Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski
Classic. Accuse me of using overwrought drama to end threads in the first sentence and then do precisely that in the second sentence.
You have to admit, this one was a whopper:
"I'm using my powers of reason to infer that if he wanted us to know that, he would reveal it. Since he hasn't, I'm left with the conclusion that he doesn't."
I am still shaking my head over that one. It is self-serving logic like this that makes me question your intellectual honesty sometimes.
Once again, what makes you think that he hasn't revealed the truth behind the ban to individuals through a combination of study and promptings? How do you know he hasn't provided wisdom and comfort to thousands of people to whom this is a significant issue (AA members as the most obvious example)? Yet again you condemn or deny the possibility of individual thought and inspiration that is not fully in line with your ultra-orthodox views.
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It's a "whopper" and "self-serving" logic that leaves me with questionable intellectual honesty, eh? Gee, that's not overwrought drama language. How could I possibly have misjudged you.
I believe there are many hard-to-understand doctrines/events in scripture and church history whose full purpose and meaning can only be discovered by revelation. You're welcome to disagree with that hypothesis--I won't accuse you of whopping, self-serving, intellectual dishonesty--but I think there's solid support for it in scripture.
The priesthood ban is just one of these. You can be the most brilliant man to ever walk the earth, with all the learning and research tools that the 21st century has to offer, and still not discover the purposes of God.
Remember, the ban was rescinded by revelation. It wasn't a bunch of scholars who got together and persuaded Kimball and Co. that it needed to be removed. Instead, it came by pleading and petition of many prophets throughout several decades (assuming the DOM book is to be believed).
If you think you can figure it out, more power to you. If somehow that puts your mind at ease and makes your testimony easier to bear, more power to you. I think it's a misplaced notion. But I won't actually say so until I start hearing folks saying they think the church ought to accommodate that misplaced notion, to the extent of getting quite nasty.