Opinions and Judgments

"It's so easy to destroy and condemn, that which we do not understand. Did you ever wonder, 'Is it justified?'" -Within Temptation

So I know I posted today already, but now I've been thinking about something else a lot now. I know I'm a psychology major and it's kind of part of the description to understand how people think, but sometimes it amazes how very little people understand about other people. Is empathy lost completely? Is it really that difficult to see something from someone's perspective without it having to be the same as your own? I think it's awesome to have your own beliefs, but because of that is it impossible to understand why others would have beliefs outside of our own?

I'm LDS. Anyone who reads this probably either knows that or figured it out pretty quickly. I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman; I believe abortion is murder; I believe a lot of things that the current presidency of the United States doesn't. So... am I a bad person because I understand that other people may not believe the same way I do, and that they might be good people too?

Maybe it's because I used to be a Libertarian. Maybe that's why I can see it from their perspective. I mean, people who've had it beaten into them that there is NO other way to think but Republican probably should have problems seeing things from other people's perspective. A funny thing is... I didn't change my mind because someone told me I was a "bad" member of my church or that I wasn't Christian. Actually those things made me believe I was right because I was more open minded. I change my mind because I read an article by an apostle of the church who calmly stated that we as members of the church should stand up for our beliefs. I find that most people respond better with kind words rather than accusations.

Anyway, here is my arguement. Members of the LDS church should all probably believe that abortion is murder and that murder is bad. We all understand the plan of salvation well enough to understand this concept. Especially when the church's stance on abortion actually allows for things like rape, incest, and health of the mother. And that if you choose to get pregnant, and by choose I mean choosing to have sex knowing what could happen, you can give the baby up for adoption and make sure he/she goes to a good family.

Christians on the other hand do NOT know the plan of salvation. We are responsible for that knowledge, but they aren't. So how can we make a broad statement about how you aren't Christian if you support Obama? Who knows what that person has been taught. A lot of good things come from abortions, like stem cell research etc, and maybe they don't think of the fetus as a child until he/she is born and they believe more in the free agency of the woman. We don't know. And like I said, I don't believe this, but then again... I was taught the true doctrine... Christians haven't been necessarily.

I think even the beliefs of LDS members can get skewed on the aspect of gay marriage. Not everyone goes looking for talks that were given last week by apostles, let alone in the seventys. And I, for one, can say that in our church politcal opinions aren't taught unless taught by the parents, so it's not like I went to church and learned how to be Republican. Rebulican is just something that fits based on the beliefs of LDS members. But I can also see how others can be confused. We are taught that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we are also taught the freedom of agency. So some "good" members of the church could believe that making laws against gay marriage is a bad thing because it's like we're playing Satan by telling other people what to do instead of giving them their own choice. Can we really decide who is and who isn't a good or bad member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

I think in this case we need to be very careful of what we say and think. As a member of the LDS faith I believe that we reserve the right to make righteous judgments in the moment that affect us and our families. And if you make the righteous judgment that a certain potential president shouldn't be president because of the your beliefs and the beliefs of your family then by all means, go with it.

However, we are also taught that final judgments are God's only. We cannot decide who is or isn't a good member of the LDS faith because we will never know the intents of their hearts. We cannot decide who is or isn't Christian because we will never know what they were taught. I'm not saying that they are right. Because I personally don't believe they are, but that should be the end of our judging. Judge the opinion... not the person.