Thursday, May 04, 2006

Emotional control

If the temple is so beautiful, if its doctrines so correct, then why don't they tell you what you have to swear an oath to before you swear it? Why can't they tell you what you will agree to before you enter the ceremony (you'd still be in the temple, so this would be alright to discuss such things, right?)

For those of you who have not gone through the temple, there is a part during the ceremony where you must agree to everything that will be told to you. You must bow your head and say yes. (It's nearly impossible to say no because you are surrounded by people you know and you don't want to disappoint them, you'd be the only one to say no, and you'd stop the whole ceremony) All of these are used to manipulate you into agreeing with what they say.

That's just wonderful.

But if it were all so beautiful, if it were all so true, then why use these emotional scare techniques? Why not be open about it and let the person weigh the decisions for themselves in their own time? Where is the honesty in making them decide before they understand what they are agreeing to?

2 Comments:

Blogger the narrator said...

i think if there is something that the church needs to fix today concerning this matter, it's the almost lutheran seperation of the religious and secular aspects of life (or sacred and profane). the sacramental, symbolic, and ritualistic aspects of mormonism have been so pushed aside (compare the exterior of the salt lake temple with any modern temple) that going through the temple for the first time (or even twentieth time) can be an awkward ("where in the fuck did this come from!?!" kick in the nuts.

9:42 AM  
Blogger Jason King said...

"so you're basically promising to do things that you should have already committed yourself to do in the first place."

If all the promises were made before the temple, then the temple would be redundant. Basically, you're lying.

9:56 AM  

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