Zion or Utopia: What Latter Day Saints Can Learn From the Age of Conquest

During the Age of Conquest of the Renaissance, people were sailing to new lands and becoming acquainted with cultures that were vastly different from their own. Though this was a great period that brought new information and experiences to people, there were some rather negative side effects. People from other lands were often depicted as savages that needed to become "civilized," and though the men and women of the Renaissance had quality resources that could improve their way of life, they also tried to completely impose their own culture upon them in an attempt to make a Utopia.

Even though the Age of Conquest happened centuries ago, there is much that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can learn from it. At times, some members of the church may have been like the conquerors, trying to force someone to believe as we do. Yes, we have the restored gospel, which can greatly improve anyone's life, but trying to make someone join when they clearly don't want to isn't going to work.

Along with this, other's may be like the conquerors by treating people who aren't members of the church almost like savages. I recall from my mission, the account of a mother raising her children, none of whom were members of the church. They were in a rural town in Idaho, surrounded by active Latter Day Saints, one of whom was friends with her daughter. For the purposes of this story we will call the daughter Tina and her friend Max. One day, after having been friends with Tina for years, Max's parents told him he couldn't play with Tina anymore because she wasn't a member. Tina hadn't done anything wrong, and was still quite young at the time, so she couldn't understand why Max's parents would forbid him from ever seeing her again. After this, Tina grew to dislike the church, and it all could've been avoided had Max's parents treated her better.

Latter Day Saints really need to keep their behavior towards non-members in check, especially because sometimes they are like the conquers and us the "savages." It's no secret that people have misconceptions about the church, and many times the scenario that happened to Tina would've happened to us for being members of the church. As such, Latter Day Saints need to learn to treat others as they want to be treated, that way no one is a "conqueror" or a "savage" as we strive to build Zion.

Image Credit: https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/category/member-missionary-work?lang=eng