Q&A: Perfection in Imperfection

The Great Salt Lake

Part One

I never expected this blog to attract attention.  I assumed it would remain largely undiscovered except possibly by my family and closest friends.  Unsurprisingly, they remain mostly uninterested.  What is surprising is the level of interest shown by complete strangers.  

I've been collecting some of your email.  Several of your questions are quite provocative.  I'm not quite sure how to or even if I should tackle them.  That's not to say I don't have an opinion... I certainly do.  I want this to be an inclusive place where we're all served.  Focusing on divisive issues is counter-productive without mutual respect.  It may take some time for me to find just the right way to share my thoughts.  So until that moment comes, we'll hold off on the more incendiary material.  That said, there are some reoccurring themes I am prepared to answer more fully even though I have already touched on them here in the past.

Do you consider yourself a Mormon?

While I don't embrace much of their more creed-defining philosophies, I do share their expectation of faith and find some of their unique and intrinsically Mormon beliefs helpful.  This is understandable since they were my introduction to mysticism and faith.  Non-Mormons may pick up on certain "peculiarities" in my more Christian beliefs and wish to classify me as such but Mormonism does require a level of orthodoxy I fail to embrace.  So no, I do not consider myself a Mormon.

If not the Mormon Church, which church do you affiliate with?

Does it really matter?  We're human.  We aren't designed to be perfect.  Our perceptions aren't perfect.  Our memories aren't perfect.  Our reasoning isn't perfect.  And our understanding is unequivocally not perfect.  Our imperfections define us as much as they challenge us.  Our chosen faiths are no different.

All traditions suffer from error and inconsistency... including my own evolving faith.  In fact, I believe faith to be a philosophical exercise to conceptualize our imperfect existence without the need of it to be perfect itself.  It's the act of struggling with and working through faith's imperfections that actually give it any meaning at all.  This differs irreconcilably from a principle tenet of Mormon belief know as the Restoration.

To clarify this point, I would go so far as to say from the fantastical perspective of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god, there would be no sizable difference between a Catholic and a Hindu.  A Buddhist and a Mormon.  A Jew and a Muslim.  Or even an Atheist and a Spiritualist.  God would look at all of us as effectively the same given our stupendously limited development.  And so, I regard sectarianism with both amusement and concern.

The idea that at some future point, humanity will bask in a singular religious utopia is quite unsettling because it would negate the principle of agency.  I envision a world embracing the pluralistic ideals of peaceable coexistence where none reign supreme and the chaos of diversity is its own reward and its own beauty, where we learn from one another and compete in good works.


Do you support Church leaders?

It is in the context of pluralism that I emphatically reject the need or benefit to any ecclesiastical authority.  I consider it a potential evil and a distinct danger to the advancement of humankind.  That said, I recognize many Mormon leaders to be good, decent, well-intended individuals.  I support them in their roles as fallible mortal beings struggling to find meaning and purpose in this life.

This brings me to two related topics.

(Continued...)