Compassion & Courage/Parental Love & Audacity

[Give It Time]

I recently read a thought that said compassion is a necessary element of courage. That the sense of love and concern is what gives a person strength to do something uncomfortable in a difficult situation. I think this is true. I think of examples of courage and they always start from a sense of compassion. I think of cowardice and it always has a sense of mercilessness or indifference.

So, compassion gives us courage.

However, I see this idea misused in the church.

I once attended a sacrament meeting where the speaker started out by saying that it was our love for one another that was the greatest commandment of all. I was very excited, because it had been so long since I had heard this important doctrine taught. Then the speaker continued. He told the story of two friends who both loved to surf. One was LDS, the other was not. The non-LDS guy would surf while the LDS guy was at church. The LDS guy thought his friend needed the gospel in his life. He also knew that this friend would not give up his surfing time easily.

So, this guy snuck into his friend's house before the crack of dawn, woke up his friend and took him to church. The next week LDS guy knew his friend would try harder to avoid church by locking him out and leaving earlier to go surf. When the non-LDS guy snuck out of the house, he found his friend sitting on his car reading his scriptures. The guy eventually joined the church. Happy ending.

Now, I don't know if the door was locked. It doesn't matter. That going into his house before his friend was awake was breaking and entering. The sitting on the car and reading scriptures was harassment. Tactics of this nature are taught over the pulpit, given tacit approval, even active participation all the time. Just This Guy had his extended family participating in a scheme to have his minor son given missionary discussions behind JTG's back. This is a definite violation of parental rights. However, if you were to challenge the garden variety TBM, they participate in these illegal and rights violating activities out of a sense of love and compassion. It is their compassion that gives them courage to be aggressive.

Now, I was TBM. I understand the zeal. I understand the love and gratitude for the gospel so deep, you want to tell the world about it. I understand the believing another person's life would be so much more blessed if they were a member of the church. I believe them when they say they act out of a sense of Christlike love. However, their love isn't true compassion. Compassion is putting yourself in another person's place, seeing their point of view. Literally, as much as possible, putting yourself in their shoes.

This drive to convert others isn't compassion. It's more of a parental love. It's a love that looks at another person and basically believes they don't entirely know what they're doing. If they knew better, they would do the thing you want them to do. So, out of a sense of parental-type love. The love that wants to guide, to fix, to say "you should", they interfere. They butt in. They break in. They believe this sense of love for their family, friend, neighbor gives them courage to do the audacious.

[deacon blues]

"_________ Knows Best." Fill in the blank with: Father,Mother, Prophet, righteous friend, etc.

[Give It Time]

"_________ Knows Best." Fill in the blank with: Father,Mother, Prophet, righteous friend, etc.

Could be a bumper sticker.