On the weekend there was an article in the New York Times about a Swedish Mormon leader named Hans Mattson who ended up doubting his faith.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/us/some-mormons-search-the-web-and-find-doubt.html?pagewanted=all
He responded to concerns of members, assuming that the criticisms of Mormonism were the work of Lucifer, or Satan. As he searched on the internet he discovered that founder Joseph Smith was a polygamist, sometimes taking teen wives from other members. He found that blacks were excluded from leadership for over a century and that early documents contradict themselves. He admits that he lived in a bubble of accepting faith for years and had to go through a significant shift relatively later in life. He and his wife thought about leaving but have remained Mormons, although with a different perspective.
It's interesting that during the last US election many who had previously considered Mormonism a cult got on the Mitt Romney bandwagon, including Christian evangelist Billy Graham. More importantly, it points out that religion which requires belief and adherence to certain principles without question is not helpful and can even be dangerous. Obviously a faith requires, well, faith, and at times we choose to trust where others don't. As Christians we affirm the resurrection of the crucified Christ, not to mention the existence of a God we don't actually see. But it is important for us to ask questions and name our doubts, especially in regard to historical principles which may be destructive or exclusionary.
Is it important to you to have the freedom to doubt? Have you relinquished certain assumptions which you realized were destructive? Have you ever been part of a fundamentalist faith community?
I think doubt can be a very important element of faith. The issue is how one responds to or deals with that doubt.
ReplyDeleteDespite doubts one can always continue to be a genuine seeker; driven by a desire to both embrace and transcend uncertainty, and also by a continuous sense of hope.
I think there are many former fundamentalists who have decided to remain with their churches, but with a "different perspective" - the challenge for today's churches remains how to present a hopeful Gospel, and to honour the Scriptures, without using them to create close-minded cults and to harshly judge others, or exclude others from God's Family.... some of us have changed churches, because it is just more in fitting with our new understandings, and our struggles with doubts.
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