Are you a Skeptical Believer or a Faithful Doubter?

[Anonymous]

Orson wrote:

Wow, thanks for that Dathon. It is a very thought provoking response for me personally.

I relate to a lot of what you say. I think it’s very human and in fact healthy to recognize when we take journeys through the entire spectrum (or a good part of it) of faith and question. I also don’t believe that the true and complete nature of God can be understood or communicated by humans. However, I do think we can properly recognize certain Godly attributes, and relish our experience with them. Things like love, compassion, forgiveness, the gift of life, knowledge, etc.

I do believe there is one true church for me personally, and that another would not fill the unique requirements of my specific situation quite as well.

I also have faith in the potential of community, and see progress – even evolution – of community toward a greater good and a clearer understanding, however slow that progress may be.

FWIW I see myself as a questioning believer – the only type of believer that can be a true or authentic Mormon in my book.

I can agree with what I understand you to have meant, but I could be misinterpreting. It may be that different people find G-d / transcendence in different faith or affinity communities. I believe that the CoJCoLDS has some truth that is viable for many people. I do not feel it has a monopoly on either divine authority or truth. I believe that if it affords what you need, then you ought to stick with it and follow your bliss. I also believe the 11th article of faith, that we ought to respect the right of all people to worship / or not according to the dictates of their own conscience.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

I also believe the 11th article of faith, that we ought to respect the right of all people to worship / or not according to the dictates of their own conscience.

That’s one of my favorite “Mormon” quotes of all time – and I know Orson agrees with that sentiment.

[Anonymous]

I believe in the Atonement of Christ.

I doubt and am skeptical of some things people teach about him.

I believe there is truth in all belief systems and churches.

I would question Christ himself about things I think are weird…and I think he would approve of me questioning him.

[Anonymous]

Orson wrote:

FWIW I see myself as a questioning believer – the only type of believer that can be a true or authentic Mormon in my book.

I agree with this completely, Orson. All truth is part of God’s truth which means that as “Mormons” we are supposed to be accepting of all truth, whatever forms it takes and regardless of its messenger.

It’s ironic that we are taught this principle in the temple and are literally face to face with a reminder of it every day and yet so quickly forget. Our tendency is to dogma defenders rather than truth seekers. We literally and figuratively miss the mark.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

I do believe there is one true church for me personally, and that another would not fill the unique requirements of my specific situation quite as well.

I also have faith in the potential of community, and see progress – even evolution – of community toward a greater good and a clearer understanding, however slow that progress may be.

FWIW I see myself as a questioning believer – the only type of believer that can be a true or authentic Mormon in my book.

I agree with all of this.

[Anonymous]

I find more affinity with the term Faithful Doubter. I believe that I am contributing to the betterment of the organization through my doubts. Through the concept of optimal organizational conflict, a certain amount of disagreement and dissent in an organization is quite healthy.

Orson wrote:

I also have faith in the potential of community, and see progress – even evolution – of community toward a greater good and a clearer understanding, however slow that progress may be.

I consider myself to be part of this progress/evolution – not necessarily because the church is evolving from a lesser to a greater state or from less truth to greater truth, but because I believe in the church’s ability to adapt to the needs of the membership. As I calmly and quietly express my needs as different than the needs of previous generations and if those shifting needs are part of a greater trend among the rising generation at large then I may expect the church to slowly, ever so slowly, adapt to better meet those needs. OTOH if my needs are always part of a distant minority then it is less likely that I will see great shifts in this direction. Yet I stay, and by staying I contribute to the diversity and tolerance of the community as a whole. I see this effort as “faithful.”

[Anonymous]

Roy, I wish I was as optimistic. You said:

Quote:

…I believe in the church’s ability to adapt to the needs of the membership.

I come from a business or Corporate environment. A “Skeptical Believer” is usually looked at as working against the leadership, CEO or President of a company.

I have tried to play that role from time to time & the result is you’re looked at as not a “team player”. From my limited experience, most of the leaders in the LDS

church come from business backrounds & bring the same attitudes with them.

Mike from Milton.

[Anonymous]

I am so impressed by the ability of everyone to express themselves. Each of your answers has resonated with me. I guess I would say I am just a trying to hang in there believer. The primary song, “I’m trying to be like Jesus” runs through my head.

[Anonymous]

These 2 quotes summarize my current belief system, which is undergoing extensive rennovations

Brian Johnston wrote:

I’m a skeptical doubter. I am skeptical about my doubts

just me wrote:

I was a gullible believer. I’ve always believed everything everyone says. I believe everything my leaders told me. I believed way too much from books, Internet and TV. I have to struggle NOT to believe the crap people spew. Things that are proved false I can usually stop believing (now), but other than that I still wonder about a lot of things. I struggle not to believe conspiracy theories-they have as much “evidence” as anything else out there.

Now that I know just how easily people can rewrite history and “facts” can be altered. Well, I just don’t know what to believe anymore. So I don’t believe anything as a final truth or final say. Everything everyone ever says is merely their view of the world. That’s cool. That is how it should be.

So now I am a skeptical nonbeliever. I don’t even really believe my own beliefs. I don’t even believe that sentence I just wrote. I don’t believe anything at all. Everything is nuanced and paradoxical.

[Anonymous]

Here is a blog post at Wheat and Tares that captures how I feel about this subject.

[Author]

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