Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post calls to action or information about events, meetings, or lectures that are liberty and/or gospel related.
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lundbaek
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Location: Mesa, Arizona

Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

The announcement in our ward bulletin reads: "The Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference is on Saturday, January 21, 2017, 6:00-8:00 pm for everyone 16 and older. There will be a live feed to our stake center, with speakers to include Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Von G. Keetch, Elder Lance B. Wickman, and others." I think this will be a multi-stake event. I'm pleased to learn of this event and I hope it will inspire interest among LDS people in preserving not just our religious freedom, but all of our constitutional and inherent rights.

larsenb
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by larsenb »

lundbaek wrote:The announcement in our ward bulletin reads: "The Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference is on Saturday, January 21, 2017, 6:00-8:00 pm for everyone 16 and older. There will be a live feed to our stake center, with speakers to include Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Von G. Keetch, Elder Lance B. Wickman, and others." I think this will be a multi-stake event. I'm pleased to learn of this event and I hope it will inspire interest among LDS people in preserving not just our religious freedom, but all of our constitutional and inherent rights.
I wonder if anyone in the conference at all, will mention the importance of removing the Johnson Amendment to 501C.3 I somehow doubt it.

Could you report on that, Lundbaek. And if you have the chance in asking questions, maybe you can put that question to one or all of the speakers.

lundbaek
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Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

I don't expect opportunity for Q&A since this is a multi-stake transmission. I will try to take notes and get back to this topic. Several forum members live in the Phoenix area and I hope they will also have some input. I am hoping for some specific kick-butt instructions/ideas on what we as individuals can and should do to preserve our religious freedom that will apply to other freedoms like life, control of property, speech, upon which religious freedom is dependent.

Silver
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by Silver »

I worry that conferences like this are usually just an exercise in "preaching to the choir." If a person has no concept that any of their freedoms are in danger, why would they be motivated to go? All the Bill of Rights champions will attend and be inspired, but that's where it stops. Hopefully, it will be well advertised and new interest generated.

Is Phoenix the guinea pig for this conference? Has it already been done in SLC or Provo? Is it coming to Texas, etc.?

JohnnyL
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by JohnnyL »

I'm imagining it's a pilot/ guinea pig conference, and they'll see about feedback, etc., then try to tweak it.

Cool, if so.

larsenb
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by larsenb »

Silver wrote:I worry that conferences like this are usually just an exercise in "preaching to the choir." If a person has no concept that any of their freedoms are in danger, why would they be motivated to go? All the Bill of Rights champions will attend and be inspired, but that's where it stops. Hopefully, it will be well advertised and new interest generated.

Is Phoenix the guinea pig for this conference? Has it already been done in SLC or Provo? Is it coming to Texas, etc.?
We had a speaker to a multi-ward conference held on a Saturday last Spring on this topic (Bountiful area). A fellow from the Church who had held an elevated position in one of the Church's departments, maybe the legal department, was the speaker. In this individual's work career, he had held a high position in a national legal organization having to do with bankruptcies.

After his talk I went up to chat with him, picking up on an essay written by William Griggs (Freedom in Our Time blogspot - Pro LIbertate) who had analyzed the Church's position of holding our ground in our wards and in our family's, and had come to the conclusion that this 'strategy' amounted to a tacit admission that we had lost the battle, and that it was a slippery slope downward.

I posed these points to the speaker and he seemed to agree, but was uncomfortable doing so. I also mentioned my belief that if you don't support political liberty and shore that up, you've already lost the religious freedom battle. By then he had turned away from me and was talking with a lady next to me, but still glancing at me as he did so.

I asked him for his contact info so I could send him the Griggs article. He took my email address and said he would email me, but never did.

The Griggs article was excellent and very logical, IMHO and thought it would be something that our speaker, being in the position he was in, could really benefit reading.

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David13
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Location: Utah

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by David13 »

The country seems to have taken a decidedly different political stance recently, from the top down.
Prior thereto it seemed that the nation was on a course toward atheism and the potential closing of churches. Particularly with a socialist agenda afoot looking for wealth to seize.
With this new stance perhaps some of the emphasis on the Constitution from prior years can resume, without fear of government retaliation.
I hope so.
dc

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Zowieink
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Location: Mesa, AZ

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by Zowieink »

I hope you will take notes because I will be out of the country when it happens.

We have had a lot of apostles and GAs done here in the last 6 months. Makes you wonder why. They could just as easily broadcast from SLC to the stakes down here. My understanding is that this is for the Phoenix Metro area but focused on the east valley.

EmmaLee
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by EmmaLee »

Our son and his wife just moved there. I will encourage them to go. Thanks for the info!

lundbaek
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

The message that I got from this is that we must be kind and civil in discussion our differences on religion with other people, and that we need to take opportunities to be of service in our communities, and in so doing create good will.

Elder Oaks reminded us/me of the Church having supported that legislation in the Salt Lake area that deprives rental property owners and business owners of the right to control their own property by forcing them to rent to / hire people they don't want around. To me that's a violation/infringement of a basic principle - the right and control of property, (Ref. D&C 134:2). It seems that the Brethren believe that members don't have the fundamental right to discriminate on their own property. It seems to me that "good will" in more important than principles.

lundbaek
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Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

Notes from my wife:

Lift where you stand
Don't worry about possible shut-down of church facilities
We should get involved in community activities,
Heavenly Father has plans for each of us Re. our involvement in the religious freedom effort,
The Lord will Qualify each of us in doing what we need to do,
Moral agency is necessary for eternal progression, as it making choices,
Avoid use of terms like "godless", "bigot", etc,
Join in efforts to achieve fairness for all without compromising our beliefs,
Be 4xamples of civility.

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kittycat51
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Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by kittycat51 »

lundbaek wrote:Notes from my wife:

Lift where you stand
Don't worry about possible shut-down of church facilities
We should get involved in community activities,
Heavenly Father has plans for each of us Re. our involvement in the religious freedom effort,
The Lord will Qualify each of us in doing what we need to do,
Moral agency is necessary for eternal progression, as it making choices,
Avoid use of terms like "godless", "bigot", etc,
Join in efforts to achieve fairness for all without compromising our beliefs,
Be 4xamples of civility.
Can you please expound on the "Don't worry about possible shut-down of church facilities?"

lundbaek
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Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

Elder Oaks said nothing more than "Don't worry about possible shut-down of church facilities" that I could hear or understand. It seemed to be a comment separate from all else that he said, and I may not have the wording exact, but close enough. I took is as meaning that the Church will not loose the use of its facilities, but that's just my interpretation.

lundbaek
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Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Phoenix Regional Religious Freedom Conference

Post by lundbaek »

Thinking back on the presentations of the event, I feel it is nice that the Church is putting more attention into the matter of religious freedom. Elder Oaks told us that we should get involved in community activities. He said that Heavenly Father has plans for each of us Re. Our involvement in the religious freedom effort and that the Lord will qualify each of us in doing what we need to do. I believe it is our responsibility to ask the Lord for individual guidance in our efforts to accomplish this.

The Sunday of the following weekend, 29 January, a member of our bishopric gave an excellent presentation of religious freedom to our combined PH and RS. I thought it was an excellent follow-up and more inspiring in that he went into some detail about elements in our society that are causing the threats to religious freedom. He even dared use the expression "secret combinations". I think follow-ups like this will be extremely important to motivate Church members to act on their own to get involved.

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