The Parable of the Brownie

[Guest]

Homemade Brownies

Last week, I walked into my office to find a sandwich bag on my desk containing three chewy, tasty, homemade chocolate brownies. Some thoughtful and anonymous person who knew my love for tasty homemade brownies had placed them there, along with a hand written short story. I immediately sat down and began eating the first chewy, tasty, homemade brownie as I read the following story:

Mr. Johnson, a loving husband and father walked into his home after a long day at work. His sweet teen-age daughter and her best friend from school were waiting to talk with him. His daughter hugged him tight as her friend smiled. His daughter had an important question to ask him. The father listened as his daughter explained to him that her friend was LDS, and had been sharing the LDS teachings with her for the past several months.

“Daddy, I want our family to be together forever,” his daughter said as tears began to form in her eyes.

Her best friend then spoke, “Mr. Johnson, I know the church is true, and I want you and your family to experience the same blessings that me and my family have received in our lives. Your family can experience true happiness by being baptized into the church and sealed in the temple.”

The two girls then asked if the Mormon missionaries could come over that night to teach the family more about the LDS church. The father replied that he would think about it. He gave his daughter another hug, and went into his office. The girls went to the family room to watch TV while eagerly awaiting his decision.

An hour later, the father emerged from his office and came into the family room. He explained to both girls that he would not be inviting the missionaries into his home, and his family would not be joining the Mormon church.

“But dad, why not?” the daughter asked as her friend looked on incredulously.

Mr. Johnson replied, “I did some research on the Internet, and there are some things that concern me about this religion. The founder married women behind his wife’s back, for starters. He made claims that are easily refuted by science. The Book of Mormon does not fit what is known about pre-Columbian America, 19th Century Utah under Brigham Young resembled those FLDS people we see on the news, and there was a lot of racism in their teachings. The bottom line is, there have been a number of controversies with this church and its founders from the very beginning.”

“But Mr. Johnson, those things are controversies of the distant past,” replied the friend. “Everything you mentioned has been explained away by our scholars. Those things have no bearing on our salvation. The gospel is perfect, but the people are not. Sure, there are questionable things in the history of my church, but every organization that involves human beings is going to have issues. If you look over the vast teachings of our church, they are good Christian teachings about family, honesty, and service. Sure, there are a few minor controversial things in our past, but that is true of any religion. The issues that anti-Mormons bring up about the church are insignificant next to the joy that is found when you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. You can’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.”

Mr. Johnson smiled at her daughters friend and said, “I respect your religious beliefs, but my answer is no and that is my final answer. You are welcome in our home at any time, but my family will not be joining your church, and I do not want the missionaries teaching their religion in my home. End of discussion.”

The two teenagers looked dejectedly at one another and slumped down on the couch. As they sulked, they were surprised to hear the sounds of Mr. Johnson preparing something in the kitchen. They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven, and his daughter said to her friend, “Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he's going to try to make it up to us with some fresh brownies. Maybe we can soften him with lots of praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let the missionaries come over.”

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the sandwich bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was eating and the brownies in the story. I kept reading...

The teens were not disappointed. Soon Mr. Johnson appeared with a plate of warm brownies, which he offered to the girls. They each took one. Then the father said, “Before you eat, I want to tell you both something: I love my daughter very much, and she makes great choices in friends. You are both wonderful girls.”

The girls smiled at each other with knowing glances. He was softening. Mr. Johnson continued, “That is why I've made these brownies with the very best ingredients. I've made them from scratch. Most of the ingredients are even organic. The best organic flour. The best free-range eggs. The best organic sugar. Premium vanilla and chocolate.”

The brownies looked mouth-watering, and the teens began to become a little impatient with Mr. Johnson’s long speech.

“But I want to be perfectly honest with you. There is one ingredient I added that is not usually found in brownies. I got that ingredient from our own back yard. But you don't need to worry, because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your brownies. The amount of the portion is practically insignificant. So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think.”

His daughter replied, “Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is before we eat?”

“Why? The portion I added was so small. Just a teaspoonful. You won't even taste it.”

“Come on, dad; just tell us what that ingredient is.”

“Don't worry! It is organic, just like the other ingredients.”

“Dad!”

“Well, OK, if you insist. That secret ingredient is fresh organic...dog poop.”

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out into the wastebasket by my desk. I continued reading, now fearful of the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and began inspecting their fingers with horror.

His daughter and her friend looked at him in shock. “DAD! Why did you do that?” his daughter asked. “You've tortured us by making us smell those brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell us that you added dog poop! We can't eat these brownies!”

“Why not?” replied Mr. Johnson. “The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest of the ingredients. It won't hurt you. It's been cooked right along with the other ingredients. You won't even taste it. It has the same consistency as the brownies. Go ahead and eat!”

“No, Dad...NEVER!”

The father then looked at both girls and said, “And that is the same reason I won't allow the family to join the LDS church. You won't tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality and a teensy bit of dishonesty in your religious leaders?”

Both girls looked at each other with tears in their eyes as the meaning of Mr. Johnson’s lesson sank in. His daughter spoke, saying, “Father, you are right. I will never join that church. I am sorry for not believing you earlier.”

Her friend then spoke, saying, “Mr. Johnson, you are right. I am going to quit the church and tell my parents to stop going, too. I will write my resignation letter as soon as I get home.”

The girls then helped Mr. Johnson make a batch of brownies without dog poop. And they all at the tasty brownies, and lived happily ever after.

I discarded what remained of the second brownie as well as the entire untouched third brownie. What had been irresistible a minute ago had become detestable. And only because of the very slim chance that what I was eating was slightly polluted. (Surely it wasn't...but I couldn't convince myself.)

What a good lesson! Why do we tolerate any sin and dishonesty? On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every bit of leaven from their homes. Sin is like leaven or yeast - a little bit makes the whole bowl of dough rise.
(1Corinthians 5:6, 7)

Forward this message to everyone you know.

[_Inconceivable]

.. and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.





I'm on my way to the kitchen to cook some snacks for my family.

Thanks, Lord Vader.

[_JohnStuartMill]

Makes me sad that the person who wrote that probably believes in some other kind of religious hooey.

[_Kishkumen]

In any case, it's a classic. Every critic's site should have it.

[_marg]

JAK has used a similar analogy..but to make a different point.

Here is an example

teaspoon of sewage

But, on a technical point, evidence is the vehicle to proof. However, evidence can be:

1 misinterpreted
2 incomplete
3 not present
4 contaminated (some accurate information mixed with inaccurate material) Now we have a saying about wine: The finest gallon of wine mixed with a teaspoon of sewage makes the entire gallon sewage.

To a large extent, evidence is like that. That is, a real contaminant of wrong conclusion (false statement) is likely to destroy the reliability of a final conclusion. Consider police solving who committed a crime. The police must look at all possible evidence related and must further accurately screen what is relevant to the crime and what is not. A seizing upon a false clue may lead to a false conclusion.

[_Danna]

A classic parable! excellent.

[_The Dude]

I'm not a big fan of analogies. It's almost always better to make the argument you mean to make, instead of constructing something else that's kind of similar but never quite the same.

[_Yoda]

I thought the added ingredient was going to be another type of herbal substance.

[_JohnStuartMill]

Rhetoric, my dear Dude, rhetoric!

[_JohnStuartMill]

I thought the added ingredient was going to be another type of herbal substance.

That might have had the opposite effect than what was intended, though.