Dinner and a Mormon

When I read or listen to articles disparaging Mitt Romney’s faith, I find myself feeling hurt — why don’t people try to understand Mormons?

Can’t they see that we are really good people?

If we could only offer those people who think negatively about Mormons the chance for “Dinner with a Mormon,” how quickly their thinking might change.

Based on survey findings from 2002, most Americans are uninformed about Mormons because they’ve never known a Mormon. Other studies show that those who’ve had an experience with a Mormon almost universally have a good opinion of us as a people.

Although it would be wonderful if we could arrange “Dinner with a Mormon” for everyone who thinks negatively about us, it begs the question of why we need to do this in the first place.

Is it possible that our neighbors might feel equally misunderstood by us?

Is it possible that the acceptance we so desperately want and plead for, we ourselves aren’t quite ready to give to others?

In other words, are Mormons unknown by the rest of America because we tend to be exclusionary and keep to our own kind?

To continue reading, click on the below link...

Link: Meridian Magazine :: Ideas & Society: Dinner and a Mormon.

Comments

[Todd Morley]

> Can’t they see that we are really good people?

If Mormons want people to try to understand them, they should start by trying to understand themselves well enough to jettison the self-image of goodness. "No one is good-–except God alone." Or, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." Quit worrying about how the world sees you, and worry instead about seeing yourself as God sees you.

[Julie Echols]

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I agree that we need to explore where we ourselves have perpetuated misunderstanding and misperceptions. This is key to reaching common ground with others and healing hurts or misunderstandings. I also agree that most individuals need "tangibles" to help them see how to make the first step. I just like to remind myself and others that these "tangibles" are not the goal...they are simply a tool to use to reach out and help us open up our hearts, minds, and world to others. It is so easy for us as humans to want to sit back and observe the "quantifiables" when what matters most can't really be quantified. As Brother Ballard said in his recent conference talk "O Be Wise", he reminded us that statistics are used as a measuring stick not as the "end product".
Keep up the great work of encouraging others to reach out...it is simply my hope that those who reach out search the intentions of their heart in doing so.

[Whitney Johnson]

Julie --

Thank you for your comment -- I really appreciate your thinking through my argument.

Probably best to respond in three parts.

1) I absolutely agree that as Christians, we want to go about doing good as Jesus would do, simply because it is the right thing to do. But for so many of us, including myself, this is somewhat abstract, and perhaps more importantly, makes it difficult to get to a point emotionally where we are willing to take action.

2) Which brings me to my second point -- reaching out for the good of the church, or public affairs. While for the last few years, having good relationships with our communities has been important insofar as our church has tried to obtain permits to build chapels, and especially temples, with a Mormon now making a bid for the White House, our faith, and we, as a people, are being scrutinized. With this scrutiny, and lots of power at stake, hurtful things are being said. My hope is that as we look at this hurt we are feeling (and could feel so long as Romney runs), will push us to revisit when and where we ourselves have unfairly perpetuated misunderstanding.

3) Missionary work -- because so many of the people that will read about Know Your Neighbor (or even Dinner and a Mormon) are accustomed to thinking about the world in quantitative terms; and because missionary work is far more institutionalized, I am trying to help people see how KYN can fit within the institutional framework we already have.

Look forward to your poking and prodding some more.

My best,

Whitney

[Julie Echols]

Whitney-

As always, you present good material here to get members thinking about reaching out to the world around them. I take mild issue, however, with the premise underlying some of your post and would be interesting in discussing it with you...because perhaps I am just interpreting it too concretely.

Why are we concerned with what the world thinks of us as mormons? We have made a covenant to love our neighbor, to mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that need to be comforted. Does anything else matter? Does it matter if it sways public opinion or results in missionary opportunities? Not in my book. I feel we would all be better off if we simply started to reach out, live our covenants, and let go of the outcome.

Your thoughts?