●I've been in the church most of my life now, and there's a lot of things I've always felt were wrong/didn't make sense and I just powered through for the things that I did like. Eventually it just got to the point that I was tired of doing the mental gymnastics for the few things I liked to be true when the dislike pile was getting bigger and bigger.
●I've been thinking about it, and currently the closest I can define is I'm a hopeful agnostic. There's a lot of things I can't agree with, most "Christian" holidays I don't believe in, the Bible is questionable at best, and the BoM has no actual historical precedent and if it's to be believed the Native Americans are cursed. I believe in Christ's earthly teachings (if what we have is correct) (mostly, the ones about how to treat others), but so many timeline things from the scriptures don't align at all with what's been found.
*I'm holding out hope for the Millennium, when Christ can explain the actual reasoning behind things like black priesthood, timing of getting WoW, polygamy, etc. (Because they just seem too conveniently timed).
●If Joseph Smith is to be taken seriously as a speaker for God, then all of his supposed prophecies should be taken as serious, including the moon people and slavery being God ordained. Why would a religion sweep what their leader said under the rug, unless they knew it was crazy and wouldn't go over well? And if we're not going to take the records of his contemporaries as truth, then we can't for other things like the NT (since it was written by Jesus's contemporates).
●I'm agnostic and hope there's a loving God (even if not how we view them). I'll keep doing the sacrament and everything, but basically I'm just going so Fae can learn about a loving god and for "religion club", as Chas put it. I love the people at church, but so much of the doctrine I'm just done with. I'm tired of pretending everything is okay, I'm tired of pretending religion isn't a huge manipulation tactic, I'm tired of pretending the church isn't hurting people.
*I've never really liked the religious stuff in church, the scripture study/testimony meetings/etc in girls camp, classes at church (YW/RS especially), teaching lessons on mission to a certain extent, the temple ceremony, etc. It's just always given me a weird feeling or bored me to tears, I've never even really enjoyed reading the scriptures except as a story.
●Adam and Eve never made sense to me. Taken literally, if they were the first people then there'd have to be multiple generations of inbreeding before there'd be enough people to not have to inbreed, but they'd all be so completely inbred by that point that our genetics would be way too messed up. I've heard somewhere that there were other people outside Eden when they left, but where did they come from? Did god create them too, just after A&E? Were those people already there when they partook of the fruit? Did they have any say? What if Eden stuff happened alongside normal evolution stuff, and the people outside were evolved Homo Sapiens or whatever?
*Chas suggests this: Options: 1. The tale of Adam and Eve is partially or fully symbolic/metaphorical and not to be taken literally. 2. Alternatively, it's all folklore, myth, and legend mixed with a smattering of history. 3. It's literal, and since evolution is an all but proven fact, Homo Sapiens formed and Adam and Eve were the first given eternal god-child souls.
●I'm realizing I'm gradually getting more and more disenchanted with organized religion as a whole. I don't have a problem with people having and exercising faith, but keep all your persnickety little rules and questionable history/veracity to yourself (religion). I can't stand how many atrocities have been committed in the name of any god, and especially ours. *At this point I'm pretty much going to church for the sacrament and social aspects. When Fae's old enough to be baptized I'll make it very clear that I'm not allowing anyone to talk her into it if she has any reservations. If you're old enough to choose to be baptized, you're old enough to choose not to. I don't feel 8 is old enough, if I don't trust you to be home by yourself (and there's a high possibility you still believe in Santa) then you shouldn't be allowed to make "eternal commitments"
