Would it matter if your child was a skeptic:
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:21 pm
What would you love your child to be: a happy skeptic or an unhappy christian. I'm reading a great book by Robin Lane Fox : The Unauthorized Version: truth and fiction in the Bible. This is a great read written by a historian and also an athiest. I have laughed outloud many times as he describes the jews and their scrolls and how it came to form the Christian Old Testament. It also describes how the New Testament came into being. I highly recommend this book.
As I read this book there are certain things that ring true for me. The part where priests are writing historical fiction and creating dialoge between God and Man. She refers to the Old Testament God as "Number One" as he has to be number one in everything and basically gives his okay for his followers to break up other religions religious alters and do all kinds of bad things - she refers to Number One and his little group of vandels.
I find reading alternative writings - those who don't follow the way of the old guard very liberating and actually have helped with my depression. What this gentleman writes has a real ring of truth. I also understand from that why I had so many problems in the LDS mission field. I was saying things I truely did not believe or ever really gave thought to: Telling people that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored by a Prophet named Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is God's word. How could one brought up in the Church think anything different.
Should LDS young adults be given a choice as they become young adults. Maybe they should start seminary in the eight grade with a year of being a healthy skeptic. you can be an athiest, a skeptic, or someone who beleives the Book of Mormon is the word of God and those coversations and actions described actually occured. Any choice would bring happiness to a parent as long as their kids are happy. some parents want a critical thinker and others just want their children to "follow the prophet"
It rings true to me that the Old Testament are writings basically of anonymous priests who then add a historical figure to it to make it sound important. The conversations described between God and man were created by priests - a form of creative writing between Number One and his followers.
Robin Lane Fox writes about Mark and his writing about Jesus. How Matthew tried to correct Mark; these people never envisioned their writings being together. he points out how Gallations is very likely written by Paul but other writings are clearly not Pauls but written by others and given Pauls name to make them seem important. he calls some early christian writers who did this liars. This makes sense if these are not actually the writings of Paul. But then it's possible that people in sacrament meeting are quoting a verse that was not written by Paul but a follower of Paul.
I guess going back to my orignal thought is if their are five children in an LDS family is it right for a family to want five children who believe that the words given to moses (if he really existed) between him and God are actually words that were spoken. If a child starts suffering from depression could it be that they always knew that their was no Santa Claus and now the child doesn't believe God talk to a person named moses but has to go meet with people who do each sunday for three hours. Is it okay and even encouraged for a child, then a young adult to say - I don't believe that those words were actually between a God and a follower called moses. That these were all creations of a group of Jews during exile or after the Persian King sent the Jews back to Israel. An ideal being that a parent can love a skeptic just like a returned missionary.
But then you bring in fear and Number One threatening, destroying and condemming unbelievers to eternal punishment.
The whole book also makes LDS writings and scripture so much more interesting. To say that the Book of Mormon has been changed is nothing compared to what was happening to the books of the Old Testatment. The were written, rewritten, embelished, redacted, "padded" and then given a historical name. They were written for the particular group at that time and again the authors never envisioned the scrolls put together to form a book. What is going on with LDS scripture happened with the New Testament from Mark until the councils and all through the Old Testament.
As I read this book there are certain things that ring true for me. The part where priests are writing historical fiction and creating dialoge between God and Man. She refers to the Old Testament God as "Number One" as he has to be number one in everything and basically gives his okay for his followers to break up other religions religious alters and do all kinds of bad things - she refers to Number One and his little group of vandels.
I find reading alternative writings - those who don't follow the way of the old guard very liberating and actually have helped with my depression. What this gentleman writes has a real ring of truth. I also understand from that why I had so many problems in the LDS mission field. I was saying things I truely did not believe or ever really gave thought to: Telling people that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored by a Prophet named Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon is God's word. How could one brought up in the Church think anything different.
Should LDS young adults be given a choice as they become young adults. Maybe they should start seminary in the eight grade with a year of being a healthy skeptic. you can be an athiest, a skeptic, or someone who beleives the Book of Mormon is the word of God and those coversations and actions described actually occured. Any choice would bring happiness to a parent as long as their kids are happy. some parents want a critical thinker and others just want their children to "follow the prophet"
It rings true to me that the Old Testament are writings basically of anonymous priests who then add a historical figure to it to make it sound important. The conversations described between God and man were created by priests - a form of creative writing between Number One and his followers.
Robin Lane Fox writes about Mark and his writing about Jesus. How Matthew tried to correct Mark; these people never envisioned their writings being together. he points out how Gallations is very likely written by Paul but other writings are clearly not Pauls but written by others and given Pauls name to make them seem important. he calls some early christian writers who did this liars. This makes sense if these are not actually the writings of Paul. But then it's possible that people in sacrament meeting are quoting a verse that was not written by Paul but a follower of Paul.
I guess going back to my orignal thought is if their are five children in an LDS family is it right for a family to want five children who believe that the words given to moses (if he really existed) between him and God are actually words that were spoken. If a child starts suffering from depression could it be that they always knew that their was no Santa Claus and now the child doesn't believe God talk to a person named moses but has to go meet with people who do each sunday for three hours. Is it okay and even encouraged for a child, then a young adult to say - I don't believe that those words were actually between a God and a follower called moses. That these were all creations of a group of Jews during exile or after the Persian King sent the Jews back to Israel. An ideal being that a parent can love a skeptic just like a returned missionary.
But then you bring in fear and Number One threatening, destroying and condemming unbelievers to eternal punishment.
The whole book also makes LDS writings and scripture so much more interesting. To say that the Book of Mormon has been changed is nothing compared to what was happening to the books of the Old Testatment. The were written, rewritten, embelished, redacted, "padded" and then given a historical name. They were written for the particular group at that time and again the authors never envisioned the scrolls put together to form a book. What is going on with LDS scripture happened with the New Testament from Mark until the councils and all through the Old Testament.