Contributions also made by my love <3
Recently, I have introduced myself into some circles of feminist Latter-day Saints through blogs, facebook groups, etc. This is my attempt at finding others like me. Often times I find my feminist ideologies are met with uncomfortable expressions and resistant minds, so I took to the internet- Even if a small 10-30 percent of Mormons consider themselves moderate to liberal, that's a whole lot of people who have un-Mormon-mainstreamed ideas that could be somewhat similar to mine. I found a few blog circles that I really enjoyed. I loved the ones that did not allow destructive comments- different points of view are always welcome, but the comments that were nasty, angry, and downright mean were deleted.
However, I was surprised by some of the material I found in other circles. Often the subject matter included criticism of the prophets and apostles and the way conference talks were given. Many topics were thrown into the arena that made me quite uncomfortable. I thought my feminism was cause for discomfort in some more conservative members, but the comments and ideas of some of the feminist circles were almost anti-doctrinal.
One particular example I can think of is the Visiting Teaching message for October about the Stripling Warriors. The idea behind the lesson (October 2011 Visiting Teaching message) is building a strong testimony of the gospel and not doubting our faith or the Lord. This caused a lot of ruckus in many of the feminist circles because simply believing what one is told goes against feminist intuition. The reviews of the message I have been reading in the feminist blogosphere are very unsettling to me due to the intensity of open criticism for our church leaders. I fear that when we turn to criticizing Church Leaders, we are leaving the gospel behind.
I began to think about how many times I have said to myself that some piece of doctrine does not make sense to me and then investigated the topic either in scripture, through others in my church community, and most often, my Bishop. I am a feminist who is FULL of questions. From there, I began to differentiate between having questions and doubting. In my opinion, doubting is unbelief, whereas questions involve trying to fill in gaps of knowledge. (I would love to hear other opinions on this!)
Doubting is discouraged by Christ in John 20 when Thomas does not believe the other ten apostles when they tell him that they have seen the resurrected Savior. Thomas states that he will not believe unless he sees for himself. The Savior later tells Thomas to be not faithless but believing.
Questions in and of themselves are great and testimony building. In Alma 32, Alma teaches that faith is not having a perfect knowledge, and that one must exercise a particle of faith to be able to give place to some of the words he preaches. In Moroni 10, it is encouraged for each individual to ask of the Father if the gospel (and pieces thereof) are true. Questions seem to me to be a staple in building a strong testimony. Questioning with a "sincere heart" is promised to be met with answers, not disciplinary action.
I think that we could all benefit from seeking more answers rather than discarding truths due to misinterpretations or a distaste for their presentation.
Recently, I have introduced myself into some circles of feminist Latter-day Saints through blogs, facebook groups, etc. This is my attempt at finding others like me. Often times I find my feminist ideologies are met with uncomfortable expressions and resistant minds, so I took to the internet- Even if a small 10-30 percent of Mormons consider themselves moderate to liberal, that's a whole lot of people who have un-Mormon-mainstreamed ideas that could be somewhat similar to mine. I found a few blog circles that I really enjoyed. I loved the ones that did not allow destructive comments- different points of view are always welcome, but the comments that were nasty, angry, and downright mean were deleted.
However, I was surprised by some of the material I found in other circles. Often the subject matter included criticism of the prophets and apostles and the way conference talks were given. Many topics were thrown into the arena that made me quite uncomfortable. I thought my feminism was cause for discomfort in some more conservative members, but the comments and ideas of some of the feminist circles were almost anti-doctrinal.
One particular example I can think of is the Visiting Teaching message for October about the Stripling Warriors. The idea behind the lesson (October 2011 Visiting Teaching message) is building a strong testimony of the gospel and not doubting our faith or the Lord. This caused a lot of ruckus in many of the feminist circles because simply believing what one is told goes against feminist intuition. The reviews of the message I have been reading in the feminist blogosphere are very unsettling to me due to the intensity of open criticism for our church leaders. I fear that when we turn to criticizing Church Leaders, we are leaving the gospel behind.
I began to think about how many times I have said to myself that some piece of doctrine does not make sense to me and then investigated the topic either in scripture, through others in my church community, and most often, my Bishop. I am a feminist who is FULL of questions. From there, I began to differentiate between having questions and doubting. In my opinion, doubting is unbelief, whereas questions involve trying to fill in gaps of knowledge. (I would love to hear other opinions on this!)
Doubting is discouraged by Christ in John 20 when Thomas does not believe the other ten apostles when they tell him that they have seen the resurrected Savior. Thomas states that he will not believe unless he sees for himself. The Savior later tells Thomas to be not faithless but believing.
Questions in and of themselves are great and testimony building. In Alma 32, Alma teaches that faith is not having a perfect knowledge, and that one must exercise a particle of faith to be able to give place to some of the words he preaches. In Moroni 10, it is encouraged for each individual to ask of the Father if the gospel (and pieces thereof) are true. Questions seem to me to be a staple in building a strong testimony. Questioning with a "sincere heart" is promised to be met with answers, not disciplinary action.
I think that we could all benefit from seeking more answers rather than discarding truths due to misinterpretations or a distaste for their presentation.
2 comments:
Blythe-thank you for your thoughts. Here’s a few thoughts of my own that might help you… I think you are exactly right about “when we turn to criticizing Church Leaders, we are leaving the gospel behind.” That uncomfortable feeling you have, when faced with contentious-criticizing comments from others is the spirit warning you to stay away. In regard to the stripling warriors, it sounds many ppl are misled…they weren’t just “believing what they were told”. Although the scriptures don’t go into great detail, I know that those young men had testimonies of their own, and felt the spirit strongly for themselves…they weren’t just leaning on their mother’s testimonies just because that’s what they had grown up with. Think back to your own testimony- are you just believing what the missionaries told you? Or did you seek and find out for yourself that these things are true? The amount of faith the stripling warriors showed is proof that they had a testimony for THEMSELVES and that they weren’t just relying on what they were told growing up. Also, yes I agree with you about the difference between doubt and questions. There was a really good conference talk a few yrs ago about doubt (I can probably try n look it up if u want when I have more time) but anyways, they clearly teach that-feelings of doubt are from the adversary. Feelings of doubt and confusion and unsettled feelings is the adversary creeping in and spoiling your thoughts. I think that is how u can differentiate from doubt vs sincere questions for clarity on a matter. Do your questions and thoughts come with feelings of peace and desire for further knowledge or do you feel confusion and doubt? Avoid any sinful activities that allow Satan to plant the seed of doubt into your mind, like watching/listening/reading unholy things, hanging around unholy ppl. Etc. (this was all discussed in the talk). Avoiding these things and constantly striving and doing things that bring you nearer to the Lord will help you discern from sincere yearning for knowledge, verses doubting and letting that destroy your testimony (which is exactly what the adversary wants). Anyway, that’s my thoughts.
PS: I'm a question asker too...all my life...drove my parents nuts...drives my hubby crazy sometimes lol...
Thanks for the comment! My questioning leads to lots of sighing from my hubby. I keep telling him that at least I keep it interesting.
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