Just days before Donald Trump is to be sworn in as the president of the United States, LDS Church leader Elder Dallin H. Oaks urged a group of young adults to live out the next presidential term according to the results of democracy.
“I’m not making an argument for the outcome of the election, but I make an argument for the democracy on which our freedoms depend, and we cannot have democracy if we cannot accept outcomes with which we disagree as well as outcomes with which we agree,” said Elder Oaks, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
These words, he told listeners Tuesday, are just as timely after the election as they were before.
Elder Oaks said he prays daily for this nation and believes, as the late LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley used to say, “it will all work out.”
Elder Oaks was joined by fellow apostle Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in addressing students and young adults during a Wednesday devotional at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, adjacent to the University of Utah.
Noting the turmoil surrounding the upcoming transfer of presidential power, Elder Oaks quoted heavily from remarks he gave to students during a September 2016 devotional at Brigham Young University.
“Although the election is over, the conditions that made a painful month in September persist in January, even in the week that the new president will be inaugurated,” Elder Oaks said.
Quoting from his September remarks, he said: “The few months preceding an election have always been times of serious political divisions, but the divisions and meanness we are experiencing in this election, especially at the presidential level, seem to be unusually wide and ugly.”
This is partly a result of modern technology such as TV, the internet and the “emboldened anonymity of the blogosphere” which, Elder Oaks said, “instantly widen and intensify the gaps between different positions.”
He reiterated the directive he gave in September: “We should also remember not to be part of the current meanness. We should communicate about our differences with a minimum of offense.”
Elder Oaks said he wished he could give the same speech to the entire electorate after the election, repeating the admonition to “accept unfavorable results graciously and practice civility with our adversaries.”
Another reminder from his September address focused on hope. “When we trust in the Lord that all will work out, this hope keeps us moving. Hope is a characteristic Christian virtue. I am glad to practice it and to recommend it to counter all current despairs.”
These words, he told listeners Tuesday, are just as timely after the election as they were before.
Elder Oaks said he prays daily for this nation and believes, as the late LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley used to say, “it will all work out.”
Original Source
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Of the Quorum of the Twelve
Devotional given at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, Wednesday 18th January 2017.
Excerpt taken from “Elders Oaks, Holland counsel young adults regarding political divisions and life’s challenges” By Valerie Johnson and Rachel Sterzer, Deseret News, Published: Jan. 18, 2017 6:55 p.m.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671367/Elders-Oaks-Holland-counsel-young-adults-regarding-political-divisions-and-lifes-challenges.html?pg=all
Accessed 20/1/2017