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SARAH - I am a Christian (no
denomination)and I live in Utah. I allow my children
to interact with children of all races religions ect.
My problem is my children alot of times are told by
LDS children that they aren't allowed to play with
them because they are Christian and not LDS. I'm not
saying all LDS members are teaching their children
this because my children do have alot of LDS friends.
My concern is, is this standard in your faith for
parents to teach their children to be so intolerant of
others? We as a family have a deep love of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just feel teaching
your children intolerance is un-chrislike. I welcome
my children to interact with children of all faiths.
I feel my children are strong enough in their own
faith that I am not AFRAID children of other faiths
can change my children's minds.
JOEL - You are asking me to explain human behavior which I am
not very good at.
We live in California and our kids have managed to
pick good friends both within and outside the Church.
I assure you it is not the standard in our church to
teach our children to be intolerant of others. The
Church teaches our children to choose friends that
have similar standards and morals, so they can support
each other in keeping themselvses on the straight and
narrow path, but that does not mean that
they should discriminate on the basis of religion.
Here is an excerpt of what our children are taught,
found in a pamphlet from our leaders directed to the
youth of the church:
"Choose your friends carefully. They will greatly
influence how you think and act, and even help
determine the person you will become. Choose friends
who share your values so you can strengthen and
encourage each other in living high standards. A true
friend will encourage you to be your best self.
To have good friends, be a good friend yourself. Show
interest in others and let them know you care about
them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Go out
of your way to be a friend to those who are shy or do
not feel included.
Invite your friends of other faiths to your Church
meetings and activities, where they can learn about
the gospel. Help them feel welcome and wanted. Many
people have joined the Church through the example and
fellowship of their friends. Don’t be offended if your
friends decline your invitation to learn more about
the gospel. Just continue to be their
friend." (For the Strength of Youth, p. 12)
Nowhere in this booklet does it say that our children
should not associate with kids of other faiths.
A lot of what you describe has to do with some parents
who are just too lazy to get to know
their kids' friends well enough to know that they will
be a good influence or not.
They figure that if their friends are Mormon then they
are safe and don't have to worry about it. But of
course not all Mormon kids are perfect; so that theory
doesn't always work too well.
The problem is not what our church teaches;
it's how a few members decide to raise their kids. As
you said there are other church members who don't act
this way and let their children play with your kids.
Different strokes for different folks.
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