Themis wrote:
I wonder if this is the worst reason. I know that our expereinces will be more important to us, but I still think we shouldn't give primacy on interpretations when we know that evidence does not support it, and that others around the world have so many different and many contradictory interpretations from their own expereinces.
I understand your concern, Themis.
I think the options are limited. I can either give all reported experiences equal credence (including my own); or I give other experiences that do not jibe with mine less (or greater) credence than my experiences (or those that jibe with mine).
I choose to believe in the subjective reality of the experiences reported by others, primarily because I believe in the subjective reality of my own experiences, and I am not yet vain enough to think I am the only player in this game.
By doing so, and by taking the Book of Mormon (Alma 29) as my guide, I must also believe in the subjective reality of experiences reported by others, even should those experiences contradict my own experiences.
In the final analysis, though, I feel obligated to give the greater weight to my own experiences, not because I believe they are "better" or "more correct," but because they are mine, and I believe they have been, in some sense, "given" to me.
If my experiences have been given to me, I feel responsible for responding to my experiences in the way I think is best.
I have no obligation to respond to someone else's experiences, nor do they have any burden to respond to mine.
I need only follow what light God gives me, whether great or small, and regardless of the direction.
The only conclusion I feel I must reject is that, because others have spiritual experiences contradictory to mine, all must be rejected out of hand.
All the Best!
--Consiglieri