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I wrote the following to post on my personal blog on Wednesday: I have heard many people complain about former situations with which they disagree (polygamy or the Priesthood ban, for example) and say something like the following:
Quote:They should have acted differently. What they did was wrong; I wouldn’t have done that; they should have done something else.
I would posit that the chance for something to have happened differently than it did in the past is 0% – since something would have to change about the situation in order for it to happen differently. It’s legitimate to try to learn from history in order to act differently now or in the future, but saying that someone should or could have acted differently than they actually did is imposing unrealistic expectations on them.
They acted how they thought they needed to act; they would have to have been different to act differently – and they were who they were, doing the best they could, while dealing with what was in front of them at the time as they, like us, saw through their own glasses, darkly. I am positive that my own descendants will look at much of what I have written and said and wonder how I could have believed such silliness. I only hope they realize I shouldn’t have acted any differently than I did, since I did the best I knew how.
I think what we can legitimately and objectively ask, however, is about the quality of the tradition that has been handed to us. Recognition and rectification are, as we have discussed on a recent threadWhen I struggled through Mountain Meadows Massacre in 2001, the purpose was not to condemn my forebears. It was to free myself from their sins.
I agree, Tom. The secondary point of this post is that the Lord can only take us where we are able to go – and I don’t want to condemn (or even blame) others for not being able to go where I would have liked ideally for them to go. In order to seek the outcome you mention for myself, I would rather try to understand them charitably – even as I strive to believe and live differently than they did in many ways.
I agree that we can’t change the past and we probably shouldn’t second guess what “shoulda” happened. However..
I do believe it is very important how we deal with these issues. I think we inherited these issues as truly as we inherit DNA.
IOW, I have to decide what this information means to me.
200 years ago slavery was a fact. It was true to many, many people. It is good for me to say that the people living back then accomplished good things even though they had not evolved past certain damaging practices.
In the church we need to be allowed to acknowledge the good things that past leaders and members did while at the same time being able to say, “But they were engaged in some damaging practices that we should not follow.”
For some reason we are unable to do this directly. Plus, there is some disagreement as to what practices are damaging.
Part of my journey involved “repenting” of some of the false traditions or abusive practices of my heritage. That might not be right for everyone and some might even think me silly for doing it. But, it felt righ to me. I feel better knowing that I have disavowed certain practices that are part of my heritage.
In my opinion, it is only by calling a mistake a mistake that we can learn from it and not repeat it. What’s done is done…let’s learn and move on. Just don’t forget to learn. People can’t move on until that has happened.
I would add to this idea (which is good) that we also need to see ourselves in a charitable and loving light. Many of us come to a point where we feel great guilt, feel stupid, or feel like we were “tricked” in the past because of the way we used to see things. I feel that part of a total reconciliation strategy to finding peace, regardless of ending up in the Church or leaving, is to assimilate our own past with charity and forgiveness into our present. Like ancestors or predecessors in our Church (who are separate people), we are also in the same situation. Perhaps we were unkind or intolerant of people who doubted. Perhaps we felt great shame for not living up to perfect standards. Perhaps others did us wrong in pushing us towards feelings of guilt or inadequacy. Perhaps we believed things that we are now ashamed of or feel stupid about.
We also were just doing the best we could with what we had. Finding a way of processing our own flawed (or damaged) past into our present is another aspect of at-one-ment. We are atoning with all our past selves.
Old-Timer wrote:The secondary point of this post is that the Lord can only take us where we are able to go – and I don’t want to condemn (or even blame) others for not being able to go where I would have liked ideally for them to go. In order to seek the outcome you mention for myself, I would rather try to understand them charitably – even as I strive to believe and live differently than they did in many ways.
I believe this is important. We must understand them charitably and openly if we are to learn from their tragic mistakes. Until I imagined myself at the age of 18 in the September 10, 1857 council campfire the night before the great Massacre, until I imagined the call for the oath of secrecy, until I imagined the pressure to raise my hand and say yes, I could never truly appreciate the dynamics at play. And until in that moment I remembered Alexander Doniphan in a similar situation standing alone for Joseph Smith, I could never summon the moral courage to pray with all my heart I could break free from the proxy morality of my fathers, step forward, and say:
“It is cold blooded murder, and I will not take such an oath, nor will I take up arms tomorrow.”
You are all so right. The Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized LDS Church) did a complete “update” or “overhaul” of their doctrine in the year 2000 to reflect the learning and knowledge that had been acquired since 1830. Our society has made miraculous improvements in Social Justice and Racial and Gender Equality, Education, Health and Ethics (treatment of prisoners etc.). We all need to understand that it is the Light of Christ that guided us to these wonderful changes. Where much is given, much will be expected. The problem is that we must be willing to let go of so many dearly held beliefs. I was reading an article from a Jewish man who explained why he was not a Christian. “I believe in Christ”, he exclaimed. I knew he did. He was so sincere, but “I cannot worship on the first day of the week”. The Sabbath means 7th in Hebrew, he explained. How could he ever change such an established doctrine and practice as worshiping on the 7th day?
He also explained that the Jewish Apostle, Paul got rid of all of the sacred rituals of Judism. He could not imagine life without ritual. What he did not understand was that each ritual was to teach and lead the Children of Israel to Christ, it was not the ritual itself that had value.
Now, our world is changing. Signs, symbols and rituals that meant so much to those that attended the Temple in the early Church, may mean something totally different today. Do they still lead us to Christ? Can we let go of our ham and funeral potatoes at all funerals and serve a low-fat, low sodium meal? So many of us are struggling with obesity and high blood pressure. Can we just bring fruit trays and healthy low-fat casseroles. Can we really change?
The value is discovering what did not lead us to Christ in the past is that we can change it. We can change our future.
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