Men of Faith: Love Your Enemies
President Oaks worked as a radio announcer at KOVO when he was a student. Image from ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
I attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah as a freshman in the fall of 1971. That is the same year Dallin H. Oaks became the President of BYU. He was a man whom I immediately respected and admired because of the way he quickly assumed all his official duties with dignity. As a father of six children himself, he seemed to care deeply about each individual student. I knew he came from a successful legal background professionally, but more importantly I could feel that he was a man of great faith. I always enjoyed hearing him speak when I was at BYU because he was so sincere and knowledgeable on every subject. When he was called to have a leadership role in our church in 1984, I was delighted to begin hearing him speak again at every General Conference. In doing a little research about his life, I came across a cute anecdote by his sister Evelyn O. Moody:
“Whenever we got together for family parties, it was funny to watch because Dallin . . . was always the leader. He would tell who were the cops and who were the robbers . . . Before anyone else could turn two wheels in his brain, Dallin had the whole thing organized.”
Apparently, Dallin Oaks always had a brilliant mind and great leadership abilities from a young age! You can read more interesting facts about his interesting life or read some of his other speeches here.
Love Your Enemies
During the October 2020 General Conference, Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk entitled, “Love Your Enemies” that was both soul-stirring and prophetic. It was soul-stirring for me as I pondered how I could become more Christ-like and genuinely love all people. It was prophetic for me because his words rang true not only for the tragedies of hate that have occurred in the past but for the violence that occurred on January 6, 2021.
The Constitution and laws contain no invitation to revolution or anarchy. All of us—police, protesters, supporters, and spectators—should understand the limits of our rights and the importance of our duties to stay within the boundaries of existing law. Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.” Redress of grievances by mobs is redress by illegal means. That is anarchy, a condition that has no effective governance and no formal police, which undermines rather than protects individual rights. …
Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a divine vision of the worth of all others and the will and ability to rise above prejudice and racism. As I have lived for many years in different places in this nation, the Lord has taught me that it is possible to obey and seek to improve our nation’s laws and also to love our adversaries and our enemies. While not easy, it is possible with the help of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He gave this command to love, and He promises His help as we seek to obey it. I testify that we are loved and will be helped by our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
I hope we will always strive to radiate genuine feelings of love for all people. This is the only real solution for lasting peace in our homes, our communities, and throughout the world. Please remember what our Savior, Jesus Christ, continually taught by His words and example:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” — New Testament, John 13:34-35
“…he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” — Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 26:33