Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Methods to My Madness

Hello again.

In this post I would like to discuss a term referred to as skeptical inquiry. As I have already stated in this blog, I am an atheist. I am also a skeptic. I want to draw a line right here and right now between the ideas of skeptical inquiry and debunking or doubting.

To be a skeptic doesn't mean you automatically dismiss anything and everything that doesn't fit with your paradigms of how the world should work. It means that you follow the evidence. It also means that if you had a certain position on something and the next day new evidence was found to contradict your position, you would re-evaluate and re-establish your position. Debunking, on the other hand is coming in with a preconceived notion of how you think things should be, and cherry picking evidence to support that view.

I didn't realize I was a skeptic until far after I left the mormon church, and I have to say that it plays a huge role in decisions I've made and continue to make in my life. I want you all to understand not only what conclusions I've made, but how I've come to make them.

It has always seemed completely logical and necessary for me to want to question things. It's simply second nature. If you claim a certain belief, not only claim it but dedicate your entire life to it and believe it with all your heart, mind, and strength, it seems to me that you should investigate and question it to every limit. How can you possibly say you believe something that intensely without taking the time to learn it's history, it's background, it's roots? After all, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

This brings me to the topic of what those of the LDS faith refer to as "Anti-Mormon Literature." I have during my personal journey for truth read many articles, books, sermons, and documents that I'm sure would be very easily classified as Anti-Mormon. The surprising thing is that a lot of these documents are contained within books and talks sanctioned, sold, and in some cases even canonized by the LDS church itself. So what does this term "Anti-Mormon Literature" really mean?

I recall many an Ensign article or conference talk referring to this term. In most cases it was used as the primary factor leading to an otherwise faithful member's utter demise and loss of testimony. Sounds like pretty serious business. Let's see what the church has to say about it.

I scoured the lds.org website in search of a simple definition of Anti-Mormon Literature. I couldn't find one. To take it very literally I would define it as anything that says something negative about the church, or attempts to cast a less than favorable light upon them. That is certainly what I understood it to be in my earlier years.

There are certain talks, and books that are sanctioned by church leadership that cast a negative light on the church. If the church sells it at deseret book, and publishes it on it's website, and discusses it in conference and church, how can it be anti-mormon literature?

My point is that I may occasionally bring up issues that I have with the mormon church (and other religions for that matter). I am not attempting to sway anyone's opinion or pollute your faith. I will never reference anything that has not been referenced by the church itself so don't be scared that I will fill this blog with hateful anti-mormon jibberish. That has never been my intention and though many people engage in that kind of behavior, I find it to be about the least constructive thing you can do. What I really want to do here is tell my story, and engage in some serious and open minded discussions about ourselves, what we believe, and why.

Finally, I simply want to state that I truly believe you should investigate everything to it's fullest extent. Never take anything for granted. If you don't understand it, don't simply dismiss it. Continue searching. Please, please, before you give your life away to something, understand it at it's core. To do anything else, in my opinion, is a horrible tragedy. And please, don't just take my word for it. Don't take anybody's word for it. Discover as much information as you can, and draw your own conclusion. This approach can be scary. It makes you vulnerable and uncertain at times. But in all honesty, you have both everything to lose and everything to gain. And that , my friends, is a beautiful thing.