Joining us now from Salt Lake City is Gordon B. Hinckley, president
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's always good to see
him, but not under these kind of circumstances. But we thank you very much,
Gordon, for joining us.
What would you say to those millions of people who are going to go synagogues
tomorrow and wards of your church and Catholics and Protestants and Methodists.
They're going to go to all their houses of worship Sunday. They're going to
be in Saturday. What are you going to say to them? What would you say to them?
GORDON B. HINCKLEY, PRESIDENT, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS:
Our hearts are all subdued. The guest that you've shown us tonight have brought
us very close to this sad chapter in the history of our great nation. The
losses are so terrible. They're incomprehensible, that we have suffered, that
our people have suffered so much, so very many of them and so very seriously.
When we get in circumstances like this, there's only one true source of comfort
and that comes from God, our eternal Father. We look to him, we bow our heads
in prayer. We plead with him in behalf of those who have gone and their loved
ones who are left and those who are wounded, all of whom have suffered so
immensely. Certainly this is a time of national mourning and national resolve.
KING: I'm sorry, but what about. Gordon Hinckley, those who might say, why
have you deserted us? Why are these people gone? Why are those buildings burning?
Why is the Pentagon, why are planes lost? Why? They must ask that.
HINCKLEY: We don't know why. We don't understand everything, but we do know
that our Father loves us and watches over us. We do know that life is not
only that phase that we call mortality, that there is beyond this life another,
which is as real and as certain as is the life that we now live. And that
those who have go beyond will continue and will in fact make preparation for
their loved ones who will follow. I have no doubt of this.
KING: None?
HINCKLEY: Go ahead, please.
KING: You have no doubt?
HINCKLEY: I have no doubt personally whatever.
KING: Gordon when you see -- all right, Billy Graham said today, we have a
choice whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as
a people and a nation or to become stronger through all of this struggle,
to rebuild on a solid foundation. What, though, Gordon, do you say to parishioners
who say what do I do with my anger?
HINCKLEY: Well, you live it with it. You try to subdue it. You calm your emotions
if you can do so. You plead with the Lord to bless you with a sense of self-control
and an overriding faith that, in spite of all of this terrible tragedy, there
is hope. There is assurance. There is peace. There is comfort in the word
of the Lord, who said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die."
KING: Our guest, if you're just joining us, is Gordon B. Hinckley, President
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We're going to include
some phone calls for President Hinckley.
Houston, Texas, hello. CALLER: Well, hello, Larry. I'd like to ask the reverend,
does it bother him that a lot of the people that have committed these acts
hide behind their religion as their reason?
KING: Yes, the people doing it say they believe in God and they love their
God.
HINCKLEY: Well, of course it bothers me, it troubles me very greatly. I think
that religion offers no shield for wickedness, for evil, for those kinds of
things. The God in whom I believe does not foster this kind of action. He
is a God of mercy. He is a God of love. He is a God of peace and reassurance.
And I look to Him in times such as this as a comfort and a source of strength
and reassurance.
KING: President Hinckley, though, couldn't He have prevented this?
HINCKLEY: Oh, I suppose so. I believe he's all powerful, yes. I don't know
His will. I don't know how He operates. His wisdom is greater than mine. He
sees beyond what I see. But I have confidence, overwhelming confidence in
the fact that He, who sees life, in its true and eternal sense will provide
for those who suffer as these people have suffered as a result of this atrocity,
which has been committed against the nation, which we love.
KING: I know you know the President, I know you know his father. What did
you think of what he had to say today and what did you think of that whole
service at the National Cathedral?
HINCKLEY: I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was very expressive. I
think the President has done the right thing. I think that his words will
bring reassurance to the people of America and particularly to those who have
suffered such terrible losses. And certainly he's done the right thing in
bringing that assurance.
God loves us. He loves his children and he will provide for us. I have no
doubt of that. We face terrible sorrows. None of us can understand the enormity,
the tension of those on those planes, for instance, who were headed for crashes.
None of us can understand those, the feelings of those innocent people in
those buildings, which were taken down.
But with all of that, for those who are left, for those who are wounded, I
bring you a message of peace and hope and comfort. That comfort which comes
not from man, but from God Himself, who is the father of us all and who loves
us.
KING: And that message comes while you weep?
HINCKLEY: Yes, it comes while I weep. My heart reaches out in sorrow, as I
listen to the people you have interviewed tonight and particularly Mr. Olson.
I was touched to the bottom of my heart by the terrible price which has been
taken in terms of the loss of his beloved companion. But I have no doubt,
none whatever, of the fact that life is eternal, that we are immortal beings
and that when we step over the threshold from this life to the next, it will
be for those who do that, a pleasant and uplifting and wonderful experience.
KING: Brooklyn, New York, for President Hinckley, hello.
CALLER: Yes, hello, Larry. I'd like to ask President Hinckley as a man of
God, how he feels about these men that committed these atrocities against
us?
HINCKLEY: Well, I feel terrible about them. I just think that they have done
the worst kind of thing that anyone can conceive of. It is a terrible thing
which they've done and they will stand before the bar of God and be judged
by Him, who knows all things. And I think his judgment will be sure and certain
and most condemnatory concerning the things which they have done to this nation
as they did last Tuesday.
KING: Do you forgive them?
HINCKLEY: Well, I don't carry in my heart malice toward anyone. I believe
that justice must prevail. If there has been wickedness or if there has been
evil, we will pay for it. Justice will exact its toll. And God will hold us
accountable for that which we will do. We shall answerable for that, for our
behavior. And I think those who have committed this atrocity will have to
pay for it.
But in my own heart, I tried to cultivate a spirit of Christian love without
bitter malice or unkindness, but only love concerning those who have suffered
so much even though I feel a measure of sensor, very strong and very certain
to those who have done this terrible thing.
KING: President Hinckley, you've lived 90 years. You've seen lots of tragedies.
HINCKLEY: 91.
KING: 91. Lots of tragedies, lots of uplifting, nothing like today of course.
And yet you never waver?
HINCKLEY: Never. I have an absolutely solid faith concerning the eternity
of life, concerning the fact that we're all sons an daughters of God, regardless
of our religious persuasion, regardless of our nationality. We're sons and
daughters of God.
He expects good things of us. He expects us to live lives of accountability
and the right kind of pursuits, not to be destructive, not to be evil, but
to rise above these terrible things and depart ourselves in a manner that
will bless mankind and bring to pass that peace which all the world longs
for.
KING: President Hinckley, we thank you very much for being with us. Your words
have been inspiring and we know that millions will be going maybe in record-breaking
numbers this weekend to their houses of worship. And we know you're there
in spirit to all of them.
HINCKLEY: Thank you very, very much, Larry.
KING: President Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints from Salt Lake City. We will be with you with live editions
of "LARRY KING LIVE," both Saturday and Sunday nights. Upcoming
will be a special report with Aaron Brown, who's been on top of this scene,
including on top of buildings as well, ever since the start of that horrible
Tuesday morning.
As we leave you, we offer the highlights from the National Cathedral, the
singing of "America the Beautiful." I'm Larry King for all our guests,
God bless.
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