Many testimonies come off like the bearer thinks that “I know” actually means “I really hope” or “I want to know”. When encouraged to bear a testimony to find it, this doublethink and newspeak almost makes sense.
We gain or strengthen a testimony by bearing it. Someone even suggested that some testimonies are better gained on the feet bearing them than on the knees praying for them.
Dallin H Oaks, General Conference, April 2008
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/04/testimony?lang=eng#20
Don’t have a testimony? Don’t think the one you have is strong enough to share boldly? Just share it anyway, that’s how you get a real testimony. To gain a testimony, we should talk like we already have it. Basically “fake it, ’til you make it”.
We’re being encouraged and told to testify of something that we don’t actually know. Is Oaks encouraging us to lie? Is it to fool ourselves into believing? Are we really learning and gaining knowledge or just expressing a desire for knowledge and a reliance on the emotional high we get when sharing to reinforce our beliefs as fact? An interesting side-effect of this is when we hear repetitive statements, we are more likely to believe them as true, this is called the illusory truth effect.
Honesty is a church value, but we’re taught to testify even if we may not actually know something. Do the church leaders believe it is ok to lie for the Lord?
Those familiar with the practice of law, as Oaks, is (remember he was a Lawyer and a Judge), would call this perjury: Perjury is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding. Those familiar with the 10 commandments (as all Christians should be), call this bearing false witness. To the Mormon church though, it may be called gaining a testimony.
Notably, this is not a particularly strong statement from Oaks, notice he couches the statement in “Someone even suggested that some testimonies…”. Interesting that an Apostle is quoting what “someone” “suggests”, who is this mysterious someone? Could it be Oaks himself? This gives him plausible deniability for when the “advice” falls flat, but still gives him the meme-worthy credit. Because it has nonetheless become a meme-worthy mantra for many youth and missionaries. They don’t see this as a suggestion only, it’s directly quoted from Oaks, that “testimonies are better gained on the feet” (sometimes with the perfected use of an ellipsis).
More reading:
It is sad to see how people manage to change so inspiring words to ruin them. Dallin Oaks meant with his words that even though you might feel that your testimony is not strong enough, you should bear it! You should share what you already have!
For a long time in my life I could not feel like bearing my testimony, I truly had one, but I was always comparing myself to others, so I felt that I would never be like the ones who shared their feelings and brought such power to fill my heart. When I read this quote, I told myself that it did not matter if my testimony was not as good as others, but I would bear it. I was scared, but when I was there, in front of all the ward, even if I could not tell much, because I was nervous, I had a great feeling of the love of my Heavenly Father, saying that I was enough! At that moment I had another testimony that God loved me. You need to share what you have before waiting it to grow, we are here in this earth to humble ourselves, show our weakness unto God and the world, so our Savior can make us stronger, and help us to be more like him.