Mormons & World Religions Archive
Dallin Oaks, apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks at Chapman University on religious freedom and the Constitution.
On February 4, Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former state Supreme Court justice spoke at Chapman University School of Law on religious freedom and it’s constitutional history and importance. The Mormon apostle focused on why the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom is important to the future of the United States and on the dangers of religious relativism.
The speech, which received a standing ovation, focused on four main points, that were summarized in this way near the end of his talk:
Religious teachings and religious organizations are valuable and important to our free society and therefore deserving of their special protection.
Religious freedom undergirds the origin and existence of this country and is the dominating civil liberty.
The guarantee... Read the rest of this entry »
Mormons have a long history of coping with religious intolerance. From their earliest days, they were persecuted and chased out of the places they lived. They were the only religious group with a government-issued extermination order (from the state of Missouri).
Mormon temples remind Mormons to respect that which is sacred in any religion.
Over the years, as they have gained safety and a measure of acceptance, they have joined their voices with others to promote religious tolerance for other groups, including respect for that which a religion might consider sacred. Read the rest of this entry »
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Personal Response by Lance
I served for two years as a Mormon missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) in Mississippi and Louisiana. It was the greatest experience of my life. I loved sharing the gospel with the people of the South because so many of them have deep faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were very kind to us missionaries coming to their door. I cannot count the number of people who let me into their home, as a complete stranger, to share what I believe. I learned that “southern hospitality” is very real and I believe it is because the people have good Christian values. There were also many people who turned us away but even this was usually done politely. Read the rest of this entry »
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