I have something to say. It's been a long time coming, but I thought talking about it on the Internet might alienate people. And since I'm in the business of tutoring children from all walks of life, I didn't want them to think I was unapproachable because of this. I realize now that was stupid and altogether pointless.

I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yup, I’m a Mormon. Why did I think this would bother people? Because it seems there are millions upon millions of misapprehensions about my religion. When I was six-years-old, one of my neighborhood friends came over to my house one day and asked if he could see the horns on my head, because his parents had told him Mormons were “of the devil”, and our “horns proved it.” Another one of my friends – at four-year-old – once indignantly told me that I’m a heathen, that I do not believe in Christ, and that I’ll burn in hell. I’ve been called a prude, a recluse, an idiot, a brainwashed member of a cult, a heathen, a demon, a racist, a bigot, a devil-worshipper; the list goes on and on.

I am none of those things. I can prove all of this until I’m blue in the face. Many other members of my faith have tried. And still, people keep coming back to us with hatred. Why? It is a faith, a religion, another part of Christianity. In a world of supposed acceptance and religious freedom, why are so many people fanatical about “tearing down” my religion?

Honestly, I’m sick of it. I have lived my life the best way I know how, faithful to the principals that I believe in. Isn’t that what any person is honestly trying to do? I’m tired of being persecuted because of the uninformed hatred of others. If people just took the time to understand what I believe, all of this blatant hatred would be seen as the true pointlessness that it really is. I have studied many religions for this very purpose; I do not want to judge another person, I don’t want to even dare mistreat someone, based on my own lack of knowledge of their beliefs.

I’ve been to the Vatican in Rome; I’ve seen the Pope in person. I’ve celebrated Hanukah and Passover with Jews; I’ve been to a concentration camp in Germany. I’ve attended a Baptist revival in Mississippi; one of my best friends growing up was a Southern Baptist, and we were constantly discussing our beliefs. I recently went to my cousin’s baptism at a Methodist church; I sang their hymns with all of my heart. I am beginning to study the Muslim faith, as I have great respect for their standards, beliefs, and their way of life. I have a great interest in Buddhism; it is next on my list to study after I have learned what I can of the Muslim religion. I try very hard to be understanding and accepting of people’s beliefs. Why don’t other supposed learned people even attempt to understand my own faith? Instead, such people rest their opinions and their hatred on falsehoods and common misunderstandings of what my faith teaches. That is intellectual negligence.

I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe the Bible to be the instructions of God. I am a Christian.

I also believe in the Book of Mormon. What is it? It is an account of three separate journeys to the ancient Americas, and the descendents of those various parties. Do I believe it recounts the stories of all people who came and developed the New World? No. That is another common misunderstanding, even among members of my own church. It is simply the writings of a few “nations” or tribes. It recounts the religious history of these people: their struggles, their faith, their trials, and their redemption. It was written with the same purpose of the Bible - to bring to pass the salvation of God’s children. It is a holy writing, prepared to pass on the religion of the forefathers to their descendents.

Is it a scientific, historical document? No, nor was it intended to be. Do we consider the Bible to be such a book? No. Do we test it as such? No. Neither is the Book of Mormon, and neither has it been legitimately tested in a scientific arena.

I have heard time and time again that scientific evidence refutes the Book of Mormon. If no such experiment has been performed by the scientific community, how can it be proven false? Furthermore, every single supposed scrap of “evidence” that I have come across is blatantly twisted and wrong. DNA Evidence? We don’t know the DNA structure of the people who came to the New World as recounted in the Book of Mormon. Even if we did, we would have to find a direct maternal or paternal descendent of the original party. Both of these are impossible to prove or disprove, so where is the quandary?

Is there archaeological evidence? Yes and no. All branches of science rely on hypothesis, which are subject to the human mind, human bias, and human misconception. The scientific community is split on this issue of archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon. Some see that it disproves it, some see that it is proof.

Will science rule my faith? No. I find it interesting and I study this subject as much as I can. I have always loved archaeology, history, anthropology, and the like. But this is religion, not science class. Religion is not something that can be proven scientifically; that destroys the very purpose of faith, of the very test that most religions profess. What good would a test be if we were given all of the answers? We must exercise our minds, our faith, and our hearts, to prove to whatever God may be up there that we were as obedient as we knew how to be. That we believed in our religion with all of our hearts, we dedicated our lives to what we knew to be right. I believe anyone who does this will be rewarded. If we were told exactly what to believe based on irrefutable fact, we would have no free agency. There would be no point, no differences to celebrate.

This does not mean I think science should be ignored. As I said, I love this stuff. My own faith encourages everyone to study as much as they possibly can, that knowledge will only bring greater understanding in every niche of life. But I am saying that it should not be used as a weapon, a tool to hurt others. Bring me concrete evidence that I am wrong and I will consider it. But do not throw accusations, falsehoods, and myths, calling them fact.

I believe in modern-day prophets. Does God love us any less than he loved the people in the days of Abraham, Moses and Isaiah? Does He sit up there alone, letting his children wander into pain, simply because we were born in the wrong era? I do not believe so. God is an unchanging God, and I believe that applies to His love as well. Especially the love He has for His creations. Why would I be any less important to Him than the people who lived under the direction of ancient prophets?

I believe there have always been prophets. I believe that we do not have every prophetic scripture ever written by inspired minds. As I said, God loves His creations. I cannot imagine He would ever let anyone wander entirely unaccompanied.

Do I believe in Heaven? Yes, but not in the same sense that every other religion teaches it. According to the laws of this world, is there only one form of punishment for every form of crime? Is a child who stole a piece of candy punished to the same degree as a murderer? No, that is not justice. Punishments must fit the crime. I believe it is the same with sin and heaven. Not every sin is the same. Thinking ill of your neighbor is not the same as committing adultery with your neighbor’s wife. If God is just, would he send both of these sins to the same eternal damnation? I do not believe so. On the other side, is all righteousness comparable? Is it justice to reward everyone the same way, regardless of exactly how good each person was? I do not believe that either. Is it right to compare someone who is only faithful on Sundays, to someone who dedicates their entire life to God?

I believe every action will be met with the proper reward or consequence. I won’t go into details here, but that is the basis for my beliefs of what heaven is. If you want to know more, email me, and I’ll be more than happy to explain it in detail.

I am against sexual relations before marriage. Does this mean I’m a stuffed-shirt, a prude, or repressed? No. I believe sex should be treated with respect. It is incredibly powerful and comes with great responsibility. It can be something beautiful, or it can be deadly. To treat it with flippancy is an immature mistake. Nations have crumbled from its mistreatment: the wealth of Egypt died with Cleopatra when she allied herself sexually with the wrong men, without the bonds of marriage. She bore the heir to the Roman throne, but with the death of Julius Caesar, she had no claims. She was in love with Marc Antony, and as she gave birth to his twins, he married another. She had no rights, and she sacrificed the rights of her children.

I believe it is treated too lightly, and that depresses me. Sex is the act of creating a child. What happens to that child when it is an accident? I have seen children born to couples outside of wedlock, when their relationships weren’t that serious (and even in some instances where the relationship was serious). I have seen the damage it does to the child. They become victims to damaged hearts’ spite and malice. The child can become a tool of hatred, as one lover tries to stab at the other’s heart. Raising a child is a massive responsibility, it should never be an unwanted accident. Yes, it happens, and yes, sometimes it can work out. But sex involves more than just two consenting adults. It can so easily involve a child.

Furthermore, it can involve disease. Promiscuity can – and often does – lead to sexually transmitted diseases. If people had treated sex with more responsibility and respect, would AIDS be the plague that it is today? Would herpes be so widespread? Would certain forms of cancer be as common and degenerative as they are? An STD is something that you will carry with you for the rest of your life, or in same cases, it will carry you to death. Is this a laughing matter? Is this something to be treated lightly, as a game?

Some people say, if it only hurts your own self, where is the harm in that? Treat your body as you will, but it will not damage only you. Sex involves two people, and you are risking the life of the other. Accidents happen, and then it can involve three people. You can pass a disease on to an innocent child, who made no choice to be born, who made no mistake. With thoughtless actions comes pain, pain that you may not ever feel yourself.

Do I condemn every person who’s ever had sex outside of marriage? No, of course not. People have opinions, people make their own decisions, people can also make mistakes. But I am saying, this is what I believe, and why. To me, sex is something that should be taken so seriously that you allow for every possible safety net. I see Marriage as a safety net. If a child is born, it is given legal rights. If the marriage doesn’t work out, neither the child or the spouse is abandoned by the law. If two people wait to have sex until they are married, they will not have picked up any diseases from anyone else in such a manner, and therefore will not pass them on to innocent people. It is logical, it is respectful, and it is safe.

Does this make me a repressed prude? I do not think so. I accept that sex is important, obviously. I accept that it’s something lovely. In fact, I can’t wait to get married. Not because I want to have sex, but because I want that all-encompassing intimacy with the man I love. I don’t just mean physically, but emotionally as well. It is an amazing feeling to know that you are loved for you are, by a person who truly understands you. I believe that emotional closeness will add far more to physical relationships than anything else you can imagine.

I believe in eternal marriage. Some call this a fairy tale, or something that is entirely unattainable. But I believe in the unchanging love of God, and if our purpose in life is to try to be like Him, wouldn’t we want our love to last forever? I know that when I find the man I will want to marry, I won’t want it to be just “until death do you part.” I want a love that is so important and so real, that it lasts forever. Marriage, to me, is committing my life to someone that I cannot imagine living my life without. How can a perfect eternal existence such as heaven be truly perfect without the man I love? Why would God ask me to give him up? On the other side of this, I believe that God will ask a commitment from me that I will not mistreat that love. He will ask the same of my spouse. That is one major reason why I hold my faith so dear.

I also believe that as a part of eternal marriage, that families are for eternity. This eternal marriage means that your children will also be with you for eternity. Your family can be yours forever. Your children, your grandchildren, and so on. A love a parent has for a child is incomprehensible in its entirety to me, but I began to understand at least a little when my nephew was born. As soon as I was told over the phone that he had been born, I felt a surge within my heart that I would do anything for that child, that he was inseparably connected to me. I imagine that feeling will be multiplied within me when a child becomes my own. Again, why would God ask me to give up that unchanging love?

I believe in repentance. If God had expected us to live absolutely perfect lives, he would not have made us so human. We are given weaknesses and trials so that we may learn, grow, and remember to be humble. Even though I believe we should avoid them at all costs, we will make mistakes. Big or small, we will all make mistakes. I believe that through Christ, all things can be forgiven. But, in order to be forgiven, we must be truly sorry. We must acknowledge what we have done wrong, we must become humble, and we must vow to never do it again. Repentance is entirely possible, entirely real, and entirely attainable. Repentance and forgiveness means our sins will be remembered no more. I believe each human owes each other this same forgiveness when we make mistakes, realize it, and do our best to make up for what we’ve done.

I believe that religious persecution is only enacted by the ignorant. Anyone who mocks another person’s faith is disgusting to me. A person’s religion is sacred, and should be treated as such. I believe all hatred is based in ignorance, fright, and pride, all of which are vices. Through knowledge comes understanding and peace.

I obviously have not covered everything I believe here. I could go on for ages, I could get into detail, but I don’t want to do that here. If you want to know more, please feel free to email me. Religious studies have always intrigued me, and I have always loved discussing it with others. I hope I have not offended anyone; that was not my intent. Rather, I am simply tired of being misunderstood. I believe in my faith with all my heart. I am proud to be a “Mormon”. It is something that I am dedicated to, and while I know I make mistakes, I try to live the best life I can. And if it turns out that I am wrong, what have I lost? I have lived a good life, the best I knew how. My religion is sacred to me, it is vitally important. It hurts when I see someone mock it.