Kenngo1969

Oh, yeah?! Tell me, Ms. Smartypants, what weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of metal! [Sorry! Couldn't resist! ] Carry on!

When they improvise, the guitar player just knows what the bass player is gonna do, and the bass player just knows what the guitar player is gonna do! It's like ... they're one person! What? Oh. Don't mind me! Carry on!

Oh, goodness! You got us, @GoCeltics! We've never heard that one before! Shut 'er down, Clancy! She's pumpin' mud! Will the last person to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints please turn out the lights?

This is awesome!

For what it's worth,the only thing I possess that truly is mine to surrender back to God that He did not give me in the first place is my will.

That's a tough situation. I would never dream of attempting to equate, to the least degree, our respective situations, but, as an Eternal Bachelor in a Family Church, and one who has crested the "hill of middle age" and is careening rapidly toward geezerhood, I'm not exactly sure what the Lord's plans for me are when it comes to eternal relationships outside my family of origin, but whatever they are, I'm OK with them. (I realize, fully, that it's much easier to reach that level of equanimity for someone in my position than it is for someone in your son's position ... Regardless, I wish you both well.)

In conjunction with my previous comment, also, consider this from Elder-Later-President [now, Alas!, simlply "late": RIP, President Holland] Jeffrey R. Holland: Source: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (April 2013), "Lord, I Believe," Ensign, accessed on line at the following address on July 1, 2026: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng. The entire address is worth a read.

I wouldn't say, necessarily, that, during His mortal sojourn, Christ ministered to those who didn't believe He is the Son of God, but He came awful darn close. He ministered to a ton of people whose faith, in some way, was less than fully formed. Remember, for example, his encounter with the Canaanite woman: [I'm posting the above for your benefit. I wouldn't necessarily compare your son to a dog. I don't think that'd go over too well: "Ahhh, ya filthy cur, believe in Jesus, whydon'tcha?!!" 🤣 ] I'm simply using this woman's example to illustrate how Christ ministered to people whose faith was in varying states and circumstances. Remember too, what he told the man who besought Him to cast the devil out of his [the man's] son (see v. 23 below): Is it possible, perhaps, for your son to have faith as a mustard seed, one of the smaller objects that still is visible to the human eye? Remember, too, what Alma told his listeners in Alma 32: I know it's easy for me, an Internet stranger, to sit here and spout scriptures off of my keyboard, especially considering that even in my ever-more-rapidly advancing years, still, I am my only child. But I hope there's something in here that, even if it doesn't help your son, will help you. I wish you well. Besides, you never know where your son's "fickle faith" is gonna be in a few months! (Teenagers! )

🤣 Welp, I'm glad they've got their priorities straight! 🤣

"Fairview United" likes to use the slogan, "Keepin' It Country." "Keepin' It Country" has been a Fairview TX slogan since ... 1958!!! Somebody should tell 'em, "Honey, I hate to break it to ya, but 'It Ain't Been 'Country' for Quite Awhile!'" More like, "Keepin' It Suburban Since 2005!" Or, how about, "Keepin' It Religiously Bigoted Since 2025!"? Sorry, but ... that's the truth.

For what it's worth, I asked Google Gemini: Can you summarize this podcast and analyze for me at some length and in some detail? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-conversation-with-dr-john-hubbard-mayor-of-fairview-texas/id1682941294?i=1000772546314 For the record, I'm disinclined to put much stock in Mayor Hubbard's protestations that the only objective of the "Fairview Speaks" campaign is to encourage the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a good neighbor. Rather, I think the intent of the campaign is to persuade the Church to abandon an already-agreed-upon plan for construction of the Church's Temple in Fairview. Gemini responded: The June 2026 episode of Inside Out with Jim Bennett and Ian Wilks featuring Fairview Mayor Dr. John Hubbard offers a fascinating, deeply human look into the multi-year battle over the McKinney Texas Temple. Because the podcast hosts occupy two different spaces—Jim is an active Latter-day Saint ("on the inside") and Ian is an ex-Latter-day Saint ("on the outside")—the conversation strikes a remarkably unique chord. Rather than a hostile interrogation, it plays out as an earnest, complex dialogue about civic authority, institutional overreach, and community identity. Summary of the Podcast Conversation The interview charts the long, messy history of the temple dispute, which evolved from a local zoning disagreement into a high-stakes legal and cultural standoff. The Core Friction: Mayor Hubbard reiterates that Fairview is a small, semi-rural town with strict zoning ordinances designed to preserve its dark skies and open aesthetic. The town's regulations typically limit building heights to 35 feet. The Church’s original proposal featured a massive structure with a spire reaching up to 174 feet. The Breakdown of Mediation: A significant portion of the episode covers the behind-the-scenes breakdown of the town’s interactions with the Church. Hubbard details the frustration of trying to find a middle ground. He reveals correspondence between his office and the Church's Temple Department, explaining that while the town offered various height allowances well above standard zoning, the Church routinely countered with minor concessions or hardline stances, leaning heavily on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) to assert their rights. The "Good Neighbor" Narrative: Hubbard spends considerable time defending the town's public communications and the "Fairview Speaks" campaign. He insists that the town's focus has always been purely architectural and logistical—centering on lighting, traffic, and structural scale. He claims the campaign's true objective is simply to bring a large institutional builder to the table as a "good neighbor" to match the residential feel of the community. An Uncomfortable Encounter: In a particularly revealing and widely discussed anecdote, Mayor Hubbard mentions a time when he actually visited the nearby Dallas LDS Temple grounds to better understand the atmosphere and impact of these structures, only to be asked to leave the premises by staff. This moment serves as a poignant symbol in the interview for how isolated and unwelcome the non-LDS community has felt throughout the process. Detailed Analysis: Reading Between the Lines Your skepticism regarding the "Fairview Speaks" campaign hits on the exact political and tactical friction that underpins the entire episode. When analyzing Hubbard’s rhetoric against the actual timeline of events, several key dynamics emerge that support your reading of the situation. 1. The Weaponization of "Good Neighbor" Rhetoric Mayor Hubbard's insistence that the town only wants the Church to be a "good neighbor" is a brilliant piece of civic public relations, but it acts as an intentional containment strategy. By framing the conflict around neighborliness and respect for local rules, the town occupies the moral high ground. It strips the Church of its preferred narrative: that the city is acting out of religious animus or "anti-Mormon" bias. However, "being a good neighbor" in this context is structurally impossible for the Church without completely abandoning its planned architectural footprint. Because the core components of the Church's design—the height of the spire and the scale of the building—are treated by Salt Lake City as non-negotiable theological necessities, the town’s demands are fundamentally an existential challenge to the project itself. 2. A War of Attrition to Force De-escalation Your assessment that the campaign is designed to persuade the Church to abandon its agreed-upon plans aligns perfectly with how small municipalities fight large institutional entities. Fairview lacks the multi-billion-dollar legal war chest of the LDS Church. They cannot win a straight legal shootout under federal RLUIPA laws if the Church pushes all the way to federal court. Therefore, public campaigns like "Fairview Speaks" and subsequent zoning board appeals are tools of community friction. The goal is to make the public relations cost of building the temple so high, and the local optics so ugly, that the Church is forced to either radically compromise or quietly pivot. It is an attempt to weaponize local democracy and public shame to halt an institutional steamroller. 3. The Irony of the Compromise and Continued Litigation The podcast highlights the sheer exhaustion of this dispute. Even after a fractured Town Council vote previously approved a modified Conditional Use Permit (bringing the steeple down to 120 feet during mediation), the peace shattered. The Church later threatened further litigation, and a citizens' group ("Fairview United") sued the town to challenge the validity of that very approval. When you listen to Hubbard in June 2026, he sounds like a man trying to manage a fire that has escaped his control. His written op-eds and podcast commentary plead for "harmony over division," but the underlying reality is a total gridlock of trust. The Church views the town's zoning demands as an infringement on their religious expression, while the town—and your own analysis—rightly identifies that the community's defensive posture is a calculated effort to force the Church to back down from an aggressive, top-down mandate. Ultimately, the interview exposes a profound cultural mismatch. The Church treats its temple plans as an unalterable divine decree, while the town treats them as a negotiable commercial blueprint. Hubbard's polite, measured tone masks a stark reality: "Fairview Speaks" was never just an invitation to talk; it was a desperate defensive wall built to protect a small town's autonomy. To see a broader breakdown of how these conflicts play out between local governments and the Church across the country, you can watch this analytical report on LDS temple zoning disputes. This video provides context on the letters exchanged between Mayor Hubbard and the LDS Temple Department, shedding light on the legal and structural arguments used by both sides.

You're an "Okie From Muskogee"? Who knew?

And a hearty "Amen!" to that. While I am aware, acutely, that mere words are no salve for current pain, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (and His Resurrection), we can hold out hope for a joyous reunion in a realm to come. Since my own father's passing, increasingly, my thoughts have turned to what it must be like on the other side. I like to think there is a rather sizeable contingent cheering us on. And which is more, since we don't know what those who are of a different generation were like when they were young, it will be like meeting people we've long known ... but for the first time! May the Lord's choicest blessings rest on you and your family, My Brother.

Remember, as Miracle Max of The Princess Bride fame told us, there's a big difference between "mostly dead" and "all dead." "Mostly dead" is still "slightly alive." With "all dead," there's only one thing you can do: Go through his pockets and look for loose change. This concludes this irrelevant, irreverent interruption. Indeed, apologies for that interruption. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled, on-topic programming, already in progress!