Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Having all read Huckleberry Finn, can anyone tell me what the good lie means? Sari Woman (Student): Huck uses lies to survive in undesirable situations. Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Exactly. But later in the book the lies change. How so? Mamere: They change because Huck changes. Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Yes. Keep going. Mamere: When he tells the slave hunters that he has no slaves, his lie is credible. So he lies well. But what is more important it that it is an unselfish lie because it saves Jim. Jim’s freedom means more to Huck than the money he would get for turning him in. So it is a good lie. Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Could not have said it better.
Professor Higgins: You mean to say you’d sell your own daughter for 50 pounds? Colonel Pickering: Have you no morals man? Alfred Doolittle: No. No. I can’t afford em’ governor. Neither could you if you was as poor as me.
Science, in consequence, has been accused of undermining morals—but wrongly. The ethical behavior of man is better based on sympathy, education and social relationships, and requires no support from religion. Man's plight would, indeed, be sad if he had to be kept in order through fear of punishment and hope of rewards after death.
“There is no remarkable difference between us and Jesus, if he was anointed because he loved righteousness. What is the difference? … Jesus was anointed and preferred before others, from the simple fact that he loved righteousness better than others, and hated iniquity more.”
All advice to do things or not to do them is concerned with happiness, and with the things that make for or against it; whatever creates or increases happiness or some part of happiness, we ought to do; whatever destroys or hampers happiness, or gives rise to its opposite, we ought not to do.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.
“Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.”
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
… for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more
“Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
… lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,
… loved the praise of men more than the praise of God,
… For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved,
“A Time To Love, And A Time To Hate.”
“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light…”
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
“If ye keep my commandments, [then] ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.”
If ye love me, [then] keep my commandments.
“Yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them. But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers.”
… because of their love and of their hatred to sin
… teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity
… For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted
… lovest that lucre more than him,
“Charity ‘seeketh not her own.’ There is no ‘because I want’ in a charitable person. This may seem hard for us to comprehend, but nevertheless it is true. Not ‘my will,’ not ‘my wants,’ not ‘my desires,’ but ‘thy will,’ ‘thy wants,’ ‘thy desires’.”
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that Satan has great hold upon their hearts; he stirreth them up to iniquity against that which is good; And their hearts are corrupt, and full of wickedness and abominations; and they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.”
TELESTIAL : These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.
CELESTIAL They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;
TERRESTRIAL These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.
“If you keep not my commandments, [then] the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness.”
“…the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional.”
Did you never see little dogs caressing and playing with one another, so that you might say there is nothing more friendly? but, that you may know what friendship is, throw a bit of flesh among them, and you will learn.
“A state of confusion is an effective environment for Satan. There is much confusion today. He employs several methods to create it. One is the distortion of definitions.”
“The Lord Jesus was undoubtedly selected for the great mission of redeeming the world, because of His great qualities and His peculiar fitness as one of the Godhead. It is written of Him: ‘Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.’”
Preaching and talking mean but very little unless our lives are lived in perfect harmony with our teachings.
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
“Satan has had great success with this gullible generation. As a consequence, literally hosts of people have been victimized by him and his angels.”
In this regard, there is sometimes a chance for a misunderstanding, especially among young people who may think we are not supposed to judge anything, that we are never to make a value assessment of any kind. We have to help each other with that because the Savior makes it clear that in some situations we have to judge, we are under obligation to judge—as when He said, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). That sounds like a judgment to me. The unacceptable alternative is to surrender to postmodern moral relativism, which, pushed far enough, declares that ultimately nothing is eternally true or especially sacred and, therefore, no one position on any given issue matters more than any other. And in the gospel of Jesus Christ that simply is not true.
The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.
In many of our instructional meetings, the teaching of ethics prevails over the teaching of doctrine simply to avoid giving offense or to avoid disagreement.
“Everyone is pleased to speak of God’s love; rare are the mentions of his wrath or displeasure.”
“When the dialogue between Christ and the woman from Canaan was read recently in a religion class at Brigham Young University, a number of the students were uneasy with the account of Christ’s behavior (see Matthew 15:21–28). A number of attempts were made to excuse or justify it. One student suggested that in calling the Gentiles “dogs,” Christ was really using a term of endearment. Such an explanation does not fit well in the context of the story. Finally a young woman expressed the thought that troubled many of her classmates; with tears in her eyes, she exclaimed, “But Jesus was so unchristian!“
To act in accordance with one's values is a complex responsibility. It requires that one know what he is doing and why.
“Many gospel principles come in pairs, meaning one is incomplete without the other. … When Satan is successful in dividing doctrinal pairs, he begins to wreak havoc upon mankind.”
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
… loved Satan more than God,
There is today more ecumenicism, but there is also more shared doubt. More and more people believe less and less — but they do believe it together. The fewer the issues, the easier it is to get agreements. The fewer standards there are, the less there is for congregations to rebel against. Since knowing is tied to doing, and doing to knowing, there is an awful cycle in all of this.
And the angel said unto me…Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God…
“…let us hate that which has the appearance of evil, and do that because we know it to be the feeling of God, angels, and of all good men.”
“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate.”
… a righteous man hateth lying
… “The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness”
“Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
"The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”
“Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.”
… Ye that love the LORD, hate evil
… I hate the work of them that turn aside
… I hate every false way
… I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love
… I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love
… Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate,
“While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures … These arguments [suggesting God’s love is unconditional] are used by anti-Christ’s to woo people with deception.”
“In today’s world trembling with terror and hatred, our knowledge of divine love is of utmost importance... While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures … The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional—predicated upon our obedience to eternal law.”
“…many verses affirm that the higher levels of love of the father and the Son feel for each of us – and certain divine blessings stemming from that love – are conditional.”
“They do not love that do not show their love.”
“To sacrifice is to give up something we value for the sake of something of greater worth. As Latter-day Saints, we have the opportunity to sacrifice worldly things for the Lord and His Kingdom”
“And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.”
Love and Hate are an emotional response to our hierarchy of values.
ALTRUISM = “THE GOSPEL OF OTHERS” = OVERSHOOTING THE MARK
How is it Possible that: Light and truth forsake … But God’s love doesn’t? Holy Ghost will not dwell … But God’s love does? All blessings predicated … But God’s love isn’t? God cannot look upon sin with the least degree … Except when it comes to Love?
“A virtue when pressed to the extreme may turn into a vice. Unreasonable devotion to an ideal, without considering the practical application of it, ruins the ideal itself.”
Bad Love = Love of Wickedness … For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted (Mormon 8:37) … loved Satan more than God, (Moses 5:28) … lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, (2 Tim. 3:4) … lovest that lucre more than him, (Alma 11:24) … loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, (John 12:43) … loved murder (Jarom 1:6) … loved the vain things of the world (Alma 1:16) … loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19) … loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15) … loved many strange women (1 Kings 11:1) … loveth and maketh a lie (D&C:63:17, Revelation 22:15, D&C:76:103) … loveth to oppress (Hosea 12:7) … love to have others suffer (D&C:121:13) … love of glory and the vain things of the world (Alma 60:32) … love darkness rather than light, and their deeds are evil (D&C: 29:45) … loveth transgression that loveth strife (Proverbs 17:19) … loveth pleasure … loveth wine and oil shall not be rich (Proverbs 21:17) … Is it not for you to know judgment? Who hate the good, and love the evil (Micah 3:1-2)
Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Having all read Huckleberry Finn, can anyone tell me what the good lie means?
Sari Woman (Student): Huck uses lies to survive in undesirable situations.
Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Exactly. But later in the book the lies change. How so?
Mamere: They change because Huck changes.
Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Yes. Keep going.
Mamere: When he tells the slave hunters that he has no slaves, his lie is credible. So he lies well. But what is more important it that it is an unselfish lie because it saves Jim. Jim’s freedom means more to Huck than the money he would get for turning him in. So it is a good lie.
Erin Sullivan (Teacher): Could not have said it better.
Missing Reference