Posted by:
Idahobanananotloggedin
(
)
Date: May 04, 2016 07:59PM
Last night my teenage TBM daughter and I were talking.
At the end of our conversation ( where she proceeded to tell me that her TBM dad was becoming more of a tight-a** regarding rules and church stuff), I had a really simple way to explain the Mormon paradigm to her come to mind.
Basically - for Mormons, you're a good person if you obey.
For other moral people, you're a good person if you're kind to others, act with integrity, and try to do no harm.
Basically - when we assume we're only good if we obey, we put our power into the hands of an authority figure. And then we let that authority figure decide what's good for us. And they don't even know us! And that authority figure -if it's a person and not a deity- is fallible and can make mistakes. So if you're going to be living by mistakes, why not make your own instead of someone else's ?
When we decide for ourselves where our ethical and moral values lie, we act from a space of freedom and true personal accountability and power. Our self esteem is also then dependent on us and not some arbitrary set of rules and regulations.
This really sat well with her.
And I won't be surprised if she eventually chooses out of the church.
1 kid down. 2 to go.