My understanding of the last days time period, (since the Spring of 1820), includes an increasingly significant influence of evil. No surprise there. This is not a subject deserving of much dwelling, but the evils that relentlessly bombard us, demand at least, some attention. This is especially true in the current last days timeline of our mortal earth where false spirits abound and obfuscation rules the day. In our analysis, the two primary metrics of evil are, quantity and quality.

We can see the obvious quantities of evil all around us. It is pervasive but not always profligate. We should be cautious of judgement, shades of gray, and all that. Some err because they know not where to find truth. What is often more difficult to determine is the level of capricious viciousness feeding conscienceless psychopaths and their organizations, masterfully using evil to their own ends.

Quality is important because it determines the intensity of the suffering. Evil has mutated from the days of Cain, to a level of Machiavellian, and Hegelian, proficiency which renders truth as a target for destruction in the hands of those proficient in evil practices. 

Like an agile jet boat deftly rounding the tight turns of a narrow river canyon, evil is deft at negotiating the twists and turns of moral expediency. The truth becomes whatever benefits evil's cause. All else is ignored, dismissed, deflected, ridiculed or, if possible, destroyed. 

I weep for Noah, who suffered among a similarly wicked people. He acted and endured in service to God and family, as few have ever done. Noah could have gone the way of Enoch, before him, or Salem, and his son, Shem, (Melchizedec), after him. There have been few that meet his measure, Joseph Smith being one of those few. I wish both of their mortal visits could have been more pleasant. 

I weep for this world also. It is immensely confused, and foolishly looks to falsehood for relief. I marvel at how easily so many are deceived and manipulated. And they go right along, willingly, with all of it. 

Can I truly blame them, though? After a coerced course of Prussian-style government schooling and expensive advanced conditioning, (as in university), many never recover. Others, enthusiastically enter the matrix of a perceived saving organization, and ignore the truths of the real world. They have been robbed of the ability to, independently and rationally, believe in anything larger than themselves, other than the state, or their selected organization. God is dead, for them, because they killed the very idea of Him, opting instead for dependence on the leadership of men.

For many in our mortal world, the meaning of life is that life has no meaning. They are programmed with falsehood, which leads to frustration, which leads to anger, which leads to a source of relief, which leads to dependency, which, of course, leads to slavery. They have been obedient to their mentors. Perhaps the CIA's MK-Ultra project was more successful than we could possibly have thought.

Corporations, churches, political groups, and other organizations use emotional conditioning to similar ends. A young man without purpose hears the Army's order, "Be all that you can be," and joins up. The words and phrasing are carefully selected and arranged according to precise emotional conditioning techniques. The same is true about toothpaste and prophets.

LDS church members live by the mantra, "Follow the prophet, he knows the way. Follow the prophet, he won't lead you astray."

Question: If, in fact, the modern LDS institution is led by a prophet, seer, and revelator, why spend millions on focus groups and polling? The gathered data is analyzed and contributes to the latest conditioning program of the church. Why would a prophet of God need focus groups and polling to know what to do? 
 
But we never ask such questions. We are programmed to obey, not think. No one would dare add one-plus-one and conclude that LDS prophets, seers, and revelators certainly have the sustained titles, but lack the actual gifts from God. Does the Lord help and inspire them? I hope so. That depends on whether the things of this world and the honors of men are more important to them. It appears the PR budget answers that question. Sad? Yes. The truth sometimes is. Nonetheless, one-plus-one remains the same.

This same emotional conditioning, which allows us to put up with defective math, affects virtually every buying decision, every vote, every relationship, and most thoughts. Obedience to those thoughts is a paramount characteristic of any good citizen of Babylon. But wait, isn't obedience a good thing?

Isn't obedience the first law of heaven? Ol' Joseph F. thought it was, and said so, in his general conference talk in October 1873. Elder Bruce included the pronouncement in Mormon Doctrine. 

Some disagree and say the first law of heaven is order. The Lord declared his house to be one of order. If you don't have order, what have you?

But then, the first of the First Principles of the Gospel, is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is faith the first law of heaven? Our Savior was very clear that the greatest commandment was, love God. Is Love the first law of heaven?

We could continue down this "investigative" TV-program-style path with other possibilities, but this shallow line of thinking is precisely the problem. How can obedience be the first law, when obedience requires laws to which obedience can be directed. Those laws would have to have been established. Obedience would come after those laws, so it could not be the first. 

If by first, you mean, most important, obedience loses again. If we don’t exist, how important is anything else?

"All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man..." (D&C 93:30-31)

We begin to have clarity. As usual, it comes from scripture. If there is a "First Law of Heaven," it must be agency. If we have not agency, we will not exist. An interesting thought, however, not particularly useful. Relevant, is the irrefutable fact that we do exist. 

These mortal bodies of ours, high-maintenance as they are, testify of our existence, as do scriptural references to our spirits and intelligence. We just read one. Therefore, we have agency. We have the ability to choose one thing, instead of another. Because we exist, we have to choose. Choosing, quite frankly, is the gig.

Many would rather not have to choose, preferring, instead to simply follow a set of rules laid out for them which, they are told, will lead them to success. Whose plan, from our pre-mortal existence, was that? Oops. And back we come to obedience. The Adversary demands obedience. Our Lord persuades with love and light and truth.

To say that obedience is the first law of heaven, is to exhibit shallow thinking, a dependency on emotion for relevance, and a perchance for cliché. This not a firm foundation.

Obedience is like a wet bar of soap, slipping away at every grab. Obedience is not a target but a by-product, of careful behavior and devotion. But devotion to whom? There are only two choices. You must choose. Now, we're back to the recognition of evil. Choose Christ and light and the path of growth, (and change, for the better), and family, or not. If not, it really doesn’t matter what you choose, does it?

Christ added additional clarity for those in history, and those today, who would choose obedience to evil and then seek to kidnap our children. 

"O fools! for you have said in your hearts, There is no God. And you pervert the right way; and the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence of you; and you persecute the meek; and in your violence you seek to destroy the kingdom; and ye take the children of the kingdom by force. Woe unto you, ye adulterers!" (JST Luke 16:21)

There is little difference between "force" manifested in covert emotional conditioning,  and "force" by gunpoint. If we follow the instruction in the Lectures on Faith, (LoF, 3:2), and become rational and intelligent people, we will more easily recognize evil, and false spirits, as we become more sensitive to the light. 

Even television commercials become intrusive and, almost belligerent. I remember when the law passed, granting two licenses for PayTV, as it was known, in our city. Subscribers paid modest fees to these cable companies in return for content access. 

The promise that made this all work was simple: NO COMMERCIALS.  The law passed and we threw away our clunky rooftop antenna to enter the nirvana of commercial-free TV. Your current satellite or cable bill is a testament to the Machiavellian fee-creep that has existed almost from the beginning, and commercials abound!

I've said this before, we almost can't help it. We appear to be on the same dishonorable and self-destructive path since Cain's tantrum. Evil is pervasive. The media amplifies it. The government makes laws out of it. We can never lower our guard. We follow Christ, and no man.

"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." (Psalm 22:3) 

Punished as a result of relying on false traditions. Things are easier that way. I don't have to think. The lighthouse/paradigm-shifting credible historical evidence, currently available is overwhelming. At its heart, all we've learned verifies the true prophetic calling, given by Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith, Jr. as a new dispensation head, prophet, seer, and revelator. In addition, the evidence verifies Joseph as a virtuous man.

Unfortunately, true history will not speak kindly about Brigham and his Secret Chamber group. At the core were Heber C. Kimball, Brigham’s boyhood chum, William Clayton, and others. They all had a lovely time in Maine, preaching, baptizing, and obtaining lessons in spiritual wifery from the followers of Jacob Cochran. (Cochran was in prison, at the time, for pedophilia.) Then to their mission in England, the merry band went off to start a new church with polygamy, at the very least, as the center "sacrament."

Brigham and the boys returned from England with a posse of polygamous wives. Long story short, they tried slander when neither Joseph or Hyrum would go along with the new "sacrament." Then they tried false witness in civil court. That didn't work either.

So they killed Joseph and Hyrum, and later, Samuel. It took Brigham three-and-a-half years to fully accomplish the transformation of the Lord’s Restoration, into Brigham’s Little Shop of Adultery. I know that's hard bark to chew but it is shamefully true. 

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life." (Psalm 22:2)

"...for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;" (D&C  29:36)

Much has been written about true riches and the intricacies of life. But how important is honor? Apparently, honor fuels the very Power of God, and agency is the Prime Directive. God is not capricious. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever in His perfect devotion and adherence to eternal law. God is the measure of honor for us. We can count on that. Nonetheless, I'm sure our Lord laments, with Amulek, the consequences of agency. Even He, could not escape it.

Sad, also, is the realization that a third of our family were bamboozled by the smooth-talking eloquence and George Clooney smile of the Wicked One. We had to be subject to the lies from the dark side to learn and choose, there. It was a fundamental characteristic of our pre-mortal environment, and it remains so now. (My heartfelt apologies to Mr. Clooney. I think he makes the perfect Satan character and I loved his mother's music!) 

Equally sad, here, in our very midst, are many who work to satisfy the lusts of the great Lucifer, Son of the Morning. He reigns still, upon this earth, with blood and horror. He fell further than we could ever imagine. And he hates us with a passion we, also, could never imagine. Why do we so underestimate his capabilities and knowledge?  Oh, he is good, isn't he?

If the devil can so successfully hide himself, what else has he hidden?

Joseph Smith was a virtuous man in every way. Polygamy, or any form of adultery or licentious behavior was abhorrent to him. And he said so, repeatedly. Evil has continued to rally around him so his name may continue to be held in derision by so many, especially latter-day saints. These froward saints will not even consider the mounting, credible historical evidence before them. And, if they don't believe Joseph, what is the rest of the world going to think? Yeah, he really is good...

It isn't that the average Mormon thinks of Joseph as a liar, hypocrite, and an adulterer. Most don't have the first clue what the fuss is about. They are ignorant of what happened in Nauvoo. They do not understand that the choice is between Joseph's church, or Brigham’s church. They are very different churches. None of this was the fault of a "mob."

These, otherwise good people, allow the Usurper, and his false spirits, to thrive right under their noses all the while wailing in counterfeit emotion that they are led by a prophet who cannot lead them astray. And all without a shred of scriptural support for the infallibility idea. I thought that was a Catholic thing?

God gave them a true prophet who they hold in derision. And they wonder why they're floundering. 

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;" (1 Tim 1:1-2)

Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them." (Psalm 22:5)

We've all known people who were simply cranky and belligerent, obstinate, willful, and unwilling to consider the possibility of their error. It is as if their consciences were "seared with a hot iron." These do not play well with others. Here is Christ, quoting the Father to the Nephites, and describing the smallest part of the problem of the, then, future Nauvoo residents. These problems have become an integral component of the modern LDS culture.

"...shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy..." (3Ne 16:10)

"Nations," here, is a reference to family rather than "state." Mormons think so highly of their genealogy work. They link backward but not forward. They killed the guy who had the authority to do that. They ignore the teaching of the angel who instructed Joseph in 1823. They have no interest in the identity of "the fathers" or the "promises" to which we are to “turn our hearts” to avoid a curse. I'll leave that homework to you. I've done it, and it's a fascinating ride.

If there is one characteristic of Zion I most admire, after the presence of our Lord, it is the complete absence of guile and the froward. Hearts, there, are sensitive and slow to speak, counting words carefully, and always willing to consider other points of view with meekness, and a desire for truth.

Many, today, cannot function without a strong vertical hierarchy around them to follow. It's as if they need a constant organizational hug. They are weak and lack knowledge. Wisdom flees from them. False spirits speak softly and justify their froward nature and allow them to be easily taken by the Adversary. All the while, their testimonies take a deft turn around the dangerous canyon of moral expediency with their Zoromite wail of a true church, and chosen status. The Father, through our Lord had a different testimony. 

Zion has no such organizational structure or justification. Even though evil will balk, Zion is about giving others the benefit of the doubt and looking with soft, forgiving, and patient eyes.

Our relationship with Christ is personal, not organizational. Evil prefers the opposite, being far easier to oppress and make afraid by simply capturing leadership, and then preaching their infallibility. Leaving the religious, governmental, and societal Matrix and pressing on with Christ by our side, is a winning formula for resisting, and ultimately defeating evil.

Here, I'll coin a phrase inspired by the Austrian economist and libertarian, Robert Wenzel, of EconomicPolicyJournal.com and Target Liberry.com: Resistance to evil is life!