For my first post (and actually the topic that inspired me to
start this thing in the first place), I would like to address the idea
which a couple of my friends on Facebook posted, that in general “people
who are religious and believe in a god are brainwashed, thus are not
able to think for themselves”.
Really?
That is probably about as close-minded an idea and faulty logic as I’ve ever heard.
Just because people are religious, doesn’t mean they are close-minded
and can’t accept anything else as truth. Granted, there are zealots out
there, but that’s the case on all sides of all viewpoints. You can tell
who the zealots are because they’re the ones who the media focuses in
on. Those of us who are more towards the middle on issues don’t get
attention because we are the status quo, and the status quo isn’t
newsworthy unless there is nothing better going on. Also, we are
typically the ones who facepalm when the zealots make it on the news,
since we know they don’t represent the majority or the standard, but are
treated as such.
After I read the posts of my friends which implied religious people
(specifically members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, which hereafter in this and subsequent posts will be known as
“The Church”; that is much simpler to type) are brainwashed, I was
troubled by this. I had no idea this is how they felt, and I thought I
knew these people pretty well. They are my friends, after all; some I’ve
known since high school. But something about their statements was
familiar to me.
Now just as a heads up, I will be quoting scriptures in these blogs
from time to time. This is done to help illustrate points that I am
trying to make. The scriptures I will be primarily quoting from are the
King James Version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
In the Book of Mormon, there is a man named Alma. Alma was a prophet
among the followers of Jesus Christ, who believed in His coming before
He was born. One day, a man named Korihor came to the Christians and
attempted to teach the people the following:
“O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do
ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a
Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come. Behold, these
things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy
prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. How do ye
know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not
see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ. Ye look
forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is
the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes
because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a
belief of things which are not so. And many more such things did he say
unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the
sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the
management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to
his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and
whatsoever a man did was no crime. (Alma 30:13-17)”
Seems to me like a lot of people in the world are saying this same
thing lately, “How can you know? No one can know for sure of these
things, therefore you’re nuts. You’re brainwashed, you don’t know any
better. Open your mind.” A lot of people believe in this same style of
thinking today, and Korihor was able to convince some of the Christians
that he was right even back then.
However, Alma responded to Korihor with this:
“And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?
And he (Korihor) answered, Nay. Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny
again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say
unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come. And
now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh
not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only. (Alma
30:37-40)”
After Alma says this, Korihor asks for a sign that God exists, so that he can be convinced. This is Alma’s answer:
“Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say,
Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy
brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before
thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth,
and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea,
and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness
that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30:44)”
My response to my friends is similar to Alma’s response to Korihor:
there is a God. He is our Father in Heaven because he created us
(Genesis 1:26-27). He sent us here to learn from our OWN choices to
learn to become more like him so that when we die, we can return to live
with him. However, because he gave us the freedom to choose, we have
the ability to choose not to believe in him or know he exists. To
illustrate, I can choose to not believe in the Law of Gravity. However,
my belief doesn’t make the Law of Gravity any less true. Also, Isaac
Newton had to believe the Law of Gravity existed before he could prove
its existence (Look at that, Science and Religion in the same article,
but that’s a blog for another time).
My point is that just because you don’t believe in God and/or Jesus
Christ, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Also, before the argument is used
that Science proves God doesn’t exist, Alma mentioned that the earth’s
orbit and all the planets and stars that exist and move prove that God
exists. Sounds like Astronomy to me, which last I checked was a branch
of Science. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers and
acknowledged as a great scientist, believed in God (Check out his
autobiography. He says he is a deist. Other sources also point out that
he even considered himself a Christian, like “The Mosaic of Christian
Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity & Diversity”. Thomas Jefferson is
included in that one. Google/Bing it). But again, it is your choice to
believe or not. Just know that whatever your choice is, I will respect
it and still consider you a friend, as the mark of a true friend is the
ability to tolerate others for their differences. All I ask is that you
respect my choice to believe and share about Heavenly Father, Jesus
Christ, and their plan for us in return.
As a member of The Church, I know that I think for myself. I make my
own choices. I have made the conscious choice to be a member of The
Church and to follow its doctrine and teachings. My parents didn’t force
me to go to church, I made (and still make) the choice to go. Was I
expected to go to church with them? Yes. Did they expect me to be
baptized at 8 years old (which is the practice of The Church)? Yup. Was I
expected to serve a mission for The Church? Absolutely. But I can tell
you that the choices I made to do those things were conscious choices on
my part, because of my own choice to believe.
I hope that those of you who read this will come with open minds and
if you feel the need to comment on entries, please do so. I only ask
that you keep it civil, otherwise “I will break my foot off in your John
Brown hind parts… and then you will run a mile” (Thank you, those of
you who got the movie reference).