Power to Kill

The argument over gun rights in America essentially comes down to one core belief of the person who believes: humans are essentially good, or, humans are essentially bad. Let's do an equation that will help me explain.

Gun = Power to Kill

If we believe that humans are essentially good, then we would therefore believe that humans would generally do what is good with the powers given them. In that case, we would want everyone capable of holding a firearm to have one at all times because, being essentially good, humans would protect each other from harm. 

This argument uses as evidence the idea that most of the time when a shooting happens, the only person who actually has Power to Kill, (A gun) is the person who does harm. Therefore, if everyone else had Power to Kill too, the one who wished to do harm would be able to do much less harm before someone good interfered. 

If we believe that humans are essentially bad, then we would therefore believe that humans would generally do what is bad with the powers given them. In that case, we would want to take as much power away from people as possible to keep them from hurting each other. Thus, it makes sense to want to regulate Power to Kill because power in the hands of men is generally seen as a bad thing.

The evidence for this argument lies in the fact that people do bad things with their power, and there are a lot of examples to back this idea up. Think of what Hitler did with his power, or the Columbine shooters with theirs.

What do you think? Are humans are essentially good or essentially bad? Why?

Leave a comment below!

The Man Jonah

I understand the man Jonah. In some ways, I really respect him. I feel like him nearly every day of my life as I look to what is in front of me. I feel the urge to run as he did, but it must be remembered that in the end he did the right thing anyway and with enormous success.
There are times in my life in which I have found myself running, and most often I have found myself back doing the right thing before long. Procrastinated, but present have I oft been. The struggle that I have is to engage here and now. Jonah was not a bad man - he just had one big folly - he didn't want to engage the task at hand. Sometimes I don't want to either. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in that - somehow it makes my daily life easier. I, like Jonah after being swallowed by the whale, don't feel particularly adept, but I am willing. Today I will engage the tasks of the day and just do the best I can. I will be like the post-whale Jonah.

BYU Week One

Hey all. :D

This week was one of the most stressful weeks of my life, but I loved it! It was a constant battle to remind myself that I didn't need to doubt and I didn't need to fear, I only needed to love God and trust Him that all of the college craziness is going to work out for my good. Honestly, having finished the first week, I feel a bit like a superhero. Let's put in some highlights:

I got to see lots of my friends! This is different than it sounds because when I say I "Saw my friends" what I mean is that we passed in the multitude on BYU campus and stopped to talk for like 30 seconds before rushing off to the next class. It's different than I thought it would be to be here because I can go a whole day without seeing any of my friends because there are so many people here, but usually I pass one or two every day. Friends who I saw this week include Olivia Jensen, Tim Erickson, Tyler Josse, Catherine Marcheschi, Sariah Fales, Nick Maloy, Ryan Stevens, Jayson Davis, and Katie and Nate Heaps. It's been good to see them. In addition, I have a great roommate! His name is Matthew Phillips and he's from Tremonton, Ut. Let's throw a few pictures in here.



Nick and I went to church together on Sunday. He's not in my ward, but I brought him along anyway. :D
















Then these guys all came over for dinner at my apartment and we made chicken burritos on Sunday night!

This is my group in my Effective Study and Learning class. They're great. :D

On Saturday, Katie and Nate invited me to go play games with them and their friends! We had a blast!

Finally, I got a parking ticket. I guess that's not the last thing that happened in the week, but you know. I had to save the parking ticket for last because.. It's the last thing I thought would happen this week. xD Welcome to "How to Spend Your Dating Money 101"











Anyway, I've got to get to bed because there are important things to do tomorrow. Here's the most important thing I learned this week:
Elder Robert C. Gay said,
"In any of life's travels, why would you ever turn away from the only Savior who has all power to heal and deliver you? Whatever the price you must pay to trust Him is worth it."
I guess it's hard for me to say that I've learned this principle because I haven't yet - that's on ongoing process. But it stuck to me this week. It's worth any price. In my schooling, my social life, or anything else that I do, I desire to learn to trust Him. I really want to believe that it is worth any cost.

Love,
Dallin