In this world of right and left, good and evil, hero and villain, and victim and survivor, it is a good idea to remember our purpose in life. All the Lord wants from us is to be humble and loving. If we focus more on the Lord and less on ourselves, the happier we will be.
When someone is wronged there are two things we can do. Lash out and blame others, or look deep within and see what lesson may be learned. When a tragedy happens we can blame the Lord or love the Lord. When a friend offends us we can become defensive, or humble yourself and try and understand what just happened.
When we are politically correct in this life that is the easy thing to be. To act as the Savior would have us be, is the hard thing and takes a tremendous amount of patience. To be tolerant is a wonderful quality, but not at the expense of tolerating sin or evil.
If we think of the victim as being the subject of trauma or violent crime, the opposite is the perpetrator; although, from what we know in today’s world the victim can turn into the perpetrator.
Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case in the face of contrary evidence of such circumstances. Victim mentality depends on clear thought processes and attribution. It is so much easier to turn to the Lord than staying as a victim.
The influence of Satan is becoming more acceptable. When tragedy happens we always ask, “Why did he do it”, or “What made her act that way”. Remember what the Lord said, “For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” Alma 5:40
Beware of Political Correctness
“Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds.11
Talk about man creating God in his own image! Sometimes—and this seems the greatest irony of all—these folks invoke the name of Jesus as one who was this kind of “comfortable” God. Really? He who said not only should we not break commandments, but we should not even think about breaking them. And if we do think about breaking them, we have already broken them in our heart. Does that sound like “comfortable” doctrine, easy on the ear and popular down at the village love-in?
And what of those who just want to look at sin or touch it from a distance? Jesus said with a flash, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off.12 “I came not to [bring] peace, but a sword,”13 He warned those who thought He spoke only soothing platitudes. No wonder that, sermon after sermon, the local communities “pray[ed] him to depart out of their coasts.”14 No wonder, miracle after miracle, His power was attributed not to God but to the devil.15 It is obvious that the bumper sticker question “What would Jesus do?” will not always bring a popular response.” Holland, Jeffery R. “The Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship.” Conference, April 2014.
The fact is that in our world, we are encouraged to worship the God of Political Correctness who has become so large that he entirely eclipses the place of righteous indignation and/or a bold stand for truth. If our world wants a soft god, wouldn’t it make sense that we would also tend to criticize those from the scriptures who are examples of God’s pro-active righteousness and justice?”
Beware of Moral Relativism
“It is well to worry about our moral foundation. We live in a world where more and more persons of influence are teaching and acting out a belief that there is no absolute right and wrong, that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made choices that can prevail over the commandments of God. Many even question whether there is a God.
The philosophy of moral relativism, which holds that each person is free to choose for himself what is right and wrong, is becoming the unofficial creed for many in America and other Western nations. At the extreme level, evil acts that used to be localized and covered up like a boil are now legalized and paraded like a banner. Persuaded by this philosophy, many of the rising generation—youth and young adults—are caught up in self-serving pleasures, pagan painting and piercing of body parts, foul language, revealing attire, pornography, dishonesty, and degrading sexual indulgence” Truth and Tolerance Elder Dallin H. Oaks September 11, 2011
What does it mean that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church?
“Our first responsibility and purpose is to testify of Jesus Christ to a world that suffers to know of His divine mission. As my response to that great responsibility, I will speak about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the only true and living Church. In doing so I know I speak against the powerful tide of what is called “political correctness.”
The fashionable opinion of this age is that all churches are true. In truth, the idea that all churches are the same is the doctrine of the anti-Christ, illustrated by the Book of Mormon account of Korihor (see Alma 30). That account was given to teach us a vital lesson in our day.
A revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1831, soon after the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke of those who had been given “power to lay the foundation of this church.” The Lord then referred to the Church as “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (D&C 1:30).
Because of this declaration of the Lord, we refer to this, His Church—our Church—as the “only true Church.” Sometimes we do this in a way that gives great offense to people who belong to other churches or who subscribe to other philosophies. But God has not taught us anything that should cause us to feel superior to other people. Certainly all churches and philosophies have elements of truth in them, some more than others. Certainly God loves all of His children. And certainly His gospel plan is for all of His children, all according to His own timetable.
So what does it mean that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church?
Three features—(1) fulness of doctrine, (2) power of the priesthood, and (3) testimony of Jesus Christ—explain why God has declared and why we as His servants maintain that this is the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth.” The Only True and Living Church elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles June 25, 2010 Complete Article Here
Political Correctness Isn’t Correct, LDS Official Says
By Jeff Vice, Staff Writer Deseret News Published: November 16, 1994
In all the furor over social and political correctness, people may be losing sight of values and what is truly good, Elder James E. Faust said at a devotional at Brigham Young University on Tuesday.
“Your generation lives in a day when many things are measured against the standard of social and political correctness,” warned Elder Faust, a member of the Council of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I challenge that false doctrine of human behavior. The influence of Satan is becoming more acceptable.”Speaking on “Trying to Serve the Lord Without Offending the Devil,” Elder Faust said that he and other LDS leaders hope young people, “unfamiliar with the sophistries of the world, can keep themselves free of Satan’s enticements and evil ways.”
New York Yankees great Yogi Berra reportedly once said, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” However, “It doesn’t work that way,” said Elder Faust during the morning devotional, which was simulcast on both KBYU-FM and KBYU-TV.
By embracing political correctness, unknowing people have been led to accept several actions that could be interpreted as being offenses against God – such as abortion, homosexuality and the so-called “zero population” movement, Elder Faust said.
“Any alternatives to the legal and loving marriage between a man and woman are helping to unravel the fabric of human society,” Elder Faust said. “These so-called alternative lifestyles must not be accepted as right because they frustrate God’s commandments for a life-giving union of male and female within a legal marriage as stated in (The Old Testament). If practiced by all adults, these lifestyles would mean the end of the human family.”
In other cases, the devil “takes some delight every time a home is broken up, even when there is no parent to blame,” Elder Faust said. “This is especially so where there are children involved. The physical and spiritual neglect of children is one of the spawning grounds for so many of the social ills of the world.”
Also, Elder Faust said that many “broad-minded” people are ignoring God’s commandments by taking the guise of “not imposing religious belief” – such as those who are challenging the “sin laws” on gambling, alcohol and drug consumption.
They are ignoring “the health and social costs to society of the vices,” Elder Faust said.
Teach Us Tolerance and Love
Russell M. Nelson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles April 1994
“I have been impressed to speak on the subject of tolerance—a virtue much needed in our turbulent world. But in discussing this topic, we must recognize at the outset that there is a difference between tolerance and tolerate. Your gracious tolerance for an individual does not grant him or her license to do wrong, nor does your tolerance obligate you to tolerate his or her misdeed. That distinction is fundamental to an understanding of this vital virtue.
I attended a “laboratory of tolerance” some months ago when I had the privilege of participating in the Parliament of the World’s Religions. There I conversed with good men and women representing many religious groups. Again I sensed the advantages of ethnic and cultural diversity and reflected once more on the importance of religious freedom and tolerance.
I marvel at the inspiration of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he penned the eleventh article of faith: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” [A of F 1:11]
That noble expression of religious tolerance is particularly poignant in light of the Prophet’s personal persecution. On one occasion he wrote, “I am at this time persecuted the worst of any man on the earth, as well as this people, … all our sacred rights are trampled under the feet of the mob.”
Joseph Smith endured incessant persecution and finally heartless martyrdom—at the hands of the intolerant. His brutal fate stands as a stark reminder that we must never be guilty of any sin sown by the seed of intolerance.” Continued Here.
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