Peculiar

We are told that "Mormons" will be viewed as a peculiar people in the last days.  I have been thinking about what that means in the current moral climate within our nation and the world.  What does it mean to be peculiar?  If it means that we teach our children to be chaste, modest and not have premarital sex, and then to be faithful to their husband or wife after marriage, is that peculiar?  Is it peculiar to teach that our bodies are sacred and should be treated as a temple, and to avoid substances that would harm them, such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco?  How peculiar is it to value children and teach that it is a sacred responsibility to raise them in a loving home, with a father and a mother?  Or is it that we teach them to not swear, or take the name of God in vain, that they should be honest in all their dealings and pay a tithe to the Lord?  How about honoring their father and mother, respecting their teachers and obeying, honoring and sustaining the law?  Or, what about serving and treating their fellow men with respect?  Is it peculiar to teach faith in God, that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, and to pray for forgiveness and guidance?

If these things are what make someone peculiar, then may there be more peculiar people in the world!