Deseret News | Orson Scott Card on MormonTimes.com: Bearing his name

Reader comments
Orson Scott Card on MormonTimes.com: Bearing his name

Worship no man | 12:29 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Why on earth would anyone want to have their children color pictures of the general authorities? There have got to be many other more interesting coloring books out there.

How about emphasizing the stories of Jesus, or pictures of God's beautiful natural creations?

You shouldn't be teaching your children to worship mere churchmen.

Religious is not enough | 12:35 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

I have never seen more religious hypocrisy than I have here in Utah. Utah is very religious, but not very spiritual.

Dennis | 6:22 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Mormonism is not nor has it ever been main stream Christianity.
I can go to Sacrement meeting for months at a time and never hear a word said about Christ and or his teachings.
A week never goes by that I'm not reminded of and forced to listen about tales of Joseph Smith and told to "follow the prophet" "follow the prophet" "follow the prophet".
I find it all a little odd at times.
Would the Church prefer me too be more "Christ-like" or more "Monson-like"?
Just asking.

Comments continue below

Way to go | 6:36 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Thanks for sharing this. I have often been tempted to do things while traveling, but then I remember who I am and what I represent.

I was once at an airport and considered looking at an inappropriate magazine, but felt prompted not to. Moments later, I was greeted by a man from my community, several thousand miles away. I am glad I chose to do what was right.

Negativity Unnecessary | 6:56 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Why do some people look for things to criticize? "If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." If there is not, just leave it alone. Constantly trying to find things to complain about is destructive of your own spiritual progress.

We do not worship anyone but God. How is coloring pictures of God's natural creations or pictures depicting His teachings different than pictures of His servants. Did He not create them all? Are they not all placed here to help and bless us?

As far as ..not enough, I have seen hypocrisy here, but I have seen it elsewhere in my travels as well - especially among those who profess Christ and then do all they can to tear down others and point out weakness instead of strength and beauty. The only people I remember Christ criticizing were those who criticized others for not being "good enough".

All in all, I have met more spiritual people here than anywhere else I've been. Maybe it's because of what I look for?

RE: religious is not enough | 7:12 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

Hypocrisy is a strange disease. You can only see it in others and not in yourself. In Utah, people are more prone to present themselves as "believers" and so, when they do something that is not perfect, they set themselves up to be called hypocrits. It's interesting how many of my evangelical friends say something like "I'm not perfect, just forgiven", thus excusing their failures by explaining that it's okay with God. This implies that they are not hypocritical when they aren't perfect. I agree, but I say it is the same for the rest of us - if we are repenting and progressing and are "OK with God", then we are not hypocritical. The biggest hypocrisy I see is those who condemn others for not being perfect when the complainer isn't even trying to be decent.

Re: Dennis | 7:42 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

I hear what you are saying, but it is not my experience at all. Perhaps you could bring the topic up with your bishop. A few years ago I went to a Stake Conference. After it concluded, the Stake President asked me how I liked it. I said "It was good". A few days later I walked into his office and told him I had to apologize. He asked why and I said, "Because I didn't tell you the truth." He asked me to go on and I said, "There were a lot of good talks, but nothing about Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him. It bothered me." He sat for a moment thinking, and then said, "I think you are right and I'm sorry." The next conference, nearly every talk was centered on Christ and since then there has been a focus on Him and His mission and relationships with us. Perhaps a similar approach would be helpful in reminding your leader of what the Church can and should be.

Shaun McC | 7:45 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

referring to "way to go", my wife and I were recently on a cruise in Alaska. As we walked down a side street in Juneau, we ran right into a member of our Stake Presidency who was on a different cruise. I jokingly said to him, "Good thing you are here with your wife." He laughed and said "same to you". We have both laughed about it since, but you are always representing the Savior if you are a Christian.

Religiousosity vs.Christianity | 8:56 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

I live near a Jehovah Witness church(Kingdom Hall)
so I have had many conversations with them,and they walk the walk and talk the talk. They bring there (NWT Greek Bible),this is where they make a mistake, I can read it,they really can't,when I point out mistakes in their doctrine,they go from kind wonderful people to they have to leave now. My point is they walk and talk like Christians,but doctrine divides Christians from non-Christians. The Nicene creed is a good compass.

Shannon G. | 9:28 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

I think this was a great article By Orson Card. He has a gift of "clearing" out the muck. Some of these negative comments are kind of pointless. We learn about prophets? Well of course we do. And who does every single prophet ever born testify of? Jesus Christ. You're tearing apart the details and ignoring the message. The message was to live your religion. Period. Take that into your life and be a better person. Getting bothered and upset over semantics is just an easy way to ignore the core truth.

Anonymous | 9:37 a.m. Oct. 1, 2009

It's too bad people feel the need to label themselves to ensure good behavior. All it does is create divisions...and hypocrasy.

Eyes Wide Open | 2:08 p.m. Oct. 2, 2009

I lived outside of Utah for most of my life. Generally speaking, I thought Mormons were good people. I met a few bad apples, but most Mormons were honest and hard working.

Then I got transferred to Utah by my job 5 years ago. I have seen Mormons who hold leadership positions indicted for fraud, other Mormons committing embezzlement, still others going to prison for sex crimes against teenagers, and a LOT of just plain unChristian behavior!

My eyes have been opened! As soon as I can transfer out of state, I am jumping at the chance!

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.