We'll call this my svithe for the week.
Today a visiting high councillor spoke in our ward about how we should be grateful that we don't have to make decisions for ourselves because we have prophets to make them for us, and how we are unfaithful if we do not obey every single word of advice given to us by a prophet, area authority, stake president, bishop, or home teacher, to the letter. Really, I am not making this up or exagerrating. That's what he said. I was happy to be distracted by S-Boogie's new markers.
Believe it or not, this post is not about everything that I think is wrong with the Mormon church. Actually, this post is about one of the things I like about the Mormon church: its democratic approach to religion. Now, you may be saying, "Hey, wait, isn't the Mormon church governed by a patriarchal hierarchy?" and you're right, it is, and the emphasis a lot of Mormons put on that hierarchy bothers me. However, the church--and even its hierarchy--is built around the idea that any and every person can receive personal revelation from God, and therefore nobody is more of an authority on theology than anyone else. People serve in positions of authority, but not because they're any more important or knowledgeable than anyone else; in the Mormon paradigm, God calls you one day to be a bishop and the next to be a janitor. It is assumed, therefore, that any individual with access to the scriptures and, more importantly, the willingness to pray and listen to God, can be as much of a theologian as the next guy or gal. I've read that the church was even more democratic in the days of Joseph Smith, but I don't have any facts to back that claim up at the moment, and it's irrelevant anyway.
What does all this mean? It means that I have to sit through a talk by a guy who I think is an idiot. But it also means that Sister Smith down the row from me, who thinks that same guy is the best thing since buttered toast, gets the chance to hear his talk and be edified. And it also means that after that I can go to elders quorum and enjoy a lesson taught by a guy who I think is a genius, even if everyone else in the class thinks his stories about dating Dallin H. Oaks's daughter are a waste of time. It means that a bunch of imperfect people can get together and share our thoughts about God, with the assumption that we all have the right to have those thoughts.
I suspect there are other churches out there who take such a democratic approach to theology without requiring their adherents to subscribe to any set dogma (this is probably why so many ex-Mormons become Unitarians), but for now, while I'm still participating (albeit reservedly) in the Mormon church, I enjoy what democracy they have to offer. I'm grateful that God gave me a mind and that he expects me to use it to make decisions for myself, not to let others do so for me. And I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way.
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4 comments:
Wow! You must have just posted. I was here, and left, and when I came back, a new post! So I get to be the first to comment. :)
Before I finished reading your blog, I clicked on the 'to the letter' link and read that blog. I thought it excellent, and commented on it. The funny thing (to me) is that what I said in my comment to that post, was along the same lines as what I found you had said, when I came back to finish reading YOUR post! Well, maybe not exactly, but at least another side of the same coin!
Actually, I enjoyed your post and think it defines you as being very mature and open minded in your thinking. Most of us seem to 'need' everyone to agree with us, especially on the subject of religion.
I wonder if the Lord isn't more concerned with our being tolerant of our brothers and sisters who DON'T agree with us, than he is with whether or not we have all the nitty, gritty facts exactly right? Maybe that's even why he organized the church the way he did, instead of having one paid, professional leader who would give us the exact answers to everything - with no room for any mistakes or misunderstandings or personal opinions which would require us learning to be tolerant and forgiving.
What is it about stake leaders around here? Besides the one who "commanded" us to take off one of our shoes and hand it to our neighbor at a stake conference (and the response rate was alarmingly high), we had one a few weeks ago who basically told us that we were to get married and soon because nothing else we do here matters. (Not that I have anything against marriage, it's just that for some of us, this is neither the time nor the place for that step, and we are--believe it or not--here for other reasons.)
I am continually amazed at the fact that God trusts us enough to give us each a voice in our church meetings. I think that is part of what attracted me to the church in the first place--that rather than listening to the same old drone broadcast his idiosyncratic perspective every Sunday, we are instead supplied with a sampling of the ways in which the gospel works in the lives of different people. This, of course, can make for the occasional talk that makes us grateful for, say, Color Wonder markers, or, my personal choice today, a bit of Kafka (which was uncannily appropriate at one point, but that's another story). But it is also part of what I think makes the gospel real. It is a constant reminder that the church is alive and that the everlasting gospel continues to be relevant in our lives, no matter who we are and with whom we agree (or disagree) among its followers.
Wow, this is the longest comment ever. Thanks for getting me thinking about that. And by the way, kudos on getting into UW. Mmm, kudos...
After reading various blogs, I consider myself blessed to live in the ward and stake that I do live in where marriage is not stressed, rather making lasting friendships. Where we are told over and over again to seek our own answers rather than following what we are told to the letter. I must have an unusal BYU SA Ward.
Your svithe, however, I did find edifying. Th. has started a revolution. Or something...
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Viva la svithulution!
Wow--great comments everyone! especially Skylark who I think made an excellent point re: the reason we take turns talking in Church.
The way you phrased it though, Master Fob, relects exactly what I see the point of the svithes being in the first plave: "It means that a bunch of imperfect people can get together and share our thoughts about God, with the assumption that we all have the right to have those thoughts."
Thanks for yours.
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