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I’ve recently started blogging as a bit of spiritual therapy. There are only a few posts at the moment. I was interested on your perspectives on ‘absolutism.’
Full post here:
http://manyotherhands.blogspot.com/2013/02/if-two-churches-claim-only-absolute.html?m=1 A few key points as the full post is quite repetitive as I type as I think and have no sub-editor!:
I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last couple of months reflecting on the need for ‘absolutism’ in (some) faiths. Joseph Smith said God told him to “join none of (the churches), for they were all wrong” and “all their creeds were an abomination in his sight.” He further compounded the absolute nature of our faith with the revealed statement: “this church… (is) the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.”
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Mormons are not the only ones to claim to be the ‘only’ way or ‘best’ way in the whole world. I can see how that belief is useful, but could be contradictory if applied to more than one faith.
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Without absolute beliefs, some (disaffected members appear to) abandon basic moral values; values that aren’t dependent on Mormon doctrine… If I’m only avoiding an affair because I’m a Mormon, that’s a poor reflection on my underlying moral values. I like to think it goes beyond simply being told, by God, what to do and instead embracing ways I can treat people the way I would want to be treated.
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I sometimes wonder whether God, in his mercy, is happy for certain faiths to make absolute claims in order to help the people in them. Some people can’t handle uncertainty. When we visit friends one of my kids needs to know, on arrival, what time we’re leaving. We used to say we didn’t know yet, but that would make him feel anxious about whether he’d have enough time to play. We’ve now learned to tell him something specific like ‘4pm’, safe in the knowledge that if it ends up being a little earlier or later he won’t complain about it. Maybe we’ll get to the other side and discover God has been doing something similar; giving absolutes to those who need them in order to help us along the way.
Others seem very comfortable without absolutes. They can function with uncertainty and are happy finding their own way along a spiritual path or in a faith that leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation or application. I admire people who have strict morals, warm hearts and helpful hands with no religious belief at all. To believe there will be no eternal blessings or consequences and accountability before God after they die, but still be a positive influence in the world seems, to me, to be truly praiseworthy.
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I’m uncertain about whether I can consider D&C 1:30 to apply to the whole human family. I’m comfortable saying it’s currently the only true and living church for me and that others would be wrong for me at this stage of my life. Probably for all of my life. Maybe I’m one of the people who would struggle without the absolutes. But in saying all that, am I making my foundation of Mormon absolutes start to crumble? An absolute can’t be an absolute if it’s not… absolute.
Any thoughts?I think the concept is dangerous and does more harm than good, throughout history. I also think it is the greatest contributor in the LDS church to the mormon universal sin which causes the apostasy cycle…PRIDE. That being said, if my neighbor doesn’t rape and pillage my household because he is only worried about going to hell…fine by me.
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While I am not a fan of absolutism, I really feel that a lot of churches, particularly mainstream Protestant churches have sold themselves short with woolly, vague and non-committal answers. Anglicans are amongst the worst for this, due to their tie with the state, and then they wonder why their members feel lost, and drop away. (Their established membership has dropped off far more than ours) Most people need something in which to believe, and most people need to feel secure and stable in their lives and worldviews. Most people need absolutes of some kind or another. I don’t begrudge that need or attempts to fill it.
I’m just not one of those people – but I still like the absolutes of Mormon theology more than the absolutes of other religious theology. I don’t like the way those theological absolutes often get translated into cultural and religious absolutes, but, still, the theology makes it “true and living” for me – especially since I can define those terms in ways that make sense to me. I just have to sort through and filter everything else.
I would say that most people find absolutes helpful at some stage in their development and that some people find absolutes helpful for their entire lives. I feel that the people that through life experience and individual temperment etc. have outgrown many absolutes will be the same people that start to question the all or nothing mentallity. It’s helpful until it isn’t. Some absolutes are good. For example the Ten Commandments should be treated as such, and even if we disagree with the first few godly ones, then we cannot disagree with the later ones. Get relativistic about murder, lying and stealing, and you head into Manson family territory. And remember he was a religious leader. Maybe his followers had the wrong absolutes. If the world was absolute in obeying them, then it would be a better places.
I read through your blog and left a couple comments there. I think that absolutes create an us-vs-them attitude which leads to (not necessarily creates) fear, intolerance, and hate. Since my faith crisis I have noticed that I am much more tolerant of people who don’t have LDS beliefs! Thanks for the feedback. I agree with some of the comments that attitudes of absolutism can lead to superiority and complacency.
Given the church does make such strong (and absolute) claims, which I know longer believe (at least not in the way I used to), I suppose this is a process of me trying to reposition the reasons for these claims given I no longer accept them. I guess most faiths, at some point, had to have an attitude of ‘absolute/best’ – you can’t really sell a new product as ‘the second best on the market.’
I wonder if, over time, Mormonism will follow those churches who soften the absolutes to be less divisive but in doing so loose their ‘USP.’
I am fine with any religion claiming absolute truth if they can back it up with more than just claiming they have the one true way. And that is the rub. Plenty make the claim but no one can even remotely prove it. To make a claim without verifiable evidence is just opinion. SamBee wrote:Get relativistic about murder, lying and stealing, and you head into Manson family territory. .
I think Nephi pushed those exact three aside on the night he visited Laban. Is he an honorary Manson or a noble Prophet doing God’s work?
or could he have been both – temporarily and eventually? The same could be said of Moses – and Joshua – and Paul – etc.
We tend to like our prophets to be caricatures, and I’m not just talking about the traditionalists when I say that.
Brown wrote:SamBee wrote:Get relativistic about murder, lying and stealing, and you head into Manson family territory. .
I think Nephi pushed those exact three aside on the night he visited Laban. Is he an honorary Manson or a noble Prophet doing God’s work?
Not the finest moment in the BOM and one that many people have trouble with. A pity they didn’t have photocopiers in those days!
Someone on an anti-Mormon website wrote an excellent news report… you know, quote from bereaved Mrs Laban, suspect fled scene, JPD want to talk to a Mr Lehison… etc
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