The Scary Dangers of Mormon Doubt

A member of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy, Hugo Montoya, shared a message in the Ensign, the church magazine, in June 2017. He is among the top leadership of the religion. He adds to the Mormon paranoia of doubt. The church demonizes doubt and uses fear to scare members from questioning their authority or the church’s doctrines. Doubt is stood up as the opposite and enemy of faith. If we are weak, we will listen to our doubts and let these doubts unravel our faith, even if our faith feels steadfast and unshakable. Church leaders repeatedly tell stories of those who allowed doubt into their minds, their whole testimony fell apart, and their world was turned upside down. The devil got them! These stories are used as scare tactics and warning tales of woe, that we should run from doubt. We are told to doubt our doubts, and not to talk about our doubts, we are told to push doubts from our mind, because they are scary and they are of the devil.

Too often families, friends, spouses, and members label those in “Faith Crisis” as pariahs and avoid them like the plague—even when they’re just asking questions.

Elder Montoya shares a message in the monthly magazine for the church to discuss in how teaching (now ministering) visits. He discusses the dangers of doubt and relates them to a little fungus that is powerful enough over time to destroy a large and beautiful tree. The trees rot from the inside out and eventually need to be cut down. This brings to mind the parables of the wheat and tares, where the tares are all cut down and thrown into the fire! The message? Doubt will kill you, be vigilant and don’t listen to your doubts.

Even large trees can succumb to unseen fungus. It’s the same with faith. If we let doubt grow, it can rot spiritual roots until we topple.

Where I grew up in Sonora, Mexico, there are large trees called Indian laurel. They are nearly 100 feet (30 m) high, with huge trunks and well-developed branch and leaf structures. Recently many of these trees were attacked by a disease called Texas root rot. When this fungus attacks, the effects are not seen for some years. However, the fungus gradually rots the roots of those beautiful trees, and they begin to die. The leaves turn yellow and fall. Then the trunk and branches dry up, and the trees must be cut down.

Like the fungus that enters these trees, doubts can invade our thoughts. If we let them grow, over time they can affect our roots and rot our foundation of faith until we too may be cut down.

Overcoming the Danger of Doubt, By Elder Hugo Montoya, Of the Seventy. Ensign June 2017
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/06/overcoming-the-danger-of-doubt

He shares the narrative from the church that no doubt is warranted or true. He tells of the dangers our “so-called” friends can bring if they try to discuss their questions or doubts. They can’t be real friends if they ask questions. This message teaches members to shun those who ask questions or harbor doubts. These questions are, of course, labeled hurtful (the church ever playing the persecuted victim role), as to the church there is no other kind of question (unless they refer to a dumb question). He claims that internet sites can generate doubt (creating it out of thin air apparently) when presenting information “out of context.” But what is the proper context then, for presenting damning evidence of the church and church leaders? We should only listen to them, not to others, and especially none who would listen to these scary doubts and dare to talk about them.

So-called friends can introduce doubt by asking hurtful questions. Internet sites can generate doubt by presenting information out of context. But doubts especially intensify when we ourselves, feeling abandoned or overwhelmed, question the burdens we bear.

Overcoming the Danger of Doubt, By Elder Hugo Montoya, Of the Seventy. Ensign June 2017
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/06/overcoming-the-danger-of-doubt

Story Time

Hugo Montoya shares a few stories of resilience which show how to endure to the end. They don’t really relate to doubt but they sound nice.

First, a personal story from his own life. Despite facing a terrifying armed robbery at Elder Hugo Montoya’s tortilla shop while he was a stake president, his faith remained steadfast. His truck is stolen, and simultaneously his daughter is rushed to the hospital for appendicitis. The next morning, he returned to work to support his family because as he says, they “desperately need money.” He shares that he questioned why all this was happening to him, and while serving as Stake President in the church. He states that he “pushed the malicious thought aside and prayed for strength.” At this moment, his ward members came to the rescue and they took care of everything – except making tortillas. He is sure to point out in the story that this help didn’t come from the church by way of fast offerings but from the members themselves. So we see, it is the community of the church who comes to the rescue, and not the church itself. The support demonstrates the power of community in overcoming adversity. But it does not mention how to deal with doubt, other than to rely on our community to help us in times of need. It’s not the church that came to his aid, which it very well could have by way of fast offerings to pay for the medical emergency, or to help put food on the table, but the good members who came to help.

Secondly, he shares a story about a Mexican convert who literally gives up his life for his faith. In 1913, American missionaries converted Rafael Monroy and his family to the LDS faith in Mexico. Despite uncertainty about the future and the lack of priesthood in their area, Rafael was unexpectedly ordained as an elder and branch president, and brought in many other converts. When faced with execution during the Mexican Revolution in 1915, Rafael and his colleague refused to renounce their religion, ultimately sacrificing their lives for their unwavering belief in the truthfulness of their faith. So we learn that holding onto our faith is more important than our very lives.

Tried With Doubts? Ponder Spiritual Experiences

He comes back to talking about doubt as a trial. He pleads to not doubt that “this work is true,” meaning the entirety of the church and the Mormon gospel and truth claims. He frames doubt as a trial that we must be strong to endure and states that when we are faced with doubts about the veracity of the church and its work, we should ponder our spiritual experiences because this will “help us to erase the doubts.”

Let us not doubt that this work is true. Whenever we are tried with doubts, let us ponder our spiritual experiences. Doing so will help us to erase the doubts. This is particularly true for those who have returned from full-time missionary service and then allowed doubts to creep in, for longtime members who have grown tired of enduring, and for recent converts who initially felt great joy but have not nourished their faith.

If such is your case, I would like to say: If the gospel was true when you sent in your missionary application (and it was!), if it was true when you entered the temple (and it was!), if it was true when you were converted and baptized or when you converted and baptized others (and it was!), if it was true when you were sealed (and it was!), then it is equally true today!

Overcoming the Danger of Doubt, By Elder Hugo Montoya, Of the Seventy. Ensign June 2017
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/06/overcoming-the-danger-of-doubt

This is the step in Mormon culture where we are told to simply place our doubts on the shelf. That doing so, we will have answers and understand our questions later in life. This extends to the next life too – setting the expectation that many questions will never be answered and many doubts will not be explained our whole life. This is not erasing our doubts, it is ignoring them. The cost of this is detrimental to us individually, but beneficial to the organization. It keeps individuals in line, at their own expense. We are to stop considering things with our brains and critical thinking, and remember the good feelings we’ve had at church. That is after all the Mormon road to knowledge, pray to feel good about something as proof that it is true, keep praying until you do feel good, and then treat that as a sign that it is truth.

Doubt Goes Both Ways

There is a simple cure to doubts – facts and answers from leaders, and willingness to do sincere research when an answer is genuinely unknown.

Suppose if the questions in the CES letter had answers and been answered by the CES director, Jeremy Runnels would probably be an active member and we never would have heard of it. Same for many if not all the other prominent post-mo/ex-mo voices. If the church had real answers and had real facts to accompany them – this site would be a tiny fringe group that really was made up of “offended” people or people who “just want to sin.” But, the church has no answers to offer. The best church leaders have is so weak they are chicken to put their names on them or state them publicly, and let apologists try to handle it in back channels. And they fear (or know) more research would only further condemn the church. So, all they can do is try to frighten people away from asking questions or having doubts with talk after talk after talk full of garbage like this which sets up anyone with sincere questions to be ostracized. (h/t)

Consider a missionary or church member talking to a Baptist or Catholic or whoever asking the non-LDS friend questions about authority and revelation and living prophets. The hope is that the non-member begins to doubt the faith in which they grew up. The intent is to change their mind and essentially destroy the faith that they had in their church, replacing it with Mormon faith. Once they join the LDS church though, this same process of deconstruction and doubt would be from the devil. Doubts are great for the church, but only on a one-way street. (h/t)

Context

Hugo Montoya claims that information damages faith and causes doubt when it is taken “out of context” it that if it comes from friends asking questions, these questions must be “hurtful” and have some ulterior motive or an axe to grind. These friends he labels as “so-called” friends, asserting that anyone asking questions can’t possibly be a real friend.

When we look though, putting many things we learn in the gospel topic essays, for example, into context makes them even more troubling. It’s the church who has taken things out of context to construct the false narrative that we are taught as church history.

The information-presented-out-of-context argument is ridiculous. It makes me furious anytime I’m told that the facts are just out of context, because facts don’t need context. They create their own context. If they need to be rationalized, and explained with mental gymnastics, they are being taken out of context.

Here are some facts:

• Joseph Smith asked Helen, a 14 year-old girl, to be one of his plural wives.
• Helen said no.
• Joseph then told her that if she accepted, she and her whole family would be guaranteed entrance to the Celestial Kingdom. The implication being that if she declined, she and her family would be damned.
• Helen acquiesced, and Joseph got his 14 year-old bride.

Now, there no way to put all that into a context that’s going to make it right or make us feel good about it. (h/t)

How did you see doubt as a Mormon? Did you ever notice that the leaders wanted you to avoid doubt like the plague? Every once in a while one leader might slip that these doubts are warranted or have good reason, but they follow up with the assurance that we can trust them, and that we should doubt our doubts. What did doubting your doubts solve? Did they pile up on your shelf until you reached a point of crisis? The wasmormon.org site was created so you could share your own faith transition or deconstruction story and proudly explain why you were a Mormon but no longer associate with the church. Consider sharing your story today!

• Doubt your Doubts?
• Cherish Your Doubts
• Doubt is Not the Opposite of Faith; Certainty Is
• Dealing with Doubts and Controversial Opinions
• Demonizing Doubt: Nelson’s Talk on Lazy Learners and Lax Disciples
• https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/06/overcoming-the-danger-of-doubt?lang=eng