Cognizance Is Bliss

We are living in the age of information. Never before in human history has anyone had this much free access to science, historical facts, literature, and art! Advances in communication, travel, and technology have given the power of information to everyone, across the globe, rich or poor. The internet is poised and ready to answer any question you have. You need advice? Want to learn a new skill? You want to learn about history? Or math? Or find a new recipe? You can look it up easily and instantly. In these modern times, where information abounds, ignorance is a choice!

This also applies to our own knowledge of religion. You are welcome to believe whatever you want to. I don't care so much as to what you believe, but as to why! As long as you are educated about your own beliefs, as long as you have put in the time and effort to study it and learn all you can, then I think that's great. What bothers me is when people choose to remain ignorant about certain aspects of their own cherished beliefs, or when people/organizations purposefully try to hide or alter the truth. Unfortunately, the Mormon church has not always been open about the full details of their own history. Furthermore, now that this information is easily accessible on the internet, many faithful church members still choose not to learn about what "really happened".

Skeletons In The Closet

The modern Mormon church naturally presents itself in positive light. It has done a good job of re-branding over the years by distancing itself from its past, and by painting a rosy picture of its own history. All you hear about in Sunday school are the heavenly miracles surrounding Joseph Smith, the persecution of the early saints, the incredible faith of the early pioneers, the [since revised] doctrines, and just how gosh darn swell the church leaders are. So many stories of faith, miracles, humility, and goodwill!

But... there are so many other things about church history, early church leaders, and church doctrine that are incredibly disturbing. There are so many contradictions, discrepancies, and unexplained problems. The crazy thing is, most faithful LDS members have no idea of the real details of their own church's history! Mormon investigators, who are thinking of joining the church, are never taught these things and are not given the opportunity to make a more educated decision! The truth often gets obfuscated, and we are left with many half-truths, and sometimes... outright lies. It's as if the church knows its own history is sketchy. Some recent apostles have even outright admitted that they purposefully hide parts of the truth that they don't like (see footnote 22 here)!

Just as the printing press helped educate people (such as Martin Luther) about problems with the Roman Catholic church back in the 1500s, the internet has been wreaking havoc on the Mormon church today. Historical truths have recently come to light that were heretofore obfuscated and mostly inaccessible to the majority of church members. It is beyond the scope of this blog to detail all the controversies and problems with Mormon theology and history. That work has been done many times, and I refer the reader to a few wonderful sources of information:

• CES Letter
• Letter to my wife
• mormonthink
• Brother Jake     <-------- this one is my favorite. 
• Why Mormons leave
• reddit discussions
• Mormon essays

Any friends, family, or otherwise, who would like to help me "see the error of my ways", will likely need to address the concerns written about in these sources. If you have any insights, and/or disagreements on any of the material I just linked, please reach out and let's talk about them! I love having these kinds of discussions! 

Down The Rabbit Hole

Many Mormon apologists have come up with some inventive explanations to try to justify these various issues (yes you should read those too). Certainly any ONE thing may not be a deal breaker, but all of them together? It's quite overwhelming. Maybe we can easily shrug our shoulders at things like, not being told the real story of how the Book of Mormon was supposedly translated, or how there is a notable lack of historical/archaeological evidence for the people and events in the Book of Mormon. It, however, becomes harder and harder when you continue to pile on more and more concerns such as:

• How modern DNA analysis has shown that Native American ancestors came from North-East Asia rather than Israel. 
• How Joseph Smith wasn't just a polygamist, he was an adulterer and a borderline pedophile. He married young girls not even 15 years old! He would send men overseas on missions, then marry their wives while they were gone! Often behind Emma's back! 
• How Mormon prophets would literally teach, as doctrine, that black people were inherently inferior and were less valiant in the preexistence, and that their skin would lighten as they accepted the gospel! The Mormon church was one of the last to allow black members to be in full standing; it took the church nearly two decades AFTER the major civil rights movement in the 60s! If "modern revelation" could have given the church so much foresight, then why didn't the church lead the way in civil rights!!??? 

Oops! I said wasn't going to go into specifics! You can read all about them on your own. I will warn you that what I have mentioned just scratches the surface! The rabbit hole is deep, and it's probably worse than you think. 

The Guilty [Everyone] Taketh The Truth To Be Hard [If They Don't Like It]

Like I said, maybe you can consider the issues one by one and try to jury-rig some inventive justification as to how/why the church is still true. But all of them together? The mental gymnastics just get too ridiculous. Many Mormons still want to believe in the church so badly that they just look for some hint of "plausibility". To them, it's not about what conclusion is more likely given the evidence, but about how they can justify things so that the conclusion they want has at least SOME likelihood. All they need is some way to appease their cognitive dissonance, and then they'll pretend that everything is fine. They are so dependent on the church, so ingrained in the system and culture, that they are scared of life without it.

Often when I mention these issues, active Mormons will smugly say something akin to, "Ha! You haven't said anything I didn't already know!" OK... so you already know about these disturbing things, but have you thought through their implications!? How do you reconcile them?

For example, how do you deal with the blatant racism!? Brigham Young, and prophets even as recent as the 1960s, taught Mormon DOCTRINE that explicitly stated that black people were inferior. Brigham literally taught that they deserve to be slaves. For decades it was explicitly taught that black people were cursed since the preexistence. Does that not bother you? What are we supposed to make of it? What do YOU make of it? The modern church now just tries to pretend that that was never really doctrine. 

Were they not prophets? If they simply made a mistake, why didn't God correct them?!? Does God not directly speak to them as claimed? If your excuse is that "everyone was racist back then", then shouldn't we at least expect the prophet to be a little bit better than the norm? Instead, the prophets were some of the MOST racist! Furthermore, aren't God's doctrines supposed to be "above" the "philosophies of men"? Aren't Mormons supposed to be in the world but not OF the world!? Why does it seem like Mormon doctrine merely lags behind current Western ideology? Isn't the church supposed to be the example? Why didn't the church lead the way in civil rights? Why does it cave under social pressure? If you instead try to argue that the prophets DIDN'T make a mistake, then are you saying that God himself is racist? How do you reconcile this?

You say that these are just the mistakes of men. Well, sure, men make mistakes. But again, why didn't God correct them? You say we need to be forgiving of Joseph Smith's, Brigham Young's, and other church leader's faults. Well, answer me this: How bad would it have to be before you stop listening to them? How many mistakes or how serious of a mistake would it take before you would acknowledge that they were/are not "inspired men of God"? Would it take murder? Another genocide? If President Nelson today announced that God told him to marry a 14 year old girl, wouldn't you fervently question that? Seriously, if blatant racism, secret underage marriages, sexual abuse cover-ups, and lies are not enough, then what WOULD be enough?

Ultimately, Mormons will say something like, "But history is unreliable and can be interpreted in may different ways; that's why you need to rely on the spirit!" or "It's impossible to know God's mysteries! We just have to trust in him!" or "That's why it's called faith! If we knew all the answers, then we wouldn't need faith!". But... doesn't God also want me to be educated? And to think and reason for myself? Doesn't God want me to know in my mind as well as in my heart? Are you saying that God is purposefully making it harder to have faith in him? That he designed church history to be so disturbing? That he designed doctrine to contradict most modern science? That he created confusion on purpose just to test our faith, even though we read in the scriptures (here and here) that God is not supposed to be a God of confusion?

We must not mistake delusion for faith! Faith is a belief in something despite lack of sufficient evidence. Delusion, on the other hand, is a belief in something despite sufficient contradictory evidence. If you read through the sources I've linked, you'll find plenty of evidence against the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, the church, and the gospel. You need to consider ALL the evidence both for and against! That is why relying on warm fuzzies from the "the spirit" is not enough! 

Certainly there are Mormons who have diligently studied all the controversial church history and doctrines and have concluded for themselves that it is true. There are definitely good things to be found in the church and the gospel! However, I submit that everything good about the Mormon church is not unique to Mormonism, despite the fact that Mormonism claims to be the one true church. Furthermore, the church often puts on a show of encouraging its member to ask hard questions and to "find out for yourself", but only if you eventually come to the "right" conclusions!

Again Mormons often just say to "pray about the truth" and "gain a witness through the holy spirit. That is all you need!" They fail to realize that that is NO DIFFERENT than what other religions teach. Jehovah's Witnesses say the exact same thing about their faith. Same with various sects of Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. Members from each of them will tell you a heartfelt story of struggle, faith, study, prayer, pleading with the Lord to know the truth, and a powerful comforting "witness" from God that their religion is the one true religion. What makes Mormonism so different that it happens to be right while the other religions are wrong?

It turns out, the vast majority of human beings end up sticking with the same religion they were born into (see here and here). It's too difficult to change; it's too easy to just stay with how you were raised; it is a fundamental part of your culture. Change like that takes a huge toll. It comes with a terrible cost. Think about someone who has spent her entire life in the church. If she were to suddenly realize it is false, what does she do about it? She would have to face her loved ones, and probably break their hearts, and deal with that backlash. Would her family feel hurt? Betrayed? Would they accuse her of some secret sin that caused her to "lose the spirit"? Her entire social system is built around the church. She would lose lots of friends. Much of the prestige and respect coming from church members would be lost. She would feel very lonely. What would she teach her children now? It would be like starting over in life in many ways.

This terrible cost produces HUGE biases when considering the truthfulness of one's own religion. The cognitive dissonance is immense. People would usually rather stay with their current religion if at all possible. That is why people go to great lengths to justify all these controversial Mormon doctrines and history. Not just Mormonism, but any religion. It is easy to look at another religion, extremist or not, and be so confused, and even poke fun, at how their members can't see the "obvious" faults and fallacies. But our own religion? We'll justify, make excuses, and turn a blind eye all day.

Now We Are Free

Look. All I am ultimately advocating here is to be educated. Perhaps the worst thing about Mormon history is not what actually happened, but that the church has not been honest and open about the details. One of the hallmarks of an oppressive governing body is how they control the flow of information. An oppressive government will manipulate/regulate the media, obfuscate history, and censor any information it does not want its subjects to know for their own "protection". They don't want their people to get too educated and then have "dangerous" independent thinkers. Education is powerful thing, so much so that many autocratic type governments fear it.

Knowledge, understanding, education---they mean freedom. Freedom to make your own decisions, to reason and think for yourself, and to draw your own conclusions. Being educated gives you freedom to formulate your own ideas, to think outside the box, and to influence the world! With greater freedom certainly comes greater responsibility; it's harder, but more rewarding. Perhaps you've spent most of your life giving God all the credit for your successes, but blaming yourself for all your failures. Don't sell yourself short. You are more than capable of evaluating facts and information. Have confidence in your own ability to direct your own life and to be happy! Do not be afraid of gaining knowledge!

If you really believe in Mormonism, then make sure to read and learn, from all sources, everything you can about it's doctrines, it's history, and the history of those who founded it! Even if that knowledge makes you uncomfortable, it will set you free! If you still conclude the church is true, then you have done so without ignorance and so the choice to believe is fully yours. And... if it doesn't hold up, if you find out it isn't true, then thank goodness you were able to learn and figure that out! Thank goodness you no longer believe something that isn't true! Thank goodness you are now free to walk your own path!

Bursting Bubbles

I hate it when I lack understanding, or when I think I know something but have it all wrong, or when I fall victim to common misconceptions. I crave for learning, for knowledge, and for new ways of thinking! That's why I love it when I'm confronted with new ideas, or when my perspective changes, or when my understanding is broadened! I especially love learning about what I didn't know I didn't know! It's exhilarating to see past the status quo! I am grateful when someone brings to my attention new insights! I am indebted when someone shows me how I am not so smart! I become giddy with excitement when someone bursts my bubble!

Obviously I am passionate about education and learning. For some people, reading all these controversial things about Mormonism and then realizing it's not true is a difficult and emotional process. Many are heartbroken by it. I, on the other hand, couldn't help feeling extremely happy and grateful to have ruptured my Mormon bubble. I'm not saying it is easy; it's been a lonely road dealing with the fallout from friends and family. I used to be an incredibly dedicated Mormon. I was all in. I believed in it so strongly. I sacrificed an incredible amount of time, money, energy, and resources into living the gospel the best I knew how---and helped others do the same! It would be easy to feel like I had wasted all that and to feel bitter.

Instead, I am so grateful that I have a curious mind, that I had access to information, that I was able to learn and understand, and that I could free myself from Mormonism! It has opened up a whole new world of possibility! There certainly is a price to pay for knowledge and understanding---it requires more of you---it requires change. But I live for that. I will gladly accept the responsibility of knowledge if it means I don't have to be ignorant.

For me, cognizance is bliss.

(See here for part one)