Culture: To Each Her Own...Or So They Say

For the moment, ignore this. You'll get it later.

Culture. What is culture? I am Caucasian, LDS, and have been home schooled most of my life. What changes do these facts have on my culture? I'll put it in simple terms: I haven't known a lot of violence in my life; in fact, any violence at all--even in the movies--startles the goodness out of me. I expect and love large families. I have grown up with the idea that large families are what God has commanded us to have, and it just makes sense to me. I have been fairly protected from the crude things of the world, meaning that in general I am more sensitive to crudeness than much of the world. Many other people I know do not know these same truths.

There are so many different combinations of cultures in this world that it would take me all week just to name off half of them, so I hope that what I am about to say does not offend anybody. It was not meant to.

Let me lay out for you a few ground rules that I have come to know:

1. Everyone is different. Each person is their own person. We all have our different morals, families, beliefs and, of course, our different cultures. I understand that we all think and act, well, differently. 
2. God gave us commandments. As a Latter-Day Saint, I know and understand that the commandments that our Heavenly Father has laid out for us are simple. They tell us exactly what to do and what not to do. We can find them in the scriptures--the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants and the Bible. 
3. There are no excuses, especially if you have already come to know God and Christ. 

Many of us believe that when it comes to culture, whatever goes, goes. It is not culturally acceptable to have a large family, therefore, we won't. It is not culturally acceptable to not drink alcohol at a wedding, therefore, we must. It is not culturally acceptable to marry before getting comfortable in our careers, therefore, we can't.

It is almost a natural feeling to say, "Well, it's a part of our culture. We have to."

Well, when it comes to the commandments, I have learned over the years that this is not an excuse. Heavenly Father and Christ will hold us accountable for our imperfectness unless we first repent. I have found that we are like a kite. If we were to let go of the string attaching us to Earth's surface, thinking it would free us from all bonds, we would not fly. We would fall. It is the string, the commandments, that is holding us up, not keeping us down.

We were not sent here to judge our fellow brothers and sisters, and I hope that is not what you got from all that I have just said. I just wanted to bring to light these facts that many of us don't think of until it is too late.

kthanksbye