Oaks' new book says Mormons respect other religions ( LDS Leader: Church's missionaries try to respect wishes of all countries, their people)
Salt Lake Tribune 25Sep99 N1
By Peggy Fletcher Stack: Salt Lake Tribune

Apostle Dallin Oaks and LDS Church General Counsel Lance Wickman have co-authored a new book on the legal and philosophical basis of proselyting. Their book, " Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Mission," which is due out this fall, says that LDS missionaries respect local laws and the desires of individuals not to be proselyted.

In the book, Oaks and Wickman write that Church members believe in the freedom to "hear and choose between competing philosophies, doctrines, and religions," which they call a God-given right. And, they say that governments should protect that right. "Governments have a solemn duty to protect and preserve that agency to every person within the reach of their jurisdictions. No government can long endure that does not secure these basic freedoms to its citizens. The scrap heap of history is strewn with the tattered remnants of regimes that behaved otherwise."

Their book also discusses the LDS Church's ideal policies for dealing with governments around the world. Oaks and Wickman write that the Church will always obey local laws. "When it comes to getting members to work to change their government, our effort is more frequently to restrain than to compel. We've had some people who have been super active in this area and we've had to say, 'we only do this by lawful means.' " Instead, the Church seeks respectability in every country, "We want them to see us and our members as good citizens of their country, people who participate to the extent their system allows in the government, to serve in the armed forces, for example."