Mar
10
2010
Poor Wayfaring Man
As noted in a previous post, Church leaders often struggle to control how the lifeblood of the Church (i.e., personal reassurance that one is on the path to salvation in the Celestial Kingdom–a concept I’ve termed “Hope”) is distributed to, and apportioned among, the members of the Church. Below are two examples of such battles.
Example 1: Elder Poelman’s View of Divine Love:
About a month after McConkie’s speech excoriating George Pace for promoting the concept of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Elder Ronald E. Poelman, a fairly new member of the First Quorum of the Seventy (one level below the apostles in the Church hierarchy) gave an address in General Conference which appears to have been carefully worded to imply the existence of a personal relationship with the Lord, without crossing any of the lines that McConkie had drawn. Elder Poelman’s talk included the following statement: Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, Bruce R. McConkie, BYU, censorship, Conformity, criticism, divine love, Ensign Magazine, general authorities, General Conference, George Orwell, George Pace, heresy, LDS legalism, LDS spirituality, lifeblood, Living Systems, Mormon History, Nineteen Eighty-Four, obedience, orthodoxy enforcement, priesthood authority, Ronald E. Poelman, Russell M. Nelson, Sunstone Magazine | posted in List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 09, List Item 21, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Mar
9
2010
Poor Wayfaring Man
As noted in a previous post, Church leaders often struggle to control how the lifeblood of the Church (i.e., personal reassurance that one is on the path to salvation in the Celestial Kingdom–a concept I’ve termed “Hope”) is distributed to, and apportioned among, the members of the Church. Below is an example of one such battle.
In the early 1980’s, a BYU professor named George Pace had previously given speeches and written a book promoting the idea that people should “center their lives on Christ and…develop their own personal relationship with Him.” Even though Pace was simply echoing ideas recently taught in General Conference by then-apostle (and future First Presidency Counselor) James E. Faust, his “taking out the middle man” approach to interacting with the Savior prompted a humiliating public rebuke from Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, which included the following counsel: Continue reading
3 comments | tags: Apostasy, Bruce R. McConkie, BYU, Conformity, general authorities, General Conference, George Pace, heresy, hope for salvation, James E. Faust, LDS morals and ethics, LDS social pressure, LDS spirituality, lifeblood, Living Systems, obedience, orthodoxy enforcement, populism, priesthood authority, prophets | posted in List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 09, List Item 22, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Mar
8
2010
Poor Wayfaring Man
In a previous post, I outlined the concept of the LDS Church as a living system. I’ve been thinking recently about what keeps a living system like the Church together. I think the general answer has something to do with the system as a whole being able to obtain and create things that the system components need (or want), but are unable to get independently. Continue reading
no comments | tags: Conformity, LDS morals and ethics, LDS social pressure, lifeblood, Living Systems, obedience, orthodoxy enforcement, priesthood authority | posted in List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 09, List Item 22, List Item 24, Mormon Culture
Feb
13
2010
Poor Wayfaring Man
A reader posted a comment recently, asking two questions. Good ones. I answered the first one in my previous post, and the second one here.
Mormon Woman Wondering asked:
Please help me understand how you…speak with your children, with integrity to your beliefs and with sensitivity to their need for something to hold onto in this world.
This is a tough question, particularly for somebody like me, with a spouse who is active in the Church, and who wants our kids to be active too. Obviously, my solution is a compromise, and could possibly have been different if she felt differently. But I think this solution does take into account the potential need for kids to have something to hold onto as they develop their own worldview. Continue reading
4 comments | tags: inactivity, LDS Church Sunday curriculum, LDS morals and ethics, LDS social pressure, Leaving the Church, mixed-faith marriage, orthodoxy enforcement, raising kids | posted in List Item 05, List Item 08, List Item 22, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Nov
25
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I was browsing the internet the other day and found a really interesting blog that discusses events and hot topics at BYU’s Provo campus. In this post about the conflict between the religious world and the secular world, the liberal-leaning Mormon author seems to support (very tentatively and with ample obligatory qualifications to deflect charges of heresy, since he is a BYU student) the view that the creation account in Genesis (six days, etc.) is just a metaphor, not literally true.
This seems like a neat and tidy way to avoid conflicts between science and religion–just treat the religious view as a divinely-inspired metaphor only.
Continue reading
no comments | tags: Bible historicity, Book of Mormon historicity, BYU, creationism, fundamentalist religion, heresy, LDS apologetics, LDS dogma, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon internet, science vs. faith, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 05, List Item 08, List Item 09, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
19
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
There are basically two kinds of people who leave the LDS Church. I will call them “Jack Mormons” and “Apostates”. Apostates are people who leave (or are excommunicated) because they have stopped believing in some or all of the religious tenets of the LDS faith. Jack Mormons are people who leave (or are excommunicated) for reasons other than non-belief, like being unable or unwilling to follow the rules, or because of interpersonal conflicts with other community members.
Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, Book of Mormon historicity, Conformity, general authorities, inactivity, jack mormons, Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Church Sunday curriculum, obedience, orthodoxy vs. orthopraxy, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 03, List Item 08, List Item 21, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Stories
Oct
8
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
I was born and raised a Mormon, in the LDS Church. At 19 years of age, I volunteered to be a missionary for the Church and was sent to a foreign country to spread the Gospel for two years. Upon returning home, I was fully committed to Mormonism. I believed that its doctrines were literally heaven-sent, and that it was the one pure source of philosophical, spiritual, religious, and even secular Truth in this world. I liked Mormon social institutions and the support they provided me as I followed the path of Truth. I felt lucky to have been born a Mormon.
Continue reading
2 comments | tags: BYU, Conformity, criticism, general authorities, Jeffrey R. Holland, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 11, List Item 18, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Stories
Oct
1
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
The name of this blog is derived from an LDS hymn called A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It describes a series of encounters the narrator has with a wretched beggar, in which the narrator helps the beggar, and the beggar (or the act of rendering the service itself) somehow gives something valuable back to the narrator. In the end, the beggar turns out to be Jesus.
What lesson does this song teach? Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, LDS Hymns, LDS Social Circles, Mormon History, New Testament, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 05, List Item 07, List Item 08, List Item 09, Mormon Culture, Mormon Stories