Tuesday 27 September 2011

To My Mormon Friends.....

Hey everyone!

 I've been wanting to put up more posts so bad, but haven't had time to finish any of them.  School's been pretty busy lately, and I still haven't found time, so I thought I might try something. I'm hoping to get some responses in order to increase my understanding of why people believe in what they do (particularly beliefs related to the Mormon church).  I understand that not everyone wants their responses posted on a public blog, so feel free to shoot me an email and I'll keep your response completely confidential (kiraroberts@live.ca).

I hope this doesn't sound silly....but I really need some information to put some perspective on some things that have been really racking my brain lately.

These questions are specifically for members of the church, who have grown up in the church (since these people are the ones I can most closely relate to), however, this can extend to anyone who has believed in God their whole life.  Heck, anyone can respond....just as long as it's related somehow.

As a true believing member, have you ever put yourself in the shoes of someone who has never heard the gospel or believed in God? Just for a minute, let's say you've never heard anything about The Book of Mormon, nothing about The Bible, maybe even nothing about God.  What would it take to convince you that those things were true? What would it take to convince you that Joseph Smith was a prophet? I'm talking from a completely blank slate, here.  Pretend you know nothing about Moroni's challenge....what if these were things you have heard for the very first time?

Would you be convinced? ...and why?

This is something I thought about a lot when preparing for a mission.  I ended up not being able to find really good reasons why people should listen to what I had to say, which is why I ended up cancelling my plans to be a missionary for the LDS church. This was one of the first times I had ever REALLY questioned whether or not the Mormon Church was true.  I could come up with many reasons why people should join the church....but I couldn't find any possible explanations (or evidence) to convince people that it was true. There was no way I could go on a mission and tell people to believe in those things without knowing them, myself.

However, I realize that people DO convert....but I need to hear what they have to say about this situation as well.  What kinds of things went through your minds? I'm super curious...

Anyways, I apologize for those who aren't or ever have been Mormon or religious....It's probably a boring post for y'all. I'm not really here to entertain...just to vent my frustrations and set some things straight. Thanks for understanding :)

Peace and Love,

Kira

kiraroberts@live.ca
or for those of you who are my facebook friends, feel free to keep sending me facebook messages :)

2 comments:

  1. Hey Kira

    I think, rather than being boring, it's an extremely insightful, inquisitive, and thoughtful (not to mention considerate) question to ask -- not just of your Mormon friends and family, nor just of anyone religious, but of anyone with strong beliefs on a particular issue.

    Easily this question could be stated as... "What if you had never read anything about Darwin, his life and discoveries; had never heard or (or been interested in thinking about) things like the genetic change, carbon dating, or fossilization; didn't trust or understand the details of hundreds of scientific experiments and ideas that have gone into testing evolutionary ideas; and/or really believed in concepts like creation and the young Earth... What would it take for you to be convinced that evolution can really explain the incredible diversity of life on Earth today?"

    It's a powerful question for us all to ask ourselves, before we judge someone based on the distance between their beliefs and our own, and to gain a real understanding -- and dare I say agreement? on topics that can be so needlessly yet painfully controversial.

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  2. Kira,
    This is a great question to ask, as I've wondered this myself for years. I too decided not to serve a mission because I couldn't see how I could preach to others of what I wasn't sure. Now that I'm on the outside, I can't believe how people don't think about these things!

    @Susan,
    I don't see how Kira's question is at all like the one you stated. Science is based on experimentation and tangible results that can be repeated to gain the same results. This is called evidence, and theories are based on numerous pieces of evidence that can be shown to have similarities. Logic and reason fill in the gaps in theories until new evidence can fill in those gaps.
    A belief in God is not at all based on demonstrable experimentation or evidence. Therefore, a belief in a deity is completely based off of feelings and imagination.

    Also, I'd like to point out that your comparison to Darwin & science alludes to the mistaken idea that one must 'replace' a belief in god; atheism requires no such replacement. Science provides a better explanation for the origins and workings of the world, but is by no means a requirement of atheism. The atheist simply doesn't believe in any supernatural gods.

    -Tom-

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