- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
One thing that hangs me up lately are the sacrifices expected for the Church/Gospel. They are very significant. Let’s assume, for a second, that in the end, our religion isn’t everything we think it is. What are the intrinsic benefits of the sacrifices? Can sacrifice for something one believes to be good, but which ultimately, is just another religion made by man, a good thing, particularly when so many other good things, like self-reliance are also sacrificed (such as savings sacrificed for tithing, for example)? SilentDawning wrote:One thing that hangs me up lately are the sacrifices expected for the Church/Gospel. They are very significant. Let’s assume, for a second, that in the end, our religion isn’t everything we think it is. What are the intrinsic benefits of the sacrifices? Can sacrifice for something one believes to be good, but which ultimately, is just another religion made by man, a good thing, particularly when so many other good things, like self-reliance are also sacrificed (such as savings sacrificed for tithing, for example)?
Lowell Bennion liked to quote a hindu proverb, “To action only hast thou a right but not to the results thereof”. I think all you can do is act because you felt it was a good and right thing to do and let it go at that.
Nice quote, GBSmith. I like that one. SilentDawning wrote:Can sacrifice for something one believes to be good, but which ultimately, is just another religion made by man, a good thing, particularly when so many other good things, like self-reliance are also sacrificed
I am pondering these things too, SD. I think that no amount of religion can be helpful if it does not require something in the physical realm. It is through our mortal experience that we transform ideas (what we learned in the spirit world) into experience (what we do about it in this world).
Sacrificing (tithing, callings, Word of Wisdom, fasting and offerings, some elements of individuality) is how we show our faith, and how we learn from our faith so these ideas become part of us. It is necessary.
As GB said, all you can do is pick the ones you find most meaningful, and not run faster than you have strength trying to do too much.
But to answer the question directly, Yes…I absolutely think sacrificing for something man-made can provide wonderful, eternal blessings…when the person has the right heart in how they are doing it.
Personally I think sacrificing for sacrificing sake is a very bad approach. We all have responsibility to make the most of this life and to try and leave it a better place than we found it. If I spend my time sacrificing to something that is not true or something that provides little value then I am squandering my time here. I often think of all the time spent at the temple working for the dead. If the dead truely need this then OK, but if it is a false teaching then what a colossal waste of time and resources. Of course I agree it is an individual thing to determine what you feel important to sacrifice for. You should not be letting others even church leaders tell you what is important. If there is a God and some kind of judgement we will be as liable for poor judgement in the face of the obvious as anything else.
SilentDawning wrote:One thing that hangs me up lately are the sacrifices expected for the Church/Gospel. They are very significant. Let’s assume, for a second, that in the end, our religion isn’t everything we think it is. What are the intrinsic benefits of the sacrifices?
Can sacrifice for something one believes to be good, but which ultimately, is just another religion made by man, a good thing, particularly when so many other good things, like self-reliance are also sacrificed (such as savings sacrificed for tithing, for example)?Yes, I think some arguably unnecessary sacrifices can be worthwhile sometimes. The question is who really benefits the most from it and do they really deserve to benefit this much from others’ sacrifices? Maybe some short term sacrifices will actually provide long term benefits for you or your family over the long run. Maybe doing something you believe is right even if it is inconvenient for you personally will give you a sense of satisfaction and/or help you avoid any guilt you would feel otherwise. However, it looks like the Church doesn’t hesitate to ask for relatively high levels of sacrifice mostly because enough active members have been willing to go along with it without complaining about it too much so far. When too many active members basically refused to listen to them in the case of birth-control that’s when they stopped emphasizing the idea that women should be stay-at-home moms and have as many children as possible quite as much anymore.
The problem is that some of these sacrifices the Church still expects look like they provide little or no benefit to most members as a whole and even if they still benefit the organization somewhat there is a significant amount of wasted time, money, and effort far in excess of what is really needed to continue to operate at a minimal level. Personally, I think there should be more balance between sacrifices for the greater good and what is in the best interest of the individual. In my opinion the Church has set the bar too high when it comes to sacrifice and this is one of the main reasons there are so many Jack Mormons that will no longer listen to the Church because of all these strict rules and heavy demands that are too much to realistically expect out of the average person nowadays.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.