Both [the Islamists and Neoconservatives] were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today’s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.
Perhaps a bit partisan (anything interesting is), but it connected a lot of dots for me.
The Bible Unearthed tells the story of the Old Testament from what we can gather from evidence. I haven’t read the book the the History Channel broadcast a program based on the conclusions of the book and centrally featuring its authors, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman:
My takeaway message from that program (and other sources) is that the biblical history of the Israelites before King Hezekiah is not supported by archaeological evidence. In many ways it is contradicted thereby. If we allow the evidence to speak to us, we learn that Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and Moses all belong to prehistory. Most of the Old Testament is therefore a collection of mythic history which has perhaps some basis in fact, but we cannot tell from the evidence at hand. Any belief in the literal historicity of the early Old Testament is therefore not based on evidence but on word-of-mouth, on a game of telephone that’s been going on for over two millennia.
I can understand turning to the books of the Bible to learn about our cultural forebears’ struggles with morality and the numinous. I cannot understand, however, seeking to claim supernatural authorship for this thoroughly imperfect, human book. The Bible is useful to bring us closer to ancient human beings and their understanding of the world, but it is unconscionable to hold up a collection of their myths as an absolute moral authority. If we let the evidence guide us, we would hold the Bible on par with other myths like the Eddas of the Norse or the tales of the Greek gods: instructive but not normative.
It hurts that the church continues to whitewash and doctor its history even today.
It hurts that those leaders whom millions of faithful church members regard as prophets, seers and revelators and look to as a standard of truth are in fact the ones responsible for keeping the truth from these same members through the practice of promoting a “Faithful History”.
It hurts accepting the realization that those telling the truth about the church were the very ones that the church had accused of doing all the lying.
But most hurtful and painful of all is the reality that the church continues to hold my family…who refuse to listen to anything I have to say regarding the claims of the church…and who remain mega uber active Truly Beliving Mormon’s.
It seems, from what I’ve read, that this manual follows a pattern
established in the other lesson manuals. The manual portrays Joseph
Smith as monogamous, mentioning only his marriage to Emma Hale. This
one example represents in my mind a general pattern in materials
published by the church: presenting only a selection of the available
historical facts. I imagine that this is to avoid presenting
information that will damage the fragile faith of new members and
those who waver, those who “cannot bear meat now, but milk they must
receive” (D&C 19:22). I had once accepted this rationale with the
expectation that the meat of LDS history was available in official
church materials to those who sought it.
Having graduated from the church’s seminary and institute programs, I
believed that I knew the important facts of LDS history because I had
exhausted official church materials. All the same, I felt that I
should be more familiar with the details of church history, so I set
out to study church history with greater focus. Little by little, I
began to realize that certain materials from the church’s history that
could be seen as unflattering or doctrinally unorthodox were missing
from all official publications. I felt disappointed and a little
ashamed to learn that I was unaware of these facts because I needed to
trust that the church was providing me with all important information.
I also wanted to believe that my faith was founded on good
information. This feeling of disillusionment led ultimately to my
choice to renounce my faith.
I wonder if the leading councils of the church have hoped that the
general membership could avoid coming across bits of troublesome
history. I believe that the increased worldwide attention on the
church and wider availability of information on the internet makes any
such hope unfounded.
I have always valued the pursuit of and loyalty to the truth. I
treasure this as a legacy of my Mormon pioneer forebears. I want my
family who choose to actively participate in the church to have all
the truth. I worry that if I try to present the historical truth to
them that they will either perceive it as an attack or believe that I
am lying because their church tells a different story. I hope instead
that they can come to rely on their church to provide that history
openly and honestly, even when it isn’t flattering to the church’s
public image or doesn’t support its current doctrinal stance. I hope
the church can find a way to openly address the uncomfortable parts of
its past.
I ask that you consider making more of the troublesome historical
facts available through official church publications. Perhaps you feel
that the Melchizedek Priesthood/Relief Society manuals are not the
appropriate place to present troublesome history, but please find a
place somewhere in your curriculum. If you are already considering or
implementing this, please consider this message a voice of
encouragement.
Thank you for asking for comments and for taking the time to read my
message.
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