In nearly 32 years as a General Authority, President James E. Faust has on countless occasions promoted good will and respect among mankind. Now, his efforts have been recognized by the Utah Region of the National Conference for Community and Justice.
President Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Utah Gov. Olene S. Walker were given humanitarian awards March 16 at the annual dinner of the conference, formerly known as the National Conference of Christians and Jews. It is a human-relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism in America.
"For many years we have been coming to the NCCJ events because we wanted to show appreciation and respect for the representatives of all the groups in our state," President Faust said in his acceptance remarks. "The effort of so many to build bridges and good will within our community has been a noble effort."
He said he was particularly pleased to join in honoring Gov. Walker. "She and (her husband) Myron are special people. They are the role models of this state."
President Faust expressed pride in the state, noting that he was born in Utah and has spent most of his life in the capital city. "When I was a small boy we used to interpret the meadow lark's song as 'Salt Lake City is a pretty little place.' "
By and large, he said, good feelings and mutual respect have existed among different groups in the community. "There have been times of misunderstanding and disharmony," he added. "I am sorry for this. I have been a general officer of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over 30 years. I can honestly say that over the years our leaders have desired to make this community better in every respect for everyone. The vast amount of resources the Church has spent, and is going to spend, for this purpose I think is persuasive evidence of this. Hopefully, with a little more effort, more communication, our mutual respect and appreciation will be even greater in the future. I think it behooves all of us to try to be more magnanimous in our community and humanitarian efforts."
In accepting her award, Gov. Walker, appointed four months ago to serve out the remaining term of Michael O. Leavitt, newly appointed director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said she and Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham had been conversing. She said they had marveled "that as far as we know, we're the only state where a female governor was sworn in by a female chief justice."
Both Gov. Walker and Justice Durham are members of the Church.
Gov. Walker spoke of visiting a school where she had asked the students what they wanted to be when they grow up. One girl responded that she wanted people to like her. "And I thought, what a sad comment to just want people to like you. I thought, how many people are out there hungry for somebody to love them? Certainly, this group embodies that symbol of treating everyone with dignity and concern, caring about others, caring about how others feel."
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