I had a colleague at work point this article out to me and ask me about it. He found the article odd because he thought things like doubt and coming to terms with crazy/upsetting things from a religious history is nearly a universal part of the religious experience.
It surprises me a bit that one could grow up as Hans Mattson did and never hear about polygamy. I grew up knowing about it. So did that inoculate me? It's hard to say because I don't know the experience of uncovering it at a later stage. And even knowing it all my life, I remain troubled by it. . . I remember visiting a Community of Christ sit in Nauvoo and discovering, for the first time, that they refuse to conceded JS as a polygamist, so I found that interesting at the time.
For me, one of the primary problems is that we, as a culture and religion, seem to fail to embrace the struggle of faith. What seems meant to inspire belief is typicall based on provoking emotional reactions and then speaking in absolutes. It feels less than genuine when those in charge seem to insist on a position that won't acknowledge past mistakes. So it might make me feel better to hear something like "JS had more wives than God probably ever intended, and maybe he was prone to an abuse of power in that way. . ." I don't know.
|