A Little Authority Goes a Long Way

by Carrie Ann

A lady in my congregation ASKED the bishop to be called as the “bread provider” for the weekly sacrament. She had sent her own cancer into remission by changing her eating habits, and felt that the morsel of white bread she ate every Sunday morning might reverse her hard work. This was in 1986, when healthy eating meant iceberg lettuce salads, Diet Coke, and huge bowls of pasta; whole grains were still confined to communes at this point. Even to my now health-conscious palate her bread was pretty gross. There were many children (and adults) on our ward who only pretended to take the sacrament…for years.

As for taking callings too seriously, there are a few who do. And I admit, there have been instances when certain people have been suggested for callings within Young Women’s, and I could not get spiritual confirmation (would not allow myself?) because I had seen what that person had done when given “a little power”. That cracks me up. What also cracks me up is people who are defined by their callings, and people who constantly “hint” that they would just love to “be in Young Women’s” again! Hopefully, if I am taking my calling too seriously, I am hiding it well. After being in Young Women’s for almost 6 years, with 20 Mia Maids at a time, and considering their various “problems”, I worry that I am not taking it seriously enough.

I’m just glad that I have not been called to scouts yet (did I just jinx myself?). Because I fear becoming one of those adult scout leaders who wear their uniforms everywhere: wedding receptions, the grocery store, church… But I will never let that happen; khaki is just not my color.

Rituals of Rudeness

by Ronan

I have a suspicion that I was asked to write about “courtesy” because
I’m British. Apparently, being a Brit means that manners, politeness
and etiquette are part of my DNA. This is rubbish, of course. Britain
is as much the country of the football hooligan as it is Jane Austen
and Her Majesty the Queen. Has anyone ever watched Prime Minister’s
Questions in full swing? The House of Commons is a den of
contradiction. Members call each other the “Honourable Gentleman” or
the “Right Honourable Lady” whilst simultaneously screaming insults
and abuse.

In general I believe in being courteous and having good manners,
disagreeing without being disagreeable, and all that. But there are
exceptions to this rule, times when rudeness is imperative. Rosa Parks
was being rude when she refused to give up her seat. Ghandi’s Salt
March to Dandi was rude. Tipping tea in Boston Harbour was rude.

Too often, it seems, calls to courtesy in politics are calls to
sugarcoat difficult issues and stifle dissent. If there is a
deficiency in the American system of government it is that the head of
state is also the leader of a political party and chief of the
executive branch. Most countries get around this by having a
figurehead president or constitutional monarch, thereby taking the
patriotic sheen from chancellors and prime ministers. When Tony Blair
enters the room no “Hail to the PM” greets him. Instead, pomp and
reverence is reserved for the Queen who remains aloof from partisan
matters.

Cue BYU and the Cheney “controversy.” I find it unfortunate that some
people feel obligated to “do honor to the office” regardless of the
character of the man inhabiting it. When a partisan figure like Mr.
Cheney comes to a university campus, he ought to be fair game for
protest. I’m not necessarily talking about egg-pelting here and
certainly in person there would be little gained by screaming in a
politician’s face, but organised rituals of rudeness serve democracy
well. Our leaders should be wary of the people they govern and silence
in the name of courtesy is “rude” both to our nations and the
principles they hold dear. It instead only stokes the egos of the
rulers. This is both stupid and dangerous.

Betimes with Sharpness

In my experience, there is a tendency for we Mormons to be judgmental.  I can’t think of a reason for this, since the Lord repeatedly tells us not to be judgmental.  Probably we just like looking at ourselves as being in the right.

Along with any tendency to judgmentalism comes a tendency to judge vocally, offer advice, and demand respect.  These are also failings I have found among the Saint, though I hardly think we are alone in it.  In any case, we do have  tendency to think that when we get a little power, that gives us the right to comment on everyone else.

Of course, it doesn’t.  However, sometimes we like to think that the Lord calls on us to rebuke.  In those cases, we are just being instruments in the Lord’s hands (mean, spiteful, bitter instruments).  Usually, I think we are wrong when we think this way.

To that end, I offer my unsolicited advice.  If you ever believe it time to call another to repentance or to demonstrate the superiority of your belief, stop and ask yourself if you really want to do this.  If you do, I would assume that the Lord doesn’t want you to.  If you don’t, then it may be necessary.

Good luck with that.

On Courtesy

by Alice

There was a moment in my life when I thought that Mormons were the least courteous people ever. I viewed them as a group of judgmental tattle-tales who took pleasure and felt success from others “failure.” I could provide examples to support why I felt this way, but what would be the point?

Then, almost exactly eight years ago, I moved to San Francisco and discovered that it isn’t Mormons who have the corner on the market for lack of courtesy. It is humans in general, myself included at times. I just happened to live in a place with a lot of Mormons and so I applied actions by individuals that seemed cruel or hurtful to an entire religion. Moving made me realize that this judgement was misguided. Ass-holes are ass-holes, plain and simple.

When I look at the life I used to live versus the life I live today, I’m forced to recognize that courtesy plays a very prominent role in the Mormon religion. The gospel is literally the gospel of Christ, and Christ, hands down, has an even better reputation than Miss Manners for being courteous. But the Mormon religion takes courtesy to an entirely different level, it takes it further than Christ’s gospel: Courtesy is carved into the daily lives of the religions members. For instance, every family in the church is assigned two home teachers to assist with their physical, mental, and religions well being. Every adult woman in the Church is assigned two visiting teachers to assist with her physical, mental, and religious well being. Young men and young women create projects to assist their communities in an effort to earn their Eagle Scouts and Young Women in Recognition Award. The tithing, the monthly fast offerings, and the many other contributions and donations that all go to worthy causes across the world are viewed as courteous acts. And how can we forget the endless homemade casseroles and platters of Jell-O that find their way into the homes of families who have someone ill, or in the hospital, or struggling in any manner. And silly me, I must recognize the wedding punch and the funeral potatoes as their own courteous acts as well. I could go on and on forever, but my point quite simply is that, through their behavior, as a community, Mormons promote courtesy among one another.

Of course, even otherwise courteous Mormons can still be judgmental tattle-tales who take pleasure and feel success from others “failure.” But again, that’s just ass-holes being ass-holes.

A Spoonful of Sugar

By JP 

When it comes to courtesy, much is dependent on how you were raised.  The examples and teachings you were shown growing up directly impact the courteous adult you may or may not turn out to be.  Sure, I grew up in a Christian (Mormon) family and surroundings, but I give full credit to my parents for applying Christian principles of courtesy into raising their family.  After all, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has witnessed or been a recipient of a Christian/Mormon interaction that is anything but courteous.

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.  (Matt 7:12)

Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  The Golden Rule.  We’ve all heard of it…but do we all live by it?

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I took my oldest daughter out to breakfast after a particularly awesome soccer game.  (The awesome goal she made totally warranted a breakfast out, my friends.)  Our waitress, who was very nice, had made a slight error of not putting our order into the computer.  We had received our various juices, etc but it seemed that we had been waiting a very, very long time to receive breakfast.  We’re a courteous sort of family…but when the manager game out and asked how everything was we couldn’t help but ask where our food was.  Preparing for angry (hungry) customers, the mangers stammered on about the waitress forgetting the order, that she had placed a rush order for us and that he would comp our meal as an apology.  Understanding that mistakes happen, we kindly said thank you for the complimentary meal and also for the rush placed on our order.  The waitress brought our food not too long after that and was so embarrassed and apologetic.  Assuring her that we understood and that there really was no reason to worry she looked incredibly relieved and also a bit surprised.  In her line of work, I’m sure she (as her manager was) geared up for an angry tirade from our table.

My point here isn’t to show that nice and courteous behavior will get you a free meal when your order is forgotten.  We would’ve probably gotten a free meal for the mistake even if we had been nasty.  (But I’m sure not the huge container of freshly baked muffins.  I’m just saying.)  My point is that, more than anything, I felt good not being angry at the poor waitress who just made a simple mistake.  Glad that I used the courtesy I had been raised with and added a little kindness toward her for good measure.  I had also (hopefully) taught my daughter a little lesson in courtesy to those around us.  What it comes down to is that as a parent, I am responsible for teaching my daughters to be courteous to those around them.  We all are responsible for our actions and also our reactions.  I realize that this week’s topic is Courtesy AND the Gospel my take is that you can have one without the other.  I have seen many instances within the Gospel that would make you wonder if courtesy had ever been invented…and I have seen some pretty spectacular amounts of courtesy from people who don’t even believe in God. 

I just happen to be of the belief that courtesy and kindness (more often than not) breed more courtesy and kindness.  I think this world could use a little more of that.

Mind Your P’s & Q’s

Courtesy and the Gospel
by Carrie Ann

Courtesy is often tossed onto the smoldering heap of Pollyanna virtues. It makes me think of  men in stiff Victorian collars and spats tipping their straw hats to corseted ladies with parasols. But then again, my heart swells with gratitude when another driver lets me into the long queue of traffic. That’s courtesy too!

But really, courtesy goes a long way. Ask anyone who works is the service industry. As a former retail executive with Macy’s department stores, I had plenty of opportunity to see the full spectrum of courtesy and non-courtesy. As a customer, you get a lot more out of being nice than you do out of being nasty and demanding. We would bend over backwards for a customer with a problem who was polite and calm. With nasty customers, it is very easy to just resort to policy. And as a manager, I could soothe any wild beast with genuine courtesy and kindness as opposed to snootiness, which was not always easy with someone screaming in your face.

So courtesy for gain… hmmm, it works for me. Most spiritual rewards have to wait for Heaven, but I see courtesy as something that can be rewarded in the here and now.

It’s like Karma. I believe in some form of Karma. I think my God must have another name for it, but it might sound a lot like courtesy.

I am an unapologetically positive person. Pollyanna to the core, but by choice, not by nature. I choose to create rather than destroy, and courtesy is in my toolbox. I am not always successful. Sometimes it feels SO GOOD to be nasty, to be a snob, to look better, richer, more MORE than you! Oh, but the bad vibes I am sending out into the universe when I do this!

I want my behavior to be infectious in a positive way. One courteous act from me might promote a courteous act from another, and another, and another, ad infinitum. Good vibes for the universe!

The idea of courtesy is very New Testament; very love-thy-neighbor. Courtesy allows me the opportunity to live above reproach. If I act with courtesy, most of the time I will have behaved in a Christ-like manner, but it’s a way I can be Christ-like without having to be super-human. That’s it! Courtesy is Christ-like, but human, attainable.

WAR IS A NECESSARY EVIL THAT WE MUST CONTROL

By Tacitus

My name is Josh Kim. I am currently a student at BYU pursuing a degree in History. From 2001 to 2005 I was on active duty with the U.S. Marines and took part in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was a singular event in my life and I am still uncertain as to whether or not it was a good experience for me. Never before in my life had I seen such poverty and destruction. It was definitely unlike any war film I had ever seen. What do I think about the Iraq War and all wars? I think that war is a necessary evil. I think that the Global War on Terrorism is a necessary evil; innocent people were attacked on September 11, 2001 by 19 hijackers who saw no distinction between civilian and military targets. The only way to stop people like these is to kill them.

The Book of Mormon teaches us that we not only have a right to defend ourselves but it is also our duty. It is our duty to defend our women and children. It is our duty to defend the freedom that affords us the right to worship as we please, to conduct our lives as we see fit. I believe that all avenues of diplomacy should be exhausted before making the decision to go to war and once you do go to war, you’d better be prepared to wage total war until victory is one. You can neither fight nor win a war on half-measures. I believe that the Iraq War is a mistake. It saddens me to see my country be so misled and so disrespected in the world.

There is a book called Starship Troopers which was written in the 1950s by late sci-fi novelist Robert Heinlein. The film version, I must protest, is a horrid adaptation of the book; and that statement is no mere snobbery. The film only briefly touches upon philosophy and the debate on civic duty during peace and war. Much of the book is devoted to political and moral philosophy. The novel is on the reading list of nearly every branch of the Armed Forces and required reading for most military academies in the country. The book has been controversial for its perceived fascist tone. What I got out of the book is that there are things and principles worth fighting for and that everyone owes a duty to their nourishing society to help defend it. I believe that this defense should be shouldered equally by all segments of the population and not just by the willing few. There is a danger to any society when there is a growing emotional gap between those who serve in the military and those who do not. Military veterans feel that their peers who do not serve in the military are soft and vain narcissists. Military veterans are perceived to be either dupes or willing pawns of an illegal war. Neither is true. There must be a middle ground where the members of the Iraq War generation can come together in understanding and trust or else we risk repeating the Vietnam era in America.

I don’t believe that the Iraq War was necessary. It contradicts a longstanding policy of the U.S. in intervening only when there is an absolute vital interest or threat to national security. The Bush Administration mined for a reason to go to war. They embellished shoddy intelligence and bullied Parliamentarians into authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein. When the original justification for war fell apart so did the support of the majority of Americans. I find it cynical for Bill O’Reilly or Oliver North to interview troops in Baghdad or Fallujah. Of course they are going to voice support of the President while in front of the cameras. Members of the military are punishable by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice if they contradict or saying anything derogatory about the President and his policies. If they are not court-martialed or disciplined they can expect a good butt chewing from their superiors. Many of the Marines I served with in Iraq in 2003 could not understand our presence in the region, particularly when there were no weapons of mass destruction. Now, many of them are against the war. They have voted with the feet. They have refused to reenlist, choosing to go on with their lives; the military must now spend at least $ 1 Billion in reenlistment incentives to retain personnel. The Army had to lower standards for enlistment in order to meet their quota. My fellow veterans and I feel that the sacrifices we made and the sacrifices of our fallen comrades have been squandered in an unworthy mission with no end in sight.

The Book of Mormon makes repeated mention of wars and rumors of wars in the latter days. I do not know if our time is indeed the latter days. Maybe it is a blanket term for all wars which take place after the end of the Nephite civilization. I do not know why wars break out nor do I know how this war figures in to the grand scheme of things. All I know is that while I cannot control the actions of kings and magistrates I can control my own actions. I am not a mere victim of circumstance. War is not a morass of immorality as one might think. There are differences between right and wrong, black and white.

When Giddianhi, the Gadianton leader, demanded that the Nephites surrender their cities over to the robbers, Lachoneus (The Chief Judge) responded by rallying and gathering his people together in the cities of Zarahemla and Bountiful. There they fortified themselves and fathered provisions because they knew that the robbers lived by plunder. Some of the Nephites wanted to go and destroy the robbers in their own lands but their chief captain Gidgiddoni, who happened to be a prophet, warned that if they went against the enemy in their own lands they would be destroyed. And so, they waited for the robbers to come out of their hiding places and mountain sanctuaries and when they did, they fell upon them with guerrilla like tactics that would make Vo Nguyen Giap proud.

I will end my wandering thoughts with a reference to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Brutus and his co-conspirators hoped that by killing Caesar they would end the tyranny and restore the Republic. Tragically, the new triumvirate would destroy Brutus and Cassius and it would be 13 more years of civil war between Antony and Octavius. By murdering Caesar, the conspirators created a great evil. Maybe the lesson here is that some things are better off left alone.

It’s Just War

By HP 

Probably the definitive Mormon treatise on war is in Doctrine and Covenants 98:33-38.  In it, the Lord frankly says that no-one ought to attack another nation unless the Lord so commands.  Then he commands us, when a country attacks our nations, to sue for peace.  If they reject the standard of peace, try, try again.  Once they have rejected peace three times, then you may take your grievances before the Lord.  Then, if he so commands, you may attack your attacker and the Lord will fight your battles for you.

What this means is even defensive wars are dependent on the Lord’s will for justification.  Even if we are attacked in our homeland, we must seek God’s approval and do all that we can to avoid war.  This is a powerful doctrine.

Of course, the leaders of our countries are often not LDS and don’t need to follow these commands.  We are encouraged to support our political leaders in the Twelfth Article of Faith and, generally, this has been taken to mean that we ought to be patriotic within our nations and, when appropriate or mandated, we may volunteer for work in the nation’s armed forces.  Once one is in the armed forces, one has relatively little choice regarding who, where, and why one kills people.  Superiors simply place you in spots where the options are kill or be killed and let the survival instinct take over.

The other thing that we learn from D&C 98:33-38 is that there is a possibility that God might ask us to fight a war.  This possibility is hard to reconcile with our ideas of a loving Heavenly Father.  We tend to believe that a loving Heavenly Father wants us to not suffer or to not die.  However, these concerns, so important to us, seem to be relatively unimportant to God.

In Stephen King’s book Desperation, he describes God as cruel.  In some ways, I have to agree.  There is so much unjustified suffering and death in the world.  The innocent are almost regularly slaughtered or corrupted.  There doesn’t appear to be any good reason for it.  In pondering this, I think it is helpful to remember what God’s goal for us is.  He wants us back with Him.  That is his only goal.  Our suffering and grief then are meant to be tools to return us to Him.  So, if God is cruel in allowing the world to give us pain, it is motivated by the hope that the cruelty will turn our hearts to Him (ultimately the message of Desperation is that God is cruel, but he loves us).

The sorrow of war is, in God’s mind, that so many people die without the opportunity to repent of their sins.  When the good and righteous die, I don’t believe that this much troubles God, as they are just returning to him.  It is the loss of the unrepentant that he mourns.  In any case, the frequency of genuine holy war seems pretty low.  Most violence for humans is self-generated and self-serving.  These acts of war are never approved by God.

So war is bad, especially for the wicked, which is ironic, because they are the ones who usually rely on it.  We really are our own worse enemies.

War Is Not Nice

by Alice

In the Devil’s Dictionary—a book I stole from one of my parent’s many bookshelves years ago, and never returned—Ambrose Bierce defines War as “God’s way of teaching Americans geography.” No definition has resonated so deeply as Bierce’s definition of war did in 2002 and since. It must be the accuracy of the definition and what that definition says about me that keeps these words alive.

When I first started writing this blog I thought; “I am against war in every sense, be I Mormon, atheist (by the way, I find it rather annoying that this word is not a capitalized word—we deserve some capital respect too, gosh darnit!), Hindu, Shiite, Sikh, you name it. I am against war!” but as I continued writing I started to wonder what that really meant by “against war.” It was a conversation I remember having during my March book club that made me begin to wonder just how against war I am.

Our last book club selection was a book that can be purchased at your local Starbucks, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. (In my mind, a Starbucks book receives the same amount of respect as a book with “Oprah’s Book Club” sticker in the corner—None! When I discover that I enjoy these books I’m forced to recognize just how un-elite I really am, an area of my life in which I prefer ignorance to rule. And of course, just my luck, I enjoyed A Long Way Gone).

Let me quickly summarize A Long Way Gone without giving too much away. Who knows, you might run out to the local Starbucks on Every Corner USA and buy your own copy. The book is Ishmael Beah’s chronicle of his life in war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Ishmael begins the book with scenes of his peaceful childhood, which are quickly replaced by scenes of the civil war raging through the nation’s countryside, hitting his village. As a result, 13-year-old Ishmael and his brother are separated from their family. Ishmael and his brother travel with a group of boys, looking for their families and seeking refuge. Unfortunately, most villages fear the boys, forcing them to live as savages. Eventually, during an attack on a village where they’ve spent the night, Ishmael and his brother also become separated. At one point, Ishmael comes close to finding his family. However, as he is on his way into the village where his family is living, the village is attacked and his family is burned alive. Soon after, Ishmael is given a choice by the commander in a village to become a child soldier, or to leave, alone and unprotected. At this point in the war, Ishmael explains, it really wasn’t a choice at all. The rest of the memoir covers Ishmael’s life as a child soldier, his rehabilitation by UNICEF in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, his adoption by his uncle, and his ultimate escape to America after the war hits Freetown.

My book club has no trouble keeping our conversation to the topic of the book. However, we still rely on the reading guide questions to draw on topics we might not naturally bring up, points the author makes that we either haven’t noticed, or have failed to provide a personal connection with. After about an hour’s discussion of the book, Wendy Lynn, our March host, read the following questions, “What steps has [Ishmael] inspired you to take to help end the use of child soldiers? How can each of us join Ishmael’s cause?”

Up to that point I’d really been enjoying our discussion, but all of a sudden I no longer had anything to contribute. I think we all struggled with the questions and struggled with providing an answer that we felt okay with, an answer that didn’t sound trite or like an excuse as to why we can’t do anything.

This week’s topic, war, Bierce’s definition of war, and the questions from book club, make me wonder, “How I can be against war when I don’t do anything about the wars that go on?” It seems to me that to be against war one must actively be doing something to reduce war or make war obsolete. Hell, I don’t even know where countries are until their war is in a movie, or in a book, or in the news, so am I against war? I know I’m not for war, but all I can safely say without feeling huge amounts of guilt is that war is not nice. I’ll leave the stronger statements, such as “I am against war” to advocates who are doing something about wars.

Even then, I’ll feel a little guilt.

Still Aiming for Peace

By JP 

I grew up in a very patriotic family.  My grandfather served in WWII and instilled in all of us a sense of pride in this country.  Taught his children (who taught their children) to be grateful for the freedoms that are enjoyed on a daily basis.  The freedoms that he fought to protect.  Freedoms that many take for granted.  I am proud that, as a woman in this country, I can walk out of my home, unaccompanied, wearing what I choose, believing as I choose, having my own opinion and the ability to express my own opinion.

Having said that, having pride in what this country stands for, doesn’t always make us proud of the country.  Somewhat similar to when Mormons say, “The Church is perfect…the people in it, aren’t.” 

I don’t generally use a ton of quotes within my posts.  Mostly, I think, it’s because I’m lazy.  I feel that if I quote someone, I need to link to the source, etc. and somehow I have a high school English teacher screaming at me to never plagiarize. However, with the topic this week dealing War and Mormons, I’ve taken a lot of information and quotes from an article President Gordon B. Hinckley wrote in the May 2003 Ensign because I feel that this article say a lot about what many Mormons feel about war.  (See?  The linking?  It has begun.)

At any rate, I give you the twelfth Article of Faith:

  12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

This is where it all begins.  The belief in being subject to the various leaders of the country that you live in.  You can even cross reference and take the obedience a little further:

D&C 134:1 WE believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.

Does this mean all governments?  In all countries?  But what I do find interesting, is that in this scripture, is that we are to learn that God “holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them.”  Mind boggling.  And also (somewhat) comforting.

But how does that apply to the instances of war?

In theory, Christianity as a whole promotes peace.  There is a direct correlation between righteousness and peace.  Mormonism follows this same theory:

 D&C 98:16  Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace, and seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children

In the article that I’ve been referring to, President Hinckley wrote about where the Mormon Church stands (and also his opinion) on the war in Iraq:

First, let it be understood that we have no quarrel with the Muslim people or with those of any other faith. We recognize and teach that all the people of the earth are of the family of God. And as He is our Father, so are we brothers and sisters with family obligations one to another.
But as citizens we are all under the direction of our respective national leaders. They have access to greater political and military intelligence than do the people generally. Those in the armed services are under obligation to their respective governments to execute the will of the sovereign. When they joined the military service, they entered into a contract by which they are presently bound and to which they have dutifully responded.

He goes on to say:

In a democracy we can renounce war and proclaim peace. There is opportunity for dissent. Many have been speaking out and doing so emphatically. That is their privilege. That is their right, so long as they do so legally. However, we all must also be mindful of another overriding responsibility, which I may add, governs my personal feelings and dictates my personal loyalties in the present situation.

When war raged between the Nephites and the Lamanites, the record states that “the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for … power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.

Obviously, one could argue whether or not today’s current situation overseas is a fight to protect our home land, our liberties, etc.  That will need to be a topic for another day – I’m already exhausted from all the quoting and linking.  But I will say this: I am a peace loving person.  War is something that tears apart families and causes much grief, pain and suffering.  I understand that there have been instances of war in the history of the world that have been vehicle to establishing some variation of peace.  But those instances are very, very few.

On each side, people believe that they are fighting for a just cause, for defense of home and country and freedom. On each side they pray to the same God, in the same name, for victory. Both sides cannot be wholly right; perhaps neither is without wrong. God will work out in his own due time and in his own sovereign way the justice and right of the conflict.  (President Harold B. Lee)

This post has taken me an age to write and I am sorry it is so long.  My opinions have changed dramatically over the past few years in that they have become my own.  Both religiously and politically.  My fear for so many followers of any religion or government is that, like I did, they put all their eggs in one basket.  They put all their belief into a religion and/or a government without ever questioning what is right for them.  But I guess that is easy for me to say, since I won’t be brutally punished if my beliefs are different than the leaders of the country I live in.

  And so, in my effort to make myself crazy with all these quotes today, I give you one more….but this one, isn’t about Mormons or War.  It’s just all about peace:

No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have basically the same human needs and concerns. All of us human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and as peoples. That is human nature. The great changes that are taking place in the world, from Eastern Europe to Africa, are a clear indication of this. …

… Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed.
The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on, are human created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding, and a development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.

… I believe all religions pursue the same goals, that of cultivating human goodness and bringing happiness to all human beings. Though the means may appear different, the ends are the same. 
(Excerpts from the Dalai Lama’s Peace Speech.)