As I explained in my last column, my new book, Mormons Believe … What?! Fact and Fiction About a Rising Religion, is built around 24 misconceptions of Mormonism. In each chapter, I reply to the falsehood or exaggeration, state our true position, and then explain the rationale behind the belief or practice.
Here are the last two sections of Chapter 14 titled “Mormons Are Blind Followers and Don’t Think for Themselves.”
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The Bicycle Light
With that explanation of the spiritual-intellectual process as background, let’s now return to the charge that Mormons are unthinkingly and blindly obedient.
If God personally appeared to me and told me to do something, I would not be blindly obedient if I did it. Rather, I would be knowingly obedient because I would know that it came from God. But let’s say the counsel came from a church leader who says that it is God’s desire that I do something. What then? How do I determine whether it is legitimate counsel or someone invoking God’s name for selfish purposes?
This discovery process has two parts: field experiments and personal revelation.
The experiment aspect has a parallel to my humble mode of transportation as a missionary in Germany. My bicycle was not equipped with a battery-powered headlight, but rather a dynamo that spun when positioned against the side of a moving front tire, thus generating electricity that powered the light. The catch: no light unless I was moving.
It took faith to put the bike in motion, especially on an unlit path between two villages at night when we rested at the top of a hill before continuing. I had to take an action; I had to conduct a small experiment.
Following the prophets, past and present, is like pushing off into that darkness. Even if I am not well versed on the topic at hand, I am confident that as I push into the darkness, the light will come on and I will see the same path the prophet sees. Is that blind obedience? Not at all. It is a field experiment. And experiments always contain uncertainty until they fully unfold. I put directions to the test by acting on them, and have come to trust from past experiments that the light will come on and I will know the reasons behind the counsel.
The second aspect is personal revelation. I as a simple member have every right to tap into the same information source as the giver of the counsel.
Before I can ask for a personal revelation on the matter, however, I must invest effort. I must do my homework. As I push myself to the deeper spiritual-intellectual plane, my meditating mind looks for similarities between the counsel and patterns I have previously proved are true. Then I ask for verification – it’s called prayer.
This process of personal revelation is “our answer to the charge that Latter-day Saints follow their leaders out of ‘blind obedience,’” as one leader put it. “[W]e are all privileged and encouraged to confirm their [the prophets’] teachings by prayerfully seeking and receiving revelatory confirmation directly from God.”
Spiritual intellect is the mechanism through which we receive this revelatory confirmation, a way to double-check and verify that counsel from prophets and apostles is correct. We have found the process – God commanding, prophets relaying, and members verifying – to be sound.
Available to All
This learned ability has been available forever.
Christ spoke in parables to both friends and enemies in Jerusalem. His followers grasped what He was teaching because they were tracking on a deeper level. But his enemies were baffled; they were the blind ones with eyes to see but see not, and ears to hear and hear not. They were strangers to spiritual intellect.
So what appears to the world to be stupid may instead be deep and profound. What appears to be blind following may turn out to be well-informed discipleship. All because of spiritual intellect and its attendant personal revelation.
And talk about immediate benefits. Obedience to God’s commandments and the directions of His prophets produces purer minds because they are not cluttered with improper images and hateful thoughts. Such minds of necessity are more fertile and creative. Insights come easier, inspiration more quickly, and more gets done.
I firmly believe that a pure mind with a 125 IQ can grasp and accomplish more than an impure mind at 150.
Obedience and comprehension go hand in hand.
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Gary Lawrence’s book “Mormons Believe … What?! Fact and Fiction About a Rising Religion” will be available September 22 at … mormonsbelievewhat.com, Amazon, Deseret Book, Seagull Book, Ensign Books, fairlds.org, as well as other LDS-oriented bookstores.
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