Why I'm Glad to be an American Today

Today is the day that our electoral college officially chooses our President. You might think that we already did that in November, but actually, we just voted for which political party in our state would get to choose the people to represent us when our state participates in the electoral college. I always thought that this system was unfair, but is it?

Why was our election process set up so that the populace would not be able to have a direct vote for our President? As James Madison and Alexander Hamilton explained in the Federalist Papers , the Constitution was set up to 

Does Obeying the Commandments of God take away my Freedom?

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-06-27-the-freedom-to?lang=eng

Some people have had enough of the immature and prideful accusations from people who use religion as a club. Beating upon others, they declare,"You did that. You are bad!", and, "I keep every rule, so I am better than you!" I almost expect next to hear the childish taunt of, "Na, na, Na, na, na", ending with, "I'm going to tell Mommy on you!"  Fed up, some people, understandably, want nothing more to do with the commandments of God.

Being a parent and grandparent has given me an interesting perspective on rules, yes, even commandments. When a child is young you can try and reason with them and try and convince them of the wisdom of doing as you have told them, but it doesn't work.

Should the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sing at Trump's Inauguration?

Having heard that a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has resigned
because as she says, "it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and
fascism by singing for this man", I thought I would look at this situation.
Here is the official statement by the Choir leader:

“The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a great tradition of performing at the
inaugurals of U.S. presidents," said Ron Jarrett, president of the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir. "Singing the music of America is one of the things we
do best. We are honored to be able to serve our country by providing music
for the inauguration of our next president."

Members of the 360-member volunteer choir will travel to the nation’s capital

for the historic event."

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-tabernacle-choir-trump-inauguration

https://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/videos/america-the-dream-goes-on-mormon-tabernacle-choir.html

To me the position of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is that they desire to serve our country and uphold our government, not endorse a specific President. The facts support this conclusion. The articles I read gave a list of performances the Choir has given for different US Presidents.

What does a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe about Blind Obedience and Freedom

Go here to download this fun video. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-08-1260-act-for-themselves?category=topics/agency&lang=eng

I have often heard, "I would never be a Mormon. They believe in blind obedience. I value my freedom and will not blindly follow some leader, some Prophet." There are dictators and cult leaders who through military force, drugs, and personal charisma are able to make others submit to their will, but they are never able to maintain this control for very long. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in 1836 nearly two hundred years ago and is now a thriving worldwide church of over 15 million people. Would so many people join and remain in a church where they were required to surrender their right to make decisions, to think for themselves? Are our eighteen year old missionaries that charismatic? Hardly!

People say, but you follow a prophet. Yes, we do. What would have happened to the people of Israel if they had not followed the prophet, Moses, who led them out of slavery in Egypt?  As one of our Apostles explained, "We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see. "