The Politics of People

Elder Patrick Kearon's talk Refuge From the Storm was mostly about refugees and how we can help them. I wondered how appropriate it was for him to talk about such a politically-charged issue over the pulpit at General Conference, but then I realized that his talk wasn't political at all. He didn't pass any judgement on any of the wars or on any country's foreign policy concerning the refugees. While the nations of the world certainly have opinions about the refugees, Elder Kearon's talk about the refugees expressed no opinion on the nations of the world.

Instead, he made the issue as personal as he could. He talked about individuals and what we can do as individuals and as small groups. He asked us to be compassionate, as disciples of Christ should be. Other than approaching this subject at all, Elder Kearon said nothing that sounded to me like it didn't belong in a General Conference talk. All his talk was about kindness and service and the blessings that come, both to ourselves and to others, through our service.

Many things these days have become considered political issues, when they were moral issues first. Now, there is talk about terrorism and the allocation of resources which can distract us from the core of the issue. We are all God's children, and some of us could use help. Similar political distractions are being placed on other issues as well, such as abortion and gay marriage. When we boil those issues down to their most basic elements, we see that they are actually about people whom we should love and support, whether or not we support their choices and lifestyles. God expects us to be kind to others, no matter where any of us stand on any of the issues.

Most of the time, if not all of the time, our actions and our decisions, including our political decisions, should not be motivated by our political desires, but by our desires to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ taught us to be kind and to give service. Personally, I think God could care less about our political interests, but He's far more concerned with how we treat each other. At the end of the day, it's all about people, not politics.