Would I Post Here if I Were Still a Believer?

[_moksha]

It might be hard to post here if one retained a child-like belief in the LDS Church. I am reminded of the way of B.H. Robert's who came to the conclusion that the foundational Church claims were bogus but still was able to see a higher purpose in the Church. I think Grant Palmer tapped into this vision too when he saw the best answer for Church members was to become more Christ centered within the LDS Church.

[_honorentheos]

It might be hard to post here if one retained a child-like belief in the LDS Church. I am reminded of the way of B.H. Robert's who came to the conclusion that the foundational Church claims were bogus but still was able to see a higher purpose in the Church. I think Grant Palmer tapped into this vision too when he saw the best answer for Church members was to become more Christ centered within the LDS Church.

While I tried the course that you suggested above, for me church participation became a bigger problem. Maybe I am inclined to bicker, as beastie has suggested, but going to church became stressful for me because the ward I attended was very culture-based. Most lessons tended to eventually swing to why the church was great and how it protected us from the obvious evils of the outside world. My problem, I guess, is I couldn't sit silently through that but felt a need to interject comments about loving others, being part of a broader community, and recognizing that most people are inherently good. Eventually as part of this discussion, I'd end up tossing in an example of why LDS weren't exactly any better than everyone else, so why were we pretending we were? Maybe if I had been in another ward I could have done as you suggested.

But more than this, I wonder why a person who is seeking to follow and emulate Christ would choose to participate here? What's to be gained or achieved? Honest question. Ceeboo has reminded me that non-LDS believers probably have similar challenges to their faith as LDS believers do here, but I am not convinced it is the same. In part, I have observed that LDS do not have non-LDS supporters on the board most of the time. OTOH, non-LDS believers are championed by a number of non-LDS, non-believers either out of a sense of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", or out of respect for the tradition that comes with their religious history.

Even still, perhaps Ceeboo or other Christian participants here can inform the dialog better than my guesswork can - does participating here aid you in some way in your efforts to follow Christ? if so, how?