DiscussMormonism.com

Do you think most Mormons continue to attend the church because deep down they believe in it or because of the social ties that bind them to it?

I ask this because on another board we were discussing the Bushman article and a poster said, "The Church CAN'T be completely open and honest because it loses members when people learn the full historical truths. It also loses members when they compare those truths to what the Church has been feeding them."

My own take is different. I believe it loses members when it treats the members badly if they start talking about the full historical truths. If they would treat these things openly and honestly I don't think they would lose a lot of members because the social ties in the church are what keep most people attending. The RLDS Church probably lost more members because they became socially liberal than they did because they let members discuss their history openly. If the LDS Church remains socially conservative and holds on to a minimum set of beliefs as contained in the Articles of Faith they can get through this without much loss because many members are heavily invested in the church as a social unit more than they are invested in particular doctrines.

You may be right. Who would stay in the church without the social pressure?

My experience is that LDS continue to attend by and large because they are genuinely, sincerely convicted that there is truth therein. I don't know if questioning people's motives it the best way to start a conversation. I mean my goodness many a person who has left the Church feels greatly slighted when LDS question their motives.

Buffalo wrote:You may be right. Who would stay in the church without the social pressure?

I don't think it's social pressure. I think most active Mormons like the LDS Church socially which creates some of the problem when they are rejected because they question notions like the historicity of the Book of Mormon. I would have happily remained Mormon and continued to believe in the Book of Mormon as an inspired book, but that is exactly the type of thing that can get you in trouble if you openly discuss it.

stemelbow wrote:My experience is that LDS continue to attend by and large because they are genuinely, sincerely convicted that there is truth therein. I don't know if questioning people's motives it the best way to start a conversation. I mean my goodness many a person who has left the Church feels greatly slighted when LDS question their motives.

I'm not questioning the motives of LDS members, but I know for a fact there are many LDS members who do question some aspects of their religion even as they maintain "there is truth therein." And they can get into trouble if they begin to discuss it openly so they don't. They may show up on message boards with fake names to cover their identity. They may just eventually slowly go inactive. There are a lot of "new order Mormons" around.

BartBurk wrote:I'm not questioning the motives of LDS members, but I know for a fact there are many LDS members who do question some aspects of their religion even as they maintain "there is truth therein." And they can get into trouble if they begin to discuss it openly so they don't. They may show up on message boards with fake names to cover their identity. They may just eventually slowly go inactive. There are a lot of "new order Mormons" around.

What of it? I question some things too, but that doesn't mean I'm not squarely convicted that "the Church is true". I am. That's why I attend. I know that doesn't mean everyone's the same as me, and there are exceptions, but by and large my experience is LDS attend because they are genuinely convinced it holds truth and meaning and is in essence sanctioned by God.

What keeps Mormons attending?

The free bread.

Some Schmo wrote:The free bread.

That's true. those squished morsels broken up by those teen-age boys are so equisite.

Hey Bart (I remember you (I think?) from CAF: years ago when I used to frequent that board). Good to see you around these parts.

BartBurk wrote:Do you think most Mormons continue to attend the church because deep down they believe in it or because of the social ties that bind them to it?

Although I do think there are many Mormons who remain directly becuase of how much they have invested in remaining (What is at stake is very often worthy of serious and long consideration to stay, in my opinion), I would guess the the great majority of Mormons do indeed believe the LDS Church to be what it claims.

Peace,
Ceeboo

I would hazard a guess that it's fifty/fifty

50% really have a testimony
50% have family ties that keep them in