Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess...
And my favorite go-to from the Book of Mormon:Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And now a word from our token publican:Ether 4:15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.
The Pharisee, though keeping every "letter" of the law as he supposed was hard of heart, blind of mind and in an awful state of wickedness as described by Jesus Christ to Moroni in Ether 4. It doesn't matter if one is a Mormon, a Catholic, a Heathen, a Transgender, a Publican, or whatever. Unless one has humbled oneself to the dust, comprehending and acknowledging one's own utter nothingness and has rent that veil of unbelief, one remains as Jesus Christ declared:Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
1. in an awful state of wickedness
2. hardness of heart
3. blindness of mind
It is nothing but pride that causes one to look down upon others simply because they sin differently. Others' garments may be stained with blood and all manner of filth and though yours or mine may have the tiniest speck, that tiny speck will drag us down just as quickly as those others whose stains are crimson. Do not think that Jesus Christ is not equally capable of washing clean the deepest, widest stains as one tiny speck. The Publican went home justified of the Lord. The Pharisee did not.