The mitigation of Judas Iscariot

The commonly accepted view of Judas is derived from a simplistic reading of the New Testament: Judas is innately sinister; a son of perdition guilty of the most heinous crime known to mankind. The inception of this condemning perspective roots back even before the middle ages, when his character was villianized to an absurd level through the exaggeration of fabricated fables. Though it did eventually become historically correct, the skepticism continued through the centuries. Still today, the common Christian view of Judas is condemning at best. The LDS religion is no exception in their perception of his guilt - even THE FRIEND reviles him! With such a widespread, "blatantly obvious" denouncement of his name, one would think the denigration was sound. The problem however, is that the unmitigated guilt of Judas is neither blatantly obvious nor sound. There are a number of questions concerning this issue that are often ignored: The Disciples questioned Jesus when he told them one of them would betray him - if Judas had been the personification of evil as he has been claimed to be, then shouldn't if have been obvious that he was the betrayer? Again, if his nature was so corrupt, why would Jesus have chosen him to be one of his apostles? Judas was a shrewd business man - so why would he have been willing to to sell his master for such an incredibly low price? If prophets foretold his betrayal as a part of the essential plan for the atonement- did Judas even have the choice not to sin? If it was the devil who took possession of Judas, how could he still be held responsible as the actor of the crime? These questions barely surface the complexity of both the story and truth of a man named Judas, a man buried underneath the notorious reputation of the epithet: Judas Iscariot.

My Epiphany to the Paradox of Serving God and Mammon

I've been struggling with the scripture in Mathew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
To some extent, everyone serves God and Mammon. All of us have sinned while simultaneously been going through the motions. I've done it. We all do it. That's life. I understand. What I don't understand is the extent, the severity in which this happens. I have been both baffled and devastated by the number of Wonderful men: family members, teachers, bishops, stake presidents, in my life who have played their roles for years, and played them well, while simultaneously taken part in shockingly insidious behavior. The kind of behavior that goes not just against the laws of the church, but the laws of the land as well. The best people can make the worst mistakes, but this doesn't mean they are the worst people - though I believe this with all of my heart, it is hard to watch the best fall. It is hard to know I have been deceived. It is hard to wonder how many more out there are currently deceiving.
This scripture, this concept, has plagued my mind for weeks now, eating away at my faith in people, my faith in everything. You can't serve God and Mammon...and yet they did! They loved their families, they loved the Lord, they sought to abide by the precepts of the Gospel, they served others, they sought to have the spirit in their homes, they lived role-Model lives...while simultaneously being unfaithful to their spouses, visiting prostitutes, abusing their children, stealing, destroying lives, lying, lying, lying. The inability to serve God and Mammon had become a paradox to me.
This morning, maybe through the gift of the Spirit, I was blessed with a beautiful epiphany. You can serve both God and Mammon. This has been proven. What you cannot do is serve God and Mammon, while being at peace with yourself. These men (and women) may have gotten away with secret lives of darkness, they may be getting away with it still, but while they secretly sin, they suffer secretly– being tormented with the knowledge of their deeds. Yes. They are still good people. But they are nothing compared to what they could be.
Repent. Now. Even if it throws your life into a chaotic whirlwind of despair, it is worth it. The respect of the world is worth nothing – if you cannot first respect yourself.

Why Boys Should Wear Wedding Rings

My testimony of boy’s utter stupidity was strengthened a year ago when my printer broke down. I knew a guy in the ward named Dave who was a computer science major. We had talked a couple of times before, and he seemed like a decent enough guy. I called him up to help me fix it. He responded enthusiastically, “Sure! I can come over and help you out with it.” We talked effortlessly, I knew half his life story by the time he had finished with the printer. During one of our conversations, he had mentioned a movie that he wanted to go see.
Feeling like there was a connection I asked him, “Would you like to see the movie together some time?”
He froze. “Oh, um, well…hum, that could be fun, but see, I, I’m not sure. I probably can’t. It’s just that I don’t know how my fiancé would feel about that.”
FIANCE?! I could have slapped the idiot. We had been pouring our souls out for over an hour, why had he not brought this up yet? That should have been the first thing he ever said to me, “Hi, I’m Dave, I’m engaged.” If he didn’t want to be that blunt he could have at least said something to the effect of, “You drink water, hey my fiancé does that too!” that would have given me the stay away signal. Instead, I had to be the one to apologize for making things awkward. The injustice of boys not wearing engagement rings makes me want to go and flirt like crazy with some random victim, then wear a fake wedding ring to class one day just to see his expression as his face falls.