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Life Journey of Matt wrote this earlier — this is a statement his Bishop made after Matt shared some unorthodox views in Gospel Doctrine: Quote:
Take in the goodness we have here, but restrict expressing any of the unorthodox views you may be coming across to the online forums and other external platforms.”Ouch. I think the leaders in the church have a pretty good handle on the impact these internet forums are having on the membership. They allow people with unorthodox views, or unhappiness with the church to congregate, explore new ideas, and show there are common beliefs about deficiencies in the church. .
In the past, they have entrenched R-rated movie restrictions, and encourage everyone to NOT read literature that is not faith-promoting, etcetera, Do you think they could start training the entire membership NOT to visit online forums that are not orthodox (ie “faith promoting”)? And then make people like us social lepers in the church for our activities? They could quote Alma 32…
In a way, it wouldn’t matter to me unless they targeted me personally and hauled me in over it. Because as it stands, I’m on the X-files plan of “Trust No One”. So, I am not inclined to share my unorthodox beliefs or draw attention to myself. So unless I have a lapse in my self-protectionism and discretion, or they somehow identify me from my posts here, I don’t see it happening.
But as the Internet appears to be gaining more power, widespread use, and dissaffected people turn to internet forums for support, it may become a force to be reckoned with. How might the church react to forums like these over the long term?
SilentDawning wrote:Do you think they could start training the entire membership NOT to visit online forums that are not orthodox (ie “faith promoting”)?
Yes, I think they do. Especially the bishops who are ignorant to the different forums.
I do not believe they teach it is faith promoting to speculate and doubt openly online about the tenets of the gospel. They teach to safely stay on LDS.org and stay in the correlated lesson manuals and materials. They teach it is dangerous to wander. I have been told everything we need to know and study is on LDS.org, and that it is my pride that takes me elsewhere.
Maybe that is so, but I sure am glad I have ventured to see other perspectives. SOOOOO glad, I can’t even express it to others who don’t understand.
Like my other thread where I asked if you can teach doubt…it seemed everyone agreed you can’t really do that, and the church can’t do that, and similarly, they can’t teach you to visit online forums to build faith.
SD, I read that statement very differently, I think, than you did. I read it as the Bishop saying that it is fine to express unorthodox views online in a forum where they can be accepted and shared without hurting others, but not to do so in a forum like church where they actually might be damaging to others who aren’t open to them. I read it as a request to restrict sharing those views to places where it is appropriate to do so. I don’t know if that is what he meant, but it’s how I read the summary you quoted. (It’s what the words actually say, when you look closely at how the statement is phrased.) I still don’t like that as the ideal, since I believe the ideal would be an ability to discuss all kinds of views openly and honestly without fear of anyone being hurt, but that ain’t reality – so I understand and am fine with a leader who tells me it’s fine to talk about anything in a forum where it’s fine to talk about anything but then asks me to be careful in an open forum like church where my views might cause some people real pain and trouble. That’s basically how I approach church, and how I have since I was very young, so, even though it isn’t ideal, and even thought I share a lot of different perspectives in church, I always try to be sensitive to others and their needs when I comment.
I am totally honest both here and at church, but I don’t say the same things in church that I do here.
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