Mormonism and culture/Attitude toward non-members

Criticism

Critics charge that LDS members are taught to look down upon or reject those who are not of their faith.

Source(s) of the Criticism

• The Utah Evangel 31 (March 1984): 6 insists the Church has "contempt for Christians."
• Ed Decker and Dave Hunt, The Godmakers (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1984), 246.
• Bob McCue, "The Downside of Mormonism's 'We Are The Best' Attitude" post at ExMormon.org, 24 Oct 2004 10:29 AM claims, as a former member, that the Church "encourages its followers to ignore or depreciate the lives of all non-believers." This ex-member claims that only following his apostasy did he "accept...that all others were as worthy as I am. So...I held myself aloof from the rest of mankind as a result of my Mormon conceit."

Response

Conceit this is, but hardly "Mormon." (Indeed, the Book of Mormon condemns in the strongest terms those who adopt such an attitude: Alma 31:16-19, Alma 31:27-35).

Gordon B. Hinckley

Warned President Gordon B. Hinckley:

There is no room for arrogance in our lives. There is no room for conceit in our lives. There is no room for egotism in our lives. We must be humble before the Lord. He has so declared, and if we will do it, He will hear our prayers and answer them with a blessing upon our heads.^[1]

Of the specific conceit which the critics claim they are taught, President Hinckley said:

Be respectful of the opinions and feelings of other people. Recognize their virtues; don't look for their faults. Look for their strengths and their virtues, and you will find strength and virtues that will be helpful in your own life.^[2]

It's hard to see how looking for "strengths and...virtues" in non-members to help an LDS member's own life constitutes ignoring or deprecating all non-believers.

President Hinckley further said:

There is no need in any land for conflict between diverse groups of any kind. Let there be taught in the homes of people that we are all children of God, our Eternal Father, and that as surely as there is fatherhood, there can and must be brotherhood.^[3]

He denounced bad feelings and behavior toward non-Mormons:

Why do any of us have to be so mean and unkind to others? Why can't all of us reach out in friendship to everyone about us? Why is there so much bitterness and animosity? It is not a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all stumble occasionally. We all make mistakes. I paraphrase the words of Jesus in the Lord's Prayer: "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

∗       ∗       ∗

There is no end to the good we can do, to the influence we can have with others. Let us not dwell on the critical or the negative. Let us pray for strength; let us pray for capacity and desire to assist others. Let us radiate the light of the gospel at all times and all places, that the Spirit of the Redeemer may radiate from us.^[4]

Members and non-members have the same status before God. This does not support the idea that members are somehow to "hold themselves aloof."

M. Russell Ballard

I encourage you to build personal, meaningful relationships with your nonmember friends and acquaintances...If they are not interested in the gospel, we should show unconditional love through acts of service and kindness, and never imply that we see an acquaintance only as a potential convert...We must not reserve our kindness and affection only for our fellow members. We must be sensitive and not oblivious to the feelings of those whose views may differ from ours. Considering the early history of the Church in these latter days, unkindness or indifference toward others should be abhorrent to members of the Church. I bear my testimony that "God is no respecter of persons"; we should follow his example in all of our associations with our fellowmen.^[5]

David B. Haight

Besides loving God, we are commanded to do what to many is a more difficult commandment—to love all, even enemies, and to go beyond the barriers of race or class or family relationships. It is easier, of course, to be kind to those who are kind to us— the usual standard of friendly reciprocity.

Then are we not commanded to cultivate genuine fellowship and even a kinship with every human being on earth? Whom would you bar from your circle? We might deny ourselves a nearness to our Savior because of our prejudices of neighborhood or possessions or race—attitudes that Christ would surely condemn. Love has no boundary, no limitation of good will.^[6]

Jeffrey R. Holland

Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone...^[7]

Neal A. Maxwell

Love is the only answer, as Thomas Merton points out, to the searching question asked by Gandhi when he said: "How can he who thinks he possesses absolute truth be fraternal?"^[8]

Russel M. Nelson

Learn to listen, and listen to learn from neighbors. Repeatedly the Lord has said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour." (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19.) Opportunities to listen to those of diverse religious or political persuasion can promote tolerance and learning. And a good listener will listen to a person's sentiments as well...The wise listen to learn from neighbours.^[9]

Brigham H. Roberts

While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is established for the instruction of men; and it is one of God's instrumentalities for making known the truth yet he is not limited to that institution for such purposes, neither in time nor place. God raises up wise men and prophets here and there among all the children of men, of their own tongue and nationality, speaking to them through means that they can comprehend. ... All the great teachers are servants of God; among all nations and in all ages. They are inspired men, appointed to instruct God's children according to the conditions in the midst of which he finds them.^[10]

Conclusion

The attitude attributed by the critics to the Church is an abhorrent one. Critics want to blame the Church for their own confessed bigotry. This makes as much sense as blaming the IRS for a citizen's tax evasion.

If the critics did, in fact, have the attitudes which they claim to have had as members of the Church, this does a great deal to explain their apostasy, since they were not living even the basics of a Christian life. Unfortunately, the critics have, all too often, merely transfered the intolerance and unkindness which they claim to have felt toward non-members. Having left the Church, they now focus their animus on the Latter-day Saints.

Members of the Church, of course, do not always live up to these high standards. But, there can be no doubt as to what the standards are:

What does the Lord expect of us as Latter-day Saints? What does He expect of me as a member of this Church...There is no room in the heart of a Latter-day Saint for bitterness, for unkindness, for animosity to any other of the sons and daughters of God. They may not be of our faith, but we owe them an obligation to treat them as sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven.^[11]

Endnotes

1. [note]  Gordon B. Hinckley, at a meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 4 August 1998, cited in Liahona (Aug. 1999): 14.
2. [note]  Gordon B. Hinckley, cited in Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 536, 576.
3. [note]  Gordon B. Hinckley, "Four Simple Things to Help Our Families and Our Nations," Liahona (June 1996): 3.
4. [note] Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Need for Greater Kindness," General Conference address, 1 April 2006.
5. [note]  M. Russell Ballard, "The Hand of Fellowship," Ensign (Nov. 1988): 28, emphasis added.
6. [note]  David B. Haight, "Love All," Ensign (Nov. 1982): 10.
7. [note]  Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Other Prodigal," Ensign (May 2002): 62.
8. [note]  Neal A Maxwell, A More Excellent Way: Essays on Leadership for Latter-day Saints, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1967), 31.
9. [note]  :Russell M. Nelson, "Listen to Learn," Ensign (May 1991): 22.
10. [note]  Brigham H. Roberts, Defense of the Faith and the Saints, 2 vols. (1907), 1:512–13.
11. [note]  Gordon B. Hinckley, Meeting, Jakarta, Indonesia, 28 January 2000; cited in Liahona (Feb. 2001): 28.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

• Latter-day Saints aren't Christians
• LDS Church is a cult
• Lies and self-contradiction
• Marriage
• Wayward family members

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: Comparative Religion
• Michael R. Ash, "Does Mormonism Attack Christianity?
• Cooper Johnson, "Breaking the Rules," - three rules when examining another's faith
• Cooper Johnson, "Mormon Missionaries, the Vatican, and Respect,"

External links

• Marvin J. Ashton, "No Time for Contention," Ensign (May 1978): 7.
• M. Russell Ballard, "The Hand of Fellowship," Ensign (Nov. 1988): 28
• Carlfred B. Broderick, "The Brothers of Jesus: Loving the Unbelieving Relative," Ensign (March 1987): 50.
• Gordon B. Hinckley, "Four Simple Things to Help Our Families and Our Nations," Ensign (Sept. 1996): 2.
• Russell M. Nelson, "Listen to Learn," Ensign (May 1991): 22.