Be Ye One

My last post argued for pluralism in the church, that if the church could tolerate Ezra Taft Benson and Cleon Skousen, it can certainly tolerate John Dehlin and Kate Kelly.  Some might argue the opposite, however, that we operate under a divine injunction to "be one."  This, they argue, means homogeneity in doctrine, practice, dress, etc. 

We see this in the church all the time.  Bishops often require that all boys wear white shirts and ties to pass the sacrament.  BYU requires that all men shave and maintain short haircuts.  Temple practices rigidly enforce a uniform standard of dress.  Jesus chastised the Nephites for contending with each other over doctrine.  It's almost an article of faith that there is a right way to dress, a right way to act, and a right way to think. 

Dallin Oaks, predictably, is a leader of this school, arguing recently that there is a set of practices and expectations that derive from the gospel that all members must follow, regardless of local cultural norms.  Dallin would have all members marry young without paying a price for a bridge, contrary to local custom, for example, and even contrary to Biblical practice.  Isaac was heir to the Abrahamic covenant notwithstanding his less than youthful marriage and notwithstanding the price his father paid for Rebecca. Consistent with this attitude, Dallin argues unflinchingly, with that creepy reptile smile of his, that criticizing church leaders is wrong even when the criticism is correct, and that church has never apologized for anything nor will it. 

Well, I disagree with old Dall.  So do the scriptures, in fact.  We need not all be one in the way we sometimes try to be.  After all, there are many mansion's in our Father's house.  As a body of Christ, we are, in fact, commanded to respect and cherish our many differences as members.  Let not the eye despise the hand, for example, and cast it away.  Being one doesn't mean we all see the same way or act the same way.  It means quite the contrary.  It means that we work together despite our differences.  It means, in fact, that differences in vision, function, experience and perspective are good and divinely appointed.  Enforcing homogeneity by casting out those whose views diverge from the norm is strictly forbidden as contrary to the plan of the Father.

Jesus was quite clear on this point.  All are to be welcome at our meetings.  We are to forbid none from us.  Some would argue that Jesus also forbade administering the sacrament to those who are unworthy of it.  Yet Jesus dipped his bread in the wine with Judas.  He called Judas to be an apostle and kept him there knowing that he was a thief.  Unworthiness does not mean what we often think it means.

There are those who argue that church leaders have a duty to protect members from the wolves who would prey on them.  Jesus was explicit on this point as well, warning those who would offend "the little ones" that it would be better for them if a millstone were hung around their necks and they were cast in the sea.  Ultimately Judas suffered a gruesome end.  I do not read the scriptures to require that we call child molesters to teach Sunday School or that we give polygamists free rein to take Mia Maids as child brides.

Yet I don't believe that expressing a different viewpoint is tantamount to predatory behavior.  Disagreeing with apostles, even criticizing them, is not apostasy.  We didn't excommunicate Bruce McConkie, after all, when he published Mormon Doctrine.  We didn't excommunicate him when he published it the second time even though he badgered a dying President McKay into allowing it.  Hugh B. Brown had no great love for the political raging of Ezra Taft Benson and didn't exactly hold back from criticizing him over it.  Yet Brother Brown and Brother Benson's memberships were never in question.

The doctrine, in my mind, is decidedly on the side of tolerance.  Charity suffers long.  We cannot be one body if we are to cast off our members for seeing with their eyes what we do not feel with our hands.  Being one means listening to each other, even when we disagree, welcoming all to our meetings, and not proclaiming a false love that insists on rigid homogeneity and threatens excommunication to dissenters.  We are, ultimately, members first not of a church but of the body of Christ.  He who broke bread with Judas, even until the end, has set an example for us that we shouldn't so lightly cast aside.