Russell M. Nelson said: “Peter taught that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (i) (ii)
Yet His children can be so intolerant with one another. Neighborhood factions, whether they be identified as groups or gangs, schools or states, counties or countries, often develop animosity. Such tendencies make me wonder: cannot boundary lines exist without becoming battle lines? Could not people unite in waging war against the evils that beset mankind instead of waging war on each other? Sadly, answers to these questions are often no. Through the years discrimination based on ethnic or religious identity has led to senseless slaughter, vicious pogroms, and countless acts of cruelty. The face of history is pocked by the ugly scars of intolerance.
How different our world would be if all parents would apply this inspired instruction from the Book of Mormon: “Ye will not suffer your children. . . that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another. . . . But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another” (iii)
If such training occurred, children and parents around this globe would join in singing, “Fill our hearts with hearts with sweet forgiving; teach us tolerance and love” (In Humility, Our Savior,” Hymn no. 172). Men and women would respect their neighbors and the beliefs held sacred by them. No longer would ethnic jokes and culture slurs be acceptable. The tongue of the tolerant speaks no guile. (“‘Teach us Tolerance and Love,”‘ Ensign May 1994) (Also in “Teachings of Russell M. Nelson”, Deseret Book, 2018 p.380-81)
