SATAN REDUCES HONESTY LESSON TO DEBATE ABOUT SPEED LIMITS

Spiritually Trivial Matters,
Strictly Enforced

Casper, WY—Over the weekend Satan managed to, yet again, reduce a complex and interesting Elders quorum discussion about honesty to a superficial yet somehow still heated debate about speed limits.

This week’s instance occurred in the Casper North 3^rd Ward’s Elders quorum, where instructor Garret Ingles attempted to challenge quorum honesty by asking how many members never exceeded the legal driving speed limit. While the question seemed provocative, probing if quorum members were obedient in keeping “the little things” as well as the big, Brother Ingles did not realize that it was the Evil One who had encouraged this line of inquiry.

Ingles’ question was immediately followed by the sense of claustrophobia that often accompanies Pharisaical attempts at keep the commandments. This claustrophobic feeling of being confined to the overly narrow space of needless rules caused immediate feelings of confusion and shame. Much to Satan’s approval, some quorum members immediately yet quietly gave up on keeping the commandments. Others responded defensively, saying that no one can stay within the speed limit all of the time.

Ingles, in a move that he hoped would help others feel free to confess shortcomings, admitted that he very often breaks speed limit laws and thereby tacitly acts dishonestly. This confession merely prompted class members to question honesty’s importance, and, by extension, the importance of Elders quorum meetings like this one. The bulk of the remaining class time was discussions of minor (and some major) lawlessness, mingled with scriptures.

For their part, the demonic spirits assigned to Wyoming (the only state whose declining population means a reduction in the need for evil spirits), heartily approved of the entire discussion. Said one demon, “yah, so long as we keep Mike Turner from pondering his steadily increasing theft at work, Dave Gibson from considering his duplicity in keeping important information from his wife, and Kyle Levin from recognizing his creeping hypocrisy, then they can talk all they want about if it is okay to run red lights at 3 a.m.!”