- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
I’m still trying to process Pres. Nelson’s conference talk. I watched a lot of Jonathon Streeter’s rebuttal/analysis on Thoughts on Things and Stuff and formulating my own views on it. One interesting point raised, that I’ve seen discussed elsewhere is the idea raised in D&C 19 that many critics believe unlocks the whole idea of Mormonism. In D&C 19, the Lord tells Joseph that the threat of endless and eternal punishment is a bit of a misnomer because it means God’s punishment, not lasting forever. This helps motivate people out of a fear of endless punishment (even though it’s a bit misleading). Critics see this as being prevalent throughout our history and the modern Church, where we teach a form of universal salvation, but also heavily emphasize works and salvation to motivate people to do better than they would if they coasted. In short, we use doctrine, guilt and other manipulative techniques to make bad men good and good men better. The fruits of this are two-fold. I think it’s hard to argue that Mormonism does not produce good people who are generally goal-oriented and high-achieving. The downside of this is what some would call toxic perfectionism that can have disastrous results. A lot of conference talks (like President Nelson’s) are meant to be a sort of kick in the butt to motivate people that the leaders see as needing motivating. Sometimes super-achievers feel even more overly motivated and may pay even more time to devotion or feel guilty about very small shortcomings.
The critic would say that leaders are using God and strict commandments as justification for a strict set of policies and rules that are meant to produce the kind of people they want and the ends justify the means. But, the flip side of that is that, by and large, it does produce good, motivated people. I’d be interested if anyone else has made this observation or sees things this way.
As with most views/doctrines, what’s best to believe in depends on the situation. If you’re being a bum, believing you need to work for your salvation, can really kick you into gear. If you’re already working hard, believing it is grace that brings salvation will keep you from being arrogant, or from being too hard on yourself. Unfortunately, believing in universal salvation by “grace”, can strip someone of the motivation needed to improve their life. Believing you need to work towards perfection in order to be saved, can lead to discouragement, and be just as unmotivating. What’s most effective to believe in depends on the individual and their circumstance. But in the Church, when one of these doctrines is taught over the pulpit, it’s to everybody, and it’s presented as “truth”.
It’s one of the reasons I wish we focused more on “mindsets” rather than “truths”. You can exchange “mindsets” based on what’s most useful and effective right now. But “truths” apply to everyone, equally, all the time. It is easier to believe in a universal “truth” than a “mindset”, but it’s less adaptable. I’d say that’s a pretty big reason why a lot of us are here at StayLDS; the “universal truths” taught conflict with our circumstance, and so we are forced to “adapt”, rather than the Church teaching “individual adaptation” to gospel doctrines.
I like the mindset idea. I recently heard a sermon putting the whole idea of the Last Supper in terms of celebrating Passover, which is commemorating the liberation of the Hebrew slaves. The point of the sermon was that the idea of the sacrament and a major theme of Christ is liberation. I like that a lot better than atonement. I think that idea works both in terms of relief from the consequences of self-destructive actions, like an addiction or poor life choices. I also think this works for other personal character flaws or human mistakes that I don’t think of as sins, but things we would like to improve. I like the mindset idea as well. One of the challenges I face in teaching Relief Society lessons is that I am about 30 years younger then about 2/3 of the sisters there. The remaining 1/3 is divided between the 30-40 year olds (mostly established in the kid-marriage routines), with younger sisters periodically. I try to listen and imagine what would be beneficial to me in 30 years when I prepare. We have a lot of “serious health problem issue teaching the gospel/connecting to God” rambling stories that I need to balance time for. Sometimes these stories are profound, sometimes the speaker needs to talk about it more than the rest of the class listen, and sometimes it just goes into rambling (and the sisters have admitted it out loud more than once so I am not telling tales out of school).
AmyJ wrote:
We have a lot of “serious health problem issue teaching the gospel/connecting to God” rambling stories that I need to balance time for.
I see a lot of this during F&T meeting. More than anything, I think it’s people needing a little attention… and I don’t mean that in a bad way. People have emotional needs and a need to connect with others. If you don’t have a friend or an ear to relate your troubles the F&T or PH/RS meeting provides a “captive” audience if you will.
When someone uses meeting time to share rambling stories that can be an indication that they need a more intimate relationship than ministers typically provide. They need a few more ears to listen to their stories outside of our meetings.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.