On April 24, 2015, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave the keynote speech at the inaugural John A. Widtsoe Symposium at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
"Eighty years ago, the president of the University of Southern California extended an invitation to the President of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City to send someone to teach a class on Mormonism during the 1935–36 academic year," said President Uchtdorf. "Dr. John A. Widtsoe was asked to fulfill that assignment. . . . When Brother Widtsoe was teaching about Mormonism on this campus eight decades ago, the Church he represented looked quite different from the way it looks today. I hope you will allow me an opportunity to give a short infomercial on how the Church and its people have changed over the last 80 years. I do not wish to brag (even though it may sound like it). I hope to establish an understanding of the path we have traveled and where we are headed in the 21st century."
In the informercial portion of his talk, President Uchtdorf spoke of the Church moving from being “insular, concerned primarily with the well-being of its own members,” to its expanded reach to help people worldwide through its welfare and humanitarian efforts.
“Today," said President Uchtdorf, "the LDS Church connects cultures, nationalities, languages, and people of every socioeconomic status,” he said. “It encourages people to be good citizens, to care for those who are in distress, to be kind to others, and to nurture and build loving, respectful families. Today, Church members seek to create goodwill among people of all religious beliefs, political persuasions, and of every race.”
Following the infomercial, President Uchtdorf moved on to the meat of his talk, relating the experience he and his wife had in visiting Auschwitz, the concentration camp where millions of Jews were murdered as part of Adolf Hitler's "Final Solution."
"One cannot visit such a place without coming away from it changed," reported President Uchtdorf. "We walked along the same paths that so many others had walked. One could almost see weary mothers holding the hands of terrified children, the hobbling steps of the elderly and the infirm, the despair in the eyes of those caught in a cold and terrible nightmare—the immeasurable sadness in the eyes of those who understood what was about to happen. I can imagine them looking at one another -- families, parents, children, loved ones, friends, and strangers -- their eyes filled with fear, grief, and resignation."
He went on to say, "As Harriet and I walked away from that place that has been hallowed by the blood of so many innocents, we felt changed. We were different. We had learned and relearned important lessons that we must never forget." President Uchtdorf then discussed three insights that "forcibly" entered his heart during that visit to Auschwitz:
1. We Hate Those We Do Not Really Know
2. We Must Speak Up
3. Divine Love is the Answer
"I am convinced that one of the major reasons these atrocities happened is because it is human nature to be suspicious, envious, distrustful, and even hateful of those we do not really know," said President Uchtdorf. "I suppose we are all guilty of this to one extent or another. Do we really know even our neighbors and colleagues—people we greet daily? It is one of the most disconcerting qualities of being human to distrust or dislike those who are different from us in a variety of elements. The great tragedy is that if only we could take the time to truly know a person, we would discover that perhaps we are not so different after all. He who once was our enemy can become our friend."
Regarding the second insight, President Uchtdorf, a former pilot, used an example from aviation history. In 1990, an airliner crashed because not one member of its crew spoke out about the aircraft's dwindling fuel state as it circled, waiting its turn to enter the landing pattern. Then he said:
"In a world where intolerance, meanness, and hatred are so easily accessible, we have a responsibility to speak up and defend what is good and right. We have all heard the profound statement attributed to Edmund Burke: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'
"This applies to us today. We have a responsibility to speak up for goodness, for virtue, for kindness and understanding. We have an obligation to defend the weak and stand up for the downtrodden. In this age, perhaps more than any other since the beginning of time, we are exposed to bullies and braggarts—people who belittle others and preen themselves in prideful arrogance.
"We can and must stand and let our voices be heard. We don’t need to be provocative or belittling, but we must not allow our fears to prevent us from lifting our voices in defense of what is right and good and true."
Finally, President Uchtdork spoke about the "one virtue -- one quality" that he believes could "solve all the world’s ills, cure all the hatred, and mend every wound":
"If we only learned to love God as our Father in Heaven, this would give us purpose in life. If we only learned to love our fellowman as our brothers and sisters, this would give us compassion
"After all, these are God’s great commandments -- to love God and to love our fellowman. If we distill religion down to its essence, we nearly always recognize that love is not merely the goal of religion, it is also the path of true discipleship. It is both the journey and the destination.
"If we love as Christ loved, if we truly follow the path He practiced and preached, there is a chance for us to avoid the echoing tragedies of history and the seemingly unavoidable fatal flaws of man.
"Will compassion for others bring light into the darkness? Will it allow us to part the clouds and see clearly?
"Yes. For though we are all born blind, through the Light of Christ we can see past darkness and illusion and understand things as they really are."
President Uchtdorf concluded by saying, " It is my hope that we will look past our differences and, instead, see each other with eyes that recognize who we truly are -- fellow travelers, brothers and sisters, pilgrims walking the same path that leads to becoming more enlightened and more refined, as our Father in Heaven intends us to become."
This was a truly excellent talk, and you can read it in its entirety here:
Fellow Travelers, Brothers and Sisters, Children of God
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