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I agree – but what sounds like pure sincerity to one person sounds like a sales pitch to someone else. Sincerity is what matters to me – and charity.
If we have a Heavenly Father, I want there to be a Heavenly Mother. If we can become like them there will be Heavenly Mothers.
I don’t care if that is what he meant. It is a way I agree 100% with both things he said.
I have no problem with the Church using advertising, as long as what is shared is sincere – and as long as the Church approaches the recipients, not the other way around. I am comfortable with my own interpretations of things, and I genuinely love the large majority of the people with whom I worship directly. (I live outside central Mormondom, so that is easier for me right now.) My one core “doctrinal” question would be: Does what it teach resonate with me (at least in the big picture aspect?
My secondary question would be:
Do the people appear to like and associate with other and visitors, in a nice way?
The official current stance, and the general practice in most missions, is to accept that teaching missionaries who struggle enough to have unhealthy, negative impacts might have to go home to a service mission – and to encourage that option as equal and legitimate. There are plenty of cases where that water has not gotten to the end of the local stake, ward, branch, and member rows – but it is the current, official church policy.
As for expectations based on sex, it hasn’t changed, generally. A much higher percent of young men still serve teaching missions than young women. More young women are serving missions, but it still isn’t close.
I would have to dive into the actual survey details, but my initial reaction is that the differences between the groups that do not include identified atheists/agnostics is statistically insignificant – and that the suicide rate for teenagers in any category tends to be higher when there is not a “higher reason / motivation” that allows acceptance of suffering to be “noble” (which tends to fit many youth who identify as atheist or agnostic due to losing a sense of divine purpose or connection). I also believe youth who lack or lose solid parental and communal support in any religious community and, therefore, reject or are rejected by that community and religion understandably can feel hopeless and consider suicide. After all, if they are going to end up in Hell anyway, why prolong their lives?
(That is NOT the Mormon teaching, but it can feel that way.)This, my initial read is that, for youth, the numbers make sense and probably are not significantly different than other areas where one religion or general religious ideology (like the rural Deep South) dominates.
I personally would talk about the path Jesus walked in his life and how we can work intentionally to walk that same path. (do what he did in our own circles and circumstances) As the primary song says, “I’m trying to be like Jesus. I’m following in his way. I’m trying to love as he did in all that I do and say.”
We have given visitors and new members rides for a long time. When asked questions, I give the standard, stereotypical answers as “the teachings of the church for all the members” and then add my own view of “the higher, Gospel view”. (kind of like the minimum expectation of a general concept for the broad organization to have a degree of harmony with a wide membership and the Gospel standard of trying to become like Jesus) The other approach is to let my more (but not fully) orthodox wife answer the questions.
🙂 What Minyan Man said, plus: I think there is an assumption that men understand “men things” and women understand “women things” – and that men understand priesthood ordination because they have been ordained.
I think that makes your point to a degree (by identifying areas and topics of deferment) – but I think it isn’t as all-encompassing / sweeping as the post makes it sound.
I think most people leave / disengage / become less actively involved for a very simple, common reason: For some reason(s), they no longer feel like they fit/belong enough to cause them to stay / remain actively involved.
I know that might seem too simplistic for many people, but I really do think it is that simple.
The vast majority of bishops and branch presidents I know understand most active members, at least, much better than just the temple recommend questions. I also know lots who are far more gracious in their view of temple worthiness now than I did as a younger member.
Our actual doctrine of eternal progression, more and more GC talks, and the latest temple endowment versions are full of grace. It is my own favorite part of the recent evolution in the Church.
