Posts tagged "Truth"
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A perfect quote
I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned!
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From Medium: Reasons I'd Be Atheist, But Choose to Be Religious
This is a long read, but well worth it. I wish I had written it. Everything I read in there is exactly my experience:
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These Things
There is a verse in the Book of Mormon that is horrifically proof-texted, and strained to such an interpretation as to defy reason. That verse is Alma 39:5:
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My Religion
I’ve thought for a long time about how I can describe my religion. The earliest versions where characterized by what it isn’t. I’m not really a Mormon. I’m not really a Christian. I’m not really agnostic. I’m not really gnostic.
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Intelligence and Voices
A while ago I posed the question:
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Experiments
On the popular TV show MythBusters, one of the hosts once said:
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Knowledge
Sure knowledge is the enemy of learning.
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Ad Hominem
An ad hominem fallacy is one where, instead of attacking an argument directly, you attack a person making the argument, and use your attacks on that person as a way to discredit the argument. In short, you’re ignoring the thing being debated and attacking the debater.
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A Conversation
I had a conversation with God yesterday, and this is part of what He said to me:
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Appeal to Tradition
One of the most damning things we can do is refuse to consider new ideas because they contradict “the way we’ve always done it.” There is no more sure way to utterly cease the possibility of learning than to decry that it breaks with tradition.
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It is not the same
How often have we heard the admonition that we must follow the prophet because whenever he speaks, it is as if God’s speaking, because “it is the same”? I hear this very frequently, and every time I do, I am saddened at how we repeat the words of others without bothering to read the scriptures for ourselves.
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God will make up for it?
Saying “In the end, God will make up for it” is nothing more than a cheap and dirty way of not wanting to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions.
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Suffering
The LDS Church has changed its doctrine on apostasy to now include those who “are in a same-gender marriage.” By extension, the children of such couples are also being punished: they can not be blessed in the Church, and in order to receive ordinances must disavow the marriage of their parents.
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The Well
- Now Joseph's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
- There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
- Jesus ... said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
- The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
- Art thou greater than our father Joseph Smith, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
- Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
- But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
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The Traveler
A certain man was walking down a road, enjoying the beautiful scenery. After a while, he stopped to rest.
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The Philosophies of Men
A couple of days ago I was driving in my car, and a thought very forcefully came to my mind:
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Breakthrough
I had a breakthrough recently.
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The Glory of God
If we truly believe in the idea of exaltation and that we will inherit God’s throne and become like Him, then we are explicitly saying that we believe that we must learn orbital mechanics, cellular biology, theories of computation, and advanced mathematics. For these are among all the tools that God uses to ordain His kingdoms. And if we are to be like Him, then we must understand and use these tools as well.
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Not a prophet
Here is a simplification of a previous post:
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How firm my foundation?
I have a special place in my soul for the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”, especially the latter verses. I think we sing this absent-mindedly, and don’t recognize the significance of this hymn. This is one of a handful of hymns where, instead of us speaking to God, God speaks to us. It is beautiful and humbling to contemplate His words:
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The Holy Ghost
Lately I’ve been thinking about a new way of conceptualizing the Holy Ghost.
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Shame and Guilt
Several years ago I was talking with some friends, and during the course of the conversation, I came to a realization that has helped me sort out some emotions: