DAVEH: Yes Bishop, I'm referring to
conformity of beliefs for the most part. Though I think the unity of
faith (harmonious attitudes, as you put it) play an important role as
well.
From our perspective, most
LDS folks
truly believe our Prophet is the spokesman for the Lord in our time.
So, we believe if the Lord wants us to know or do something different, he
will speak through his servant to us as a whole. IF there is any
question that becomes a divisive factor, we look to the Prophet 's counsel
to give us the direction we need to go as a group. It's pretty rare
for doctrinal
disputations to reach beyond private discussion.
If somebo dy wants to make a public spectacle out of an issue, it i s pretty
much grounds for excommunication.
So.....intellectually strong individuals who cannot conform their beliefs
within the framework of official
LDS theology do not fit in very
well. And if their intellectual stubbornness exceeds their level of
faith in their Church Leaders, it is akin to fitting a round peg in a square
hole. Those who do harbor their own pet theological theories who want
to remain faithful avoid publicizing their intellectual disagreements.
Once they attempt to publicly
politicize their dispute with the
Church, they no longer fit in with the rest of the folks who tend not to
want to have disharmony exist in the ranks.
Which
brings us back to the harmonious attitudes.
Mormonism tends to be very
cultural in nature. Th at which disrupts is out of harmony with not
only God, but the Family and the congregation. We believe success
comes by working together. We don't look to one pastor to hold a Ward
(congregation) together, but it is the combined effort of every person in
the Ward to assist the Ward Shepherd (Bishop) in keeping it humming (usually
to the tune of PUT YOUR SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL) along. Our strongest
Wards are those where the most folks pitch in to do the most work, which
leads to strong fellowship. Those that are weakest are those where the
members expect others to do the work.
As I
perceive TT, there is little sense of purpose or guidance.
Nor does there seem to be much appreciation for oneness of belief. I
imagine everybody in TT believes they know the truth, but yet I don't think
they really appreciate that all the variations of truth they have here all
stems from a single source (as they perceive it)....the Bible.
Numerous times folks have told me I am wrong and that it is very simple to
learn the truth by rejecting anything LDS and just read the Bible.
Quite often they suggest the truth of the Bible is so obvious. Yet if
it were so easy to discern the truth from the Bible, why are there so many
disagreements as to what the Bible tells us? And then look at why
different churches start up. Seems like Protestants is a good
term to describe many Christians.....they tend to want to protest that which
somebody else teaches them. If they don't like doctrines of one
church, it is relatively easy to start another.
While the LDS Church has experienced
similar factions in it's wake, I se e it a bit differently. In our
case, most who don't fit into the paradigm are excommunicated for not towing
the line, so to speak. Then they go out and form their own church to
emulate the LDS Church, using the root teachings. Contrast
that to the Protestant churches, that seem to break off by protesting what
the mother church doctrinally dictates. Is that not the process by
which Luther left the RCC. And on down the line. Baptists
believed one way, Methodists another. Now we see it in the
Episcopalian Church, as some want to think gays are OK in the
ministry, while others don't. Instead of excommunicating the
errant believers, I suspect they will simply divide the Church into two
separate entities, each having a distinctly different doctrine about gay
folks.
Yikes....I yak
on too much. I hope that makes some sense, John. Sorry to
blather on and on.......
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
DAVEH: I
think you are taking my example out of context, DavidM. I was
trying to point out that right or wrong, I believe most knowledgeable
LDS folks tend to be a little more
homogeneous in their beliefs than do TTers.
Hi Dave. I would agree with this
observation. Allowing for the truth of this
observation, why do you suppose this is the case?
I assume you are speaking more to "doctrinal
sameness" than to harmonious attitudes.
JD
