Having respect for religious differences is a principle always worth remembering. Thanks for the post.

I just posted a piece on the Beehive Archive blog about William Booth’s visit to SLC and his appearance in the tabernacle. I think it’s interesting to note that he was a bit peeved by what he considered to be the restlessness of the tabernacle crowd, though it appears his opinion of the Mormon congregation softened later in life.

My own personal feelings are that there are some contemporary spiritual leaders who are inspired for the purposes of bringing the restored gospel to others. We can look at the work of Pope John Paul II and the opening up of Eastern Europe. Again, that is my own opinion.

This may be wrong, and I don’t want to suggest something that is out of line, but I have sometimes wondered if there are those who have missions guided by God to be part of other faiths to help bring people to more light than they would have had otherwise. I don’t suppose we can know that any more than we can know whether someone within our faith will really be exalted, but I have often felt much goodness from those in other faiths and have felt a kinship and gratitude for their service and faith in their circle of influence.

And Elder Oaks once reminded us that the parable of the ten virgins addresses those in the Church. It’s a sobering reminder to me that we cannot sit back and think we have it made simply because we are in the Church.

The bishopric mentioned above should take the lady that is speaking out of bounds aside privately. That had to be done in my ward with a recent convert that didn’t have the right spirit and lacked some knowledge of gospel principles as we teach them. It was done very lovingly and was so well-handled in my opinion that it taught me how to handle my “trashy” neighbors I currently suffer with.

The CofC built its temple to promote world peace. I don’t think that is a bad thing.

Please forgive me if I come across a little critical of Church members. I think (hope) most understand how important it is to respect others beliefs. I just hope the rest will.

The JI article of reminds me of Elder Ballard’s talk(s) about how to treat our neighbors who are not of our faith. He spoke of things no good member of the Church would do (i.e., not allowing children to play with “non-members,” using the term “non-members,” saying, even jokingly, “If you don’t like it here you should leave”). But I am pretty sure these observations arose from things he had heard good members of the Church had done. I guess it is a lesson we keep trying to learn. Hence, a very worthwhile post. Thanks, Ardis.

Thanks for another set of great comments.

I have been pleased with the obvious attempts recently by the Church to reach out and find areas of cooperation with others – even if that includes cooperating with some groups that actively preach we are headed to Hell. I think it epitomizes the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.