Posted in
mormon,
mormon culture,
seminary
Seminary is an interesting program. Not so much the content but rather what its function is and how it's carried out. I think it's noble in purpose but not necessarily effective. But that sentiment is leftover from some of my more jaded years.
In highschool, I became more and more disenchanted with seminary. A process that took time.
In 9th grade I was a card-carrying, toe-the-line, kool-aid gulping member. I participated in everything, and what's more--I believed everything. Including the belief that by questioning anything (statement, teaching, or opinion) I was endangering myself.
And like many other young people (who have been programmed by their culture) I trusted the source before asking myself whether or not I should. In my mind, the teachings came from the giant conglomerate that is The Church/Sunday-School/Seminary/Jesus/God/Truth/Light/America/The Founding Fathers/Republicans ... and everything else I was taught to believe in, as a kid growing up in Utah.
So it was all good.
But as the teachings got crazier and crazier, and I began developing my own identity and set of opinions, I realized that everything must be taken with a grain of salt - and that any belief or teaching, regardless of its source, is not immune to thoughtful study and critique.
And, given this treatment, it is amazing how many beliefs crumble into ashes.
So, I was in the middle of this transformation in 10th grade - and that contributed greatly to my newfound disenchantment with seminary in general. Partially because of the silly non-doctrines they taught there, and partially because of how stupid the culture was.
Let me clarify, by "non-doctrines" I mean that some (or most) seminary teachers go out of their way to promote ideas that are wholy their own, or culturally accepted, but not actually taught or endorsed by the church. For instance, my 9th grade seminary teacher taught us that Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin was "to devil worshippers what Spirit of God is to us" and that it was a formal hymn they sing and use to praise Satan.
"WHAT???"
Hopefully that was your reaction. But it wasn't mine. Not then. I believed him, and so did all the other 14 year olds. All because we were taught not to question, not to think for ourselves. But if what we are being taught is firmly rooted on solid ground then why should we fear questions?
But that wasn't even my main gripe with seminary. I got sick of the artificial optimism, huge superficial smiles and greetings, and above all - the guys who wanted to whip out their testimonies and compare them for size - in order to impress girls. And somehow that actually worked. I hated that. Hated that pseudo superficial on your lapel "righteousness" meant status. And it seemed like nobody was sincere about anything anymore.
So I felt no guilt in giving everyone a hard time, especially the teacher, and my friends followed suit.
This particular year I had the only truly intelligent seminary teacher I have ever had. He had a degree in chemistry, so at any time he could quit and get a real job. Which automatically put him ahead of the pack in my mind. Which was why I enjoyed harassing him so much. Not in stupid ways, like shooting spit-balls at him, but rather in pushing him to his intellectual limits as often as possible.
We made it a game, always asking him progressively more challenging questions, forcing him to venture down the paths of speculation - regarding questions that are inherently unanswerable.
"Who created god?" - "Who created the original god?" - "By what right can gods exist?" - "By what right can anything exist?" - "How did Jesus obtain godhood without ever being mortal?" - "Are there other Jesus'es throughout the universe?", "Regarding people on other planets--as described by Moses 1, are they taught that their lord and savior died on an alien world?" - etc, etc.
We weren't seeking answers, because we knew he didn't have them. In many cases the Church doesn't have them. But it doesn't need them to survive, and we knew that. There's no reason why god should give us answers to questions like these because, for our progression, they are irrelevant. No, our only goal was to waste time and watch our teacher squirm. And, since he was intelligent, he usually came up with insightful things to say and often admitted he didn't have the answers. It was still fun to try and stump him, however.
In highschool, I became more and more disenchanted with seminary. A process that took time.
In 9th grade I was a card-carrying, toe-the-line, kool-aid gulping member. I participated in everything, and what's more--I believed everything. Including the belief that by questioning anything (statement, teaching, or opinion) I was endangering myself.
And like many other young people (who have been programmed by their culture) I trusted the source before asking myself whether or not I should. In my mind, the teachings came from the giant conglomerate that is The Church/Sunday-School/Seminary/Jesus/God/Truth/Light/America/The Founding Fathers/Republicans ... and everything else I was taught to believe in, as a kid growing up in Utah.
So it was all good.
But as the teachings got crazier and crazier, and I began developing my own identity and set of opinions, I realized that everything must be taken with a grain of salt - and that any belief or teaching, regardless of its source, is not immune to thoughtful study and critique.
And, given this treatment, it is amazing how many beliefs crumble into ashes.
So, I was in the middle of this transformation in 10th grade - and that contributed greatly to my newfound disenchantment with seminary in general. Partially because of the silly non-doctrines they taught there, and partially because of how stupid the culture was.
Let me clarify, by "non-doctrines" I mean that some (or most) seminary teachers go out of their way to promote ideas that are wholy their own, or culturally accepted, but not actually taught or endorsed by the church. For instance, my 9th grade seminary teacher taught us that Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin was "to devil worshippers what Spirit of God is to us" and that it was a formal hymn they sing and use to praise Satan.
"WHAT???"
Hopefully that was your reaction. But it wasn't mine. Not then. I believed him, and so did all the other 14 year olds. All because we were taught not to question, not to think for ourselves. But if what we are being taught is firmly rooted on solid ground then why should we fear questions?
But that wasn't even my main gripe with seminary. I got sick of the artificial optimism, huge superficial smiles and greetings, and above all - the guys who wanted to whip out their testimonies and compare them for size - in order to impress girls. And somehow that actually worked. I hated that. Hated that pseudo superficial on your lapel "righteousness" meant status. And it seemed like nobody was sincere about anything anymore.
So I felt no guilt in giving everyone a hard time, especially the teacher, and my friends followed suit.
This particular year I had the only truly intelligent seminary teacher I have ever had. He had a degree in chemistry, so at any time he could quit and get a real job. Which automatically put him ahead of the pack in my mind. Which was why I enjoyed harassing him so much. Not in stupid ways, like shooting spit-balls at him, but rather in pushing him to his intellectual limits as often as possible.
We made it a game, always asking him progressively more challenging questions, forcing him to venture down the paths of speculation - regarding questions that are inherently unanswerable.
"Who created god?" - "Who created the original god?" - "By what right can gods exist?" - "By what right can anything exist?" - "How did Jesus obtain godhood without ever being mortal?" - "Are there other Jesus'es throughout the universe?", "Regarding people on other planets--as described by Moses 1, are they taught that their lord and savior died on an alien world?" - etc, etc.
We weren't seeking answers, because we knew he didn't have them. In many cases the Church doesn't have them. But it doesn't need them to survive, and we knew that. There's no reason why god should give us answers to questions like these because, for our progression, they are irrelevant. No, our only goal was to waste time and watch our teacher squirm. And, since he was intelligent, he usually came up with insightful things to say and often admitted he didn't have the answers. It was still fun to try and stump him, however.
