tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9047542248890443897.post1419816020889908835..comments2023-10-25T05:11:18.425-07:00Comments on Agnostic Mormon Mom: Gospel discussions that actually help and inspireAdriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10096919399937267674noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9047542248890443897.post-75683726283740891272013-09-20T20:48:57.555-07:002013-09-20T20:48:57.555-07:00Thanks so much for your comment! I love that peopl...Thanks so much for your comment! I love that people in other faiths can relate to these issues.<br /><br />So first of all, I totally think you and your family should attend the baptism. Mormon baptisms are very simple and harmless. We baptize by immersion, so the person will stand in the water with the person baptizing them. The "baptizer" will say "[Name], having been commission of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Then he will dip the "baptizee" in the water, they will exit the water, and that is pretty much it. Prior to that, there will be a couple little talks about baptism, but really nothing that would be offensive or hard for your kids. For what it's worth, I would take my kids to a baptism (or any other ceremony) in pretty much any church, if only for the educational/cultural value of it. :)<br /><br />Second, the reaction from most Mormons to my blog and my views has been quite positive, actually. I say Mormons can be judgmental--and they can be--but they can also be incredibly accepting and loving. In fact, they are those things much more often. I'm sorry that the Mormons you have known have been judgmental and secretive. That part seems strange to me. Most Mormons are very eager to share their faith (sometimes annoyingly eager). <br /><br />So, like I said, most people have been very supportive. I think their positive reactions are mainly coming from two angles. One, a lot of people can totally relate, and they appreciate my honesty. They want an environment where it's socially okay to talk about doubt. Two, a lot of other people see what I'm doing as sort of a step in the right direction. I get the feeling that they consider my feeble attempts at faith to be better than just not hoping or believing at all. I don't really care for this so much, because I think it's rooted in a huge misunderstanding of what I'm doing , but that's a subject for an entire blog post. Mostly, Mormons are just so welcoming and happy to have me at church--they don't care what crazy things I say when I'm there. :)<br /><br />There's also kind of a faith crisis "phenomenon" happening in the LDS church. Check out this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/us/some-mormons-search-the-web-and-find-doubt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0Adriennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10096919399937267674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9047542248890443897.post-17701344506733722742013-09-20T13:38:43.004-07:002013-09-20T13:38:43.004-07:00I've never read a blog from start to finish bu...I've never read a blog from start to finish but I am truly fascinated by everything you've written. And I'm not even Mormon! I have a weird obsession with Mormons and admit that I probably spend a little too much time lurking on ex-Mormon web sites to try and get the real low-down on the religion and it's true core beliefs because the Mormons we do know (and some are actually relatives) are so secretive and hush-hush about it all that it just makes me want to know more! So I was doing some research on whether or not our family (mainly it's my children I'm concerned about) should attend a Mormon baptism we were invited to this weekend and somehow I stumbled across your site. We are Christian and quite active in our church. We LOVE our church in fact and we desperately want our children to grow up in the church and believing in Jesus Christ and accepting him as their one, true personal savior...blah, blah, blah. But as I'm reading your blog I feel like everything you've said I could have written myself, word for word, and just replaced "Mormon" with "Christian". You say it over and over--you really are an oxymoron. And apparently, so am I! Because the truth is, I WANT to believe there is a God and that there is a heaven where we will all spend eternity and that the pain we have to experience in this life is not for nothing and that we really do have a greater purpose beyond this world. I want to believe that with all of my heart but the reality is, I just don't think I do. And yet I am still drawn to the church and its teachings because I do feel that it makes me a better person to be a Christian and I feel that our family is better off as Christians than the alternative. But not believing wholeheartedly and having so many doubts makes me incredibly sad. I'd honestly rather believe in a lie and live in the comfort of that lie than know the truth and have to live in the darkness and despair of realizing that we it's possible we just live, die and rot in the ground and there's no real purpose to it all. *sigh* But I really just had one question for you. I am assuming that people in your church community are aware of your blog and your agnostic leanings. So...how do they react to that? You are so involved in the church and active in the church community (like with the Mormon Relief Society, for example). If Mormons are as "judgmental" as you say they are and that I've known them to be then how on earth do these meetings go for you and how is the reception from the people at church? I would love to be able to talk to my pastor or some of my friends at church about my own questions and evolving beliefs. But I can just imagine the looks on the faces of all the women at my next MOPS meeting if I were to blurt out, "But can you really be sure there is a God in Heaven? Like really, REALLY?" I am certain I would not be invited back. So how do you go to church and be involved in the church but also be honest about the things you do and do not believe, without being harshly judged and ostracized by people who mistakenly feel that you are rejecting your faith completely if you aren't "all-in"?jems1304https://www.blogger.com/profile/00412980574101511423noreply@blogger.com