Bury Your Weapons...
9:34 PM
In the Book of Mormon, a small family of Nephite
missionaries was able to teach and inspire conversion among a group of
previously warmongering Lamanites. Despite years of hatred towards the
Nephites, these Lamanites were so sincere in their conversion that they not
only “became a righteous people” but they also “did lay down the weapons of
their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against
any of their brethren” (Alma 23:7). Their commitment to their newfound
lifestyle would be tested by an invading army intent on dissuading them from their faith. However, these newly-named “Anti-Nephi-Lehies” not only
stood their ground but buried their weapons in
the ground to signify their commitment to God and “because of their love
towards their brethren” (Alma 26:32). Many were innocently killed but none
violated their covenant of submission and peace.
I’m an optimistic and positive person, but I have been
emotionally and spiritually hurt over the past few weeks at the bubbling soup
of anger, animosity, and antagonism that has spilled all over the media and
Facebook. I recently read a woman’s simple statement of trust in Church
leadership, which she had posted in response to a rather hostile editorial, and
was appalled at the subsequent storm of vulgar and berating responses calling
her naïve, ignorant, and bigoted. I am just one voice in that wilderness of the
web, but I want to use that voice at this time and in this one post to call for
everyone, everywhere to lay aside their animosity and bury their weapons for
(at least) two reasons…
…for peace
Did you know that
- 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day; nearly half (more than 3 billion people) live on less than $2.50 a day; and over 1 billion live on just a $1 a day.
- 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. Over 1 billion people do not have safe drinking water and more than 2.5 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. Of all the diseases in developing nations, 80% come from unsafe water and sanitation.
- Nine million children under age five around the world die every year from very treatable diseases and illnesses, like diarrhea and pneumonia. 3,900 children die each day because of lack of safe water and sanitary conditions. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty and over 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.
- Over 20 million people need, but do not get, immediate treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. Over 30 million people admit to driving while intoxicated; however almost 75% of convicted drunk drivivers continue to drive on suspended licenses. In fact, an average drunk driver has been drive drunk 80 times before being arrested. Drunk driving costs the United States alone $200 billion. 28 people die as a result of drunk driving each day.
- The porn industry generates $13 billion each year in the US. The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old, on average, and every second, 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography. In fact, porn sites get more visitors than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.
- 35% of women have been subject to physical or sexual violence. 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime, and almost 2 million women and girls around the world are victims of human trafficking. Approximately 800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
- Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children (a report can include multiple children). The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations – losing on average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect (All statistics come from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Plan USA, and various other censuses).
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always,
does, and will continue to stand with other faith traditions against these
problems and for more love, service, and charity in the world. As disciples of
Christ we seek to emulate Him in all our actions. While others may not agree
with some of our policies, practices, or doctrines, could we not unite on what we do agree on and seek together to lift the world and uplift the people in it?
I wonder if we spend so much time fighting each other that we ignore the greater war. While I'm not advocating a wholesale abdication of all convictions and principles for the ones I've chose to name here, I do wonder if we could do more good in the world if buried our animosity towards each other and found more ground whereon we can stand together. Imagine what could happen if all of the voices and all of the time that we spend fighting each other could be combined and focused against the evils of pornography, substance addiction, or abuse. Can we not all stand together “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” (Alma 46:12).
I wonder if we spend so much time fighting each other that we ignore the greater war. While I'm not advocating a wholesale abdication of all convictions and principles for the ones I've chose to name here, I do wonder if we could do more good in the world if buried our animosity towards each other and found more ground whereon we can stand together. Imagine what could happen if all of the voices and all of the time that we spend fighting each other could be combined and focused against the evils of pornography, substance addiction, or abuse. Can we not all stand together “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children” (Alma 46:12).
…for the love of God
Perhaps one of the most striking traits of the mortal
ministry of Jesus Christ was that, despite his innate and divine power, he
submitted to the needs of the people, the anger of His contemporaries, and the
will of His Father. It should be no surprise then that the path to true
discipleship mandates our complete submission to His and His Father’s will.
King Benjamin famously explained that, in order for us become true saints
through the Atonement of Christ we must first become “as a child, submissive, meek,
humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord
seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father”
(Mosiah 3:19).
Submitting to God is rarely comfortable. Often our “natural
man” cries out that we should stand and fight rather than bury our weapons.
Being submissive is made further difficult by a world that views this trait
negatively. Those who choose to humbly follow God and his prophets and apostles
are berated as being naïve, ignorant, or ignoring of the true facts. “If you
only know how bad the coming enemy was,” they might say to the submissive, converted
Lamanites, “you would stand and fight.” However, how can this quality be
condemned when the very life, resurrection, repentance, and eternal life we are
afforded came because Christ, with full knowledge and awareness, chose to
submit to the will of His Father. Being submissive is not a sign of weakness
but a sign of incredible self-control.
I, like many, have wielded a sword or two against those with
whom I disagree and have had to learn how much attack, sarcasm, and negativity
cause pain and offense. We may have a right and may even feel called or compelled
to defend our beliefs, but this must be done with respect, kindness, charity,
love, and yes, a submissive and meek attitude. We won’t be perfect at it, but
we can at least try and hopefully we can all get a bit better at standing
together with our God and against real enemies with nothing but hope, love, and
charity in our hands.
2 comments
Thank you for this post! I have more than a few weapons I need to bury when it comes to speaking kindly towards other people and removing venom and sarcasm from my vocabulary in the name of making my point. I'm trying to find that happy balance between stating what I believe firmly and with conviction (not being walked all over) and still speaking with kindness, love and tenderness. I have found the apostles in our church to be incredibly good at striking this balance, and I'm not even close to there yet. I've felt the need to be more vocal about my feelings and opinions via the internet as it seems people with strong opposing opinions who do not care to find a middle ground are commonly the ones who contribute most. Thanks for being a voice of reason on the internet. We need more thoughtful, compassionate people like you lighting the way for people like me who are still trying to figure it out!
ReplyDeleteYou are very kind and overly complimentary, but thank you Morgan! I'm no master nor expert, but I am trying, like you. Hopefully we can all get better at this and make some real difference in the world.
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