Talents

I finished Three Cups of Tea this morning as I rode into work on Trax. I was wrapped up reading, when struck by the dichotomy of Greg Mortenson who had just been caught in the crossfire between two skirmishing bands of drug runners in northern Afghanistan, had not eaten in three days, had lost his laptop, his backpack, and had lost most of his money. All so he could meet and befriend the local warlord so he could build schools in the province. Meanwhile, standing next to me, was a long haired, pudgy man animatedly describing the magical powers bestowed upon an avatar from the various colored manas in some computer game. I stifled my laugh. The two situations could not be more opposite.

The men’s conversation continued as they exited Trax ten minutes later at the U stadium. They were completely absorbed by this game. It was their world, their joy. This game is what they do. But where is the meaning in that? What good does it do?

Greg Mortenson has beautifully demonstrated the true power one man can have when he acts. Look at the good he has done. He has single handedly influenced more than 15,000 children in one of the poorest and dangerous areas in the world. He educates. This is what he does.

The parable of the talents comes to mind (Matt.25:14-30). The Lord sent us to earth and we each have certain talents. Some of us have five, some one. The Lord expects us to return to him having used and developed our talent(s), thus earning interest. He who has one is expected to return with two. He who has five, ten.

Greg has used his. But what about all those of us who are sitting around all day watching movies and playing video games? How is that improving us and helping others? Elder Bednar said in a sacrament meeting held at the Kaysville 17th ward, “you will be held accountable for the good you could have done.” I can’t help but wonder if those of us who whittle away our time with activities that merely distract will be greeted by the Lord saying, “Thou wicked and slothful servant…cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Matt 25:26,30).

This has made me stop and think: How and by what is my life defined? Computer games, movies, writing, the outdoors? What is it I do?

What is it that you do?

New American Rights

I have posted this verbatim from my buddy, Thomas Sowell. He has more authority than I, and says it better besides. My source for the text is here, and I originally read this published in Utah's Deseret News.

Take it away Mr. Sowell:

Among the many new "rights" being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a "right" to win.

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

Hillary Clinton's supporters were not merely disappointed, but outraged, when she lost the Democrats' nomination to Barack Obama. Some took it as a sign that, while racial barriers had come down, the "glass ceiling" holding down women was still in place.

Apparently, if you don't win, somebody has put up a barrier or a ceiling. The more obvious explanation of the nomination outcome was that Obama ran a better campaign than Hillary. There is no reason to doubt that she would have been the nominee if the votes in the primaries had come out her way.

As the election approached, pundits warned that, if Obama lost, there would be riots in the ghetto. We will never know. But since when does any candidate have a right to win any office, much less the White House?

The worst of all the reactions from people who act as if they have a right to win have come from gay activists in the wake of voter rejection of so-called "gay marriage," which is to say, redefining what marriage has meant for centuries.

Blacks and Mormons have been the main targets of the gay activists' anger. Seventy percent of blacks voted against gay marriage in California, so racial epithets were hurled at blacks in Los Angeles -- not in black neighborhoods, by the way.

Blacks who just happened to be driving through Westwood, near UCLA, were accosted in their cars and, in addition to being denounced, were warned, "You better watch your back."

Even blacks who were carrying signs in favor of gay marriage were denounced with racial epithets.

In Michigan, an evangelical church service was invaded and disrupted by gay activists, who also set off a fire alarm, because evangelicals had dared to exercise their right to express their opinions at the polls.

In Oakland, Calif., a mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in such numbers that officials shut down a nearby freeway exit for more than three hours.

In their midst was a San Francisco supervisor who said, "The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs." He added, "This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons."

Apparently Mormons don't have the same rights as other Americans, at least not if they don't vote the way gay activists want them to vote.

There was another gay activist mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in Orange County, California.

In the past, gay activists have disrupted Catholic services, and their "gay pride" parades in San Francisco have crudely mocked nuns.

While demanding tolerance from others, gay activists apparently feel no need to show any themselves.

How did we get to this kind of situation?

With all the various groups who act as if they have a right to win, we got to the present situation over the years, going back to the 1960s, where the idea started gaining acceptance that people who felt aggrieved don't have to follow the rules or even the law.

"No justice, no peace!" was a slogan that found resonance.

Like so many slogans, it sounds good if you don't stop and think -- and awful if you do.

Almost by definition, everybody thinks their cause is just. Does that mean that nobody has to obey the rules? That is called anarchy.

Nobody is in favor of anarchy. But some people want everybody else to obey the rules, while they don't have to.

What they want is not decisive, however. It is what other people are willing to tolerate that determines how far any group can go.

When the majority of the people become like sheep, who will tolerate intolerance rather than make a fuss, then there is no limit to how far any group will go.