So most of you are probably familiar with the controversy surrounding President Packer's talk in General Conference. I'm not going to get into the thick of that mess but in light of all that has been going on, the LDS Church released this statement today which I rather liked and thought I would share.
After I read that statement, I went to another news site and found that they did a story on the issue. After I read that story I began to peruse the reader comments. What I found wasn't surprising in the least. Here are some of my favorite comments:
"He [Boyd K. Packer] is a fear mongering religious whacko who enjoys his place of power and controlling the minds of his followers. Yay free speech. The Mormon church ruins lives."
"...absolutely, this is america, you are allowed to be as stupid, ignorant, and bigoted as you please. definition of a mormon."
"Mormon is a kook religion. Have you ever read the nonsense that they believe? Sorry man, the only word to describe Mormons is "kooks." Have a nice day!"
"As if the Mormon "religion" wasn't enough of a cartoon as it is already..."
There were about 1,000 comments on this article and I didn't have time to go through them all. Basically what I learned from reading them, however, is that most people still attack the LDS church because of their own ignorance. And sadly, that will probably never change. I also learned that there are many people not of the LDS faith who stick up for us and I have come to truly appreciate those people.
The world will most likely always view the LDS Church in a negative light. But I hope that those of us who belong to the faith will continue to do what we have always been counseled to do: rise above it, love everyone, and try to educate others on what it is we actually believe in a non-defensive, non-threatening and non-judgemental way. If we really want the world to know we are a loving people, we have to live as such.
10 years ago
2 comments:
I agree. I can't imagine peoples views of the LDS church will ever change, in part because they enjoy mocking it.
I do my very best to rise above it, but I can't help but be angered by peoples self inflicted ignorance. Whenever I have heard someone make derogatory comments about the church I generally find that they are voicing the opinions of TV and magazine reporters. This can only be because they are incapable of forming their own opinions and I find this very sad. It has never been easier to gain real information about the church, and yet they choose not to. To my mind this forfeits them the right to make negative comments.
Camille, you've done it again! I think this is the second time one of your posts has started me ranting ;o) It doesn't take much to get me started, lol.
Ooh, I also mean't to say that I hope you're well. :o)
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