Asking Hard Questions At Church

[gtaggart]

Many of my Facebook friends are bemoaning Sister Kelly's excommunication and wondering aloud how to act in  church now. One guy posted the following:

 

1. Go to church, meekly and reverently as before, asking no questions.
2. Go to church, asking all the questions, over and over, making normal meetings awkward for others, who will begin to hate my presence there.
3. Don't go to church, hoping my absence will be heard loud and clear.

Difficult choices ahead.  

 

 

 

Serious question: What kind of questions would you like to ask but haven't in the context of a Sunday School, Priesthood, or Relief Society lesson? In other words, what kind of hard questions would you ask that would be appropriate to the lessons taught yet still hard or difficult? For example, it seems inappropriate to me to ask a question about Mountain Meadows Massacre in the middle of a lesson on the Old Testament. On the other hand, a question about the various versions of the First Vision might be a hard yet appropriate question in the context of a lesson on the founding events of the church. 

 

So I repeat: what hard questions would you like to ask (or have you asked) in your church meetings? 

Edited June 24, 2014 by gtaggart

[ERayR]

The proper course of action would be to get the personal lesson outline and keep your discussion within those parameters.  The "hard" questions are for personal prayer and study.

[Duncan]

I ask questions on here hence my participation! 

[Storm Rider]

I think this is a funny question.  What question haven't I asked might be a better question to pose.

 

What has changed? 

 

Here is what you should not do; tell the leaders of the Church is is my way and it is what I want and nothing else will suffice.  That is the spirit of apostasy and being totally in the thrall of Satan.  Ask any sincere question you like just as you have done before.  

 

This wailing and gnashing of teeth by these supposed faithful members is playing more the part of the drama queen than any serious issue.  My response to the narrow positions posed above would be:  Go to church, study and pray about the lesson before hand; ask sincere questions about the lesson; pray and contemplate how to draw nearer to Christ as his disciple afterwards.  

[ERayR]

I think this is a funny question.  What question haven't I asked might be a better question to pose.

 

What has changed? 

 

Here is what you should not do; tell the leaders of the Church is is my way and it is what I want and nothing else will suffice.  That is the spirit of apostasy and being totally in the thrall of Satan.  Ask any sincere question you like just as you have done before.  

 

This wailing and gnashing of teeth by these supposed faithful members is playing more the part of the drama queen than any serious issue.  My response to the narrow positions posed above would be:  Go to church, study and pray about the lesson before hand; ask sincere questions about the lesson; pray and contemplate how to draw nearer to Christ as his disciple afterwards.  

 

And do not go with the intent to disrupt.

[Tsuzuki]

Church meetings aren't the place for deep conversations. That's what secret societies are for.

[Rivers]

The problem with asking hard questions at church is that you likely won't get satisfactory answers. You are more likely to get good answers coming to discussion boards. And there isn't as much of the awkwardness on the boards.

[mormonnewb]

I don't think that Church is the place for tough questions. That's what the Internet is for.

In my limited experience, very few members go to Church to experience intellectual vertigo. They go for spiritual uplifting, a sense of community, to get away from the kids for two hours, etc. As contentious as I am, it would never occur to me to bring up, say, the Kinderhook controversy in EQ. For what purpose?

For one, most of my brothers would probably think that Kinderhook was the villain in the German version of Peter Pan. Second, my time is much better learning from them how to close the gap between the husbands and fathers they are and the ones I WANT to be.

Just my two cents ...

[Tsuzuki]

This is why it's important to be a member of multiple religions.

[ksfisher]

Many of my Facebook friends are bemoaning Sister Kelly's excommunication and wondering aloud how to act in  church now. One guy posted the following:

 

 

Serious question: What kind of questions would you like to ask but haven't in the context of a Sunday School, Priesthood, or Relief Society lesson? In other words, what kind of hard questions would you ask that would be appropriate to the lessons taught yet still hard or difficult? For example, it seems inappropriate to me to ask a question about Mountain Meadows Massacre in the middle of a lesson on the Old Testament. On the other hand, a question about the various versions of the First Vision might be a hard yet appropriate question in the context of a lesson on the founding events of the church. 

 

So I repeat: what hard questions would you like to ask (or have you asked) in your church meetings?

Answering hard questions (such as your First Vision example) requires careful preparation on the part of the teacher. I doubt that very many teachers come prepared with such answers. Not because the questions aren't important, but because the specific answers are not part of the lesson objectives. A lesson on the First Vision would have the objective of strengthening the participants testimonies of the restoration, not to discuse the multiple accounts. You're likely to get a lot of answers from the class, but most would probably be imcorrect.

[thatjimguy]

I doubt Sunday School would be the place for any discussion anyway. I mean, who would be really qualified to answer correctly? The average Joe or Joan just gets the basics ready. EVen for those who do have research in some of these harder questions, it is still not the place for Sunday School to do it. I'd think you'd go over people's heads with it. 

 

 

 

Places like this and others would be the place to go. Of course then you have to deal with getting attacked for asking or given numerous replies that may be just as bad as Sunday School, but in the end you may pull something from it. 

 

 

Anyway, what are we all hoping for? A solid understanding that the church is true (or isn't)? Heck, we all have to deal with the fact alone that religion is possibly man-made no matter what religion we are in. As if the Kinderhook plates makes believing that a man from 2000 years ago rose the dead, walked on water, appeared in North America and so on any more or less believable.

[Paddy]

Both Sunday School and priesthood (at least in my ward) provides a forum to ask deep and thought provoking questions, even hard questions. However I don't believe that there is an appropriate forum in the church to ask or discuss controversial questions. I think there should be. Something like an auxillery class to Sunday school for those that are interested.

[Tsuzuki]

I think there should be. Something like an auxillery class to Sunday school for those that are interested.

I disagree. I think they are outside of the official scope of the church, and if the church tried to make an official forum, it would automatically dilute it. The church can respond to controversy however it wants, of course, but by their very nature, controversial issues should be discussed in an independent forum.

[Hamba Tuhan]

So I repeat: what hard questions would you like to ask (or have you asked) in your church meetings? 

 

I can't think of a single 'hard question' that I have wanted to ask but haven't.

 

I think the single hardest question I ever asked in a Sunday school class -- and I was the teacher -- is what stops us from simply obeying the Lord's commandments. As I asked that question, I immediately realised that, for me, the only answer was a lack of faith. I wasn't certain that my obedience would actually leave me better off rather than worse off. I feared that I would lose something important by surrendering my will to the Lord's. I understood that I just didn't trust the Lord or His promises enough. That realisation led me to choose to start acting in real faith, and I've never looked back. What a wild but rewarding ride it has been!

[Paddy]

I disagree. I think they are outside of the official scope of the church, and if the church tried to make an official forum, it would automatically dilute it. The church can respond to controversy however it wants, of course, but by their very nature, controversial issues should be discussed in an independent forum.

Fair enough. But considering the impact of some information and the questions that accompany them, I think it would be it would be a wise thing for the church to invest in.

[Tsuzuki]

Fair enough. But considering the impact of some information and the questions that accompany them, I think it would be it would be a wise thing for the church to invest in.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's vitally important for the church to have an ear to the ground (that isn't the Strangling Church Members Committee), but actually hosting the forum would be a conflict of interest on all sides.

[Bernard Gui]

Hardest question I have to ask......

 

How do I more fully apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ to my life?

[Paddy]

Don't get me wrong, I think it's vitally important for the church to have an ear to the ground (that isn't the Strangling Church Members Committee), but actually hosting the forum would be a conflict of interest on all sides.

Just to clarify. I don't mean a forum as in a panel discussion or something similar. I just mean some avenue for discussion - class, program, one on one, etc., that is church sponsored and church directed.

[Tsuzuki]

Just to clarify. I don't mean a forum as in a panel discussion or something similar. I just mean some avenue for discussion - class, program, one on one, etc., that is church sponsored and church directed.

Yeah, that's what I mean, and I think it would be a conflict of interest for the church to direct it.

[Freedom]

The hard questions are welcome, even encouraged.Just don't call me a sexist pig or a bigot if I don't give the answer you are ordering me to give.

[HairBear]

Asking hard questions isn't the problem, it's not accepting the answers that are given.

[Tacenda]

Asking hard questions isn't the problem, it's not accepting the answers that are given.

Sometimes there aren't answers, therefore I see those classes failing. It's a no win situation. I've been waiting for the answers, or the church essay of JS's polyandry/polygamy. I don't think the church has an answer for that one. And it's fallout might prove too much.

[ERayR]

Sometimes there aren't answers, therefore I see those classes failing. It's a no win situation. I've been waiting for the answers, or the church essay of JS's polyandry/polygamy. I don't think the church has an answer for that one. And it's fallout might prove too much.

 

Tacenda there are answers just not the ones you are willing to accept.

[strappinglad]

One of the hard questions I get asked in church is " Have you done your home teaching ? " . It always brings back into focus the Savior's statement about ' true religion'.

[thesometimesaint]

Sometimes there aren't answers, therefore I see those classes failing. It's a no win situation. I've been waiting for the answers, or the church essay of JS's polyandry/polygamy. I don't think the church has an answer for that one. And it's fallout might prove too much.

 

Easy answers. Yes the early Saints practiced a form of polygamy and polyandry. We still practice a form of both, but it is limited to just one living spouse at a time.

Edited June 24, 2014 by thesometimesaint