Navidad

I would like to make a comment of a kind that hasn't been addressed in this thread. I met Elder Snow on various occasions. At his request, when speaking at an event in SLC, I even once took him a gift from the village in which I live. On that occasion I almost got tackled by a committed security person in a beautiful suit and tie. Apparently in the post Hoffman world, it was not ok to walk into the office building of a general authority with a package under your arm! At any rate, I found Elder Snow to be one of the most godly men I ever met in all my LDS interactions. While historian of the Church, he evidenced God's grace and human kindness in every interaction with me and others, most of whom were not members of the Church. He helped me form my belief that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly a Christian church. I thank him for his strong witness to me in the same way that his top subordinate in that position did the same. That gentleman is now associate vice president of something or other at BYU. Godly men - the evidence of the spirit was strong with both of them. (that sounds like Star Wars, doesn't it?).

Greetings my friend. It has been years since I have posted here. Your post prompted me to see if I am still registered. I guess I am . . . So here goes. I do not believe that each faith tradition is sure it is correct. Perhaps most do, but I certainly don't believe that about either my faith or my beliefs (which to me are two different things). In fact, all my adult life I have tended to shy away from faiths that are certain that they are the "only," by necessity then, making me and mine the "other." I have no objections to the LDS church for either a lack or plenitude of evidence for its beliefs. My objections to the LDS church today is the same that it was the last time I posted - perhaps a bit stronger today than then. I am of the belief that certitude is a sin. Uncertainty opens the door to faith. Certainty closes it. Absolute certainty locks it. I have probably said that on this board before. I am a Christian first, an Evangelical second, and a Mennonite - far third. None of those require me to scorn those who are not me or who do not share my particular form of faith. In my life I have had both a Muslim and a Jew as my very best friend in the world. We rarely talked religion, and that was fine with each of us. My Muslim friend died, my Jewish friend retired, and I still live in rural Chihuahua. I'm in favor of what has been deemed "The Noble Dream"—that "of beliefs based on pure facts, reason, and data free from bias and prejudice. However, because we are human, that noble dream is . . . well, just a dream - unrealizable due to our humanity. That humanity is incapable of complete freedom from bias and prejudice so long as we rank, generalize, normalize, only, other, or dehumanize each other. Ok, I always write too much. See, nothing has changed in the time I have been gone! Very best wishes to all. Navidad