Hello from Silas
Posted: February 3rd, 2011, 1:34 pm
Hello everyone,
I happened upon this Forum a few weeks ago and have been reading a lot of posts and I have decided that I should join the conversation. Over the last year or two my world view has changed on many subjects. I think I used to be a very blind but well meaning type of patriot. After returning from a mission I enlisted in the Army Reserve. It was a decision made in a very simple way. The thought process was, our nation is at war (to preserve our freedom supposedly) so I should do my part. Basic training was kind of shock to my system, especially after having been returned from a mission for such a short time. I had always had this view that being a soldier is like the ultimate form of patriotism, but the people that I was surrounded by and being trained by were, with few exceptions, the most vile and disgusting people I had ever met. This may have been what caused me to first question what our military is doing abroad. I suppose if I were really a wise person I would have asked myself those questions before I signed my life away to the Army. Simple questions really, like Who exactly are we fighting anyway? The Taliban? but they never attacked us. Al Qaeda? There is very few of them left in Afghanistan. We defeated the Nazis in half the time this war has taken so far and there still isn't any end in sight. Our leaders Democrat or Republican seem incapable of articulating what victory even consist of. As I looked more into some of these things Iraq was making even less sense than Afghanistan. I also discovered Ron Paul during my searches to some of these questions. I was impressed that he was virtually the only Republican who had the guts to oppose the these wars. This also led me to a greater study of the Constitution and I was amazed to find that the Constitution didn't even give the president the authority to declare war, and that it was Congress that was suppose to decide when our nation should go to war. I was amazed that our founding fathers essentially believed that giving one man the power to send an entire nation to war is essentially making the President a Tyrant. This was backed up by my study of the scriptures that led me to conclude that the only just war is one that is purely defensive in nature. Which is more likely to happen if the people via their representatives in congress choose, instead of the President who has no dog in the fight so to speak. I had always had a very simplistic view of left vs right where if you are opposed to war then you are a crazy liberal. I don't think I believe in Left and Right anymore, just right and wrong and both parties seem to do a lot more of wrong than they do right.
I have also always been intrigued by the Book of Mormon's warnings regarding secret combinations in our day. So I looked into it a little bit, I found that ETB quote that is used frequently here from his I Testify talk which was in 1988 I believe. That combined with the Book of Mormon's explicit warnings of a singular secret combination that seeks to overthrow freedom has led me to conclude that there is in fact a satanical organization that is manipulating events in order to secure more power and control for themselves and to eliminate freedom. That much I know to be true but beyond that I am hesitant to fully embrace many theories about 9/11, various assassinations conspiracies and so forth. I am however open to discussion about them, which is why I kind of like this place. Reading many of the posts on here I have found myself frequently saying, Hey thats what I have been thinking too, I didn't realize that there were so many other members of the church who are concerned about these issues like I am.
So that is where I am coming from, I do have very busy life and my participation on this forum may be kind of hit and miss. (I should be doing homework right now) But I thought I would introduce myself and I am excited to share my thoughts and consider all of yours on issues that are so important to the cause of freedom.
I happened upon this Forum a few weeks ago and have been reading a lot of posts and I have decided that I should join the conversation. Over the last year or two my world view has changed on many subjects. I think I used to be a very blind but well meaning type of patriot. After returning from a mission I enlisted in the Army Reserve. It was a decision made in a very simple way. The thought process was, our nation is at war (to preserve our freedom supposedly) so I should do my part. Basic training was kind of shock to my system, especially after having been returned from a mission for such a short time. I had always had this view that being a soldier is like the ultimate form of patriotism, but the people that I was surrounded by and being trained by were, with few exceptions, the most vile and disgusting people I had ever met. This may have been what caused me to first question what our military is doing abroad. I suppose if I were really a wise person I would have asked myself those questions before I signed my life away to the Army. Simple questions really, like Who exactly are we fighting anyway? The Taliban? but they never attacked us. Al Qaeda? There is very few of them left in Afghanistan. We defeated the Nazis in half the time this war has taken so far and there still isn't any end in sight. Our leaders Democrat or Republican seem incapable of articulating what victory even consist of. As I looked more into some of these things Iraq was making even less sense than Afghanistan. I also discovered Ron Paul during my searches to some of these questions. I was impressed that he was virtually the only Republican who had the guts to oppose the these wars. This also led me to a greater study of the Constitution and I was amazed to find that the Constitution didn't even give the president the authority to declare war, and that it was Congress that was suppose to decide when our nation should go to war. I was amazed that our founding fathers essentially believed that giving one man the power to send an entire nation to war is essentially making the President a Tyrant. This was backed up by my study of the scriptures that led me to conclude that the only just war is one that is purely defensive in nature. Which is more likely to happen if the people via their representatives in congress choose, instead of the President who has no dog in the fight so to speak. I had always had a very simplistic view of left vs right where if you are opposed to war then you are a crazy liberal. I don't think I believe in Left and Right anymore, just right and wrong and both parties seem to do a lot more of wrong than they do right.
I have also always been intrigued by the Book of Mormon's warnings regarding secret combinations in our day. So I looked into it a little bit, I found that ETB quote that is used frequently here from his I Testify talk which was in 1988 I believe. That combined with the Book of Mormon's explicit warnings of a singular secret combination that seeks to overthrow freedom has led me to conclude that there is in fact a satanical organization that is manipulating events in order to secure more power and control for themselves and to eliminate freedom. That much I know to be true but beyond that I am hesitant to fully embrace many theories about 9/11, various assassinations conspiracies and so forth. I am however open to discussion about them, which is why I kind of like this place. Reading many of the posts on here I have found myself frequently saying, Hey thats what I have been thinking too, I didn't realize that there were so many other members of the church who are concerned about these issues like I am.
So that is where I am coming from, I do have very busy life and my participation on this forum may be kind of hit and miss. (I should be doing homework right now) But I thought I would introduce myself and I am excited to share my thoughts and consider all of yours on issues that are so important to the cause of freedom.