I am John W. Redelfs of Ketchikan Ward, Juneau Alaska Stake. I currently serve as the Sunday School President in my ward, and I have served in many callings over the last 43 years from stake high councilor and high priest group leader to Ward Magazine Representative and Sacrament Meeting Chorister.
I am a convert to the Church from a Baptist background. I joined the Church in 1963 when I was a senior in high school. I served in the US Marine Corp, and attended BYU but never finished my degree. I worked for years as a salesman, security officer, locksmith, logger, house husband and home schooler.
In 1978 I married Esperanza Merino, an Hispanic immigrant from El Salvador, in the Los Angeles temple. We raised two daughters and a son who are now grown and have left home. We have two grandchildren. When Esperanza retires from the federal government in 2008, we hope to serve a mission.
I have run email discussion lists for my Mormon brothers and sisters since late 1993. It has been my main interest after my family since I discovered the Internet in 1992. My Zion list split off from Mormon-L when it was still on the BYU servers. We left Mormon-L because we were offended by the “spirit of criticism” towards the Brethren, and the Zion list has always been “for those who find joy in following the prophets.” Running these lists has been a great joy and my main hobby. And today I am finding the same joy in blogging.
I am interested in Church history only as it relates to the development of our doctrine because of continuing revelation. I consider the study of Church history for the purpose of shining a light on the flaws and mistakes of the prophets to be an abuse of history and dishonest. Because the Church is true, history researched and written for the purpose of casting doubt on that is a lie. Working to undermine the testimonies of the saints, and to undermine the confidence they have in their prophet-leaders is a grave sin in the eyes of God. I believe that those who do this and fail to repent will live to regret their misbehavior.
I also have a strong interest in the US Constitution and the role it has played in keeping the American people free by limiting federal power. I am particularly interested in threats to the Constitution and the freedom we enjoy in the USA from those who seek power and wealth at the expense of American sovereignty.
Politically I am a traditional conservative, sometimes called a paleoconservative. As such, I am opposed to the Iraq War, or any war not fought on our own soil in self-defense against an invasion. I am an anti-communist and believe in an originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution for severely restricting the power of the federal government. However, I am not a modern libertarian, as opposed to the libertarianism of our Founding Fathers. And I support legislation in support of families and communities at the expense of the excessive liberty of individuals who want to corrupt our society with vice that is a threat to our traditional values and culture.
And while it is not relevant to the subject matter of this blog, I also have strong interests in Linux, open source, digital rights management, file sharing, PC gaming, World of Warcraft, bluegrass music, science fiction, movies and many other things to numerous to mention here. My favorite authors are Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Gene Wolfe, Louis L’Amour, James E. Talmage, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Bruce R. McConkie. My favorite film directors are Akira Kurosawa, Franco Zefirelli, and Ridley Scott. Currently my all-time favorite movie is Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and before that Jesus of Nazareth, Romeo and Juliet, Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. My favorite bluegrass musicians are Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Bill Monroe, J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanly and The Seldom Scene. My favorite poet is William Shakespeare. And I have acted in many plays in high school, at BYU, and in the community theater. I have also sung in four acapella choirs, two in high school and two in the university. My favorite choral music is the music of Palestrina. I also love singing Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart. I don’t care much for 20th century classical music.
There, now you know more about the Iron Rod than almost anyone but my wife. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. I love writing it, and regret only that I don’t spend less time writing email and more time blogging.
