Very interesting Leah. It shows how we, as children, (as you very well noted) are the product of our environment; but it also shows how we grow as humans and adapt our views when we have a more open mind towards the world we live in.
This is something that lacks with many religions, they want to push their views, and convert and proselytize without realizing that the beauty of this world is that we all hold different beliefs and traditions. It should be our sense of humanity what sustains us as a society, not religion.From Catherine P. on Video of my SRLS Talk:
How ironic the gentleman at the end... he spoke exactly as I would expect a true bluer to speak. An apostle speaks for the Lord, EXCEPT when he says something wrong. Well duh! I'm glad he spoke up and his ignorant (and I meant that in the true definition of the word) remarks were a real live example of the member mindset. Rather a fitting way to show the contrast of how far you have come.
And I have to include my reply to Catherine:
Yeah, one of the death knells in my testimony was the whole claim about how priesthood leaders speak for the Lord, speak for the Lord, speak for the Lord UNTIL they make a mistake. And then we're supposed to forgive them because they're just human. How the hell are supposed to know the difference?! And they say pray about it and let the Spirit guide you, but then if the Spirit tells you something that conflicts with Church authorities, you've been deceived. AAAAUUUGGHHH!And from Andrew on Why still use the word "God"?
I'm actually kind of glad the 'New Atheists' are (very slowly) getting away from their fixation on the 'god' word and instead starting to contribute something more meaningful... like actually trying to produce new information.
The real demon is the idea of authority -- ideas like inerrancy and unchanging, permanent truths.
The problem isn't having a god. The word isn't necessarily anthropomorphic and has lots of deep roots. Reality was very different in the ancient past. We've since changed how we see the world but we haven't necessarily updated all the old software, in a sense.
The real problem is thinking your god gives you the power of authority.
>>>The real problem is thinking your god gives you the power of authority.<<< Wow. That's really really good.
ReplyDeleteHey Leah,
ReplyDeleteBeen out of the loop for a while, but did want to say thanks for picking me out as a comment highlight.
Cheers!
Hey, Andrew. I'm in and out of the loop a lot myself, depending on what else life requires of me. My pleasure to feature your comment. Hope you're well!
ReplyDeleteLeah