When I was in the Mormon church, I was told there is only one way to think. I was told that I could not have an opinion different that those held by the Mormon church. I had lots of opinions that were different, some I shared openly, most I kept to myself. I was told that there was only one true church, one way to think one way, one, one, one.
Now that I am out, many of the ways I used to think have changed dramatically. One thing that I have learned is that my thought processes can change. Given new information, I am capable of changing my thoughts and opinions. Sometimes this is difficult, such as when I decided that my marriage would not work. It was as though a part of me died. I had to change my belief system and everything I knew. I had been told that if I just loved him enough or more, he would love me back; that was a fallacy and I had to change my belief system. When I came to the realization that there was no such thing as a one and only true church of god and the Mormon church had lied to me about that, it was as though a part of me had died again. I had to once again change my belief system and change the way I viewed the world, viewed God and viewed myself.
I am capable of changing my beliefs, by thoughts and my views, given new information. This is why I am capable to accepting other people with differing view points and listen to them with an open mind. What I cannot tolerate is someone telling me I am wrong and must change to their way of thinking. This, I will not do.
I believe people should question everything, be skeptical, ask questions, not take anything on blind faith. If is seems off, sounds bad, smells bad, it needs more investigation.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/09/all-evidence-to-the-contrary/27209/
No comments:
Post a Comment