Posted by
Cassandra on Friday, May 25, 2007 7:26:31 PM
Mormons and Evangelicals Dialogue in Irvine CA
I was visiting in Mission Viejo this last weekend and had the good fortune of attending "An Evangelical and a Latter-day Saint in Conversation," a discussion between Evangelical pastor Greg Johnson and Dr. Robert Millet, the dean of the BYU religion faculty and noted Mormon author. These two men live in Utah and are friends, actual friends! They recommended what they called "convicted civility," an ability to disagree on matters of religion and faith in a respectful manner--actually listening to what the other guy says he believes and then believing that he knows what he believes better than the other guy does. Remember the Golden Rule? It was a discussion according to the Golden Rule and it was really nice. Greg heads up an organization in Utah that—gasp!—believes in talking to Mormons in his community called “Standing Together.”
I believe in that too. Kudos to Mariners Church in Irvine, California for sponsoring this night of dialogue. I get so tired of hearing non-Mormons “preach the truth in love” to me, and when they are through explaining why my Jesus is so different from theirs, I feel like I’m looking in a funhouse mirror. Why don’t they find out what we believe from our sources? No need to agree with me. But you could ask.
"Touchstone"
I subscribe to a wonderful magazine called Touchstone that is my favorite monthly read. (Check it out) It’s cultural and spiritual commentary with wit, a high church flavor and razor sharp intellectual insight. Most contributors are Catholic, Anglican, Episcopalian or Lutheran. I can’t imagine not asking someone like that if I had a question about their faith rather than buying a book entitled “Unveiling the Real Secret Hidden Truth of Catholicism.” I’m not that stupid.
Mike Gallagher's Bigotry
Apparently Mike Gallagher is. In his current column he says ”But if a presidential candidate has a set of religious beliefs that seem contrary to the vast majority of Bible-believing Christians and those beliefs might cause someone to decide not to vote for that person, how can that possibly be called bigotry?” Hate to tell you this Mike, but that IS the definition of bigotry. It’s like a simple equation.
We’re not talking about having religious beliefs that would affect the way a person saw the founding documents of this country or that affected how he felt about America. Mormons love this country and believe that God guided the founding of it so that there would be a beacon of freedom in the world. Mike just doesn’t like Mitt’s beliefs because they are different from his. Check the dictionary. We call that bigotry. Or ignorant—and proud of it.
If you want to know, ask. And if you’re just curious and don’t want to ask those clean cut young men in white shirts and name tags—ask me. I’m not trying to convert anybody.