We received a letter in the PO Box today that was really impressive. I wanted to share it with you and explain why this letter made such an impact on me. If you have been following our ministry for the last month or so, you know that we went to Utah in early October for an outreach we called, “Woman to Woman in Utah.” We handed out roughly 10,000 packets of tissues at the LDS Women’s conference in a little more than two hours. We inserted a card into the packages which showed a distressed Mormon woman on the front and a verse from the New Testament along with five web sites on the back. You can read more about our outreach here.
As you can imagine, we have received a number of responses because of this outreach. The vast majority of them have been from Mormons who have been, ahh …shall we say, LESS than cordial? I really don’t know what it is that they hope to accomplish by sending caustic emails, but I’ve got pretty thick skin. They do not discourage me at all. Some of them are so childish they are actually humorous. One thing that those types of emails do though is confirm to me that the Mormons sending the emails are worthy of our outreach. In other words, they’re as lost as a goose.
I have never understood people who believe they are the true Christians, I am an apostate or opposer, and because they believe that, they think they have the right to be rude and treat me disrespectfully. That doesn’t make sense to me. When a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness acts this way towards me, I often ask them, “If I become a JW/Mormon, will I end up being like you?” If being impolite comes with the territory of belonging to the “true Church,”why would I want to become one?
If you are a Jehovah’s Witness or a Mormon and you are reading this, I know what you are thinking right now. It goes something like this. “What about you? There are plenty of so-called ‘Christians’ who are rude and disrespectful to us. You can’t point the finger at us until you first deal with your own sin. You complain about us, but you are being hypocritical.”
Does that sound about right? If so, then you have just admitted to committing the logical fallacy called, “Tu quoque.” It is a Latin word which basically means, “You too” and is an ad hominem attack, which is a personal attack against the person and not their argument. Think about it, if you claim that someone else is guilty of the same thing you are, then how does that absolve you of your guilt? It doesn’t matter if the other person is guilty also. You are still guilty. That being the case, who should be the first person to confess their sin and apologize? Obviously it should be the person who thinks they are the real Christian.
I have made this point to many Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and have yet to have any takers. I just recently asked a Mormon on YouTube to stop the disrespectful personal insults. True to form, he took issue with it and accused me of lying about his Church. Somehow that gave him the license to verbally abuse me. He was much ruder in his private emails. I replied, “Since you are supposedly the real Christian, how about you give me an example of how I am supposed to treat you? If I am really as bad as you say, then aren’t I just getting you to stoop down to my level? Treat me with respect.”
All I wanted was for this Mormon to have a respectful dialogue and stop insulting me by keeping in mind that if he is right and I am wrong, then he has the scriptural command to love his enemies. Like I already mentioned, it didn’t work. It has never worked. Until now.
Today’s letter is a first. It was a breath of fresh air. If I really am wrong in my criticism and rejection of Mormonism, then this is how to get my attention. The letter reads:
To Whom it may concern,
I just wanted to send a quick note thanking you for the tissues you provided at the General Relief Society Conference. It was really kind of you to take the time to put them together and put the purple ribbons on them. My mother and I thought it was a very Christ-like thing to do and we ended up using them. Once again thank you. I am returning the card you left in it as we don’t need it. I am also including a card from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would recommend checking out our web site at www.LDS.org and finding out the facts. The Church changes lives for the better and I am grateful to be a member of it.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
God Bless,
A Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
To be honest, I didn’t quite know what to do with this. I have been so use to verbal assaults and attempts of character assassination that this caught me completely off guard. Holey Buckets, I’m finally dealing with a Mormon who is as nice as the ones in those TV commercials. Now what?
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve talked to plenty of nice Mormons before, it is just that the VAST majority of those who hide behind the anonymity of a keyboard, or in this case a letter, use that obscurity the way a sniper uses his perch. They shoot an insult at you or worse yet, tell you that you’ve taken something out of context and refuse to demonstrate exactly how. Then they retreat and blend back in with their surroundings. This is different and I like it.
It is honest, it is kind and I think this is exactly what Paul was referring to when he wrote Romans 12:14-21. “14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord. 20 ‘BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Obviously I do not consider myself an anti Mormon or their enemy, but since I know they do, I titled this article in a way that I thought would get their attention. If Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses want to get my attention, then following the commandments they say they believe will do it. Immature insults only solidify my position.
To the Mormon lady who wrote this nice note, I want to say thank you. Thank you for being the example I wish more Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons would follow. I also want you to know that I use LDS.org in my research almost daily and have done so for years. Thanks again.
That is a nice letter. It is great that they had the information to get back to you. Since they did not provide their name, I wonder if they were so kind as to provide you with a way to also respond?
Rosa, if I remember correctly it was on hotel stationery and did not have a return address other than the hotel. Correct me if I’m wrong Keith, but I don’t think they paved the way for a direct response.
Sorry. My name is Rosa Cermak
I hope people take note that Keith did not leave out any of that woman’s note. I was there; I saw it. He could have put an entirely different spin on it by leaving out the fact that she intends to remain true to her church (which means our message of love did not dissuade her) but he didn’t. We remain open and honest to what the Bible teaches and will continue to reach out to Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons with the true gospel of Jesus Christ with love. To that Mormon woman: “Thank you for taking the time to write and responding to us with respect. We intend to continue showing the love of Christ to the praise and glory of His name.” We will talk with straightforward people over time-wasters who pick and choose what they say any day.
I’ve had the same kinds of negative experiences with Catholics. It is amazing how hateful and venomous the attacks can be. Rarely (if ever) do I get those willing to discuss the issues or reply in such a fashion as the woman did here. I’m truly amazed 😮
“Tu quoque.”
Since I am one of the LDS Church members who does not always act kindly in my replies I can only say that I learned my stile when I was one of you people.
As to Keith speaking about “You do it to”, I have found his manner of speaking about the Mormon people, individually and as a group, to be unkind in the extreme.
“Tu quoque” to you to.
It isn’t just LDS who are rude and does not always act kindly. There are people like this in every aspect of society and in every religion. Starting when I was about 12 years old a woman who worked with my mother terrorized me constantly because she hated Mormons. I really don’t know what religion she claimed, I think Evangelical. It stopped when I graduated high school and was able to avoid her. How Christian of her to pick on a child. So I have a problem with claims such as this against LDS members.
As a member of a pioneer family educated in mormon schools in Orem & Provo, when I left the mormon church because of discrepancies in mormon doctrine & history, I was shocked & surprised at my family’s treatment. Later, when I became a follower of the Biblical Jesus, I thought my family would be happy. No, they were even angrier. They only wanted to see me prostrate at the foot of mormonism and mormon leadership. To this day, my remaining brother & sister do not respect me or have anything to do with me. Their children mostly treat me equally bad as their parents. While people of all persuasions find reasons to be arrogant and spiteful, the mormons I know have spite & arrogance perfected. I don’t think this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect.” KJV
I noticed in this morning’s General Conference that this kind of behavior was spoken to and that we need to learn more friendliness, even if you are not a member of the LDS Church.