Latter-day Saints share many of the same beliefs as other religions, including our stance on the family. We can work together as religious people to share elements of the gospel with the world.
Photo by Annie Spratt
As the fight for the family becomes more heated in modern society, people of different religions may feel like they stand alone in their beliefs. However, many religious people have the same or at least similar beliefs when it comes to their stance on the family and humanitarian work.
The New Zealand Mormon Newsroom article “Upholding Family Values” tells the inspiring story of a meeting between Elder Kevin W. Pearson, the Pacific Area President, and His Excellency Bishop Patrick Dunn, Catholic Bishop of Auckland. They took the time to discuss the sanctity of life, the value of having a traditional family, humanitarian efforts and service projects in New Zealand, and more. They also discussed the LDS Church’s all-encompassing declaration on the family, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Elder Pearson presented a framed copy of the document to Bishop Dunn, who graciously accepted it.
After the meeting, Elder Pearson commented, “Notwithstanding some significant doctrinal differences between our two churches, we have much in common, including our love for Jesus Christ and our desire and efforts to serve others as He has taught and shown.”
Just because someone isn’t LDS doesn’t mean all of his or her beliefs are wrong. All religions have elements of Christ’s message in them, and if we look for these elements, we can find them and build upon them. We all need to band together to fight against Satan and his influences. As brothers and sisters of faith, we can work together to share Christ’s message with the world.
Read the original article on the New Zealand Mormon Newsroom’s website.
Source: New Zealand Mormon Newsroom
—Kaylee Brown, Mormon Insights
feature image by caleb jones
Find more insights
Read about Pope Francis’s address to religious leaders at the Vatican regarding the family.
Read a speech that His Eminence Francis Cardinal George, OMI, who was president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of Chicago, gave at Brigham Young University on February 23, 2010, about the shared beliefs of Mormons and Catholics.
Check out this Liahona article by Betsy VanDenBerghe about helping others through interfaith involvement.
Watch a video about the importance of the family.
Read the Gospel Topics article “Are Mormons Christian?”
I think that this article is so relevant. It is interesting that religions that share some beliefs work against each other rather than work together to spread happiness. But, I love how this article shares about how leaders from different religious work together to share Christ’s message. It is important to understand that we need to accept that others believe different things than we do. But, we can work with them rather than against them to spread Christ’s message and be happy.
Keeping Christ at the center of our religion, family, faith, principles, and hearts is the most important work we can do. There is not better way that to spread to good news of the gospel than by loving our fellow man and living by example. In a world torn apart by hate, so much good can be done if we concentrate our efforts on understanding those around us rather than forcing our beliefs. We should listen and love as Christ does.
This is such an important message for members of the church to remember. All religions are searching for truth, and they all are built on pieces of truth. Everyone can feel the spirit and know that something is true. We should always show respect and love to other religions because we have so much in common. We are all striving to do right.