Guest opinion: We cannot serve two masters
by Deborah Gatrell
There is a âNo Quarterâ flag â a mutilated American flag in black â proudly waving in front of a home in my small LDS stake. It troubles me. I acknowledge Iâm a stickler for the US flag code â I grew up in a military family and we were taught to respect the flag, so I find all mutilations of my countryâs flag deeply offensive. The âNo Quarterâ flag is especially frightening because of its brazenly violent message: kill anyone who does not support âthe cause.â Modern political extremism is alive and well in the Intermountain West, and it is actively destroying âpure religionâ...
Itâs true that we live in challenging times, as is true for each generation at some point. Indeed, these may be times that âtry menâs souls,â as Paine cried early in the Revolutionary War. But today, too many of us see the world in a false dichotomy, a world where political questions are limited to âright or wrongâ and âblack or white.â The results are damning. Utah routinely rejects 90% of folks who apply for state assistance because theyâve fallen on hard times, but then takes credit for millions of dollars of assistance and volunteer labor provided by members of the LDS church. Governor Cox was right in his 2022 State of the State address when he noted âIf we want smaller government, we need bigger people.â We havenât lived up to his call to action, let alone Christâs commandment to love our neighbors, to include sworn enemies like the Samaritans of His day. Christ goes further when he commands us to âLove your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.â Wealthy as we are, if we were truly a Christian nation there would be no poor among us...
As we prepare for a new year and a new Legislative session, let us recommit to being good citizens and good neighbors â helping where we can individually and ensuring there are state resources to address the many problems that are bigger than what we can handle at the local level. If we love God, we MUST love our neighbor â that includes everyone, regardless of whether or not we share political or religious affiliation or agree on the contentious issues of the day. (Read More)
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