My Humble Opinion

As I begin my journey into political commentary, I only find it fair to tell you about me and my ideals. My name is David and I'm not that old, although my hair loss my change that soon. I was born in the south and move to Nebraska when I started high school. I have spent some time in South America and loved it. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been is a canyon in Argentina where I met an actual gaucho who lived in a hut consisting of board slats and a corrugated tin roof.
My father was an officer in the Army and moved into the civilian world as a computer programmer while my mother stayed home to take care of me and my 6 siblings. We always got by, but some times were better than others.
As for my political views, they are influenced by a thousand different things, one of the most important is my religious views. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will not apologize for that. I support my church and believe that each person has the right to support which ever religion they feel is right. I do understand that I may not be right in everything I do or say, but that is a reflection of me and not my church, and I hold others to the same standard. I believe that there are many out there who ascribe to different religions that do wonderful things. Service is a God like attribute regardless of who is providing the service.
I am not, nor do I claim to be endorsed by my church. We believe that each one of us have the right and responsibility to become active in our community and government. I do my best to take each principle I am taught, study it, and decided for myself if the principle is correct. However, my opinions are my own. They reflect my views. When it comes to my religious views, I will refer you to religious leaders. Politics, however are different. We believe that we all have the ability to study a situation and come to our own decision as to the correct path to follow. There are many different views out there, most of them work just as well as the others, and it is possible to disagree politically with another, and still be members of the same religion.
I look forward to your comments. I hope that not only will I spark your interest in politics, but that I will provoke conversation about your community. And if I am very lucky, maybe we will move someone to action.

We live in Zion Times

The world is changing, I believe that we all know that. Things that were abhorred only twenty years ago are now embraced and praised. Is this change bad? Not always. There have been some changes that have been for the better. My wife was able to get a degree in a field of study that only a few years ago was almost entirely composed of men. These changes should be looked at as a success in society, but other changes may be much more destructive. For example, the effect of not having a parent in the home to raise young children, mother or father, has had measurable negative effects on society.
In these wavering times we find failures in society as well as reasons for rejoicing. But simply watching the news while you get ready in the morning or reading major news websites does not fulfill the responsibility of each person to participate in their community; local or national. Nor does begrudgingly going to the voting booths on a Tuesday in November. Each citizen has the responsibility and the right to be truly informed, not merely the ability to simply repeat what they hear on Fox News or read in the New York Times. They need to have a true grasp on the world around them and give their own opinion, even if it happens to be the same as what they read on the web.
The world we live in is what we make of it. We live in Zion Times. We have the chance to make our communities into a shelter from the world. We may not have the power to change what is happening in Washington, but we do have the opportunity to change the communities that we live in into our very own Zion. To do that, we must understand what is happening around us. Understand the controversy around us. It's fine if we disagree. I may not feel the same way you do, but working together we can all have a part in making a better world, however small that world may be.
Lets create a world where in uncertain times, expression is not reserved for only those with the loudest voice. The quite voice has the power to change. Together, let us call for truth.