I remember a while back hearing a Mormon say in defense of the accusation that the church doesn’t encourage questioning that ‘the church does encourage it,’ using the song “Search, Ponder and Pray” to back it up.

Of course, they’ll tell you to pray about it as well as read the BoM (funny how they never really encourage anyone to read the Bible) and perhaps some good, wholesome Mormon literature. But what they never tell you to do is to do a thorough research regarding the claims made by the BoM and the church itself, as well as an investigation of other religions and even atheism. They never encourage the use of logic, critical thinking while reading the BoM to question its validity.

Instead, children who are raised in the church are bombarded with indoctrination (baptism, weekly church and young men’s/women’s activities and eventually seminary, occasional camp outs and a lot of social gatherings. All of that on top of being told God and Mormonism are %100 true from a very impressionable age), who will pretty much all have a pre-conceived notion that the church is true. Then they read the BoM, feel good about it and vale! From then on out, all of the difficult questions you have will be vaguely answered/excused by yourself, the Bishop, Apostles, Prophet, etc.

One thing I find disturbing is the fact that almost every single TBM I’ve met thinks the church is %100 pure good. It never lies, deceives or leads you astray. On the other hand, when someone makes a claim that isn’t exactly supportive of the church, they instantly become skeptical and dismiss it as anti-Mormon propaganda, a lie from Satan and so on and so forth.

Ask away.
Just don't expect rational answers.
Judgement, guilt, reprimands, orders, and threats are what you'll most likely get.

Search the approved sources.
Ponder how the f**k they answer your questions.
Pray until you totally agree with the brethren.

Mormonism allows for questioning, but it very intelligently diverts people away from questioning the religion.

Is it ok to question politics, or society, or other religions? In Mormonism, it is encouraged quite a bit.

Is it ok to question Mormonism? In Mormonism, it is not.

Facts have a definite antimormon bias.

The Church encourages questioning. At the end of the lesson manual, or an article in the ENSIGN are questions for you to ask yourself like:

"How can I strengthen my testimony of the Gospel?"

"How can I help others to come to Christ?"

"What can I do to be more of an example to the members in my ward?"

Of course they only encourage questioning that they can control. They don't want any REAL questioning. The kind that scientists and scholars do all the time to make sure they're not just fooling themselves. That kind of questioning is forbidden in Mormonism. For example here's an Ensign article on dealing with doubt:


"Doubts are natural. They can spring up from within, or they can come from others. Regardless of the source, there are some tried-and-true ways to deal successfully with doubt.

"1. Remember the spiritual experiences you’ve already had. . . . The Lord expects us to remember the witness we have already received from the Spirit.

"2. Be patient. When you come across things that you don’t understand, be patient. Hold fast to what you already know (in other words, remember). As Laura says, “I cling to what I already know and don’t let questions bother me. I keep asking in prayer, knowing the Lord will answer when I’m ready for it.”

"3. Feed your faith; starve your doubts. As you continue to pray, search the scriptures, and keep the commandments, you will receive additional strength to your testimony. Alma compares this process to nurturing a seed as it sprouts and grows into a tree that provides sweet, precious fruit (see Alma 32:28–43). Nurturing doubts produces the opposite effect, and testimony withers."

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2006/10/meeting-the-challenges?lang=eng&query=doubt

In other words, doubts are not what you use to TEST the truth of something, it's what you have to eliminate by some Mormon/Jedi mind trick.

Or even more clearly:

"Doubt is not a principle of the gospel. It does not come from the Light of Christ or the influence of the Holy Ghost. Doubt is a negative emotion related to fear. It comes from a lack of confidence in one’s self or abilities. It is inconsistent with our divine identity as children of God.

"Doubt leads to discouragement. Discouragement comes from missed expectations. Chronic discouragement leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desire, and greater difficulty feeling and following the Spirit (see Preach My Gospel [2004], 10). Discouragement and despair are the very antithesis of faith."

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/05/faith-in-the-lord-jesus-christ?lang=eng&query=doubt

So doubt, which is an essential tool in finding truth in any OTHER situation, is considered a "negative emotion" to be avoided when considering Mormonism.

God, it's like a recipe for killing your brain. Thanks for this post baura.

Just as they confuse love with reward.

But I like what one commentator said: You cannot enter the house of faith until you cross through the porch of doubt.

Doubting and questioning causes us to evaluate more fully what we believe and why. It causes us to examine things to our own agreement and acceptability. Otherwise we say "I believe/know" in order that we might be seen as a part of the group without ever having given our professed faith any real consideration.

“It is . . . my conviction that God desires everyone to enjoy freedom of inquiry and expression without fear, obstruction or intimidation. I find it one of the fundamental ironies of modern Mormonism that the General Authorities, who praise free agency, also do their best to limit free agency's prerequisites --access to information, uninhibited inquiry and freedom of expression.”

-D. Michael Quinn

Specifically what they want you to do is go through the church approved, and ONLY the church approved process of reading the Book of Mormon and ONLY the Book of Mormon and then talking to the Church approved version of their imaginery god until you conclude that its all true. No other answers are acceptable.
That's not questioning. That's mind control and manipulation.

Of course they are all for questioning.

You should question until you get the "right" answer that the brethren are right. Then it's time to stop questioning.

September 6th, lying for the Lord, and "some things that are true are not very useful."

Whatever is left is good for researching, but is still subject to approval by the Corp of the Pres. And later, the Corp can change its mind and pretend those facts never existed.

I can remember some bishops being almost as blunt as that when members received "inspiration" contrary to their will or that of LDS, Inc. It's not even thinly veiled.

On another thread I refered to this as the "Study the Scriptures Paradox". They want you to study it jsut enough that you feel good about the church but not ask any real questions.