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https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/03/when-doubts-and-questions-arise?lang=eng Nothing new here, but strong commitment to stay, pray, and obey. We just need to remember our committed friends and family will read this and make comments and decisions on it.
Yikes. The subtitle of this article should be “Blame the Victim”. That article has 24 paragraphs. 11 of the paragraphs (nearly half of the article) talk about keeping commandments or covenants or being obedient. Four paragraphs in the article link doubt with sin (or at least, disobedience).
My faith crisis had nothing to do with sin. I haven’t had a temple recommend since Bill Clinton was in the White House. Yet, all these long years later, I still haven’t had a drink.
Also, I have a hard time with this concept: “Faith… is a decision.” I think most here would disagree with that on its face. I would love to believe again. But I can’t because I don’t. If it were a decision, I would have faith. I said above that my faith crisis had nothing to do with sin. But it did have to do a lot with polygamy. And specifically, with the idea that if God wanted us to find him through the LDS Church, why would he set it up in a way that would force us to accept something so morally and emotionally wrong?
Finally, I am kind of weirded out by the way this article perceives the workings of cosmic beings on us, as if we were puppets with demons and deities grabbing at the strings:
“When the Lord wants to teach us, He will often do it by giving us a question to ponder.”
“Satan can magnify our doubts or lead us to justify our sins.”
“The Holy Ghost will prompt us with uncomfortable feelings when we sin”
I saw this article as well, and was uncomfortable by its implication that questions are fine, but doubts are bad. It seemed to create an alternate definition of “doubt”. While I appreciate the heads up, Mom, reading this article made me sad. In some ways it is the antithesis of what Pres. Uchtdorf says. I wondered “who the heck is Adam Kotter?” A Google search led me here:
http://www.questioningmormonism.net/http://www.questioningmormonism.net/” class=”bbcode_url”> Cedar wrote:I saw this article as well, and was uncomfortable by its implication that questions are fine, but doubts are bad. It seemed to create an alternate definition of “doubt”.
Yes, I disliked that, too, Cedar. In fact at one point I think he even directly refutes Pres. Uchtdorf in “doubting doubts.”
Yikes! What a poorly written article. But clearly it is a Stage 3 written article to those in the fold to remind them to be fearful of doubts…just don’t doubt.
For some, that will simplify their lives and help them feel secure that it is simple. Obey, be faithful, and you’re good to go.
Quote:“How do you remain ‘steadfast and immovable’ during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others.”
It provides no understanding of those who fall out of Stage 3 involuntarily or how to learn new things. Just keep doing the same things and expect different results.
Was this from the Friend? Seems like a primary article to me.
In response to the article: Cedar wrote:I saw this article as well, and was uncomfortable by its implication that questions are fine, but doubts are bad. It seemed to create an alternate definition of “doubt”.
Yes. Many of the most important questions we have in life are a natural byproduct of doubt. Vilify doubt and what are we left with? What then drives the questioning spirit that hopes to grow precept upon precept?
The restoration is and continues to be founded on resolving doubts. JS doubted the Presbyterians so he eventually decided to ask god directly.
On Own Now wrote:My faith crisis had nothing to do with sin … all these long years later, I still haven’t had a drink.
Same here. If anything I’ve actually experienced an uptick in religious adherence. You tend to take better care of things that you own.
Heber13 wrote:What a poorly written article. But clearly it is a Stage 3 written article to those in the fold to remind them to be fearful of doubts…just don’t doubt.
Yeah, it’s important to recognize the article for what it is. I don’t know what this guy has or hasn’t experienced but I did find myself wishing they’d ask someone that has actually been through a FC and decided to stay to write an article. If course any Ensign article is at the mercy of the approval board as well. Black and white thinking at any level along the approval process will probably only reduce the color count.
I’d just hate to see this article used as a weapon. A la:
Quote:The power of doubt to destroy faith, hope, and even family…
Here we are again creating the self fulfilled prophecy that doubts break up families. It’s a subtle way to create expectations which in turn subconsciously drives people to those actions. To put it nicely, I’m not a fan.
Dislike. The opening sentence states “Largely because of the Internet…” almost as if it’s the Internet’s fault. I might say “largely because the churge can no longer hide uncomfortable teachings…” I did like the sentence “Some incorrectly suppose that having sincere concerns about Church history or doctrine is evidence that one is not living up to the standards of the Church.” I’ve heard this very assumption time and time again.
In one way, you can say the article demonstrates the church knows there is a problem with people uncovering things that make us question what we thought we knew. It is an acknowledgment. But the response is insufficient, as it will not address the real issues, and it will not stop those who honestly seek to understand, not to justify sin, but because they have a brain and use it, even if faithful.
It is as if someone in the 1950s would wonder if the church was racist, and those faithful would reply that we have been told by prophets and we don’t understand but should not doubt those teachings. One day, if we’re faithful, we’ll understand.
Quote:Ensign article on doubt:Likewise, if you seek an answer to a spiritual question from the Source of all knowledge, then you have to follow His rules to get the answer. This process requires at least a desire to understand the truth and a willingness to follow God’s will (see Alma 32:27). Otherwise, you run the risk of talking yourself into the answers you want to believe rather than receiving true answers from God.
If you think the prophets are wrong about blacks and the priesthood, you are putting your own will against God’s. You are turning your back on God and then wanting God to answer you. If you are faithful, we will believe the prophets have a reason God doesn’t give blacks the priesthood, you just have to believe and be steadfast, and we’ll understand some day.
Fast forward 60 years…
Quote:LDS.org essay on Blacks and the Priesthood:Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church.
Umm….how about some recognition that some people with a brain could spot racism when they saw it. And then the church changed, like some people had been hoping it would…not because they were sinning but because they could tell something didn’t feel right?
Well…I think we are all going through something in this generation that doesn’t feel right…some past teachings that have become “theories advanced to explain…” a whole bunch of literal interpretations that are not holding up to honest research.
They can call the doubter what they want…the problem isn’t the doubter…it is pretty established there are some issues the church has not yet addressed, but are real issues.
And so, this article will go away, and new more developed things will need to be written to address things properly. It takes the church decades to catch up. I think partly because they are retrenching some false ideas to placate the choir they preach to, rather than challenge the choir to think differently and to accept new ideas.
Reminds me of http://forum.staylds.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6107 ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://forum.staylds.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6107 Sigh – we seem to be getting nowhere.
nibbler wrote:On Own Now wrote:My faith crisis had nothing to do with sin … all these long years later, I still haven’t had a drink.
Same here. If anything I’ve actually experienced an uptick in religious adherence. You tend to take better care of things that you own.
nibbler… that’s brilliant.I don’t like that it was published in the Ensign – but there have been numerous articles lately that actually dispute this one, and this one is from a member who has NO institutional power in the Church that I can see. I take it for what it is: one voice that, unfortunately, got published but that is in direct opposition to multiple apostles right now.
I’m not going to be reading it – and, if I did, I would shrug it off and move on. NOBODY gets to make those distinctions for me, especially not someone at his level.
Ray wrote Quote:
I’m not going to be reading it – and, if I did, I would shrug it off and move on. NOBODY gets to make those distinctions for me, especially not someone at his level.I agree it is one voice, and could be shrugged off, but it won’t be and the tricky navigation continues. Those family and close friend relationships get hit at the knee’s again. No one cares who wrote it, they only care that it is in the Ensign. I feel like I am dismissing all of my present FC friends and future ones if I dismiss it. This isn’t going away anytime soon, the editorial staff could easily have passed this by, but chose not to. It saddens me on lots of levels.
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