Changes to Mormon Thinking

Dear Readers,

For the past several months, I have been considering how I can "revive" Mormon Thinking. When I first started, I was in the Peace Corps, had a lot of free time on my hands, and wasn't a father. Now, with a full-time job and family responsibilities, I have found it difficult to make the time necessary to write articles for the blog.

In addition, I've long considered that I would like to have a more clearly defined purpose to my writing. In the early days of writing, I would jump from topic to topic, without much of a sense of organization and order.

Therefore, I've decided to take a closer look at what I am trying to do with Mormon Thinking. I've tried to define this more clearly in the "Objective of Mormon Thinking" tab you can find at the top of this page.

I'd like to look at Mormonism from a more doctrinal point of view. While discussing culture, history, social issues, and the relationship between Mormonism and politics can be fun and interesting, I don't feel I was necessarily adding anything new or of value with these posts. There are plenty of other Mormon blogs out there with that objective.

However, I have been engaged in a number of spiritual conversations lately which have led me to look at Mormon beliefs and doctrines from a slightly different perspective. First of all, I have many of my friends, family members, and acquaintances are non-religious, agnostic, or even avowed atheists. Trying to explain to them what I believe and why I believe in it is often quite difficult, especially when I am not particularly accustomed to explaining it from the context from which they are coming.

Likewise, I have found similar experiences when talking to friends, family members, and acquaintances who are believers from the various Christian denominations and belief systems of the world. This includes what I generally classify as the "traditional Christians" (Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and even many of the more traditional and long-established protestant denominations), as well as some what I call the "Neo-Cultural Christians" which include many of the evangelical or "born-again" branches of Christianity.

I have found these discussions to be fascinating, and it not only has helped me to learn about other people and how they come to their own beliefs, it has helped me take a closer look at my own process of coming to develop faith in the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Based on these experiences, I’ve developed some ideas of how I might be able to provide something I feel can add value. I plan to systematically write articles explaining my beliefs in the fundamental doctrines and principles of Mormonism, and how I came to believe in these things.

And, in addition to simply talking about what we Mormons believe, I will make an attempt to explain what these beliefs mean to one coming from either a non-religious or a Christian worldview. I will seek to answer some of the common questions and doubts that come up when seeking to understand the doctrines and principles of Mormonism.

I should say from the beginning that I don't expect this to be either an "apologist" blog, or a place to try and debate controversial issues. Therefore, if you are interested in seeing fireworks and arguments, this isn't going to be the place for you. I am not seeking to prove one way of thinking over another. Simply, I will seek to explain why I, and many others like me, have come to believe what we do, and explain it in a way that (hopefully) makes sense to another person coming from a non-Mormon set of views.

So there you have it. These changes are still in the adjustment phase. It may take a few months before I am able to organize myself in such a way that actually will allow me to make regular contributions to the blog. In the meantime, however, I would very interested in receiving your feedback. Please let me know how you feel about this new approach to Mormon Thinking, how I might improve upon it, organize it, etc.

Thank you!!