The real reason the church resists change (with deference to J. Larsen):
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:25 am
The most baffling aspect of Mormonism, especially to outsiders, is the central place of "testimony" in the theology. While many religions expect or at least encourage confessions of faith, Mormonism (it seems) has carried this to an absurd extreme. One's ecclesiastical, spiritual and even social merit is almost entirely based on the level of one's willingness to announce one's attainment of a "testimony". The term, of course, is used by Mormons in a much different sense than anybody else- one more example of Mormonism's knack for co-opting normal terminology to their own purposes- like "quorum" and "worthy".
Most of us here have been perennially baffled by this phenomenon. Mormons never explain the path that led to their assurance. They just "know" that "the church is true". We have found over and over that their faith is impervious to disturbing facts about history or dishonesty from the leaders or any faults in local leaders or fellow practitioners. All that matters is that Iknowthechurchistrue. This gets instilled in Mormons from before they are even capable of speech, as many of them hear it over and over in church settings from the day they get their baby blessings. You can't get away from it. It's everywhere.
Here is where John Larsen comes in. As he pointed out in a recent MS podcast, one outstanding feature of Mormons is their enormous sense of superiority. I refer you to that source for more details. But the whole value proposition of a religion is that it uniquely produces superior people. That's why people participate, and in large measure that is why society at large gives such deference to religion as a social institution. Everybody is hoping that there is one (or more) religions that has the right combination of theology and ceremonies and structure to actually produce better people. Even when the faults are made glaringly obvious, people still support the idea of an effective religion to the extent that they will continue to overlook the bad parts and cling to the good.
So what does this have to do with Iknowthechurchistrue? It is becoming clear to me that when a Mormon says this, they mean that they have a conviction that their church, above all others, is the way to produce good people. And the typical Mormons makes the obvious connection that if they are following the church's program, they must logically be one of the "better" people". We see this arrogance all around us in Mormonism. The thing is, when their faith is challenged, ultimately what is being questioned is their integral sense of their own social superiority. And that is something they just cannot allow. This is why questioners and challengers and fact-checkers are so hated and reviled and ultimately kicked out of the group. It has nothing to do with orthodoxy or morality or anything else. It is all about maintaining the group identity as the cream of humanity. That is what you are up against when you criticize The Church. As for the source of their conviction, they somehow become convinced that their emotional ecstasy arises from something external to their own psyches, i.e. The Spirit of God. Then they have this external God's absolute stamp of approval to do almost anything that enters their heads- including the most vile practices imaginable- because Iknowthechurchistrue.
I hope this makes sense. I also hope this isn't too long. Thank you.
Most of us here have been perennially baffled by this phenomenon. Mormons never explain the path that led to their assurance. They just "know" that "the church is true". We have found over and over that their faith is impervious to disturbing facts about history or dishonesty from the leaders or any faults in local leaders or fellow practitioners. All that matters is that Iknowthechurchistrue. This gets instilled in Mormons from before they are even capable of speech, as many of them hear it over and over in church settings from the day they get their baby blessings. You can't get away from it. It's everywhere.
Here is where John Larsen comes in. As he pointed out in a recent MS podcast, one outstanding feature of Mormons is their enormous sense of superiority. I refer you to that source for more details. But the whole value proposition of a religion is that it uniquely produces superior people. That's why people participate, and in large measure that is why society at large gives such deference to religion as a social institution. Everybody is hoping that there is one (or more) religions that has the right combination of theology and ceremonies and structure to actually produce better people. Even when the faults are made glaringly obvious, people still support the idea of an effective religion to the extent that they will continue to overlook the bad parts and cling to the good.
So what does this have to do with Iknowthechurchistrue? It is becoming clear to me that when a Mormon says this, they mean that they have a conviction that their church, above all others, is the way to produce good people. And the typical Mormons makes the obvious connection that if they are following the church's program, they must logically be one of the "better" people". We see this arrogance all around us in Mormonism. The thing is, when their faith is challenged, ultimately what is being questioned is their integral sense of their own social superiority. And that is something they just cannot allow. This is why questioners and challengers and fact-checkers are so hated and reviled and ultimately kicked out of the group. It has nothing to do with orthodoxy or morality or anything else. It is all about maintaining the group identity as the cream of humanity. That is what you are up against when you criticize The Church. As for the source of their conviction, they somehow become convinced that their emotional ecstasy arises from something external to their own psyches, i.e. The Spirit of God. Then they have this external God's absolute stamp of approval to do almost anything that enters their heads- including the most vile practices imaginable- because Iknowthechurchistrue.
I hope this makes sense. I also hope this isn't too long. Thank you.