Jesus Christ as Our Righteous Judge

 

Jesus Christ as Our Righteous Judge

When thinking about why I can trust Jesus to be my righteous judge, I considered the question posed by the lesson material: “Imagine that you have a friend who has been charged with a serious crime. You also know the victim of the crime. You love both people.”  This was a great mental exercise as I considered that question in my own life. It also helped me see a current news story differently. There is a woman in this exact predicament. Her husband was the perpetrator of the crime, and her sister was the victim of the crime. I considered the crime only and judged the mother harshly for still supporting her husband. She faced an incredibly difficult situation, and I learned that I was not a good judge.  Studying this lesson helped me to have a deep appreciation for my Savior as my judge.

When someone is found guilty of a crime, there needs to be a punishment so that justice may be served. They may also need to be put in jail as a protection to the public. Justice serves the victims, because they were innocent and may have lost something because of the crime. They may even need protection from the perpetrator. Justice and separation provide those things.

That said, judges matter. You would want a judge who is fair, truthful, compassionate, knowledgeable, and just.  I enjoyed the part of the lesson that had me list the attributes of Jesus that make Him a trustworthy and righteous judge. Jesus was merciful to sinners, the suffering, the downtrodden. He was kind, gentle and empathetic. He was clear- eyed, truthful, nuanced, thoughtful, and fair. Above all, He was loving. Those are just a few of the mortal examples.  I liked what the Psalmist said:

Psalm 96:11–13

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

13 Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

The last line stood out to me - that he shall judge the people with his truth. His truth. We have a popular phrase in our culture where people can make all kinds of outlandish claims and then call it “My Truth”. As if to say, well, that’s how I experienced it, so it’s my truth - and cannot be argued against. I am comforted to know that we will be judged righteously by His truth.  We cannot always see ourselves or others clearly, but Jesus can. He sees our heart and knows our intent. He knows who we really are. He will know where mental illness or chemical imbalance marred someone’s ability to make right choices, He will know where oppression, inequality, neglect, or abuse played a role. He will see the whole picture and His truth will guide the judgement.

Lastly, the testimony of the prophets in the scriptures give me faith in his ability to be a righteous judge.

“Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne of grace.”

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly - Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of the Lord.”

“Oh, wretched man that I am… Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.”

And Doctrine and Covenants 45:

3 Listen to him who is the advocate to an external site. with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings to an external site, and death to an external site, of him who did no sin to an external site, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified to an external site;

5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren to an external site. that believe to an external site. on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life to an external site.

Until that day, I am going to work on letting Jesus be the judge here in mortality too. I am not a good judge, and I want to work refining and developing more Christlike attributes instead of judging others.

Good Friday

 

Tonight is the night during Holy Week when we remember the night in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Savior stepped into the deepest part of His redeeming work. Luke records that “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Modern revelation adds that this suffering caused Him “to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore” (D&C 19:18). What happened there is so sacred that, as Bruce R. McConkie taught, “We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane. We know he sweat great gouts of blood from every pore as he drained the dregs of that bitter cup his Father had given him.” “The Purifying Power of Gethsemane,” General Conference, April 1985”

And yet, what we do know is enough to change everything. McConkie declared that “it was in Gethsemane that the infinite and eternal atonement began” (The Mortal Messiah, 4:127), and that there the Savior “took upon himself the sins of all men on condition of repentance” (The Purifying Power of Gethsemane*, Apr. 1985). In that garden, before any arrest, before any cross, the Son of God willingly began to bear what justice required. As the Lord Himself revealed, “I… have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent” (D&C 19:16).

Gethsemane was not only about satisfying justice; it was also about entering the full depth of the human condition. Alma taught that Christ would suffer “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind… that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people” (Alma 7:11–12). In that suffering, He did not become sinful, but He came to know perfectly what sin does to us. As Jeffrey R. Holland testified, “He who had never known sin would come to know how the rest of us would feel when we did sin.” (*None Were with Him*, Apr. 2009).

Gethsemane’s toll was not abstract or distant. It was personal. Russell M. Nelson taught that “in Gethsemane, the Savior took upon Himself the weight of the sins of all mankind, bearing its massive load that caused Him to bleed from every pore,” and then added this remarkable truth: “And yet it was also personal” (*The Atonement*, Oct. 1996). Gethsemane not just for the world in general, for sin in general, it was for each of us individually.

Today, as we remember Gethsemane, we remember that Christ did something both for us and with us. He suffered “that they might not suffer” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16), satisfying the demands of justice. And He suffered “pains and afflictions… that he may know… how to succor his people” (Alma 7:11–12), entering fully into our experience so He can heal us. He bore both our sins and our sorrows.

He did it willingly. In that same garden, He prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Before any soldier came, before any cross was raised, He chose to stay. He chose to drink the cup.

Because of what happened in Gethsemane, no burden you carry is unfamiliar to Him. No sin you struggle with is beyond His reach. No sorrow you feel is something He has not, in some way, already borne.  Indeed, because of Gethsemane, Jesus knows exactly what it is like to be you. And because He went there, because He knelt, and suffered, and stayed, and then went forward to the cross, you are not alone. As Jeffrey R. Holland taught, because He walked that “long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so.” “None Were with Him,” April 2009. 

Tonight, as we remember Gethsemane, if we do that remembering with spiritual eyes, we will see that He is not distant from us and our suffering.  We will find that the power of Gethsemane is, and always will be, right here.

Art: Walter Rane, Not My Will But Thine

Trump, Hormuz and the End of the Free Ride

 

Strait of Hormuz

by James E. Thorne

Trump, Hormuz and the End of the Free Ride 

For half a century, Western strategists have known that the Strait of Hormuz is the acute point where energy, sea power and political will intersect. That knowledge is not in dispute. What is new in this war with Iran is that the United States, under Donald Trump, has chosen not to rush to “solve” the problem. In Hegelian terms, he is refusing an easy synthesis in order to force the underlying contradiction to the surface.

The old thesis was simple: the US guarantees open sea lanes in the Gulf, and everyone else structures their economies and politics around that free insurance. Europe and the UK embraced ambitious green policies, ran down hard‑power capabilities and lectured Washington on multilateral virtue, secure in the assumption that American carriers would always appear off Hormuz. The political class behaved as if the American security guarantee were a law of nature, not a contingent choice. Their conduct today is closer to Chamberlain than Churchill: temporising, issuing statements, hoping the storm will pass without a fundamental reordering of their responsibilities.

Trump’s antithesis is to withhold the automatic guarantee at the moment of maximum stress. Militarily, the US can break Iran’s residual ability to contest the Strait; that is not the binding constraint. The point is to delay that act. By allowing a closure or semi‑closure to bite, Trump ensures that the immediate pain is concentrated in exactly the jurisdictions that have most conspicuously free‑ridden on US power: the EU and the UK. Their industries, consumers and energy‑transition assumptions are exposed.

In that context, his reported blunt message to European and British leaders, you need the oil out of the Strait more than we do; why don’t you go and take it? Is not a throwaway line. It is the verbalisation of the antithesis. It openly reverses the traditional presumption that America will carry the burden while its allies emote from the sidelines.

In this dialectic, the prize is not simply the reopening of a chokepoint. The prize is a reordered system in which the United States effectively arbitrages and controls the global flow of oil. A world in which US‑aligned production in the Americas plus a discretionary capability to secure,or not secure, Hormuz places Washington at the centre of the hydrocarbon chessboard. For that strategic end, a rapid restoration of the old status quo would be counterproductive.

A quick, surgical “fix” of Hormuz would short‑circuit the dialectic. If Trump rapidly crushed Iran’s remaining coastal capabilities, swept the mines and escorted tankers back through the Strait, Europe and the UK would heave a sigh of relief and return to business as usual: underfunded militaries, maximalist green posturing and performative disdain for US power, all underwritten by that same power. The contradiction between their dependence and their posture would remain latent.

By declining to supply the synthesis on demand, and by explicitly telling London and Brussels to “go and take it” themselves, Trump forces a reckoning. European and British leaders must confront the fact that their energy systems, their industrial bases and their geopolitical sermons all rest on an American hard‑power foundation they neither finance nor politically respect. The longer the contradiction is allowed to unfold, the stronger the eventual synthesis can be: a new order in which access to secure flows, Hormuz, Venezuela and beyond, is explicitly conditional on real contributions, not assumed as a right.

In that sense, the delay in “taking” the Strait, and the challenge issued to US allies to do it themselves, is not indecision. It is the negative moment Hegel insisted was necessary for history to move. Only by withholding the old guarantee, and by saying so out loud to those who depended on it, can Trump hope to end the free ride.

 

Jesus Christ in Gethsemane

 

"This sacred spot, like Eden where Adam dwelt, like Sinai from whence Jehovah gave His laws, like Calvary where the Son of God gave His life a ransom for many, this holy ground is where the sinless Son of the Everlasting Father took upon Himself the sins of all men on condition of repentance.

We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane.

We know He sweat great gouts of blood from every pore as He drained the dregs of that bitter cup His Father had given Him.

We know He suffered, both body and spirit, more than it is possible for man to suffer, except it be unto death.

We know that in some way, incomprehensible to us, His suffering satisfied the demands of justice, ransomed penitent souls from the pains and penalties of sin and made mercy available to those who believe in His holy name.

We know that He lay prostrate upon the ground as the pains and agonies of an infinite burden caused Him to tremble and would that He might not drink the bitter cup.

We know that an angel came from the courts of glory to strengthen Him in His ordeal, and we suppose it was mighty Michael, who foremost fell that mortal man might be.

As near as we can judge, these infinite agonies—this suffering beyond compare—continued for some three or four hours."

Bruce R McConkie

The Constitution of the United States is a Glorious Standard

“The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun.”

Prophet Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith’s declaration that the Constitution is “a glorious standard” and “a heavenly banner” invites us to see this founding document not merely as a political achievement but as a divine safeguard for human dignity. His imagery evokes the spiritual symbolism of refuge and covenant: a “great rock in a thirsty and weary land” recalls Isaiah’s promise that the Lord will be “as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2). In this light, the Constitution becomes a God‑given structure that shelters the weary, protects the oppressed, and refreshes the soul of a nation. Its guarantees of agency, conscience, and equality echo the scriptural truth that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Founding Fathers themselves sensed this divine dimension. George Washington spoke of the “sacred fire of liberty” and warned that its preservation depends on virtue and faith.

Thomas Jefferson insisted that the Constitution was designed to secure the God‑given rights of all people, and James Madison taught that the very purpose of government is to protect the “faculties of men”—their agency, their conscience, their property, their pursuit of truth. Modern prophets have reaffirmed this sacred framing: President Ezra Taft Benson taught that the Constitution was “made possible by the God of heaven” and rooted in eternal principles of agency, while President Gordon B. Hinckley called it “the keystone of our nation” and “the guarantee of our liberty.”

Together, these voices—prophetic, scriptural, and foundational—reveal why Joseph Smith likened the Constitution to a great tree offering shade to “men from every clime.” It is a divinely inspired refuge under which God’s children, regardless of origin, may find protection from tyranny, space to exercise their God‑given agency, and the freedom to seek truth, worship, and flourish. To honor the Constitution, then, is to honor the God who gave liberty, to cherish the covenant of self‑government, and to stand as stewards of a sacred trust meant to bless all nations and all generations.

Jesus Christ as Our Savior

 

We cannot save ourselves. Left on our own, we are like people stranded in deep water, trying to swim to shore with no strength left. No matter how hard we try, we cannot rescue ourselves—we need someone to save us.

But none of us possess that power. We cannot offer ourselves redemption.

So God provided the only solution that could ever work.

He sent His perfect Son.

From before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Savior stood willing to do what none of us could do. He offered Himself as the sacrifice—one pure life given for all humanity.

He would stand in our place, bear the weight of sin, and satisfy the demands of justice while extending the arms of mercy.

Through His suffering in Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave, Christ accomplished what no other being could ever accomplish.

He made rescue possible.

He became our bridge back to the Father.

Because of Him, our failures are not the end of the story.

Because of Him, broken people like you and me can be healed.

Because of Him, the sinner can be forgiven, the weary can find rest, and the lost can find their way home.

There has never been another way, and there will never be another name given under heaven capable of saving mankind.

Jesus Christ has always been—and will always be—our only hope for peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

All we have to do is turn toward Him, trust Him, and allow His grace to carry us where we could never go alone...

Sensible Truth Ep. 30: "Agency, Responsibility, and the Moral Climate of a Nation"

Sensible Truth Ep. 30: "Agency, Responsibility, and the Moral Climate of a Nation"

Milton Friedman once asked, “Why have we had such a decline in moral climate?” His answer was piercing: “because we have shifted from a belief in individual responsibility to a belief in social responsibility”. 

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Sensible Truth on The Medlock Post Ep. 29: The Impostor Syndrome

 

Sensible Truth on The Medlock Post Ep. 29: The Impostor Syndrome

Impostor syndrome may whisper that we are unqualified, but Scripture reminds us that God does not call the flawless—He strengthens the willing. Like David, we can acknowledge the size of the “giants” before us without letting them define us, because our identity rests not in our résumé but in our Redeemer. When we bring our weakness into the light of God’s truth, humility becomes courage, fear becomes obedience, and self-doubt becomes dependence on grace. In the end, the question is not whether we are enough, but whether God is faithful—and He is.

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Sensible Truth Ep. 28: Honoring the Constitution as a Sacred Act

 

“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty…is finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” George Washington

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God and Political Power

 

My Friends, today I want to reflect on a sobering observation from President Gordon B. Hinckley. He taught that “many public officers have abandoned any reverent use of the name of God in public meetings, thereby closing the door to Deity when it is plainly evident there is a need for wisdom beyond their own. If we deny the one sure source of moral truth, then from whence will it come?” His words invite us to consider not only the state of our public life, but the state of our own hearts.

Scripture teaches that true wisdom begins not with intellect, not with experience, and not with political power, but with reverence. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). When leaders—and when we ourselves—set aside the name of God, we are not merely changing language. We are closing the very door through which heaven’s guidance enters. James reminds us that *“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God… and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). But asking requires humility. It requires acknowledging that our own understanding is not enough.

The Lord lamented through Jeremiah, “They have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” (Jeremiah 8:9). When a people reject God’s word, they do not become wiser—they become unmoored. Isaiah warned of a time when people would “call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20), a time when moral clarity would be replaced by moral confusion. President Hinckley’s question echoes that warning: If we turn away from the one sure source of moral truth, where else do we expect to find it? Human opinion shifts. Cultural norms change. Political winds blow in every direction. But God’s truth is steady, unchanging, and sure.

The Psalmist declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). That blessing does not come merely from invoking His name, but from seeking His will, honoring His commandments, and acknowledging His sovereignty. When leaders pray, when communities seek God, when families teach His word, and when individuals humble themselves before Him, heaven responds. Light increases. Wisdom deepens. Hearts soften. And righteousness becomes possible.

So the invitation today is simple: let us keep the door to Deity open. Let us speak His name with reverence. Let us seek His wisdom in our homes, in our decisions, and in our daily walk. And let us be the kind of disciples whose faithfulness invites heaven’s guidance not only into our personal lives, but into the life of our communities and our nation. For when God is honored, truth has a place to stand. And where truth stands, righteousness can flourish.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Scriptures: To Know God

 

Scripture was written so you could know God. Not know about Him. Know Him. The way you know a person, by watching what they do when it matters most.

The way you know God is not through His name. It is through His character.

When Moses stood at the burning bush and asked God for His name, God gave him one that was not really a name at all. “I AM WHO I AM.” Exodus 3:14. That is a declaration of character. I am self-existent. I am unchanging. I am not defined by what you call me. I am defined by what I am.

Moses asks God to “Show me your glory.” Exodus 33:18.

God does not show him a vision. He does not show him heaven. He says, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you.” And then He does. “The LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” Exodus 34:6-7.

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God showed him His character. His compassion. His patience. His forgiveness. And His justice.

That changes how you read everything else. Every story in the Bible is God showing you who He is through what He does.

When He made a covenant with Abraham, He put Abraham to sleep and walked through the pieces alone. Genesis 15. He bound the promise to Himself because He knew Abraham could not keep it.

When Israel was enslaved for four hundred years, God did not forget. The first thing He said to Moses at the bush was “I have seen the suffering of my people. I have heard them crying out. I have come down to rescue them.” Exodus 3:7-8.

When Jonah ran, God did not find another prophet. He pursued him. The character of God does not give up on the people He sends.

And then Christ came and the character of God was made visible in human flesh. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9.

And what did they see? They saw a man who touched lepers when the world crossed the street. They saw a man who stopped for children when His disciples waved them away. They saw a man who sat with a Samaritan woman and talked to her like a human being when His culture said she was beneath Him.

They saw a man who wept at a friend’s grave because love made death feel like a personal offense.

They saw a man who made a whip and drove corruption from His Father’s house because He was not confused about what was worth fighting for.

They saw a man who on the worst night of His life washed the feet of the man He knew would betray Him.

And on the cross, rejected by His people, sold by His disciple, abandoned by His friends, mocked by the leaders who should have recognized Him, He said, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”

That is the character of God. A person in the worst moment imaginable choosing forgiveness over vengeance, choosing love over power, choosing to stay when saving Himself would have meant losing you.

The thief on the cross had no theology. He had no church membership. He had no track record. He said “remember me.” Christ said “today you will be with me in paradise.”

The character of God does not require you to earn what He gives. He gives it because of who He is, not because of who you are.

That is what the Bible is for. It exists so you can see, on every page, the character of a God who does not change, does not lie, does not break His promises, and does not walk away from the people He loves no matter how many times they walk away from Him.

And when that character gets inside you and changes how you see everything, you shine His glory. Not by performing. Not by winning. Not by being right. By being transformed until His character becomes visible in your life the way light becomes visible when it’s dark outside.

Marxism and Islamism

 

Red Guards and Green Guards: two cultural revolutions, the same revolutionary logic.

Both created theocratic systems—one built on Marxism, the other on Islamism.

Both claimed to be creating a “new society.” And both followed the same playbook:

• Destroy traditional culture – Mao sought to smash China’s “Four Olds.” Iran’s Islamists sought to erase Western and pre-Islamic heritage, targeting statues, tombs, and books.


• Rewrite history – the past had to be reshaped to legitimize the new revolutionary order.


• Take over the education system – universities were shut down for years and later reopened only after ideological screening and the purging of professors and students.


• Purge intellectuals – academics, writers, and dissenting thinkers were expelled, imprisoned, or silenced to enforce ideological conformity.


• Indoctrinate the population – education and literacy campaigns were used not simply to teach, but to spread revolutionary ideology.

Faith. Hope. Charity.

 

“Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. . . .

Hope is . . . the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance.

Hope is ‘critical’ to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward.

The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.

The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities—faith, hope, and charity—working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ—lead us to abound in good works”

Deiter F. Uchtdorf (The Infinite Power of Hope—General Conference Oct. 2008)

American Wars

 

America’s first war after the war for our independence was against the Barbary pirates. There was no Israel, AIPAC or Christian Zionism boogeyman.

Just Islamic slave traders kidnapping Americans and demanding tribute.

We fought World War I to stop Germany. No Israel involved. Israel didn’t exist yet.

We fought World War II to stop Hitler. No Israel involved. Still didn’t exist.

We fought Korea to stop communist expansion. Nothing to do with Israel.

We fought Vietnam to stop communist expansion. Nothing to do with Israel.

We fought the Gulf War for oil and to stop Saddam from controlling 40% of the world’s petroleum reserves. That was about gas prices, not the Torah.

We fought Afghanistan because 3,000 Americans were murdered on 9/11 by al-Qaeda. Israel didn’t fly those planes.

We fought Iraq because our leaders made a mistake. A miscalculation that cost us greatly. It happens people are human. You learn and adjust policy.

We are confronting Iran because we don’t want suicidal head choppers to have a nuclear weapon.

This is America. Not Russia. Christian Zionists are a huge threat to Eurasian slop because we stand in their way.

NO PALESTINE EXISTS

 

NO PALESTINE EXISTS

1. Before Israel, there was a British mandate, not a Palestinian state.

2. Before the British Mandate, the Ottoman Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

3. Before the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic state of the Egyptian Mamluks existed, not a Palestinian state.

4. Before the Islamic state of the Egyptian Mamluks, the Ayyubid-Kurdish Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

5. Before the Ayyubid Empire, the Frankish Crusader kingdom and the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem existed, not a Palestinian state.

6. Before the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Umayyad and Fatimid empires existed, not a Palestinian state.

7. Before the Umayyad and Fatimid empires, the Byzantine Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

8. Before the Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian-Persian Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

9. Before the Sasanian-Persian Empire, the Byzantine Empire existed again, not a Palestinian state.

10. Before the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

11. Before the Roman Empire, the Hasmonean Jewish state existed, not a Palestinian state.

12. Before the Hasmonean Jewish state, the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

13. Before the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, the empire of Alexander the Great existed, not a Palestinian state.

14. Before Alexander the Great, the Persian Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

15. Before the Persian Empire, the Babylonian Empire existed, not a Palestinian state.

16. Before the Babylonian Empire, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were not Palestinian states.

17. Before the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Kingdom of Israel existed, not a Palestinian state.

18. Before the Kingdom of Israel, the theocracy of the twelve tribes of Israel existed, not a Palestinian state.

19. Before the theocracy of the twelve tribes of Israel, there was an agglomeration of independent Canaanite city-states, not a Palestinian state.

There have been many governments there, but never a Palestinian state.

Sensible Truth Ep. 27: Family: The Core of Society

 

David O. McKay gave this counsel, "The home is the first and most effective place for children to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self-control; the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children. And no success can compensate for failure in the home."

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Sensible Truth on The Medlock Post Ep. 26: Freedom and Liberty vs Corruption

 

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Kennedy and Eisenhower: Respect for the Ages

 

On May 8, 1965, more than a year after Kennedy’s death, Dwight D. Eisenhower did something that revealed just how deeply the loss still weighed on him. Despite his own failing health and doctors’ warnings—he was 74 and recovering from his third heart attack—Eisenhower traveled to the Kennedy Library groundbreaking ceremony in Boston.

Standing beside Jacqueline Kennedy, he told the assembled crowd something that made even hardened reporters weep:

"President Kennedy possessed the greatest campaign weapon any man could have—he had Jacqueline Kennedy by his side, but more than that, he possessed a quality I grew to admire deeply in our many conversations—the courage to admit when he didn’t know something and the wisdom to seek counsel."

What made the moment even more powerful was Eisenhower’s revelation that he had kept every letter Kennedy had ever written him, bound carefully in a private collection he called “Letters from a Young Lion.” That day, he donated them to the future Kennedy Library, saying he wanted history to know their friendship had been real—that politics hadn’t divided them where it mattered most.

Jackie Kennedy squeezed Eisenhower’s hand and whispered something those nearby heard: “He called you his North Star, General. He never stopped seeking your guidance.” Eisenhower’s voice broke as he replied, “And I never stopped believing in him.”

Here were two people from different worlds—the widowed First Lady and the retired Republican general—united in grief and mutual respect. They showed us that the bonds forged in service to country transcend everything else.

This is the America worth fighting for—the one where we see each other’s humanity first.

Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States of America

 

Washington, D.C., January 20, 1953.

Dwight D. Eisenhower had just been sworn in as the 34th President of the United States. The ceremony ended. The crowds thinned. And
—who had led the nation through the final months of World War II, authorized the atomic bomb, and launched the Marshall Plan—walked to Union Station to catch a train home.

Not a private railcar. Not a military aircraft. A regular passenger train.

He bought his own ticket.

There was no press spectacle. No staged farewell. Truman simply boarded a Baltimore & Ohio train bound for Independence, Missouri, and took a seat among ordinary travelers. No security cordon cleared the aisle. No one was removed from the car. Within minutes, passengers began to recognize him.

They didn’t panic. They approached him.

They shook his hand, asked questions, shared opinions. Truman chatted easily, smiling, looking like a man relieved of an immense burden. One passenger later recalled him saying he was glad to be going home—that he had done his job.

What makes that ride even more remarkable is where he was going: not to wealth, but to financial uncertainty.

In 1953, former presidents received no pension. No staff. No office allowance. No benefits. Once out of office, they were private citizens again.

Truman’s only steady income was his modest Army pension from World War I—just over $100 a month. He had a house in Independence (owned by his wife Bess’s family) and little savings. Corporations offered him lucrative board seats. Companies proposed endorsements. Speaking tours promised easy money.

He refused them all.

Truman believed profiting from the presidency would cheapen it. The office, to him, was a public trust—not a brand to monetize. So he returned home and lived modestly. He wrote his memoirs to earn income. He sold family land. He walked the streets of Independence without escort, stopping to greet neighbors, visiting the barber, mailing packages himself.

This wasn’t performance. It was character.

Yet his financial strain embarrassed lawmakers. By the late 1950s, leaders in Congress agreed that former presidents should not face hardship after serving the nation. In 1958, the Former Presidents Act created a pension system for ex-presidents—largely in response to Truman’s situation.

Ironically, Truman hesitated to accept it. He worried it looked like charity. Eventually, he agreed—saying the system mattered more for future presidents than for himself.

That train ride symbolized something larger than a journey home. It reflected a time when a president could step away from immense power and return to ordinary citizenship. Truman never confused the office with his identity. He had served, and now he was done.

Today, security realities and modern expectations make such a scene unimaginable. Former presidents travel with protection, staff, and lifelong benefits. The presidency has grown into something far more insulated.

Truman died in 1972, still living in the same modest home in Independence. He never sought grandeur in retirement. The man who helped shape the postwar world returned quietly to private life.

That image—Harry Truman on a passenger train, chatting with strangers—remains a reminder of leadership defined not by privilege, but by humility.

Power, in his view, was temporary. Character was permanent.

And when his time was over, he simply went home.

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF IRAN (CPI) OFFICIAL FOUNDING DECLARATION

 

OFFICIAL FOUNDING DECLARATION

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF IRAN (CPI)

Hereby, we, the loyal children of Iran, officially proclaim the formation of the Conservative Party of Iran.

At this decisive moment in our nation’s history, we rise with a deep sense of responsibility, dedicated to helping our people in reclaiming our homeland, restoring its dignity, and securing its rightful future.

The Conservative Party of Iran stands firmly upon the enduring pillars of Iran's historical and political truth: its national identity, its sovereignty, and the continuity of Iran’s original and native polity, the Monarchical Institution of Iran, which has long been the guardian of stability, unity, and the enduring foundation of the true and actual Iranian state.

Hereditary Monarchy:

Under the Iran-building Pahlavi Dynasty, and under the rightful leadership of Iran’s exiled Shah and National Leader of Iran’s Lion and Sun Revolution, His Majesty Reza Shah Pahlavi

@PahlaviReza

], in continuity through Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Noor Pahlavi [

@NoorPahlavi

], the Iranian state shall be anchored in historical legitimacy, peace, stability, freedom, prosperity, and uninterrupted national continuity.

National Unity:

Iran is one nation under one flag, indivisible and eternal.

We affirm absolute territorial integrity and unbreakable national unity beneath the Lion and Sun flag of Iran, the sacred symbol of our civilizational nationhood and sovereignty.

Secular Democracy:

We uphold a secular and democratic constitutional order, namely Iran's Constitutional Monarchy, rooted in the Rule of Law, guaranteeing equal rights, freedoms, dignity, and civic equality for every Iranian citizen.

Mission:

Our immediate mission is clear. We stand beside the courageous Iranian people and their exiled Shah and National Leader to end clerical rule and liberate Iran from the destructive ruins of the 1979 Islamist revolt.

We unequivocally reject all anti-Iranian ideologies, including Islamism, Marxism, separatism, tribalism, and ethno-fascism, which fracture the nation, erode its sovereignty, and endanger its security.

We draw inspiration from the civilizational legacy of Cyrus the Great, father of ancient Iran, and from the modernizing vision of Reza Shah the Great, father of modern Iran. Our movement is ancient in identity and history, yet modern in purpose, direction, and resolve.

To the International Community:

The Conservative Party of Iran is committed to peace, stability, prosperity, and responsible global partnership.

Under a Pahlavi-led national government, the political system in Iran will cease to be a source of regional instability. Instead, Iran shall:

▫️Restore Predictability, replacing ideological adventurism with rational, interest-based diplomacy.

▫️Ensure Security, acting as a pillar of regional stability and a reliable partner in global commerce.

▫️Foster Peace and Prosperity, advancing cooperation, economic development, and the complete rejection and termination of state-sponsored terrorism.

Iran shall once again stand as a responsible nation among nations.

National Vision:

We champion civic nationalism.

Iranian identity is defined by citizenship, civic responsibility, and shared civilizational nationhood and heritage, not by ethnicity, tribe, race, geography, religion, sect, gender, class, or ideology. National loyalty and civic commitment form the foundation of our unity, and we reject all forms of tribalism, separatism, and involuntary collectivism.

Membership in the Conservative Party of Iran is open to all Iranians who affirm their loyalty to Iran, its unity, and the Pahlavi Throne.

 

The Conservative Party Manifesto and the Comprehensive Draft Constitution of the Conservative Party of Iran are both available on the party’s official Telegram channel: http://t.me/IranConservativeParty

Long Live Iran

Long Live the Shah

 

Rayan Amiri Savadkouhi

Founding Leader

Conservative Party of Iran

Trump Just Outmaneuvered the "British Empire" at Hormuz

 

Trump Just Outmaneuvered the "British Empire" at Hormuz

A viral breakdown has exposed a subtle but devastating dynamic unfolding in the Persian Gulf.

In a single stroke of economic and military genius, the Trump administration appears to have neutralized one of the United Kingdom's most ancient and powerful geopolitical tools, potentially "crushing" a key ally's economy to secure American energy supremacy.

The crisis began when Lloyd’s of London—the world's only insurance market large enough to back the staggering value of the global oil fleet—abruptly announced it would no longer insure any vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

This move, according to Armes, would have effectively grounded the 20 to 30 percent of the world’s oil that flows through that 21-mile chokepoint.

"Trump just killed the British Empire."

Let me explain. This is the Strait of Hormuz. You've been hearing about it on the news. About 20 to 30 percent of all oil in the world goes through this strait. Here is what you don't know.

In order to go through this strait, ships have to have insurance. There is only one company in the entire globe that is big enough to insure all the oil tankers going through this strait. That company is Lloyd’s of London.

It is responsible for about 2 percent of the British Empire’s GDP, over a $40 billion contribution to the United Kingdom and 50,000 jobs, but it’s also a geopolitical tool for the UK.

And they decided they were no longer going to insure anyone going through the Strait of Hormuz, which would have halted all energy shipments. It was kind of a giant F you to Donald Trump to confuse and distort the energy markets and make America look bad.

But Trump said that the United States government is going to start insuring these shipping companies. Not only that, they will provide personal escorts for these boats with the U.S. Navy.

Just in a matter of minutes, the United States has shut down one of the largest geopolitical tools the United Kingdom has had all the way back to the 1600s.

This not only ensures they no longer have geopolitical leverage but is going to crush their economy. It's not like Lloyd’s can just magically come back online.

Now that the United States is insuring these boats, which, by the way, were the reason boats could even go through that strait anyway because of the United States military, it's not like these boats are going to go back to Lloyd’s of London insurance.

They’re probably going to stay with the United States, and Trump knows this.

A very subtle move but incredibly important."

Friedrick Hayek, Nobel Prize for Economics, 1974

 

When Friedrick Hayek stood on the Nobel Prize in Economics podium in 1974, no one imagined that this titan of economics would, four years later, do something that shocked the academic world. In Paris, he publicly set up a debate challenge, inviting all scholars who questioned his theories to come and argue with him—yet in the end, not a single one dared to step forward.

And the seven resounding quotes he left behind, each one piercing straight to the essence of human nature:

The first: He said money is the greatest tool ever invented by humanity—only money opens its doors to the poor, while power never will.

The second: Why do some problems never get solved? Because the people who solve problems are the very ones who create them.

The third: A world where the rich hold power is often far better than one where only the powerful can get rich.

The fourth: The purpose of law is not to abolish and restrict freedom, but to protect and expand it. If a person need only obey the law and no one else, then that person is free.

The fifth: If the real world allowed free human migration to continue, the flow of people would point the way to civilization.

The sixth: Those willing to trade freedom for security will end up with neither freedom nor security.

The seventh: The road to hell is usually paved with good intentions. The very things that turn the world into hell are the ideas people have for turning it into paradise.

THE TRUTH ABOUT WAR POWERS

 

Mark Levin

THE TRUTH ABOUT WAR POWERS -- DECLARING WAR, MAKING WAR, THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE WAR POWERS ACT FACT:  No president, of either party, has accepted the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act.  Every president has viewed it as a violation of separation of powers -- the president's Article II plenary power to run foreign policy and his authority as the commander-in-chief. FACT: The Supreme Court has never ruled on the Act's constitutionality and likely never will.  Indeed, Congress itself is split on the issue, with Democrats supporting Democrat presidents and Republicans supporting Republican presidents.  The War Powers Act is nothing but a political tool used by members of Congress typically against a president of the opposite party -- and their arguments mostly switch from one side to the other depending on who is president.   FACT: The first draft of the Constitution provided that Congress would have the power to MAKE war.  The delegates at the Constitutional Convention rejected that language and changed it to DECLARE war, intentionally watering it down because they did not believe a body with numerous members was institutionally capable of making such decisions. FACT: To declare war does not result in making war, e.g., if Congress were to declare war and a president refused to accept such a declaration, Congress cannot force the commander-in-chief to execute such a war.  Congress declaring war, which it has done a mere 11 times (mostly during World War II) since the nation's founding, is essentially the highest means by which it can proclaim its support for a war.  It is not a condition precedent to making war and never has been. FACT: The only power Congress has to prevent a military operation is the power of the purse.  That said, a president who, as commander-in-chief, has authorized military action will not sign such a bill for it is intended to prevent what he has already commanded.  Therefore, Congress would need a two-thirds majority of both Houses to override his veto.  In other words, a president has broad power to take military action. FACT: Other than the vice president, the president is the only federal official elected by the entirety of the people.  In addition to the institutional impossibility of war powers and decisions in the hands of a multi-member body like Congress, the president is the only official who was elected to, among other things, serve as commander-in-chief.

Patriotism Strengthens the Rule of Law

 

Patriotism Strengthens the Rule of Law

Patriotism in the American civic tradition is not mere feeling; it is a disposition that binds love of country to fidelity to its founding principles and institutions. When citizens are patriotic in this reflective, constitutional sense, they treat the rule of law as the primary means by which liberty, order, and justice are preserved. That connection works through three mutually reinforcing channels: legitimacy, restraint, and stewardship.

 Legitimacy — patriotism gives the law moral force

Shared allegiance to the Constitution and common civic principles makes laws and institutions legitimate in citizens’ eyes. Legitimacy encourages voluntary compliance and reduces reliance on coercion. 

Moral language of the founding—rights, consent, and equal protection—turns abstract rules into obligations citizens accept as part of being American. As Benjamin Franklin put it, “Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” That sense of belonging makes the law more than an external constraint; it becomes a shared covenant.

Restraint — patriotism channels power through institutions

- A patriotic citizenry expects leaders to govern within constitutional limits and to respect procedures for changing policy. This expectation creates **social and political pressure** against arbitrary rule. 

- James Madison explained the constitutional design that channels ambition into checks: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” When citizens value that design, they resist shortcuts and demand that power be exercised through the rule‑bound mechanisms the Constitution prescribes.

Stewardship — patriotism motivates citizens to sustain institutions

- Patriotism supplies the civic virtues the Constitution presupposes: civic knowledge, public-spiritedness, willingness to serve, and readiness to defend rights. George Washington’s insistence that the Constitution be a guide reflects this duty: “The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.” 

- Those virtues sustain courts, legislatures, elections, and civil society so the rule of law can function in practice, not just on paper.