Posted by:
armtothetriangle
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Date: December 15, 2013 02:59PM
Your frustration with TBMs and believers in other churches is understandable- just look at the facts and walk away from any of it. However, other churches can discredit Mormonism, perhaps more often than you may realize.
Occasionally I've read posts on this board re the right hemisphere of the brain, the emotional or believing side, is the religion "center" vs the left hemisphere or rational function side, although this is grossly over simplified. While the right hemisphere exerts more control over intangibles like feelings, emotions 'occur' in both sides of the brain. Perhaps someone with knowledge of how this works could explain it better.
What's germane here is that for many, most?, religion is emotional; pure facts and rationalality aren't sufficient to deconstruct deep seated beliefs *in most people*. Look at the mormon mantras, "I know the church is true," "I know Joseph Smith is the prophet," among others, "know" is meant to cement the emotional attachment with pseudo-rational "knowing" or knowledge. When other churches discredit mormonism with scriptures, as your Baptist relative attempted to do, (and it's easy really), the same process occurs- not the rational or factual appeal to emotions, but rather systematic or logical (bear with me a second) emotions that appeal through the left to the right side of the brain where "faith" resides primarily. Again, this is way over simplified.
Look at your own reaction to learning "JS was a liar", and as an extension, tscc had lied to you- probably you were angry. You might have felt "an earthquake under my (your) feet," and these are emotional reactions. Whatever other emotions you felt, apparently they were enough to override your attachment to tscc. I started there- I think everyone who leaves does- "I've been lied to" becomes "I've been lied to deliberately."
So, yeah, not only is it possible to deconstruct mormonism through scriptures, but that constructed approach does work for some people. Again, all exmormons have some things in common- a disbelief in JS and his teachings and the ability to reason a way out from there. How we arrive at that point and the consequesnces are very individual. How successful Biblical deconstruction is on typical TBMs though is a good question. No doubts though, the rest of American Christianity, (face it, mormonism is an American church), is well insulating itself from mormon conversion through doctrinal/scriptural stance. You mentioned "Baptist", and I'm going to assume you meant a SBC pastor. Southern Baptists supported Romney but seem to be the most active and vocal in denouncing tscc. Without huge doctrinal shifts within mormonism, I don't see those voices quieting.
An aside, 32 years ago, I wrote a thesis examining why Martin Luther was able to spark the simmering protestant reformation, and die in his bed rather than literally being burned alive, as previous and some subsequent reformers were. (You can yawn on that one as it's been done, done and done.) Many factors, but the one that earned points for me was his logical appeal through scriptures to the emotions of faith. It wasn't sufficient for him to say 'the church (at the time) is bad and its doctrines are man made', but rather his arguement started as 'the church has strayed, here's why, and it needs to fix itself.' And by nailing his assertions to the door of a cathedral on the night before what then was one of the busiest church days of the year, he took the agruement to on-the-street believers, out of the perview of the clergy and church leaders. Thanks to the new effectiveness of the printing press, more than Wittenberg Germans were reading his theses in what was then short time. Sub 'internet' for 'printing press.' From my perspective, tscc finds itself in the same position as the Roman church was then. It will change, in more substantial ways than hanging BY with its racism. The credible insider as reformer would accelerate this.