hodge podge

I realized today that my editing skills are lacking. P8 in my last post meant proposition 8 which is a proposal in California to define marriage as one man and one woman in the Californian constitution. For anyone that wants to research the topic more, I found these helpful websites:

http://www.protectmarriage.com/ --the coalition of churchs that asked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to get involved
http://www.preservingmarriage.org/ --the church's website on the matter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_8 -- a good unbiased resource
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/same-sex-marriage-and-proposition-8 -- includes portions of an official broadcast from the brethren of the church to the members in California

I also have read alot of deragatory things about the church because it's involvement in Proposition 8. I think this topic is especially hot because the church is very adamant that it will remain politically neutral. The thing that people don't realize is that this isn't siding with the Republicans, it is taking a stance on a moral issue that is fundamental to the gospel. Elder Oaks of the quorum of the twelve gives us a good perspective on why the church got involved: "Over past years we have seen unrelenting pressure from advocates of that lifestyle to accept as normal what is not normal, and to characterize those who disagree as narrow-minded, bigoted and unreasonable," Oaks said. "Given these trends, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must take a stand on doctrine and principle. This is more than a social issue -- ultimately it may be a test of our most basic religious freedoms to teach what we know our Father in Heaven wants us to teach." -- http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2008/10/20/news/breaking/1.txt

I read about another state that now allows gay marriage, which is the third state to do so. The Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled that to deny gay's marriage licences infringed on their constitutional rights: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4996BE20081010?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 I honestly don't care if 2 people of the same sex live together, but when schools are allowed to indoctrinate kids on the matter, THAT IS WRONG. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436961,00.html

I thought I would list books that I've read that are very informative on the signs of the times and that are written by General Authorities:
The Coming of the Lord by Gerald Lund
The Signs of the Times by Joseph Fielding Smith
The Millenial Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie

If anyone knows of other books that are worth while on the subject, please post them!!!

One tidbit of useful information is that the church is going to make Patriarchal Blessings available for download and is also allowing members to contribute to a LDS wiki. Here is the link announcing it: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705257109,00.html?pg=1

I also should've made it clear that everything I say is my opinion and DEFINITELY not official doctrine!!