An Open Letter To Lonnie Pursifull: Lonnie, recent news reports indicate that your intentions to continue to protest at General Conference in April. As a Latter-day Saint, I am thankful for such news.
Lonnie, there are several things that you have done, that no one else could have done, including the LDS Church.
Lonnie you helped the LDS Church to obtain the easement on the Church Plaza. Brides being screamed at, wedding parties being disrupted didn't do much for the cause of the ACLU on TV. This was a divisive issue for our community and your actions served to unify the community that such behavior was reprehensible. Non-Mormons, Mormons, agnostics and atheists came together in an otherwise polarized issue. Your behavior expedited the resolution of a difficult legal matter. Thank you.
You have re-enforced the testimonies of tens of thousands. You will never persuade someone through belittling them. The Savior taught by taking the good in people and building around that. When people are persecuted for what they believe they become more resolute in their beliefs. Thank you for reinforcing what we know to be true.
You have driven away other anti-Mormon ministries who do not want to be associated with your over-the-top methods. Groups that had come to conference for years have stopped coming due to the negative publicity you generate. There is no way the LDS Church could have convinced them on their own, only you could have done it, and for it I am sincerely grateful.
You have enhanced the sense of community and unity in Salt Lake and Utah. Religious differences too often fracture our community. Your actions provided an issue that our entire state could unite under. In fact, last year two dozen evangelical pastors gathered outside the conference center to condemn the actions of you and your associates. They conceded that irreconcilable theological differences exist, but that's no reason why we can't get along and be friends and neighbors. I agree with them.
Lonnie, I am thankful for the positive externalities of your ministry. I wish you the best of health and life and hope that you will continue to come downtown for each and every General Conference. We need you.
Thomas R. Grover
tom@kolob.org