3 Nephi 11:27-30

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.
28 And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

(Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 11:27 - 30)

Jesus brings peace, comfort, joy, kindness, meekness, and compassion with Him. This passage of scripture makes me think of the presidential campaign going on right now. Yes, I am mixing religion and politics at the same time…

In most campaigns, I see candidates trying to drown out the voices of other candidates. I see anger and rancor between people that say they’re friends. I see candidates trying to make themselves look good by making others look bad, and religion has played a much larger role this time around, than it has in the past. I have watched and listened as others mock my religious views in the hope that it will benefit their candidacy.

I am content with the fact that I am comfortable with who I am. I don’t need to make myself look good by making you look bad; a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

I will try to remember this passage through the coming days and weeks, and hopefully it will temper my emotions as I listen to the bitter personal attacks and vitriol spewed by the contending parties. In Matthew 7: 16-20 we learn that, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” I will vote for the candidate that I believe is best qualified for the position. To date, I haven’t seen him launch personal attacks or disparage the character of his opponents.