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Quote:
“If you experience the pain of exclusion at church from someone who is frightened at your difference, please don’t leave or become inactive. You may think you are voting with your feet, that you are making a statement by leaving. [Some may] see your diversity as a problem to be fixed, as a flaw to be corrected or erased. If you are gone, they don’t have to deal with you anymore. I want you to know that your diversity is a more valuable statement.”
Chieko N. Okazaki, “Cat’s Cradle,” 1993.
Probably posted many times but: Quote:I admire men and women who have developed the questioning spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas and stepping stones to progress. We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent – if we are informed. Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression. This free exchange of ideas is not to be deplored as long as men and women remain humble and teachable. Neither fear of consequence nor any kind of coercion should ever be used to secure uniformity of thought in the church. People should express their problems and opinions and be unafraid to think without fear of ill consequences. We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it.”
Hugh B. Brown, counselor in First Presidency, Speech at BYU, March 29, 1958.
I’m not going to pick up Mac’s mantle, but I also don’t want this thread to die. Quote:I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit. Certainly the Spirit of the Lord can bring strong emotional feelings, including tears, but that outward manifestation ought not to be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself.
-Howard W. Hunterhttps://www.lds.org/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/eternal-investments?lang=eng ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.lds.org/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/eternal-investments?lang=eng Could we get this thread stickied? (Or whatever it’s called.) 🙂 I’m not nearly as good at this as Mac. Orson F. Whitney:
Quote:Perhaps the Lord needs such men on the outside of his Church, to help it along. They are among its auxiliaries, and can do more good for the cause where the Lord has placed them, than anywhere else. And the same is true of the priesthood and its auxiliaries inside the Church. Hence, some are drawn into the fold and receive a testimony of the Truth; while others remain unconverted—for the present; the beauties and glories of the gospel being veiled temporarily from their view, for a wise purpose. The Lord will open their eyes in his own due time.
God is using more than one people for the accomplishment of his great and marvelous work. The Latter-day Saints cannot do it all. It is too vast, too arduous, for any one people. Our part in it is the greatest. We have the gospel and the priesthood, with a mission to gather Israel, build the New Jerusalem, and prepare the way for the advent of the King of kings. And this duty has been laid upon us because we belong to the house of Israel. It is the God of Israel who is coming to reign and we are the right people to prepare the way before him.
We have no quarrel with the Gentiles. They are our partners in a certain sense. The name Gentile is not with us a term of reproach…. It simply means, with us, one who does not belong to the Church. We need the Gentiles, and they need us, but they don’t know it, and we do. They are wiser than we are in material things—the things of Earth and Time. But when it comes to spiritual things—the things of Heaven and Eternity, we can teach them. We need their wealth and worldly wisdom, their wonderful skill in managing and manipulating temporalities. And they need the Gospel and the Priesthood. They need us, for we hold in our hands the Key to their eternal salvation.
Again I say, the Lord’s Work has need of auxiliaries outside as well as inside, to help it along. Because of their worldly influence—which would depart if they connected themselves with the Church—many are kept where they are, where the Lord has placed them, and can best use them for the good of all. (Conference Report, April 1928, p.59-60)
This quote might be in the thread already, but, if so, it’s worth adding again – and the last sentence (which I bolded) is powerful: Quote:“Sometimes we have what I call the Too Syndrome. We feel that there are some people we can’t really extend full acceptance to because they are too something–too old, too young, too liberal, too conservative, too rich, too poor, too educated, too uneducated, too rigid in religious observances, too lax. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, if the traveler who fell among thieves was like other Jews of his time, he felt that Samaritans were too ethnically impure to worship in the temple;
I don’t think he felt that the wine and the oil poured on his wounds were too Samaritan, do you?” – Chieko Okazaki, “
Aloha,” p. 98-99 Thanks DJ for bumping this up and getting it running again. I miss Mac. I hope he’s doing okay. Here is my addition for the day. Quote:“Sometimes we have what I call the Too Syndrome. We feel that there are some people we can’t really extend full acceptance to because they are too something–too old, too young, too liberal, too conservative, too rich, too poor, too educated, too uneducated, too rigid in religious observances, too lax. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, if the traveler who fell among thieves was like other Jews of his time, he felt that Samaritans were too ethnically impure to worship in the temple; I don’t think he felt that the wine and the oil poured on his wounds were too Samaritan, do you?”
-Chieko Okazaki, “Aloha,” p. 98-99
Ray – we are genius. Times 2. 
:clap: Quote:
Elder John K. Carmack had a wonderful article published in the March 1991 Ensign titled “Unity in Diversity. He wrote: “Labeling a fellow Church member an intellectual, a less-active member, a feminist, a South African, and Armenian, a Utah Mormon, or a Mexican, for example, seemingly provides an excuse to mistreat or ignore that person. . . . Each of us should be fair to everyone, especially the victims of discrimination, isolation, and exclusion. Let us be careful not to snicker at jokes that demean and belittle others because of religious, cultural, racial, national, or gender differences. All are alike unto God. We should walk away or face up to the problem when confronted with these common and unworthy practices.Quoted by Chieko Okazaki, Lighten Up. pg. 22
Quote:Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the handmaiden of truth.
Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge; it is the servant of discovery.
A belief which may not be questioned binds us to error,
for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every belief.
Doubt is the touchstone of truth; it is an acid which eats away the false.
Let no man fear for the truth, that doubt may consume it;
for doubt is a testing of belief.
The truth stands boldly and unafraid; it is not shaken by the testing;
For truth, if it be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure.
He that would silence doubt is filled with fear;
the house of his spirit is built on shifting sands.
But he that fears no doubt, and knows its use, is founded on a rock.
He shall walk in the light of growing knowledge;
the work of his hands shall endure.
Therefore let us not fear doubt, but let us rejoice in its help:
It is to the wise as a staff to the blind; doubt is the handmaiden of truth.
-Robert T. Weston, Unitarian MinisterI love the last one DJ. Can you imagine the joy if LDSness had a quote like this. I hear a Hallelujah on that one. Here’s mine for tonight.
Quote:“Diversity is a strength, not a division. I attend a lot of meetings where I’m the only woman. And I attend many, many meetings where I’m the only Oriental woman. You can perhaps imagine how that feels. Have you ever had the feeling that you’re the odd one, the different one? Maybe even too odd or different for this church? The truth is that you’re not odd–you’re special. When white light falls on a wall, it makes a white wall. But when it passes through a prism, that same light makes a rainbow on the wall.”
-Chieko Okazaki, Lighten Up, p. 4
From cwald: Quote:“Our Earth is degenerate in these later days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching.”
~An Assyrian clay tablet dating to 2800 B.C.
Chieko Okazaki Quote:“What should we do when we are confused or when we have questions? I think we should first remember that God is delighted with our questions, because they show we’re thinking. Many times questions are not welcomed at church or in classes because they seem to stop or disrupt the teacher’s idea of how the lesson should go. Many times doctrinal questions are perplexing, because the Lord reveals concepts to us in language and images that we can understand. Also, our understandings evolve over time. Sometimes, we may have a question that just doesn’t seem to be a question for anyone else, and so we feel shy about asking it.
I’m not saying that all questions should be discussed in classes. Some of them may be the kinds of questions to be pondered privately in our hearts as we seek for answers. Sometimes we need to grow in understanding of other concepts before we can comprehend a particular answer. But as a teacher, I really believe in the value of questions.”
Disciples pg. 32-33
Quote:Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.
Thomas S. Monson (“Finding Joy in the Journey” – October 2008 General Conference)
Love that one, Ray. Our stake council has been focusing on how to improve ward and stake councils. This fits so perfectly.
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