Expert: Ray McIntyre - 6/24/2007

Question
i have a situation my mom is christian and my brother who i love and respect as well as my mom is mormon i'm 15 years old and i was wondering why is there such a big conflict between christianity and latter day saints?

Answer
Barbara,

Firstly let me simply say no place is more fraught with tensions than home. Simple things can be blown all out of proportion just because there is no real escape from them.

Having said that, most Christians do not accept LDS members as fellow Christians, they believe that the picture that the Mormons have of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit is mis-formed (kind of like one of those mirrors at a county fair) and so the Mormons are not relating with God as God really is.

But I think that that is just a part of it, the rest of it comes back to that family thing I wrote about earlier. Christianity and the LDS are kind of like mother and daughter, they are so alike that they fight. So close that all they can see in each other are the things that annoy them in their own lives.

As much as possible love your mom and brother and keep out of the fights, I know that is not easy, I was 15 once too. Just remember though, if it becomes too much speak with them, they love you as much as you love them and perhaps if they know it is a problem for you they will quieten down some.

Let me know how it turns out for you

Ray mcIntyre