Church

My last Sunday at Church before I came home was sorta interesting. It was interesting mostly cause of a certain speaker. Here's what happened:

A sorta awkward looking guy stood up to the pulpit, grabbed it firmly with both hands, and said, "Hi, today I' going to speak on the Word of Wisdom, and just so you know....I'm a chemistry major, but I'll try to keep it at your level."

First off, that's sorta condescending, but I coulda put up with that. What bothered me was how he approached his topic.

(info: for those not in the know, the Word of Wisdom is the blanket term for all the commandments regarding proper diet: both what you should eat and what you shouldn't. It came as a revelation to Joseph Smith in 1833, and it is recorded in the 89th section of the Doctrine and Covenants (Mormon scriptures)).

Anyway, back to my complaint about this guys approach. Well, what he did was he explained the Word of Wisdom from a purely physical perspective (demonstrating his vast knowledge of chemistry and kindly sharing his remarkable mind with all of us less fortunate folks).

Now, I agree that the Word of Wisdom has a physical dimension (it is after all about what you should eat)....but my problem with this guy was that the Word of Wisdom (while insightful regarding our physical needs) is not really a law focused on our physical health. That is just an added perk. The heart of the Word of Wisdom is spiritual health (more particularly: how physical health affects spiritual health).

So, while there are some studies that show that Mormons live slightly longer than the average, that's the wrong approach to take. A talk on the Word of Wisdom shouldn't focus on the chemistry involved or death statistics. What a talk on the Word of Wisdom should focus on is how following the Word of Wisdom unlocks spiritual potential.

Frankly, I don't want to have faith that is only effective when it agrees with science. That's the message that underlied this guy's talk and it's flat out wrong...while he was skimming through his chemistry notes he was oblivious to the real reason we follow the Word of Wisdom: God said to. What this speaker said was, "Science says this, and since that coincides with the Word of Wisdom, we should follow the Word of Wisdom."

This sort of talk is a great way to develop mediocre faith. What's the point in having faith if it's limited to what you can prove (actually, that's sorta by definition not faith).

I think there is a trend to say "Hey! Science agrees with a commandment. Hooray!" And while it often does, that shouldn't be why the commandment is followed.... because there are times when the two are at odds, and often, the friction of their struggle ignites the spark of real faith. If you try to substantiate all faith claims through reason you'll head down a slippery slope that will lead to a very limited worldview.....cause everyone has (and uses) faith. Even an atheistic scientist has faith; it's just faith pointing in the wrong direction.

What do I mean? Well, look at the scientific method. It never leads to truth, it just gives you what is most likely, and it proves what is most likely through trial and error...but there is no end to this method. A proposition gets more and more likely every time it is tested and yields the expected results....but this doesn't give certainty. The gap between what is extremely likely and scientific fact is bridged by faith. We don't call it faith (cause for most that's a bad word), but it's faith alright; scientific hypothesis is the post-modern equivalent of a heartfelt prayer: both are a reaching out beyond the limits of what is known with the hope (or faith) that there will be a positive response showing one is heading in the right direction.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that the laws of our universe will ever be at odds with a commandment from God. Actually, I think God understands the universe pretty darn well...so, I can only imagine that they'll always be in sync. So, it's not a matter of whether or not God will contradict the rules of the universe...the question is whether he'll contradict our understanding of the laws of the universe.

Reason can only be as strong as its premises, and our premises are derived from observation and testing. We make mistakes. Right now in every mind on this planet there are impostors; there are little ideas posing as truth that just aren't so. Part of learning is figuring out which ones don't belong and getting rid of 'em.

So, when the commandments of God coincide we should be excited for our understanding of science, cause it shows we're on track. What we shouldn't do is say "well, now that that's supported I can believe."

And that's what this guy's talk was all about.

After his talk was over he came and spoke with a friend of mine and I was introduced to him. Everyone congratulated him on his talk. When it was my turn to say something I said "Thanks for speaking"( I felt it was a sorta safe response cause it didn't convey my feelings about what he'd said).

He was a sorta arrogant fellow and he wanted more so he said "Well, did you think it was a good talk?"

Now, I know that courtesy requires certain things from us, and usually I try to respect the demands of propriety, but this guy was pushy (and he sorta rubbed me the wrong way), so I said, "Well, I know this isn't gonna start us off on the right foot...but I would given your talk differently."

He was sorta taken back by my response. He asked, "What would you do differently?"

I said "Well, what's the harm in saying 'We follow the Word of Wisdom because God told us to.' I know that doesn't sound as impressive, and it's not really the way people like to hear things...science is way sexier, but that's the truth. I'm pretty sure if God hadn't said anything on the matter, regardless of the scientific data both for and against, I'd probably drink--at least a little. Also, all the scientists out there that drink and smoke sorta demonstrate that scientific knowledge isn't the intellectual parent of the Word of Wisdom. So, I guess what I'm saying is that since your topic was 'why we follow the Wisdom' you should probably have spoken on that. Maybe as a sidenote you could have said that the Word of Wisdom also coincides with scientific understanding."

I don't think we're going to be friends.

Anyway, if you've made it this far I'm impressed. I probably should let the subject die. I guess it's just something that I'm sorta annoyed with these days.

I think what we need to do is realize that religious truth and science (for us) are sorta like a venn diagram. In the farthest circle to the left we have religious propositions. In the circle to the right we have scientific propositions. And in the middle there is the overlap. I think for us this is the way it's gonna be until we can clear out all those impostors in our mind that I wrote about earlier. I think for God there is no venn diagram...it's just one big circle containing all true propositions...cause for him the circles perfectly overlap. Sadly, for us, we gotta work through the muck see if we can get them to merge; some people have more overlap than others.

So, when you're speaking of the propositions in the religious circle, it's best to speak religiously. Science can peak over your shoulder if it wants, but it shouldn't be a backseat driver...cause in the realm of faith (the section removed completely from science due to the limitations of our understanding) science really doesn't have much to say.

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind. I wrote this really fast and I'm sure it's riddled with mistakes. Please be kind.