Seminary Teacher Schools Church Historian!

[Kishkumen]

I listened to a good deal of this. I can't recall whether I finished or not. It was another fine episode of Mormonism Live. Kudos to all who contributed. The most riveting part, in my view, is listening for the psychological and intellectual struggle of the seminary teacher. Guy did his homework and really mastered his topic, at least within the framework of a critic's dissection of Mormonism.

At this point, however, I am tiring of these expert dissections of Mormonism. That is why I think the seminary teacher himself is far more interesting than his topic. I respect his struggle, and I sympathize with his emotional pain and elation. I just don't share it anymore. Religion, in my view, really isn't about making sense of the world in a way that meets the demands of modern skepticism. I think that is well proven many times over by now, and Mormonism is just one of many venues in which such a failure has been demonstrated.

I don't think that anyone should be pushed into being religious or criticized for not being religious. At the same time, I don't think anyone should be pushed out of being religious or criticized for being religious. Let's just live and let live. Once someone says, "thanks, but no thanks," just move on.

Things are a little different for those who have been converted away from Mormonism by skepticism. There is a process they need to go through to make the break completely. It is raw, emotional, painful, and uncomfortable for the person going through it and those around them. I feel sympathetic as one who went through something quite like it. So, I will always respect the process because it is so human. Just as I respect religionists for being so human in their quest for truth, salvation, and community in religion. Nothing human is alien to me. The minute I start to believe it is, I have sacrificed some of my humanity to my arrogance.

[sock puppet]

* * * Religion, in my view, really isn't about making sense of the world in a way that meets the demands of modern skepticism. I think that is well proven many times over by now, and Mormonism is just one of many venues in which such a failure has been demonstrated.

I don't think that anyone should be pushed into being religious or criticized for not being religious. At the same time, I don't think anyone should be pushed out of being religious or criticized for being religious. Let's just live and let live. * * *

Agreed, with one degree of expansion . Evangelizing can often cross the line into trying to push non-believing people into being religious. It is that same impulse that many ex-mo's (including me) feel to want to enlighten believing people. For me, it is so that the believer has a balance of facts and can make an informed decision, rather than with the aim that they in fact join the ranks of disbelievers.

[Kishkumen]

Agreed, with one degree of expansion . Evangelizing can often cross the line into trying to push non-believing people into being religious. It is that same impulse that many ex-mo's (including me) feel to want to enlighten believing people. For me, it is so that the believer has a balance of facts and can make an informed decision, rather than with the aim that they in fact join the ranks of disbelievers.

I can respect that. I don't think it works out all that well in many cases, unless working out well simply means leaving. But I can see the good intentions. And, I am not rejecting it entirely, but I believe there is a lot more to think through before we come to terms with what is really going on in the relationship between faith and de-conversion/conversion-away.