Sunday, March 7, 2010

Finding Ourselves

My wife and I had the opportunity to go to the “Stand for the Family” Symposium organized by students from BYU’s Family Law Society as well as students from the School of Family Life and many other departments.  It was an incredible event which brought professional speakers from across the community and country to speak about topics like pornography, divorce, homosexuality, and the importance of marriage in our society.  The discussions were healing and enlightening.

The part I wish to focus on was the keynote address from Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy, who spoke on the eternal family.  He spoke a lot about morality and tolerance and how society’s definitions and understanding of those words has been changing.  More and more everyone seeks to find their own meaning of morality, or what is right and wrong for them instead of what might inherently be right and wrong in general.  We are becoming “intolerant” in that we can no longer say no to the almighty “self”.

We are often bombarded with messages like “do whatever makes you happy”, “be yourself”, and “find your own path that is right for you” which I don’t think are necessarily bad, but the focus on self in the midst of moral relativism has left many even more lost, confused, and frustrated.  Elder Porter commented that in the midst of the growing confusion where people are trying to find themselves, the words of the Savior ring more clearly “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt 10:39).  “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:7).

I add my simple testimony that I know that I have been happiest when I “lose” myself in the work, love, and grace of God and his gospel.  I find true meaning to my life, my purpose, and my salvation that I can find nowhere else.  I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

On another note, I got the chance to briefly meet A. Dean Byrd, but I will save that for another post :)

8 comments:

Unknown said...

If it was anything like the session I attended at a Love Won Out conference, I doubt it was "healing and enlightening" for everyone.

And who are we to define what is "inherently" right morally for others? Why should we trust a faith to determine that for us, and then push that definition onto everyone else? Just because you have a testimony of something doesn't mean everyone else does.

I really am happy for you that you are happy. That's great, and it's so rare in society. But you need to realize that not everyone finds happiness through the Church or even the Gospel, and it's not because there is something "wrong" with them.

And you know how I feel about Dean Byrd. Did you tell him how much his words have damaged people?

Bravone said...

Moral relativism. I need to do a better job of standing for the things that I know to be true. Thanks for the post.

For This Cause said...

Evan, that is a lot of questions! I am not sure what a Love Won Out Conference is like, and I'm sure there were possibly people offended at this symposium, but I believe the majority learned a great deal of accurate information about trends and effects of pornography, divorce, and redefining marriage and the negative impacts all of those elements have had and continue to have on our society...

I spoke of healing because I learned a lot from Dr. Hilton, a neurologist/neurosurgeon, about some emerging research on how pornography is affecting the human brain, and what can be done to help deal with addiction. Most of the speakers I went to were focused more on pornography, divorce, and strengthening marriage. A lot of the things I learned, like from Dr. Hilton, related to homosexuality as well in my experience. In the cases where homosexuality and same-sex marriage were explicitly brought up, the speakers I heard first addressed the need to be sensitive towards people who experience homosexual feelings.

I never advocated forcing people to follow my standards of morality except in the case of laws that society as a whole choose to set in place. When a part of society wishes to change laws like those regarding to marriage, while promising that it will not negatively affect others who are against it, I cannot support such actions and am glad symposiums like these exist to raise awareness.

I know you vehemently dislike A.D.Byrd, though I still don't understand why. I only got to briefly meet him before he had to leave. He is an extremely nice, humble person who has had a lifetime of experience helping people like me. I simply told him "thank you". Again, I'm sure he has offended people...who hasn't? Even Christ offended people and said that the gospel would be divisive.

I don't think we can define what is right and wrong. I believe in absolute morals and laws that have existed before the foundation of this world, and that we can only seek after them. I realize that not everyone finds what they define as "happiness" in the gospel or Church (though several eventually do), but I do feel that we are all "broken" in some way and that the only healing and real happiness can be found through the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ. Am I going to go around forcing people to believe? No. Am I going to continue to respectfully invite people to Christ and share my testimony that he is THE way? Am I going to continue to share my concerns about destructive trends that are affecting the world my children and grandchildren will live in? Absolutely.

For This Cause said...

Thanks Bravone, you are an excellent example of tolerance and testimony in my eyes.

One other quote from Elder Porter that struck me (and I wish I could get a full transcript) was that we need to teach our children to discern between "legitimate tolerance and moral surrender".

Also,
"Those who defend the traditional family -- to stand for fidelity and chastity and all that was once considered wholesome and praiseworthy -- are mocked and ridiculed," he said. "On the other hand, those who see no issue with fatherless homes, abortion and pornography and who redefine the essence of what a family is are praised as tolerant. Truly the world has turned upside down."

Unknown said...

And also, the fact that this symposium categorized homosexuality in the same block as pornography should tell you that the information is obviously going to be quite biased and unfair.

Just sayin.

For This Cause said...

Although I would say the conference focused much more on pornography and divorce, the focus of the conference were to discuss trends that are changing the definition of marriage and family.

Aside from social trends and their effects, personally, homosexuality and pornography have gone hand in hand for me--that is what attracted me to the event. I found the studies and discussions very informative and useful, backed up with sources and several examples. Just sayin ;)

Bravone said...

We'll have no fighting on this blog, only friendly, respectful conversation filled with brotherly love and kindness :)

Amy Grigg said...

Evan, the conference was mostly about pornography. In general, about marriage trends and strengthening marriage. The author happened to find information that he could apply to his own situation, which happens to include same-sex attraction, but homosexuality wasn't the focus of the conference. Just because Byrd was there doesn't make the entire conference illegitimate.

But for the record, while I don't know Dean Byrd personally, I don't like most of his published work. And I think the hack-job review he wrote for Ty's book was awful.