As I was reading The Times newspaper I noticed an article from a representative of the Muslim community. He said, “If you want to know about the Muslim religion, come meet with us.” He went on to explain the importance of getting to know and understand people who are different. The article got me thinking about what a simple solution to so many of today’s problems it is to just meet people who think differently than we do. Unfortunately, for many groups like Muslims and Mormons, much of the news in the media and information on the Internet can be false or misleading. By talking and getting to see what is important in the lives of people who profess a certain faith or religion, we can break down many misconceptions.
Isn’t it true that it is much more productive to meet with people, person to person? A simple meeting and discussion can dispel so much false information and misrepresentations. It seems that the majority of people who work and live with Muslims, or Mormons, find them to be good people, friendly, decent citizens and contributors to society. Casual shop talk, street talk, friend talk, pub talk can go against a whole group of people without the benefit of sitting down and getting to really know the people who profess a particular set of beliefs. A person to person talk, especially finding out about someone’s religious beliefs often leads to a discussion of common ground between faiths.
I like what Mother Teresa, recently canonised by the Catholic Church, said about getting to know people who are different from us. She said, “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, Person to Person!” It is important to meet people and get to know them. We extend the same invitation that the Muslim leader gave, “If you want to know about the Mormons, come meet with us.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 332 congregations in the UK who meet every Sunday. We invite everyone to meet us, find out what we teach, how we worship and what we stand for. All are welcome. Watch this shot video to visit one of our Mormon chapels: http://www.truetube.co.uk/film/holy-cribs-mormon-chapel#sthash.fY5d0Dot.dpuf