God vs the Democrats

(note: this is the thinking that guides MY way of voting and supporting government. I recognize there are other ways of thinking about those topics that are valid.)

Having many thoughts about D&C 98. Jesus says, "it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them." And he says, "when the wicked rule the people mourn. Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil. And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God." And this: "Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies" and this: "if ye observe to do whatsoever I command you, I, the Lord, will turn away all wrath and indignation from you, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you."

Jesus tells us to keep all his commandments. Then he gives a commandment regarding who we should support in the government of our countries. And what are the rules? Uphold people who are good, honest, and wise because when the wicked rule, the people mourn. So no wicked people. Do not uphold the wicked or we'll be sorry. Anything less than good, honest, and wise is evil and we should forsake the evil and cleave to the good. And live by the word of God. Every word. Even ones about government, I suppose--he says every word.

And then he says don't be afraid of your enemies--keep the commandments and God will turn away wrath and indignation from you.

So choosing to only uphold the good and wise and honest is a matter of faith. We have to have faith that if we do our part, God will keep his promise.

What that does NOT look like, then, is upholding leaders who are not good and wise and honest because we fear the "other" political party. That is a lack of faith. God is stronger than the "other" party, but we have to keep the commandment in order to get the blessing. And that means if the "other" party is running a candidate who is good, honest, and wise, and our party is running a candidate who is NOT good, NOT honest, NOT wise, we can't vote for our party's guy. Instead, we find a different way (vote for the good one, even if against our party? vote for someone else who is good, honest, and wise?). If we trust God, we do not trust a wicked man to save us from the wrath and indignation of people who want to destroy what we believe in. We trust God and turn away from the wicked man and do not uphold him.

Personally, I'm still doing research on the candidates in the upcoming election.

But so far I have found that Trump is not good (good men do not cheat on their wives, they do not tear families apart, they do not mistreat children, they do not brag about sexually assaulting women, they do not cheat people they hire for jobs, they do not mock the disabled, they do not teach people to cheer at someone else's misfortune or pain, they do not incite violence and demean others or increase "us vs them"-ness). He is not honest (he has told 20,000 provable lies and untruths in the last 4 years alone, his helpers in crime revealed that he has cheated on his taxes and business loan applications, among other things). He is not wise (wise men do not cancel preparation for emergencies, they don't downplay danger, they don't avoid solutions that could save lives, they don't refuse to read the briefings put before them, they don't ally themselves with other wicked, untrustworthy men and hurt proven allies).

I think his presidency has proven that when the wicked rule, the people mourn. What can we say about the unrest because of racial tensions, the deaths of over 200,000 people from covid, the millions unemployed, half a million newly homeless, families ripped apart, asylum seekers tortured and sent home to die? This is all pain and mourning. Hundreds of millions more people mourning now than 4 years ago.

And why? Because we did not trust God enough to follow his commandment to not uphold any but good, wise, and honest leaders. Because we feared what the Democrats might do more than we trusted God to follow His commandments and only uphold good, honest, and wise leaders.

This cannot stand. We must trust God more than we fear the Democrats or the Republicans. He can take care of what they are doing that is wrong. He can lead us to handle it. But we have to keep the commandment to get the blessing.