TheEllipticalDisillusion wrote:
Anthy wrote:It is absolutely more understandable to feel uncomfortable with a religion for positions which they once held as doctrine (and that is still kept as doctrine by some), than to judge a religion based on the actions of people who are doing things in that religion's name which have never been part of the mainstream teachings of the faith.
It's entirely unfair to continue to feel uncomfortable towards a group based on what was doctrine but is not anymore. Not only do I think it is unfair, but silly. You can't let the past (in this case, the past prior to your birth) dictate how you feel today. Stances change, times change and observers perceptions have to change.
Silly? SILLY, am I???!!! I have no doubt that I would appear SILLY to YOU, you insolent pup, since you obviously have no sense whatsoever!
Sorry, just trying to work up a little Manwë kinda sweat, here... did I do that right?
Actually, I see your point. Stances do change, that is true, and people should not be judged on whatever their religion was about in the somewhat distant past. In fact, I am much more comfortable trying to understand what makes people tick on an individual basis than the "stance" of their religion, past or present. Which I believe I mentioned in my post.
And, I must point out, I did not say that I was uncomfortable with the Mormon church because of polygynist practices. I do understand that that particular practice is now prohibited by the mainstream church.
However, MY point (which obviously went wide of the mark) is that this practice WAS a part of the original church doctrine, and THAT is simply *why* it is associated with that church.
Obviously, my Mormon friend, married to the same man for many years, worshipping in the same church, thought it was NOT a part of the church that they believed in, and yet was confronted with that exact practice by her husband. She was told that it WAS a part of their religion, and was chastised for not being obedient enough because she objected. He had documents and "older" writings, which he believed WERE a part of the religion (as some people do), and had just been suppressed for reasons he did not agree with. It was written down, TED, and had been part of the foundations of that church. THAT lends it credence, when it is brought up again.
Also, some people, who consider themselves fully Mormon, DO still practice polygyny. The past-- even that ancient past before I was born-- is the present for them.
The offences of the Catholic priests were NOT part of the doctrine of the church. So, therefore, one can fault the priests themselves, which one should, or the heirarchy which shielded them, which is the part that really frosts my gourds, but one cannot cite the "it's okay to brutalize children" doctrine of the Catholic church in one's argument. It doesn't exist, and never did.
Elsewhere, it has been brought up that slavery is associated with the South. Why is that, you might ask? Well, because there was, at one time before my birth, slavery in the South.
I have actually never owned a slave, and yet simply being a Southerner is enough for people to associate me in their minds with slavery. I get a fair number of questions about slavery, as if it is something that I have personally witnessed, and occasionally bear the painful barbs of people assuming I am pro-slavery or anti-black, because of the actions of a society I never lived in.
It is uncomfortable for me, and doesn't always feel very fair; I am against slavery as anyone else. However, the association is
understandable, given the facts of the past.
The past DOES tend to drift into the future, and color the present. It isn't the only color, nor should a tapestry be judged on the color of one thread. But to deny that the color is there is... well, silly, actually.
"What do you fear, lady?" Aragorn asked.
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
is a much more appropriate Manweista emoticon then 