#hhhhhhhh in case u cant tell I Been Thinkin Bout This kind of lots

[bookofmormonmemes]

2 nephi 9:28-29

so these verses stick out to me pretty much every time i read it, but today they hit me with a brand new insight that i’d never considered before and i kinda wanted to share it...

28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

29 But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

in this Digital Age, there’s a lot of easy access to information that can attack your testimony of the Church. there’s piles and piles of articles uncovering unsavory bits of church history, there’s passionate callings-out of the sexism and homophobia and all kinds of prejudice that pervade Mormon Culture, there’s great big science vs. religion debates and people dedicated to swaying us away from the foolish traditions of our ancestors. and when you get too sucked into reading and watching and seeing these things, it can really hurt the way you think and feel about the Church.

up until recently, my strategy for keeping my testimony pure was Avoid This Information At All Costs. don’t associate with people who don’t like the church, they might say bad stuff about it. don’t listen to exmormons ever, they might make you want to leave the church too. don’t read the wikipedia articles on church leaders, there might be something that insinuates they’re not a 100% good wise awesome person.

thing is? a lot of these things aren’t bad things to know. it’s incredibly important to learn the experiences of others. it’s incredibly important to know the details of our ancestors and leaders. and it is absolutely crucial to know the things that mormon culture may have taught you that can harm others--that way you can know to not perpetuate those toxic behaviors! to be learned is good!

the danger comes when you start to believe that this information is more important than eternal truths and values and wisdom. if it leads you to having a stronger and more educated testimony of Christ’s pure doctrine, a testimony you can now share with the rest of the members in your community? that’s awesome. if it leads to you feeling like you need to separate yourself from the specific organization/institution of the church to protect your own spiritual or mental or emotional well-being? that’s perfectly fine, and more power to you for being able to make that choice. if it leads you to feeling like you’re now smarter than all these foolish sheeple blindly following these ignorant outdated ideas and you have a right to attack them for being so stupid? that’s where we have a problem.

tl;dr to be learned is good, if you hearken unto the counsels of God. to be smart is good, if you use it to improve yourself and help others and make the world a better place. to know the flaws and imperfections of mormondom is good, if you continue to be a good and kind and humble person. don’t let fear of pride prevent you from really enriching and edifying yourself.