Re: Bill Belichick, taskmaster, football mastermind
- From: "Jong Kim" <rhl71@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:12:14 -0800
Hey BYU Athletic Dept., if only for the sake of the sanctified name of
Brigham Young, withdraw from The System now! It ain't worth it.
11 And it is my will, saith the Lord God of Israel, who also was ordained
after mine Order, that this Order spoken of which is called the Order of
Enoch or that United Order should again be established upon the earth that
they may be prepared for that which is to come which is the collapse or the
fall of Babylon the Great which is after the Order of that Evil One who it
is that doth rule and bear sway in the hearts and minds of the children of
men at this time, for thus saith the Lord, this greed which doth motivate
men to such a marked degree that the children of men are held for their
existence at the mercy of harsh taskmasters who it is that doth grind the
faces of the poor and meek of the earth and trod them under foot, for I the
Lord God have seen their oppressions and have heard their cries for they
have ascended up unto me.
12 Therefore it is my will that they should be freed from these things by
being obedient unto the dictates of my righteous servant that once again my
Holy Order may be established among them that all distinctions of a temporal
nature should be done away among you.
13 For thus saith the Lord, there is enough in the earth and the surplus
thereof that all should receive enough that their need of a temporal nature
should be met, for life is more than that which a man or woman doth eat or
that which they shall wear, saith the Lord.
14 And it is for this reason that mine Order which is after the Order of
Aaron which is not after the Order of Melchizedec, but is after that order
which pertaineth unto the temporal needs of man should be established.
15 And this is the calling of a Bishop which is an office and calling
pertaining unto the Order of Aaron, that he should preside over the Order of
Enoch, or the United Order, which pertaineth unto that economic condition
which I desire that those who call themselves after my name should adopt,
saith the Lord God of Israel.
16 And Timothy who is now with me was the first Bishop at Ephesus, and he
was ordained under the hands of my servant Paul who was ordained an Apostle
which is an office in the Melchizedec Priesthood, under the hands of Peter,
whom it was that I the Lord thy God did commit the keys of these things, yea
even that of the Holy Priesthood of the Son of God that he should judge,
yea, even the House of Israel along with James and John my servants who are
Presidents of this Priesthood under the direction of the Only Begotten, even
at this time.
17 And inasmuch as these mine Apostles were killed, my Priesthood which is
after the Order of Melchizedec of old was taken or removed, that the whole
earth was plunged into such an exceeding great darkness as has not been
known among the children of men before or since, in the which I the Lord thy
God did suffer my Spirit that it should be withdrawn from off the earth and
man whom I have created after mine own image did become even as the beast
of the field, that he should kill or be killed even as the beasts of the
forest.
18 And this, O man, was known as the dark or middle ages.
Revelations of Jesus Christ 7:11-18
Because if you believe in Evolution, you run The Race this way --
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens aren't unique:
"I have a competition in me, I want no one else to succeed.
I hate most people."
~~A Luciferian adversarial line spoken by Daniel Plainview,
the petrol profiteer-protagonist in _There Will Be Blood_
Belichick's brand of coaching is nothing new
By Tom Farrey
ESPN The Magazine
(Archive)
Updated: January 11, 2008
Why is Bill Belichick such a complete jerk?
Unless you live in New England, you may have pondered this question in 2007.
It's not just the piling up of wins before ever-larger audiences that
engenders so much loathing. It's the way he wins. It's Spygate. It's those
surly postgame handshakes. The running up of scores. ...
Is Bill Belichick really a jerk, or does he just play one on TV?
Let's start peeling the onion's layers by talking to Michael Holley.
Belichick granted the former Boston Globe columnist, now a local
talk-show host, rare access to the Patriots' organization during the 2002
and 2003 seasons. The result was the revealing, if largely flattering,
"Patriot Reign."
Of course, Belichick wasn't totally pleased with the book, annoyed that
Holley didn't clean up his incessant cursing. Turns out that, in private,
Belichick likes to call people a--holes -- sometimes even as a compliment,
as in "Look at this a--hole." (It's almost touching.) At press conferences,
Lord William isn't profane, but he can be downright dismissive of reporters.
....
"The sad part is, this guy can be as charming as anyone," Holley says. "He
can talk about sports, music, politics. But when it's football, it's
different. I guarantee you none of his friends recognize the Bill Belichick
they see in press conferences."
Not that many of those friends are eager to talk. ...
Bill Belichick doesn't really care if you like him. He's more concerned with
the bottom line.
....
It¹s been four years since Richard Seymour lost his grandfather to cancer,
and the wound still hurts. Not just the passing of someone dear, but the
penalty levied against him for taking a couple days to attend the funeral
back home in South Carolina. When Seymour didn't return in time for a Friday
practice, Belichick benched the Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the start of
the next Sunday's game.
Seymour was deeply offended at the time, but he fell in line with the
Belichick ethos. Pats players almost always do.
"I respect his decisions," Seymour says deliberately, resting on a stool in
front of his locker. "We understand it's his way and that's what we're all
going to adapt to." Sounds cold, but in Belichick's eyes no player is bigger
than the system.
And none -- with the possible exception of Tom Brady -- is indispensable.
That's how Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, Drew Bledsoe and Adam Vinatieri, among
others, ended up in other uniforms. It's also why many economists admire
Belichick, who majored in the subject at Wesleyan.
"Economics teaches you to care about efficiency and to reason rigorously,"
says Andrew Zimbalist, an econ prof at Smith College who writes often about
sports business. "It's all about trying to create models and logical
systems, and to do that you have to have a sharp, analytical mind. All of
that certainly is the epitome of what Belichick does."
Belichick has always gone about his business with a minimum of sentiment, as
might be expected of someone whose first NFL job, with the Colts in 1975,
included acting as The Turk -- the guy who summoned players to the coach's
office when they were cut. Only this year, more successfully than ever, it's
the Pats' opponents who've been targeted for elimination with ruthless
efficiency. New England clinched home-field advantage throughout the
playoffs by mid-December, but there was no sitting of starters, no easing
up.
"Bill is never satisfied, never content," says Patriots safety Rodney
Harrison. "Because once you become content, that's when the enemy strikes."
And, boy, does Belichick have enemies -- or at least adversaries who would
love to see him fall: coaches who feel he violated an unwritten code of
conduct by videotaping signals, players who felt lied to during their time
in Foxborough, agents who suspect Belichick of steering players to friendly
reps who will cut below-market deals with the Pats.
"In his mind," says one prominent agent, "winning is morality."
Ted Johnson can tell you the price of that philosophy. He's a former
linebacker for the Patriots. A year ago, he went public with the news that,
since he retired in 2005, he has suffered from clinical depression, the
result of post-concussion syndrome. Johnson says his condition might have
been averted if Belichick hadn't submitted the linebacker to regular
on-field contact, against the team trainer's advice, after one damaging
head blow. Johnson allows that NFL coaches in general have made little
effort to protect players' brains, and he's filed no lawsuit. He says he
just
wants to bring awareness to an important issue.
Still, the former team captain has never gotten a call from Belichick or
anyone with the team. "We can all agree Belichick is headed to the Hall
of Fame, right?" Johnson says. "Well, I always wonder how many of his
ex-players are going to be there at the induction." And yet, a more humane
portrait comes from Jim Brown, the Hall of Fame running back whose
Amer-I-Can Foundation provides social services for underserved populations.
"Bill's one of the people in America who has saved lives," Brown says. "He's
donated money. He's helped us get contracts. He's been to prisons and
schools with me."
Belichick has contributed to other causes as well, from homeless shelters to
sports for the disabled. "I don't know a more honorable person," Brown says.
The two profiles of Belichick seem to be in conflict -- until you examine
the roots of organized sports in America, dating back to the early 20th
century.
"The equivalent figure is Andrew Carnegie," says Allen Guttmann, an Amherst
College professor and one of the leading researchers on the origins of the
games Americans play. "He was a fairly ruthless entrepreneur in the steel
industry. And there were bloody strikes at the Carnegie mills. He didn't
lose a lot of sleep about that. At the same time, the guy was endowing
libraries all over the country and setting up foundations. So he was on both
sides of the fence."
Like many corporate titans of the Gilded Age, Carnegie was a big fan of
Charles Darwin, whose biological writings on survival of the fittest were
used by some to rationalize a naked, sometimes unethical pursuit of great
fortunes. Social Darwinists were the most extreme of the lot. Their brutal
worldview held that the weak needed to perish in order for society to
advance. At the other end of the political spectrum stood Utopian
Socialists. Among them was the man whose name adorns the Patriots' stadium,
King C. Gillette. The razor-blade magnate thought all industry should be
taken over by a single corporation owned by the public and that everyone in
the U.S. ought to live in a giant city called Metropolis powered by Niagara
Falls.
It was an era of big, clashing ideals, and free enterprise won out. Just
after the turn of the century, industrialists bankrolled the first
public-school athletic leagues, hoping to promote competition as a social
virtue and introduce immigrant children to that vision of the American way
of life. (This school-based model of sports would stand in contrast to the
club-based model that emerged in Europe.) Carnegie, in fact, was among the
benefactors of New York City's influential Public Schools Athletic League.
Less than a month after the PSAL was formed, in 1903, the first basketball
tournament was held at Madison Square Garden, with the champ claiming a $300
trophy -- $7,090 in today's dollars -- donated by a copper-fortune heir.
So it should come as no surprise that the next few decades saw the creation
of institutions and awards that glorified individual accomplishment. The
Heisman Trophy was named after legendary Georgia Tech coach John Heisman,
whose team once beat Cumberland College 222-0 because -- it could. (And
because Heisman was bent on revenge after the Cumberland baseball team had
run up the score on Tech's squad.)
The rise of pro leagues only served to encourage unrestrained, aggressive,
even vindictive behavior. In 1940, the Bears beat the Redskins 73-0 to win
the NFL title after being called quitters and crybabies by Washington's
owner following a regular-season loss to the Redskins. So many footballs
were kicked into the stands that refs asked Chicago coach George Halas to
run or pass for the PAT on the last two touchdowns. Later, Vince Lombardi
may or may not have said "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing,"
but that widely repeated quote captured the sentiment of many Americans who,
in the decades after World War II, understood that to the triumphant go the
spoils.
Belichick descends from this rich vein of sports history. He's the grandson
of Croatian immigrants who came to the U.S. without any familiarity with --
or interest in -- sports. The Bilicics arrived here looking for work, and
found it in the oppressive steel mills of Youngstown, Ohio. Growing up in
such a football-mad region, Bill's father, Steve, became a high school and
college star, and ultimately a respected scout.
Steve's only child would come of age during a decade, the 1960s, when
football was exploding in popularity, driven by TV and personified by
Lombardi.
Belichick's foil, Colts coach Tony Dungy, takes his cues from another key
pillar upon which sports was built, Muscular Christianity. In the late 19th
century, its advocates saw sports as a way to recruit young men into the
church and counter what they saw as the "feminization" of religion,
dominated as it was by bookish ministers. Jesus was recast as a conquering,
righteous hero ready to do battle in sports or war. Muscular Christians
created such institutions as the YMCA and the Olympics, and games like
basketball and volleyball. They also believed in winning as a virtue -- but
with limits. When too many college students were dying on football fields in
1905, President Teddy Roosevelt, a Muscular Christian, encouraged the
formation of what would become the NCAA to regulate competition. Muscular
Christians also promoted such concepts as fair play and the postgame
handshake, a gesture that some coaches would come to embrace and others
ignore.
The transformation of Randy Moss is just one example of Bill Belichick's
ability to get the most out of his players.
Which begins to explain why, when the Colts and Patriots meet at midfield
after a game, Dungy will extend a palm to his adversary, while Belichick
will barely look Dungy in the eye. "I'm sure Belichick sees it as
hypocrisy," Guttmann says.
The job of an NFL coach is to create wins, so that large, rich men can smoke
cigars, or praise Jesus, amid confetti. Belichick appreciates this more than
most. ...
Still, to gain not only the respect but the admiration of most Americans
it's not enough just to dominate. You have to move the game forward. Even
the Social Darwinists believed in progress as the desired outcome of sorting
winners and losers.
The thing is, Belichick has every chance of delivering on that promise. To
watch his latest incarnation is to watch the game being mastered, perhaps
for the first time in history. When Larry Csonka put his head down and the
Miami Dolphins went 17-0, that was impressive. But the 2007 Patriots are a
revelation. Their record-setting offense is based on a passing attack so
smart, so flexible and so disciplined that Brady rarely even got tackled
until the regular-season finale against the Giants. Belichick is showing
that bigger-stronger-faster isn't the key to victory, a fine lesson in an
era when head and other injuries have become the No. 1 issue in the game,
from the pros down to the youth levels. In the morality-free zone that he
(and Dungy) inhabits, Belichick ball counts as an advance. It's just not
clear whether he recognizes that human capital is still, well, human.
Does that make him a complete jerk? Or just a patently American one, the
kind we'd eventually come to like if only he'd let us?
Tom Farrey writes about the origins and state of modern youth sports in
_Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children_,
available in May from ESPN Books.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=farrey_tom&id=3191859
Clearly, Coach Belichick has made a conscious decision to apply what amounts
to Biblical principles for temporal success in Babylon's latter-day
gladiatorial-team combat, called American professional football. He has
served his masters well, and I believe quite cynically, and in recent years
greatly aided by a totally coachable, selfless quarterback in the person of
Tom Brady, who like his hero Joe Montana will make the uninspiring short
throws over and over (with accuracy), combined with occasional deceptions,
if that's what it takes to win, even though his arm strength is not far from
that
of John Elway. Lessons can be drawn from the works of Belichick and Brady,
faithful servants of Mammon. Know especially that if you totally buy into
Bill Belichick's philosophy, though partially based on eternal truths,
you'll be used up less like Tom Brady than like Ted Johnson, whether brain
damaged or spiritually damaged.
As Art Bulla once said of pro football players, When you are brought before
the Lord to be judged and are asked, What did you do with your life?
You'll say, Duh, I played football.
Brigham Young:
In Kirtland, in 1833, the Prophet Joseph told the Elders that if they
would do right--would promote the kingdom of God upon the earth, as they
professed they desired to do, they would take his counsel to never put forth
their hands to do another day's work to build up a Gentile city. From that
day to this, I do not know that I have done one hour's work contrary to that
counsel.
~~Journal of Discourses, Vol.8, Pgs.277-278, June 3, 1860
Brigham Young:
I can reveal things to the people, if it would do any good; give them the
mind of the Lord if they could hear and then profit by it, with regard to
wealth. The Lord has no objection to his people being wealthy; but he has a
great objection to people hoarding up their wealth and not devoting it,
expressly, for the advancement of his cause and kingdom on the earth. He
has a great objection to this.
And our mechanics, do they labor for the express purpose of building up Zion
and the kingdom of God? I am sorry to say that I think there are but very
few into whose hearts it has entered, or whose thoughts are occupied in the
least with such a principle; but it is, "how much can I make?" If our
mechanics would work upon the principle of establishing the Kingdom of God
upon the earth, and building up Zion, they would, as the prophet Joseph
said, in the year 1833, never do another day's work but with that end in
view. In that year a number of Elders came up to Kirtland; I think there
were some twenty or thirty Elders. Brother Joseph Smith gave us the word of
the Lord; it was simply this: "Never do another day's work to build up a
Gentile city; never lay out another dollar while you live, to advance the
world in its present state; it is full of wickedness and violence; no regard
is paid to the prophets, no the prophecyings of the prophets, nor to Jesus
nor his sayings, nor the word of the Lord that was given anciently, nor to
that given in our day. They have gone astray, and they are building up
themselves, and they are promoting sin and iniquity upon the earth; and,"
said he, "it is the word and commandment of the Lord to his servants that
they shall never do another day's work, nor spend another dollar to build up
a Gentile city or nation."
Now, if any one is disposed to ask whether Brother Brigham has ever, since
them, worked a day, or half a day, or an hour, to build up a Gentile city or
the Gentile world, he will most emphatically tell the Latter-day Saints that
he never has.
~~Journal of Discourses, Vol.11, Pgs.294-295, February 3, 1867
23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and
verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for
he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.
24 For after today cometh the burning--this is speaking after the manner of
the Lord--for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly
shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts;
and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.
25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.
(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 64:23 - 25)
The Spirit of the Lord bore record of D&C 64:23 at 7:41 pm, Jan. 16, 2008.
Clearly, Belichick has misused his talent to serve the prince of this world.
Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527):
_The Prince_, 1513
Contents
Introduction
Dedication
Chapter I: How Many Kinds of Principlaities There are, and by What means
they are Acquired
Chapter II: Concerning Hereditary Principalities
Chapter III: Concerning Mixed Principalities
Chapter IV: Why The Kingdom of Darius, Conquered by Alexander, Did Not Rebel
Against The Successors of Alexander At His Death
Chapter V: Concerning The Way To Govern Cities Or Principalities Which Lived
Under Their Own Laws Before They Were Annexed
Chapter VI: Concerning New Principalities Which Are Acquired by One's Own
Arms And Ability
Chapter VII: Concerning New Principalities Which Are Acquired Either by The
Arms of Others Or by Good Fortune
Chapter VIII: Concerning Those Who Have Obtained A Principality by
Wickedness
Chapter IX:Concerning A Civil Principality
Chapter X: Concerning The Way In Which The Strength of All Principalities
Ought To Be Measured
Chapter XI: Concerning Ecclesiastical Principalities
Chapter XII: How Many Kinds of Soldiery There Are, And Concerning
Mercenaries
Chapter XIII: Concerning Auxiliaries, Mixed Soldiery, And One's Own
Chapter XIV: That Which Concerns A Prince On The Subject of The Art of War
Chapter XV: Concerning Things For Which Men, And Especially Princes, Are
Praised Or Blamed
Chapter XVI: Concerning Liberality And Meanness
Chapter XVII: Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To
Be Loved Than Feared
Chapter XVIIII [*]: Concerning The Way In Which Princes Should Keep Faith
Chapter XIX: That One Should Avoid Being Despised And Hated
Chapter XX: Are Fortresses, And Many Other Things To Which Princes often
Resort, Advantageous Or Hurtful?
Chapter XXI: How A Prince Should Conduct Himself So As To Gain Renown
Chapter XXII: Concerning The Secretaries of Princes
Chapter XXIII: How Flatterers Should Be Avoided
Chapter XXIV: Why The Princes of Italy Have Lost Their States
Chapter XXV: What Fortune Can Effect In Human Affairs And How To Withstand
Her
Chapter XXVI: An Exhortation To Liberate Italy From The Barbarians
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/machiavelli-prince.html
"And I will buy up armies and navies, popes, priests and rule with
blood and horror on this earth."
~~The Devil, as revealed in the Temple Endowment
Add professional football coaches and professional theoretical physicists,
geniuses all, high priests of their respective professions.
I asked Hilbert Kleinstein, Can any notion of self-organization
be realistic?
What of it, he answered, for is not Evolution relativistic?
David Hilbert (January 23, 1862 ? February 14, 1943) was a German
mathematician, recognized as one of the most influential and universal
mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He invented or
developed a broad range of fundamental ideas, ...
Hilbert and his students supplied significant portions of the mathematical
infrastructure required for quantum mechanics and general relativity. ...
Hilbert invited Einstein to Göttingen to deliver a week of lectures in
June-July 1915 on general relativity and his developing theory of
gravity.[25] The exchange of ideas led to the final form of the field
equations of General Relativity, namely the Einstein field equations and the
Einstein-Hilbert action. In spite of the fact that Einstein and Hilbert
never engaged in a public priority dispute, there has been some dispute
about the discovery of the field equations.
Additionally, Hilbert's work anticipated and assisted several advances in
the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. His work was a key aspect
of Hermann Weyl and John von Neumann's work on the mathematical equivalence
of Werner Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and Erwin Schrödinger's wave
equation and his namesake Hilbert space plays an important part in quantum
theory. In 1926 von Neumann showed that if atomic states were understood as
vectors in Hilbert space, then they would correspond with both Schrodinger's
wave function theory and Heisenberg's matrices.[26]
Throughout this immersion in physics, Hilbert worked on putting rigor into
the mathematics of physics. While highly dependent on higher math, the
physicist tended to be "sloppy" with it. To a "pure" mathematician like
Hilbert, this was both "ugly" and difficult to understand. As he began to
understand the physics and how the physicists were using mathematics, he
developed a coherent mathematical theory for what he found, most importantly
in the area of integral equations. When his colleague Richard Courant wrote
the now classic Methods of Mathematical Physics including some of Hilbert's
ideas, he added Hilbert's name as author even though Hilbert had not
directly contributed to the writing. Hilbert said "Physics is too hard for
physicists", implying that the necessary mathematics was generally beyond
them; the Courant-Hilbert book made it easier for them.
....
25. Sauer 1999, Folsing 1998.
26. It is of interest to note that in 1926, the year after the matrix
mechanics formulation of quantum theory by Max Born and Werner Heisenberg,
the mathematician John von Neumann became an assistant to David Hilbert at
Göttingen. When von Neumann left in 1932, von Neumann?s book on the
mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, based on Hilbert?s
mathematics, was published under the title _Mathematische Grundlagen der
Quantenmechanik_. See: Norman Macrae, _John von Neumann: The Scientific
Genius
Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much
More_ (Reprinted by the American Mathematical Society, 1999) and Reid 1996.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hilbert
Why would I be wrong to see Young vs Morris as
merely what it appears to be: rival alpha males
protecting turf and power -- it's a scenario that
has played out in precisely the same manner
countless times no matter whose names are on
the bill or who's sponsoring the match.
Looks like "he said, he said" to me, mere might makes
right, Darwinian survival of the strongest at its best.
~~Hilbert Kleinstein, frontman of the rock band Retro Tull
Well, Hilbert, don't forget the steroids and human growth hormones and
REFEREES. In pro baseball, one home plate umpire can often have quite
a different strike zone than another. The Patriots got their run started
some years ago because of an unbelievable call by the referees against the
Raiders. (Since that was against the Raiders, I don't mind, subjectively
speaking.) Likewise, the referees overcame the Seahawks to award the
Super Bowl title 2 years ago to the Steelers, who had previously overcome
the referees' giving all the calls to the Colts (and were careful to NOT
bitch afterward), who also were significantly aided by the refs in this
season's regular season contest with the Pats and last weekend's playoff
meeting with the Chargers but lost both games anyway.
James E. Talmage, noted geologist and revered author of
the Cultural Mormonism textbook, _Jesus the Christ_:
.... in the fierce competition that is growing every year fiercer and
stronger in this world of ours. We have heard oft-times much
misrepresentation of the so-called principles of evolution; but there
is this principle of evolution which I believe is declared as much by
the words of God, through revelation, as by the works of nature--
the fittest will as a rule survive.
~~Collected Discourses, Vol.5, April 6, 1895
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of
him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do
evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they
shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked [shall] not [be]: yea, thou shalt
diligently consider his place, and it [shall] not [be].
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace.
(Old Testament | Psalms 37:7 - 11)
Yeah, I know how that works, because Art Bulla introduced me to
_Prophetic Numbers_ by Angus McDonald, a 19th century Mormon convert:
The Author was born in North Ouest Invernesshire Scotland, was sealed up
unto eternal life in the Presbiterian Kirk when three months old; Received
the rudiments of his education in the ancient Scotch language, called the
Gaelic. In after life he fell from Grace and became a convert to Free
Thought and a member of the Hall of Science in Glasgow.
In 1847, I became acquainted with a man calling himself an Elder of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; after much controversy between
him and me, he made the following bold declaration to me: "If you will
submit your will to me and go by my council, I promise you in the name of
Israel's God that the eyes of your understanding shall be opened, and you
shall know whence you came and where you are going and why you are here and
the truth of the Bible will be revealed to you." To which I replied: "Sir, I
will take you at your word, and if I find what you say to be true, I will
defend that power while I live; but, if I find it not true, I will expose
the delusion with all the means in my reach."
Now, after a close investigation for 37 years, 29 of which I have been in
Utah. I do declare before God, angels and men, that the words of the Elder
are true, and his promise has been verified to me, for which I am thankful.
I know the Bible to be true in all its parts. It contains the words of the
Gods, the words of angels, the words of devils, the words of men and, if you
are very particular, the words of an ass. To me the Bible is the Key to
Theology, the gauge of Philosophy, the age of Reason and the Rights of man.
....
That position of the earth upon which the City of Enoch was built [Zion],
which was located where now flows the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, after
being separated from the earth, caused such changes to take place, both in
the position occupied by the land and the sea, with the changes wrought by
the great earthquake which took place at the time of the flood, that instead
of being in a position floating over the spot from whence it was taken, was
in the days of Nimrod observed to be a few miles above that portion of the
earth called the east plains of Shinar.
This discovery being made, the Devil put it into the hearts of Nimrod and
his people to unite this city again with the earth. The Book of Mormon, page
446 verse 28, says: "And also it is that same being who put it into the
hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high to reach heaven."
Hence the building of the tower, and the reason for selecting the desolate
and sandy East Plains of Shinar. Here also were immense stratas of clay from
which bricks were manufactured to build this immense structure. They called
the land and city floating over them Heaven, the place where the Gods
[Enoch, his brethren, and Father Adam] dwelt. The Book of Mormon, in
referring to this city, calls it the Holy Sanctuary of the Lord which should
come down out of heaven.
It is through the seed of Shem that those blessings come to the human
family. Gen. 20:21. Upon the ruins of this theocratic government did Nimrod
raise the black flag of piracy and erect an aristocratic government of brute
force. Josephus says: "Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront
and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold
daring man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe
it to God, as if it was through his means that they were happy, but to
believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also
gradually changed the government into tyrany, seeing no other way of turning
men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon
his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should
have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too
high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on
God for destroying their forefathers!
"Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod,
and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built
a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent
about the work; and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it
grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it
was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height
seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt
brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be
liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not
resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the
destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by
producing in them diverse languages they should not be able to understand
one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon;
because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood
before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion. The Sybil
also makes mention of this tower, and of the confusion of the language,
when she says thus: When all men were of one language, some of them
built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven; but the
gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower and gave every one his
peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called
Babylon. ..."
~~Angus McDonald (Prophetic Numbers)
So, how do you objectively determine who deserve them Super Bowl rings?
Brigham Young:
Again, the rich merchant, or private individuals, may have millions of gold
and silver deposited, hid in the ground, or elsewhere, perhaps, and this is
their god. Should the Lord Almighty say, as he did in the days of the
Nephites, Let their substance become slippery, let it disappear that they
cannot find it again; it is gone, and they may hunt for it in vain. Or let
it be deposited in a bank, the first they know, the bank is broken, the,
substance is gone, and they are left in perfect beggary. To possess gold
and silver, or earthly power and wealth, is not riches to me, but it is the
negative of the question.
There are hundreds of people in these valleys, who never owned a cow in the
world, until they came here, but now they have got a few cows and sheep
around them, a yoke of oxen, and a horse to ride upon, they feel to be
personages of far greater importance than Jesus Christ was, when he rode
into Jerusalem upon an ass's colt. They become puffed up in pride, and
selfishness, and their minds become attached to the things of this world.
They become covetous, which makes them idolators. Their substance engrosses
so much of their attention, they forget their prayers, and forget to attend
the assemblies of the Saints, for they must see to their land, or to their
crops that are suffering, until by and bye the grasshoppers come like a
cloud, and cut away the bread from their mouth, introducing famine and
distress, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God. Or the
Indians will come, and drive off their cattle; where then is their wealth in
their grain, and in their cattle? Are these things riches? No. They are
the things of the world, made to decay, to perish, or to be decomposed, and
thus pass away.
Were we to spend the period of our lives and try to trace the history of
mankind upon this world from the beginning to the present time by referring
to the lives of kings, rulers, governors, and potentates; to the wealth,
magnificence, and power of nations; also to the poverty, wretchedness, war,
bloodshed, and distress there have been among the inhabitants of the earth,
it could not all be told, but I have noticed some few of the items which I
call the negative of the question. To possess this world's goods is not in
reality wealth, it is not riches, it is nothing more nor less than that
which is common to all men, to the just and the unjust, to the Saint and to
the sinner. The sun rises upon the evil and the good; the Lord sends His
rain upon the just and upon the unjust; this is manifest before our eyes,
and in our daily experience. Old King Solomon, the wise man, says, the race
is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither riches to men of
wisdom. The truth of this saying comes within our daily observation. Those
whom we consider swift are not always the ones that gain the mastery in the
race, but those who are considered not so fleet, or not fleet at all, often
gain the prize. It is, I may say, the unseen hand of Providence, that
over-ruling power that controls the destinies of men and nations, that so
ordains these things. The weak, trembling, and feeble, are the ones
frequently who gain the battle; and the ignorant, foolish, and unwise will
blunder into wealth. This is all before us, it is the common lot of man, in
short I may say, it is the philosophical providence of a philosophical
world.
Suppose we look for a short time after the true riches--after the pearl of
great price. In doing this were I to systematize, I would say, let us leave
this subject, which is the negative of the question, and take up another,
entirely different. We would have to take up the subject of salvation to
the human family, calling up the characters who have officiated in this
great work, and have brought forth redemption, and placed it before the
world, putting it within the reach of every individual of the sons and
daughters of Adam and Eve. Yet it is all the same subject.
Where shall we direct our course to find true riches? Who is there that
possesses them? Were we to admit scriptural testimony, I could refer you to
the Bible, where we read of people exhibiting a power that gave their
beholders satisfactory proof of their possessing the true riches. The
riches of the world are natural, and common to the human family, but who
governs and controls them? Who holds the destiny of the wealth of the
nations in his hand? Do the kings, rulers, governors, or the inhabitants of
the earth generally? No, not one of them, by any means. Have there ever
been persons upon the earth who have exhibited the principles of true
riches? Yes. The Bible tells us who they are, and delineates the
principles of true riches.
~~Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, Pgs.267-268, August 14, 1853
We are the champions, my friend.
We'll fight to the end.
No place for losers, we are the champions!
~~Queen
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