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I actually read that this morning. I really liked it. I haven’t been able to discuss much of the “questionable” content of the crisis with anyone-beside my husband. I really feel for those of you who are alone in your searching. While I don’t have the same issues as my husband, I have found such relief with the fact anyone could even sort of understand. I have found that on this website anda few friends on here.
The fact the friend acknowledged there were issues is huge. If I hear “the church is perfect, but the people aren’t” one more time, I may hurl.
I loved this letter. I’m friends with John and he shared it before publishing it on BCC. I think it’s very quotable, particularly: -“Mormons, as a people, are aesthetically dead (I’m sure Chris agrees), so I can’t account for any of their book buying decisions.”
-“The problem, fundamentally, isn’t that the Church is not true or is fraudulent (in my opinion), it is that it has been lazy, complacent, unimaginative, and dogmatic.”
-“What you’ve been taught about the church up to this point is deeply flawed.”
I completely agree with both of you…just acknowledging that is HUGE for people. Unfortunately, I see some of the comments on that board that seem to state that the risk is it would push people out of the church…that it would be better to respond by stating there are answers in the church, and that we should reassure people that the questions aren’t new and they aren’t really problematic.
I can respect that some people with faith do not see problems with the church. But being told that is not as loving a response as acknowledging there are problems with the church, and we are all adults enough to decide what we choose to believe about it. As a member of my stake presidency told me, “We really don’t know some things, and some answers won’t be found until we get to the other side.” So to set someone up to an expectation that there are valid answers for EVERYTHING in the church is not kind, IMO.
I don’t like using fear of losing people from the church, I prefer being open and allowing them to search for truth.
Quote:“If we have the truth, [it] cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed.” – J. Reuben Clark
Don’t reassure people to doubt their doubts…reassure them they are smart enough to find truth, where ever that can be found. But that is scary and hard for some people to take that approach because they see it as risky.
Quote:Don’t reassure people to doubt their doubts…reassure them they are smart enough to find truth, where ever that can be found.
Do both – which Pres. Uchtdorf does regularly.
I really like the letter. I tend to like almost anything that is empathetic and sincere, even when I don’t agree with some of the conclusions. I’d rather someone be compassionate and wrong than dogmatic, insensitive and right – and I am NOT saying John was either of those extremes in his letter. I’m simply saying I really like his approach.
Quote:We want so much for the church to be perfect, in spite of the people. But it won’t be. It is just as human, temporal, broken, and occasionally, unexpectedly beautiful as every other human institution. I think it is beautiful a little more than average (because I think God is actually involved in some way), but I wouldn’t be able to give you a percentage. In other words, to maintain your belief in the church, you may need to choose to expect a lot less from it.
This is the qoute that resonated the most with me. We expect so much of the church and then we give it all of our selves. It is a very precarious position to be in. I have seen different perspectives in dealing with faith crisis and staying but I believe that all of them incorporate a more nuanced, less rigid idea of expectations for the church.
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