There has been great anticipation regarding what President Dallin H. Oaks would focus on in his first general conference address as the new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He chose to speak about the resurrection of Christ and peacemaking — two topics that may seem separate. But President Oaks demonstrated that they have everything to do with one another: Our gospel knowledge, particularly of the resurrection, should change the way we live, especially in connection with how we engage with others who are different from us.
Now it’s our turn to support him through our efforts to be peacemakers in every aspect of our lives.
President Oaks started with an invitation to consider the profound ramifications of a belief in the literal and universal resurrection. Specifically, knowing that all people, bond and free, male and female, friend and foe, will continue to live beyond this life. Shouldn’t that impact the way we react to our own circumstances and how we engage with others? The doctrine of the resurrection makes it clear: We are all in this, eternally, together.
Such perspective offers greater clarity to Christ’s command to love our neighbors and to “love (our) enemies, bless them that curse (us), do good to those that hate (us), and pray for them which despitefully use (us), and persecute (us).”
If there were ever a time for this charge, it is now! Sadly, there are voices throughout the country, from within our local communities to the highest levels of political and social leadership, that speak from a place of hate, cruelty and division. But these are not voices drawing from the truth of a literal and universal resurrection, nor are they voices heeding the clear and powerful word of Christ.
The question for us is: Which voices and messages are we allowing to influence us? Do our actions reflect Christ’s invitation and the teachings of President Oaks as a living prophet? Or are our actions enhancing a myopic promotion of hate and division?
President Oaks challenged us to be peacemakers in every aspect of our lives, declaring, “How it would change the world if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all of their communications.”
So what does this look like? How do we become peacemakers in our everyday contexts?
In our churches, be it in any faith tradition, we can choose to put our religious identity first above other, less foundational identities like our political leanings or professional titles. When we draw on religious teachings like love of neighbor, inherent dignity, gratitude and forgiveness, we build a foundation that allows us to see through the shallowness of division and hate.
As stated by the One America Movement, a national multifaith organization that works with faith leaders of all faith traditions to counter toxic division, “religious teachings hold the values and practices that help people and communities transcend division.”
In our speech, we can refrain from language that promotes division and hate. That doesn’t mean that we walk away from commitments to truth, but it does mean that we aspire to use language that reflects an intent to understand and strengthen society.
That means paying attention to when we do — or don’t — do so well, supported by measures like the Dignity Index, a language framework “designed to ease divisions, prevent violence, and solve problems.”
In our communities, we can choose to see people we disagree with as neighbors, children of God and part of an eternal family that has an eternal purpose. We can connect with our neighbors through service or other common causes, which has proven to help us engage more effectively across differences.
We can refrain from choosing to see and speak of everything and everyone in political terms, especially when those terms and frameworks force us into labeling others in an “us and them” way that is neither productive nor a reflection of reality.
As President Oaks taught in 2021, “There are many political issues, and no party, platform, or individual candidate can satisfy all personal preferences.” Instead, we can choose to see people as fellow children of God and societal circumstances as opportunities to “build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire,” as late church President Russell M. Nelson taught.
In our families, we can teach our children to look to the example of Christ, to be kind and to seek understanding of others that are different. In our immediate and extended families, we can find opportunities to repair and unite strained relationships through forgiveness and service.
In the long run, especially the eternal long run, division serves no one. It is exhausting, debilitating and destructive. President Oaks, in the name of Christ, has again invited us to choose a better way — the way of a peacemaker who understands that through our actions now, each of us will make the most of this life and the one to come.
Let’s all support that invitation through our thoughts, words and actions.