Moral Relativism and the Great Gun-Control Debate

Never let a problem to be solved become 
more important than a person to be loved.
-Thomas S. Monson

A good friend recently asked me what my feelings are on the gun debate. Rather than simply reposting articles or sharing content from others on Facebook, I took this kind invitation to articulate my own thoughts. A healthy exercise I highly recommend.

Moral Relativism

I sincerely believe there is a real need to strike a public discussion regarding the how to counter the world suffering from “the love of men [waxing] cold.” I believe this to be the root cause of most of our current civil challenges today. The concept that we, as a global people, are having our hearts grow colder and losing the value of life, love and unity. I submit that this is due to the growing acceptance of Moral Relativism. I submit this be considered one fo the greatest diseases of our time.

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy the definition of Moral Relativism is stated as “…the truth or justification of moral judgments is not absolute, but relative to the moral standard of some person or group of persons. Sometimes ‘moral relativism’ is connected with a normative position about how we ought to think about or act towards those with whom we morally disagree, most commonly that we should tolerate them.

Is violence bad – Yes! Do lives matter? Yes!! Human life is sacred and most important. This statement encompasses all races, nationality, orientation, and those that are yet unborn. This is an eternal truth. Life in its grand journey IS of great value.

Gun Violence Is High

In regards to gun violence. Is it high? Yes.

With that said I want to amend that statement to a more practical and relevant one – Is violence high? (Gun or knife violence, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, etc.) YES! This is the question that should be fueling the public debate. I feel that the gun debate is but a distraction for politicians to jockey for electoral votes.

 I do appreciate any gun legislation dialogue that calls for deeper discussion on human safety and not just the flash bang topic of the gun control debate. I feel that gun violence is but a symptom of this great issue. But hey it IS an election year.

Treating Symptoms Doesn’t Cut It.

I feel any movement/legislation by government officials to ban/control or restrict guns will not lessen human to human violence.  Please reference Australia’s suicide and robbery and violent crime numbers post gun-ban.  I believe guns are only some of the tools or implements of this greater issue. Looking to gun legislation to fix the illness is like a doctor treating symptoms rather than looking for the underlying problem. Dr. Mark Hyman, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, once wrote, “It’s like taking the batteries out of a smoke detector instead of trying to find the fire.”

Case studies of Baltimore and Chicago area where strict guns laws failed to stem violent crime rates.  Those crime rates stayed relatively level over time. I do agree that those affected areas include demographic groups that currently struggle with a system that hampers their ability to help themselves. (healthcare, public assistance, racial divide – you name it.) The system doesn’t provide enough disincentives to violent crime – which usually incorporates guns. Again – greater issue at the root than just the guns. So let’s have that be the discussion.

Personal Accountability and Responsibility

I feel there is an absolute need to ensure prudence and responsibility in gun ownership. I feel current talks on gun legislation are headed in a way that would squelch the 2nd amendment and be a detriment to both civic and private gun use. Please note that I am not one who is disillusioned by any sense of visions of glory or heroism in conceal to carry permit practices. I fully understand the legal and eternal implications of any actions taken with a gun (pistol or rifle) if I choose to do so. I feel that training is essential but if individuals do not pursue training – personal limitations should be understood and practiced by that individual practitioner.

The Infamous 2nd Amendment

To those that feel the 2nd amendment only relates to the formation and regulations of militias. In 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that in spite of the first part of the 2nd Amendment — that which refers to the militia — "the Second Amendment's premise is that guns would be kept by citizens for self-protection (and hunting)." The court acknowledged the history the militia played in the creation of the 2nd Amendment, but that militias were not the only measure to be viewed when looking at the 2nd amendment on gun ownership and reasonable use. (Parker v District of Columbia; see also District of Columbia v Heller, McDonald v Chicago)

My Personal Closing Statement

Yes, I believe more be done to revamp gun legislation without taking the right to bear arms from responsible citizens – I think there is definitely room to refine existing practices. I also feel that we can focus more on civic unity and coming together as a people. We need to take our energy and efforts to bring the fight where it should be most effective. We must understand and fight against what I understand to be a subtle enemy of goodness and unity, MORAL RELATIVISM. There is a right and wrong and it does matter.

So let’s keep this discussion going for the sake of human lives everywhere.

In the end this is just a rant without many answers or suggestions. I don’t have the answers but as a collective and unified group of human beings, I know it can be achieved. We were created to succeed.

The Dalai Lama teaches that happiness and fear have
something very much in common. They are both the result
 of internal influences rather than external circumstances.

Here are principles of success that have been taught throughout the ages that we may look to in this discussion:

• Personal accountability
• Hard work
• Respect
• Kindness
• Service to others
• The Importance of the family unit
•  Faith as a principle of action
•  Self-reliance
•  Forgiveness

A good friend once wrote that he wasn’t so concerned about greater calamities or disasters but that he was focused on how he would be found in those situations. Would he be helpful to others, a builder of society/community, will he be a calm within the storm? This is the way I, too, wish to live - in both my personal or professional life.

Leaky Canoe and the Sticky Solution

Here is one experience from my last trip to the BWCA. It is one of two that stood out in my mind. I can't speak for the boys but I walked away with some bit of gold to remember for years to come.

This story is about some light-hearted mistreatment of a rental canoe and the wonders of the solution.

One afternoon while enjoying sometime around base camp, the boys ventured over to a small nearby island to explore the area. It was the small island on the eastern side, just south of our peninsula base camp.

Our peninsula basecamp due north of the small island on the east side of 4

Once there they noticed the shore of the island was full of the most amazing skipping stones. A competition began and soon the throwing turned into a full-on competition. In all the fun, the boys did not notice their canoe had started floating away from shore.

As the water can be a bit chilly and with the boys not paying attention, the boat was then beyond their reach without a quick dip.

Now here is where the boys' minds went into overdrive and came with a solution. They thought that by throwing stones over and beyond the canoe a splash or wave could be created and deliver the canoe safely back to shore.

The flaw in the plan was not considering the consequences of rocks that fail to clear the canoe and hit the boat’s thin aluminum hull. 

In the words of Scooby Doo, “Rud rowh!”

The boys somehow made it back to camp with a canoe now sporting a cool water intake to its underside. They explained to us what they had done and to their credit they owned the mistake and clearly understood the consequences. 

What they didn’t know was how they were supposed to canoe the 12 miles back to the launch on the last day with a leaky rig.

I had anticipated the possibility of such a circumstance and packed a small amount of duct tape. They watched as a quick application to the boat’s wound, it was then again seaworthy until a more permanent repairs could be made. 

Here we go - This life is to make choices – either good or bad. For these choices we; Prepare, Learn, Explore and Overcome Challenges. We make our choices yet we don't choose their consequences. Consequences are defined by the law of nature and the law of the harvest or in other words - by a loving Heavenly Father.  

The impact of those consequences can be far reaching in life. What do we choose to touch, watch, eat, hear, say and think? How do we love, react, serve, work and validate others? How do you want to Prepare, Learn, Explore and Overcome Challenges during this life?

Like many others, I believe that we are here to succeed. The plan that we are a part of is The Plan of Happiness.

We have been given tools to overcome challenges enabling us to continue exploring the beauties of the earth around us. Enjoy life. We have a divine duct tape that can repair our souls, help us heal and enable us to change and progress. Through Christ’s Atonement, we have an advocate, a Savior, who makes it possible to change and move past mistakes and wrong choices and back onto better paths. His infinite sacrifice makes it possible.

This life is the proving ground for the eternities. We will hit some rocks, snag trees and we may even lose a paddle but it should not and will not stop me from taking in all that I can that is beautiful. 

BWCA, School of Law... Law of the Harvest that is.

In the writing of the renowned C.S. Lewis, he refers to this life as but a shadow of that which is to come. Lewis believed that this life is only the title page of our existential storybook with chapter one starting just after death. This life being but a small moment and testing grounds for that true grand story that awaits.

Last summer I accompanied a group of young men from church to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).  This 4 day excursion or "Summer School of Life" into a preserved nature area  would teach us the law of nature, including the law of the harvest.  "As a Man Sows, So Shall He Reap."

Like many things in life, the law of the harvest can be whatever we make of it. Our friend or our enemy. The woods are a great place to learn and grow.

A trip with young men like this demands a certain level of focus and preparedness. Understanding this can be critical to trip success and even safety.

image from 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Waters_Canoe_Area_Wilderness

Some may say it is in these moments where, "things just got real!"

We worked with the young men on pack lists, skill demonstrations, gear checks, and water safety training. This preparation began 3 months before the trip was to begin. It was quite the undertaking but enjoyable.

We had a range of skills across the group. Some boys knew exactly how to prepare while others requiring extra support. Leadership placed priority on those in that second group to be sure to set them up for success. We provided them the tools they needed.

This preparation doesn't guarantee success or even cover all the potential conditions that we could find up in that rugged land to the north. The other leaders and I worked hard to empower them with a framework of knowledge. This framework would lead to better educated decisions, helping them cultivate their righteous agency.

As leaders of the young men in our congregation, we were hoping to have the trip teach some life lessons and trigger some self-reflection. 

Having to prepare, learning and developing skills, understanding situations and figuring out how to play the cards dealt, perseverance to overcome, the thrill of doing something difficult, and learning to enjoy the journey.

The trip delivered on all accounts.

Our Mothers

Kansas City, KS - Mother's Day 2000,   https://goo.gl/maps/8nY1M

In The Family: A Proclamation to the World, it states;

"ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

Daughters of God have been given divine nature and destiny that can bless them and those around them. This special set of skills are premortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose.

Women ARE mothers as they leverage this divine nature and destiny for the benefit of God’s children, whether it be for their own children or the children from the greater Family Tree of our loving Heavenly Father.

Mission (Fear and Respect)

 

Member's firebombed car during my time in KC, MO.

I had the pleasure to serve in the Independence Missouri Mission and many people ask me if I had the opportunity to serve in the visitors’ centers and the answer is no – they leave that to the Sisters who have been given a special set divine nature.

I did however serve most of my mission in the sometimes rough inner cities of Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas. In these areas we interacted with a wide spectrum of people from all different places, background, race, religious beliefs, political persuasion and economic status.

Some of the people I encountered had leanings towards the shadier side of life or living a rougher lifestyle then some – gang members or drug dealers or rough characters. They might make people nervous but like most missionaries will tell you, they knew who we were and were not about to bother us.

One rather large rough looking gentleman by the name of T-Bone explained it to me this way. He told us that he feared only God and his mother. As he felt that we were doing God's work and and he could respected that. I appreciated T-bone’s respect.

Interesting concept, fearing God and our mothers.

Good fear?

In this last General Conference, Elder Bednar spoke about the Fear of the Lord being something that... “encompasses a deep feeling of reverence, respect, and awe for the Lord Jesus Christ (see Psalm 33:8; 96:4), obedience to His commandments (see Deuteronomy 5:29; 8:6; 10:12; 13:4; Psalm 112:1), and anticipation of the Final Judgment and justice at His hand.” (David A. Bednar, “Therefore They Hushed Their Fears,” (April General Conference 2015)

I would like to suggest that T-bone’s fear of his mother grows out of the similarities between the Lord and the divine role of motherhood. Mothers sacrifice, serve, teach, help us pick ourselves up when we fall and love us in spite of our imperfections… the list could go on and on.

Again in this last April’s General Conference, Young Women General President Bonnie Oscarson quoted President Thomas S. Monson, regarding mothers. (Defenders of the Family Proclamation, April General Conference 2015)

“May each of us treasure this truth; one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and [our earthly] mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one.” (Thomas S. Monson, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign, Jan. 1974, 32.)

Strong Influencing Powerhouse – Force of Good

My Mom and the 2 month old me

This fear or love of and for our mothers can direct us to our better selves.  Have you ever been asked, “Does your mother know you are doing that?” “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” I know I have.

President Monson shared a story about Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson (a surviving Union & Confederate officer). (Thomas S. Monson, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign, Jan. 1974, 32. as well as Pushing to the Front, Orison Marden)

"A famed officer from the Civil War period, Colonel Higginson, when asked to name the incident of the Civil War that he considered the most remarkable for bravery, said that there was in his regiment a man whom everybody liked, a man who was brave and noble, who was pure in his daily life, absolutely free from dissipations in which most of the other men indulged.

One night at a champagne supper, when many were becoming intoxicated, someone in jest called for a toast from this young man. Colonel Higginson said that he arose, pale but with perfect self-control, and declared: “Gentlemen, I will give you a toast which you may drink as you will, but which I will drink in water. The toast that I have to give is, ‘Our mothers.’”

Instantly a strange spell seemed to come over all the tipsy men. They drank the toast in silence. There was no laughter, no more song, and one by one they left the room. The lamp of memory had begun to burn, and the name of “Mother” touched every man’s heart."

My Mother-In-Law

Who can think of a Mother’s day where the Sons of Helaman were not mentioned? As it was shared by Helaman to Moroni. (Alma 56:45-48, 56)

45 … never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall…

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

…

56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength…

How is this done? – Mothers give comfort.

My Grandma Curtis

These young men were taught and comforted by their mothers and made mighty in faith. It goes beyond bandaging boo-boos and kissing owies – even though it does help.

As this life is a test – there will be trial, hardship, challenges and pain. These are for our benefit. As part of our baptismal covenant all of us have made the promises spoken in Mosiah 18.

Alma preached by the waters of Mormon challenging us to give comfort …

8 Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life. (Mosiah 18:8-9)

Elder Eyring of the 1^st Presidency taught in the General Women’s Session. (Henry B. Eyring, The Comforter, April General Conference, 2015)

My Grandma Youngquist

"That is why you have a feeling to want to help a person struggling to move forward under a load of grief and difficulty. You promised that you would help the Lord make their burdens light and be comforted. You were given the power to help lighten those loads when you received the gift of the Holy Ghost."

It is the power of the Holy Ghost along with the divine nature is instrumental in bearing one another’s burdens and bring about peace and joy in this test called life. This covenant with promise along with women’s divine nature and destiny lighten burdens and bring about Relief Society’s “Charity Never Faileth.”

Equal but opposite

We know that it was not good for man to be alone but to have a complimentary partner.

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18)

Eve was created and the role of women was introduced on the earth for the first time with the role of motherhood soon to follow.

The phrase help meet means “equal but opposite.” Think of your hands. Imagine trying to work a shovel or a rake with two hands that are positioned the same way. Or think of an airplane’s wings. Both are the same but opposite and equally important in achieving flight. Equal but opposite. (http://emp.byui.edu/satterfieldb/PDF/RoleManWoman2.pdf)

The beautiful glow of a mother

The role of women and mothers is not one in competition with men and fathers. Instead the roles of mother and father, man and woman perfectly compliment one another.

Both men and women must work together to fulfill the plan of happiness. In General Conference President Linda K. Burton of the General Relief Society Presidency shared a Quaker proverb loved by Elder Robert D. Hales, “Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together” (Quaker proverb).

Please make sure that the words spoken, the service rendered, and kindness extended is sincere - on both sides of the equation. Both sides should support and sustain the other just as each airplane wing helps the other to generate lift. 

“Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together”

Perfect Example

Remember the perfect example of our Savior at the meridian of time. As John’s account provides an amazing point of emphasis on the importance of remembering mothers.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:26-27)

My amazing wife and mother of our children

John states that “After this… all things were now accomplished” ( John 19:28)

I am humbled to remember my mother and grateful to say she is my mother.  I am the happiest man on earth being the husband to talented and beautiful daughter of God. The more I learn about motherhood and am blessed to observe it through different phases of life, the more I am in awe of those faithful practitioners of womanhood/motherhood that give so much of themselves to those around them.

-Our mothers.