The Independant Truth

I recently read an article in the Washington Post written by a woman who had left the LDS church, and in an intelligent-sounding, yet bitter way, she recounted why the "Mormon Church" is in need of reform.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-mormon-church-in-need-of-reform/2012/01/27/gIQA3s44aQ_story.html)

Her conclusions were based solely upon unfortunate experiences she had with members of the Church who were incorrect, exaggerated and rude, to say the least. She was under the impression that questioning church doctrine is not allowed, and that church leaders urge the members to ostracize anyone who either questions or rejects its teachings.

This is absolutely false.

First, I want to point out the imperative importance of questioning. It is through questioning thigns that we uually come to a knowledge of truth, as seen in the scientific method. Questioning is not only healthy, it is necessary. One who does not question truth is rarely given the conviction needed to withstand later doubt and opposition. Indeeed, the LDS church teaches that in order to receive a witness of the truth, one should study, ponder and ask. If that's not questioning, I don't know what is. Even being flat-out skeptical can be good, as it will lead its questioner to research the topic, give it some critical thought and draw conclusions based upon logic and impressions from the Spirit.

Unfortunatley, not all doctrine is tied up neatly in shiny packages of logic. I don't mean to sound like a Catholic here, but we really don't and really can't understand everything about God. Not yet, anyway. Howerver, we really can and really should strive to understand everything we need to know in order to achieve salvation. My basic rule of thumb is that, if I don't need to understand it on order to follow the commandments, it's not important.

However, I'm an especially inquisitive person, and I question just about everything. I've found that not every doctrine, every commandment, every rule makes sense to me, and that is when it is time to experiment. I find that even when I don't know why I'm "supposed to" do something, if I follow it to the best of my ability, I find out the "why" later. God doesn't always lay things out for us-- he wants us to think, experiment, even fail if necessary, and ultimately come to understand things in our own way.

As for LDS leaders teaching us to "shun" or otherwise mistreat those who do not share our beliefs, I have never heard anything of the sort. There is no conference address, no article, no declaration from the Church that tells us to turn our backs on others, no matter what the situation may be. We are taught to love people as God does; to accept them for who they are, even if we don't like what they do. We are taught to honor family above all, and to love and accept all of our family members, regardless of their religious beliefs. Anyone who does otherwise is not acting in accordance with LDS teachings and is in need of repentance.

The only allowance I will give is that, sometimes, some relationships pose the risk of personal safety. When association with a friend or family member leads to abuse in any way, there is no benefit to either party in tolerance of such abuse, and one should avoid enabling the continuation of abuse. That does not mean to hate the person. That does not mean to be rude to the person. It simply means protecting one's self and family. That should be something anyone can understand.

It is sad to me that there are LDS church members that go so far as to claim doctrinal support for the mistreatment of others. We believe in Christ, and He taught that we should "love [our] enemies, do good to them that use [us] and pray for them that despitefully use [us] and persecute [us]. That's pretty clear-cut to me.

Do not judge a religion based on the ability of its members to perfectly obey it. Do not discount truth because of the difficulty you have in following it. Do not slander and defame an organization because of your personal experiences with a handful of its members. Truth will stand regardless of its popularity. The sky is not blue because people believe it is blue. It would be blue even if there was not a sinlge person to see it and call it so.