As many of you will remember about a year ago, M. Russell
Ballard spoke in General Conference and encouraged members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to “stay in the boat and hold on!” His call was part of an effort by LDS leadership to stem the
flow of members who are leaving the LDS Church. Many talks in General Conference in recent years in one
way or another have been devoted to this effort. His call was of course met with dueling internet memes. Those like Mormon Women Stand, who wanted to
share his clarion call with their fellow saints put out the following meme:
Others with a completely polar view of the LDS Church
created their own opposing meme:
Of course, neither meme (as with any analogy) is
perfect. There are times when one must
abandon ship to preserve one’s life. And
not everyone spends their entire life at sea.
In addition, the first meme leaves out the many who are no longer in the ship BUT
did not want to leave the ship. Rather
were made to walk the plank (so to speak) facing charges of apostasy or others who
were shunned by family and friends that could not understand or tolerate their
views, questions and life decisions and wer thus metaphorically kept out of the ship. The image also leaves out others who intentionally jumped out of the ship into the
terrors of the unknown ocean obviously preferring to brave that, than to
continue with the “Old Ship Zion” or what they saw as the HMS Titanic.
While those who posted this second image tend to view the
LDS Church as a sinking ship, it ignores the fact that even though they may
have jumped ship, according to the meme, those people are now either in a small
life raft or wading in freezing water.
Most members to this day still do not appreciate how difficult a choice
that it was for them to abandon the “Old Ship Zion”, they clearly no longer felt safe or welcomed
there. Many devout LDS members do not
realize how terrifying it was and still is for many to have jumped ship…and
yet, they did so precisely to save their own lives. Nevertheless, every one of them is happier
to be where they are in spite of the dangers than back on the ship.
But with the image of people from the Titanic out the in
cold waters still fresh in our minds, let us remember that along came the RMS
Carpathia and plucked the survivors from the sea.
I recently attended a Sunstone Conference at Kirtland
Ohio. It was a tremendously enjoyable
conference and I was fed intellectually, spiritually, and socially. I learned so much, was touched by the
passion of the people there and the loving spirit shared by all. In attendance at this conference hosted by
the Community of Christ were members of the Community of Christ Church, members
of the FLDS Church, active members of the LDS church who carried current temple
recommends, progressive LDS members, inactive LDS members, members who had been
excommunicated from the LDS Church and those who chose to have their names
removed. ALL of them were there enjoying
one another’s fellowship and learning together about something every one of them
had in common. A Restorationist
heritage.
Men were there with their
husbands, women were there with their girlfriends. Exmos and Actives embraced one another and
were able to speak about Mormonism without any rancor but with love and
respect. Women conducted the Church
service on Sunday morning. A member of
the Quorum of the Twelve of the Community of Christ humbly helped roll out video
equipment and setup tables working hard behind the scenes to make sure everyone felt welcome and the conference was a success. You would
not be able to tell that he was any different than any of the attendees. Despite the presence of some incredible intelligentsia,
there were no rock stars, religious, academic or otherwise.
After the conference I asked some of my friends who attended
what they thought was the best part of the conference. Without fail, they all
spoke of the feeling of community, the feeling of being welcome and included. They loved being able to discuss the history,
doctrines, culture of the various different faiths that all shared a
Restorationist heritage. We all shared
Kirtland. And several of them said
something that struck me quite deeply.
They said quite simply that they had found their tribe. The USS Restorationist Heritage boat piloted
by Sunstone came along and plucked them out of the sea and gave them shelter
and community. They had found a new
boat.
I was so struck by that comment. With my devout LDS friends, whenever we
discuss the Church, there is tension…almost a need to prove that the other is
wrong. An invisible tug of war fraught
with subtle judgement and sadness. I have
experienced outright judgement and condemnation by other devout LDS members. To be fair, I can't honestly say how I have made them feel. However, with progressive and post Mormon friends,
some of them at times are more focused on anger and condemnation of the
Church. There is a visceral hate. To be forthright, I do share some of their
views, BUT I do not hate the Church. I
do not wish it or its members any ill, and believe in the sincerity and
Christianity of its membership and leaders. But I also share some of the views of devout Latter Day Saints as
well and am proud of my Latter Day Saint upbringing and experiences. I am passionate about that
middle, but sometimes feel alone there.
So it was wonderful to be welcomed onto the SS Restorationist Heritage
boat and be welcomed.
One of the presenters at the conference said something that hit home. Mica McGriggs said
in her presentation that there are primarily two major views of Joseph
Smith. One group practically has Joseph
on a pedestal. Everything he did was
ordained by God even if we do not understand it. Very little blame if any is placed at his
feet. Rather, judgement is levied
against anyone who dares criticize him.
“Give Joseph a break!” On the
other hand, there are those who see Joseph Smith in the vilest of ways; as a
pedophile, a con-man, and a liar….”evil” is his middle name. She argued for a more nuanced view of Joseph
Smith, as that of a man, one that includes both sides of good and evil and puts
him in the context of the world in which he lives. There were over 70 people in attendance at
the conference and I’m sure 70 different opinions about the man called “Brother
Joseph” yet we were all united by him, and were able to talk about him and his
legacy freely, openly, in a spirit of love and understanding. That spirit is what I seek.
From the Book of Mormon we get the following scripture:
2 Nephi 26:33 “…he inviteth them all to come unto him, black
and white, bond and free, male and female, and he remembereth the heathen; and
all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile”
I saw that scripture come alive at the Sunstone
Conference. The spirit of inclusivity,
that everyone there were all alike unto God no matter where they were
personally. I find the scripture more
interesting now that the scripture mentions Jews and Gentiles…showing people of
different faiths and beliefs are also alike unto him.
In the Sunday morning church service, gay couples sat next
to traditional couples. Excommunicated LDS
and resigned LDS sat next to active and devout LDS. Community of Christ members were intermingled
among them too. We were joined by someone from the FLDS. A woman presided over
the services. And of course, there were
a few kids running around in the pews. Every
one of them, their heritage traced back to the man Joseph and to the Kirtland
temple. A shared love for the Restorationist
heritage that we all shared. We were all
moved by the powerful sermon delivered by Jana Reiss and then the heartfelt emotions
that were shared in the testimony meeting.
Finally, as my friend Brandt Malone so aptly stated “No
matter where on stands on the religious spectrum, there is something very
special about singing “The Spirit of God” in the Kirtland Temple.”
I too must heartily agree with Brandt’s statement. Those who know me, know I love to sing. When it came time to sing that song, I sung
it with a gusto that I have not done in years.
But I couldn’t make it through. I
broke down in tears, my voice cracking, choked with emotion as I tried to make
it through each verse. Tears shed for
what I had lost and tears shed for what I had found there in Kirtland. The fourth verse of that song came true for
me at the conference. It was indeed a
blessed day when the lamb and lion, the gays and the straights, the black and
the white, the ex-mormons and devout Mormons
along with those from the Community of Christ and the FLDS; we all did indeed
lie down together without any ire.
