In defense of the Latter-Day Saints

Credit:  http://assets2.vice.com/images/content-images/2015/01/28/mormons-church-supports-gay-rights-on-one-condition-128-body-image-1422478259.jpg

Every once and awhile, I will get an anti-Mormon spiel.  It's usually from an agnostic or atheist group, and, shit, they've got some pretty good - and very funny  - stuff.  You can tell that even I get a good laugh out of it.

Well, except for one thing.  It's really not that hilarious.

Do you remember that on South Park a kid named Gary shows up?  He's a Mormon, and so is his family.  As the story unfolds, Gary's parents explain the beginnings of the Mormon faith.  And, yes, the story has holes in it.  Sometimes, deep holes.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone really pull no punches about this.  But at the end of the story, Gary surprisingly comes out on top.  Do the years portrayed by the Joseph Smith story have problems?  Sure they do.  But when Gary considers Smith himself, he still loves him because of the strong family he has provided.

If you are questioning my belief in the Mormon faith, let me put that to rest right now.  I'm not a Mormon.  Never have been.  And unless an earthquake occurs (and maybe not even then), I won't be. (For one thing, I adore coffee.) However, considering some of the antics put forth by other religions, the Mormons have been, well, admirable.  They could have taken the easy road and told us to go screw ourselves.  But they didn't. They sat down with us and worked out an agreement they could all live with.

C'mon folks.  We can do better than this.  We can guttersnipe till the cows come home, or learn to live peaceably with our neighbors.

We're better than this.  Much better.