Sunday, February 17

NPR and Mormonism

I really love NPR. Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, A Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, The Diane Reams Show, Science Friday, Radio Lab.  And I love the local flavor of each station. In Utah, the local voice is Doug Fabrizio. Oh, Doug. (I'm on first-name terms with Doug in my head...as I am with all NPR personalities). Doug doesn't like Mormons. Not like Westboro Baptist hate, just a consistent sort of "ugh, why are you the way you are?"

I understand it. Utah has its own culture and quirks, most of which are informed (sometimes poorly) by Mormon doctrine. I think it's legitimately difficult to live in Utah and not identify yourself with the Mormon church. So when I was getting my NPR fix and Doug got a little heavy-handed with his obvious negative feelings about Latter-Day Saints I would just shake my head and say "Oh, Doug" fondly to my radio.  So ingrained is this response that I find myself thinking "Oh, Doug" whenever I read or hear comments about the irrational faith, frustrating "blind obedience," or backward intolerance of Mormons (or religious people generally when combative atheists have the audacity to lump all "Theists" together.)

Recently I've found myself stumbling across all kinds of "Oh, Doug" worthy posts especially written by  people that were raised Mormon and have since sought their spiritual fulfillment somewhere else. Again, I understand.  A crisis of faith is a pretty earth-shattering experience for everyone, but I think its particularly hard for Mormons because our religious life saturates every other aspect of our lives. Knowing how important my church was to my family and my upbringing, if I ever hypothetically left "the church" I would probably feel the need to cry out for support for my decision. I don't want to demean that very real pain and anguish that those people are facing, or antagonize them by commenting on these posts. And from my own experience wrestling with God, I know that a comment wouldn't really help. No one else can give you really satisfying answers because in the end, spirituality is our most personal journey on this Earth.

However, I do think the LDS church is worth defending.

First of all, it is really alright to have doubts. Yeah, it makes your mom nervous, but your mom, however saintly, is not God. It is okay to have doubts. Not everything we believe in ties up neatly in a little box. For instance, the problem of human suffering in light of an omnipotent God, is one of the oldest paradoxes in history.

Secondly, I really loathe the insinuation that the only reason I still have faith in this church is because I haven't thought about it. I am an intelligent individual and I am a Mormon. I love my religion and I love learning about my religion. I have no fears learning about and from other religions and pursuing whatever knowledge there is to be found. If there is anything true, a faithful Mormon should embrace it. I strongly believe that we should be smart about our religion. Ignorance is not pleasing to God. Religion really isn't simple nor is it easy to sum up. We aren't children anymore. It is no longer sufficient to say the golden rule to ourselves and be done. There are meaty, inspiring, troubling, glorious, weighty things to study and decide your own opinion about.

God also doesn't need us to lie for him. The Gospel of Jesus Christ can stand up to scrutiny.  And believing in God isn't easy. There are moral dilemmas inherent in faith. The bible isn't strictly filled with stories that give you warm fuzzies. But, there is beauty in complexity. And, Mormons have a messy history. We believe some pretty controversial and fantastic things. But, there is no dirty secret to Mormonism. I'm not saying I know every detail of every LDS leader back to Joseph Smith. But, I am saying that I am not willfully ignorant. And, I also think that there are completely faithful, believing Mormons that have studied in rigorous detail almost any topic or fact that could bother you. There is an entire floor of Mormon scholars, editors, and researchers that are publishing every scrap of paper that could possibly be attributed to Joseph Smith. There is nothing to be unearthed that is so damning that only an idiot would continue to believe. Conversely, perhaps the central tennent to our faith, other than the divinity of Jesus Christ, is that humanity has the unalienable--even by God, Himself--right to choose. So, I'm really completely alright that the evidence for the validity of the LDS church isn't overwhelming. I believe that this is a church run, ultimately by God, and if that's the case, He can't make it as apparent as the sun rising in the East. He has to preserve our right to choose for ourselves, to parse out the evidence individually.

So I guess this is me saying to Mormons mid-crisis, hold on. Hold on through the unanswered prayers. Hold on through frustrating search for answers. Hold on through the late-night conversations. Hold on. Because when the storm finally calms, you will have a better, richer, more fulfilling spiritual life.

I believe.

If you would like to deepen how you look at Mormonism and enrich your faith in a less "officially sanctioned" way, I heartily suggest Mormon Midrashim, and of course an excellent interview from NPR from none other than Doug Fabrizio himself with Terry Givens (where Doug was actually fantastically non-antagonizing).

If you want to know more about the fascinating doctrines of Mormons, like our belief that all of us can inherit heaven or that our souls have always existed--please feel free to message me. Or you could always check out our official website, or have an online chat with a real Mormon :)

2 comments:

  1. Amen. I love what you say here. I've had some outside-of-the-box conversations recently about Mormon doctrines. I've noticed some people have been unsettled by the topics I've brought up, and I remember feeling that way--that it was somehow inappropriate or doubtful to question things. But after going through my own season of wrestling and truly questioning, I almost glory in asking difficult questions of my faith. I'm no longer afraid that what I find will be too overwhelming to continue with a testimony. Could information stop me in my tracks and give me pause or even doubts? Absolutely, but the struggle for truth, rather than the safety net of perceived truth has shown to be strengthening of faith in a way that couldn't be if I had stayed away from difficult questions.

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