Protect What Is Sacred. But What Is Sacred?

I started my day on a viciously cheerful note--uplifted by news coverage of a protest outside of an LDS church in Utah. The speaker sounded remarkably like a Mormon friend of mine who I adore. . . Or was it a trick of my imagination because no matter how "tolerant" I try to be, I still categorize people in my own mind?

But I digress. Ty was lamenting the protests outside "LDS' sacred places." I could hear the shouts of the protestors in the background and it sounded like a joyful party rather than an angry mob. I was happy and laughing at him, enjoying his audible discomfort and frustration. He talked about how much he wishes the No on 8ers would get over it and move on. "You lost. The democratic majority has spoken. Now move on."

But we will not get over it and we will not move on. We will constantly be there to remind you that your victory is hollow. All you've done is fund a speedbump on our road to victory.

What I am grateful for in Ty's words, was the use of the phrase "sacred places." I believe that was from an official statement of the Mormon Church in response to the protests. I realized finally how it is that a Church that has so many wonderful people that I love as members, can simultaneously spew such hate. This is something that had been bothering me for quite some time.

After law school, I clerked for a Mormon judge and he was the kindest, most compassionate and tolerant man I've ever met. How do I reconcile him, and all he represents to me, with what the official Mormon Church now represents?

I remember asking my judge how he came to be so tolerant and compassionate. Ironically, he credited his Mormon faith. Like he often did, he sat with me and taught me the history I never read in text books. He talked to me about the Mormon Trail and the persecution suffered by the members of his church. He explained how he and his Church could never be less than tolerant of others because of its painful history, because of the universality of suffering under discrimination and persecution. Based on that and numerous other conversations and observations, I formed the impression that the Mormon religion is a beautiful thing.

So what happened? Why is the Mormon Church now spewing hate. Why is it doing the persecuting?

Well, I have a couple theories, and one just occurred to me when I heard the official LDS statement. The Mormon Church views its property, its places of worship, as "sacred." I view all of God's creations as sacred. For me, there is no compartmentalizing of what is sacred and what is profane. We are all "sacred," our homes are all "sacred," and life itself is "sacred." So many of modern life's problems could be alleviated if we just kept that in mind and honored our planet and each other as sacred creations.

I used to think that my Mormon friends and I share the same God. That we just worship him in different ways. But I'm not so sure anymore. My God does not seek to separate or divide us. We are called to live in unity and to share our light and love with one another. Somehow the Mormom Church, as an institution, has lost sight of that. I hope that, like me, a devoted Catholic, my dear Mormon friends do not feel the need to follow the political agendas of their institution when it loses sight of what is truly sacred.

In love and light,
Glam