President Oaks - "We teach...Unity...Not Diversity"

Jacob Hansen had some viral tweets and videos on Ideological Diversity and being "Welcoming" in the Church. I'm going to hash this out. I fully support him in stating that Ideological Diversity is not good for the church. How has DEI affected our culture, even within the Church? Is it compatible with the Restored Gospel? Does the Church want "Ideological Diversity?" Some think so. Not President Oaks - "We teach our members to concentrate their efforts to strengthen our unity, not to glorify our diversity." "Jesus Didn’t Pray for Diversity—He Prayed for Oneness"

 Raw Transcript:

Recently, uh, Jacob Hansen has had some tweets that have been a little controversial. I want to cover that to some degree. To me, they are rooted in
something else that he had brought up on ideological diversity that I think is a very, very important point. I may not
have made the same approach that he did on the last church post that he had been talking about about all being welcome, but there's something deeper that is
rooted in this idea of ideological diversity and diversity as a whole. And I and I want to cover that because I think it's an important issue for all of
us to understand. It dovetales into exactly what Ralph Hancock, professor at BYU, and myself have been discussing so
much on peace and our criticism of the peacemaking movement in academia and how
that is seeping into the church as well and and kind of weaponizing what uh President Nelson had talked about with
peacemaking. So, I want to cover those two things. What did you think about Jacob Hansen's tweets? Did you see them? Did you think they were controversial?
Did you think they were over the top?
Uh, again, I want to parse something out here and talk about an element that I think is is really foundational to what
I think he is thinking and to an important subject that confuses a lot of Latter-day Saints right now in the
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3 minutesreally exciting. They're a lot of fun. I I love I love storms.
When I was young, I used to go out uh on a friend's boat. We had he had a 29 his dad had a 29 foot Ericson. And [snorts] in high school, if there was a storm
coming, which was rare in Southern California, right? But if there was a storm, we'd head out. Yes, we'd leave school and uh just drive down the hill
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just exciting. It's compelling. It's energetic and uh it's it's you against nature, right? So, used to love that.
So, hopefully we can get through this this uh walk, this sit uh before the weather gets too bad here. Uh going back
here to something that Jacob had put up about this post that was talking about inviting all and he he questioned things
there, right? He says, "Does is everybody really welcomed in in a place?
Is there really a place for everyone at church?" It's a good question. It's a good thing to think about and to talk
about. Um because it has to do with not just are we inviting everyone to church,
which we should do, but it has to do with those that are in the church becoming one and and what that means.
And and the most important thing I think in this string of of tweets and and couple YouTube videos that Jacob has put
out was a short that was in response to someone who said who's responding to Jacob about ideological diversity and
saying that you know hey I think ideological diversity is great. this other influencer said, I I think that we should have a huge diversity of thought
and and ideas and this is how things actually get done. To some degree, that's true. I mean, think about the brethren. You've got 15 brethren that
are getting together. They might have different backgrounds. We've had, if you've ever listened to President Iring and talking about how this works, you
get a little bit of, you know, push back from different areas here. They don't all just suddenly know what to do and
what the right answer is. They they sit down, they go over things differently as far as policy or how to
treat doctrine or messages, etc. And then they only move they only move forward, this is key, when they have a
unanimous decision. And so they end up moving from diversity to being one in their voice and then boom, they lock in.
Right? So that's an important thing to understand and that's the way the gospel is. We have an invitation, right? The
fairness as Elder Oaks had said before, then Elder Oaks said, you know, the fairness of God or the, you know, the
equality of God is not the equal outcome for everyone, right? The the the
equality of God is the equal invitation, I'm paraphrasing, for everyone.
It's it's what is given to you as an invitation. It is not the equality at the end of the game here because otherwise you're removing agency and
that can't be a part of the gospel obviously. So he had brought up Jacob had brought up a couple of other posts uh and tweets that he had put in here.
He talked about how the PR community or the PR department at the church right how they look so many other institutions
are talking about inclusivity and belonging.
Why are we kind of going along with that? And when we say the same idea, it's diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Right? When we bring up equity, and inclusion, what are we talking about?
When we bring up diversity, what are we talking about? We are a diverse group of people of children of God. That is true.
And we need to learn to get along.
But when you get down to a point of ideological diversity, now you have an issue. you
have a real problem because you're either together as one or you're not.
Zion ultimately in Zion building gathering Israel is not grabbing everybody.
It's inviting everyone. It's wanting everyone to be involved. But it's not everybody being gathered,
right? It's those that choose to align with gospel doctrine. It's those that choose to align with the the res
restorative doctrines of the church and to follow the brethren and to
uh take a world view a world view that is aligned with the order of God as the family proclamation says the divine
design of God. And if you have an ideological viewpoint that is different than that, then you are not one with everyone else.
And as Jesus says in the intercessory prayer in John 17, you know, I want my disciples to be as one with me. This is kind of the great argument against the
trinity. But I I want my disciples to be one with me as I am one with you. Right?
One in purpose, one in alignment with truth, with doctrine, with divine
design. And so, uh, that is a lot of what I think Jacob is saying there. And in that regard, I fully support him. I
think it's an important issue. And we're having problems in the church trying to move through this this mist of darkness
of DEI, of diversity, equity, and inclusion that has permeated our private our our public institutions, especially
schools and our politics and our work and our
media everywhere, right? The law and and try and align this with the gospel. And not everything aligns. In fact, most
things under though that umbrella of DEI does not align with the gospel.
And you say, Greg, well, wait a minute.
So, God doesn't want a diversity. He wants a diversity of individuals that have different backgrounds that are aligning to the truth.
That's what he is inviting everybody to.
It's not just a big kumbaya of everybody with completely different world views about the truth. That is not the church.
That is not the church that Christ set up. That is not the invitation that he made to everyone.
Right? His invitation was very different. It was to come and and to be one. Right? Zion is to be of one heart, one mind.
that is that is that is based on aligning yourself with the divine order with divine design and if you've got
ideological views where you've got a completely different worldview you may very well be in a place where you are actually antichrist communism as an
example that is an antirist worldview it is an antichrist ideology
it is really a religion a different religion and the church of course did job as it needed to in in pushing that away as
much as possible in their from the pulpit about communism when it became a greater and greater threat. For example,
in the United States, the pope in the Catholic [clears throat] Church excommunicated everyone who was a communist.
Why? Because the ideology is antirist. The ideology is anti-gosspel.
So you it's not a matter of inviting everybody and saying hey believe what you want affirm what you want it's
inviting people to a specific way a specific path that is not broad that
specific path is narrow and the gate that you go through is straight right not not wide either.
And so because there's one way.
So in that regard, I very much agree with what Jacob had said in terms of no ideological
uh um diversity is is really anti-gosspel. It's the exact opposite idea of what the gospel is trying to do
of what all of the invitation to everyone is to come and follow me Jesus Christ and my commandments.
So it it's just odd to me. I I feel sometimes like does do these people read the scriptures?
Do you read the gospel and understand what the gospel is?
Because this is this idea of again it's diversity, equity, and inclusion is not the gospel.
Now, if you want to redefine each of those words, diversity as in we want to invite everybody to the truth.
And we it's we we are happy if if there's a diversity, we're happy if there's not. What we're happy about is everyone possible that would align
themselves with the gospel and accept the the the the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. That that's what we really want.
It's not a focus on a diversity of skin color or culture even.
It is bring what you've got as President Hinckley used to say, right? Bring every good that you have, your culture, your religion, everything and help us add on to it.
But you have to maybe leave some things behind.
things that from your culture teach you something that is anti-gosspel in some way, anti-docctrine, antichrist.
We're going to go into some of the some of the the the quotes from President Oaks on these exact things.
He also asked, I wanted to bring this up also with Jacob here. He he talked about how the PR strategy, what is the PR strategy really?
You know, why are why are we so focused on belonging and inclusivity? and and and and it goes back to what I've said a
lot about a a teddy bear Jesus. It's this idea that the way that we bring people into the church is to soften up
Jesus and and we create uh what I would say is is a is a molten calf, right? in our own
image, a God in our own image, and a Jesus in our own image that is easy to
work with and very feminized in the sense that it's it's about how much God loves you. It is how much you belong. It
is um how you're included with everything. And it's not that these things are bad. It's just that what we don't get often times, especially
through that PR messaging, are are many of what we might call the masculine traits that are in there. What what about the inspiration? What about the
challenge? What about the vision to drive forward to to grow and progress and to become
and and so I do agree in that regard with it because I I think that there is an issue there and it is uh a message
that kind of tells one side of the you know one side of the coin and and and not the other side. Now,
interestingly, in Jacob's short that he did, he gives a response to this influencer
about diversity, about ideological diversity. And again, when we talk about ideology, we're not talking about, boy, should we open the borders or or not
open the borders or how much do we allow immigration into a certain country or what are what are the estate taxes going
15 minutesto be? Are they high? Are they low? You know, we're talking about an ideology, which is a worldview
and and it is and an agenda that may be in conflict with the church. And that's where we run into problems. And and
President Oaks talks about this. This is what Jacob had brought up. He brought up uh he actually had then Elder Oaks
talking exactly about this and and I'm quoting President Oaks, then Elder Oaks.
He says specifically on this idea of diversity. Jesus, I'm quoting, Jesus did not pray that his followers would be diverse.
Okay, stop for a second and think about that. He did not pray that his followers would be diverse. This is, in other
words, this is not some great achievement. This is not some great goal to accomplish.
his followers would be one. His followers are going to follow him and his teachings. So that's what he says.
Jesus did not pray that his followers would be diverse. He prayed that they would be one.
Right? Very clear on this. He says modern revelation does not say be diverse and if ye are not diverse ye are not mine.
It says, "Be one, and if you are not one, you are not mine." So, we see what we're talking about here. The invitation
is broad. It is everywhere. The invitation is broad. The preaching, the knowledge, the missionary work is broad
as it can be. Get to every nation, tongue, and kindred.
But the way is narrow. The gate is straight. So we are inviting everybody to come in and move together into this
one area that is ultimately a single ideology right that doesn't mean you lean left or
you lean right or again you have uh different views and a few different philosophical views once it gets to the
point of a different world view is how I would say an ideology is where it's that deep then then you're going to have
something that is going to be held up in contrast and perhaps against what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches.
Um, he also says this, I'm going to keep going with President Notes. We teach our members to concentrate their efforts
to strengthen our unity, not to glorify our diversity. Now, this should for those that have an issue with this and
they're not sure about DEI and using the term diversity and inclusion, this should shatter the idea
that diversity is some high goal. It is not. Every person has the same value
and we want as many people as possible to come to the truth, but the goal is not diversity.
That that's a that's going to take you to the wrong place. Okay.
He also said the following and uh this is something I want to bring up from a from a different talk that he had that I think is really important
that I want to roll into peace a little bit. Here's Elder Oaks. Jesus did not pray.
Here's Elder Oaks.
This greater exposure to diversity both enriches our lives and complicates them.
He's talking about bringing people in from all over with different political ideas, different cultural backgrounds, right? So this greater explo exposure to
diversity both enriches our lives and complicates them. We are enriched by associations with different
peoples which remind us of the wonderful diversity of the children of God.
Okay? the diversity of the children, not the diversity of ideology, not the diversity of the gospel, the diversity of the children of God,
but diverse cultures. Diversities in culture
and values also challenge us to identify what can be embraced as consistent with
our gospel culture and values and what cannot.
So in a world a culture where we are affirming of so many things and all things are good especially if they're foreign especially if they're different
and a different background we we we you we we we need to walk the edge of the sword in looking at inviting
and how we accept as compared to sticking to our guns with
our our own values and our own truths that come from the gospel.
not affirming something from some other someone else who has a different background. Affirming everything that they bring with them may not be correct.
And what we're trying to do through charity is to look at the overall well-being, future well-being of that
individual, not to affirm. That's not the number one goal. It's the same idea as diversity.
Affirming is not the goal. Inclusion in that sense is not the goal.
The goal equity, a forced outcome is not the goal, right? What we're looking for is to work
to offer charity and effort and love to bring people to a narrow path and a straight gate.
He goes on with this. She says in this way diversity increases the potential for conflict and requires us to be more thoughtful about the nature of tolerance.
What is tolerance? He says when does it apply and when does it not apply?
So these are very clear statements and in helping us to get through these mists that are out there on the entire idea of diversity, equity, and inclusion and and
and and a a world where they seep in so far that we start to grab on to some of these ideas and think that somehow that
is love or or think that somehow that is moral and it's not, right? It it it's just
not. It's it and it creates confusion to come in and say we need ideological diversity
or or um we need any kind of diversity of thought that is outside
the parameters of the gospel or the doctrine of Christ. Now, of course, there's different ideas on, you
know, Brigham Y. Young, there's different ideas on uh some historical events. There's different ideas on um
you know, working at home for women. You know, all these different things we can look at where where people have different thoughts and different ideas.
Great. Let's work with each other on those. But an ideology is different.
and ideology becomes and values are are are things that rise up to a point of perhaps being contrary to the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Now, this dovetales right into what uh Ralph Hancock and I have been talking about with peace. It's the same strain. The same people that look
for ideological diversity are the same people that take peace and the idea of peacemaking from an academic point of
view. And I say academic, I mean from academia in kind of this this uh
this pacifist idea. I just wrote an article recently at my Substack at Alive and Intelligent
on the Anti-Defi Lehis and how they are not the example of peace in the Book of
Mormon like like many in academia in Mormon studies try to make it. many scholars. It is absolutely false.
Absolutely false.
And and that's what we kind of it's the same idea where we're trying to soften everything up and and use peace as a way
of tolerance and acceptance and affirmation and and some sense of well we can't have
conflict. The highest value and it is this case in our own culture as Latter-day Saints. We have this really
high value of no conflict often times over truth. Now, I'm not
talking about seeking contention at all. Right? I I'm I'm talking about
do we do we hold a niceness and even a politeness above truth and above true charity
with others because true charity is not well let's just not have a conflict right true charity is I want the best
for this individual and I don't want to do this in a contentious way and maybe things rise to
a point where I back off and I stop. Uh but but I'm going to stick to truth,
right? I'm going I'm going to stick to truth. And that's that's really what charity is. And it's the ability to follow Christ and those that divine
design. I want to go over some quotes here from President Nelson and President Oaks on the idea of peace and conflict
and controversy. I saw a tweet that was that had come up about uh someone saying
that the scriptures and the prophets teach that we want to avoid conflict and
controversy. That's not true. That that is not true at all. You might want to try and avoid contention,
but that's even nuanced. Now, I know in the Book of Mormon it is contention is of the devil. I I understand, right?
Ultimately that's true but that doesn't mean that you don't contend sometimes.
Here is President Nelson in April just recently April 23 conference. He says contention reinforces the false notion
that confrontation is the way to resolve differences but it never was.
Okay. So confrontation it trying to create the confrontation is not the right idea.
In other words, I if you're trying to create the confrontation, if you're trying to create the contention, if you're trying to be right above all and
demean or humiliate the other person, wrong way to go. Very much the wrong way to go. Here's in 2009, President Oaks,
26 minutesand he is repeating what Elder Nelson had said previous to this. He says real love for the sinner may compel courageous confrontation.
It doesn't say go be confrontational.
It says it may compel courageous confrontation. Sometimes that is inevitable.
Right? He says courageous confrontation but not acquiescence. Not acquiescence.
Here's President Oaks in 2014.
Our stands and communications on controversial topics should not be contentious.
So again, we're going over to this side over here. You don't try to make this contentious.
That doesn't mean you don't stand up and that you might create a conflict. You're not trying to create the conflict. If you are, you have the wrong agenda.
But the more Babylon and the world move away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more Latter-day Saints are going to
have a conflict with the world.
And if you don't see that, I I don't know how to explain that to you. There's going to be a greater and greater divide
between us and the world on all of the issues that are already difficult for us. And they're all, by the way, going to be political.
Everything will be political. It always is. The Book of Mormon is an extremely political book. President Oaks also
describes Disciples as combatants in the eternal contest between truth and error.
So just bring bring in all of these absorb all of these these quotes here.
28 minutesPresident Oaks repeated the distinction also here in October of 2024 about controversy, conflict and and peace etc.
He says avoiding contention does not mean to compromise our principles and priorities. Priorities being values. And
then you have this here in the book of Jude in New Testament. I love this.
This is verses 1 through3 says, "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are
sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called mercy unto you and peace."
You got to decide what peace really means. And peace and love be multiplied.
And then he says this in verse three, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
the oneness, the common salvation, it was needful for me, needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye
should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
Okay. So, again, my thoughts on this are that you've got
to be able to pierce with clarity and light the mists of darkness that are seeping in to us and into the church.
Right? That's that's number one. The DEI and the one is the one I'm focusing on right now. But that is that is something that is has really seeped into the
church and really seeped into our culture. And and I don't mean it's taking over the church or or anything like that. But you see several
influencers and and others even very faithful, right, that start to use these ideas and
contend themselves for these things on especially if you go to X find find
30 minutesthese influencers that are um where their goals and their agenda and
their values are niceness number one, politeness maybe number two,
lack of conflict. Number three, and again, that doesn't mean that that you're trying to go to the opposite side
of this and and do the opposite of those things. But man, where what are where are our values?
What are those values? Where does ness fit in? Nice niceness to me is not a value at all. It's it's a zero zero someum value. It's nothing.
Kindness, that's different, right? Niceness is passivity.
Niceness is I I don't want to create any conflict. I I don't want to step up and stand forward and do anything. Right?
Kindness is I'm going to make an effort for goodness with somebody else.
31 minutesAnd politeness, it's a value, but it's not a high value.
And and and we as Latter-day Saints seem to take this idea of niceness and politeness and put it way to the top. I saw somebody else on X say something
like, "Well, if the only thing someone comes away with is that we're just a nice people, well then we've done a really good job." Really?
Really?
How does that affect that person? I I I you know, if you want to say that there are really good people,
right? They're a good people and they do good things for others and they treat people well and and and
they have a high human value it seems then then great those are those are great things but the others really aren't aren't
values. So we need clarity going going into these myths. And then they the other the opposite thing not the opposite but the other thing is the idea
that that inclusivity and diversity is all about the invitation.
It's the openness. We're going to go everywhere. The the Nephites went to the Lammonites. They're enemies.
And we want to get to every nation and we want to invite everyone to the gospel.
However, not everyone is going to accept that.
And our job is not to affirm and to open every idea up and bring it into the church with several different
ideological uh um clashes going on with the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This is where you get things that are going to fracture. You're not all one.
You could have some different political views, big deal. But but the ideologies
that are placed above the gospel of Jesus Christ, then that that becomes a problem. And and the idea of building
Zion and the idea of a narrow way and a straight gate needs to hold true for us.
And and and it's hard in our world because again, you think you're being exclusionary.
You're not because you are inviting.
You want to invite everyone to the narrow way and the straight gate. Thanks for listening. Oh, one more thing. I almost forgot.
Big news. At sometime next week, we will have a new channel that'll be above and
beyond quick show. This is called the Greg Matson Show and this is going to talk about culture more broadly, not
just with the church. We're going to go into news, politics, culture, a little bit of philosophy and history and and
talk about current events. That show will come up will begin next week, but if you go there now,
it's at Greg Matson. It's hard to find because Quick Show pulls up everywhere if you just put Greg Matson in. But if you all one word with no spaces,
Gregmatson, you'll get to the new channel. Go subscribe, hit the bell, and and be ready for when those episodes
start coming out. Uh, I'm very excited about this. Again, we're not slowing down on Quick Show. In fact, we're ramping up, and so we'll have even more
content for Quick Show, but this is going to be a separate show that I'm really pumped about. Now, thanks for listening.