04-29-2008, 09:10 PM | #21 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 10,665
|
More his philosophical musings late in life. He practically started his own religion and the Orthodox Church excomunicated him even though in the end he was kind of a religious hermit and pilgrims would visit him. But I think the idea that God becomes relevant during trying times and at death's door is a recurring theme in both Dostoevsky's and Tolstoy's works.
__________________
Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster |
04-29-2008, 09:23 PM | #22 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NOVA
Posts: 3,005
|
What methods of inquiry do you use aside from hypothesis testing?
__________________
太初有道 |
04-29-2008, 09:29 PM | #23 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto
Posts: 3,085
|
In my experience there are a few things that help people who come down with the "fever" of the issues and sources you've cited. Some of us here on CG have been faced with the decision of whether or not to walk away. Others are facing that decision right now. Here are a few:
1. A focus on the fruits of Mormonism in my life, as opposed to dwelling on the uncertainty of the roots of the Church. 2. A willingness to accept ambiguity on many issues. My academic training has actually helped me with this. 3. A willingness to not let the mullahs and fundies get me down (at least not in a serious way). The second phase of this is to go about actively deciding what I do and don't think and believe. Jetissoning all the mental gymnastics and non-think can actually feel good. Phase three is being able to appreciate that the ward is filled with good people who mean well despite their shortcomings. I haven't found phase four yet. 4. Getting plugged in to the LDS intellectual scene. Knowing I am not alone is powerful. CG helps many of us in this regard. There are people in every ward who are in very similar situations. They can make great friends. 5. Take seriously what Joseph Smith said about embracing truth wherever you find it. This has lead me to a kind of Mormon universalism, where I'm a faithful heretic. 6. Finding my niche has been important. I served in the primary for four years and loved it. The kids appreciated me and I was insulated from the nonsense going on during the other two hours of the block. I could keep going, but you get the idea. Wrestling with troubling questions concerning the Church can be very healthy. Faith dies when you stop asking those questions.
__________________
"Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies. Last edited by Sleeping in EQ; 04-29-2008 at 09:40 PM. |
04-29-2008, 09:34 PM | #24 | |
Senior Member
|
Quote:
Take it from one of the masters of pissing people off with his over aggressive tone at times. The louder you yell and the more incendiary you deliberately try to be,,,,,the less people hear and want to hear. As a former victim of abuse I'm personally offended that someone like you who claims to be so politically correct and sensitive towards others, so flippantly and casually throws the word abuse around when it comes to the church. I'm kindly asking you to re-think before you make those statements again. You are not a victim. #2. Given your consistent history of baiting others and carefully worded plans of attacking the church, its policies, its leaders, its doctrine, its members, you've really lost any right to continue your charade as a victim. Change your tone and approach some and you might be taken more seriously.
__________________
Masquerading as Cougarguards very own genius dumbass since 05'. |
|
04-29-2008, 09:35 PM | #25 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 103
|
Quote:
|
|
04-29-2008, 09:39 PM | #26 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Valencia CA
Posts: 1,384
|
And here I thought this was going to be about the Irish mob in South Boston. On a side note, I hear it is easier to leave the Irish mob than leave the church. Hitmen are not nearly as determined as hometeachers.
Last edited by Flystripper; 04-29-2008 at 09:44 PM. |
04-29-2008, 09:41 PM | #27 | |
Charon
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo)
Posts: 9,564
|
Quote:
__________________
"... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr. |
|
04-29-2008, 09:42 PM | #28 |
Board Pinhead
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the basement of my house, Murray, Utah.
Posts: 15,941
|
__________________
"The beauty of baseball is not having to explain it." - Chuck Shriver "This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at." - Christopher Hitchens on IQ jokes about GWB. |
04-29-2008, 09:44 PM | #29 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto
Posts: 3,085
|
40 years on the activities committee!
__________________
"Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies. |
04-29-2008, 09:48 PM | #30 | |
Senior Member
|
Quote:
The way you approach things clearly indicates you're interested in getting your points across via shockvalue and painting yourself as a victim and then you wonder why people react the way to you they do. Drop the facade and you'll be taken more seriously.
__________________
Masquerading as Cougarguards very own genius dumbass since 05'. Last edited by RockyBalboa; 04-29-2008 at 09:51 PM. |
|
Bookmarks |
|
|