There are so many reasons to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Earlier today I was reading an article by Bill Maher about climate change. Effectively he bashed anyone who doesn’t believe in climate change and went on a triad about what he assumed the intelligence levels were of anyone who disagreed with his opinions. Personally, there were things I agreed with him on, and things I disagreed with him on. But what I really disliked was the tone: anger, hate, fear.

Later I was reading the news on CNN.com. I was reading about the two men who were caught in New York trying to board a plane to join a terrorist organization. And I made the mistake of reading the comments. What an amazing range of hate an anger. There’s the people who hate Muslims, the people who hate Arabs, the people who hate the Jews, the people who hate Americans, the people who hate Christians, the people who hate the people who hate Muslims, the people who hat the people who hate Arabs, the people who hate the people who hate Jews…you get the idea.

Finally I was reading Julie B. Beck’s talk from the last LDS General Conference. I’ve been trying to make it a point of reading General Conference talks as part of my daily scripture study. She speaks about the struggles of women and the importance or receiving spiritual guidance. But really, the topic is almost irrelevant to the point I’m trying to make. The point is the feel of her message: understanding, hope, faith, perseverance. Pick a General Conference topic. What would it be like if everyone spoke like that? Less fear, more hope; less hate, more love, less badgering, more imploring. I’m sure there are many people out there who certainly do not associate religion with love and kindness. All I know is that when I look at the media today, I feel a sense of despair. But when I read Gospel messages I feel like there is always hope, and always more we can do. Just think what we could accomplish of people just tried being nice to each other.