What's the purpose of this article? To make readers and consumers of information from groups such as Mormon Stories aware of the positives and negatives associated with interaction with these groups and to make a call to other members of the Church that are well informed to get involved in the conversation of maintaining faith in lieu of abandoning it as a result of learning about the so called "problems" of the LDS Church.
What this is not: This is not an attempt to stop people from listening to Mormon Stories podcasts. There is a TON of information that has been posted there, some of which I have really enjoyed and learned from. This also is not a post to hash out individual issues brought by such groups. For resources on topics raised by critics of the church, see my favorite place to start HERE.
Below is a list and explanation of each positive and negative aspect of Mormon Stories and other similar organizations.
(+) Positive - John Dehlin & the other moderators of Mormon Stories are educated people that sincerely mean well and want to help others.
(+) Positive - There are a lot of members of the Church struggling with their testimonies and there is some positive reinforcement to alleviate some of the anguish that they are going through.
(+) Positive - There is currently a lack of bishops and other ecclesiastical leaders in the Church that are capable of addressing some of the questions raised by "thinking Mormons". Mormon Stories provides some of that information and explanation that is missing from main stream Sunday school class.
(-) Negative - While it appears Mormon Stories began (2005) as taking a neutral standpoint, the amount of positive, faith promoting podcasts to date are small.
(+) Positive - There are however some real gems. Great faith promoting podcasts to date are: Richard Bushman, Daniel Peterson, & Bishop Bill Reel. My favorite faith promoting interview so far was with Terryl Givens.
(-) Negative - The organizers and leaders of Mormon Stories are mostly non-believers, or at best members who reject the Church as the "only true Church." It is just not a good idea to ask someone who doesn't have a testimony to help you with yours. Some of the founders of these organizations are financially supported so they can do this full time. Is that healthy? I believe moderation in all things. Anyone who spends 8 hours a day researching topics and interviewing people concerning controversial topics of the Church is going to struggle with their testimony. Just the same it is not healthy to read our scriptures, study gospel topics, and pray all day every day. If you're one of the many that have spent hours, days, months and even years ruminating over the more troublesome or at least more difficult aspects of Church history and doctrine, you know this was not a happy, healthy time of your life. Take caution in seeking help from such individuals.
(-) Negative - One sided views to justify their lack of faith. These groups pride themselves on being "rational thinkers" and "intelligent", and they are. When it comes down to facts and recorded history you can make a case that the church is not true, but with the same logic you can also make a case (and a far more convincing one in my opinion) that it is true through the same "rational thought" and history alone. This side of the logic is not emphasized and is sometimes blatantly ignored. For an example of the types of questions that are ignored see THIS.
(-) Negative - The Dr. Kavorkian of faith. Critics of Dehlin and organizations such as Mormon Stories call him a "Wolf in sheep's clothing." I'm not sure this is a fair assessment. These people and organizations truly have good intentions that they should get some credit for. However the best analogy that might be taken as both offensive and as a compliment would be that individuals such as John Dehlin are a sort of Dr. Kavorkian of faith in the LDS Church and what it claims to be. They bring relief and comfort to those struggling with intense feelings of doubt. When those struggling with doubt find others that feel like them, they feel support and justified in their feelings. While it is good that people find relief, the end result more often than not with continued interaction with people who have rationalized away belief, is the death of their faith as well.
(-) Negative - Organizations such as Mormon Stories remove the Holy Ghost from the equation of seeking truth completely. This point, while will most likely will be mocked and dismissed by doubters is the most serious and troublesome aspect of these groups that claim to be seeking the truth about the Church. Those who are familiar with the workings of the Holy Ghost know that there is a difference between the influence of the Holy Ghost and those produced by human emotion alone. It is correct to point out that some members of the Church portray large amounts of emotionalism during testimony meetings etc. laying claim to "know" something because they had some goosebumps. However as stated by Dehlin, the idea that someone cannot know the Church is true but instead only be "certain" is false. Glenn Pace of the Seventy said, "those who rely entirely on intellect may point at those whose testimony cannot and will not be shaken and accuse them of blind faith. The very fact that they would make such an accusation suggests that they have not yet learned there is an avenue to truth greater than intellect and more certain than the five senses."
While there may be many in the Church who have not yet studied the controversial aspects of Church history, "they know enough"(Neil A. Anderson) and their testimony by the Holy Ghost is just as valid as anyone else who has studied all the historical data incessantly.
(-) Negative - Mormon Stories promotes a false sense that those going through a crisis of faith are the only ones who know the "real" church history. This atmosphere is indirectly created since doubters and anti-mormons have the loudest voices on the internet, why? Because think about it,TBMs (doubting Mormons acronym for True Believing Mormons) have no need to be on the internet. The only reason I am here is because I became aware of the growing problem through friends introducing me to these sites and organizations. There are many of us out there that are educated and informed about Joseph Smith's life, the history of the Church, the imperfectness of LDS past and present leaders (it has never been taught that they are perfect) and continue on with our lives with our testimonies stronger than ever. My continuing investigation of the Church has only further strengthened my testimony. Have there been bumps along the way, absolutely. Were there things that didn't make total sense, yes!, are there currently things that I don't totally understand, yep. But there is plenty that I do understand or at least that can satisfy the intellectual side of a testimony.
Those of us who are just as informed and just as intelligent and rational as those who have “studied their way out of the church" need to make their voices heard to dispel the myth that groups such as Mormon Stories suggest and allude to, which is that anyone intelligent that learns the "real truth" about the Church and its history will end up losing their testimony and find it impossible to believe anymore. This is simply false.
Concluding Thoughts:
At the end of several of Mormon Stories podcasts, Dehlin raises the question, "where can people go with struggling testimonies and doubts for support? By not answering his own question he suggests that there is nowhere to go, and in that regard suggests the Church is failing. These groups claim that if you question anything you will be shunned and alienated by most members, I don't believe this is true. I'm sure there is good reason for this assumption because it probably happens. Should it happen? No. But to instill fear in listeners that they cannot go to believing members at all with their questions is a misleading approach. There are plenty of individuals in my ward I can think of that are educated and would not dismiss doubts as foolishness, but maybe my ward is more the exception than the rule. For this reason, I am writing this. There are lots of informed believers in the Church, this is a call to all others out there to speak up.
For a more in depth review and analysis of Mormon Stories, please see Greg Smith's Dubious “Mormon” Stories: A Twenty-First Century Construction of Exit Narratives
A place for those seeking rational, faith promoting resources and commentary on questions and criticisms of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
