NYC Mormon Stories Conference

[_mercyngrace]

Seth,

I appreciate your comments and in some ways we share similar approaches to worship. I'm a lot more interested in the good we accomplish together than in the specifics of what any one individual believes. I vacillate though, between patience and frustration with some of the ideas that are taught and believed in church because I've seen people hurt by others on account of some of those "traditions of our fathers" and because I have children who are hearing these ideas and having to sort wheat from chaff, the latter often coming directly from authority figures they trust.

As an example (and a minor one to be sure), last Sunday my son and I were talking about issues that came up in church classes that day. He's almost 14, to give you an idea, and knows many of the nuances of my faith. Because of the topics raised in church, I reminded him that God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance, and that while we may choose to identify ourselves as part of our tribe or priesthood line by dressing or grooming in certain ways, these things matter little to God. I asked if, for instance, he would wear long hair to church if that was his preferred style. He said "No way, Mom, my teachers and the other boys would give me a lot of grief."

I was sad that my bright, articulate, and normally courageous child would conform out of a desire to avoid persecution from those who should recognize the deadness of "the law". I wondered what experiences convinced him that he could expect persecution rather than understanding and tolerance.

Live and let live becomes a much more complex approach when you see the impact on your children of another's damaging beliefs.