Fix Your Faith Crisis with STEEL Tools

I don’t have time during my lunch break to read the whole link, but I do get where (I think) he is going. It is something I was thinking of fleshing out a bit cleaner.

The way I was looking at it was “what would you suggest to a person that was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness or Scientologist? If so, then if God is just at all, the same process/steps/decision processes should be used regardless of what religion a person is in – including the LDS church. If not then we are doomed to be just confined to whatever we were born/brought up in/ or converted to.

So to me it comes down to getting a feeling that God is telling you what is true or not.

I am struggling as given that paradigm, I am feeling that I have not received that witness from God for the LDS church. I do feel God does guide me and on occasion has talked to me, but every time I have taken “Moroni’s challenge” or the like – it has been silence. The time God talks with me, it is always about love to me or another – not pointing to “the LDS church is IT”. I mean just as an example, I was reading a book the other day and I thought about a guy in the ward that is going through a REALLY messy divorce. So I went to go see him and I could tell I caught him when he was crying. We had a good chat and he was laughing when I left. Ouch – I didn’t stretch before I patted myself on the back and got a charley horse in my arm

I agree with Minyan Man…I think the definition is too narrow and doesn’t take into account all situations.

It seems to assume the religion is “proven” false and then mental gymnastics are used to try to explain it away, when we should not try to explain false ideas, but reject false ideas.

I think the problem for many is that is can’t be proven false. The “wooden” tools may be traps if they focus on authority revelation instead of personal revelation, but that seems a bit simplistic to the obstacles many face with their faith.

I do like the way this is described:

It should also be observed that Liberation doesn’t mean that you have to leave your religion. You can be liberated from the false beliefs of a false religion and still hold fast to those aspects which uplift and are positive. You can have a more balanced and realistic view of the faith, appreciating it’s rich and colored history and your own heritage among its members while rejecting the toxic features.

I’m all for the cafeteria approach, and following my personal compass…but…I do not see the LDS church as proven “false” but I just try to find the good in it. It’s not how I see it.

Regardless, the advice to follow your heart and search for truth is good advice. Perhaps the analogy is lost on me a little because I can’t think of times I’ve used wooden tools, or why I would want to, except as a kid pretending to be like my dad. And I’m not that great at steel tools either, but that is what I use all the time, it is kind of a no-brainer.

This blog post is somewhat deceptive. It advertises a remedy to fix a faith crisis and then makes you read through most of the post before you realize that the proposed solution is to “impeach” the authority of the faith and “liberate” yourself from a false religion.

From this perspective I imagine that the author 1) believes that all religions are “false,” 2) believes that all high demand religions are “false” or 3) believes that any religion that is ultimately and divinely true would not have any unsettling aspects that might require “reconciliation”/”placation”

I do not mind his advice to explore both sides of the argument but it is clear that he has already made his conclusion.

I would agree that he has his mind up even though he tries to paint a bit of both sides of the fence for appearances of objectivity. I don’t think he posts on staylds.org!

But I do agree with stepping out of “is the LDS church true” and think about the situation of what you would ask someone to do if they were a JW or in Scientology and were distressed over how to figure it all out. Part of me says it should be the same in each situation.

I also agree with Roy…that it feels like a late night Infomercial with a promise to “fix” something, but like I said, it is too easy and simplistic and doesn’t really fix it for me…kind of like those products I can buy on TV for 3 easy installments of 19.99.

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I just don’t believe there is a “quick fix” or a one “tool set” for all.

Like a diet or exercise program, people may have their “thing” that motivates them or helps them to stick with the process of getting healthier…but there is no silver bullet…in the end…individuals need to take a journey and decide what will work for them and what won’t.

Well said! I don’t think there is a quick fix either to a faith crisis, but anything that can help you look at things from a new perspective can be helpful, especially when the tools you are using just aren’t working for you.