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I am a Mormon. Always have been, likely always will be. For most of my life I have been dedicated to the church in a very orthodox way. However, in the last year I have gone through a “mighty change of heart” as it were. I have learned a lot about myself, the church, myself, philosophy, myself, psychology, and most of all myself. I nearly left the church in my frustration and anger. But in the lonely days of my deepest despair, when I was certain that all hope was gone, and I was simply going to have to find a way to tell all my would-be disappointed friends and family, I found a group of people to help me. They know who they are, and I will be eternally grateful. This group of people showed me a path to enlightenment, a way to enhance my spirituality using all the various tools at my disposal, including the church. I am responsible for my spirituality, and I choose to enhance it by trying to emulate the characteristics of the great spiritual leaders who have come before me regardless of their religious tradition. This liberating declaration allows me to decide which Mormon traditions are right for me, and which ones are not. It gives me flexibility in interpretation, and freedom in my use of spiritual material. In the end, I hope my actions are reflective of my commitment to humanity and the precepts espoused at the core of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I hope to contribute to, and receive benefit from like-minded people!
Welcome, Euhemerus. I’m glad you found this community. It sounds like you will fit in very well here – and I am looking forward to learning from your experience. Welcome Euhemerus – like the Beatles sang, we get by with a little help from our friends. Sometimes I wonder if that’s really all Jesus did on earth was bring people together with other like-minded individuals. He never really talks about a church per se. Even Paul mostly calls it “fellowship.” Sounds like you will fit right in here. Welcome! I hope you find the support here you are looking for. Welcome Euhemerus there is a lot of searching of your kind of thought going on here and you will be much appreciated. I also appreciate the fact that you obviously have some technical smarts and thanks for the explanation on the bots in my post. Euhemerus wrote:
This group of people showed me a path to enlightenment, a way to enhance my spirituality using all the various tools at my disposal, including the church. I am responsible for my spirituality, and I choose to enhance it by trying to emulate the characteristics of the great spiritual leaders who have come before me regardless of their religious tradition. This liberating declaration allows me to decide which Mormon traditions are right for me, and which ones are not. It gives me flexibility in interpretation, and freedom in my use of spiritual material. In the end, I hope my actions are reflective of my commitment to humanity and the precepts espoused at the core of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Wow! That is about the best approach to spirituality I have heard. I’m sure you can teach us a lot here from that angle. Welcome!
I agree completely that there is much good, and some old fear-based teachings in the LDS church. When we approach everything from the empowered position of “does this fit with my spiritual journey, or not,” we continue to grow individually and collectively.
I look forward to hearing more from you!
Welcome to the group Euhemerus. Your intro is very striking to me, and I admire your courage to seek enlightenment and think for yourself and have the resolve to really seek answers that are of meaning to you, not just answers that are spoon fed and you are told those are right because of who told them to you. Imannual Kant wrote:Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! “Have courage to use your own understanding!” — that is the motto of enlightenment.
Per the wikipedia entry which I thought was very descriptive of the path you sound you are on, Kant talks of this individual immaturity (which sounds like Fowler’s Stage 3 thinking to me).
Quote:Kant, whose moral philosophy is centered around the concept of autonomy, is distinguishing here between a person who is intellectually autonomous and one who keeps him/herself in an intellectually heteronomous, i.e. dependent and immature status.
The majority of people are lazy cowards who gladly remain in this immature state for thinking that it is difficult, but it is dangerous. It doesn’t matter that the danger is NOT great. We have been intimidated into thinking that it is and therefore we are fearful of taking that first step into thinking for ourselves.
Think for yourself, buddy! Then share those thoughts with us so we can learn from you.
Glad you’re here on the forum!
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