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Originally Posted by surfah33
My point is, I guess I do not understand how a structured religion (any, not just Mormonism) actually impedes personal spiritual devlopment. I have never, in my own experience, felt that the Church was restrictive in this. I was never taught to lean on the testimonies of others. I have never felt that I couldn't receive my own personal witness to what I have been taught, or to even disagree with what I have been taught. Instead, I was brought up to learn out of the very best books and develop a personal relationship with God. Any counsel I have received or even the worst SS lessons I have endured have all aided and abetted my personal growth by giving me a chance to share with others that which I have learned through my own personal development. The commandments and covenants I have made are simply controls that provide guidance and oft times protection in my pursuit for truth and knowledge, not walls.
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I like the point you make here. As I see it, The Church is there as an aide to our living of and progression in The Gospel. That's why it exists, to help us. Simply that. True growth is personal and happens outside The Church context (okay, granted, some of it happens inside that context, but that is not the end all and be all).
This didn't become fully evident to me until I had children. Let's face it folks, whom among us wants to cede the Gospel instruction of our children to Primary or YM/YW instructors? Let me do that, and they can supplement. That way I can root out all the false and faulty doctrine and practice.