As Regards Heterodoxy: A Rant

[Sleeping in EQ]

The following is rough and my grammar is spotty, but enough folks have asked about my "heterodox but orthoprax" signature that I thought I'd elaborate.

To the heterodox:

I've found that for the most part, LDS folks are more concerned with orthopraxy. You may have noticed that the temple recommend interview is an expression of faith and not a doctrinal litmus test (i.e. you're never asked what you mean by what you've said. It's left as an expression of belief and a willingness to keep covenants.)

I've learned that there are occasions when I can speak my mind and occasions when I'm better off to be silent or take a short trip to the foyer. For example, sacrament meeting talks are not the time to showcase my knowledge of LDS history or philosophy. They're about trying to teach doctrine and contribute to the faith of those gathered to commune. And contrary to what the orthodox and/or mullah types believe (I'm not exactly satisfied with the term "mullah," but I know the type of Mormon it refers to: a Mormon evangelical and anti-intellectual wannabe), plugging in to the LDS intellectual scene has actually been very healthy for me. It helps me be the same person on Sunday that I am the rest of the week.

I also believe that the heterodox need to speak up a little more than they do. We are sometimes subtly (and not so subtly) discouraged from speaking up on "milk before meat" grounds. Such concerns are valid, but they also serve to keep people from actually feasting on the scriptures and gospel. Moreover, they sometimes punish the knowledgable in favor of the expression of comfortable falsehood. The danger in this for the heterodox is that they silently feel like their contributions aren't wanted and come to resent church activity; so speak up once in a while. You might (and might not) be black listed a bit for doing so, but that's better than becoming bitter and finding church meetings an exercise in frustration.

Also, in a psychoanalytic coupe de grace, the so-called orthodox are often doing exactly what they accuse the heterodox of doing: they're picking and choosing doctrines. The heterodox know this, but are often discouraged from saying so because it seems there are more orthodox in leadership positions (there is a bit of a cult of doctrinal conformity going on that I hope will eventually be weakened. As it is now, an orthodox leader can criticize you and its called "counsel" and if you speak up its called "contention," even if you are correct, and nevermind that you have something of an obligation to try to share what you believe to be true). In this vein the so-called orthodox sometimes conflate culture and nationalism with doctrine, although I've found evidence that the increasingly internationl church is weakening this nonsense (albeit incrementally). They also tend to support the prophet more than the idea of prophecy per se. By this I mean that if you listen to their comments, you may observe that their views are mostly settled and they are incredulous at the suggestion that further reveleation on a church-wide level on certain subjects could be forthcoming. Their notion of the church needs a president, but they only pay lip service to prophecy.

One of the things that encourages me is that there are more heterodox people around than I initially suspected. And many of them are High Priests. High Priests' groups sometimes have very healthy heterodox discussions.

Another thing that encourages me is church history. The heterodox who kept their covenants and tried to live the gospel are the ones who have best survived crises in the church. They just sometimes find themselves having to survive their fellow members!

Finally, the mullah's would be well-served to observe that mullah-type comments from General Authorities are extremely rare (and the more formal and general the occasion, the less likely the mullah comment). Ironically, mullah's occasionally infer things like "the leaders have to stay officially neutral on politics, but they really want you to vote Republican." The heterodox actually take the leaders at their word. They are more orthoprax.