Thursday, August 26, 2010

Timely thoughts from times past

Just saw this bit, and i thought it was worth quoting:

We ought always to be aware of those prejudices which sometimes so strangely present themselves, and are so congenial to human nature, against our friends, neighbors, and brethren of the world, who choose to differ from us in opinion and in matters of faith. Our religion is between us and our God. Their religion is between them and their God.

It just seemed worth quoting, given certain hot-button arguments going on right now in the US.

Oh—and the source of the quote? Joseph Smith. (It’s from a letter he co-wrote to Edward Partridge and the church at large from Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri, dated 20 March 1839.)

2 comments:

Heather the Mama Duk said...

It's funny, but I've read several comments in the same vein in response to people questioning whether Glenn Beck is actually a Christian because he's Mormon and since Mormons are clearly not Christians how could he have said at his Restoring Honor rally that everyone needs to pray no matter what their religion is or how they pray. Also, on his show, he said "Jesus in my guy" when talking about praying whether it's Buddha or Jesus or whomever you pray to. Several commenters have suggested that Glenn isn't truly Mormon or doesn't understand his Mormonism because, of course, since we don't believe in Jesus there's no way he could say that stuff. It's kind of funny to read because Glenn hasn't strayed at all from what Mormons believe (in fact, a typical counter-argument is that he's speaking "too Mormon"), but there are a lot of people clearly prejudiced against what we believe. They also seem rather bewildered that he would say to pray to whomever and however you do. Because, you know, Christians can't acknowledge that someone who is Buddhist could be religious and good, right?

David B said...

Actually, a lot of the sort of Xians who are part of the American subculture attracted to stuff like the Restoring Honor rally actually would argue that a Buddhist cannot be religious and good.

Of course, you get the same thing, just not quite so widespread i think, among Xians who aren’t a part of that particular subculture. And you definitely get it among the New Atheists, who argue that it’s impossible for someone to be both theistic and good.

Essentially, it’s a defining feature of fundamentalism of any type.