Fundemantal to Our Faith

^{Some times our faith is misunderstood, our faith is in Jesus Christ, our standards are high, and we strive to love all mankind. These principles were taught by Christ himself. This article is a great source of information for those who do not understand our basic beliefs.}   

Fundemantal to Our Faith
By Elder Dallin H. Oaks

We Latter-day Saints know that our doctrines and values are not widely understood by those not of our faith. This was demonstrated by Gary C. Lawrence’s nationwide study published in his recent book, How Americans View Mormonism. Three-quarters of those surveyed associated our Church with high moral standards, but about half thought we were secretive and mysterious and had “weird beliefs.”¹ When asked to select various words they thought described Latter-day Saints in general, 87 percent checked “strong family values,” 78 percent checked “honest,” and 45 percent checked “blind followers.”²

When Lawrence’s interviewers asked, “To the best of your understanding, what is the main claim of Mormonism?” only 14 percent could describe anything close to the idea of restoration or reestablishment of the original Christian faith. Similarly, when another national survey asked respondents what one word best described their impression of the Mormon religion, not one person suggested the words or ideas of original or restoration Christianity.^3more