Can Catholics life an authentic life being beholden to a demonstrable fraud?
Can Muslims?
'Cause, see, while neither of those are as recent a fraud as mormonism, and hence parts of the fraud are harder to "prove," their official doctrines/histories both have demonstrable falsehoods.
Me, I try to separate personal authenticity from a person's "traditional" (or raised-in) religion. I know lots of catholics, for example, who don't buy into the full set of official catholic doctrines/histories, but still go to church every week and do all the "sacraments" -- while being good, honest, authentic people.
I think there are mormons in the same boat. How many...I don't know. But they exist.
No, because doublethink is the enemy of authenticity. When you change something you "know" overnight because there's a new "Prophet," then you appear to yourself as a fool and a clown when you look hard in the mirror.
Come to think of it, the "Prophet" probably doesn't feel so authentic either. But it's exciting to get all the attention. And 30 or even 5 years later, he looks like the biggest clown of all.
TSCC is like P.T. Barnum’s circus. It’s all about the show. Drama and clowns are the authentic reality within the tent. Notice the reference to stakes. In Big Top life, the show must go on. Mormonism is the carnival midway that takes your money while providing endless diversion.
I feel more myself than I ever have and I'm an apostate, adulteress sinner. I have always felt more comfortable in the company of sinners. I never felt like myself as a mormon. I never fit in.
Now I don't care if I fit in. Now I just live life as I choose. I was barely my authentic self as a mormon.
I went to a family funeral 2 weeks ago in a mormon stake center (I had attended there many times before when I was young even to see Paul Dunn speak) and it felt so empty. I wondered what I had ever seen being part of that. It actually felt dead. No life in the music, no life in the bishop's speech. Dreary and crushing.
I think so. I believe even Scott Gordon and Daniel Peterson live authentic lives.
What I believe to be authentic is to live a life consistent with your values and beliefs.
I, on the other hand, could not live an authentic life in the Church. I come to different conclusions than they did, I couldn't keep believing. And it was hurting me.
Honestly, I think the ones who struggle the most are not Exmos or TBMs. I think the hard way to live an authentic life is for NoMs or the StayLDS crowd.
The last year I was in I was not living an authentic life. And I think that is true for many in. But I do believe it is possible. Just not for me.