Latter-day Saints' love for each other

Elder Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk about unity on April 5, 2025, in General Conference. Here is a summary.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/general-conference/2025/04/05/elder-dieter-uchtdorf-april-2025-general-conference-love-for-god-and-his-children/

Elder Uchtdorf’s talk summary

A friend visiting a branch in Germany was impressed by the members’ love for each other.

When people experience the Church for the first time, they are likely to notice how they feel and how members treat each other. The Savior wants them to leave with stronger faith in Him. The love felt there will lift them closer to Jesus Christ.

The Lord invites His children to join His kingdom and anxiously engage in building it. To be of one heart, individuals must align their heart with the Savior.

One category comes before all others: child of God. Unity in the Church is not because of a common background but because of a common objective — being “one in Christ.”

Those who love God and want to know Him better and seek to keep the commandments are a perfect fit for the Church, which is one body. “All are needed in the body of Christ.”

For those who are not yet members of the Church, “we invite you to join us as we rejoice in the Savior’s ‘song of redeeming love.‘”

Church members’ love for God and His children is a powerful testimony to the world that this is the Savior’s Church.

Notable quotes

“The Lord invites us not just to join His kingdom but also to be anxiously engaged in building it.”

“We are one, not because of where we’ve been but where we are striving to go, not because of who we are but who we seek to become.”

“Our love for God and His children is a powerful testimony to the world that this is truly the Savior’s Church.”

Is civility possible?

Andy Kessler's article in the WSJ:

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-civility-possible-again-political-discourse-the-view-donald-trump-godwins-law-social-media-1d89bef8?st=BnXpLt&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Excerpts:

there are calls from the media for civility. Now? We have a long history to overcome. Mark Twain, a 29-year-old San Francisco-based opinion columnist for a Nevada newspaper in 1865, was spewing venom, saying of the police, “Wax figures, besides being far more economical, would be about as useful.” Pianist and comedian Oscar Levant in 1940 said of his morning routine, “First I brush my teeth and then I sharpen my tongue.” Same.

Incivility became a favored tactic for activists. In 1971 Saul Alinsky wrote “Rules for Radicals,” which became the bible for the Obama and Biden administrations. Rule 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” Rule 13: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Rude, but effective.

___

In 2017 the Washington Post cited Godwin’s Law: “As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or Nazis approaches 1.” In 2016 the Post’s website ran this headline: “Don’t compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. It belittles Hitler.”

_____

Is it over? Is society so depraved that life will never be civil again? In January, this paper quoted Jacob Mchangama, founder of Justitia, blaming cancel culture on “our species’ hard-wired tendencies toward tribalistic behavior and the self-righteous urge to punish outgroups who transgress taboos.”

Your taboo is my ballyhoo. Tribalism and self-righteousness are hard to combat, but not impossible. It has to start early and locally, in our education system and within our families and communities, to instill a sense of civility. Maybe someday.

Three benefits of friendship-Ulisses Soares

 

Ulisses Soares

@Ulisses__Soares

Friendship does not require us to share identical religious beliefs or always agree with one another. In a recent conversation with my dear friend, Pastor Bob Roberts, at the Global Faith Forum in Washington, D.C., we discussed our shared interest in religious freedom and working together to accomplish good in our communities. Spending time with friends who have different views and trying to understand their perspective offers at least three benefits beyond just enjoying friendship: 1. It strengthens our love and compassion for one another. 2. It broadens our perspective and can lead to greater insight. 3. It helps clarify and strengthen our own beliefs, allowing us to express them more clearly and confidently. The world would be better and more peaceful if more people joined together and sincerely tried to understand the perspectives of those who think or believe differently. We are all children of God, which makes each of us spiritual brothers and sisters.

https://x.com/Ulisses__Soares/status/1887253089436172646

More detail:

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/02/03/apostle-faith-protecting-human-rights-pivotal-to-peacemaking-essential-for-believers/

Comment:

Jeff Olsen

@Jeff3Olsen

·

13h

Yes. It also seems clear the adversary distorts tolerance and empathy to spread wickedness and darkness throughout the world. I love how the prophets & apostles bring clarity to true principles in the face of the world's philosophies of men mingled with scripture.