My Dad The Hero

We do a weekly newsletter that we send out by email to all my family. In her contribution to the newsletter, my mum made mention about my dad and his work.

My dad works in construction and when he started with a new company earlier this spring, he was made project supervisor. In his new position, he oversees an entire project from start to finish. It is a lot less physical work for him, and as he gets older, the less physical work, the better.

Their current project is completely redoing a lecture hall on the campus of BCIT. The project includes everything from cement to walls to carpet.

The project deadline is in roughly a week and my dad has never missed a deadline. Unfortunately, some of the workers aren’t producing the work my dad expects, so he has been spending many nights lately putting in overtime to tidy up the work. Last week, he put in 74 hours—that’s more than double my regular workweek.

My dad’s an amazing guy. Not only has he taught me to work hard, but he’s also taught me to do a job right.

Here’s hoping they meet the deadline.

Tal Bachman Leaves Mormon Church

As Jeremy reported (as did Mark and William), world-renowned musician Tal Bachman left the church. Apparently, it has taken the former Sunday School teacher two years to come to this decision. Technically, he still is a member because he has yet to formally request name removal through a letter to his bishop.

Nevertheless, one thing in the article really caught my attention.

I came to understand that, much to my shock, many of the foundational claims of the church were not based in reality. I struggled so much with that, and kept trying to un-know what I kept uncovering, that at the end of two years I felt so burdened and so confused and puzzled. I kept going to these church defenders that I'd always trusted and trying to find out what the explanations were for what appeared to be smoking guns. And there weren't any.

Why is it historical accuracy is such a big issue for so many people who left the Church? Why do they put so much weight in the accuracy of events happening exactly as described?

These same people, for example, often have no problem accepting that the creation of the world did not happen in six 24-hour periods. However, when they’re faced with the fact that Joseph Smith allegedly wrote a couple dozen versions of the First Vision, all of a sudden it’s too much and the whole Church is a sham.

Sigh.

In all honesty, who cares? Who cares if the First Vision was with God and Jesus Christ or if it was three angels? The point is that the heavens that were closed for millennia were now open. The point is that the Lord opened the way for a church run by revelation. Who cares if the world was created in six days, six thousand years, or 4.5 billion years? The point is that it was created.

Some naysayers may read this post and say, “Who are you to question his decision? Who are you to be an expert on questioning doctrines when you’ve lived the sheltered life of Mormonism?” To such things, I respond by saying that my life has been far from sheltered. I have had my share of worldly indulgences. I have had my share of questions.

In fact, I came to the point where my faith was seriously shaken as well. You want to know the difference between my experience and others like Tal’s? When my faith wavered, it wasn’t because I read that Joseph Smith was a boozer or that Brigham Young was racist. It wasn’t because I found what appeared to be inconsistencies between the Book of Mormon and the Bible. It wasn’t because my bishop couldn’t answer my questions.

It was because I doubted God’s existence.

That’s right. It wasn’t my faith in a single book. It wasn’t faith in the character of a prophet. It wasn’t faith in the sociability of my home teachers. It was faith in God.

The point is when you question your faith, think about what you’re questioning. If you are offended by someone and decide to never come back to church, think about where your faith must lie. If you come across some abhorrent thing Joseph Smith did and decide to leave the Church, think about where your faith lies.

Think about where your faith lies.

It was a very hard and depressing experience I went through. However, I am very grateful for it. The experience has really solidified my faith and I have become stronger as a result. Because of this, odd events and doctrines that would normally offend or shake someone's faith do not phase me. I am now able to question things freely.

Think about where your faith lies.

I am LDS After All

I took a survey yesterday that asked questions regarding religious beliefs. The idea is that after you’ve taken the quiz, it will analyse your answers and tell you which religious movement your beliefs more closely resemble.

Not surprising to anyone—well except maybe those who think I question too much or who consider me a heretic—the quiz said my 100 percent of my beliefs corresponded with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here are the remaining findings.

1. Jehovah's Witness (97%)


2. Bahá'í Faith (94%)


3. Orthodox Judaism (83%)


4. Sikhism (77%)


5. Mainline - Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)


6. Mainline - Conservative Christian Protestant (71%)


7. Islam (70%)


8. Jainism (69%)


9. Liberal Quakers (62%)


10. Hinduism (60%)


11. Eastern Orthodox (58%)


12. Roman Catholic (58%)


13. Reform Judaism (57%)


14. Seventh Day Adventist (57%)


15. Orthodox Quaker (56%)


16. Unitarian Universalism (55%)


17. Mahayana Buddhism (52%)


18. Theravada Buddhism (51%)


19. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (39%)


20. Neo-Pagan (36%)


21. New Age (33%)


22. New Thought (25%)


23. Taoism (25%)


24. Secular Humanism (23%)


25. Scientology (21%)


26. Non-theist (19%)

Some interesting results. For example, I find it interesting that my answers put me closer to Baha’I, Judaism and Sikhism than it does to mainline Christian Protestants. I also found it interesting that my answers put me closer to Islam, Jainim, Quakers and Hinduism than it did to Catholicisim.