LDS-Hosted Event Re: Martin Luther King, Jr.

[smac97]

Here:

Quote

Members of the community from all faiths gathered at a Mormon church Sunday to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and to promote compassion in Pocatello.

Choirs from multiple faiths sang. And Stephanie Evans of the Praise Temple of God led all those who attended in song during the event at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake next to the Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello.

Community members representing a variety of faiths and organizations also offered quotes on compassion from academic and religious leaders, and religious texts.

Dr. Bobbie Branch from Bethel Baptist Church quoted the Rev. King; Muhammed Safdar from the Islamic Society of Southeastern Idaho translated a passage from the Quran, and the Rev. Henry Carmona of the Holy Spirit Catholic Community presented a quote from Mahatma Gandhi.
...
The keynote speaker of the night was Elder Larry Echo Hawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation and the first Native American to serve as the attorney general of the state of Idaho. Echo Hawk, the former head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, discussed how the teachings of the Rev. King impacted his life.

Echo Hawk talked about his grandfather, who was moved from tribal lands in Nebraska to a reservation in Oklahoma. He also talked about his father, who was taken from his family to a boarding school, where he was forced to cut his hair and couldn’t speak his native language.

Echo Hawk talked about how his siblings saw racism being taught openly in the schools they attended. But in spite of all that, he and his five siblings all went to college.
...
“We were given a precious gift of equal opportunity,” said Echo Hawk.

Echo Hawk said the United States has come a long way since King led a march on Washington, D.C., in 1963. But he also said we must recognize that we still have a ways to go.

“I believe in America and I believe in the spirit of America,” said Echo Hawk. “This must be a land of opportunity for all people. I learned that from Martin Luther King.”

The night ended with a reading of the Charter of Compassion, a worldwide movement to promote compassion regardless of religion, race, country, language, gender or sexual orientation.

“Born of our deep independence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity,” the charter states. “It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.”

A few thoughts:

1. Larry Echo Hawk is an interesting fellow.  In addition to being the former Attorney General of Idaho and head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (he is an active Democrat), he also attended BYU on a football scholarship, served two years in the Marine Corps, taught as a law professor at BYU (J. Reuben Clark Law School) for several years, and is presently serving in the First Quorum of Seventy and is assigned as second counselor in the presidency of the church's Philippines Area.  All in all an accomplished and admirable man.  

2. Elder Echo Hawk was one of my favorite professors while at BYU.  He was a warm, kind, intelligent, informed, iron-fisted-handshake kind of a guy.

3. I think it noteworthy that the Church hosted an interfaith event to memorialize the accomplishments of Dr. King.  One of the commenters to the article laments that the LDS Church has been "white guilted" into honoring Dr. King, whom the commenter describes as a "serial womanizer."  Another poster notes that Mormons venerate the Founding Fathers, some of whom owned slaves (Jefferson) or were sexually libertine (Franklin).  Church leaders have also referenced and acknowledged the positive contributions of other controversial figures, such as Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, and Mohammed,  That is not to say that the Church excuses or condones Dr. King's alleged transgressions, or Jefferson's, or Franklin's, and so on.  Rather, I think the Church is trying to help us develop a broader understanding of history and of the contributions that can be made by flawed, even very flawed, men and women.  

4. The reading of the "Charter of Compassion" is likewise interesting.  It may be that the Charter is, or may become, too politicized.  It has some lofty verbiage that, I think, could (and probably would) be used against the LDS Church or other signatories who, while agreeing with the ends of the Charter (showing compassion), will likely substantially disagree with the means of achieving those ends.  For example, when the Charter proclaims that "Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures," that sounds great.  But enemies and critics of the Church would then use this phrase to endlessly second guess and find fault with the LDS Church and how it manages its resources.  When the Charter calls on signatories to "to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect," that sounds great.  But enemies and critics of the Church would then exploit such grandiose terminology to require attack the Church's stance on the Law of Chastity, temple attendance, and who knows how many other things.  And so on.  Unfortunately, I could see the Charter being hijacked and exploited every which way from Sunday.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

[theplains]

3 hours ago, smac97 said:

Church leaders have also referenced and acknowledged the positive contributions of other controversial figures, such as Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, and Mohammed,  That is not to say that the Church excuses or condones Dr. King's alleged transgressions, or Jefferson's, or Franklin's, and so on.  Rather, I think the Church is trying to help us develop a broader understanding of history and of the contributions that can be made by flawed, even very flawed, men and women.  

The Liahona mentioned, "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, 
and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a 
portion of God’s light."

Would you consider Muhammad as a great religious leader of the world when he taught against 
the foundational teachings of Christ?

If this is not worthy of being classified as a great deceiver, just how far would one have to
go to be labelled as such?

Thanks,
Jim

[The Nehor]

16 minutes ago, theplains said:

The Liahona mentioned, "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, 
and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a 
portion of God’s light."

Would you consider Muhammad as a great religious leader of the world when he taught against 
the foundational teachings of Christ?

If this is not worthy of being classified as a great deceiver, just how far would one have to
go to be labelled as such?

Thanks,
Jim

Apostasizing from an apostate faith is not a serious sin. Muhammad did end the age of ignorance in that area of the world and for some time the light of Islam burned brighter in terms of culture and development then Christianity did. When many of Islam saw Europeans as a bunch of despots huddling in stone castles on the edge of civilization during the Dark Ages they were pretty much right.

[Robert F. Smith]

6 hours ago, theplains said:

The Liahona mentioned, "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, 
and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a 
portion of God’s light."

Would you consider Muhammad as a great religious leader of the world when he taught against 
the foundational teachings of Christ?

If this is not worthy of being classified as a great deceiver, just how far would one have to
go to be labelled as such?

Thanks,
Jim

There are plenty of bad guys out there, including the ardent anti-Semite Martin Luther.  God takes them as they are and works wonders with them, despite their shortcomings.  Each brought elements which God sought to include in human development.  Just because Socrates, Plato, Leonardo, and some other geniuses were practicing homosexuals, does not diminish their important contributions.