Tolerance in America

Yesterday, there was a story in the news about two Mormon missionaries who had vanished while hiking. My mom called and let me know that one of the two missionaries was a friend of mine that I had grown up with. I was extremely worried yesterday, but filled with gratitude this morning when my mom woke me up to let me know that they had been found and were just fine. Yesterday, as I read the news articles about the missing missionaries, it was very disturbing to me how mean and cruel people could be in their comments regarding the news articles. They took it as an opportunity to insult the Mormon faith, instead of expressing concern as any decent person would do. It was extra hurtful to me, because I knew what a good person my friend is. We need greater religious tolerance here in America. I appreciated Mitt Romney's speech this morning, I believe that there is a great need to accept others because of have in common as members of the human family, instead of focusing on differences in our beliefs and customs. Why can't we all just treat each other with respect?

"Mitt the Mormon" for President

Check out the front page of Slate.com today and the first thing you'll see is a picture of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, accompanied by the words "Boxers, briefs or Mormon underwear." The author of the article, Christopher Hitchens, insists that Romney should feel obligated to discuss his Mormon faith. Hitchens spends the majority of the article accusing Mitt Romney of being a racist, a fraud and a leader of the "mad cult" of Mormonism. The article is blatantly bigoted, packed with half-truths and empty accusations. Hitchens wears his feelings on his sleeve and expects that Romney should as well. Essentially he is asking Romney to center his political campaign upon a religion which Hitchens obviously abhors. In his eyes it's not Mitt Romney but "Mitt the Mormon" running for President. I personally believe, and Mitt Romney does as well, that the President of the United States should be elected based on what they would do for the country, not based on the church they attend. Martin Luther King Jr. hoped that one day his children would "not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." The same type of argument should apply to all people of faith, be they Methodist, Mormon or Muslim.

Mitt Romney

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091401971.html

Interesting editorial about Mitt Romney and the new challenges he faces as a Mormon running for President. It mentions the influence of books ("Under the Banner of Heaven"), television ("HBO's "Big Love") and movies ("September Dawn") in casting a bad light on Mormonism. Much of the opposition that Romney faces is because of false or incomplete information. Emphasizing what I said earlier about using what we have, it is important to spread correct information. A few months back I heard a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak about the revised Church websites and how one of the reasons for the changes was that the Church wanted to be the first source of information with regards to its teachings. They do not want someone to google "mormon" and have the first website that pops up be anti-Mormon. It is easy to get your message out on the web, but this ease should make you question the validity of what you read. With so much false information on the web and in the media it is vital to get your information from reliable sources. For people like Mitt Romney the battle against false information could be one of the key factors to success.