Article of Faith #11

This Article of Faith is the only one that doesn't begin with "We believe"

Article of Faith #11 states:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

This one states simply that we claim the right and privilege of worshiping Christ.  The thought that I would like to leave here on this one is simple.  While we would love to have everybody know what it is that we believe--we don't force anybody to accept our beliefs.  In fact, we believe that everybody has the choice to believe and act how they want.  God has given us what we call agency.  He will never force anybody to believe in Him, or follow Him.  He does give commandments, and there are set consequences for disobeying them.  He teaches us what we should do, and what the consequences of our choices will be, but he leaves the choice up to us if we will follow Him or not.

You probably know that we have a very active missionary program in our church.  We want everybody to know of the wonderful things that Christ has revealed through his prophets.  I have heard it stated in this way:  The gospel can be compared to a delicious glass of orange juice.  We really enjoy it, and have lots of it available to share.  We should not be afraid to offer it to our friends and neighbors, because we might think that they might not like orange juice. . .We should share it with everybody--if they choose not to have some orange juice, at least we have offered it to them.

The second part of this Article of Faith is similar to the first part, in that we allow others to believe and worship God however they want to. 

We believe that the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States is divinely inspired.  It reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The 11th Article of Faith ties in very well with this first amendment of the Constitution--specifically the part that states that there should be no laws that put one religion above another, or prohibiting people from worshiping God how they want.