BYU Psych prof addresses faith crisis at Ed Week

His observations are pretty spot-on with what I’m going through now. There was about a year of being annoyed at Utah culture that led me into my faith crisis/transition, corresponding to the rejection of cultural norms that do not conform to my understanding of God. I’m moving from Fowler stage 3 into stage 4 and it’s pretty terrifying and lonely. Part of me envies those who are able to stay in stage 3 their whole adult lives because that would be so much simpler, but the other part of me is glad I’m able to move away from the (well-meaning and often good) commandments of men disguised as commandments of God and toward the underlying principles of them. Boys are governed by rules. Men are governed by principles.

I hope that one day, at least a sizable visible portion of the church membership is there to talk to others about their faith crises/transitions. We shouldn’t have to pretend to be in stage 3 to keep our TRs. What if more than just the people on this forum are in later stages of faith, but pretend to be in stage 3? What if it’s 10% of active members? 25%? half?

I’ve come to realize that one of Satan’s most powerful tools is to convince you that you are alone in something. We can take away his power to do so (in this context) simply by being more open about questions and discussions of the controversial topics. Taboos give Satan leverage. Sexuality taboos can produce a prudish culture where marriage intimacy is frustrated. They lead to secrecy of porn/masturbation, stifle our ability to communicate about one of the most beautiful things the Lord has given to us, and lead to a slew of misconceptions.

My brother in law once stated that he wished there was a Sunday School class for those going through faith crises (this was around the time he and my sister left the church). At one point I thought Gospel Principles was the answer to that, but I’ve since come to realize that GP doesn’t really do much for that and that my BIL actually had a great idea.

And maybe we shouldn’t look at it as a faith crisis, but rather as a faith transition. Not everyone has them past stage 3, but they shouldn’t be seen as catastrophic or labeled as undesirable. They can be uncomfortable and painful, but changing your attitude can help make the transition smoother. (Or so I assume, given my lack of experience)

It’s also important to remember that those who are “further along” are not spiritually or intellectually superior. Likewise, they are not inferior for going beyond stage 3, despite what the orthodox crowd might suggest. God takes these things into account and will judge us accordingly.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865687282/Psychology-professor-examines-crises-of-faith-at-BYU-Education-Week.html” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865687282/Psychology-professor-examines-crises-of-faith-at-BYU-Education-Week.html

I think I would have loved to heard this talk as opposed to the reporter’s take on it. He does nail it with this insight:

For this reason, Braithwaite said it is important to distinguish between what he calls “cultural Mormonism,” which is based on Mormon culture and conversations, and “doctrinal Mormonism,” which is based on the scriptural, canonized theology of the Church. “I think many struggles with faith are struggles with cultural Mormonism,” Braithwaite said. “They’re not necessarily rooted in the canonized, theological doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Yep here are my cultural problems

1. Minor, but the blue shirt aversion.

2. The “never say no to a calling” and “we’ll release you when we ruddy well feel like it” values.

3. Judgmentalism.

4. The idea that the church is perfect but the people aren’t, even though without people there is no church.

5. The command and control culture.

Love the analogy, but I don’t get the doctrines.shift object.method component. What does the shift “method” do? Also, is this written in Sheep++? Or Sheep.net?

If you stick with pseudocode I met get it better

Cool analogy. Here is mine.

“.shift” is a ruby method, which bumps off the first item of an array. I thought it was fitting, since the doctrines “shift”, when you stick them in the cultural_mormonism catagory. Sadly, there isn’t much of a market for the sheep++ language. Sheep are taught that their UI is operated solely by God; there is no code. But the truth is, the programmers don’t want the Sheep to have to deal with frequent

It can be a real hassle.

My brother in law once stated that he wished there was a Sunday School class for those going through faith crises (this was around the time he and my sister left the church). At one point I thought Gospel Principles was the answer to that, but I’ve since come to realize that GP doesn’t really do much for that and that my BIL actually had a great idea.

This is a VERY common request. I know a ex-bishop that has been pushing his stake president to do SOMETHING about all the people leaving. Have a “meet” discussion area. The SP asked permission of SLC and they came back with, “No, stick to the existing meetings.”

It is a two edge sword. I think some folks could be kept in, but when you mix in a few that are “over the edge” and they might “contaminate” those that might be kept in.

This is a VERY common request. I know a ex-bishop that has been pushing his stake president to do SOMETHING about all the people leaving. Have a “meet” discussion area. The SP asked permission of SLC and they came back with, “No, stick to the existing meetings.”

It is a two edge sword. I think some folks could be kept in, but when you mix in a few that are “over the edge” and they might “contaminate” those that might be kept in.

You could disguise it as a family history class. (tangent: I definitely enjoyed doing family history over going to Gospel Doctrine/Principles. It feels like an adventure instead of a grind.)

I definitely see the point regarding ‘contamination’. I think you’d have to be careful not to let it turn into a “complaining about the church” class. Maybe the bishop could moderate?

You could also do something like ARP, but for faith crises. They say in those meetings to focus on the solution rather than the problem and to avoid going into graphic details about your addiction. I think the same principle can still apply while being helpful to those struggling with their faith.

The programmer humor is much appreciated. How about some pythonic FP? I’m trendy like that.

or this one

I appreciate the topic being addressed at Education Week.

I believe firmly that the current leadership is trying to turn the boat without rocking it so hard the longest-term passengers go flying overboard.

Everyone’s journey is different, but mine was catalyzed entirely by doctrinal issues. It started with the Book of Abraham and all the problems with that, and then moved on to the Book of Mormon. Both of these books are still considered doctrinal and historical. I don’t think you could make any sort of argument that the issues with those two books of scripture are just cultural problems.

In fairness he did use words like “many struggle” and “not necessarily.” I don’t think he was speaking in sweeping generalities and recognizes there are other reasons. And we don’t have any idea what else he said.