Religeous Orientalism
Dear Editor,
Perhaps Leon D’souza should have stayed awake for the beginning Boyd K. Packer’s instruction in the LDS General Conference. The quotes printed in the statesman on 29 October were taken significantly out of context. D’Souza would have us believe that Elder Packer was attacking the ideals of diversity and tolerance. In truth, the talk did nothing of the sort. Elder Packer began by saying “It is my purpose to explain to the youth…why we hold so rigidly to high standards of moral conduct.” Later: “Nothing is more important to the Church and to civilization itself than the family.” And then, “…you are inescapably exposed to … fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution, perversion, lust, abuse, the unnatural, and all that grows from them…It is all paraded before you in…music, print, drama, film, television, and, of course, the Internet.” In essence, the values that the church teaches are under attack on all sides.While terms like diversity, tolerance, and choice are good ideals, they can be used also as arguments to compromise traditional moral beliefs. Elder Packer attacked only the use of these ideas to erode traditional family values. Nowhere in the talk was liberalism mentioned. At no point did the talk discuss so-called intellectuals. Everywhere it explained the necessity of the Church’s doctorine and standards, and warned of attacks on the Church’s morals. D’Souza wrote concerning the hypothetical non-mormon that, according to Packer, “This liberal’s philosophies must be avoided or shunned at all cost.” Well, if those philosphies encourage “fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution, perversion, lust, abuse, the unnatural, and all that grows from them”, then, damn straight. Otherwise, D’Souza’s comments were way off-mark.
Ricky Fielding519-17-2316rlfielding@cc.usu.edu