It looks like I've been officially blocked from fairblog.org:
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Jacob Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 16th, 2011 at 12:04 am looks like my reference to the dialogue magazine was flagged, so my last comment was moderated and will have to be viewed here. Thanks.
October 15th, 2011 at 11:59 pm =) sounds good. We will discuss more in private.
Minor note: I’m guessing you believe I dropped out or quit because of my saying “leaving” rather than “graduating” BYU. I simply transferred schools upon finishing my mission, because I felt I had acquired about all I could there and needed a change of scenery.
This place is proper to bring up problems with LDS scholarship, because so many LDS are hoodwinked into thinking that somehow all the apologist material adds up to something substantial. The truth is that it doesn’t. I thought here would be a good place to comment, because if an LDS apologist such as Brother Ash reads it, perhaps they could be inclined to steer me right if I am wrong. I feel that they will not comment, because engaging in an honest discussion with me will force them to admit the weakness of their position on many points, including those I have previously mentioned.
To quote John L. Sorenson, a respected LDS archaeologist, “As long as Mormons generally are willing to be fooled by (and pay for) the uninformed, uncritical drivel about archaeology and the scriptures which predominates, the few L.D.S. experts are reluctant even to be identified with the topic.” We really need to stop the drivel. Strides have definitely been made since the sixties when this quote was given, but there is really no excuse for the mountains of hogwash that still get peddled as scholarship.
Debates don’t solve anything, but they sure do a good job at pointing out holes in logic or scholarship that many on the other side are unaware of. It helps both sides. My reasons for not believing the church are academic. This site had ought to be academic, and as such, should allow for debate. If the church is true, a serious debate and discussion of the available evidence will do nothing but bolster its claims. That the apologists aren’t willing to engage fairly and openly should be reason enough realize the need for a critical evaluation of the evidence.
Most people who leave the church actually just leave it. That’s the end of things. I know that is the way for many people from my former wards and stakes. To claim that people who leave it can’t leave it alone is to make an awfully big deal out of the church that really has no statistical significance. Everyone has a somewhat different response to a change in beliefs. I’ve left the church alone for a long time, without really any hubbub, believing in general the church to be a decent organization that improves people’s lives, and that conversion for an individual can mean everything to them, and bring about much good.
But with thought and time I’ve come to see how dangerous it is to persist in false beliefs. Beliefs shape attitudes, which shape behaviors, which shape our world. Falsehood may be locally soothing, but globally destructive. And as painful as it may be to realize that your cherished beliefs aren’t quite as genuine as you once thought them, the longer we wait to change course, the more destructive and painful our decision to uncritically accept our belief systems will be. Maybe not for you and me, but what about our children and their children?
What a divided future they have ahead of them! I happen to be somewhat specialized in general Mormon studies, though I am branching further and further out into biblical research, with a focus on archaeology and textual criticism. Thus, I would like to speak up in behalf of honest representation of the current state of the scholarship, and help end the endless rehashes that refuse to engage all the current material and thus don’t get us anywhere. I am a voice for the future.