Excellent piece!
I recently read the biographies of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, and I believe it’s possible that the political bitterness in their time exceeded ours. In the election of 1800, Adams was ridiculed as “old, addled, and toothless.” He was accused of being a monarchist, of ordering mistresses from London, and of being insane. To listen to others, Jefferson was an atheist libertine, a hopeless visionary, more French than American, who had swindled clients as a lawyer. “In New England, word went out that family Bibles would have to be hidden away . . . were he elected.”
I would hope that we, as Latter-day Saints, would be above that sort of calumny. The scriptural admonition is that leaders should be “honored in their station” (D&C 134:6). In the current climate where most of the media is obsessed with bitterness toward our president, it troubles me that we have LDS politicians piling on. I do not believe that is in keeping with gospel principles. If we disagree, we can voice those disagreements, but to give comfort those spewing hate against him I think is wrong.
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David HallJanuary 16, 2018
Excellent piece! I recently read the biographies of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, and I believe it’s possible that the political bitterness in their time exceeded ours. In the election of 1800, Adams was ridiculed as “old, addled, and toothless.” He was accused of being a monarchist, of ordering mistresses from London, and of being insane. To listen to others, Jefferson was an atheist libertine, a hopeless visionary, more French than American, who had swindled clients as a lawyer. “In New England, word went out that family Bibles would have to be hidden away . . . were he elected.” I would hope that we, as Latter-day Saints, would be above that sort of calumny. The scriptural admonition is that leaders should be “honored in their station” (D&C 134:6). In the current climate where most of the media is obsessed with bitterness toward our president, it troubles me that we have LDS politicians piling on. I do not believe that is in keeping with gospel principles. If we disagree, we can voice those disagreements, but to give comfort those spewing hate against him I think is wrong.
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