Do Maklelan, BC, MG & Co Ever Have Doubts?

[Guest]

When I was a hard core TBM I knew beyond doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was everything it claimed to be, that God lived in His heaven above, that he had Prophets whom He communicated with on earth, that He loved His children whom He had created etc etc etc.
When someone challenged me or my beliefs I was firm in my knowledge that NOTHING could or would ever convince me that the church was anything but what I knew to be true. Despite KNOWING that the church was true…in my heart of hearts there was something I kept secret and shared with no one. I probably didn’t even allow it to enter my sub conscience…but I still knew it was there. It was doubt.

Even when my testimony was at its most fervent peak, if truth be told, I wanted the church to be what it claimed but I never really honestly knew it beyond a shadow of doubt despite my having claimed such. There was something…something at the heart of my testimony…that I never ever wanted to engage…something I kept buried, hidden from both myself and everyone else in my life...because the mere thought of it chilled me to my core. It wasn’t a question on some specific issue, it hadn’t even grown to become a question yet…it was something much more subtle…a feeling, a sense, an awareness that something just wasn’t right….but it hadn’t even risen to become a question or a knowledge…it was still very much just an almost imperceptible impression. Like a shadow at night…that is there but then quickly vanishes into the darkness.

Fortunately for me I had been trained well. Raised in the best of LDS families, taught from my earliest memory the foundational stories of Mormonism. I knew them by heart. And doubt had no place in this worldview of certainty. Yet it lingered…that whisper in the wind that something just didn’t add up…
Throughout the years as seemingly random disturbances in my LDS understanding presented themselves …I would not allow myself to even entertain the thought to feed my hidden doubts…I never wanted to feed that beast…so I built a vault in my mind to hide the random issues when they became cognizant. As with many others, as I matured in the church, took on various priesthood assignments and was exposed to a greater understanding of church history…the issues I needed to hide away increased. They eventually grew to a point were I had no choice but to confront them and well as they say the rest is history.

So why was I able to come to a different understanding of reality than the above mentioned Maklelan, BC, MG and company who remain believers? Do they have a larger mental vault, were they better at nuancing Mormonism’s truth claims, are they better at parsing and reconstructing their faith to make it believable than I was? Have they found a better way to resolve doubt…Certainly they have doubt.

They know the same issues we are all aware of and yet they remain believers…not in a traditional sense…but still they believe. Obviously, every individual is unique and processes information differently…so why did that same information lead me out of the church and kept them in…and why would this information not have the same impact on all of us? Why doesn’t it cause them to lose belief? Do they have that lingering something hidden within the walls of their colelctive minds...that something just doesn't add up, that somethings is wrong...and yet they successfully ignore it?

[_suniluni2]

Everyone does, about most things.

[_Tator]

Craig, I enjoyed your post similar to my story. I think MG gave us some insight to the issue.

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MG wrote:

I've concluded that if the CofJCofLDS isn't "the truth"...then it's some flavor of agnosticism/deism/atheism for me. And there are a number of reasons for this that I'd just as well not flesh out right now...

So I go with the possibilities/probabilities/plausibilities. And for me, it's the CofJCofLDS unless I come across the proverbial "smoking gun" which honestly, I haven't yet...although there are a bunch of issues, etc., that are unresolved. At this point I'm willing to live with a certain degree/amount of ambiguity...the stakes are high.

Bolding and coloring mine.

MG and BC can't face the red comment being true because if they do they know that the blue comment would be the path they would go. Too scary for them and many like them so they hang on by the slightest thread that the red comment can't be true.

[_Boanerges]

Everyone has, some just won't admit it.

[_ludwigm]

Everyone does, about most things.

Religious nuts are exceptions.

You may improve the list of exceptions.

[_Jaybear]

The simple answer could be they lack your courage. Considering the the investment of time, money and personality that Mormonism requires, it takes great deal of courage to face your doubt and follow the truth to its logical conclusion.

I have noticed that when apologists engage in discussions about these issue, they are not looking for real answers, or even likely answers, but looking for "plausible" explanations. If there is no irrefutable evidence that Joseph Smith had sex with 14 year old Helen, then in their mind, he didn't.

[_Tator]

The simple answer could be they lack your courage. Considering the the investment of time, money and personality that Mormonism requires, it takes great deal of courage to face your doubt and follow the truth to its logical conclusion.

I have noticed that when apologists engage in discussions about these issue, they are not looking for real answers, or even likely answers, but looking for "plausible" explanations. If there is no irrefutable evidence that Joseph Smith had sex with 14 year old Helen, then in their mind, he didn't.

So true, Jaybear:

MG wrote:

So I go with the possibilities/probabilities/plausibilities.

Quoted above.

[_Fence Sitter]

MG and BC can't face the red comment being true because if they do they know that the blue comment would be the path they would go. Too scary for them and many like them so they hang on by the slightest thread that the red comment can't be true.

I sincerely doubt that BC, as he represents himself here, actually exist fully in real life. He may believe many of the absurd doctrinal stances he takes but his silly claims of grandeur are highly exaggerated merely to troll people here, so I am not sure you can apply such a question to someone who really does not exist.

As far as MG goes, I think he makes a fairly simple choice in remaining within the church, because when your entire social and family network is inextricably interwoven with the church, it isn't just a matter of walking away from faith, you run the very real risk of loosing everything in your life, like your job, family and friends. And, I suspect, he is a big fan of green Jello.

[_Maxrep]

Church truth claims are the same for every member. There are several other factors though that are unique to each LDS individual. These other factors carry differing considerations that have to be measured out when making the choice to acknowledge that Mormonism could be false.

Family and social ties within the church community, seem to me to have the greatest impact on the decision to critically examine the church. For myself, getting involved with cycling had the unintended effect of broadening my day to day social experience. As my network of friends outside the church grew over several years, my interaction within the church community began to feel less important, and more pre packaged, more scripted, and less spontaneous.

When a person has genuine alternate ways of socializing, then the church community becomes an afterthought. In my experience, and those whom I have talked within the church locally, the family ties and church community play a far greater role in member activity than the testimony of an individual.

[_Craig Paxton]

I sincerely doubt that BC, as he represents himself here, actually exist fully in real life. He may believe many of the absurd doctrinal stances he takes but his silly claims of grandeur are highly exaggerated merely to troll people here, so I am not sure you can apply such a question to someone who really does not exist.

As far as MG goes, I think he makes a fairly simple choice in remaining within the church, because when your entire social and family network is inextricably interwoven with the church, it isn't just a matter of walking away from faith, you run the very real risk of loosing everything in your life, like your job, family and friends. And, I suspect, he is a big fan of green Jello.

Purhaps you are correct with BC...and as for MG...each of us has faced those same cost of leaving the clan, Each of us who has concluded that Mormonism was man-made have risked our families, social status, careers and friends...yet we paid it. Does it really come down to a fear of paying that final fee?