Watching Presidents

Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Carter, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump.

I have been privileged to live long enough to have watched them all in action and how society responded to their time in office.  And lately my work has had me immersed in reviewing newspapers from the era in which one of them served in office.  This has caused me to reflect on what I have observed over the decades as these men have come and gone

What I have learned:

Besides the political power they wield in lawmaking and policy making, either directly or through political appointments, they have immense empowering influence in society at large.  The people in society who share the president’s own personal moral and ethical standards feel more empowered and free to act upon those standards while he (or she, someday) is in office, whether or not those standards are legal.

A president who is unfaithful to his or her spouse creates a climate where those inclined to be similarly unfaithful, feel freer to do so.

Similarly, when we have had a president who is racist or bigoted, or who values civil rights, or who values power over honesty, or who values environmental protection, or who values accumulation of private wealth, or who values personal involvment in charitable work, or who values fiscal responsibility, or who demeans men or demeans women, or who is inclined to bully, or who values and respects thoughtful negotiation, etc. etc. we have seen increases of actions based upon those values within our society, as people who are inclined towards those values feel empowered to act upon them.

Therefore, I reject the idea that citizens should vote for a president simply based upon a candidate’s stated political policies alone, or how those policies will further his or her own personal wants or needs.  It is foolhardy to fail to consider any candidate’s personal moral and ethical standards and values because, inevitably, those moral or ethical standards will be magnified and fostered in your own community, schools, neighborhoods, in the media, and in the nation as a whole as people who hold similar values feel empowered to act upon them.

It is not just political platforms that we must be aware of.  The moral and ethical assumptions and values of the president wield immense influence upon the sense of empowerment of those in your own community who share them.

"And deny yourself of all ungodliness"

My friend, F. asked a question about the meaning of that phrase. It caused me to look more carefully at Moroni, chapter 10.  I think looking at the verses surrounding that verse in this chapter is helpful.  Thanks, F., for asking the question.

Verse

30—come unto Christ, (learn his word, watch and emulate his ways, seek his will and follow it with His kind of love) seek every good gift (all those gifts listed in verses 8-21 and more—given to various of his children—recognize them in each other. Recognize them in you.  Work together with those gifts)

31—arise from the dust (don’t believe that you are worthless nor only capable of insignificant, unworthy actions and situations)  and put on thy beautiful garments (rise to who God sees you as; his beloved and noble child, sent on an arduous journey) and strengthen thy stakes (strengthen your knowledge of and commitment to the most basic principles of the gospel, to which everything else is tied—love of God and of fellow men) and enlarge thy borders (catch a greater vision of the expansiveness, clarity  and inclusiveness of the gospel of Christ) forever (this is an eternal process, not a one and done) that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee (do you know what those covenants are?  Pre-mortal? Abrahamic?  Baptismal? Temple?  Likely all four) may be fulfilled.

32—Yea, come unto Christ  (see above) and be perfected in Him (learning his word, watching and emulating his ways, and seeking his will, and following it with His kind of love for God and others is the process of becoming whole and perfect.  See also the paragraph that is Matthew 5:43-48) and deny yourself of all ungodliness (as you go through this process of learning good, you will also go through a process of learning what is not good…as you recognize those, repent—change what you love—to reflect that learning); and if you shall deny yourself of all ungodliness (repent, change what you love as you recognize things in your life that are not good and in accordance to his ever-loving will) and love God with all your might, mind and strength (sometimes it takes that amount of love  of God to get us out of sins we love to indulge in) then is His grace (grace: His ready, powerful, willingness to help us) sufficient for you (enough) that by his grace (that, due to His ready, powerful, willingness to help you and your willingness to receive that help) ye may be perfect in Christ (we are able to come to love the Father, all men and every good thing as He does and respond as He does); and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can nowise deny the power of God (and if you go through this process of welcoming God’s powerful help in your efforts to repent and to become more loving and willing to work with the Father as Christ is, you will become a person who personally has experienced and KNOWS the power of God.)

33 If  ye, by the grace of God (if, through receiving His ready, powerful help throughout in your life and in the life to come, I might add) you  are perfected in Him (continue this process of discipleship  of coming unto Christ,–loving as He does, knowing first hand His power and increasing in comprehension of His ways and embracing those)  then are ye sanctified (made holy—more like God in purpose and understanding) by the grace of God (sanctification, holiness, is not something we can do on our own, it requires that we open ourselves to God’s ready willingness to help and embrace working with Him and repenting and receiving his help) through the shedding of the blood of Christ (repentance that completely erases the sins we are trying to deny ourselves is only possible because of Christ’s atonement for us), which is the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins (Christ’s atonement is a covenant that the Father made with us before we came here.  He promised us a savior that would provide a way for our sins to be remitted) that ye become holy (sanctified, more like He is) without spot (cleansed from sin)