Imagine you are at sacrament meeting. A ward member
gets up at the podium and does one of the following...
says, "I had a profound spiritual experience
last night when making love to my husband"
says, "as I was reading the Book of Mormon, an
angel came down from heaven and spoke with me, but I can't share the rest
of the experience because of the sacred nature of it"
sings a song that they wrote themselves about the
temple garments
warns the saints of the consequences of viewing pornography
based on personal experience
instead of standing behind the podium to give their
talk, strolls up and down the aisles of the congregation and points his fingers
at members of the congregation as he talks about the importance of obeying
the law of tithing
says, "I have prayed and received a witness that
carbon dating is of the devil"
performs "Come, Come Ye Saints" on a harmonica
begins speaking excitedly in tongues
says, "although I think President Hinckley's
a boring speaker, I do respect him as a prophet of the Lord"
begins to prophecy about the future of the congregation
in the language of the King James Bible
Imagine your bishop decides
to introduce one of the following innovations...
have his wife and the wives of his counselors sit
on the stand with them to keep them company
conduct sacrament meeting outside on the lawn during
nice weather
have ten minutes of silence "to ponder the significance
of the ordinance" before each sacrament
not plan any talks or musical numbers in sacrament
meeting beforehand, but improvise everything on the spot "as the Spirit
dictates" -- every single Sunday
have a few minutes of dancing in the middle of sacrament
meeting to keep the members awake
organize classes on scientific topics like physics
or psychology for interested ward members to attend
get rid of Priesthood and Relief Society meetings
because they're boring and begin discussing current events and practical issues
relevant to the lives of ward members in Sunday school
hold anti-masturbation workshops to help ward members
overcome the problem
have anonymous voting using slips of paper instead
of the usual hand-raising
have ward members undergo personality testing in order
to pair them with psychologically compatible companions in their callings
Hmmm...
I can't help but ask:
How pragmatic
are we allowed to be? How honest?
What kinds of spiritual experiences
are we allowed to have?
How seriously are we allowed to
take our own theology?
How much creativity are we allowed
to demonstrate?
How much psychology are we allowed
to apply?
How much science are we allowed
to take seriously?