So I've got this scheme to promote one of the tenets of my religion.
Tenet 4a:
Since sustainability is good, accelerationist ideologies, seeking a swift end of life, human civilization, or the habitable World are a sin.
So I have a modest proposal. Don't be mean to missionaries, at least be civil.
The reason I thought of this has to do with a LDS (Latter-day Saint) politician carefully rejecting allegiance to a political party. After
researching, I discovered that he is allowed to do that as long as he doesn't imply that he is issuing official Church position. see:
Political Neutrality and Participation .
In the most basic Articles of Faith 12, is stated: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring,
and sustaining the law."
Let us in the United States assume the inclusion of certain parts of the Constitution along with current understanding of Separation of Church and
State are included here.
According to LDS doctrine really bad things will happen to "Gentiles" (non-prior inhabitants) of the Promised Land (North America) if we are wicked.
We will be swept away. I am not advocating wickedness, because wickedness is pretty bad, but different people have different reasons for pronouncing
some things wicked. We just plain don't have the same lists.
In prophesies there may be a loop hole. It's worth a shot:
Gentiles: The inhabitants of the land are “ripening in iniquity” (D&C 18:6; 61:31). Latter-day scriptures mention many judgments that will
come upon the Gentiles on this land unless they repent (D&C 29:15–21; D&C 45:28–31). If Gentile nations cast out the missionaries, or if the
Church feels the need to call them home for their own safety, or if faithful Saints are persecuted and killed for their beliefs, then the judgments of
God will fall upon the wicked in great force, even unto their destruction.
...
Prophets and modern scripture warn the latter-day people of similar dangers. Though predicted calamities are conditioned upon repentance, it appears
that, in general, the Gentiles are little interested in repentance. They appear to be treading the path of the former inhabitants, but have not
entered the final stages yet. However, people living the laws of the land are often ridiculed and scorned as foolish, naive, or unrealistic. While
prophets are still protected under “freedom of speech” in America, persecution in more subtle ways exists and, one might argue, is becoming
more and more flagrant.
The Promised Land and Its
Covenant Peoples
So in the least, if we don't cast out or abuse the missionaries, we may have a chance of keeping North America inhabited. It's worth a shot at
least.
It seems rather obvious to some thinkers that less than mainstream religious groups appreciate the benefits of religious freedoms, as a matter of
survival. That's why groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists lobby Congress and the Supreme Court so much. Their main interest in
survival benefits even the other less than main stream groups too.
Speaking of Seventh-day Adventists; their end time eschatology is that the United States will violate the separation of church and state in order to
pass a Sunday law, requiring that to be observed as if it were the Sabbath. Then the end will come.
So hey, how about we just don't do that, and then we can carry on in a regular worldly manner. Just let us be nice and civil with one another.
For further reading:
Alexander: The LDS Church Needs to Step Back from
Influencing State Policy