There are several philosophies espoused by people I know that are at odds with the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints specifically and with Christianity in general yet these same people identify with these religious philosophies. As politics, philosophy, and religion seem to unify in public forums, it is appropriate to address these issues as they intermingle across culture and politics.
It seems that people study and learn new things then become impressed with these new ideas and think that their religion is either wrong or should be improved in some way.
That type of thinking is exactly backwards. Theological Truths should be used to refine philosophical thinking. Many current philosophies have a some truth to them mixed with damaging and false teachings. Religious study will help people to better know the difference.
Here are a few examples.
Feminism. Feminists have the truth that women have been poorly treated and oppressed in the past. That is true. Women should not be held back and should be free to pursue their righteous desires. Where this philosophy departs from truthful principles is where it over-emphasizes the importance of women. Ideas are evaluated solely on how they will impact women without due consideration of how these same ideas will impact men. Christianity advocates for unity of people and a focus on the welfare of all people regardless of gender. Where feminism ignores these equally valid considerations, it deviates from Christianity.
Scientific Pursuits. Science is extremely useful and provides benefits not easily obtained via other means. Some people have accepted the mistaken idea that all truth must be scientifically verifiable. Science is all about what can be tested and observed via the five senses, whether experimentation will verify any given hypothesis. There are many truths not encompassed in the scientific method. Remembering there is a Creator who made the Universe is important in scientific discourse.
Social Liberal Policies. It is true that we should help our fellow man or woman. We are supposed to serve and help even our enemies. Where social liberal policies go off course is using the power of government to take tax money and spend it for other individuals. This is a different form of armed robbery. Charity is no longer charity when it is forced.
Abortion. There is a time and place where birth control and abortion may be appropriate. Each case is highly circumstantial. The current laws are an abomination to common sense. My wife of 14 years could get pregnant and have an abortion and I could do nothing about it. There is exactly zero consideration to a father’s natural rights or interest in an unborn child. A teenager in Texas was sentenced two two life sentences for murder because his girlfriend hectored him into standing on her stomach until she miscarried with twins. He went to prison, she went free. The status quo is reprehensible.
There are a few other guiding principles in political discourse that should be noted as well.
- Advocating for good or righteous behavior is not the same as wanting to compel good behavior.
- Freedom without righteous principles is anarchy and will devalue, dehumanize, demoralize, and detach humanity from itself.
- Freedom with righteous principles is liberty.
- Freedom as envisioned by the God is the freedom to pursue righteous goals and desires in spite of our past sins and current imperfections.
- Freedom to do whatever you want without regard to righteous principles is freedom as envisioned by Satan. It is dressed up hedonism and will lead to bondage.
It is much better to listen to and follow Godly principles. These principles will lead to peace and happiness.
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January 10, 2012 at 8:43 am
Robert
“Theological Truths should be used to refine philosophical thinking.”
This is why I openly mock religion and religious people; if you start off with the premise that you are absolutely right, you’re never going to be able to move forward. You will be consistently limited to the teachings spoon fed to you.
“Some people have accepted the mistaken idea that all truth must be scientifically verifiable.”
Lol – If it isn’t scientifically verifiable, it isn’t truth. There is no other measurement of truth.
“Remembering there is a Creator who made the Universe is important in scientific discourse.”
Constantly reminding yourself of a lie isn’t going to help you make accurate models of reality, create meaningful experiments, or make any significant progress. It is exactly that type of backwards unthinking that has stalled humanities progress.
“Advocating for good or righteous behavior is not the same as wanting to compel good behavior.”
But making laws to require “good” behavior is compelling it. Mind you, I’m not against laws in general, just against laws that have a religious instead of a logical reason to exist.
Many of the idea’s codified in the 1st set of ten commandments were popular amongst cultures well before God hand wrote them on the tablets (lol) .. Don’t kill people, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t sleep with your neighbors wife … not exactly hard to understand why these exist, even without god.
Also, lets not forget the 10 commandments everyone seems to think about isn’t even the “real” ten commandments that was to be enforced by “god’s” peeps. Moses smashed those. My all time favorite righteous law is in the 2nd batch of 10
http://lds.org/scriptures/ot/ex/34?lang=eng — see verse 26.
… basically, you’re not supposed to boil a baby goat in it’s mothers breast milk. Write this down. It’s important!
January 10, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Katie
“It seems that people study and learn new things then become impressed with these new ideas and think that their religion is either wrong or should be improved in some way.”
This is exactly what the LDS prophet does. Many, if not most revelations came about because of a prophet praying about something they thought should be improved or changed. This goes back to your post on stewardship – I recognize that it is not our stewardship as individual members to receive revelation for the entire church. But we would be foolish indeed if we believed that God would give revelation and not prepare any members beforehand to receive it. I believe that many members are being prepared to receive new revelations, and to them it will seem exactly as if they are thinking something about their religion is wrong or should be improved.
“Ideas are evaluated solely on how they will impact women without due consideration of how these same ideas will impact men. ”
I must admit that in over a decade of exposure to a variety of feminist ideas, I’ve never come across a feminist who thinks that way. Perhaps you need to broaden your feminist horizons before you make a judgment about what feminism is.
January 15, 2012 at 1:58 am
Katie
How do you know Scott Nicholson? I was reading over some of his old blog posts (or maybe it was a Facebook post) and saw you had commented. He doesn’t seem to be in the type of circle yours would overlap with. I have had an interest in gay members of the church for years, particularly mixed-orientation marriages (I even considered a mixed-orientation marriage for myself) and have been following Scott and Sarah for quite some time.
January 15, 2012 at 9:31 am
David
I went to school with Scott and Sarah.