Re: Have you been blessed by leaving the church?
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:49 pm
You’ll have to share why it is you feel bonded to the natural world - I think it’s topical to this thread because I believe my leaving the Church opened my eyes to the fragility of this one and only home for complex life as we know it to exist right now. I don’t think it’s a derail.Jersey Girl wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 10:19 amThat last...as far back as I can remember, I've been bonded with the natural world. I think I know why and I don't think it had anything to do with religious beliefs. I would like to hear more about what you think prevented you from making that connection as a Mormon if you would like to share it here or in some other area of this board that might be more suitable.
So, from my experience growing up Mormon they have, of course, an entitled approach to the earth, the land specifically, and that mindset is scripturally founded along with innumerable lectures confirming the earth is ‘for man’s use’. For example:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... h?lang=eng
It seems innocuous enough, but it incubated a mindset that landed us where we’re at today [note, this isn’t a uniquely Mormon issue, but I’m just talking it through from my Mormon experience] . This mindset can be anywhere from laughing at recycling, to throwing away toxic materials without a thought, to gobbling up land for the next subdivision, to treating the world and its resouces that are for man to be used ‘by the sweat of his brow’ to do as he pleases during his mortal probation. Why? Because the earth will be glassed with fire anyway when it takes on its celestial glory. This has created a weird relationship to the natural world where it’s a political issue right down to the individual, and many Mormons treat the world as a disposable commodity since it exists to be used by man, anyway. And it’ll be transformed or whatever into a giant glass ball some day, so chill out on me dumping used motor oil in the garbage or on the ground or down the drain, lady. This mindset extends to virtually every aspect between the Mormon man and the world:
- we get the water for my lawn, “F” those Liberals and “F” the bird habitat that relies on this water
- we need large single-family dwellings, “F” this 30-acre parcel and the sage grouse that lived here
- I’ll just dump all this industrial sludge into this body of water because it’s too expensive to make inert or haul to the dump, the fish will be fine, stop crying Libs
- *thousands more examples of bad stewardship*
It’ll never stop because the Mormon man’s relationship to the natural world is transactional and the world is a commodity. Avarice within Mormonism is common, and it comes at the expense of the earth’s air, land, water, and animals. Anything that gets in the way of ‘man pursuing happiness by the sweat of his own brow’ is basically Satanic. Also, make a lot of little consumers, too. Because god, and bodies, and mortal probations, and it’s their turn to work by the sweat of their brow for a new box in a new subdivision with lawns and trucks and whatnot ad infinitum.
When I left the Church I realized that the eternal perspective of our reality wasn’t connected to a Mormon larp, at all, but rather we’re a species of hominid, and we’re bound to the earth with billions of life forms that are undergoing a man-made extinction event. We’re industrializing the natural world, and because I have a built-in bias toward humans I can’t pretend all will be healed or restored or transfigured when Jesus comes back, so it’s up to us to treat the natural world with respect by not consuming it to death, and hopefully we as a species can stick around for a while.
This led me to a more mindful relationship with the earth where I think about my ethos often enough that I try to live in such a way where if my behavior were replicated across the board with humans, how would that affect the larger world? This one drop of rain does take responsibility for the flood, and is trying to be better about its role on the larger picture. This was born out of my apostasy because I realized the earth is it, we’re destroying it, and the only savior for humanity and the world in the most literal sense is us. That said, no one is perfect nor are they perfectly in harmony with nature, and we’re all in different head spaces so there’s going to be varying degrees of commitment to being in tune with the world. I ain’t judging, I’m just hoping more and more peopke will move to a balanced out place through persuasion and reason.
- Doc