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Liberal Mormon?

"There are many who profess to be religious and speak of themselves as Christians, and, according to one such, "as accepting the scriptures only as sources of inspiration and moral truth," and then ask in their smugness: "Do the revelations of God give us a handrail to the kingdom of God, as the Lord's messenger told Lehi, or merely a compass?"

Unfortunately, some are among us who claim to be Church members, but are somewhat like the scoffers in Lehi's vision-- standing aloof and seemingly inclined to hold in derision the faithful who choose to accept Church authorities as God's special witnesses of the gospel and his agents in directing the affairs of the Church.

There are those in the Church who speak of themselves as liberals who, as one of our former presidents has said, "read by the lamp of their own conceit." (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine [Deseret Book Co., 1939], p. 373.) One time I asked one of our Church educational leaders how he would define a liberal in the Church. He answered in one sentence: "A liberal in the Church is merely one who does not have a testimony."

Dr. John A. Widtsoe, former member of the Quorum of the Twelve and an eminent educator, made a statement relative to this word liberal as it the Church is merely one who does not have a testimony."

Dr. John A. Widtsoe, former member of the Quorum of the Twelve and an eminent educator, made a statement relative to this word liberal as it applied to those in the Church. This is what he said:

"The self-called liberal [in the Church] is usually one who has broken with the fundamental principles or guiding philosophy of the group to which he belongs. ... He claims membership in an organization but does not believe in its basic concepts; and sets out to reform it by changing its foundations. ...

"It is folly to speak of a liberal religion, if that religion claims that it rests upon unchanging truth."

And then Dr. Widtsoe concludes his statement with this:

"It is well to beware of people who go about proclaiming that they are or their churches are liberal. The probabilities are that the structure of their faith is built on sand and will not withstand the storms of truth." ("Evidences and Reconciliations," Improvement Era, vol. 44 [1941], p. 609.) .

Have you ever heard the term 'Liberal' in the Church? Is there such a thing?. Don't you think is interesting that the same concept of people being Liberal or Apostate are consider as 'not having a testimony'?.

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Edited: LDS_forever on 25th Oct, 2004 - 1:03pm

Mormon Liberal

I think someone who professes to be a Liberal Mormon is just someone who picks and chooses which commandments he will follow and which ones he will ignore, or maybe they will develop certain belief systems that are not in harmony with the church. For example, someone who defends a women's right to choose abortion, or someone who accepts gays as an acceptable life style might fit in to this Liberal Mormon label. It's actually just an early stage of apostacy in my opinion.

Liberal Mormon? Studies Doctrine Mormon

I actually agree completely with this. I have known several apostate Mormons, including those who have approached such a state through "liberalism." One of the most pernicious liberal ideas in Utah is the idea that we can pray to a "Mother in Heaven." This has led to a lot of problems at BYU. A few years ago, there was an active, liberal, militant feminst organization on campus. They were strong proponents of this heresy.

I also knew of other "liberal" ideas that were making their rounds at BYU.

Mormon Liberal

I remember of that feminist LDS group in Utah and the issue about the Mother in Heaven. Now, have you ever met someone who introduces himself/herself as a Liberal LDS?.

Mormon Liberal

In the same quote by Elder Widstoe he also says that the church is very liberal. I am a liberal member, I also have a very strong testimony of the truthfulness of this glorious work. Being a liberal for me means that I want to liberate my fellow man from those things that would drag them down into the depths of hell. I want to liberate everyone from the influence of Satan and all of his tactics (I.e. pornography, abuse, alcohol, drugs). That is what a TRUE liberalist wants. Elder Widstoe also said, "the word liberal has been changed from what it originally meant." I wish more members would be liberals. I am a liberal member in the truest form, I am not a apostate, not a dissident. I am a regular member of the church who fully supports our modern Apostles and Prophets. I also support my local priesthood authority. I believe in modern revelation.

Liberal Mormon?

There are times when I'll introduce myself as a liberal Mormon, but the label is always qualified by degree and context. Liberal, of course, is a relative term. In contrast to the Amish, for example, I'm very liberal indeed. Stand me next to Elton John and I'll be looking a lot more conservative.
I normally identify myself as a 'liberal' Mormon to delineate between myself and those who, I feel, are a little too hard-core in their thinking (eg. those people who still insist that Africans were of a telestial order in the pre-existence and drinking coca-cola should prevent you from holding a temple recommend.)

Also, it's important to clarify what exactly you're being "liberal" about. I remember a man on my mission who proclaimed himself an agnostic in a fasting testimony meeting. After the initial shock subsided, he clarified by saying something to the effect of:
"There are a lot of things that I simply don't know about, and don't believe I'll ever know about in this life. Overall, you can call me agnostic... but there are a few core truths that I *do* know..." He then bore his testimony of Jesus Christ, the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation etc.
Likewise, I'm a liberal Mormon, but only in regards to "cultural Mormonism" (for example, I do not serve green jello at parties and have a great dislike for AMWAY) I believe the Book of Mormon is literally true though, not just an inspired story (which I believe is what Elder Widtsoe was referring to in this instance.)
I *don't* believe that the Book of Mormon covered all of North and South America, I subscribe to the 'limited geography' theory... so by that standard, many think I'm on the road to Apostasy.

I'm a scientist at heart, I love genetics, I'm an advocate of evolutionary theory as a potential modus operandi for a divinely guided creation. I think most LDS films are stupid, I think too many people get confused between their emotions and the Holy Ghost, I like talking to anti-Mormons, I don't get teary eyed talking about the mormon pioneers (I'm Australian, they hold little cultural relevance for me!) Occasionally, I even take the sacrament with my left-hand and I *always* reversed the words when I sang "Once there was a snow-man" in primary.

Yes, by many peoples standards, I'm a very liberal Mormon. But there are some things I'm completely fixed on: God lives, the Church is true, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

I think its always best to clarify exactly what people mean when they use the term 'liberal' before deciding whether or not they're on the road to Apostasy. In most dictionaries, liberal is a positive term.

BTW... I think it's also very possible to be a fundamentalist Mormon and not have a testimony. In my experience, the weaker one's faith, the stronger one holds on to little, irrelevant details. My testimony is completely independent of whether or not Dinosaurs lived on this Earth... for some people, considering that idea will result in a nervous breakdown.

Liberal Mormon

In his book Evidences and Reconciliations, Elder Widstoe states, "The wordliberal, correctly used, has a noble meaning. The true liberal hates slavery of every kind. He battles for human freedom. He wants liberty in thought and action. He is tolerant, free from bigotry, and generous in all his deeds. He places truth above all elseand hungers for full truth. He welcomes all new improvements and calls for more--the telegraph, electric light, telephone, printing press, typewriter, railroad, airtship, radio. He insists that every new invention must be used for human welfare, with full respect to civil and moral law. In short the liberal seeks to make better the day in which he lives, and he becomes therefore a crusader for the betterment of the human race.

Such a liberal, to accomplish his purpose, holds fast, with out hte least concession, to the convictions of his soul. He is anchored to the rock of truth, as he may see it. He never wavers from the basic, underlying principles of the cause, whether of church or state, to which he is committed. All the world knows how and where he stands.

Under the true definition of liberalism, the Church of Jesus Christ is preeminently liberal." (John Widstoe, Evidences and Reconcilitation pg. 45)

This is the type of Liberalist I am, the ones who call themselves Liberalist and fight against freedoms or the government or church are not true liberalist, they are nothing more then antagonistics, they seek to under mine all authority, they believe that they can do a better job, when in all actuality they would screw things up more. To those who don't hold the ideals as their own are not Liberalists they are polluting the good name of Liberalism.

Edited: Weisenberger on 17th Oct, 2005 - 3:48pm

Liberal Mormon Mormon Doctrine Studies

I belong to an LDS email group which many lable as "liberal" and others label as apostate. There are some on the group who are decidedly antagonistic toward the LDS church. There are some who are devout members yet who take a broader view of many of the church teachings than most members do.

The common factor among most of these people is that they are very intelligent, thinking people. Most of them have advanced degrees in whatever their area of study is. These are people who are seeking for intelligence in their religion. They don't accept statements just because someone in "authority" makes the statement. Rather they seek for an explanation of the statement. I guess I relate to many of them because that is the way I approach things also. However, because they will question and seek explanations many do call them "liberal" and they use the word in a derogatory sense basically meaning that they are apostate.

I agree with whoever it was that stated that the term liberal has a more fluid definition. Compared to many in my current ward, I'm very liberal. Compared to some of the people I work with I'm extremely conservative. If questioning and seeking explanations is a liberal activity, then I'm liberal.

I accept Pres. Hinckley as prophet, however I don't follow him blindly. I do question and I do seek answers and understanding. I do seek confirmation from the spirit that what the prophet is saying is in fact what Heavenly Father wishes. I do believe that at times Pres. Hinckley is just expressing a personal opinion and that he is capable of making mistakes. Does this make me an LDS liberal? According to the views of some it does. According to the views of others I'm just using my right to receive my own inspiration and confirmation.

So, after all this rambling I do wonder... just what exactly is an LDS liberal?

Sheryl