The Mormons Pt. 2
In the Mormon Church I observe some problems that extend beyond it, problems that can invade any religion...
#1 - "I Know That This Is The One True Church"
People should not say this, when referring to an organized denomination. To do so is to say that you can come up with a list of the members of God's Church, and no man has that wisdom or authority. The true believers of God thrive in a multitude of Christian denominations, at the very least. Besides the Mormon Church, the Roman Catholic Church insists on being referred to as the One True Church.
It is a very decisive ultimatum- it is telling others, "You either will be part of the right Church, or you will compromise your closeness to God by attending a lesser imitation." The root of this problem is fear; the religious authorities fear other interpretations of the Truth, and so use this ultimatum to scare believers from attending alternative denominations.
Of course, churches like the Mormon and Catholic Churches might say, "We are not a mere denomination- we are the whole Church!" Well, to do that is to disown the rest of Christianity, and that is madness and arrogance. Man simply fears not being in control, not being able to identify all of his fellow believers, not having every theological belief affirm his own culture and agendas. But the truth is, the One True Church is invisible to man's eyes, and that should not make him fret.
#2 - "I Know In My Heart That This Is True"
You need to know in your heart that your ultimate belief system is true... but you need a lot more than that! When I challenged the Mormons' various proofs of theirs being "the One True Church," they didn't answer my challenges with more or better proofs, they simply retreated to "I know in my heart that this is true." Well, the thing is, I know in my heart that my belief system is true, too. So then, since we both know in our hearts we are right, shouldn't the belief system that has the better outside evidences be accepted, ultimately? At the very least, you need more than personal experience and emotion as your proof, if you are trying to convince someone else to trade their belief system for yours.
As I said in the first line though, these problematic defenses can invade any belief system. So let us be on our guard.
image taken from http://antipub.12h60.com/graphisme/attention_manipulation.jpg
The Peace of Christ To You,
Jake