In his General Conference talk Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke against fear and fearmongering. As I listened to his talk, I couldn't help thinking about what happened recently in Charlottesville and some people's responses to it. Some people are afraid or angry, and some people want others to be afraid or angry. I give it as my personal opinion that God doesn't want anyone to be either.
The love of God can help us not to be afraid. There are those with dangerous ideologies and frightening beliefs, but God has given us the best weapons to use against such people, and those weapons, not surprisingly, aren't weapons at all. The tools to use against fearmongerers are hope, love, and truth. With truth, we can correct others' misconceptions and help them find better solutions to the problems in the world. With love, we can reunify and strengthen our communities, including our national and global communities. And with hope, we can have confidence that evil and hatred will never ultimately triumph over good and love.
We must fight against evil, but in doing so, we must not adopt the hateful or violent tactics of those we fight against. We must always be careful not to absorb the evils against which we fight. And we can ward ourselves against such evils by fighting off hatred with love. I know it sounds hokey, but peace is more effective than violence, and love will always trump hate. Violence is rarely the answer. Love always is.
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