Campaign flattery

I, Will | Campaign for 2016
Originally uploaded by aShadow LLC

A quick political thought from the BoM: in Ether, chapter 8 verse 2 it states:

“And it came to pass that he [Jared, descendent of Jared] did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom.”

That echoes our current political setup. And it came to pass that Obama did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom. He gained only 52.9 percent. Barely half, yet enough to win the entire country.

Now, I am not railing on Obama here. McCain flattered people too. His words were just not as cunning as Obama so he lost. And their predecessors? Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan…so on? How did they win our kingdom? Was it through good works? Was it through heroic deeds? No. It was simple flattery. Oh, and don’t forget bribes (I’ll talk about bribes another time.) “Wherefore, by their fruits shall ye know them” (Matt 7:20).

“In our current political system, we often make our political choices based upon sound bites of carefully orchestrated, professionally tweaked video clips that may or may not be representative or the candidate’s life.” This is wrong. We should look at their entire life, personal, professional, political, and “not just the briefest and shallowest propaganda” (p117, Anderson).

In the Constitution of the United States, nowhere does it outline the current campaigning process for the election of a president. In the actual Constitution, nowhere does it mention parties of power. These things sprung up, as weeds among the flowers of the growing nation. What happened to looking at people’s works or their personal lives? What happened to judging and weighing their ‘fruits?’ Instead we listen to their promises and are told to believe them; believe their words though they are people whose personal character is questionable at best. And unfortunately the majority of America is gullible enough to - more than just listen - believe.

I fear it is time to wake up. I agree with Obama, it is time for Change, drastic change. It is time to weed our garden. Now. There are many more parallels with our nation and the Jaredites in the book of Ether…and we all know how the Jaredites ended.