d&c blog premier

I'm taking a doctrine & covenants religion class this semester, the Honors section taught by Dr. Holzapfel. a major part of our grade is doing weekly blog posts that have to do with our reactions to the material taught in class. in theory, I could have just made a new blog for the class, posted for the semester and then forgotten about it. but I decided that the fact that I was hesitant about putting my feelings about religion up here indicated to me that I really should. so, head's up, there's going to be a weekly post on this kind of thing for a few months. one reason for this is to make positive voices available instead of leaving it to the critics to define us. I hope it's interesting to more than just me - feel free to ask questions or start a discussion in the comments.

I also had Dr. Holzapfel for Honors 240 my freshman year, the near-equivalent of American Heritage, so I'm familiar with some of the historical context involved in the restoration of the gospel. the fact that the constitution does not specify a state religion is mostly because, well, which one would you choose? many states had their own state-supported religions including catholicism, anglicanism, puritanism, etc. the rise of the baptist and methodist popularity is because there was an institutional void in the new country, especially in the advancing backwoods frontier of settlers moving west towards the mississippi. hence the religious revival and the "church-ing" of America.

how does this affect Joseph Smith? profoundly. his family was a veritable microcosm of the religious upheaval happening across the country. his parents were split in beliefs and commitment to a set religion (universalist, non-attending father and a baptized presbyterian mother). his siblings followed one parent or the other. and Joseph found himself with a significant freedom at a relatively young age: the right to investigate the truth of different religions and decide for himself which one he wanted to join. I commend him for his seriousness in his pursuit of the truth. I can think of a lot of people my age, let alone his age, who just wouldn't have cared regardless of the religious climate of the burned-over district of New York.

so he attends meetings. he talks with preachers. he asks questions and gets incomplete answers, or dissatisfying ones. he studies the bible. where in the world did he find the time to do that? why in the world can I never find time to do that? he was working, real physical labor, constantly. what 14 year old boy finally gets his shoes off after a long day of work and reads the bible? someone who was hungering for truth, for answers.

I like a class that puts me in the history of the events, that helps me better understand the feelings and motivations of the people who have become a faint shadow of reality behind the weight of their own myth. history isn't a fairy tale, it's an existence that was just as real then as we are to ourselves today. so when I am the one who wants the truth, the answers, I understand why and what I should do to get them. it doesn't surprise me. it makes perfect sense.