thoooooughts

so, i had intended on writing a bit about how angry i am about libya but i got distracted and found something i find much more interesting.

here are a couple excerpts from a website i stumbled upon while looking for something else entirely:

Accepting Imperfection

First of all, remember that losing idealistic perceptions or expectations, and replacing them with more realistic ones, are two very important components of human maturity. For example, our parents are much more limited in their capacity than we thought they were when we were children. The same is true with our teachers and leaders. The founding fathers of the USA were much more complex than we were taught growing up: Jefferson held slaves and may have fathered children with a slave, Benjamin Franklin was a philanderer, etc. Corporations can do both great and terrible things. The same applies to governments, schools and even charities. The world is imperfect. Any organization that is comprised of imperfect people is going to have flaws. The bigger the organization, the more likely mistakes will happen and the more serious flaws can become.
Even though it might strike really close to home, it’s a fair question to ask: Why should it be any different with religions or with religious leaders, past or present? If perfection, or anything close to it, is the standard for all organizations or individuals, who will ever measure up? No one will. If you already find yourself severely disappointed with or even disaffected from the LDS Church, it should be completely logical for you to no longer expect perfection from it in any real sense. You can simply drop this unrealistic, unhealthy expectation.

Can You Be Honest and Ethical and Stay?

Can you be an honest and ethical person staying in the Church if you really don’t believe everything? People bring up this question a lot. It has various permutations, but the essence of the question is this: People around you might think you are a true believer, or mistake you for someone who is very devout, when in fact you have doubts or do not believe everything. This worry is related to the issue of not caring what others think about you religiously. We mentioned that topic above. But this anxiety is the opposite problem. Some people have concerns about being honest or feel like they must walk around with a scarlet letter sewed to their clothing. The best advice we can give is to find a balance between being authentic and burdening everyone else with your problems.
Most people at Church have at least some doubts and concerns. Most people don’t do everything on the checklist. It is fine to talk about these concerns with people we really care to share them with. But it is far more positive and productive to focus on the common good and the common perspectives we share with others. Our beliefs are really nobody’s business unless by sharing we can reach out and help someone else.


i definitely recommend checking out the website b/c i think the topics it addresses don't just apply to mormonism but to anything in life that requires devotion. anyway, that's all b/c now i'm distracted by other things.  i found the website to be reassuring and positive and have an optimistic spirit. 

one final note, if you want to fight about mormonism... no thanks.  if you sincerely would like to ask me questions, go right ahead.  but i'm not dealing with negativity any time soon.