{"id":2884,"date":"2014-04-06T11:55:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T18:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=2884"},"modified":"2014-04-20T21:15:11","modified_gmt":"2014-04-21T04:15:11","slug":"a-questioning-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2014\/04\/06\/a-questioning-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"A questioning culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Several months ago, I found myself in a situation where someone chastised me for something I had written on this blog. Never mind the fact that what I had written had been misinterpreted, but I was hurt that someone doubted my commitment to the church because I asked questions.<\/p>\n<p>I knew I had seen quotes from past leaders embracing questioning from members, so I spent several days combing resources for such quotes and compiled them into one document.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what I came up with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIf [the prophet] writes something . . . out of harmony with [scripture, we are] duty bound to reject it. If [it\u2019s] in perfect harmony with [scripture], [we] accept [it].\u201d \u2014Joseph Fielding Smith<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIf [the prophet] says something that contradicts what is found in the standard works . . . it is false\u201d \u2014Harold B. Lee<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWhen \u2018Thus saith the Lord,\u2019 comes from [the prophet], the saints investigate it: they do not shut their eyes and take it down like a pill.\u201d \u2014Charles W. Penrose<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThere is no place in the church for blind adherence.\u201d \u2014John A. Widstoe<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI am fearful [members trust] their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence\u201d \u2014Brigham Young<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLet every[one] know, by the whispering of the Spirit . . . whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates.\u201d \u2014Brigham Young<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEvery church member is expected to understand the doctrine of the church intelligently.\u201d \u2014John A. Widstoe<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGod has not established His Church to make of its members irresponsible automatons\u201d \u2014James E. Talmage<\/li>\n<li>\u201c[We] . . . are obedient because [we] know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of . . . individual agency, to obey the commandments of God.\u201d \u2014Boyd K. Packer<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThose who talk of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. \u2014Boyd K. Packer<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEach member . . . has a right to . . . judge . . . those who . . . act in their interests\u201d \u2014Lorenzo Snow<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe can tell when . . . speakers are \u2018moved upon by the Holy Ghost\u2019 only when we . . . are \u2018moved upon by the Holy Ghost.\u2019 . . . the responsibility [is for] us to determine when they so speak.\u201d \u2014J. Reuben Clark<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can read the quotes in context <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/14fDBvwzYf80V-wA9fmTqHQBY096khcEmsL-x9dh0gtA\/edit?usp=sharing\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Do you know of any others? Share them in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several months ago, I found myself in a situation where someone chastised me for something I had written on this &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2014\/04\/06\/a-questioning-culture\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A questioning culture<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-learning"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A questioning culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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