Fighting Between Denominations is Stupid Part VI: The Excuses People Use

 So if you've been reading these posts, you may be wondering whether I believe there's any value in correcting false doctrine or standing against heresy.  Do I even believe in missionary work?

The answer is yes, of course I do.  I do not believe that all denominations (or all religions) are equally "right."  They aren't.  Otherwise, there'd be no reason for me to have left the Catholic Church in the first place.

There's a big difference between sharing the Gospel and attacking somebody's beliefs.  Simply telling someone what you believe is one thing.  It's an entirely different thing to go at somebody and get in their face about what they do.  I was once chatting with a couple of LDS missionaries and they illustrated it pretty well.  Attacking somebody's beliefs is like setting their house on fire when they have nowhere to go.  It just leaves them homeless.  What the missionaries do is offer them a better house to live in.  They'll either be interested and accept, or they won't.  Either way, the point is not to leave them without a home.

That speaks directly to what I said before about the wickedness of destroying someone's faith while giving them no reason to adopt your views. 

Mind you, the idea of attacking someone's faith as being an effective method of changing minds is absurd on its face if you know anything at all about human nature.  Attacking someone's position whether it's religion, politics, their favorite F1 team.. whatever it is, all you're likely to do is galvanize them to be more firmly entrenched in their position than before, AND they'll now be more hostile to yours.  Most people know this, but will still attack because, as I said, it isn't about converting you, it's about their own validation.

So we already know the excuses people use for being rude and aggressive to other denominations, don't we?  "I'm worried about your soul."  Not likely.  And I've discussed this excuse before.  What else?  "I must stand against heresy."  That's just an excuse too for aggressive people to play Crusader, expecting a pat on the head from Jesus for exhibiting some pretty nasty behavior.  

Here's the thing.  When I go into environments surrounded by people of other denominations I don't evangelize.  I don't preach LDS doctrine and I don't try to convince anybody to convert.  The reason for this is obvious... it's because I'm not looking for an argument.  If somebody asks me a question then of course I answer it truthfully, but other than that I'm happy to engage in discussing whatever topic people are talking about.  Mind you, I make no secret of my LDS affiliation and I am open about it.  Not being sneaky here.

What people say to me a lot is "Well you follow a different Jesus than the one in the Bible."  As if there were a bunch of different Jesuses to choose from.  The Jesus I know is the one born of a virgin, lived in Nazareth, healed the sick, performed miracles, taught the Gospel, and suffered and died for our sins.  He later rose on the third day.  As far as I know, only one Being has ever fit that particular description.

And yet I still get the anti-LDS garbage.  The most recent excuse:  "I must combat heresy." along with "I don't want the others to hear your heretical stuff."  Let me remind you:  I'm not in there proselytizing.  I am not in there talking about LDS doctrine.  So just what "heresy" is it they think they're combatting?  Well, the answer is none.  It's an excuse.  It's an excuse spouted by people who, again, feel perfectly safe being nasty, rude, and confrontational while secure in their anonymity to protect them from any consequences of their behavior.  

Frankly, it's cowardly.

What takes actual courage is living up to your own beliefs and treating people with simple respect and dignity as a Christian should.  Jesus didn't act that way toward people in the Bible.  When people came to him in good faith and a willingness to talk, He always treated them kindly, even people like the Roman Centurion, a pagan, who obviously had come from a WAY different religion.  Jesus still not only received him with kindness, but even praised him for his faith.  Matthew 8:5-10

Instead, they like to point to the times when Jesus scolded Peter, or had a snarky response to some know-it-all Pharisee, or the time the Savior drove the moneychangers from the Temple.  It's as if they look to Jesus and all they can emulate, as Christians, is Jesus being annoyed.

That's so weird to me.  Some years ago I was being argued at by somebody on a Discoer channel.  This was an unusually bad incident, complete with them accusing me of being a liar, and calling me a few names to boot.  I asked them:  "Do you really think that if Jesus Christ were standing there right now watching you talk to someone like that, He'd approve?"  They replied, "Yes."

Maybe we do follow a different Jesus after all.

Next, I'll talk about the gatekeepers.