Consequences To Our Freedom of Religion… Freedom of Speech

9 Nov

I woke up this morning in preparation to go to Church and received this comment to moderate:

[click on image to view]

I didn’t publish it – but instead used it to illustrate a point here.

We must NEVER give up. The Mama Hood created a post that calmed
my heart immediately after reading the comment above,
in it she shares these scriptures:

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS

121:7 & 8

7 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmallmoment;

8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy ^bfoes.

My Friend, Seth Adam Smith - shared this quote from
Elder Maxwell in 1979 who prophesied:

“Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency… Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted… This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions…. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened…

“Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ‘summer is nigh.’ Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.”

-Elder Neal A. Maxwell, 1979

So, whether we feel we deserve to ‘deal with the consequences‘ or not – we must press on as Joseph did after he was tarred and feathered and the Saints were persecuted after he was killed. It hasn’t just been the ‘Mormons’ who have had to ‘deal with the consequences‘ to defend their faith and what they believe in – look at the Jews.

It’s a beautiful thing, actually – to be of a faith such as ours. If you think about it, to have such a strong reaction towards us is only testimony to me that I am of the true Church . Who would hate us more than ever? Satan.

Let us be the peace to rise above the storm. LOVE them. Don’t let their ill-mannered temperament cause you to be less than who you are. We are people of Christ and we must reflect that.

I am sure there are protesters awaiting our arrival at Church this morning. I can’t wait to silently greet them with a smile.

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Comments 3 Comments
Categories Faith
Author Rebecca

3 Responses to “Consequences To Our Freedom of Religion… Freedom of Speech”

christine 09. Nov, 2008 at 5:03 pm #

I like your positive attitude Rebecca, smiling at those that hate you!

Reply
Mikki 09. Nov, 2008 at 6:33 pm #

Good job Rebecca. I agree with Seth. We must just love them. Do as Jesus would. They’re our brothers and sisters, and they’re upset. We must try to understand where they’re coming from, while at the same time not losing our own convictions.
I’m sorry this person wrote such a nasty little comment for you, but forgiveness is the key.
And I’m thinking this might just be the beginning of new persecution for us. It’s all been prophesied. I just pray we have the strength our forebears did to withstand.

Reply
Trying to Stay Calm! 10. Nov, 2008 at 12:22 am #

You will be blessed for being so sweet! Hope you have a beautiful Sunday ♥ Hugs!

Reply

“Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available. Your private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. Your journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.” (”President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec. 1980, 26)