Commentary by R. Tone Kister

Death is never a punishment! by R. Tone Kister Most of us have been conditioned to believe that, somehow death is a punishment. We hear people say, “I hope he gets the chair for what he did”, or “Killin’s too good for him”. Meaning, of course, they are condemning them to the ultimate punishment by the very act of the person dying. On the other side of this anger is love, and how often do we express our ultimate love for someone by demanding that everything be done for them to keep them alive. Even at the expense of their quality-of-life. Does this not imply that death is the supreme awful. But wait, our thinking becomes convoluted when a beloved pet becomes irreversibly ill, and we “humanly” choose to “put-them-down”. Many, many people are convinced that animals do not have a continuation of life after death, but are equally convinced that humans do. More convolution, if animals don’t live on after death and people do, then how can rationally, death be a punishment for humans and a kind release for animals? Unless not continuing life is better than continuing. Plum goofy thinking it seems to me. Death is merely graduating from mortality. Death is never a punishment! No one can die until it is time. To do so, would imply that perhaps God is not in control all of the time, and that is not even a consideration for me. I do believe a person can make choices that will impair their abilities adversely. But death does not ever result unless it is time for them to graduate. Conversely, I believe nothing can be done to prolong “quality life” when it is time to graduate. I believe the medical profession can improve or retain a better quality of life for anyone destined to stay in mortality with medications now. In the future, cloning one’s individual parts, will be a much more desirable solution to the aging of the body. I believe all good comes from Heaven. I also believe Satan always attempts to turns the good from Heaven to evil. Satan was long ago cast out of Heaven along with a third of the Angels, and sent to Earth to rule. It is no wonder to me that he and his demons have so much influence in all areas, and must be constantly monitored. Because Satan and his demons are spirits and are invisible, it is easy for them to convince the unwary they don’t even exist. This of course, makes it possible to move about the mind freely and spread their evil wantonly, like germs and bacteria. If ya can’t see it, it ain’t real, right? I believe Satan and his demons cannot influence us unless invited, and that’s where it gets really tricky. How many ways can he be invited? After all, right now this is his turf and he has been properly described as the master of deception. . . Heavenly Father allows Satan and his followers to tempt us as part of our experience in mortality. We do not have to give in to Satan’s temptations. We have the power within us to choose good over evil. Satan is the enemy of righteousness and those who seek to follow God. He is a spirit son of God who was once an angel , but in the premortal Council in Heaven, Lucifer, as Satan was then called, rebelled against Heavenly Father and he persuaded a third part of the hosts of heaven to turn away from the Father. As a result of this rebellion they were all cast out of Heaven and sent to earth to rule, without bodies, until the millennium. Neither Satan nor any of his demon followers can influence us without our permission. How do we grant permission? That’s where the tricky part comes in. He tries to lead us away from righteousness through ridicule and discrediting Holy things. He casts doubt on individual accountability and undermines the sense of family. Like the frog and hot water story, he supplies us with small samples of corruption so we don’t even realize until it is too late, we have been trapped. This can come to us in a multitude of ways including; through our associations, and of course television and the internet. Evil has no conscience! It will use us for as long as we are useful to it’s end, and then cast us off as so much worthless junk. Satan can reign supreme by convincing mortals he does not exist. Those so convinced, are helpless to his influence, because no one can fight against something they think does not exist! There is no defense. There is a strong defense for those that do not fall for the Satanic lies, and continually monitor their own behavior. Keeping it simple, like; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, or “Am I hiding this from others because it would embarrass me if they found out”. We can place red flags up in our minds and abide by them with a greater assurance of success. The single most important word to live by is “Respect”! If everyone respects themselves and every one else, all the time, we will not have spouse abuse, child abuse, crimes of theft, crimes of passion, war, dishonesty, cheating, fleecing, quick uncontrolled tempers, insults, enemies, put-downs, ridicule, or untrustworthiness, and any sense of misery will be reduced to physical pain and or monetary inadequacies. Which can be monumental !