Playing Virtual Tag

All kids like to play tag. They run and chase and laugh, taking turns of who is it. Here in the virtual blog world, a game similar to it exists. Someone comes up with a list of questions and then goes to a friend's blog and "tags" them. To become un-it, the blog author has to answer the questions and then "tag" someone else.

Though this blog is linked to other individual's blogs, the author has never been "tagged".

Tagging seems to be a singular honor that is not reserved for those of us this side of The Blunt Edge. We have survived thus far without it, and likely will in the future as well. That being said, don't anyone take it upon yourself to "tag" The Blunt Edge, or we shall be forced to take drastic measures... like ignoring the request to divulge trivial information about ourselves to all the virtual data voyeurs out there.

In fact, it is kind of an honor that The Blunt Edge hasn't been tagged. Kind of like proudly being able to say that you never stepped foot in or near the Star Palace or any of the other dance clubs who cater / catered to the college crowd in Provo, Utah, in all the years you were a college student there.

It is sometimes amusing to see the rounds these little games of tag make. But more often than not, one such as myself sees the "Tag" post on another person's blog and ends up losing interest within about three of the "revelatory" answers. I mean -- come on -- if a person isn't gonna be telling a deep dark secret, what is the point?

We don't want to hear the most embarrassing moment of your life was when one of your children had a blowout and the toxic waste dripped all over your rich relation's new silk blouse... what is necessary is the detailed plans for the death ray you're building in the garage!

We need to know that you are some sort of mild mannered gopher at a fictional newspaper by day and a flying, caped super hero when not on the clock... not that your favorite TV show is the epsiode of "24" where House makes a call on Jack Bauer and they end up getting Lost or "The Welcome Back Kotter 90210 Christmas Special".

So, when a cousin of mine announced to the world on Facebook that she had answered a "Tag" there, I felt it would be interesting to see how I would answer the questions she was tagged with. Be aware, this is only hypothetical, because I wasn't tagged, and neither was this blog.

Enjoy.



1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Well, duh! Like after everyone else in the history of the Earth who was named before me...

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Sorry, that didn't make it into my Franklin Planner.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I can read it, can't you?

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Track is always good, but so is wrestling. I can't say I've ever heard of holding one at lunch though.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? I am not fortunate enough to own juvenile goats... or adult goats for that matter.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'm already my own best friend. If I were another person, that would mean I have to borrow, purchase, or otherwise steal someone else's identity, and well frankly, no one else quite measures up to my greatness. Besides that being quite illegal, it would end up being a step down in friendship with me...

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Only on the second Thursdays of each week.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Well, if that is your way of asking if you can have them, the answer is "No, you can't!"

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Have your people call my people and maybe we'll find some time to do lunch sometime... like on the second Thursday of some week...

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Not wishing to offend any of the cereal manufacturers or various grain farmers councils, I judiciously plead Beethoven's Fifth.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? You watched a little too much Mr. Rogers growing up, didn't you?

12. (no question) Hey! Guess what! There was no question 12, so I guess this is a freebie answer!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? See the cereal question answer. Yes, I answer to the same authorities when it comes to the frozen dairy delight.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Aside from their status of being alive or dead, probably the fact they are people and not animals... or plants... or minerals...

15. RED OR PINK? Red or pink what?

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? That unlike in Weird Al's song "Fat", I don't have my own zip code.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Dang it! Did I misplace cousin Earl again?

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST? Only if it creates a new crisis Al Gore can capitalize on. That way, I could make money selling Bit-credits.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Now that is assuming a lot... who is to say I'm not bare foot and wearing a kilt?

20. (no question) Woo Hoo! Another free answer!

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The windmills in my mind as they turn the grindstones that are processing this question.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? What was the question again? I was still surveying the windmills in my mind...

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? I don't think I've ever met Favorite, so I can't say whether or not he/she/it smells...

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? The person immediately before the next person I will talk to on the phone, and the person just after to whom was previously spoken to on the phone.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one sent this to me, so I'd have to say that I'm definitely undecided about whether I am in like with that person or not. Besides, I'm already taken, so "going with them" is out of the question.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Okay, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one, but most informed people can see this is only a thinly vieled attempt to subvert my pleading Beethoven's Fifth on question #10.

27. HAIR COLOR? No, it is natural.

28. EYE COLOR? Are you telling me people actually dye their eyes? That is just sick...

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? If your eyesite is so good, you tell me!

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Listen, this is now the fourth time I have to remind you about my duty to the cereal manufacturers and grain farmers associations. I can't answer this without getting in legal trouble that could result in the end of the world as we now know it.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Can't we all just get along? I mean, what ever happened to the golden age of mediocre plots with deus ex machina endings?

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The one where this thing happened and someone was doing that thing and then it all ended.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Again with the assumptions! I could be wearing chain mail for all you know!

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Both families of squash are tasty and should be used in and out of season...

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Please sir, not in front of the Klingons...

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Look... if you ask another question like this, I'm going to have to get a restraining order so that I can protect my interests in the food chain...

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Those who are questioned... Those who know the answer... Those who like to talk... Those who don't do well under interrogation...

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Those who aren't questioned... Those who don't know the answer... Those who don't like to talk... Those who do well under interrogation...

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I was just reading the question. Now I'm writing the response. There is no such thing as true multi-tasking. Get real!

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Call the exterminator, Mabel! The mice have a flat somewhere in the house!

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? I don't recall there being anything set on top of the TV last night. Oh wait, I guess I did see the cable box on top of the set in the bedroom.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S)? Restraining orders don't work with you, do they, Bubba? So, I've got one thing to ask... you feel lucky punk?

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Actually, coprolites and dung beetles do have something in common.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Whose home?

45. DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL TALENTS? Now what, pray tell, is a special talent?

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? I can only go on what I've been told. I was too young for it to have made a great impression on my memory. Either that or it was so traumatic that the memory is repressed.

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? In the spirit of transparent unity, I forecast a great synergy and change out of actualizing the forecasted results from all sources utilizing their full production reporting capacity.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER? While my talking pet donkey distracted a dragon, I grabbed her and threw her over my onion-boy shoulder.

Agency and Atonement

I had a brief discussion this morning with my eldest daughter while taking her to school. A few minutes earlier in her early morning seminary class, apparently what had been to that point a spiritually uplifting lesson turned into a debate between three of the young men present.

I caught the very tail end of it after most of the kids had left to go to school and one of the three was still trying to make his point in explaining his opinion to the remaining kids and one of the instructors.

After listening at the classroom door and in the car, it was clear that all three young men were incorrect and do not understand the doctrine they were trying to grasp and convince about via the debate.

The two concepts are the agency each of us is endowed with to choose freely and the nature of the Savior's Atonement. Two young men stated that there is no real "free agency" if God knows what we will do, and that even Christ's fulfilling the Atonement was not a "free" choice -- that He had to do it. The other young man stated that Christ's Atonement was universal and that he paid the price for every possible sin that could be committed, but that each of us only takes one path along the many possible paths and sins covered by the Atonement. He even drew a decision tree diagram on the white board to illustrate his point.

Now, it is my opinion that none of these young men were or are correct. I feel the words and comments I express in this posting are valid, because it is supported doctrinally in the scriptures and teachings of modern and ancient prophets, apostles, and The Savior Himself. It is also verified by personal revelation from The Holy Ghost. These young men will not understand where they are incorrect until they have the truth revealed to them by The Holy Ghost. That will require some humility, study, pondering, and prayer on their individual parts. These young brothers need to get it "down in their heart." (1)

As to the argument that we really don't have free agency, let us first explain what free agency is not. Our agency to choose is not the freedom to choose anything and be free of the related consequences of that decision. The right and freedom to choose was endowed unto us as individuals long before the foundations of this earth or any part of this sphere of God's creation was set. It can not be taken from us, and He will not do so. We are free to choose what we will. We are not free to change consequences for decisions though, be they good or bad. We are eternal beings, just as God The Father is an eternal being. But, unlike God The Father, we are not perfect beings yet. He knows and understands all things. We do not.

Here is where a pernicious misunderstanding gets introduced into true, pure doctrine. Since God The Father knows all things (meaning He knows the beginning from the end), He must therefore also know the exact decisions we each will make before hand. Sounds reasonable, right? The argument then becomes that our choices are therefore not made freely. If he knows what we individually will do, it is not really "free".

Here is the false doctrine, that easily becomes a stumbling block for those who have not understood that omniscience is something mutually exclusive from agency. The concept of "free" is being confused with the concept of "spontaneous". If something is not "spontaneous", it must therefore be something that was planned. In other words, the choice that is not 100% spontaneous is a form predestination, and simply because God The Father knows what an individual's decision and choice would be before that individual ever makes it.

That seems pretty shallow logic when the concept is exposed at the root level, doesn't it? It is. Why?

Well, in the matter of a few years, most parents know their children well enough to fairly accurately predict how each child will choose when given instructions and then left to carry them out. I can usually predict which of my children is going to make the decision to get assigned chores done and who won't. They still are free to decide to do it or not to do it, even if they know the consequence (reaction) they will get from their parents either way.

How does this apply to God The Father? Well, He is literally the Eternal Father of our spirits. He has known each of us individually and personally for countless millennia. In that time, it would be a fair assumption to say He knows each of us personally well enough to be 100% accurate in predicting how each of us will choose to carry out the instructions He gives us. Hence, He is omniscient in this matter. But, that is not predestination. We are not destined to make any choice one way or the other, just as we are not destined to fail. We are left to choose freely in all we do.

It would only be predestination if Our Father told each individual that this is the choice you will make and there is no other option and therefore you will make that decision and you don't have the power to deviate from that. He would of necessity have to be a micro-manager in the worst sense.

But He does not do that. Micro-managing His children would frustrate The Plan of Happiness He set forth before the earth was formed. He does not force any of his children to make any decision one way or the other. We employ our agency freely, knowing or ignorant of the consequences of the decision. At the same time, He doesn't just say "Okay, here's the test kids! Have fun!" and then leave the room. Even if it could be legitimately construed as "interference" in some bizarro world, He blesses each individual born who is accountable for his or her own actions (meaning those of us who are not mentally handicapped) a tool to help us -- a conscience, or rather the Light of Christ, to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong choices. But, even then, we are still free to make our own decisions and choices. (2, 3)

God The Father did not force His Firstborn, Jehovah (Jesus Christ), to fulfill the Atonement. Christ chose to do so freely twice: first when The Plan of Happiness was presented in the Council of Heaven we all were part of, and then again as the defining moment of His mortal life and ministry. Christ exercised His own agency, knowing the consequences of that decision, even if not fully understanding the level of anguish, pain, agony, and suffering He would go through until the actual weight of atoning for all the sins of all who would enter mortality fell upon Him in Gethsemane. (4)

Though indeed related, that Jesus Christ was the only one who could actually perform the Atonement is a separate discussion. That has to do with the nature of His relationship to God The Father and the requirements necessary to fulfill the Law of Justice while providing the benefit of the Law of Mercy. God's law is eternal, and breaking of His law requires a punishment. Each of God's laws has a blessing attached to it for obedience to it as well as a punishment for lack of obedience. (5) Yet, God's omniscience saw that all but Christ would become subject to the Law of Justice and would have no chance at redemption unless someone with the power to be a proxy for the punishments merited by others chose to accept that role. (6)

I don't know how it worked or works. I just know that it does. Jesus Christ was without sin, having never transgressed God's law. He was the only one in a situation and endowed with the spiritual and physical characteristics needed to serve as your proxy and my proxy to meet the demands of Justice. Being Savior in the Plan of Happiness was not a role any of the rest of us could have fulfilled. Jehovah was the only one foreordained to that role. And, in mortality, He chose to accept that foreordination and fulfill the Atonement in order that we each individually could have redemption, if we individually so chose. (7, 8, 9)

And all that has been asked in return is for each individual who chooses redemption to repent of his or her sins, leave them behind, and to live according to God's law, chosing to subject our will to His. And that is how Mercy works. His Atonement bridges the gap for us to The Father we each make.

The Atonement is universal -- meaning it was infinite, covering every soul who has or should ever live on this earth. Perhaps even for any other earth too.

The Atonement is not just a generic blank check for all the generations of mankind. It is a blank check written out specifically to each individual. It is billions upon billions of blank checks, for Christ suffered each individual's suffering for their personal sins. He therefore became intimately acquainted with each one of us as an individual. Somehow, all done in the relatively brief period of time He suffered and bled from every pore in Gethsemane. (10, 11, 12)

We are agents to ourselves, free to choose. He is an agent to Himself, and He was free to choose to do the will of The Father or not. He chose to do The Father's will, thus redeeming us from the justice demanded for when we individually choose not to follow The Father's will. It therefore again becomes our individual choice if we accept that mercy and repent and turn back to The Father through The Savior. (13)



Notes / References / Further Reading
(1) Things Will Work Out, President Henry B. Eyring of The First Presidency, March 2008 Ensign
(2) Helaman 14:30-31
(3) Truth Restored, Elder Richard G. Scott of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, November 2005 Ensign
(4) Doctrine & Covenants 19:15-20
(5) Doctrine & Covenants 130:21, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Nephi 9:25-27
(6) 2 Nephi 2:6-7
(7) Doctrine & Covenants 18:10-13
(8) 2 Nephi 2:25-29
(9) Alma 12
(10) Alma 7:12
(11) A Pattern for All, Elder Merrill J. Bateman of The Presidency of the Seventy, November 2005 Ensign
(12) Jesus Christ -- The Master Healer, Elder Russell M. Nelson of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, November 2005 Ensign
(13) The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Elder Jeffery R. Holland of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles