This blog post was originally written on 29 January 2006. It is reproduced here for archival purposes and your reading pleasure. It is reproduced as accurately as possible with no style, mechanical, or spelling corrections whatsoever.
Current mood:
hopeful
Well as many of you know, I am considering becoming a mormon. Am I a mormon now? No. well, I don't think so. Let me first clear a few things up. Neither myself, nor any other present day mormons practice polygamy. I don't know if the book of mormon is true. Idon't know for sure its origin, and honostly I have read a very unimpressive seven chapters of it. My biggest exposure to mormonism is through two friends I met on a cruise, and hung out with for about a week. I also have read several encyclopedia articles about the subject. I have taken particular interest in the reorganized church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. I don't believe in evolutionary diety, and I'm not really sure how that became associated with the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.
That being said, you are probably wondering what it is that is making me consider being a mormon. Well there are a few thinngs that draw me toward it. First the mormon religion strictly prohibits drinking, smoking, and using drugs of any knid. These are all things that I have been opposed to as long as I can remember. Also I like the thought that Jesus came and preached to the natives in the new world. I have no Idea wether it's true or not, and I really don't think that it is that important. One very important part of mormonism is that humans in general aren't responsible for origional sin (that is, the sins of Adam ans Eve). I like the way that they call all of us spirit children of God. They (or we) believe that all of us have been around since the begining of the world, and have spent eternity with God. They believe that our time here on earth is a probation period. A time when we are exposed to evil ideas, and people. It is something of a test to see if we will remain faithful.
One final thing to point out is that wether or not I actually am a mormon, saying that I am helps me to talk about my religion in general with people who, and at times when I normally wouldn't talk about it.
OK. Hope that prevents any of you from Hazing me any further. Please feel free (actuall feel encouraged) to post any thoughts or suggestions as comments. Please don't post links to any websites that try to archeologically disprove the book of mormon as I have admittedly not read very much of it.
So how do I feel about this post five years later? Well, I'm impressed with my writing style, and composition skills for one thing. I think I did a good job pointing out what I did and didn't know at the time, and not being biased one way or the other. But, I'm no longer considering becoming a Mormon or a member of any other church. After some serious consideration, and reading (including notably Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution, and Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion) I have decided that I don't believe in any kind of religion anymore. That shift in belief affected some of my principles, but not others. For example, the aforementioned belief that drinking, smoking, and drug use is somehow objectively wrong is all but completely gone. And, for counterexample, all of my humanistic beliefs including doing good to others at all times, and following the golden rule (yes the one that appears in the Bible) are still perfectly in tact.
Giving up religion has not in any sense caused me to be more pessimistic, and in fact quite the opposite is true. Believing in people and love alone allows room for practical hope and optimism -- room that was previously used on observing ancient holiness codes, and trying to please an invisible deity that never really made her will known to begin with.
Having grown up in the Church, and even attended a religious college, I certainly don't have any kind of disdain for religious people in general. And I won't be giving unsolicited speeches to innocent passers-by who would rather keep believing. I just personally don't believe anymore, and if anyone is actually interested in knowing why, I would be happy to give a detailed account of exactly what I believe and why.
As with the original post, feel free to post any thoughts or ideas as comments.
love, Joshy Woshy
for more information about the Mormon church, see http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng The A-Z index is particularly useful.
