July Liahona: The Eternal Importance of Religious Freedom
This is a review of an article written by Michael R. Morris - July 2021 Liahona.
“…society itself—even without the force of government—can ostracize, stigmatize, and discriminate against religious believers in overt and subtle ways, leaving people of faith marginalized and sometimes even despised”
n his article, Michael Morris mostly weaves together a bunch of quotes from church leaders (like Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) in order to try and present an argument that there is an ongoing attack on the freedom of religion - and in turn an attack against the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
Morris starts out by reminding readers that his is not the first warning that church leadership has given on the importance of being vigilant and prepared to defend religious freedom. He references a talk that David A Bednar gave in June of 2020 where he claimed that a health crisis was not a good reason for the (COVID-19) restrictions and that the government guidelines were a direct attack on the freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. Bednar also urged that these restrictions showed how easily our freedoms are swept aside in the name of protecting our social interest and that it proved just how fragile those freedoms can be.
This argument completely minimises the devastating situation that the pandemic was wreaking around the globe. At the time Bednar made his original statement (17th June 2020) there were over 600 deaths happening in America per day, with thousands of people already dead after only a few short months. Yet he felt it was appropriate to compare this tragedy to the story of the prodigal son, after explaining the parable he said that we (like the prodigal son) have been given a reminder needed to “awaken to the perilous times that surround us, come to ourselves, and arise and turn to our Divine Father, who desires to instruct and edify us through our trials”. Bednar believes that the Covid-19 constraints can be a blessing as they are a “wake-up call” to the people to stand up for their religious freedoms and that acting upon this is important because people having religious freedom is as vital as physical health.
By making these assertions the article begins to establish a dangerous line of thinking where people can become convinced that physical assembly for worship is worth risking the lives of others. Not only does Morris encourage this line of thought, but throughout the article he uses inflammatory language and quotes such as“defending the borders”, “growing attacks” and “attacks on the freedoms”, which perpetuate fear of the outside world and build upon the existing narrative that the Church is a beacon of light and hope from the dark and ungodly world. He further emphasises this as he discusses his belief that the “growing attacks on religion” are due to the growing influence of secularism, and that if we turn a blind eye to the religious discrimination the church is facing we will be breeding “an environment in which hostile groups are emboldened in other ways, leading to other kinds of crime, violent behavior, and social disintegration. That in turn leads to further unraveling of the moral fabric of society”.
What the church and its leaders do not seem to understand or accept is that people do not need religion to be good. In fact, it is my experience that there are plenty of terrible people who are members of the Mormon Church and use their power to abuse and control others. There are a lot of reasons why people commit crimes and it is demonstrably false to say that bad people are bad because they are secular.
As if building up a false narrative wasn’t bad enough, Morris takes his article one step further and suggests that the overwhelming societal and governmental pressure to take away religious freedom means that the church members are victims. He quotes Elder Christofferson saying:
“Values we once shared with the great majority of our fellow citizens are now often considered outdated, naive, and sometimes even bigoted. Because a society’s deepest values drive law and public policy, and because those values in many Western nations are now almost entirely secular, government is increasingly enforcing secular values at the expense of religious ones. And society itself—even without the force of government—can ostracize, stigmatize, and discriminate against religious believers in overt and subtle ways, leaving people of faith marginalized and sometimes even despised”.
This last sentence is particularly infuriating. Only a month prior the church printed an article titled “A fence at the top or an ambulance at the bottom?” (Written by Tad Callister), this article was a shocking display of ignorance that demonised some of the most marginalized members of society. It warned that “the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets”, and it called for “responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society”. This was specifically referring to the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and that anything alternative to this is choosing “worldly solutions that nurture rather than nullify existing issues of immorality”.
This article then goes on to suggest that single mothers (not single parents, or single fathers), people who are pro-choice, and people who are LGBTQ+ are all part of Satans plan to destroy the family, and destroy moral values. It even goes as far as suggesting that “love and compassion” for endorsement of “same-sex marriage” is circumventing God’s commandments and that there will be divine consequences for this. Tad summarises his argument by promoting the LDS idea of the family and claiming that if society were to follow the rules set out in The Family: A proclamation to the World we would experience “less crime and drug abuse, less fraud and abuse, fewer divorces and lawsuits, fewer babies born out of wedlock, more ethical employees and employers, a reduction in welfare cases, less contention and hate, and a resurgence of faith in God”. Which ultimately places the blame for crime, or what they ream immoral behaviour on those who do not live up to their standards.
So when it comes to ostracising and stigmatising people the LDS church is doing a pretty good job, and I would argue that the LDS church and its leaders have earned the label of bigot.
The article is summed up by Morris hammering home the point with a quote from Elder Ronald A. Rasband “satan sought to destroy religious freedom in the premortal life, and he is still at it. We, as members of the Church, must recognise that the erosion of religious freedom will significantly impact our opportunities to grow in strength and gospel knowledge, to be blessed by sacred ordinances, and to rely on the Lord to direct His Church”. He claims that it is a religious conscience that “encourages the virtues and habits of good citizenship that are necessary for a free society—honesty, duty, moral self-discipline, sacrifice for family and country, compassion and service toward others, civic engagement. Religion inspires individuals to develop praiseworthy character traits”. So once again there is a claim that people need religion to be moral, this is a claim that the LDS church can’t possibly back up.
Is the LDS Church justified in feeling ostracised? I would argue the answer is a clear no.
The Church continues to make unsupported links between crime or immoral behaviour and being LQBTQ+, a single mother, or pro-choice. It also makes demonstrably false claims about people who are secular by suggesting that we can’t be moral without religion. I believe that if you need a God to be moral, then you are not perhaps as good and moral as you think you are. There is good and bad everywhere, including within the LDS Church.
As an agnostic atheist I can confidently say that I always look to be kind, generous, and loving. Not because some God has told me I should, but because unlike leaders of the LDS Church I want people to feel loved and supported for who they are.
