blog post on Come Follow Me: D&C 88 the Olive Leaf

Excerpt:
D&C 87, the Prophecy on War and Slavery, was given on Christmas Day, 1832. It was an amazing, but unnerving, prophecy.
A few days later, the Lord would begin to give Joseph a prophecy over a few weeks that would be known as the “Olive Leaf.” A revelation filled with wisdom and peace for the Saints to rejoice over.

The Holy Spirit of Promise

What is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost?
The Lord first explains a new role of the Holy Ghost: Not only is it the testifier of the Father and the Son, as well as the Comforter and Constant Companion of the faithful, but now we learn that it is the “Holy Spirit of Promise,” or the “Other Comforter.”
This is an important concept leading towards the concepts of the temple. We learn that the Holy Spirit of Promise must seal an ordinance or act upon a person for that event to be sealed on earth and in heaven. In other words, there is a line upon line, precept upon precept of progression in having the Holy Ghost.

We begin with the “Light of Truth” or “Light of Christ,” which we will learn more regarding of it in D&C 93..
As a process, receiving the Holy Ghost on levels is an important part of the Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 31; 3 Nephi 11).

http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2021/08/come-follow-me-d-88.html

The beginning of the 21st century has brought many positive things, but it has also brought some alarming trends. One of the worst is the Politicization of Everything, from the Oscars to the NFL to the COVID-19 panic. We are seeing horrific evidence that the scientific method, which has caused so many wonderful inventions and technological and medical breakthroughs, is now on its way out.

As readers should know, the scientific method is this:

In our time, when it comes to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the scientific method has been replaced with this:

And of course when actual science takes place, it is censored by Big Tech and the corporate media. If we cite science that does not agree with the medical establishment/big government narrative, we are told that this is “misinformation,” which is really just another word for “inconvenient facts that challenge the propaganda we are being fed via social media and the media.”

Let me be as clear as possible about this: the scientific method that has brought the world so much prosperity and miraculous new medical advancements is based on CHALLENGING THE EXISTING NARRATIVES. For science to advance, we need to accept that people will be outside of the establishment coming up with new approaches and new ideas. Obviously many of these new approaches and new ideas will fail, but failure is part of the scientific method itself. It is the energy of constantly challenging the existing assumptions that brings progress.

What is happening today is instead a massive, worldwide attempt to silence any scientific advancement that does not exactly fit the narrative of the medical establishment, most government leaders, Big Tech and the corporate media. Any data that does not fit the narrative is ignored and squelched. Today’s Unpersons are the doctors and scientists who come to any conclusions that are Not Approved by the ruling class. This is extremely dangerous, and I am sorry to say that many, many Latter-day Saint scientists are actively participating in this attempt to repress medical innovation. If there is one thing most (not all, thankfullly) Latter-day Saint scientists believe these days, it is that the medical establishment must be defended at all costs. It is shameful that so many prominent LDS scientists cannot, at the very least, bring themselves to condemn the obvious censorship taking place, but the response from so many sources is crickets. Note to these LDS scientists: if you accept the scientific authoritarianism taking place today, it is only a matter of time until they come after you.

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