Trouble In Africa: Fb Conversation With Prospective Afican Missionary

[Bikeemikey]

I simply answered his questions truthfully....he wouldn't be in the midst of a faith crisis if his church leaders had simply done the same thing. I shared our conversation here because I wanted posters here to see what church correlation has done by making BY a monogamist, sanitizing its history and denying knowledge of past justifications for whole doctrines. Well this is what you get...this is the direct consequence of church policy...they have no one to blame but themselves?

I'm really surprised however that y'all can't see the problem. I don't understand the push back. Rather than focusing on me or Peter why isn't the conversation directed at what needs to change to prevent this level of ignorance in far flung areas of the church. Here we have a potential Mormon missionary who loves the church, believed it to be all it claimed but is now having serious doubts and posters question my integrity or question his existence ...in effect taking aim at the messenger...very frustrating

There is a big difference between something not being what it claimed and something being what it claimed and more besides.

One of the reasons you don't see the vast majority of active members on this board being really upset the churches teaching habits is because we have all seen a consistent acceleration of the quality of church engagement with these issues.

I run a continuing education class in my ward as well as teach Sunday school. For continuing Ed we just finished a 5 month focus on blacks and the priesthood. Before that we had spent 6 months on the recent pew study about Mormons and religion in a America. Last week we talked about the word of wisdom and spent a portion of the time discussing why it took 100 years to be come aggressively adopted and discussed (briefly) things such as BY request for the saints to make their own hard liquor. The chewing of tabacoo in the tabernacle suing conference, JS consumption of alcohol etc. we started our class on polygamy with a quick 5 min review of which church leaders had how many wives during the early church.

We do all this and manage to find a spiritual angle the leaves people feeling uplifted. Yet to have a single member leave over learning any of this stuff.

Our church is focused on the content of modern day revelation. As such, we are not as concerned by the actions of the past.

Now to sound trite: testimony comes from spiritual inquiry, not historical inquiry.

That said - our church needs to provide more formal mechanisms to provide background and information for some of these issues. The church realizes this and is working on it. For a bureaucratic conservative religious institution it is actually grappling with the need for these changes very quickly -though the pace of this change may seem non existent to the outside world.

[Bikeemikey]

Well you've raised several issues...most of them based on speculative conclusions you've made to confirm your bias'. But I would like to address each one and will do so first thing in the morning when I'm on my laptop rather than my iPad. As a skeptic myself I can appreciate your skepticism but honestly....All I can do if likewise give my answers to ure observations...and while I get that they may not satisfy you...I will answer as honestly as I can

I'm sorry you don't find me trustworthy...and think me a liar and a fraud but I assure you that were I the creature you've imagined I am..having made up a fake conversation...I would have torn into church claims in a much more harsh manner...but whatever...I'll make an honest attempt to address your observations

Just paste a screen shot of the conversation from Facebook - edit out the names and we will know the exchange you based the thread is as you stated.

[why me]

I think that johnnie is rather happy when people leave the church. We can see that here on this thread and others. Also, we have no idea if this conversation was a product of his own imagination. However, he was being a little deceitful with this african member. He could have gave a much more faith promoting interpretation by linking to various sites. But, he chose a different way.

[Chronos]

This thread has run it's course.

~Chronos