Lest we lose the strength and conviction of being a simpleton, we usually shy away from questions raised by horrible things like this.

But seriously,

1- Can we really have one foot in the politically correct world of showing respect for other religions and send out missionaries to begin with? Doesn't that inherently involve saying 'You're religion is wrong, mine is better, and you should change'? Is there anything respectful about that?

2- If you consider the Catholic Church to be the great and abominable church a la the 1st edition of Mormon Doctrine, then it is "apostate Christendom" and dump the whole PR spin already. If you believe everything that isn't us to be the great and abominable church, a la the 2nd edition of Mormon Doctrine, then don't try to act respectful just because it sells to pretend.

3- Going back even further, isn't this sort of sectarian strife what is involved when you try to argue and preach and sell one version of doctrine over another, each claiming that his or her own is GOD's version?

4- Do we not have "True religion doesn't involve statues of Mary... true religion doesn't have fine artwork in a Cathedral... true religion doesn't have...." in our books, for those bother who read them?

5- Even better, isn't smashing up the apostates' statues exactly what the Old Testament says to do 150 times?

These were just 3, yes, amongst those 58,000 who have cleared the raised bar. Of course, many comments on the Deseret News and Tribune are from RMs who have confessed to similar, if less outrageous, actions, comments, and attitudes.

The fact is, we all know that what the Elders did is a symptom of a bigger underlying problem in the Church, especially amongst native and more rural Utah where dealing with religious diversity is rare. But when we start condemning it, you have to face up to the bigger problems of the Jewish/Muslim/McConkie heritage, where as the holders of the 1 truth and the 1 God we have to smash the idolaters idols, and smite the gentiles, and all of that.

Unlike what the Church PR guy said in the Trib, in ironic words, there are no "cardinal tenets" in the church, and respect for other religions is certainly not taught. My 4 year old didn't sit in the car, driving home through the Fort Worth Bible Belt, looking out the window and start saying "Not the true Church... not the true Church...not the true Church.." because of anything we taught him.