I’ve had a bone to pick with the Mormon Church ever since Brigham Young sent his Nauvoo Legion to arrest Jim Bridger, as part of Young’s takeover of Fort Bridger. The Mountain Meadows Massacre didn’t help matters at all. And I am firmly convinced that it was only rigid Mormon dogma that prevented Marie Osmond and me from having our chance to be a happy couple.
Opinion
Forswearing coffee and whiskey is not my cup of tea. So, yeah, you could say that I’ve not been a huge fan of the Latter-day Saints. But then, every religion on earth has its own, unique warts, so I cut ‘em all a bit of slack. We all struggle daily in our pilgrimage toward the divine.
But I like to keep an open mind about things metaphysical, so I paid attention to this article about one man’s response to a deadly attack on a Michigan church.
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is raising money for the family of a man who murdered members of that church in a mass shooting. The shooter’s family, innocent of everything but being his family, faces a dire financial situation due to his murderous act. A member of the broader family of the victims is stepping up to help.
Disclaimer: We are often subjected to tugs on our emotions to make political points. Cynical eyes may view this generosity as part of a long con, a calculated piece of political theater to signal virtue. But this act of Christian grace passes muster with my bullshit detector. I believe this act of Christian love comes from a deep place in the human heart, a place that is not obscured by politics.
This is a voice in the wilderness teaching us. When we allow God to work in our midst, this is what we should expect. This still, small voice speaks to us out of the thunderstorm we have made of the world. My advice is to listen.
God has been used as window dressing for mankind’s selfishness since before the Dead Sea Scrolls were written. Since before the Bible was translated into the King’s English. And I use God to mean that which all religions worship, in many different ways. I mean God, whose message is the same across religions, and is ignored by people of every faith. Yet this man raising money for the murderer’s family is an example of God’s message not being ignored.
David Butler, the church member who organized this fundraising effort, is swimming upstream against the strong current of animosity in our culture today. Our country and our churches, for whatever reason, are much more attuned to the Old Testament, fire and brimstone, drone-strike energy of a vengeful deity than to the forgiving message of the Gospel. His is a particularly noble act of grace, and we should all pay attention.
There will be support aplenty for the victims of this heinous act, and much hand-wringing and righteous outrage toward the perpetrator. Outrage is the lingua franca of our modern American society and, too often, of the sermons in our churches. It seems to me that we enjoy a collective thrill when our outrage button is pushed. We yearn for some Old Testament revenge.
Butler has taken a broader view, and one prompted by the New Testament’s message of love. His act of mercy toward the family of the shooter echoes Jesus’ words upon the cross in Luke 23:34, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Don’t misunderstand; I am not joining the Latter-day Saints because of Butler’s witness, nor will I go on a two-year mission. Don’t expect to see me sporting BYU merch, but I will tip my sweaty ol’ Stetson to a fellow Christian, regardless of denomination, who, by his courageous example, teaches us all how to walk the walk.
Well said Rod.
The love and grace taught by Jesus and chronicled in the New Testament should be seriously considered by anyone calling themselves Christians. Too many people today seem to overlook the teachings.
May we all aspire to follow Christ’s teachings as well as Mr. Butler has.
Thanks for highlighting this.
A heartfelt and much-needed reminder of what it should mean to be human on this plane, or as you so beautifully put it, on our “pilgrimage toward the divine.” Thank you for the uplift, Rod.
One of your best, my friend. I was an active member of the church for almost 40 years. As you might expect of an outfit with 17 million members and a boatload of resources, the church can do amazing things. But often, it’s best work is done at the local level, where one person with a kind heart and an unwillingness to let evil go unanswered does something really Christlike. God bless David Butler!
Thank you for focusing and awakening the feeling of charity that seems have been erased from our current culture, it seems to have started when COVID began and has unfortunately blossomed and bloomed since then. I too am a native of Wyoming, born in Rock Springs and grew up in Fort Bridger, and know some of the animosity that religion sometimes brings to the table. All my grandparent ancestors homesteaded in Bridger Vallley and were of at least two different religions. But despite that charity still prevailed. Thanks for highlighting that this can still happen and must happen if we are to survive as a society. And charity has to start with each of us. I would suggest to everyone to try charity for others, you might find it very good for the soul, yours and others. Thanks again for your comments.
Thank you Rod. I personally know how you have walked the walk and deeply appreciated how you were there for a loved one.
I too wonder at the nasty vengence some seek for injuries they believe they have collectively suffered. Or just how mean and what bullies some are. God help us to love one another.
I hadn’t heard about this act of love; thank you, Rod, for your inspiring column. May we all follow the Way as this beautiful Christian is doing.
Yeah Rod, Mr. Butler sets a good example of graciousness that we should sometimes follow. I regret you & Marie were unable to make a life together, maybe you should send her a nice Leaning Tree friendship card!
I love the Elders, as they know the KJV far better than most christian sects, which has helped me understand that the embellished oral history of the Jewish People is not a religious text. Due to their late arrival into the christian dogma, they have had to be “better” christians overall than say the Catholics, who firmly believe that Peter is the foundation of their great religion, while Joseph Smith is a heretic. The LDSers actually study the text instead of being told what to believe and they have taken Jesus’ philosophy of the New Testament to heart as you rightly identify. Good on the Latter-Day Saints.
With that said, the individual that attacked the church harbored his hatred due to the fact that he could not have his “Marie Osmond” and could not deal with that slight. My bullshit detector has determined the Israelites did not understand their own oral histories by the time they wrote them down and only now may we understand how bigly they screwed up by believing that a god spoke to Abraham. We now know what the first 12 chapters of Genesis were really trying to say and look no further than PBS to air these truths. Genesis Chapter 3 is explained by watching Nova’s Human https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human/episodes/
Being a courageous and compassionate human does not require religion and anyone believing they need a sky based authoritarian to do right by others is bullshit.
Exactly
Now to inform the right of reality
I agree completely and pray that we all follow this example that wants from all of us.
Amen
Thanks for the reminder!