From the blog, "The Unexamined Faith":
There are more than a dozen principles in total, and the whole blog entry is well worth the read. The conclusion is perfection:Tuesday 6 September 2016
Church Handbook of Instructions: Guidelines for Apologists
"I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands."
- C. S. Lewis
Church Handbook of Instructions:
Guidelines for Apologists....
...Apologist Mission Statement
As a defender of the faith, the apologist does not necessarily directly engage the critic of the Church, but creates the illusion, for the benefit of the faithful, that the Church is actively responding to criticism. In so doing, the apologist is to convince the believer that there is no such thing as legitimate criticism, thus quelling any and all interest in pursuing further investigation of legitimate criticism of the faith. The apologist will seek to limit the influence of the authors of any work that objectively evaluates the history and theology of the faith. Any objective criticism is slanderous, is un-useful, and even if true, benefits Satan. Hence the apologist is to sacrifice anything, including but not limited to, neutrality and objectivity, in order to eradicate the disease of legitimate criticism of the Church.
With the above Apologist Mission Statement as our rubric, there are specific principles to follow in order to achieve your apologetic aim.
Principle 1
Avoid directly engaging critics.
Why?
Legitimate academics, if they are doing their jobs with intellectual honesty, look at evidence, look at data, follow the arguments and evidence wherever it leads, and then extrapolate conclusions from said evidence.
As apologists, if you are righteously fulfilling your duty, you do the opposite. You already know what your conclusions will be before you begin to even consider any evidence. It is your duty to interpret the data and evidence in such a manner as to ensure that it appears to conform to the conclusions that paint the Church in the most favorable light.
Because your primary audience is the faithful member, you do your best avoid direct entanglement with legitimate critics because you do not want the faithful member to notice that the critic and the apologist are engaged in wholly incommensurate pursuits.
Principle 2
Never allow for the possibility that there is legitimate criticism....
Principle 3
Dismiss everything as “typical” anti-Mormon tactics...
Principle 4
Always act as though the criticism is old and has been previously satisfactorily dispatched...
Principle 5
Take advantage of the Confirmation Bias; Hold different standards of evidence....
Sound like anyone we know?!....Conclusion
Maintaining faith in the LDS Church is a difficult task, requiring all sorts of convoluted mental gymnastics, and a tenacious aversion to sources that reveal unwhitewashed information about our Lord’s Church. In order to maintain the current membership numbers and tithing revenues we need to stem the flow of families that are discovering unfiltered information about our history and theology, and as a result, leaving the fold. Brethren, if you do your job correctly, the flock will not think critically about the issues raised by our critics, and with your guidance will successfully protect their fragile faith by believing that you have dismissed any and all criticisms.
Amen and Amen.
https://unexaminedfaith.blogspot.com/20 ... tions.html
