What do you think when you see people breaking all of your rules?

This question was posed in Las Vegas, where all ten commandments are apparently suspended.

You know, it is remarkable how many self-professing Christians participate in all that the devil has to offer. But then, hypocrisy is not a new accusation against any religion.

The question is fair, but it has a certain edge to it - the person asking may have been accusing me of being judgmental. The truth is, right or wrong, sometimes I am. I'm not perfect either.

But often I'm not, and so I want you to understand what I feel when I see people 'breaking my rules' and I am in a proper, Christian frame of mind.

First, understand that the Mormon Philosophy of Obedience is not centered on a mathmatic equation of "break x commandments equals y time in z degrees of hell." Of course we believe that nothing unclean can live in God's presence, but the Savior's Atonement can make that happen.

Instead, we are concerned with the whole of who we are, and who we will become if we continue to engage in our current behaviors. We believe that the commandments help us tailor our behavior to get the best benefit of the natural laws of the universe, bringing about peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come. And becoming who we ought to be qualifies us for the blessings of the Atonement, including cleansing from sin.

So what do I feel when I observe the debauchery of Las Vegas?

Sorrow. Sorrow that in an attempt at gaining some fleeting happiness, people are breaking themselves against natural laws, multiplying their problems, and creating entanglements that they do not understand, whether it is in the visible scar of a tattoo, or the less visible scars of immorality, substance abuse, and gambling, they are incurring both the negative consequences of physical universal laws, and the displeasure of an otherwise loving God.