why me wrote:Just me sits quietly in class thinking just how stupid it all sounds, keeps quiet about issues she has a different take on and then comes here to post her mockings. Is that managing one's beliefs or is it being a hypocrite. Here is the point: all know my position within the church, especially in my ward and with my friends. I am no coward or hypocrite. And I have no fear and I have never beend disciplined or had an invite into the bishops office.
Please. If you were actually speaking up and voicing your opinion on even 50% of the stupid crap you post on this forum, there's no way you would be so remarkably ignorant of what Mormons really believe. You would also know why it can be an incredibly stupid idea to try and correct someone in an LDS Sunday school class.
Let me tell you a story though. I had an LDS relative who decided that s/he really, really wanted to know what I thought about Joseph Smith. I did not want to tell this person how I felt about Joseph Smith, as I figured that the conversation could only end badly. But this person practically twisted my arm on the subject. So I finally blurted out that I thought Joseph Smith was a false prophet.
This person was
livid that I would think that---as if it was a huge shock that a Protestant and a non-member didn't believe in the divine calling of Joseph Smith. Their reply was something to the effect of, "I wish your husband hadn't married you into this family." It still hurts to read over that entry in my journal. (Thankfully, the family member in question has mellowed considerably in the last seven years.)
On another occasion, my husband tried to speak up in class over a SS teacher who was doing a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. She was trying to gloss over the part about not eating meat and make arguments for why that part didn't really say what it obviously says and it's okay to eat meat now. My husband basically tried to tell her that her apologetics were lame and the passage says what it says---in much nicer words than that, but he made it clear that he disagreed with what she was saying about the passage.
About a week later, he got called into the bishop's office for a lecture on "not bringing the spirit of contention" to Sunday school class.
Fact is,
why me, there are plenty of Mormons who aren't interested in contrary opinions, or corrections, or "ark-steadying," or having their safe and cozy notions of Mormon history and doctrine contradicted. They just want to stick to their mundane, poorly-written lesson manuals and go about their day and not have to think too hard about people who don't think like them. And some of them exhibit highly negative reactions to having their ideas challenged.
My guess is,
just me has picked up on this. Now if she wants to speak up in her SS classes, great. More power to her. I'll be her biggest supporter. But if she feels that it's best not to rock the boat too much, that's completely understandable. It's her call to make.