This thread isn't explicitly about Mormonism, however I am going to frame it in terms of the LDS faith because a.) it is what I know, and b.) it is what most people on this board know.
Discussion here recently has turned my thoughts to the spiritual opportunity cost of religious belief/orthodoxy. Someone (was it scottie?) pointed out that he wasn't sure what he was going to get out of reading the BOM for the 24th time, but that he did it because that is what Mormons do. He might have read a different book, and therein lies the opportunity cost of reading the BOM.
Most Americans are fairly uneducated when it comes to moral/ethical thinking, which is somewhat ironic, because we are such a religious country, which means that a lot of us have devoted a good portion of our lives to a kind of moral thinking. I think the premise of orthodoxy is the idea that only certain kinds of moral thought/action are valid, so there is really no reason to consider anything else. Or perhaps orthodoxies take a more cynical view of humanity and presume that most people wouldn't contemplate moral thought at all without religion.
The Mormon view of the world is really pretty simple: Life is a test, and we pass it best by making LDS covenants and hewing close to church leadership's counsel. Conforming to this view, and thus feeling relatively secure in one's righteousness, doesn't take much thought (though it can take much effort). Action counts for a lot, but I can't help but wondering if the spiritual opportunity cost of orthodox Mormonism isn't a kind of broad ethical ignorance. Mormons DO good things, but most don't have much insight as to why they do them.
In my own life I felt as if Mormonism had taken me as far as it could. It planted the interest in moral/ethical/spiritual thinking, and it nourished spiritual growth for a long time, but eventually I felt that any continued insight was only going to come from service, and not from the church and its teachers. The opportunity cost of weekly meetings that covered the same old material, correlated scriptural study, and insular ethical/spiritual discussion never seemed to be a terrible burden, but it did seem to be an unnecessary one, and the benefits of service could be enjoyed completely independent of religious affiliation.
I've focussed on Mormonism, because that is what I know, but maybe it is easier to see what I am talking about when looking at other faiths. What is the ethical opportunity cost of believing that one is 'saved,' thus guaranteeing one's salvation in spite of one's ethics? Or if you belief in 'one true religion,' then what is the spiritual opportunity cost of spinning one's wheels in a false religion?
What do you think of the spiritual opportunity cost of religious belief?
Discussion here recently has turned my thoughts to the spiritual opportunity cost of religious belief/orthodoxy. Someone (was it scottie?) pointed out that he wasn't sure what he was going to get out of reading the BOM for the 24th time, but that he did it because that is what Mormons do. He might have read a different book, and therein lies the opportunity cost of reading the BOM.
Most Americans are fairly uneducated when it comes to moral/ethical thinking, which is somewhat ironic, because we are such a religious country, which means that a lot of us have devoted a good portion of our lives to a kind of moral thinking. I think the premise of orthodoxy is the idea that only certain kinds of moral thought/action are valid, so there is really no reason to consider anything else. Or perhaps orthodoxies take a more cynical view of humanity and presume that most people wouldn't contemplate moral thought at all without religion.
The Mormon view of the world is really pretty simple: Life is a test, and we pass it best by making LDS covenants and hewing close to church leadership's counsel. Conforming to this view, and thus feeling relatively secure in one's righteousness, doesn't take much thought (though it can take much effort). Action counts for a lot, but I can't help but wondering if the spiritual opportunity cost of orthodox Mormonism isn't a kind of broad ethical ignorance. Mormons DO good things, but most don't have much insight as to why they do them.
In my own life I felt as if Mormonism had taken me as far as it could. It planted the interest in moral/ethical/spiritual thinking, and it nourished spiritual growth for a long time, but eventually I felt that any continued insight was only going to come from service, and not from the church and its teachers. The opportunity cost of weekly meetings that covered the same old material, correlated scriptural study, and insular ethical/spiritual discussion never seemed to be a terrible burden, but it did seem to be an unnecessary one, and the benefits of service could be enjoyed completely independent of religious affiliation.
I've focussed on Mormonism, because that is what I know, but maybe it is easier to see what I am talking about when looking at other faiths. What is the ethical opportunity cost of believing that one is 'saved,' thus guaranteeing one's salvation in spite of one's ethics? Or if you belief in 'one true religion,' then what is the spiritual opportunity cost of spinning one's wheels in a false religion?
What do you think of the spiritual opportunity cost of religious belief?
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