Open Letter to John Dehlin - Known for Criticizing my Faith

    The subject is personal; I cannot be overly objective about it, but I do think that I can be rational or logical about much of it. This topic covers much of what I believe, what I hope for, aspire to, practice, and work towards. Religion is often personal and private, but for many it becomes public and open, which is what I believe Mr. Dehlin stands for. So here goes. Let me and us be open about these things, as you strive to do. Bringing light, truth, and clarity to the subject and issues of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    I have heard of and followed many of your doings and circumstances over the last years. I recently have seen a number of your podcasts. I normally do not follow podcasts at all, so the fact that I have watched a few is in itself rare. I appreciate your efforts as far as I understand your motives. I like to read a lot of things; I do watch documentaries, newscasts, and listen to my share of radio shows that dive into all types of subjects. I believe that I understand your methodology of presentation and research regarding your Mormon podcasts and dialogs, which seems fair enough as open and encompassing. You try to be honest and fair. But allow me to insert my take on the overall approach or tenor of what I find that you do.

    In criticizing and "bringing light" to things of my faith, you are doing a few things that I take issue with, of which I try not to make it cause for umbrage or ire. However, I appreciate you considering my thoughts and feelings when it comes to the subjects of two primary things, which are the Lord Himself, and what I believe is the Church that belongs to Him.

    I plea ignorant on knowing how you may or may not believe in Jesus Christ. Perhaps you believe that He is who He says he is, like most Christians, or perhaps you consider yourself an agnostic or atheist? Maybe you think of Jesus of Nazareth as a good person, or even a prophet, but He is not Divine? I hope for the best as far as your faith in Him. I believe in Him as my Lord and Redeemer, that He is the Author and Finisher, and on and on. I cannot prove all these things and beliefs about Him. I know many that supposedly debunk Him as a hopeful myth or a fraud, or at minimum minimize Him to another human being, no God at all. Fine. Whatever you believe in your heart and soul about the Divine, unrelated to any official religion or denomination, I wish the best for you.

    

    I believe in the Holy Scriptures, and everything that I have learned about Jehovah, or the Messiah,  through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Christian sources, and through what I believe to be God's Spirit. So, in effect, by attacking or deconstructing many parts of the Church that claims Him as a leader and guide that I posit faith in, you are in that way dismissing Him Himself. Perhaps that is the end result for you and others that believe along with you. I do not know. I should probably find out. I likely will.

    To be honest, maybe you even believe that the modern Church that Joseph Smith founded or restored in 1830 is true as stated by its leaders and believers, but you simply want to reform or fix it, like Martin Luther did with the Roman Catholic Church hundreds of years ago. But I doubt that. It seems that you, John, have debunked or disclaimed so many of the so-called truths of this religion that it would be pretty hard to really believe in it as what it purports to be: the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth. It is certainly a bold claim, after all. 

    I do not know how you really feel or believe about the above two things. But here is how I understand and feel about the things that I wish to defend, or claim faith and allegiance to.

    Jesus is the best hope that I know of. If He truly is the Creator and the Saviour of Humankind, then I know of no one or nothing better. If millions of us are wrong, then we have a big delusion going.

    

    Many of us Christians, others who believe in higher, unseen powers, can be lumped together as naive or wistfully hopeful, even delusional by dogmatic empiricists, who claim by the lack of measurable data that God or Divine plans or machinations cannot possibly exist. Well, me and few others beg to differ. God is in control, and His Son Christ conquered most human ills for us.

    Again, at the time of writing this post I know less of his, John Dehlin's actual beliefs. I will find out more.

    What I do know is that he is an outspoken critic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that he was excommunicated a few years ago, a process now known by the faith as removing your name from the records of the Church. He hosts multiple guests with all types of complaints, concerns, critiques, and accusations again the faith, known more commonly to the world and many of its detractors as Mormon, Mormonism, or mistakenly "The Mormon Church". Pointed out by may, it is not the church of Mormon. Mormons, yes, but we are Latter-day Saints and we belong to Jesus Christ, not a prophet or person who believe was named Mormon.

    Anyway, I understand many of Dehlin's concerns and qualms. He has legitimate beefs and issues with our faith and practices, methods, doctrines, and policies. I can empathize and sympathize with many of his issues. I can also acknowledge that many imperfect members of the faith make mistakes and do wrong things, and John publishes and points out many of these incidents with his guests. He has hosted perhaps thousands.

My Issue and Defense of Jesus and His Church concerning John

    Jesus aside, the Church and its doctrines aspire to the highest ideals that we as members espouse to; we believe them to be of divine origin and come from continual direction from God and Christ, which is bold and of no small import for those who take it seriously.

    The historical and current Church has its flaws and imperfections, to make a comparison to a human body: it has weaknesses, frailties, warts, suffers from diseases and states of disrepair. In the New Testament of the Holy Bible we know that the body of the Church of Christ has needs of all its members. But we know it is not perfect, but it is metaphorically or allegorically the "bride of the Savior". Christ and His Church are married partners. He loves her and she loves Him, reciprocally, mutually, and imperfectly, in many cases.

    A human body can have its problems that go wrong, too. But, like the human body, the Church of God is still beautiful, warts and cysts, imperfections and frailties and all of it. We love our bride, we love the Church, and the frailties are outweighed by the internal strengths and values. This may sound unfair, or even patriarchal and stilted to many, with a male master and the servant alluded to, but this is the world that we have been given. Again, the notion of a Lord and His followers is antithetical to many, I understand.

       Travels to and From Distrito Federal

    One time my wife and I were in Mexico City. After being there for about a week I did my best to return to the West Coast of the country, to the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Ocean, by choosing a route that would potentially go through a new way with different cities. It did not work. We returned through Cuernavaca and Morelos State, the same way we had arrived seven days before. I was disappointed. But worse still, I also realized later that I made it too hard on my pregnant wife. She was more than four months along-- we took a bus route overnight, providing little comfort for her.

    The next morning we made it Zihuantanejo along the coast; my newly married wife and expectant mother looked terrible. I know she felt awful. She was overtired, having slept poorly and rested little due to my attempts at travel through the night on a bus. And yes, she was carrying another life in her womb (our first daughter, who just graduated from college)! We got our hotel room early that morning; they graciously allowed us to check in early. We finally got some decent sleep and rest in the mid-morning.

    Here is my comparison to hyper-critiquing the Church of Jesus Christ: my poor planning led to this situation in Mexico, which was not the best. My wife at breakfast that morning was far from her best, but would I consider her worthy of criticizing because of this turn of events? Of course not.

    Concluding Remarks

    We beat up the Church, or John Dehlin does with many others, but are his complaints and those beefs and issues of the others he interviews substantially worth overwhelming the good that this organized religion achieves and accomplishes?

    Dehlin is very good at critiquing and pointing out faults in the faith that he was raised in. The one that I have been a part of for more than fifty years. The one that my parents joined and united with in the late 1960s. In my story in Mexico, there were problems with my logistics, the health of my wife with a small life inside of her, and there are reasons why I or others could be condemned and villainized for the way it worked, or how it was somewhat less functional than could have been.

    Was this trip worth it?

    For me, yes. It did have its challenges; it did put my wife and unborn daughter through more strife than hoped, or needed.

    Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the world in a time of stress, discomfort, and less relief than optimal.

        

    Some vacations and trips, missions and endeavors turn out this way.

    Is the Church perfect, or does it follow perfect plans of achieving its aims? No. Does the body and the leaders of the faith have warts and ugly parts? Yes. Can the leaders mess up and take us through seemingly unnecessary travails and pains?

    It would seem so.

    But are there positive things that we can underscore and celebrate?

    Certainly.

    And this is the part that I am missing from Mr. Dehlin.

    My wife and I spent a good ten or eleven days and enjoyed ourselves in southern Mexico. We had a memorable and good time. Was it perfect? No. Was it worth it? I say yes.

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is far from perfect.

    But the negatives do not outdo the positives.

    But, like my trip to Mexico where I remember some negatives, to include myself in the equation, people may argue and dispute call out wrongs. We are free to do so. Perhaps in my comparison/analogy, my Mexico trip has much more negative than the part that I referred to? Did we have nine bad days in eleven, in his estimation, instead of parts of one night of less than optimal travel?

    John Dehlin is a smart man. I want to see more of what he finds and analyzes of that which is positive in the faith of his fathers. Or, what does he like about other faiths and religions? 

    Is this tenable? I think so.

    If you read this John, Dr. Dehlin, please share your thoughts. Perhaps you think that the Church has so much to expose and scrutinize, and that its own messages and advocates are so strong in their rhetoric and branding, or deceptive or wrong, that you are emphasizing what is most needed. I get it.

    You have to be you.