Over the past several days, I've had interactions with various people about the nature of this blog and my desire to get more involved in the conversation surrounding the Mormon church and the gospel in general. I've come to realize that I need to have specific goals in order to really get the most out of this blog. This blog needs a purpose in order to be useful to me, and I need to understand that purpose in order to get what I want out of it. This is what I've come up with:
Purpose #1: The LDS Brain will provide uplifting messages that will give strength and encouragement to members of the Church and those who want to hear our message. As I share my experience and thoughts with others, I really just hope that it helps somebody, and their life is improved because of it.
Purpose #2: The LDS Brain will clarify, to the best of my ability, concepts and misconceptions that may be confusing or controversial with regard to the Church. There are many misconceptions about the Church. They come in many forms, from the Atheist critic who says Joseph Smith was a liar, to the little old lady who heard that Cain is Bigfoot in a Sunday School class twelve years ago. I'm not a biblical scholar or a master scriptorian, but I am hoping that this will give me more motivation to become educated in some of the topics that some members either shy away from or don't understand.
Purpose #3: The LDS Brain will, in a spirit of respect, correct lies and misconceptions that exist about the Church. It should be noted my main intent is to help those that are open to hearing the Gospel message. I am really not interested in trading verses and getting drawn into a Bible bash. Everyone is willing to believe what they choose to believe, and I am not here to tear down other religions. I want this to be a place that we can come to an understanding about the Church together.
Purpose #4: The LDS Brain will be an open and honest look into my life, my thoughts, and my feelings. If I can't be honest about my own beliefs, I am in trouble. I hope to challenge my own testimony with this blog, and grow because of it. I will be honest and fearless is my search for truth, trusting that God will reveal his truths to me (and hopefully you as well). In approaching real issues that the Church faces head on, I hope to gain a better understanding of what God has done, is doing, and will do among the children of men.
And that's that. Its definitely a work in progress, but I think it will help to have a direction of where to go. I invite you to join with me as I study the gospel and learn. If you aren't convinced, that's alright. I hope to hear from everyone who reads the blog, and I am open to any respectful and open discussion that people want to have.
Sunday 15 July 2012
Thursday 12 July 2012
Welcome! - Science & Religion Can Be Friends
Welcome to The LDS Brain! This is going to serve as a place for me to talk about my feelings on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as well as my personal struggles and victories in everyday life.
A little bit about myself: First off, my name is not really Ezekiel. I want to be very clear on this. So why hide behind a pseudonym you ask? Privacy. Protection. I actually live a fairly public online life, and some of the things I may talk about on this blog may not be very popular among some of the geekier, more academic, and more liberal circles I tend to mingle with. I want this to be a place where I can speak freely without concern that something I have said may be looked down upon if I ever come across an anti-Mormon grant evaluator (unlikely, perhaps, but no impossible). In short, I think Egon said it best. "Don't cross the streams."
Having said all that, I am married to my beautiful wife, and we have an awesome son. They're names are not Jade and Eugene, but we can pretend that. Heck, their names might change as I write. :) Jade and I are looking forward to having another baby in the fall, and that's pretty exciting.
As for my professional career path, I am currently working on my Master of Neuroscience degree, and I'm focusing on different environmental factors and how the effect brain development. Which brings me to one of the topics I want to focus on with this blog. It seems like over the last few years there has been a huge surge of people who find Christianity to be absurd. More specifically, the LDS church has come under a ton of scrutiny. I'm sure we can all blame Mitt Romney for at least most of that. Let's face it, having a Mormon run for office is going to cause an increase in press coverage (both positive and negative).
The church takes a pretty hard stance on some major issues, and I can't make the claim that I completely understand all the reasons behind the Church leaders do or say what they do. I heard a great talk a while back, however, that made a great point that I have really taken to heart (darn it if I can't remember who gave it, but I believe it was a BYU devotional). The speaker talked about not knowing all the answers, and how moments that you question your own faith are critical in your time here on the Earth.
I faced quite a few of these during my undergraduate career, and looking back there were a few that really challenged me. In an Astronomy class, we went through the entire history of how the Universe began. At first, I entered the class thinking "Alright, here we go. Big Bang Theory, eh? Well, this is a bunch of crap. As long as I can spit it out, I can deal with it I guess." Soon, however, we started learning all about how gravity was the central creative force in the Universe, and that as mass grouped together, planets and stars were formed. My professor explained to me using science how the current theories on the creation of the Universe were as close as we could understand right now. The crazy part was that at the end of the course, I believed him.
Another class, Animal Psychology this time, challenged an even more controversial topic: evolution. For the longest time, I always battled this one. I had gone through several biology classes before. I had endured the evolution and natural selection bits, spit them out for the test, and pushed them back into the recesses of my brain. This time, however, my professor started showing us very specific examples (that I of course can't remember as I write this) of how obvious it was that some current animals had evolved via natural selection. By the end of the course, I could see the logic and was beginning to believe in the Theory of Evolution.
Here's the next obvious question then: why do I still believe in God and everything the church teaches? There's a few reasons, actually.
#1. I continue to have confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith translated it through the power of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His kingdom on the Earth. In short, I have prayed to Heavenly Father and outright asked Him if all of this is true. There are a lot of people who get so caught up in all the details and logic that they forget God. There are so many questions and details that we could get tangled in that we may never just stop and ask God if the church is true. I, however, always fall back on this. It is my foundation.
#2. I've learned to check my sources. One of the biggest things I've learned as I have ventured into the world of academia is that you need to know your facts. There are so many things that have been said by leaders of the church that are not considered doctrine. You may have a quote from an apostle that your Great-Aunt Whitney wrote down at a pot-luck once, but that doesn't mean that its doctrine. The truth of the matter is that even President Monson makes mistakes sometimes, and there's a difference between what he declares to the world over the pulpit during General Conference and what he says at a little Stake meeting. There have been a lot of things that have been speculated on by leaders of the church (especially in the early days), and its important to be able to distinguish between doctrinal statements and speculative conversation. You'll be surprised to find that some things you thought were hard doctrine end up being nothing more than LDS folk-lore when you track down the actual quotes and sources.
#3. I've learned that it's okay to say "I don't know." Let's get back to that talk I was talking about. There are things that will come along and challenge our testimony. Things that don't currently fit with our current understanding of the world, the church, and the Plan of Happiness. That is totally okay. We aren't nearly as smart as we think we are.
I'll be honest, I still don't know how I feel about evolution. Parts of it still clash with my spiritual understanding of God's plan for us, but parts of it make so much sense its scary. What I do know is that God created Adam and Eve, and that men are that they might have joy. I know WHY God created Adam and Eve, even if I don't entire understand how. Do I have my theories? Yes, but I am constantly taking my own personal beliefs and weighing them against what I know about science and what I know about religion. There is a place in the middle that I am creating my own understanding of the world. The church has made it clear in the past that the conversation of science will be left to the scientists, and that they will focus on talking about the salvation of mens' souls. I'm okay with that. Would I prefer a one-on-one with Heavenly Father, and have him just sit down and say "Alright, here's the answers to all your questions. This is the exact timeline from when the Universe started to when you were born." I believe that one day I will get my answers. Until then, however, I'm comfortable being where I am. Its okay to not know all the answers.
Wow, so I just started writing and all of this came out. Insane! I hope this blog will be as fulfilling for you, the reader, as it is for me. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @theLDSbrain, and if you want to e-mail me, and the LDS brain at gmail dot com.
A little bit about myself: First off, my name is not really Ezekiel. I want to be very clear on this. So why hide behind a pseudonym you ask? Privacy. Protection. I actually live a fairly public online life, and some of the things I may talk about on this blog may not be very popular among some of the geekier, more academic, and more liberal circles I tend to mingle with. I want this to be a place where I can speak freely without concern that something I have said may be looked down upon if I ever come across an anti-Mormon grant evaluator (unlikely, perhaps, but no impossible). In short, I think Egon said it best. "Don't cross the streams."
Having said all that, I am married to my beautiful wife, and we have an awesome son. They're names are not Jade and Eugene, but we can pretend that. Heck, their names might change as I write. :) Jade and I are looking forward to having another baby in the fall, and that's pretty exciting.
As for my professional career path, I am currently working on my Master of Neuroscience degree, and I'm focusing on different environmental factors and how the effect brain development. Which brings me to one of the topics I want to focus on with this blog. It seems like over the last few years there has been a huge surge of people who find Christianity to be absurd. More specifically, the LDS church has come under a ton of scrutiny. I'm sure we can all blame Mitt Romney for at least most of that. Let's face it, having a Mormon run for office is going to cause an increase in press coverage (both positive and negative).
The church takes a pretty hard stance on some major issues, and I can't make the claim that I completely understand all the reasons behind the Church leaders do or say what they do. I heard a great talk a while back, however, that made a great point that I have really taken to heart (darn it if I can't remember who gave it, but I believe it was a BYU devotional). The speaker talked about not knowing all the answers, and how moments that you question your own faith are critical in your time here on the Earth.
I faced quite a few of these during my undergraduate career, and looking back there were a few that really challenged me. In an Astronomy class, we went through the entire history of how the Universe began. At first, I entered the class thinking "Alright, here we go. Big Bang Theory, eh? Well, this is a bunch of crap. As long as I can spit it out, I can deal with it I guess." Soon, however, we started learning all about how gravity was the central creative force in the Universe, and that as mass grouped together, planets and stars were formed. My professor explained to me using science how the current theories on the creation of the Universe were as close as we could understand right now. The crazy part was that at the end of the course, I believed him.
Another class, Animal Psychology this time, challenged an even more controversial topic: evolution. For the longest time, I always battled this one. I had gone through several biology classes before. I had endured the evolution and natural selection bits, spit them out for the test, and pushed them back into the recesses of my brain. This time, however, my professor started showing us very specific examples (that I of course can't remember as I write this) of how obvious it was that some current animals had evolved via natural selection. By the end of the course, I could see the logic and was beginning to believe in the Theory of Evolution.
Here's the next obvious question then: why do I still believe in God and everything the church teaches? There's a few reasons, actually.
#1. I continue to have confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith translated it through the power of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His kingdom on the Earth. In short, I have prayed to Heavenly Father and outright asked Him if all of this is true. There are a lot of people who get so caught up in all the details and logic that they forget God. There are so many questions and details that we could get tangled in that we may never just stop and ask God if the church is true. I, however, always fall back on this. It is my foundation.
#2. I've learned to check my sources. One of the biggest things I've learned as I have ventured into the world of academia is that you need to know your facts. There are so many things that have been said by leaders of the church that are not considered doctrine. You may have a quote from an apostle that your Great-Aunt Whitney wrote down at a pot-luck once, but that doesn't mean that its doctrine. The truth of the matter is that even President Monson makes mistakes sometimes, and there's a difference between what he declares to the world over the pulpit during General Conference and what he says at a little Stake meeting. There have been a lot of things that have been speculated on by leaders of the church (especially in the early days), and its important to be able to distinguish between doctrinal statements and speculative conversation. You'll be surprised to find that some things you thought were hard doctrine end up being nothing more than LDS folk-lore when you track down the actual quotes and sources.
#3. I've learned that it's okay to say "I don't know." Let's get back to that talk I was talking about. There are things that will come along and challenge our testimony. Things that don't currently fit with our current understanding of the world, the church, and the Plan of Happiness. That is totally okay. We aren't nearly as smart as we think we are.
I'll be honest, I still don't know how I feel about evolution. Parts of it still clash with my spiritual understanding of God's plan for us, but parts of it make so much sense its scary. What I do know is that God created Adam and Eve, and that men are that they might have joy. I know WHY God created Adam and Eve, even if I don't entire understand how. Do I have my theories? Yes, but I am constantly taking my own personal beliefs and weighing them against what I know about science and what I know about religion. There is a place in the middle that I am creating my own understanding of the world. The church has made it clear in the past that the conversation of science will be left to the scientists, and that they will focus on talking about the salvation of mens' souls. I'm okay with that. Would I prefer a one-on-one with Heavenly Father, and have him just sit down and say "Alright, here's the answers to all your questions. This is the exact timeline from when the Universe started to when you were born." I believe that one day I will get my answers. Until then, however, I'm comfortable being where I am. Its okay to not know all the answers.
Wow, so I just started writing and all of this came out. Insane! I hope this blog will be as fulfilling for you, the reader, as it is for me. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @theLDSbrain, and if you want to e-mail me, and the LDS brain at gmail dot com.
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