Over the course of the last week, we have studied about the
importance of protecting the family. Elder Ballard had some great insight on
this topic. In Elder Ballard’s talk,
he encouraged us to “speak out and encourage a more uplifting, inspiring and
acceptable media.” I reflected upon the
events of recent involving the Duggars (19 Children and Counting) and the
Robertson family (Duck Dynasty), reality TV families that portray Christian
values on air. People were offended by comments/actions and chose to try to
force these families’ shows off of the air because of conservative viewpoints
being expressed by members in each of these families. Now I don’t have cable TV
and haven’t seen any of the Duggars’ shows, but my understanding is that they
are pro-marriage and pro-family. One of the daughters recently married and
posted a picture on Instagram. She took some heat for it because it apparently
seemed “racy”. So her parents posted a photo of them kissing and asked for
others to post pictures of them kissing their spouse. A gay couple posted a
picture on their site (I believe it was a facebook page or some sort of social media)
and they took the photo down. Because of this, a few were outraged because they
felt that the Duggars were discriminating and wanted TLC to take their show off
of the air, so they started a petition. The thing that I found interesting is
the overwhelming support the Duggars received from other Christians that feel
that marriage is between a man and a woman. They too had a petition started to
keep them on the air. This petition gained more support than the first. To me
it showed that people appreciate the more “uplifting” media, as they are
consistent with their morals and values, and want those programs to stay.
As a society, we need to not be afraid to defend marriage
according to God’s laws. At the same time, we need to still be loving and
tolerant towards those with differing views. Elder Oaks gave a great
address about this in 2011. Oaks described
tolerance as “a friendly and fair attitude toward unfamiliar opinions and
practices or toward the persons who hold or practice them.” He talked about
diversity and how it both enriches and complicates our lives. He also shared
three absolute truths that are shared by believers.
- All persons are brothers and sisters under God, taught within their various religions to love and do good to one another.
- Living with differences is what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us we must do.
- Our tolerance and respect for others and their beliefs does not cause us to abandon our commitment to the truths we understand and the covenants we have made.
