Truth

It came to my attention a few days ago that there have been protests and uproar about a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer at general conference last week. My first reaction is why would anybody protest the words of the Lord?
Why would people who are not members of The Church, be so concerned about what a religious leader teaches? After all, isn’t freedom of religion still one of our rights? Then I learned that many of the protesters are actually members of The Church. That’s even worse. I would say it’s unbelievable but, in today’s world, nothing is unbelievable.

This morning, I watch the Sunday morning session of general conference again, which happens to contain Pres. Packer’s “controversial” talk. I found nothing controversial about it. There was nothing said that we haven’t been taught before.

It saddens me that people would persecute a servant of the Lord for teaching truth. As president of the quorum of the 12 apostles, Pres. Packer is set apart as a prophet, seer, and revelator. As are all members of the first presidency and quorum of the 12 apostles. So, anything Pres. Packer teaches is truth. It’s what the Lord would teach.

I find it ironic that people are crying intolerance, hatred and hostility. Yet this is exactly what they are doing by persecuting Pres. Packer.

I came across this quote by Pres. Benson:
“The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.” As Paul said, they “seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” (Philip. 2:21.)

Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled. (See Alma 38:12; 3 Ne. 12:30.)

The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. (See Hel. 12:6.) They pit their perceptions of truth against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, their accomplishments against His mighty works.

Our enmity toward God takes on many labels, such as rebellion, hard-heartedness, stiff-neckedness, unrepentant, puffed up, easily offended, and sign seekers. The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren’t interested in changing their opinions to agree with God’s.” -Ezra Taft Benson, May 1989 Ensign

Gay rights activists, for lack of a better term, are not content to let people live their lives, and believe what they choose to believe, they want you to not only tolerate their sinful lifestyle, but embrace it. And if you do not, they persecute you, and call you hateful, intolerant, and are in fact, very hostile towards you.

This is evident by their reaction to Pres. Packer's conference address. Which I found to be actually quite loving, yet firm in the truth.

Another evidence is the violence and hatred shown towards members of The Church in California during proposition eight campaigns.

1 Nephi 16: 2
"And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center."

Yet another example is from the news a few days ago. I don’t remember the details very well but a politician was speaking to a religious group, I believe was Jewish, and he mentioned that homosexuality was wrong, and he didn’t want children being brainwashed into thinking it was right. Well, he spoke truth. I agreed with everything he said. Yet, the media jumped all over him and painted him as Luciferic and hateful, and intolerant, and all those other things we keep hearing. When in actuality, the politician was in the right, he spoke the truth.

I really wasn’t going to do this blog, I’ve already covered this subject several times. But it was really bothering me today. So I decided I had to say something. Do what you will, say what you want, but you cannot change truth, the Lord’s work will not be halted.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”-Joseph Smith

That’s my two cents.