the philosopher was correct.
k
On Nov 6, 2003, at 7:54 PM, Stuart Jansen wrote:
I tend to beat dead horses and make extensive use of hyperbole in myhttp://llamakc.org
posts. Even if you ignore me as a rule, please don't this time. Please
read what I have to say and think about it. It isn't gospel, and I don't
pretend it is. Anything that isn't a direct quote is my own imperfect
understanding, but it based on real world experience.
So we've stumbled onto the topic of faith. Like many people, it's something I've thought about for years. At the root of the topic is the question "what is faith?" If we already have the perfectly serviceable words belief, acceptance, devotion, confidence, hope, and power why do we need another?
"And now as I said concerning faith—-faith is not to have a perfect
knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which
are not seen, which are true." - Alma 32:21
There's an important distinction between faith and belief. Faith is more
than belief, faith is belief in _things that are true_. You can't have
faith in a lie. You can't have faith in Indra (a Hindu god). You can't
have faith in a leader that wasn't chosen by God. You can't have faith
in something your high priests group leader said--just because he is
your high priests group lead--unless it is true.
Did I just do something so "narrow-minded" as claim that you can't have faith in the Buddhist concept of Nirvana or the quasi-Christian tenets of spiritualism? Yes. The cornerstone of faith is truth. (I recognize the right of others to disagree on the identification of truth, but the fact remains that absolute truth and error remain.)
This is important to another facet of faith: faith is power. But it
isn't the greatest power, and it isn't even power in and of itself. When
Christ created the worlds he couldn't have faith, he had knowledge. He
was in the presence of God who is the source of power. Faith does not
make us powerful. We are merely granted the privilege of calling on the
power of God.
We can believe in the great pumpkin. We can pray to the great pumpkin. We can see the great pumpkin in a dream calling us to be his representative. But the great pumpkin won't give us any true power.
Of course, God doesn't limit himself to choosing leaders of only this
Church. Anyone can have faith in a caring, greater being that makes us
responsible for our actions. Anyone can have faith in Christ. Anyone can
call on God by faith and be answered. However, a greater knowledge of
truth gives people more areas in which to develop their faith.
Let's be clear: I'm not attacking blind faith. In my opinion, most
people who attack "blind faith" are guilty of intellectual dishonesty.
Although they may not realize it, they want to give the impression of
disproving one thing while actually disproving another. They attack
unquestioning faith, and use as their proof examples that aren't of
faith. Believing everything you hear in Sunday school isn't faith.
Recognizing something you hear in Sunday school is true and believing it
without questioning is a form of faith.
"To some is given faith." During my mission, I met people blessed with unquestioning faith. It was a beautiful thing. I respected them for their ability to recognize and follow the spirit. Of course, that same type of person exists here. It's just harder for me to recognize them now. Don't be threatened by them because they've been given a gift you maybe weren't. Be careful before criticizing someone of simple faith, life usually isn't as easy for them as you might think.
In my case, I suspect I received an extra helping of stubbornness instead of faith. It is easy for me to question and tempting for me to try and "walk in my own light."
That's part of the reason it makes me so uneasy when someone refers to
the the church's leadership as "twelve old men." That fact of the matter
is, these men were called of God. There is no requirement that we
respect the men, but there is a requirement that we respect the office.
When we disrespect them, we are no different than the evil men who
killed the landowner's son when he was sent to them as a representative
of his father.
In the past I have complained about the presence of the proxy. When I
found out for certain that it is kept there by decision of an Apostle, I
stopped complaining. I still disagree with some details of how it is
implemented by the imperfect men made responsible for it, but I don't
question its appropriateness.
I'm not simply letting someone else do my thinking for me. I'm
recognizing the authority of a person placed in that position by God. (I
have alot less respect for anyone who has been hired instead of called
and set apart. Even if they were hired by a representative of God.)
No one should take Sasha's opinion lightly. I know him, he is a good person. His reasoning was even more clearly stated by Hyrum. Time is precious, and too many of us our guilty of wasting it. Sasha said "you cannot heal by patching." Hyrum put it more clearly: covering up swear words does not correct a story that send a fundamentally wrong message. It is amazing how many subtle ways we are told that there are no incorrect relationships, that woman are objects, that consumerism leads to happiness, etc. Avoiding all media with even a blush of evil is one way to avoid these inappropriate influences.
Now that doesn't mean I agree with Sasha. I think EDL serves a useful
purpose. Two of the most useful influential books I've read are _The
Fountainhead_ and _Atlas Shrugged_. Like the apocrypha, with the proper
perspective they contain a useful message. Sadly, I can't recommend them
to anyone because of certain content, the removal of which wouldn't
weaken the story at all, but I wish I could. Before anyone jumps up an
points out that we don't use the apocrypha for that reason, I'd point
out that we also don't avoid it. Likewise, we continue to publish the
Bible even though it contains Song of Solomon.
Like all of us, Sasha, Hyrum, and Gary are developing faith and wisdom.
We should not ridicule them or act superior. We should consider their
opinion and strive to live correctly. How they walk, as long as they are
on the right path, doesn't matter. It might just be that they are closer
to the truth than we are.
-- Stuart Jansen <[EMAIL PROTECTED], AIM:StuartMJansen>
Programming in Java feels like C without the sense of accomplishment. ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
http://llamakc.org
____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
