. . . And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but it is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine that such things should be done away with.
Oh man, all I feel is guilt as I read this passage this morning. I went to bed early last evening. I was emotionally exhausted. I had just watched a newscast about angry residents in St George, Utah protesting the use of masks. "Safety is not as important as our freedom and liberty."
"Forcing masks on our children is child abuse."
I watched this newscast and felt tired. I was done for the day. I had had enough. Why did I react like this? I have such high expectations for Utahns. I realize they aren't all LDS but I act as if they are and expect them to live by the ethics and values we are taught at church. None of this is rational. I know that but often our feelings are irrational and I was caught in that trap.
I am already having a hard time accepting that most of my LDS friends are ultra conservative. (Or at least I am discovering that I am NOT ultra conservative.) I am trying to figure out where I fit in this group. Then this video was like the last straw!
A few hours of sleep has helped and today I am grateful for the online group I recently discovered: Mormon Women for Ethical Government. They are beginning a learning experience for us this week - leading up to the elections. The topic today is voting - corresponding to two of the principles of ethical government. We are examining what candidates have said.
Principle 2a: Political structures and electoral systems should be designed to maximize participation of and provide equitable access to all citizens in a society.
Mosiah 29:32
And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.
Principle 3b: Citizens have a duty to participate in representative government by casting an informed vote and seeking to engage with elected officials. As circumstances permit, they should consider participating in electoral politics as volunteers, candidates or elected officials.
D&C 58:27
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
This particular discussion has some rules to it. If you want to participate you have to give a source for your information and it can't be an op-ed. Good op-eds will reference their sources so we have to go right to the original source.
In addition, the sources must come from from a media bias chart that has a green box on it. The sources inside that box are known for their reliability, for sticking to the facts, and minimizing commentary or opinion.
I'm excited about doing this exercise. I know it will help me as I consider the candidates for the November elections but more than that it is teaching me a process of how to participate intelligently. I don't want to get caught in just the emotional rhetoric that is so confrontational. I want to be able to be a voice of reason, somebody that people are willing to listen to.
I've had this all on my mind and have been preparing myself to be a part of this exercise with MWEG and then this morning I saw this FAcebook post on a friend's page.
She is taking an online course from Boston University, Religion and Conflict Transformation. She posted the following thought:
"Transforming heartbreak into new life is the aim of every religious tradition at its best, as witness this Hasidic tale. A disciple asks the rebbe, “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The rebbe answers, “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in.”⁄ The same point is made by the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan: “God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open.” Parker J. Palmer, “The Broken-Open Heart: Living with Faith and Hope in the Tragic Gap,” Weavings: A Discussion of the Christian Spiritual Life 24, no. 2, (March/April 2009) 7-8.
As I read her post and was so touched by the beauty of those words I realized that the call I feel in my heart in the midst of this very critical time in American history is the call to be a peacemaker. MWEG is helping me to learn how to do that. But I think I will explore further options and how I can learn to speak with the kind of beauty that I saw in my friend's post this morning.
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