Elder Oaks teaches to love thy neighbour as thyself

General Conference is always an opportunity to receive personal revelation that gives answers to our modern necessities. During the April 2014 General Conference, Elder Oaks invited us to love people who disagree with us and help them to understand true principles about the priesthood. Similarly, during last session Elder Oaks’ message “Loving Others and Living with Differences”  reminded me about what is to love one another. Although these two speeches seem to talk about different topics, they both invite us to love others.

During the afternoon session of the October 2014 General Conference, Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had the opportunity to talk after Elder Henry B. Eyring who was the first speaker on this session.

Elder Oaks addressed his audience to feel persuaded to live peacefully with others who do not share their values in his talk in which he used a warm and friendly tone. In order to build credibility, Elder Oaks cited a quote from the Savior:

“There shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.

“For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

Based on this quote Elder Oaks made explicit that we should love all people, be good listeners and show concern for people’s sincere beliefs. Similarly, Elder Oaks specified that on controversial topics we should not be contentious "Though we may disagree, we should not be disagreeable".

Elder Oaks made a special emphasis on living peacefully with differences. It’s not surprising that an apostle would emphasize to be open and loving towards other cultures and religions however, this may be due to the years Elder Oaks served as a missionary in the Philippines. In addition, Elder Oaks was born in Provo UT, a small city in which Mormonism prevails and where people are known for being friendly and serviceable. After he graduated from Brigham Young University, a private school owned and operated by the LDS church, Elder Oaks moved to Chicago for several years; these facts may have exposed him to experience discrimination for being a minority. Is not surprising that Elder Oaks’ sensitivity towards different cultures and religions was originated while seeing difficulties faced by minorities in Chicago. Also, he  addressed LDS parents specifically. Even though Elder Oaks used a friendly tone while talking, he chided parents who prohibit their children to be friends of those who do not share their religious beliefs. Similarly, it is understandable that Elder Oaks persuade to love everyone because after his father died when he was a child, he might have experienced lack of affection or perhaps he might feel grateful for those childhood friends who supported him during this difficult time.

Finally, Elder Oaks closed his speech with an example of a family relationship that exemplifies how we all have to live with differences and we all have to live peacefully with others.