If I were to compile a list of all the things my fringe Mormon friends and I wish our traditional counterparts understood about us, this book addresses them all. If you’re seeking to understand a Mormon family member or friend who doesn’t really fit in the church, or if you are the one who doesn’t fit in but you really want to try to find a safe, healthy place to belong, I think this book will be helpful
I can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous title of this post, but I swear to you that I tie all the ideas together.
The following is taken verbatim from the introduction of an important new book from Terryl and Fiona Givens called The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life. Whether and/or when belief is a legitimate choice is a fascinating topic to me.
The following is a partial transcript I made of an excellent Mormon Stories podcast interview with Terryl Givens, one of the most intellectually interesting and thoughtful Mormons I know of. Here he discusses his view on how and why religious belief must be a choice and not simply something that’s obviously false or obviously true.
I’ve heard an analogy that compares people’s personal religious beliefs to a beautiful rose. Some people’s intellectual curiosity drives them to dismantle the rose in order to see how it’s put together. Petal by petal they gently pull it apart to learn how the individual parts work or to examine its raw biology under a microscope.