sock puppet wrote:...withholding information about a belief that others are learning seems at odds with the 11th Article of Faith. By withholding the 'meat' and only giving the 'milk', the person is prevented from making an informed decision about how, where, or what they may worship. It seems to me that anyone believing in the 11th Article of Faith would feel it a moral imperative to help his fellow man know all the nitty-gritty details of the Mormon faith and theology, so that his fellow man may worship how, where or what in accordance with his or her individual beliefs. Withholding those details is manipulating the information and thus undercutting the notion that each should worship as he believes. The 11th Article of Faith seems to be honoring individual autonomy when it comes to worshiping, but the correlated pablum seems to be stifling that very concept.
Well, yes and no. The pablum that is being referred to here are the basic principles and teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That core should be at the very center of a person's testimony/faith. So I don't see where the "pablum" stifles worshiping at all. Worshiping consists of attending church and partaking of the sacrament, praying, and participating in the sharing of testimony/belief of Jesus Christ.
That's the core.
I think that as far as helping our fellow man understand the nitty-gritty stuff goes, it ought to be done after a person has had an opportunity to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost testifying of the basic core truths of the gospel. After a person has received a witness of basic gospel truths they are better situated to deal with those aspects of church history and other issues that may potentially serve as trials/opposition to simple faith and testimony. At
that point in time a person can then be better situated in making an educated/wiser decision based upon not only the intellect and available information dealing with history and issues, but also have the ability to lean upon and remember the spiritual feelings/impressions and experiences associated with the core/basic teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If a person hasn't been able to experience a connection with the divine through the process of conversion beforehand, the intellectual hoops are much more difficult to jump through.
I do think that before a new convert is baptized they should receive factual information and have an opportunity to discuss with knowledgeable individuals any questions or concerns that they may have. A simple way to do this would be to have them simply type in the word "Mormon" in the google search engine and spend some time looking at information available on their own. At that point I would then refer the individuals to sites like Jeff Lindsay's or FAIR to gain alternate perspectives and apoligetic information to get a balanced perspective. I think it would be well at
that point, if there are still some troublesome issues to be discussed/explored, to have individuals who are called within each stake to act as a "sounding board" and also "expert" of sorts to be a resource person that can be talked to about anything and everything. I think there are more and more individuals who could receive and successfully accept and carry out this calling within many stakes. This would then provide an opportunity to go through a process of inoculation BEFORE baptism.
Better to have someone put things on hold before baptism, if necessary, rather than leaving the church with feelings of having been betrayed or hood winked afterwords.
Regards,
MG