Follow-up on Texas Prop #3

I wrote on October 11 about the ballot propositions, based on what information I had available to me, and limited by the time I had to study the issues. After that, I learned that my good friend Mark Ramsey is adamantly against Prop 3, which I had indicated I was for.

So I thought I’d do some more study, just to understand the issue better. Some people think aloud; I think by writing. So, as I begin, I’m not sure whether I’ll change my mind, or even reach a final decision by the end of this piece.

One thing I’ve found is that good conservatives can disagree on issues. Hopefully, we’re all keeping in mind foundational principles as we think things through and make our decisions.

To read the full article, follow the LINK TO SUBSTACK.

If You Can Keep It

We have a school board election upon us, here in northwest Harris County, Texas. Early voting is October 20-31. Election day is Tuesday, November 4. I wrote about the ballot propositions here; the only other items on my ballot are three school board races. 

This is going to be a ridiculously long post. I'm sorry. But I figured, if you're here to find out who to vote for and who not to vote for, you'd want it in one place. Feel free to scroll to information you need, but I'm trying to offer valuable context to the decisions. The extremely condensed version is: vote for the NRG slate.

The NRG slate: Natalie Blasingame, Radele Walker, and George Edwards,
image from their website

The State of the School Board

Our school district is Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD, or Cy-Fair ISD). We’re one of the districts that led the nation a few years ago in overturning “woke” leadership and replacing it with conservatives. This took two elections to accomplish. We elected three conservatives in 2021, leaving us still a 7-3 minority. Then in 2023 we got three more, giving us a 6-1 majority. Now the question is, can we keep the board conservative—maybe even make it more so.

To read the full article, follow LINK TO SUBSTACK.

Texas Ballot Propositions 2025

Compared to the US Constitution, the Texas Constitution is long and convoluted. There’s more a state should do than a federal government. And the amendment process is much easier to accomplish than a US constitutional amendment. A joint resolution passes out of both legislative chambers, and then appears on the following November ballot. If it receives a majority of votes, it becomes part of the Texas Constitution.

Proposed amendments are more likely to pass than not. Since 1876, there have been 714 proposed constitutional amendments; 530 were approved, and only 181 were not. (If you’re keeping track, there were also 3 that came out of the legislature and never made it to the ballot, for reasons somewhat lost to history.) My math shows a 75% pass rate. Maybe it’s because many people trust the legislature—maybe more than they should. But this year my recommendations for the 17 proposed amendments are just over ¾ in favor, with 13 for and 4 against.

To read the full article, follow LINK TO SUBSTACK.

When Your Soul Was Full of Sorrow

 

"When your soul was full of sorrow"[i] 

It has been a tough few days for Latter-day Saints, including me.

I heard the news of the passing of our beloved prophet President Russell M. Nelson just before I went to bed late Saturday night. It was about two hours after he died. He was 101, and while we will greatly miss him, it’s hard to feel sorrow when we already had a great many bonus years with him. But we will be mourning his loss.

President Nelson image found here; Grand Blanc image found here

So my heart was heavy as I got up Sunday morning. And then I heard about the attack on the church in Grand Blanc (pronounced Grand Blank), Michigan, which is horrifying. At this point, several days later, the only known motive is anti-Mormon hatred.

Latter-day Saints are a tightly connected people. We are typically just two or three degrees of separation from anyone we meet. We will know a missionary who served in an area, or know someone who used to live there, or moved there from where we are. I don’t know those connections yet for Grand Blanc, but I have seen others online that are connected.

The sense of unsafety while going to church is unsettling. Our ancestors went through some serious persecution. The state of Missouri had an extermination order, legalizing the murder of Latter-day Saints back in the 1830s, which wasn’t removed from the books until a few decades ago. The Saints had been driven from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois before crossing the plains to get some peace and safety in the Rocky Mountains, in a desert region with a huge salt lake, where no one else had wanted to settle.

This week, the vast majority of responses have been supportive of us. But there have been the occasional hurtful comments, like, “It’s good they’re dead; they were going to hell anyway.” Since Jesus Christ is the only judge, and “he employeth no servant there,” (2 Nephi 9:41) for He cannot be deceived—then to be glad for the death of people who were worshipping Him on a Sunday is something those commenters will have to answer to Him for.

To read full article FOLLOW LINK TO SUBSTACK.

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[i] From verse 3 of “Did You Think to Pray,” Hymn 140