Monday, June 13, 2016
Prayers for the victims of the senseless tragedy in Orlando
My thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved in the tragic terror attack in Orlando. It sickens me that within these United States, an extremist should be allowed to attack people with whom he has a difference of opinion. This senseless act is tragic. The LDS Church has issued a statement about what happened. It says:
"With the rest of the nation, we mourn the tragic loss of life and serious injuries that occurred in Orlando this morning. We pray for the families and loved ones of the victims of this senseless shooting and pray they will be comforted and cared for as they seek to heal. Our prayers and support are also with community leaders and law enforcement officials as they continue to investigate this shocking crime."
I feel like I could say "Amen" and end this post right there, but I wanted to further state that those of the LDS Church, who underwent similar persecution as a result of difference of opinion in the early days of Church history, most likely understand more than anyone else what it means to be persecuted for practicing one's beliefs. In a land where the marriage of same-gender individuals has been declared constitutional, it boggles my mind that something like this could happen. My heart bleeds for all those affected by this incident, and I join in praying for all those whose lives have been made worse because this happened. I pray we will all unite in prayer on their behalf.
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.