Maurine Proctor Quotes - 72 quotes

Maurine Jensen Proctor is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Latter-day Saint-oriented publication, Meridian Magazine. She received her education from the University of Utah and Harvard University. Proctor began her writing career with McGraw Hill Magazines and the Chicago Sun-Times. She has cre... show more

 Then McMillan asked the most obvious question: “How do you respect someone who is doing such a terrible thing?” The hostage negotiator said he tells himself “I don’t know what circumstances led up to this situation. I don’t know how you were raised or where, but this I know; you are a human being and you are due the respect every human being deserves. I lock that thought in my head and when I feel it in my heart, we are ready to negotiate.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Again, you can say all you want: Joseph thought he had plates, he was just mentally ill, but then you’ve got a whole bunch of other people and they seem to be densely concentrated around the area where Joseph lives – something in the water that they all imagine plates all at the same time. It’s remarkable. That’s almost a sign of divine intervention right there, that you have such luck to find so many crazy people so densely concentrated and available to him.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 The cry is “I will remove you, excise you, expunge you and pretend you don’t exist because I am too fragile to live in a world with ideas that are different than mine or words that might offend me.” Prepare to be expunged, oh you Christians. You seem to be an offense.

- Maurine Proctor

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 In the meantime, missionaries had to know the law better than the local magistrates who were often threatening to them. As scholar William Mulder noted, “The Mormons knew their rights better than many local prosecutors, who, while often sincere enough, did not always know what the new religious freedoms were or to whom they might be extended.” Many an uproar around Mormon proselytizing in mid-nineteenth century Denmark was quelled by a missionary who knew the law.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Sad experience shows us that the political elite too often do what they can get away with. Without vigorous and enlightened opposition, they can get away with a lot.

- Maurine Proctor

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 How do we know what is constitutional in specific situations? The U.S. Supreme Court and other courts decide cases in which someone claims that a government action is unconstitutional.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Are there limits on the free exercise of religion? Yes. As with any right, religious freedom is not absolute. While the government may never tell people or communities what to believe, in a few circumstances it may restrict the way they exercise those beliefs, such as to protect public safety or the fundamental rights of others. To take an obvious example, the government could forbid human sacrifice even if a religion’s teaching approved of or required it. The Supreme Court has developed a test for when the government is allowed to restrict religious practices under the Constitution.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May a privately owned media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, or television station refuse to publish religious speech? Yes. Private media outlets have the right to decide whether to publish or broadcast any materials. Individuals or groups may not demand that a private media outlet publish or broadcast their speech, religious or otherwise.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Can a religious organization that rents its facilities to the public for events refuse certain types of events? It depends. Some states have laws that specifically protect religious organizations’ right to refuse to rent their facilities for events contrary to their beliefs. But as with the issue of businesses or professionals refusing to provide services, the answer is not always clear.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May religious organizations receive federal funding for social programs and services, such as health care or education? Yes. Religious organizations may apply for and receive federal funding for such programs on the same basis as non-religious organizations, and often do so.

- Maurine Proctor

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 The Church will assist us. The Church will support us, but now we are being gifted with the opportunity to take a much greater responsibility for our own spirituality and that of our children. The Lord is saying, “I want you to grow up in me.” No more passing the buck, expecting the Church to drag us along while we have one foot in Babylon. Nobody can place in my heart, what I have not been willing to work on to place in my heart—that deepening tie to God. Our families cannot live on someone else’s borrowed light.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Why does a nation fall that rejects the Lord? In part, it is because the idea of an objective truth like the commandments is abandoned. A people who are not moral do not govern themselves in the same honorable way. Instead of regarding each other as made in the image of God, relationships are reduced to plays for power. Family and its attendant virtues are disregarded. Each person walks in his own way. Relativism reigns. Secularism becomes cruel.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Several examples of flamboyant, gifted speakers who sought to lead the people from their moorings are introduced in the Book of Mormon. They are silver-tongued and destructive like Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor who preach something that sounds charitable and good, while it has a dark and corrosive underbelly. Evil seeks to hide itself by saying I am the good and charitable way.

- Maurine Proctor

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 A ruler of a nation can fool the people, using the terms and forms they have always embraced, while changing their meaning. This would be in our country, referencing the Constitution and freedoms of the Bill of Rights, while redefining them to be the opposite from their original meaning.

- Maurine Proctor

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 On and on it goes until before the coming of Christ, the nation has divided into tribes. Why did this division into tribes finally take place? Obviously their philosophies are so clashing, their enmity toward each other is so vicious, they simply cannot stand each other. Their narratives and justifications for this hatred were well practiced, their justifications perfect. The Nephites dissenters are more violent and ferocious against their own country than are the Lamanites. Unfortunately, a nation full of hatred and division becomes ripe for foreign invasion.

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan continued “Here is a hostage negotiator who could give someone his respect regardless of their actions, almost in spite of their behavior. This is amazing! I always thought respect is something you had to earn. But, in fact giving someone your respect is something you can choose to give, regardless of their words or actions.

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Having respectfully listened and checked your understanding, you have earned the right to be understood and created the respectful conditions that make it more likely they will listen to you. You might ask, ‘Would you be interested in knowing how I see this? Would you be interested in my point of view on this subject?’

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Or you can be a little bolder: ‘I have listened respectfully and tried to understand you. I would like you to understand me, too. Do you mind if I share with you how I see that?’ This can often be a way to express your point of view with strength, and probably reduce their defensiveness quite a bit. Maybe they will listen, and maybe they will even be persuaded a little bit.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 Throw out the flawed in history and you also expunge some of the most important leadership and ideas that have ever been created. In fact, if you throw out the flawed in history, who is left? And make no mistake this belongs to a larger impulse to disdain America which has become the mode in too many places and in too many elite circles across the country. Did George Washington feel “unsafe” when he was tasked to put a rag-tag army together to fight the formidable British fleet in Boston? Did he feel “unsafe” when, at the end of the hard winter of 1775, initially no man stepped forward to re-enlist? Did he feel unsafe when he crossed the Delaware in unforgiving cold and peril? Unsafe or not, he braved inestimable hardship in a war fought by an impoverished underdog army where victory was never just a given. Thank heaven, quite literally, that he didn’t say that he felt unsafe and scurry home.

- Maurine Proctor

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 It is as if we are being invited to move quickly, surely and potently to a new level of spiritual maturity. Convenience, comfort, or ease had nothing to do with it. The Lord is issuing an invitation to a higher, holier way of living and to stride with greater purpose on His covenant path. It is as if He is saying, “You are sufficiently mature and I trust you.” We are to understand that we cannot rely on the Church alone for our spirituality and that spirituality cannot just be spoon-fed to us.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Does religious freedom include more than belief? Yes. The Constitution protects not only people’s right to believe as they choose, but also to worship, to share their beliefs, and to act according to their beliefs. All these rights apply to both individuals and groups.

- Maurine Proctor

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 “In its mildest form, irreligion will merely be condescending toward those who hold to traditional Judeo-Christian values. In its more harsh forms, as is always the case with those whose dogmatism is blinding, the secular church will do what it can to reduce the influence of those who still worry over standards such as those in the Ten Commandments. It is always such an easy step from dogmatism to unfair play—especially so when the dogmatists believe themselves to be dealing with primitive people who do not know what is best for them. It is the secular bureaucrat’s burden, you see.

- Maurine Proctor

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 What is religious freedom? Among our First Amendment rights are freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. Religious freedom means more than just freedom to believe what you want. It is also freedom to talk about and act on your beliefs without coercion or interference, subject to certain narrow limitations.

- Maurine Proctor

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 What is the public square?  The “public square” refers to all settings outside private homes and houses of worship. These include public parks and sidewalks, government buildings and meetings, public schools and universities, private property that the owner opens to the general public and many other similar settings. The public square may also include media—books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet—and, in general, anything that is accessible and open to the public.

- Maurine Proctor

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 What laws protect religious freedom?  The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects religious freedom in two ways: The “Establishment Clause” prohibits the government from adopting an official religion, and The “Free Exercise Clause” prohibits the government from interfering with people’s practice of religion. The First Amendment applies to all levels of government: federal, state, and local. The government must provide at least as much protection for religious liberty as the Constitution requires, but they can choose to provide more. In fact, state constitutions and laws often provide greater protection for religious freedom than does the U.S. Constitution.

- Maurine Proctor

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 What is “separation of church and state”? “Separation of church and state” does not appear in the Constitution, nor is it a legal term. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase to describe religious freedom as including a healthy independence between government and religious organizations to protect the interests of both. However, the phrase is sometimes used to claim, incorrectly, that the Constitution requires government to be religion-free. In reality, government may actively cooperate with religious organizations in common causes, such as public heal or social welfare. The government also has a duty to accommodate religion when necessary to guarantee the right to free exercise of religion. For example, police must protect religious communities or speakers from harassment or persecution, religious organizations must be allowed to use public facilities and government employees must generally be allowed to wear religiously required clothing to work.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Is protecting religious freedom important?  Yes. Religious freedom is an essential protection allowing people with strong differences of opinion and belief to live together in peace. The people who wrote the Constitution knew that violent conflicts about religion had plagued Europe for hundreds of years, as rulers tried to control the religion of their subjects. Some of the early colonies also tried to regulate religion and experienced similar problems. The Founders sought to avoid these conflicts in the new nation by forbidding official religions and by protecting all religions from government interference. The Founders also believed that government interference in religion was an assault on human rights. The Constitution protects people from government attempts to deny people’s basic human rights, including the right to have and exercise one’s own religious beliefs.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Does religion have to be a private matter?  No. The Constitution protects religious liberty both in private and in the public square. The right to religious freedom does not disappear when a person enters a public setting such as a school or a government buildings, when he or she accepts government office or employment, or when he or she operates a business open to the public. In fact, the government is obliged to protect religious liberty in all these settings, with only very limited exceptions.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Can the government require permits for door-to-door proselytizing or advocacy? No. However, the government may impose reasonable regulations on the time, place, and manner of door-to-door advocacy, so long as they apply equally to everyone who engages in kind of activity.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May religious groups and people of faith participate in politics?  Yes. Religious groups and individuals have the right to take positions and influence public opinion on all public and political matters. Religious leaders and organizations frequently do so. Some types of political involvement, while constitutional, may affect a religious organization’s ability to keep its federal tax-exempt status.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May religious beliefs influence public policy?  Yes. All kinds of beliefs influence the policy preferences of voters and legislators, including religious ones. The simple fact that a policy coincides with a religious teaching or grows out of religious values concerning right and wrong does not make it unconstitutional so long as the policy itself has a secular purpose, does not advance or inhibit religion, and avoids excessive government involvement with religion. For example, just because many religious teachings oppose violence does not mean that laws prohibiting assault are unconstitutional. To take a more controversial example, some types of laws restricting abortion are constitutional even though they coincide with certain religious beliefs, because they have secular justifications, are neutral regarding religion, and don’t unduly involve the government in religion.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May elected officials speak about God? Yes. Elected officials have a First Amendment right to express their religious beliefs. However, they may not use their official capacity to establish religion, such as by favoring, promoting, or discriminating against a particular religion.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May government meetings open with prayer?  Yes. So long as the prayers are not used to proselytize or advance any particular faith or belief. Good practice is to invite chaplains or representatives of various faiths, including non-Christian denominations, to take turns offering prayers and to make the prayers generic in content.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government require that government officials or employees belong to a certain religion or believe in God? No. The government cannot require any kind of religious test as a condition for public office or employment. The government may require people to take an oath of office or make a similar affirmation, but it may not require them to place their hand on the Bible or any other religious book or to use the phrase “so help me God,” although the person can do these things if they wish

- Maurine Proctor

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 May local governments use zoning laws or other means to keep religious groups out of their communities? No. Local land use laws, such as zoning ordinances, may not target religious organizations for exclusion, discriminate against them, or place unreasonable burdens on them. An example of a government action that would not be allowed is a zoning ordinance that prohibits places of worship, while allowing non-religious places of assembly for clubs or other associations.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Do tax exemptions for religious organizations violate the Constitution? No. Religious organizations are tax-exempt under all state and federal tax codes, Ub fact, the Constitution may require this, as the Supreme Court has suggested that taxing churches would cause excessive involvement between church and state.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government favor on religion over another?  No. The government may not give special privileges or place special penalties on any specific religion or religious group, or show preference for one religion or religious group, or show preference for one religion over another or for atheism.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Does government property have to religion-free? No. Government property need no be free of religious references, symbols, or messages, so long as the government does not appear to endorse any specific religion. Whether a particular display is constitutional depends heavily on the particular circumstances. Temporary displays (such as holiday displays), may contain religious elements if the display, taken as a whole, does not promote a religious message or indicate government endorsement of religion. For example, a Nativity scene together with non-religious holiday symbols, such as Santa Claus and candy canes, would probably be allowed, but not a Nativity scene standing alone would not be. Permanent displays (such as monuments) may contain religious element if the purpose and primary effects of the display are secular—in other words, if a reasonable observer would not believe the government means to endorse a particular religion.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May individuals and religious organizations use government property for religious expressions and activities? Yes. In general, the government must provide religious groups the same access to public facilities that it provides for other types of groups. For example, a state university that hosts a variety of student activities may not exclude a religious student group simply because it is religious, although certain other restrictions may apply.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Is there a constitutional right to religious speech on the private property of others? No. Even if the private property is open to the public, such as retails stores or shopping centers, permission must be obtained from the owner.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Do public schools have to religion free?  No. Public schools and universities must be neutral toward religion; they can’t favor it or be hostile to it. Schools have a duty to accommodate a student’s exercise of religion, unless it is disruptive to discipline or interferes with the rights of others. Schools may teach about religion in an academic, neutral, non-denominational way. Schools may not sponsor “religious speech.” For example, school-sponsored prayers or devotional scripture readings during the school day or at school events are inappropriate.

- Maurine Proctor

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 What laws protect religious speech?  The First Amendment provides extremely broad protection for freedom of speech of all kinds, including religious speech. The government cannot forbid speech because of its content, religious or otherwise, even it if is extremely offensive to others. This is subject only to very narrow exceptions, such as speech that poses a clear and present danger by inciting imminent violence. This strong protection of speech safeguards the free public exchange of ideas that is essential in a democracy.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Does freedom of speech include more than speaking? Yes. Freedom of speech, religious or otherwise includes not only speech, but other forms of expression such as displaying, publishing and distributing signs, banners, pamphlets, books, magazines, websites, or other materials. The government may regulate some aspects of these activities, such as solicitation of donations or commercial agreements between religious groups and publishers or distributors, but it may not control the content.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government forbid religious speech or expression on government property? No. The government may not forbid or restrict speech on government property simply because it is religious or because of its particular religious content. In fact the government has a duty to accommodate such speech, for example by providing police protection, if needed.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government prohibit religious speech because if offends others? No. The government cannot restrict speech because it is unpopular or offensive, even if it is extremely offensive or likely to provoke protests. On the contrary, police have a duty to protect speakers by controlling crowds and hecklers.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Can professionals (such as bakers, florists, and doctors) refuse to provide services that violate their conscience or religious beliefs?  It depends. Each state has its own anti-discrimination laws applying to businesses and professionals providing goods or services to the public. Some of these explicitly allow exemptions when providing a service that would violate a provider’s religious beliefs. Others do not. Similarly, some states have conscience laws that affirm the right of doctors or other professionals to refuse to provide services they oppose. While it is clear that government enforcement of anti-discrimination laws must not be hostile to religion or to religious believers, this area of the law is still in development. Cases will depend on the law in question and a variety of other circumstances. When considering the constitutionality of such laws, courts may seek to balance the government’s interest in limiting discrimination against individual freedoms of speech and religion.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Can employers discriminate based on religion? Generally, no. Most employers may not hire or fire employees on the basis of their religion or their need for religious accommodations in the workplace (such as an exception to a dress code for a religious head covering, or reasonable excuse for religious holiday observances), and must general accommodate their employees’ religious practices, unless doing so would place an undue burden on the business or other employees. One major exception is that a religious organization has the right to require its ministers and many other kinds of employees to be members of that religion and to live by the religion’s standards of conduct even outside the workplace.

- Maurine Proctor

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 “For much of the world, the Lord’s Church is presently disguised as the ‘Mormon Church.’ But we as members of the Lord’s Church know who stands at its head: Jesus Christ Himself,” President Nelson said. “I realize with profound regret that we have unwittingly acquiesced in the Lord’s restored Church being called by other names, each of which expunges the sacred name of Jesus Christ!”

- Maurine Proctor

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 That means it will never be enough just to be active in the Church, Instead, God has to be active in your soul. It won’t be enough that the gospel doctrine teacher read the lesson and pondered the attached scriptures, we have to read the lesson and ponder the scriptures. It is not enough that the sister bearing her testimony knows how to get answers to prayers, we have to receive answers to our own prayers.

- Maurine Proctor

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 This is why society works, for a righteous people. The majority of them will usually not choose evil if they are allowed to see clearly. However, if they are propagandized by liars or fed false stories, people can, of course, be carefully led to believe something that is not true about what is good for them.

- Maurine Proctor

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 This involves all manner of manipulation and deception which devolves into a kind of groupthink. You can see it in the description of the high priests in Noah’s court. Their seats may be ornamented with pure gold and their breastworks domineering, but they rested their arms upon them “while they should speak lying and vain words to the people” (Mosiah 11:11). They became united around their own false ideas and commitments by squashing, silencing, re-educating, or lighting a torch to those who did not agree with them. Everyone had to see it their way—or else.

- Maurine Proctor

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 In 1978 and already foreseeing these times, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “We are now entering a period of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: we shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization to shrink freedom even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage…

- Maurine Proctor

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 He said, “One of the most important things we learned in our research is if you can make it safe for the other person to talk with you, they almost always will.  Make it safe enough, you can talk with almost anyone about almost anything.  There are two conditions that make it safe to talk.  If both are present in a large degree the other person will feel very safe.  If these conditions only exist to a small degree there is very little safety.  If either condition is missing there will be no safety and constructive conversation is unlikely.” 

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Your discipleship may see the time come when religious convictions are heavily discounted…This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain of people’s opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will soon be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan shared, “The two conditions that make it safe to talk are Mutual Respect and Mutual Purpose.  The hostage negotiator taught us the importance of Mutual Respect.  Always choose to be respectful.  Mutual respect doesn’t require you to love the other person or even want them to be your best buddy.  You don’t have to agree with them, but you do have to show respect to them so you can have an effective conversation.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Ron asked “Can they can tell on the phone if you respect them?” Oh yes,” he replied. “If they feel disrespected, they’ll kill a hostage. It’s as if they are saying, if you don’t respect me, at least you’ll fear me. Now let’s talk.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Once you have clarity about your purpose you can begin thinking about what the other person really wants. To create Mutual Purpose, look for a purpose you can both agree to.  For example, ‘I want world peace.  Do you?’  See, that’s not too difficult. However, to make it more practical think of a result, outcome, value or a belief that you guess you would both care about, that’s relevant to your conversation. By identifying or discovering a Mutual Purpose and demonstrating your respect you can often make it safe enough to start a productive conversation.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May government employees wear religious dress or symbols to work? Yes. All employees generally have the ability believe and act consistently with deeply-held religious beliefs while in the workplace, subject to some narrow limitations. Government employees may enjoy these rights as well.

- Maurine Proctor

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 The hostage negotiator said “I find a quiet place where I won’t be interrupted, and I create respect in my heart for the perpetrator.” He explained, “People are respect radars. If they sense disrespect, that becomes issue number one and everything else is backburner.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 May privately owned newspapers, magazines, television stations, and other media outlets publish religious (or anti-religious) speech? Yes. The First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom of the press. With very limited exceptions, people and groups have the right to publish any views in any media available to them. These views may be religious, non-religious, or even anti-religious. For example, laws against blasphemy would be unconstitutional. However, the government does not have to provide the means for publishing these messages.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government control the content of religious sermons? No. Even if anti-discrimination laws were to prohibit messages that might offend certain groups of people, applying these laws to church sermons, would be unconstitutional, as would any law prohibiting churches from preaching their own views on social and moral issues.

- Maurine Proctor

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 Mutual Purpose means we both want the same thing.  This reduces conflict. There’s no need to do battle with me if I am helping you to get what you want.  Creating Mutual Purpose begins by honestly answering this question: What do I really want?

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan said, “The strategy that makes sense to me is a Steven Covey principle. “Seek first to understand, then seek to be understood.” If I work on you first. and you feel really understood, then often your defensiveness comes down. I am not attacking you. I am listening. It introduces reasonableness to our conversation and without even noticing it, we are talking, without yelling or threatening.

- Maurine Proctor

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 May the government prohibit religious speech on private property? No. Individuals and organizations have the right to express their religious faith or views on their own property, including displaying religious symbols or messages. Certain land use or zoning restrictions may limit religious and non-religious displays alike, but they may not single out religious speech or unreasonably limit it.

- Maurine Proctor

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 He said, “Crucial conversations work best when our intention is this: ‘I want to understand why you think that way. I want to understand why you did what you did. I want you to understand why I feel the way I do. I want to see if we can come up with some resolution. When those things are in your mind, you automatically check yourself. You put the brake on before you say hurtful words.’”

- Maurine Proctor

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 “What do I really want? That’s a question that takes the reasoning and logic side of your brain and plugs it in to your values and beliefs. We call it Start With Heart. Get your heart right before you open your mouth and you will have dramatically increased the likelihood of having a helpful rather than a hurtful conversation.”

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Having sincerely listened, it’s good to check your understanding. Summarize what you just learned about the other person and their point of view. Don’t evaluate or rebut. Just check your understanding of what they said. It might go something like this. ‘You feel strongly about this and this, because of this, and that’s one reason that you think what’s happening is awful and needs to be corrected. Is that right? Did I get that right?’ Give them the opportunity to clarify their remarks or meaning. Sincerely thank them for sharing. ‘I appreciate your helping me. I really wanted to know how you see this’.

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan said when you talk with others where there is the possibility of contention, you rely on principle, skill and strategy, and, even if you follow all of these practices, you cannot always guarantee the outcome you desire. Sometimes silence is best. Consider the words of an apostle. Marvin J. Ashton said, “When others disagree with our stand we should not argue, retaliate in kind, or contend with them. We can maintain proper relationships and avoid the frustrations of strife if we wisely apply our time and energies.

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Ours is to conscientiously avoid being abrasive in our presentations and declarations. We need constantly to remind ourselves that when we are unable to change the conduct of others, we will go about the task of properly governing ourselves.

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan said, “She turned that challenge and insult into an opportunity to get more cooperation and give more understanding. What we learned is that people who can change mid-stream can move from being angry to being contemplative. Her question ‘What would Jesus do’ was a very effective way of Starting With Heart. When she asked, ‘What would Jesus do’, she plugged into her values instead of her debate skills.”  

- Maurine Proctor

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 “Certain people and organizations are trying to provoke us into contention with slander, innuendos, and improper classifications. How unwise we are in today’s society to allow ourselves to become irritated, dismayed, or offended because others seem to enjoy the role of misstating our position or involvement. Our principles or standards will not be less than they are because of the statements of the contentious. Ours is to explain our position through reason, friendly persuasion, and accurate facts. Ours is to stand firm and unyielding on the moral issues of the day and the eternal principles of the gospel, but to contend with no man or organization. Contention builds walls and puts up barriers. Love opens doors. Ours is to be heard and teach. Ours is not only to avoid contention, but to see that such things are done away.”(Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “No Time for Contention”)

- Maurine Proctor

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 McMillan said, “As a society we tend to analyze and debate, label, stereotype and argue.  That’s what we are trained in. However, if I can get in touch with my values, if I can ask ‘what do I really want’, if I can anticipate the conversation and think about what really matters, things go better.

- Maurine Proctor

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