President Oaks Speaks at University of Virginia

Although current divisions among the religious and secular in the United States are distressing and complex, President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency is advocating a better approach to current conflicts.
Delivering the University of Virginia’s 2021 Joseph Smith Lecture on religious liberty on Friday night, the Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and First Counselor in the First Presidency said that “we now need a new, workable balance between religious freedom and non-discrimination.” He pointed believers to a “better way” by stressing the Christ-centered virtues of loving, listening, respecting, negotiating, persuading, balancing, tolerating, cooperating, reconciling, accommodating - any peaceful means that focus on the common good and “resolve differences without compromising core values.”

[@av2155]

President Oaks. I deeply thank you for this message of Unity, and Love for ALL. My soul,and spirit are very much at peace with the wise words spoken from such a Divine man of truth, and Love. I thank you again Amanda Vernieuw 🌹

[@blackjay5338]

A calm and reasonable voice in a storm of words, anger, and hatred. What a breath of fresh air!

[@tashjubilee]

This was such a wonderful address! I have been re-watching to find ways to apply the principles President Oaks taught in my daily life.

[@noskalborg723]

Thank you to President Oaks for giving this much needed lecture. And thank you to the operators of this channel for posting it here. If you haven't already, please provide a link in the description to the entire address; For those who prefer longform speeches and want to know all of what he said. Thank you again. God bless you all.

[@churchnewsroom]

Hi Noskal, thank you for your question. You can find the complete address here: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-dallin-h-oaks-speech-university-of-virginia

[@noskalborg723]

@@churchnewsroom thank you for taking the time to answer. God be with you, it might not be long before the commun1cation platf0rms starts open attacks on the church for having the greatest threat to their secret combinations: "the word of God".

[@stanleyhall8951]

@@churchnewsroom Was there a question and answer period before or after Pres. Oaks' speech?

[@copisetic1104]

A lifetime of of experience and wisdom.

[@darlenepedersen4145]

This one very great and wonderful man. My son who is unruly, seems to be unprincipled, uses unpleasant language, long hair, tattoos, had a chance to shake President Oaks hand where he was working at the Hotel Zoo. President Oaks gave my son a very warm greeting and shook his hand. My son said he had never had such a warm feel as when this interchange occurred. I've also had a chance to wave to him by the court house many years ago. Being thrilled to see him in person I waved to him enthusiastically and with a great big smile he waved with enthusiasm too. His smile was as big and bright as the sunshine.

[@Sam-tu4hp]

You sound like such a loving parent!

[@laurapaul8623]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@Forestgump12able]

I believe I heard the narrator say, He Delived Joseph Smith Jr.s Lecture on Faith. I did not get that at first, But this is an Incredibly pertinent point I glossed over in my first watching. Do no harm. We ought to live together in harmony as best we can. No vehement conversation No enciting. No destruction. I'll buy that and put it on the fireplace mantel for display That's loving my neighbor. One of the Commandments that we ought to follow for a peaceful co exist ance.

[@yellowyosh470]

Love President Oaks. What a beautiful University.

[@brodiewells]

This video leaves out the entire other side of the thesis he presented. He also said that nondiscrimination advocates need to recognize the reality of “the threat to religious freedom that is currently associated with expanding nondiscrimination laws.” The threat to religious freedom is real. It is happening. We should not protest every single tiny threat, but he did not imply that we should not stand up for everyone's religious liberty.

[@MichaelJones-ke6fy]

Amen to this comment.

[@stefanyclark7153]

You are correct Brodie. Elder Oaks' is unfortunately, frequently patially quoted, and misrepresented by those who desire to twist his words to sound more "progressive" to serve their purposes in silencing conservatives who defend religious freedom. Elder Oaks is simply calling for respectful discourse and a measured approach on both sides.

[@thomasrobertson2225]

Being a missionary is a great responsibility! A missionary must have great energy, fortitude, and courage. Wherever the missionary goes, no matter what part of the world he is in, he must spread the Word. Locals must understand what the missionary is telling them. The missionary must get the Word right! Therefore, every missionary must know the language of the local people! To everyone who is on a mission or preparing for one, I would like to recommend a very good workshop written by Yury Ivantsiv Polyglot Notes: Practical tips for learning foreign language. This wonderful book will give you answers how to properly learn a foreign language with a minimum of your time and effort. This book provides answers to many of the questions that everyone faces when learning a language. I wish you good luck in your important work!

[@sharlynebeach2786]

Loved this....HOPE !

[@nathangale7702]

Great message!

[@jondobbie]

Compromise your God, your beliefs, your virtue, your standards and most of all your liberty and freedom to become a good global citizen in preparation for the coming anti christ. By their fruits ye shall know them.

[@zombieslayer2961]

He did an excellent job.

[@Ryanhelpmeunderstand]

The power of God in great glory.

[@MegWasHere2011]

Amen

[@hpagalla]

Thank you Pres.Oaks...

[@starlegends3092]

Yay!

[@laurab703]

Wow, just wow!!

[@nathanjohnson1298]

Make no Mistake, (at 3min) , speaking to what Thomas Griffiths said about Compromise, It was Dallin H Oaks, who said that we can disagree without being disagreeABLE. Lets be clear, there will be NO COMPROMISE on standards or truths that we hold sacred and therefore observe. We will just love our neighbors in a Christ like way despite their difference of beliefs on what we know is true.

[@aleshaborisovich]

I like it!

[@simonrankin9177]

Im a christian, and admire my mormon friends ,but im concerned about the secret handshakes behind curtains, and temple practices, is this something i should be scared off ,or something that is to be embraced. ...

[@noskalborg723]

Thank you for your honesty. Most ancient Israelites didn't get to enter the temple at all. And the holiest place could only be entered into by one special man, once a year. Our temples are far more permissive. I have not yet received my own endowment (i am preparing to), but from those who have gone, i am confident that it is fine. There is nothing untoward in the sacred rituals of the covenant of endowment. I have been told that the things in the endowment all come from scripture that everyone has, but they come together in a way that is sacred and not to be shared with all. It is similar to how sex is sacred act to be between a man and his wife is sacred, and not to be shared with everyone. Everyone knows that a mother and father have had sex, but they aren't privy to the details of their physical union. Of course, just as there is pornography which perverts and debases sex, so too are there videos and accounts which claim to violate that sacred oath of secrecy about the temple endowment, I have not read them myself, and urge you to avoid them as well. You have no way of knowing whether they lie to you since most members will never watch them, and those who do will probably (as far as i in my ignorance know) not confirm or deny any details therein. Thank you again for your honesty, and please be willing to respect our chosen name of "Latter-day Saints" or "members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". God bless you, with the patience and clarity to know what we truly believe; in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

[@stanleyhall8951]

We don't call them "secret" handshakes really. Just "sacred" temple ordinances that may seem secret. I guess they are not really secret any more if people know about them. Someone must have leaked.

[@homefrykl]

I get so frustrated when people try to play the "religious freedom" card to treat people poorly. If I had a religion that taught me that I needed to slap the first person I saw each day, nobody would buy "religious freedom" as an excuse for that behavior. This extreme example shows that there is a limit to what religious freedom actually covers, and that this limit may be correlated to causing harm to others. It's hard to look at this objectively when you believe your religion is the right one, because you think anything and everything it teaches should be covered. That is obviously not a sustainable standard when you look at all the religious teachings throughout history, specifically ones that required people to physically harm or kill each other. Mental and emotional harm is just as real, and I would propose that religious freedom does not give you the right to cause that kind of harm either. Religions are either going to have to make some changes or continue to lose credibility and membership for holding to harmful, antiquated beliefs.

[@newaddress456]

Good for him, Oaks.

[@haroldtakahashi8875]

💛...🇺🇸...

[@__TrishMartinez]

3:12 mourn with those who mourn

[@mca4093]

Churches are private organizations. Government has no business coercing churches to do, or not do, anything. When religious beleifs go against popular culture- that is fine. They have the right to.

[@noskalborg723]

amen

[@charlottehatch6696]

Where can we view the full speech?

[@churchnewsroom]

Hi Charlotte, thank you for your question. You can find the full address here: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-dallin-h-oaks-speech-university-of-virginia

[@Sam-tu4hp]

I agree, we should seek fairness for all! Including people who identify as LGBTQ+

[@Sam-tu4hp]

And yet Jeff Holland says he wants to see more musket fire against them

[@rachelczumaya2806]

How do we handle the issue of those of us in the state position who are being required to call people people by their preferred gender? Do we call them as they wish? Would God be upset with us for calling them by non-binary genders since He declared them male and female in the Bible? The trickiest issues lie here in this issue. We don’t wish to mock God or His creations on the one end or the other. How do we resolve this?

[@1nickoala]

Be nice to people, respect them that’s all

[@tyleri.4219]

I love Elder Oaks. Surely he’s a prophet of God

[@CryptoSurfer]

Right person, right place, right talk.

[@3DFLYLOW]

It's wrong to criticize the church even if the criticism is true. Oaks said that

[@Hpencer]

He said it’s wrong to criticize church leaders

[@Sam-tu4hp]

You’re right! And people have been excommunicated for speaking up about that. People who wanted to help were cast out. Doesn’t sound very Christlike does it

[@noelhausler2911]

Even is the problems with Smith's translation of the papyri was wrong. ?

[@noskalborg723]

@Craig Peterson amen brother Peterson.

[@Sam-tu4hp]

“Live peacefully with some whose personal values differ from our own” Holland: “let’s see more musket fire!!”

[@noskalborg723]

@Moonstruck Exploring I love the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

[@stanleyhall8951]

@Craig Peterson Some took that "musket fire" as to attack the gay community. All confusing to me.

[@yeboscrebo4451]

“Compromise for the sake of unity…”. Ummm, I don’t think this is scriptural at all. Didn’t Jesus himself say “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Oaks admonishing us to seek unity over truth is a shameful denial of Christ.

[@derekpascal3749]

Jesus blinked.

[@Hpencer]

This is terrible

[@noskalborg723]

Jesus still loves you