Latter-day Satyagraha
Mormongandhi got baptized on Easter Sunday in the Community of Christ
I’ve been on a pilgrimage for the last 14 years, but I think that my problem until recently has been that I have been looking back at what once was, rather than looking forward to what might become. My motivation for being baptized in the Community of Christ was the following: I wanted to symbolically put an end to a long and painful change process and begin to look forward to a new and better life as one of Jesus’ peaceable followers. I thought it was rather symbolic that I had sung Mozart’s Requiem in the choir a few weeks ago, as a requiem for the old creature I once was, a death mass for the life I once lived and for the principles I once believed in. read more…
War and Peace in Our Times: Mormon Perspectives
Highlights from the Conference held at Clarement Graduate University, March 18-19, 2011.
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The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Clearly it is a disturbing fact that Wikipedia has an extensive article on Mormonism and Violence, while Mormons have as yet no track record of nonviolence to speak of. This should be alarming to Latter-day Saints in particular and perhaps more importantly to those who interact with Mormons in general!Latter-day Satyagraha takes on the task to formulate a peace theology from an LDS perspective.
In one of my posts, I speak of the Community of Christ as apeace church alternative to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a former member of the LDS Church, the Community of Christ represents a refreshing and thoughtful outlook on the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as a Gospel centered on Peace. In the spirit of Mormon ecumenism, this site proposes ideas and ways in which LDS members, who are hesitant to part with their Church of origin, may learn and in turn explain to others their LDS theology and beliefs as they seek to “be the change that they want to see in the world” - just like Gandhi.
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In the LDS Church, establishing Zion (or the Beloved Community) is related to the building of latter-day temples. Building and attending Temples may arguably be understood as Mormon Peacebuilding. Even the Community of Christ has introduced “Temple worship” in its liberal theology. Their Temple, dedicated to the pursuit of peace and justice, is to be seen as a center for leadership education and spiritual formation. In a way, temple-goers in the LDS Restoration movement covenant to become “Saviors on Mount Zion”: peacemakers, peacebuilders and peaceworkers. .
In the reorganization of this site, I was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s Principles and Steps of Nonviolence, as well as Hugh Nibley’s article A House of Glory on the significance of Temples in LDS Restoration theology: ”We seem to forget that for over 150 years the church has published, proclaimed, and circulated the most enlightening treatment of the subject [of temples]“, he writes, “and to this no one seems to pay any attention. That is the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple. Let us analyze Section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants”:
… “(verse 5) First of all, the temple is a place in which God manifests himself, a place of appointment, a meeting place… The temple is where the people come together at a particular prescribed time and place… What people? (verse 6) The answer is all the Saints in “solemn assembly.” This makes them a special society which is to initiate the work of bringing all things together — a sort of grand unifying theory toward which all the sciences seem to be looking today, bringing everything together in one. (verse 7) They are to bring their brains with them, that is the first qualification, that your brain and intellect may be clear and active. We are to “teach one another learning even by study and also by faith.” Out of the best books? Where is the list? Why no syllabus? Because we are to do the seeking. It is we who must decide which are the best books and to do that we must “prove all things [and] hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We must make our own syllabus as part of organizing ourselves and preparing “every needful thing.” This is what this site has done and will continue to do. It seeks truths out of the best books and attempts to bring these together and encompass them within a single whole – in Christ.
I invite you to discover the different attributes of a house of God, dedicated to peace and justice as it were, and explore together with me how they relate to Gandhian and Kingian Philosophy by clicking on the “a house of…” images on your right side bar.
For Dutch speakers, please read about mormon nonviolence at satyagraha der laatste dagen
