Jesus for write-in candidate?
“If
you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil and
you will be judged for it. You should always vote for the best possible
candidate, whether they have a chance of winning or not. Then, even if
the worst possible candidate wins, the Lord will bless our country more
because more people were willing to stand up for what is right.” (Ezra
Taft Benson)
Do you have a reference for that quote?
ReplyDeleteExactly. When did he say this?
DeleteThis doesn't sound like Benson would say this as the Book of Mormon just doesn't support it.
DeleteWhen Nephi was faced with killing Laban he didn't want to do it. In his mind it was evil to take someone's life. But the spirit explained: "...it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." (1 Nephi 4:13). Was not the spirit explaining to Nephi that sometimes you might have to do something that seems contrary to your values in order to prevent a worse scenario? Or, in other words, because we live in an imperfect world, sometimes you might have to choose the lesser of two evils.
Their is evidence of this in history as well. During WWII Roosevelt was faced with a dilemma. Hitler and his killing machine were taking over the world. FDR Had two choices: 1) Just let Hitler continue in his barbarous ways annihilating the Jewish race, take over Russia, the U.K. And then America, or 2) align himself with another wicked man (Stalin) to try and take Hitler out.
Under normal circumstances, aligning one's self to an evil tyrant would be evil. But there was a more imminent evil and threat from Hitler that needed to be dealt with. FDR chose THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS and aligned with Stalin. And I believe the spirit influenced him to do it. It turned out to be a brilliant strategic move and saved the world.
We live in a too messy and wicked world to think that we can get by with NEVER CHOOSING evil. It is foolish doctrine. If Nephi had the philosophy of never choosing evil he never would have killed Laban. If FDR aspoused that same doctrine he never would have aligned with a very wicked man and Hitler would have won the war.
killing Laban was not a lesser of two evils... Laban was in open rebellion against God, had tried to kill Nephi and his brothers twice, and at the threat of death had robbed them of their property. Killing Laban was NOT murder... it was justice. And, though Nephi in and of himself had no right to meet out justice (vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord), God does have that right. Nephi was only his instrument.
DeleteI wanted Ben Carson for President. I hope Jesus Christ administers a rainbow enema to all who deserve it.
ReplyDeleteThis guy seems to have values worth voting for. Just a regular person running because of all the crud on the ballots at the moment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.c-span.org/video/?408208-1/constitution-party-nominee-acceptance-speech
The Book of Mormon doesn't supprt this philosophy so I don't believe Benson authored it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Nephi was faced with killing Laban he cringed at the idea. But the angel explained: "...it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." (1 Nephi 4:13). Was not the spirit explaining to Nephi that sometimes you have to a thing that seems contrary to your values in order to prevent a worse scenario? Or, in other words, sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils.
History demonstrates this as well. During WWII Roosevelt was faced with a dilemma. Hitler and his killing machine were taking over the world. FDR had two options: 1) Just let Hitler continue his agenda, annihilating the Jews, take over Russia, the U.K., and then America. Or, 2) Align himself with another extremely wicked man (Stalin) to try and take Hitler out.
Under normal circumstances aligning with an evil tyrant would be evil. But there was a more imminent evil and threat from Hitler that needed to be dealt with. FDR chose THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS and chose to align with Stalin. And I think the spirit influenced him to do it. It turned out to be a brilliant strategic move and saved the world.
We live in too messy and wicked if a world to think that we will never be faced with decisions where we might have to chose the lesser of two evils in order to prevent a worse scenario. If Nephi was of the philosophy that choosing the lesser of two evils is still evil, then he never would have killed Laban. If FDR was of that same philosophy then he never would have aligned with an evil man and Hitler would have won the war.
Just like Nephi didn't like the idea of killing Laban and FDR didn't like the idea of aligning with Stalin, I don't like the idea of voting for Trump but I will do it to try to prevent a worse scenario of Hillary in the White House.
This is nothing like Nephi's dealing with Laban! Nephi did not what to kill Laban not because it was evil to do, but because he just didn't want to kill. Moroni taught us that killing at times is a necessity but clearly it is not a task to be taken lightly. Remember, the commandment to not kill is in reference to murder, Nephi was not murdering Laban, Laban was a wicked man and it was a necessity in order to continue the lords work! This brings me to the lesser of two evils, evil is evil, you can not choose it and be in the right!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is very naive tho think that one can go through this life never having to make choices where we might have to choose the lesser of two evils. My example of FDR and WWII illustrates that. Welcome to planet earth. It is simply too messy and wicked of a world to think that way. Ted Cruz even said himself that the way he would deal with ISIS would be to carpet bomb ISIS territories. Surely that kind of action would kill innocent women and children. Isn't the killing of innocent people evil? Yet Cruz takes the position that in order to deal with the greater threat of ISIS, innocent people might have to die. He takes the position of choosing the lesser of two evils.
ReplyDeleteIt happens all the time in war. An American sniper might have to kill an innocent child who has a bomb attached to himself who's duty it is to go in a building, detonate his bomb and blow up a bunch of people. The sniper might have to choose the lesser of two evils and kill that child to prevent a worse scenario. All children are innocent before God so that sniper would be killing an innocent human being. But again, he's faced with the lesser of two evils.
Life is like a chess game. Whoever can think the most moves ahead wins. The object of Chess is to win the game. You might have to concede a few pawns in the process but if all you do in your chess game is try to protect every pawn you will surely lose.
I'm not sure why everyone thinks Donald Trump is evil. Do I believe that he's an egotistical, self-absorbed jerk? Yes. Does he scare me as a President? Yes. But that doesn't mean he's inherently evil. And he's better than the alternative.
Trump is a New Yorker. He's brass, blunt and tells it like it is.He didn't grow up in a world where he was taught "kindness begins with me." His style might offend people, especially if you're from Utah where we are taught to do our visiting teaching and take cookies to our neighbors. His culture is just a very different culture than Utah culture.
Trump was not at all my choice for our Republican nominee. Some things he says and does makes me cringe. But that's the reality. What am I suppose to do now? Stomp my feet in protest, pick up my ball and go home because the game isn't being played the way I want it to be played? No. I might just have to "concede a pawn or two" and vote for Trump to prevent an even worse scenario of Hillary in the Whitehouse. A 3rd party/write in vote or abstaining from voting would surely be contributing to a Hillary victory.
Wow, you sure do pick and choose with MUCH bias about which comments get posted on here. Getting old. I'm not the only one who's noticed that when the hard core truth is presented, you dismiss it if it doesn't fall in line with the rhetoric you're spewing.
ReplyDelete