logjamislds wrote:OK, non gnat-straining issues. For convenience sake, I'll just go with the temple recommend interview questions. Can't remember them all, but: Do you believe in God the Eternal Father, in His son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost? Do you believe in the restoration? Do you keep the Word of Wisdom, temple covenants; do you sustain the General Authorities as prophets, seers and revelators? Do you support or have any sympathy for apostate groups? (And, I can't remember correctly on this one, but there should be a question involving supporting the Canon in the church; I don't think there is, but I don't want to steady the ark.) Are you a full tithe payer? Do you deal honestly with others in your daily and business dealings? Is there anything you think you should discuss with your bishop before this recommend is issued?
Really, though, I think the gnat-strainer comes from a certain mindset. No matter what answers they get, they'll always be hopping to the next "gnat", and, eventually, coming back around to the original gnat. There is something deeper going on here with them; I'm not quite sure what it is, but the "gnat straining" is largely a smokescreen, I think, to cover up for some other spiritual flaw or immaturity. What? Fear? Looking for an excuse to avoid serious commitment? Not sure.
I hope you don't mind if I address this seriously. I still go with my previous post, but I want to speak to what you wrote here.
From your POV, I imagine that you think that there is an answer for every criticism of the LDS church. Or, if not, people should be content to wait until Father deems it appropriate to give further light and knowledge on the topic.
From many a critical perspective, it is not just ONE issue that makes the church claims untrue. It is hundreds of things. Some little. Some huge. But they all add up. In some cases, just one issue is enough. However, with some of the smaller issues it is more of an adding up of all these things and coming to the conclusion that a Jesus run church would not have
that many issues.
It seems to me that a lot of believers and apologists look at the issues as if they are in a vacuum. But they are not. They are all inter-related and they all exist together in one big pile. Even if you think you have successfully addressed one issue there really still are 10 waiting in the queue behind it. Although, for most critics or non-believers the apologetics are not satisfying nor do they successfully answer the issue.
Many of the critics here
are seriously committed. Many are active in the LDS church and still live very similar lives to when they believed. What commitment do you imagine they are trying to avoid?
The process of losing belief in the LDS religion actually takes a great deal of inner strength and requires a lot of thinking for yourself. I would be willing to bet that most of the critics here are extremely spiritually mature and have no more flaws than your average TBM. They just aren't willing to lie to themselves or put their trust in the arm of the Brethren anymore.