The Gum Tree for 2007 October 12

Thanks for the honest and discriminating dialogue. It is refreshing when people actually read the words I write instead of their own projections of bias on my words.

# 22 I guess my question, then, is if you think there is anything in other religions or philosophies or perspectives that is worth studying in order to understand.

I have found that the Gospel is a lens which is able to refract and focus the light of others and bring more clarity into the topics. That is the great efficacy of the Gospel (and the Gift of the Holy Ghost in particular). ‘The Good’ can be found everywhere, not simply inside of the church. Nature, Science, the Arts (rarely), and so on, all have intrinsic Good. It is always well to understand the Good in other religions, worldviews, etc. Shakespeare lived during a time of Apostasy, e.g., but that doesn’t disqualify his body of works for study, nor does it annul the Good found therein. But, all worldly knowledge and understanding is trivial compared to the knowledge of the Gospel. It is one thing to know how to temporally and spatially excise specific genes in the creation of Knockout mice (as 2007 Nobelist Mario Cappechi did), but it is quite another to understand the saving principles and ordinances of the Gospel. The former without the latter is trivial, and I think there will be a lot of disappointed people in the next life who will find that their life’s work will not amount to much. As Elder Maxwell has explained, a Mortician does good work here—especially if he does it with Charity. Also, how are we going to interact with people of other faiths, perspectives, etc. if we don’t first try to understand? It isn’t possible, but members of the church shouldn’t be at the feet of other religions to be taught because we already have the ‘fullness of the Gospel.’ These two are different, we already have the big picture, but we also need to understand how to best help others find the gospel through dialogue; reinforcing the Good, and helping to reject error and incorrect traditions. We cannot accomplish that goal if we are unfamiliar with either the wheat or the tares. #23:

#21: Joseph, I guess I would need to know what you put into your definition of ” What is found in the Gospel “to understand #21. Me..I like music and nature, but do not put them in my definition of”Gospel”. I think Joseph Smith had “meaning in his life before 1830. I feel many people have “meaning ‘ and “joy” in their life outside or without the Church.

I think my previous statements are necessary and sufficient on that point. Also, Moroni 7 was quoted in the original post, and a discussion of the Light of Christ vs. the Gift of the Holy Ghost would further clarify this point.

I did read ( maybe mistakenly ) shots at Atheist or those using “clever aesthetics and logical gymnastics, as having meaningless lives.

My statement was:

if I were an Atheist, I would say that my life is infinitely and absolutely meaningless notwithstanding all the clever aesthetics and logical gymnastics.

This is a hypothetical (note the use of “I” referring to myself) in which I was referring to the rank hypocrisy of atheists. They profess a doctrine, which if they lived by (or supposing it was true), would produce despair and suicide. Obviously the atheist of the world DO feel their life has loads of meaning; writing all kinds of books about that subject, but the fact remains that they have a portion of the Light of Christ sustaining their lives and intellectual pursuits; which they deny a priori, and with great hypocrisy. They do not practice what they preach, nor do they preach what they practice. They do not acknowledge the Light of Christ which DOES sustain their lives—giving them some modicum of meaning. This is rank hypocrisy.