I read and saw where Glenn Beck and his family were harassed at a park in New York City while trying to enjoy a classic film. I also hear those who have concerns about Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman being Mormons. Is our society really this petty? Is the media trying to stir up division or controversy? If so, this is a bad "game" without a winner. At the expense of raising eyebrows and hackles, allow me to explain.
I truly believe that each Christian branch and denomination has its own Doctrines of Man that conflict with Christ's teachings and become some new form of Man-made Religion. I also believe that a far more destructive secular force that sits on the sidelines egging us on to destroy each other.
I am a sincere, believing and practicing Catholic. Before I became a Catholic fourteen years ago, I had been a Lutheran all of my adult life. As a child I was unchurched. Some Lutherans still think Catholics are heretics and vice versa. You can square or cube that equation for certain other Protestant sects. For the record, many Catholics think that all non-Catholics are going straight to Hell. Be honest with yourself, almost all sects of Christianity believe that they are the winners and the rest of us are the losers; and they pity you that you cannot see the Truth. And also in my case, because I am a Catholic Convert, and had a former marriage annulled in the process, certain people in that Church also deem me untrustworthy in spiritual matters. Go figure.
Folks, the most basic Christian teaching is that the Truth is a Person named Jesus Christ who came and redeemed us all by his blood. What you do with the Truth is up to you and your Free Will. I can imagine that Ronald Reagan, were he alive and witnessing the goings-on in America today, might invoke a rule to never say anything ill about a fellow Believer; to accept our areas of agreement and go on from there.
Having said that, I know this is all but too a big pill to swallow. Many out there might argue that LDS Members are not Christian at all. So alright then, consider the alternatives. The Jews have been persecuted, harried and murdered for 5000 years. To this day they are hunted down by fanatical Islamists and madmen like Hitler, Stalin, and Ahmadinejad. The early Christians were persecuted by the Jews and the Romans for centuries. The Christians turned that around and persecuted the Jews for centuries. Protestants and Catholics murdered each other for 30 years following Luther's posting of the 95 theses on the door of the Church in Wittenberg. Catholics and Protestants still kill each other in Northern Ireland. Muslims persecute and kill Jews and Christians each day throughout the Muslim world. The Catholics were persecuted and murdered in England by Henry the VIII, the Puritans were persecuted by James I. These groups came to America to escape that and they formed colonies. The early followers of Joseph Smith were persecuted and yet colonized and farmed vast regions of the interior West. But, don't forget to note that there was a period when Mormon Colonists likewise persecuted and murdered some non-Mormons. Sectarianism is the death of us all.
I have lived all over the USA and overseas and served a career in the Military in peacetime and in war. I have seen various forms of bigotry, exclusionary behavior, cliquishness, and elitism in all faiths, all states and all countries. But I learned in the Army that we all bleed red. We should love our families and each other as countrymen and be proud of one another. Silly arguments and divisions about who is correct all vanished in conflicts when the bullets start flying. We all can disagree about the details of the Final Things: Life, Death, Heaven, and Hell, but the facts are stubborn things.
I agree that there is anti-Mormon bigotry, just like there is anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, and anti Christian bigotry and we can all look in the mirror if we want to find it. I have lived in neighborhoods where the LDS were clannish, and, I lived in places where they were not. But, they were always good and Patriotic Americans and good neighbors when the chips were down. When the Rigby Dam broke in Southeast Idaho, religion did not matter. I also recall contrastingly, the media's manufactured concerns in the 60s about JFK's Catholicism. It is amazing how many folks still think we Catholics are a cult who take orders from a tyrannical Pope who wears evil robes and symbols of Satan. So learn objectively from this.
When young LDS men visit us, we can share a glass of cold water or lemonade and talk. We are not threatened. We have had great chats. In our home, they see Jesus on a Crucifix, a picture of Joseph, one of Mary and some Saints, as well as the Ten Commandments posted in my house. They come to understand that this is not idolatry, any more than having a Family picture above the mantle is idolatry. I know and share knowledge of my own faith and they, theirs. Have you ever been visited by LDS missionaries, or Jehovah Witness Missionaries, or Protestant Evangelists? Or, do you close the door and hide?
I am also a very pro-Israel person and a bit of a Zionist. Yet, I catch lots of flak about that even from conservatives. Am I wrong to understand that they are God's Chosen People? Why be jealous over that? What's to dispute ... the very word of God? Look what the descendents of Abraham have given to the world in faith and in works. My Faith says Christ died to set us all free. So why cling to the winner-loser strictures that the current secular movement demands? God's Perfect Rule is already written in our minds and hearts. The God of Judeo-Christian heritage is what makes us Exceptional as a people ... accept no other explanations.
I have a Lutheran Pastor friend who is now a Pastor in a different denomination. He quit looking for, or preaching about winners and losers. This does not mean the denial of the Final Things. I should be secure in my Faith and consider Life, Death, Heaven, and Hell each day. But, I can also gain a deeper understanding about the Revealed Truth. There is, as it says in Ecclesiastes, "...nothing new under the sun ... all is vanity." This does not mean that we cannot seek a richer relationship in that Truth. It also does not mean that we ignore meaningful rules of civilization. Yet I believe my friend has taught me a bit more about winners and losers. Our God makes us winners, not the Doctrines of Man.
Things seem not much changed in 3000 years. We still quibble. But, there is a mandate for us. Because we are Americans, we are an Exceptional people and called to better things. We had better get out of this circular firing squad and stop wounding and attempting to proselytize or convert each other by accusation ... it won't work and never has worked. Those who would convert to the LDS Church, the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Churches, Judaism, or any other Faith are given to exercise their own Free Will with which to choose. In the end, God cares about our Heart, not our vain offerings and vain works. As Martin Luther reminded us, vain offerings and works are as filthy rags to God.
So, where must we agree? As People of Faith we must: Unite to restore our Country and our Way of Life to what it was intended to be; Restore the dignity of born and unborn Human Life, at all stages of life; Uphold Marriage as a sacrament between one man and one woman; Nurture our Families, Love our Neighbors even if we don't like them very much on any given day; and, Be willing to protect and defend our Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Finally, we must all be a worthy and humble, not a boastful servant, of the Most High.
The secular and atheist forces of Socialism seek to rob us of all definition and meaning in life in a vain attempt to remake Heaven on Earth. In reality the world would be "fundamentally transformed" into some egalitarian Hell of shared poverty, restricted opportunity, bread and circus, and winners and loser designated by some government elite. They want government to replace God. The are waiting for us to weaken so that they can then devour us. Even now as we squabble, they gnaw away great chunks at the edges of Western Civilization. Again, this is being done by infiltration of the Doctrines of Man. Don't fall for it!
Pay attention to these very real, flesh-and-blood foes of American Exceptionalism. But as concerns the Final Things: God will sort out the good guys from the bad. Be not afraid.
