mike was supposed to come down to go clubbin tonight, but he got stuck in the snow up in boise. didn't really care to do much else tonight with anyone, so i decided i'm gonna finish the book of mormon and watch some southpark tonight. what a great combination

i'm really not one for new year's resolutions, but i'd thought i'd give some a try and see how badly i fail at them.

go to the temple more often

get back into fly-fishing again

better grades

read the book of mormon along with the gospel doctrince class

that's all i can think of.....

now this isn't a new year's resolution, but my diet is starting back up tomorrow. i kinda let it slide over the break and haven't been to the gym since for a week now. i'd like to get down to 160 lbs...and then up to at least 165 with muscle.

just finished reading the new mormon challenge. here are some thoughts about the last two remaining chapters...

finley's critique of lds scholars seeking out hebraisms in the book of mormon had some good points and some huge stretches. i especially found his biblical source for nahom to be quite a stretch. i am not too sure about hebraisms in the book of mormon myself. i fidn them interesting, but some of them (especially sentance structure) don't fit my view of the book's translation. i see the book of mormon more as an ancient text put into joseph smith's words. while this view doesn't necessarily fit the descriptions of the process specualted by some of the witnesses, it does fit the 'official' description of the translation process found in d&c 9:8,9.

i found shepherd's article about translation and pseudotranslation (a fraudulant translation) a very interesting read. it was odd though that he never referred to blake ostler's the book of mormon as a modern expansion of an ancient source which nicely welds the two idea of translation and pseudotranslation together. if i can find an online version of this article i'll be sure to post it. it's one of the best articles i've read about the origin of the book of mormon. while shepherd concluded (though stressing it was not definitie) that the book of mormon was a pseudotranslation, i loved this quote of his at the end. "...the book of mormon is the most complex, ambitious, and influential pseudotranslation that the world has ever seen or is, indeed, ever likely to see." and he finishes the article with "...joseph smith was not content to lightly rework and paraphrase existing scripture. instead, armed with the courage of his considerable convictions, joseph smith set out ot fashion his own scripture, creating for himself in the book of mormon a monument to his work as paraphraser and prophet."

i want to jump on to another book...either farm's the temple in time and eternity or another book which i have not yet decided. first i gotta finish the book of mormon. i'm in the end of 3rd nephi and wanted to finish the book by new years so that i can start afresh with the new year to follow the gospel doctrine class's lessons.

coincidentally, the times and seasons blog that i have found and enjoyed has had a few discussions which jeff and i were arguing over on saturday and sunday.

here's what someone had to say about the law of consecration that i found insightful and my reply...

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consecration: a practical suggestion
by gordon smith at december 30, 2003 08:30 pm

one of my pet peeves is the comment, often heard in sunday school, that "the lord has not asked us to live the law of consecration." those who have been to the temple should know better. the more pressing question for me is how to implement this relatively simple law. this seems to be the current topic of conversation under the material prosperity thread below, which, like the eveready bunny, just keeps on going. in this post, i want to propose a practical way of thinking about consecration.

but first, some background. perhaps i was a little severe with my fellow congregants who proclaim that "the lord has not asked us to live the law of consecration." after all, the following comes from the gospel doctrine teacher's manual for the doctrine & covenants:

explain that the fulness of the law of consecration has been lived only at certain times as commanded by the lord. some of the early saints attempted to live the law for periods of time in ohio, missouri, and utah. however, the church as a whole failed to live it, and the lord suspended it. at some future time he will ask us to live the fulness of the law.

this is a little confusing, but the manual seems to be suggesting that the united order was an attempt to live the "fulness of the law of consecration." the implication is that some "lesser" law of consecration might still be in effect. while i am not sure i like the jargon, i get the drift. my view is that this "lesser law of consecration" is simply the law of consecration without centralized administration. it is, if you will, a personal law of consecration, rather than a collective expectation.

so, what does this "lesser law of consecration" demand of us. here is some discussion fodder from bruce r. mcconkie: "the law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the church; such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the lord’s interests on earth." this is the usual response that i hear when i raise this question in church. the inference usually drawn is that we don't actually have to share all of "our time, our talents, and our money and property" until we are asked. at the moment, the reasoning goes, we are asked to share some of our time, a few of our talents, and 10% of our income (plus occasional offerings). the residual is ours to keep.

can this be right? again, the covenant that i made in the temple includes no such limitations. but mcconkie's statement contains the seeds of a useful method of thinking about the law of consecration. in my view, we are obliged to use all of our time, talents, money, and property to further the lord’s interests on earth. period.

every minute and every dollar should be consecrated to the lord's work, which includes raising our families, doing missionary work (by word and by deed), offering productive labor at the workplace, etc. every aspect of our lives is relevant to our eternal salvation, and every aspect should be pointed in the same direction. this is the essence of an integrated life. the law of consecration should cause us to purge selfishness from our souls -- no more "mine" and "his," but all his. and in the great paradox expressed by jesus, when we lose ourselves in this way, we gain eternal life. (mark 8:35)

comments


i had a nice argument with my friend saturday night about this very thing. he gave me the same response word for word that you quoted. he also added the popular myth "the prophet said not to worry about consecration and just to focus on tithing and fasting." when asked for a reference, the common reply came "all the prophets have said it." of course, my disbelief in these statements proved that i don't believe in the prophets ;)

one of the big myth's in the church is that in order to live the law of consecration, a large group of individual must live it by some sort of social contract. i think the most practical way to live it was taught by king benjamin. basically, to give to the poor. as an in debt college student, probably the greatest joy i felt this christmas season was buying some books at barnes and noble for underpriviledged children.
Comment by: tyler durden at December 30, 2003 08:41 PM

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i agree with gordon. we should be giving all that we had. i am hypocritical though. i could give so much more, but it's hard. why is it so tough? i can't use the excuse that i'm an in-debt college student becuz i still spend much of my money on luxuries and fast food that i just don't need.

...speaking of fast food....i let myself go over the christmas break. i've eaten like a pig and have only hit the gym a few times. starting new years, i gotta get myself back in gear. i think tomorrow i'll post up some resolutions and see how crappy i live up to them as the year goes by.

i've been reading the new mormon challenge. it's an interesting read. as far as 'anti-mormon' books go, this is by far the most courteous and intellectually engaging one i have read. this does not mean i agree with them. so far, i'm about 3/4 of the way through the book

hazen's and mosser's introductory articles about the growth of membership and the 'apologetic impulse' was rather interesting. these articles weren't too critical, but rather gave a synopsis of how the church is right now.

copan and craig's arguements for creation ex nihilo weren't all that great. there scriptural arguements seemed strong at first (which really means nothing to me), but their deductive arguements seemed flawed and and their inductive arguements seemed outdated. for an awesome review of their arguements (which in my opinion, crush their arguements) see blake ostler's review.

adam's and owen's articles were pretty much the same 'i think the scriptures say this' that shows up all over the place in discussions like this. they are some of the first to really reply to lds claims of polytheism/henotheism in the early church and israelite religion, but they seem to ignore some of the greater arguements made

parrish's article was interesting, but i think he spent too much time beating a straw god..i mean man. mosser's arguement was seriously flawed. see ostler's review for arguements criticizing theirs

i haven't read orson pratt's absurdities of immaterialism so i can't say much about moreland's criticism of it

blomerg's article discussing whether or not mormons are christian was another interesting read. it was courteous, and i can better understand why some evangelical believe that we cannot be properly classified as christian in their eyes, but i still found his arguements flawed. for a beautiful reply, read what kent jackson had to say here

that's as far as i have gotten. i'll give my thoughts on the rest when i finish the book in the next couple days

why don't you believe in the prophets?

i get sick of hearing that. why can't some stupid mormons realize that there is no papal infallibilty clause in the lds church. so i don't blindly follow every word every general authority says. somehow that turns into me lacking a testimony. so i don't praise mcconkie and hold him up as the standard of truth. big deal.

search. ponder. pray. the scriptures tell us this is the way we are to gain gospel knowledge. nobody every ponders nor prays, they hardly even search. people just want to be told what to believe and cling to it blindly. if you actually take to the time to examine what you should believe, you are treated as heretical.

got commenting put back on the site. feel free to tell me what you think.

here's are some thoughts from my day


michael jackson

saw an interview with him on 60 minutes. whether or not he is guilty, he is one messed up guy. i wonder how accountable a person like he is to god. his mental abilities are obviously not working how they should be. does he realize how stupid and crazy he appears?

book of revelation

talked about the signs of the times and the book of revelation today in gospel doctrine. i feel that people force too much literalism into the book. it's obvious that so much of it is not literal, but must me read metaphorically. why then force literalism in where a metaphorical view may be much more morally benefitting. besides a call to put one's life in order, i see no point in speculating on signs of the times when interpretations can be so varying

bruce r. mcconkie

i love the man for his testimony and gospel zeal. i can't stand his false authority he placed on his opinions. so many accept what he said without even wondering if maybe he could be wrong. it's not necessarily what he espoused, but more of how he did it. he taught things as if his view was the correct view and differing views were heretical products of satan

i got hooked up with some new webspace. i'm going to throw my website on it, but i'm not sure if i'm gonna keep it up there long. i might jus simplify it to use as a menu to access papers, photos, and other crap.

speaking of crap, my last philosophy of religion paper, exclusivism and a systematic theology is now available for your reading pleasure.

in other news....
christmas came and went. as my family and i have gotten older, the joy of christmas seems to haev dimmed. the best part of it all is watching people open the gifts i had given them. the emptiness hit me pretty bad christmas eve and dragged on till this morning (26th). the highlight of this christmas season was when i was at barnes and noble the morning of christmas eve and spent $40 in books for under-privildged children. i got the first harry potter book for a 10 year old girl and the captain underpants collection for an 8 year old boy. that felt friggin good :)

with finals and all, i have been too busy to write much on this thing. plus i've been out and about dating and making more friends lately. i should have time this break to write more of my thoughts.

today in priesthood we were discussing becoming a zion people. if it weren't for our blasted love of money, we could be there. i try to be giving. in fact i give too much. i've already donated about $50 this month to different charities and stufs. i just feel good doing it. i should be giving more though. i don't need half the crap i have. there are so many people out there that need so much. i should be willing to help them. in the temple, we covenant to live the law of consecration. why aren't we willing to do what we have promised? the teacher today had a great quote by orson pratt that i need to find. in it, he says that as long as we have more than another that we are living in sin. king benjamin said that we must give until we can say in our heart that we would give, but we cannot for we have nothing to give. i need to have that mentality even more.

of course. in all reality, i don't have any to give. i'm $3000 in debt. its an excuse though. i spend money on myself all of the time. money that coulld be better spent on others.

i was up all night until 6 this morning talking with jenna last night. she's friggin cool. unfortunately she flew home today for the holidays.
mike came down from logan and we went out for lunch. it was hella fun to see him. i need to head up to logan more often. i guess i can now that i have my new wheels.

was finally able to register my classes yesterday. i might be taking 19 credits this semester!!!

intro to logic
formal (deductive) logic
intro to western religions
intro to eastern religions
biology
astronomy
fit for life

i've gotta spend this break reading all the books i am behind on cuz i aint gonna have any time to do any personal reading this next semester

wow!

went and saw return of the king last night. that movie was just incredible. i absolutely loved it.

everyone is away for the christmas break. i've got the place to myself for two weeks.

yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

finals are all done. i think i aced both of them today. they were essay's so i won't know for sure till after the weekend. also, my last philosophy paper got the highest score in the class again. potter said it was the best in the class, but he also said the rest of the papers sucked, so i guess it doesn't mean all that much. he also told me that i should definately go into philosophy and should go for a graduate degree. i'm prolly going to do a double major with a b.a. in philosophy and my previous integrated studies major as well. it'll only take me an extra semester or so.

tomorrow i am going to sit my butt in front of the tv and watch lord of the rings all day long and then see return of the king with tory and jenna at night.

life is good

finals begin tomorrow. i am all studied out for the night.

plan for tomorrow.

5:30 wake up
6:00 get to school and study
8:30 communications final...ok...fine...its not much of a final. i sign a role and eat some donuts
9:00 discrete math final
10:00 hopefully i'll be done to come home and sleep
3:00 work
10:00 come home and watch 24 if i can get someone to record it for me
11:00 study for an hour
12:00 sleep

"remember....remember who you are"
---mufasa, "lion king"

feeling better today, had a bunch of people over to watch lion king tonight after ward prayer.

long week of studying and finals ahead of me.

tired.

time for bed

gosh dang friggin heck shiz!

wow...thats a lot of provo swearing. s'posed to go clubbin tonight with a bunch of friends, but i and seemingly everyone else is sick! mike was even going to come down from logan.ugghhhh....

i don't feel like doing much. sitting up too long makes my head hurt. maybe i'll hit target and buy a dvd

“look, maybe us mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe joseph smith did make it all up. but i have a great life, and a great family, and i have the book of mormon to thank for that. the truth is, i don’t care if joseph smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. all i ever did was try to be your friend, stan, but you’re so high and mighty you couldn’t look past my religion and just be my friend back. you’ve got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. suck my balls.”


---gary harrisons classic closing words in south park's 'all about the mormons' episode a few weeks ago

it's 5:08 am and i'm done with my papers. hopefully they are good enough.

i am going to die tomorrow. i get 2.5 hours of sleep then i have straight classes till 2:30 then i work from 3 to 10. i'm going to be living off energy drinks tomorrow

gawd i suck ;)

i find power in procrastination

just finished my philosophy paper. it's entitled exclusivism and a systematic theology. i'll post it when i get it put on my webspace i'm looking for.

it's 3:46 am and i still have a 5 page communications paper to write. yippee. hopefully i'll be able to finish it soon so i can get a couple hours of sleep before my long day of school and work tomorrow. what really sux is that this is all my own fault. i have nobody to blame

"gosh is for people who don't believe in heck"

i missed 24 last night, but was already able to find it online. that show just friggin rules.

once again, i changed my paper i'm writing for my philosophy of religion class. now i am going to argue that if a religion is exclusivist, it can have a systematic theology. i think i'm gonna be up late finishing it. yeah.......

i've decided to go a different route with my philosophy paper. instead it's going to be about systematic theology and will tentatively be called 'when is a mormon not a mormon'

my new roommates are a blast. i've been up till almost 3 these last couple nights talkin away with them. i'm never going to get any sleep...oh well. its hella better than my last place was.

holy crap, my ward's christmas activity was lame. well actually, every activity this ward (which is not many) have been lame. to be honest, i did have a fun time, but it was not because of the activity. it was because of the good friends i was with. like the thanksgiving activity, they did not have enough food. there was hardly anything planned at all. they didn't even bring bowls or spoons for the icecream. this ward seriouslt needs new leadership in for the activities. i think this largely the reason why the ward is so anti-social now.

i'm beginning to have a lot more fun here. there are people that i've found who are fun to hang out with. i wish i was more social when the semester began. megan would have enjoyed hanging out with all these people. its too bad that she doesn't want to be near me. i would almost be willing to back off by myself if it would make her feel more comfortable hanging out with everyone. haven't seen her for over a month. hope she is happy.

should charity be bounded by time and distance?

worked until 8 tonight. by the time i got home, everyone was out doing there own thing. a bunch of people went to temple square to see the lights. i really wanna go this winter, so i need to find someone to take. i ended up hitting the gym for a while and then sitting back with a movie and a book.

should charity be bounded by time and distance?

i went to smith's for my lunch break today to get myself a salad. as i was entering there was one of those salvation army dudes ringing his bell. i told myself that i was going to make a donation as i was leaving. as i left, i almost forgot, but after hearing the bells, i turned myself around to throw in a few bills. open my wallet. only a ten. i about turned back, but decided to drop in the ten. folded it. about to push in the bucket. its not a ten. its a twenty. i am rather strapped for cash right now, i could sacrifice a ten, but a twenty would be a little too much to for me right now. of course, this is from a guy who minutes before spent five dollars on a spinache salad. i will make a donation tomorrow though. i'll pass on lunch and donate ten.

the whole situation got me thinking though...here a two quick thoughts

time. why is it that everyone seems to care about others during december (and maybe november), but not the rest of the year? are people ay less hungry or in need in march or september? i try to be giving most of the year, but i admit i also do better on giving during the christmas season. one thing that really pushed me into wanting to be a philanthropist was hugh nibley's approaching zion. after reading that book, i had a huge desire to share my blessings with others. i feel bad now when i pass a beggar(sp?) but fail to give.

distance. here's the situation. you are going to an expensive restaurant and a movie and are only carrying enough money to pay for those things. on the way there, you pass a child who is suffering from starvation. with the money you have, you could get him some food, provide him with some necessities, and still have a small amount left to provide yourself with a simple meal. who could pass that child, acknowledge his existance and suffering, fail to help, but still feel good about herself? who would not consider neglecting the child as anything short of morally deplorable? who would not consider helping this child her mortal duty?

situation two. same as above, but there is no starving child on the way to your dinner. the child is in africa (or maybe in a nearby shelter). you know a starving child exists and you could help him with your money. is it your moral duty to help this child? does distance make neglecting a child in africa any less morally disgusting?

think about it

ever wonder what it's like to talk to your professor about philosophy while taking a piss in the restroom? well i now know what it is like.

potter talked about the study abroad in england trip this spring. i seriously want to go so bad. if i go, i'll be studying relgious based ethics, religion and violence, and some independant study course. i'll also get to go to paris for a weekend and a small trip to belfast as part of the study of religious violence with the catholic-protestant battles over there. it's gonna cost me five thousand bones though. i'm going to have to take out a loan.

gawd i love philosophy. i am seriously so glad i switched majors. now the big problem is all the grades i got in my computer classes. i really want to go into further education prolly back east, but in order to do that, i need to seriously fix my grades.

my final paper for my philosophy class is due a week from today. i think i'm gonna go with the whole religious experience topic, but prolly not specific to mormonism.

in other news...
i was sitting in one of my classes today and all of the sudden started seeing stars. it seemed like it lasted for a few minutes. i've only had that happen b4 when i've hit my head. crazy stufs. maybe its a tumor ;) ok...prolly not

god bless the u.s.a. where all men are created equal

...unless you are black, asian, native american, non-[traditional]christian, female, or anything else that is not the typical male white christian. i've been reading ronald takaki's a different mirror. it's hard to imagine and sickening when imagined how peoples of other races have been treated in the nation. from the black slaves to the american-born japanese thrown out of their homes into internment camps during the second world war. in the twenty-first century, we have definately matured and are doing much better, but we still have much more to do. a couple years ago following the sept 11 attacks, a roommate of mine thought it was a funny joke to stick a sign on the refridgerator saying 'kill all ragheads'. i got so pissed. what if it had been some asians? would we think it funny to hang a 'kill all japs' sign? obviously i would not have thought it funny. i didn't find my roommates sign at all funny either and yelled at him to take it down. i just don't see how some people can actually hate someone just because of the color of their skin, their religion, or their nationality.

in other news...i canceled the internet in my last apartment and thus lost my webspace. the site and associated links will be down until i put them in a new home

christmas time is here and oh golly gee i love it. i used to be the one who put up most of the christmas decorations around my home growing up. i need to run home and find my small christmas tree to put here in the apartment. hopefully the holiday spirit will help some in lifting my spirit.

will the real loyd ericson please stand up

somebody once accused me of being fake. am i a fake? i don't believe i am. i wonder if i do come off as one though.
i admit that i'm not normal and i'm rather unconventional. i try to be myself. i don't hold back. i enjoy discussing philosophy. i'm passionate about it. what does that equal? it equals me trying to hard to look like an intellectual. i love cracking jokes. that means i try to hard to seem funny. i enjoy sushi and the symphony. that means i'm trying to hard to seem cultured.
is it that i really am trying to hard? or is it more that i'm abnormal enough that it just doesn't seem real and thus must be a mirage i'm throwing over myself.
i guess i just need to continue to be myself. if someone doesn't like who i really am, they can kiss my butt. i do need to soften things down though. perhaps i do flaunt my person to try to be accepted. if i do, i'm at least flaunting who i really am. i'm not one of those persons who acts as though they are someone else to be accepted by others.