Mormons Just Believe: A Lighthearted Departure

"What the ƒ⩏⋤⋉ is this?!"

The Tony Award winning Musical, The Book or Mormon, is a religious satire.  It pokes fun at organized religion, makes light of things some may consider too sacred, and in parts, it's down right filthy.  But having only seen bits and pieces and reading the reviews, the one thing it doesn't seem to do is attack Mormons personally.  They celebrate their strengths even if they make light of their weaknesses... something a lot of us actually do even with our family and friends.

The few doctrinal errors and over-generalizations aside, I think this song sums up the religious experience for many.  Feel free to interpret this however you want.  I believe those for and against can take away a message here.  Personally, I think it's just fun and entertaining.

The Morality and Ethics of Redemption

Blasphemy:

The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk. 

Heresy:

Belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine.  Opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted.

I would like to clarify something for those exceedingly troubled by my personal views.  I am not a blasphemer.  I am a heretic.  While I am sure there are some who make little distinction between the two and find both vile and beneath contempt, I use the word heretic in its proper context and with its true meaning.

I have spoken of Jesus as the archetypal man; the one to emulate to overcome error and realize immortality.  I have also spoken to my belief that christ and redeemer aren't titles for a divine third party but actually reflect introspective metaphysical roles we must learn to take on ourselves for ourselves; as the fabled Jesus did.

Many Christian traditionalists have taken severe issue with my views and some have asked for clarification as to why I would believe such things.  Now, I will attempt to be clear and direct but I trust you will not feel it reflects judgment on you.  It is not my purpose or intent to condemn your revered beliefs.  I only wish to share mine.  I do not claim a higher understanding.

To put it succinctly, I consider vicarious redemption by sacrifice to be immoral... be it animal, human, or divine in nature.  It is reminiscent of an archaic custom practiced by primitive societies where they would ritualistically pile the sins of the tribe on an animal and drive it out into the wilderness to perish.  In so doing, they would rid themselves of their sins.  This is the etymological basis for what we know as scapegoating.  I find the idea that through the punishment of another life my sins can be forgiven to be reprehensible.  It nullifies personal responsibility; the one thing on which all morality, ethics, and our very integrity depend.

This is why I embrace the gnostic tradition of many early Christians and view Jesus not as God but as teacher.  He didn't take away our responsibility.  He didn't undo our errors.  He didn't have a need to forgive us.  He did, however, demonstrate a philosophy for undertaking all of this.  Redemption isn't a single quantitative act.  It's an ongoing qualitative journey of self.

"It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute."

 ~ Aung San Suu Kyi - Freedom from Fear

Forget Me Not

A Lesson in Personal Perspective

One artist of the faith I greatly admire is Dieter Uchtdorf.  While he does embrace much of the orthodox dogma I reject, he spends much of his time speaking to the more founding principles of the Christian movement.  In doing so, he engenders a respect and inclusiveness not always representative in orthodoxy.  For these reasons I consider him my favorite among LDS theologians.

Due to his polished and eloquent nature, instead of paraphrasing, I'd like to share a few excerpts from one of his uniquely focused addresses given to the Relief Society.  Dieter outlined his five pedals of the Forget-Me-Not.

Forget Not to be Patient with Yourself

"I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.  Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. 

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. 

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.  It’s wonderful that you have strengths.  And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses. 

Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey."

Forget Not the Difference Between the Good and Foolish Sacrifice

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth. 

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another. 

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective." 

Forget Not to be Happy Now

"There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings—we hope and seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”  The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event—our golden ticket—to appear. 

This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life. 

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

Forget Not the "Why" of the Gospel

"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."

Forget Not the Lord Loves You

"Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!"

As I struggled to sum up my feelings at the close of this General Conference, an unlikely source of clarity presented itself in his untimely death.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." 

~ Steve Jobs - 2005 Commencement Address, Stanford University

We need not be limited by another's thinking.  Ideas are fluid and are only limited by our imagination and intellect.  Wisdom may be found anywhere we have the patience to look.  Because one intends to lead us down a particular path of particular thinking, that doesn't mean we must necessarily go.  We can learn to follow our own intuition and find our own path.  But it's important to remember not to be too focused on our own trailblazing and ignore the insights of other travelers we meet on those rare occasions our paths do cross.

Conference is an exchange of ideas.  They are not set by established dogma.  We are free to ponder and interpret them as our personal experience and need requires.  This is how I left Conference.

Conference: An Intricate Weave

The School of Athens by Raphael
The Apostolic Palace, Vatican City 1511

Philosophy is to empirical knowledge as axiom is to theorem and poetry is to prose.

Our technology has advanced sufficiently that we are now able to test the veracity of much of our surviving mythology but faith and religion are much more than just a collection of stories.  They are a collection of philosophical ideals wrapped in allegory.  In our science biased world, we want to treat religion as a form of empirical knowledge; something to be proven before it is accepted.  This, in our current stage of intellectual evolution, misses the point entirely.

By its very nature, philosophy is magnificently adaptable.  It is an intricate weave of logic and reason, fiction and fact whose resulting complexity lends itself to near infinite range of interpretation and perspective.  It can broaden the mind and lift the soul.  In essence, it can add meaning and dimension to every day living... all without requiring fiduciary evidence.

I don't need to be a believing devotee of the faith to find Conference useful.  I do, however. need to be a respecter of the artist to fully appreciate his work.  This is how I head into Conference.

“Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.” 

~ Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

There Is A Field

"A militant kind of aggressive religiosity, sometimes called fundamentalism, has grown up in every single one of the major world traditions as a rebellion against this imbalanced world, a rebellion against humiliation, powerlessness and there is a sense of rage expressed in religious terms.

~Karen Armstrong

Twisted and focused by men insane with hatred and fear, this kind of fundamentalism was used against us ten years ago.  There is no excuse or redemption for what they did... at least not in this life... but we must still look objectively at how we fell victim to these predators of spirit.  And victims we are... the perpetrators, their supporters, those who perished, those who lost loved ones, those who stood in horrified witness... all of us

We must, as a people and as a species, move beyond the small and petty definitions of perceived right and wrong and embrace the beauty of difference God has blessed us with.  This is my day's tribute:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. I will meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about

language, ideas, even the phrase each other

doesn't make any sense."

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

13th-century Persian, Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

Halfway to Nicaea

Mosaic: Church of the Loaves and Fishes, Tabgha (Heptapegon) Israel

Photo by hoyasmeg

The Truth of Immutability

"The belief that Christ was married has never been official church doctrine. It is neither sanctioned nor taught by the church. While it is true that a few church leaders in the mid-1800s expressed their opinions on the matter, it was not then, and is not now, church doctrine."

Official Statement

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Dr. Robert L. Millett is the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.  He is also a professor of ancient scripture and emeritus Dean of Religious Education.  For the past 30 years, inter-faith dialog has been a focus for Dr. Millett.  He takes a rather pragmatic view of LDS doctrine.  Back in January of 2008, I had the opportunity to hear him speak.

Dr. Millett was the invited guest on the Peabody Award winning national public radio program Speaking of Faith.  The 2008 presidential debates had fallen into a sort of dogmatic quagmire as largely misunderstood and misrepresented concerns of Mormon culture and belief dominated the political discussion.  Dr. Millett was called on to help frame that discussion by sharing some of his thoughts on Mormonism.  During the course of the conversation one rather unassuming question led to a startling and even evocative response:

"I wonder, you know, is revelation still happening and are there teachings that stop making sense at times or are there new ideas that arise?"

Dr. Millett framed his answer in a then recent controversy surrounding author Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.   He paraphrased the official church response to the debate regarding the san greal (holy grail) or the mythical cup used to capture some of the blood spilled at Jesus' crucifixion and the sang real (royal blood) or the inference that Jesus married, had children, and established a holy or royal line of progeny.

"The scriptures are silent as to whether Jesus was married.  It is true that early church leaders may have offered their opinion on this matter, but those opinions did not then, nor do they now, constitute the doctrine of the church."

So far nothing too extraordinary but how Dr. Millett interpreted its significance really was.  He declared this statement establishes the idea that while Mormons revere, honor, respect, and uphold their church leaders, they do not believe in a form of prophetic infallibility.  He went on to acknowledge the church continues to formulate its truths.  Sometimes it even revises and expands on core doctrines and understandings.

"And so we — as we, as we move into the 21st century now, and as we begin having a greater focus upon Christ and Christianity and Christian principles, I think there is a tendency to look back and say, 'All right, what are the central saving doctrines? And what are some other things we, A, don't know much about, B, just don't seem to be in harmony with what, with what — and where we are now?' And I think that's taking place more and more."

Mormonism is extraordinarily young in terms of religions.  It was less that 200 years ago that Joseph Smith triumphantly proclaimed that sacred Christian scripture was no longer closed and began presenting his revelations and additional texts.

"Compared to the Christian church, which has been at this for a couple of millennia, we're about halfway to Nicaea. And so... cut us a little slack, will you? Give us a little time. We're in the religion-making business, and this takes time. It takes centuries. And trying to explain the faith and articulate the faith, that doesn't come over night.  We've really only been about that for 20 or 30 years."

Now I realize Dr. Millett tailored his presentation to non-Mormons.  He used language unfamiliar to most anyone who's sat through Mormon services.  But Dr. Millett represents a growing trend within Mormon intellectual circles to tone down religious rhetoric and to finally speak more pragmatically about the evident changes in LDS culture and theology.  He is still one of the church's foremost experts on the gospel and is tremendously influential in preparing the next generation of LDS theologic thinkers.

The Information Age has had an extraordinary effect on not just Mormonism but religion in general.  Information and resources that were once difficult to access are now just a few key strokes away.  Research that was once obscure now only requires a simple internet search engine to discover.  The free flow of information requires a new approach to theological conversation.  A new tone of inclusion and respect of difference is required to reach a more informed populace.

In a way, Dr. Millett has summed up my personal journey... looking back and identifying central doctrines I find helpful and moving on from those ideas that are not in harmony with what and where I am today.  Traditional Mormon doctrine has tried to present itself as static and immutable.  Dr. Millett has given us a rare glimpse into the mechanisms for refining understanding if not out right change evident within the faith.  For this I am grateful and, in some small measure, feel more connected to the tradition of my forefathers.

Unto Every People

Moving Forward

Many of you have asked that I comment regarding the 1978 Revelation of Priesthood and the history of racism in Mormon scripture, doctrine, and culture. For the past several weeks I have been contemplating how I may add productively to this conversation. There is certainly no shortage of material to inflame modern sensibilities on the subject.

Individuals must be allowed to change. Organizations, even religious ones, are a collection of individuals. It is sometimes tremendously difficult for an individual to accept responsibility for error. It is even more difficult for a collection of individuals. Mainstream Mormonism has chosen to reinterpret or de-emphasize some of their history instead of fully acknowledging it. They are a hierarchal society dependent on a perceived line of authority from the first leaders down to the present day. While they don't claim infallibility, they do expect it. Perhaps this is why it is so difficult for them to view this subject candidly.

I am not going to attempt to itemize a historical case for racism in Mormonism. The evidence is there plain enough to see... if one chooses. I find it disturbing and vulgar. Racism always is. But our collective history is replete with disturbing chapters. America institutionalized racism. None of us escaped unscathed. It affected our families, our communities; the very moral fabric of our nation. It stands to reason our faith was also adversely affected. Mercifully, our sensibilities continue to evolve.

Mainstream religion has always played a stabilizing role in society... binding us to the past as we march head-strong into the future. Rarely is it a catalyst for social change.... that's not its traditional role. If anything, it goes kicking and screaming. As societies evolve so do our concerns and our need for answers. Religion eventually bends, reinventing itself over and over to meet those questions. If we were forced to abandon every faith with a history of intolerance and prejudice, there's no question we would be a faithless society. Ours is a world defined by evolution not by perfection. Religion need not be perfect. Every religion has a history of intolerance and yet every religion has principles for over coming it.

Like many conservative religious sects in 19th century America, Mormonism was guilty of racial injustice... and the echoes of that injustice reverberated clear into the late 20th century. Doctrine and practice conflicted with gospel ideals. It was problematic and painful for those who chose to see it for what it was. To try and call it something it wasn't would only demonstrate the extent of our ignorance. I will not do that but I see more benefit in exploring what Mormonism has become instead of dwelling on certain troubling elements of what it was.

It's comforting to think our chosen traditions are free from all the unpleasantries of error. I'm not saying we must necessarily acknowledge that fact... just that it's sensible to be fair. Do not hold another's tradition to a higher standard than your own. If you haven't examined your own unpleasant and deficient past, don't obsess over someone else's. History provides invaluable perspective by giving us an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. Often those lessons were hard earned. But as individuals, we must be firmly planted in the present. As evolving beings, we are only responsible for our own thoughts and actions. We comprise the religions of today... not the specters of the past.

All this said, it's worth noting that had Joseph Smith survived to lead his followers west, I believe we wouldn't be having this discussion now. He wasn't perfect in any sense but I do believe his views on race better match our 21st century sensibility than most any of those who came after him.

EDIT---

The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888 - 1963

A Utah Historical Society Essay by Patrick Q. Mason

Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons
on the DocumentaryChannel