Going to church with the Senate Majority Leader
Dodging secret service detail in the hall of church today inspired me to write this post. Senate majority leader, Harry Reed, a Democrat from Nevada is third in line for President of the United States and entitled to full-time secret service detail. You aren’t going to easily miss these large men or their ear pieces especially in a narrow hallway at church.
Coincidently a friend of mine mentioned a Pew study that polled Americans about their conceptions of different religions in the United States. The public had similar mixed and misunderstood views regarding both Muslims and Mormons.
There are several interesting things about attending church with the Senate majority leader that some may not realize. First, Mormons go to meetings based on geographic location not preference. In other words, we don’t choose who we attend church with or where. This also means that within the same ward (or group), you could attend church with people from all walks of life, from the homeless to the extremely successful. The Marriotts, as in Marriott hotels, are Mormon as well as a woman whom I know from Pakistan who spent a couple of years of her life homeless for example.
Another interesting thing is that Mormons are not necessarily Conservative Republicans. I was in a lesson once when the teacher made a comment about godless liberals. Senator Reed definitely had a few sharp words for that teacher. Quite a few Mormons are not Republicans including some that are in the leadership of the church.
While the church has one of the fastest growing memberships of any religion, it is run completely voluntarily. No one gets paid for the work they do.
There are more members of the church outside of the United States than there are inside of the United States. Many tenants reverberate globally not just within the US.
And I think, as demonstrated by people like Senator Harry Reed, Mormons are perfectly capable of religious tolerance, openness, and respect while drawing a line between personal piety and professionalism.
It’s really cool to be a Mormon. I have a really hard time understanding people who don’t think so, too.
Helen was telling me a little bit about those that talk into their sleeve cuffs at church in Silver Spring……………………………
I enjoy attending church in Washington DC. As a devout Mormon, I am a regular church goer and participate in services and service. I love that we bring together many political views and points of view and yet, we can all worship and contribute for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ.