Talk part 4 - not fearing the world

After mentioning my worst pet peeve about Mormons, I mentioned getting really mad at David B. Haight.

I have already blogged at length about that in Frustrated:

http://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2018/04/frustrated.html

Still, if it was treading on shaky ground admitting to have a pet peeve with Mormons, it could also be very risky to admit to getting mad at an apostle. No one has reprimanded me, and a friend told me that the stake presidency member on the stand laughed when I said it, so I guess I'll be fine.

If you don't want to go back and re-read the other post, it was for an October 1992 conference talk, where he quotes (along with Pat Buchanan) Michael Hirsley in saying that "the nation's most widely accepted prejudice is anti-Christian". It angered me for its blatant wrongness and that there would be people who still believe it. We have people who have open access for church and temple attendance, prayer, scripture study, association with other members - anything that we need to do to worship and meet our standards of righteous living - but think it is persecution that a gay couple can get married or that school prayer isn't compulsory, even though praying in school happens all the time.

So I was mad at that, but I still continued reading the talk, and there was something interesting, and that also relates to my previously mentioned pet peeve of fear of The World!

The only sure way to protect ourselves and our families from the onslaught of the teachings of the world is to commit to live the commandments of God, to attend our Church meetings where we can learn and be strengthened in our testimonies and partake of the sacrament to renew our covenants, to prepare ourselves to worthily enter the temple where we may find a refuge from the world and a place of renewal of our capacity to cope with the evils of the world. I so declare to you as I leave you my witness and testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The protection from sin is not isolation from the world; it is the active living of the gospel.

This is something that I didn't say in the talk, but as I was being frustrated with that quote, and how wrong-headed it is, I remembered something. I don't remember who it was, but someone had said that that the brethren know what is going on in the world. I believe that to a point, but more that they know what is going on with members - and that's whom they lead, so that is valuable - but that there is a lot that they miss.

During his mortal ministry Jesus - and John the Baptist before him - spent time with prostitutes, publicans, sinners, and wine-bibbers. They were judged for it, but they were not corrupted by it, and they saved people because of it. I'm sure not everyone repented, but that didn't mean that they had no value.

So going back to my Frustrated post, is the reason our church isn't heroic enough and forward enough is that we are too isolated to even get there? How much good is there that we could do, but are not even thinking about doing, because of that?