I hate the University of Utah

Finally, Someone had the courage and the lack of tact to say it. "I don’t like Utah, in fact I hate them." How true those words ring in my soul. And no, I’m no typical zoobie. I don’t think BYU is the ‘Lord’s University”, and in fact I disagree that Utah is isn’t a great institution and has a fantastic football program. But I do hate them. Not because they are all anti-Mormon or jack Mormon—although a lot of them are—but because they accuse the BYU Nation of being self-righteous and Hippocratic. They are just as self-righteous in their Utah fanship or even in their behavior as BYU is, they just don’t have a Church of Jesus Christ officially supporting them. They aren’t hypocrites, that is for sure. but they are often mean, fowl, and counter-culture.

I will be the first to admit that our fans are almost as bad as Utah fans, and Max Hall had harsh words for BYU fans too. We are annoying, and going to home games can be painful because of how idiotic, self-righteous, and myopic BYU fans are. But Utah is worse. They just are.

I digress a little, because I think my hate for Utah isn’t something that can be explained. It’s something that is inside me. I want to be able to be happy that they won a BCS game, because it helped the conference, but I can’t. I want to be able to be happy for Alex Smith when he got drafted and feel bad for his poor performance, although I wasn’t happy for him and I love that he fell flat on his face. I loved it. I love that a self-righteous jerk, who is ignorant and even arrogant, is kicking butt in the NFL on the Colts. I just love BYU so much that it requires me to hate Utah.

I just think that deep in the rivalry between these two teams lies a mountain of emotion that extends into LDS church history and modern Mormon culture. Think about it, BYU-Utah, Dessert News-Salt Lake Tribune, Provo-Salt Lake City. The fight between Mormon culture and modern thought puts people at odds. And although not generally applied to every BYU and Utah fan, the rivalry is rooted in that dynamic.

So if you're a true BYU fan, you really don't like Utah, but Max’s rant doesn't really reflect the church, and probably doesn’t come from his love of BYU. It doesn't reflect the university of BYU. It reflects his emotions—from sucking last year and having one bad family experience—and reflects his passion for what has happened this year. But that first sentence reflects what I and every true blue cougar feels. I hate Utah and I sure love beating and sending them to a bowl game named after a flower.

The Living Church

As a missionary I have a strong belief in the truthfulness of the LDS movement and the tenets to which it adheres. They are inspired and bless many lives, including my family and my own. But I do not like the dogmatic shift into absolutist territory that befalls many others churches. If we turn into the kind of church that is so infallible, so sure, so unconditional; we begin to mirror other faiths in their lack of progression and refusal to acknowledge reason and truth. Believing that we are the ‘one true church’ without consideration and constant self-evaluation, borders on the conditions that precede apostasy. Letting tradition blind us and allowing for a system where there is an absence of doubt, blurs the lines of the differences between us and the rest of the world’s religions. The reason Mormonism is so beautiful is because of that line; because it began and continued to be progressive. The more tradition and culture drag us toward stagnation, the more uncomfortable I feel.

The movement started with a boy who was willing to accept and progress in any way show to him as being right. He did not hold to any cultural tradition; in fact he defied most of all them. It’s what made the church stand out. The book of Mormon proves to the church that nothing is done or sure, but that God will continue to reveal and we must be ready to adapt to the changing world and embrace true and progressive doctrinal shifts.

The true victims of the Mormon culture phenomenon are those who are the strongest members of the church. They can become a part of a guilt motivated system. They are not it’s source by any means, but rather the result of the bureaucracy that can take advantage of the best intentioned. The outcome of such a system is not unpleasant; the ends of this process are what we celebrate and take pride in. The church does so much for so many, and gives a filter of love and hope to the religious world. But for those—such as myself—who struggle with a Machiavellian justification for a system that may border on violating the principles of the religion it operates in, it can be disheartening and discouraging.

I guess it comes down to what’s more important to you; the ends or the means by which they are produced. This pseudo-business style of running a religion that is largely pure and loving may be effective in increasing numbers (tithing, members, retention); but this mixture is not necessarily morally permissible to me.  It’s a good thing that the church continues to progress and evolve with living apostles and prophets or else the traditionalist members might have stagnated the ‘living church’. And if it's a living church, it will adapt and change for the better; and thankfully it continues to do so.

What Religion are you?

Throwing up the "J's"

Judge not, that ye be not judged-Matthew 7

Let that missionary without apostate thoughts, feelings, or actions cast the first stone.

Pharisee: Condemns others for their lack of righteousness and for their unwillingness to fall within the bounds they believe are correct. They lack Understanding & Empathy

Apostate: Condemns others for their lack of rebelliousness and for their unyielding convictions. They lack respect and admiration for people who are faithful

There is little difference between the two groups. Both condemn others for their differences, and for their aversion to be exactly like themselves. They both lack humility, charity, and open-mindedness. A true follower of Christ would follow his beliefs whilst respecting and accommodating the beliefs of others. He would stand firm in his convictions and yet not force them onto others.

The Greatest Missionaries display these qualities

Alma Sr: Reformed his ways after he openly considered Abinidi’s message

Alma Jr: Reformed his ways after highly spiritual experience, which then allowed him to use his prior experience to relate and help the people who had similar problems as he had.

Saul/Paul: Reformed from persecuting the saints as an apostate, to becoming a follower.

Ammon: Did not force his views onto others, but served them and then they inquired of him.

Samuel/Ether: Unafraid to express his true opinion even at the cost of being hated by those in the world.

Abinidi: Unafraid to express his true opinion even at the cost of being hated by those in the church and in authority at the time

The Keys To Unity

1.Before we turn to the outer vessel (others), we must turn and consider the inner vessel (ourselves)

2.How can we expect to spread the love and spirit if the gospel when we as a group do not feel it towards each other.

3.A House (Mission, Zone, District) divided against itself cannot stand, and the way to gain unity is not to tell everyone to change, but to build trust and understanding for others.

4.Gifts of the spirit are different for everyone (D&C 46) and acknowledging and accepting that others do things differently that can benefit us as a whole is vital to Unity.

5.Do Leaders Throw-Down or do the Lift-Where-They-Stand?

Absolute Altruism or Selfish Selflessness

Over the course of my mission, the general focus of ‘the work’ has seemed to me at times, incongruent. The focus on not being selfish, which in of itself it admirable, but not at all possible. (See Communism or Law of Consecration). There is a notion that we as missionaries and even members of the LDS church should not do what is in our ‘best self-interest” because doing so would be wrong. I may be diving into mere definitions, but generally when we are doing what is right, we have selfish motivations.

Selfishness play a role— a necessary and beneficial one—in missionary work and in life in general. We strive to reach our goals to better ourselves, that is selfish. We want to have fun on p-day and unwind and prepare for another week of missionary work, that is selfish. All the things we do are in our ‘best self-interest’ or we would not be doing them. The standard should not be are you suffering and going against your own needs, but should be: Do my actions helps others and benefit more than just yourself—which is where altruism can play a part. We try and act selfless, but our motives will always be selfish for anything. Like faith and doubt, selfishness and selflessness is a coupled process and how we harness our natural selves by trying to better ourselves.

I Would say—religiously—that selfishness is the common motivator for most people. The plan of Salvation is selfish, we do the right things in order to gain a reward. It’s selfish to want to go to the highest degree of heaven. It’s selfish to want to become like god. It’s selfish to merely obey to obtain blessings. It’s selfish to want to be with your family for forever. It’s selfish to come unto Christ so you can obtain ‘rest’. Our desires and actions will always follow our ‘best self interest’ as we perceive them. The gospel is the way which we believe we can obtain those things that we desire. Even when we serve in the best interest of others, that means we ourselves deem helping someone else as in our best interest.

That doesn’t mean we don’t act in ways that bless others. We may go on missions because we have been asked to by a prophet (obeying a commandment to obtain blessings) and to satisfy social pressure (recognition as a good member of the church), and because we desire to serve others (a selfish need to view ourselves as good people). But, the results are that people are helped and blessings come to others—as well as ourselves—when we do so.

We act selfless based on selfish motives. And if our selfish desires help us and others, then they aren’t bad at all, their vital to progress on a mission, in the gospel, and in life in general.

Flow Charts for Belief

There is this really agnostic kid we are teaching right now and I'm trying my best to convert him to the belief process, so I made some flow charts. I thought I'd post them just in case I lose them here.