How Did I Become a Bigamist?!?!

And guilty of treason! 

It shocked me really. 

When I was only eight years old, I entered into a baptismal covenant with my Father in Heaven, that I would take his name upon me.  I may have somewhat naively entered into that marriage agreement with the bride groom, that allegiance with His Kingdom, that legal adoption into the House of Israel.  But hey, I was only eight years old and dutifully following my parents counsel.  Note – I have NEVER regretted that decision and there have been countless times I’ve been immensely grateful that I had. 

My life is filled with purpose and vision.  My goals are lofty and yet attainable.  My legacy is one I can be proud of. I experience both temporary pleasure and eternal joy.  I have HOPE and a guided path.  

Now, mind you, I still have the web and flow of life.  Ups and downs, trials and blessings. But overall – I have inner peace and genuine happiness.  I like what I’ve become and the potential I’m reaching for.  And my affections for my Heavenly Father continues to increase and deepen over the years. 

In recent years, I've been learning about different worldviews.  It has been an eye-opening experience for my little sheltered life.  The rest of the world seems to offer a lot of different formulas for happiness and I've been able to compare those a little with the Great plan of Happiness.  So Far, I haven’t found much of a comparison.  I found that most of them are based on some truth.  Mind you, some of that truth is severely twisted but nevertheless, it originates on the same foundation.  Because of that, I expected to agree with certain aspects of these varying worldviews.  But what I didn’t expect was to find that I, unknowingly, had adopted some of these twisted perspectives myself. 

Elements of Naturalism, Ethical and Inner Relativism were part of my hard and fast beliefs.  Justifications of Micro-Evolution had seeped into my “possibilities”.  I was feeling empowered by thoughts of Self-Actualization and Positive Mental Attitude and although I didn’t care for ‘The Secret’, I had implemented many of its ideas into my personal philosophy.  Dialectical Materialism made sense even though it was being used for what I think is a perverse purpose.  And there have been many times I’ve felt the need to resort to Pavlovian Behaviorism when dealing with my children.  Pragmatism sometimes outweighed the faith required to trust the Lord would provide.  And Libertarianism seemed like a Savior for our current political nightmare. 

Fortunately, there was a LOT of ideas that I didn't feel a connection with at all.

As I more clearly defined what the different worldviews were . . .  I could more clearly see that I was either hypocritical myself (unfortunately a very good possibility) or brainwashed into adopting beliefs and ideas contrary to my liking or choosing.  In 1961, the Supreme Court recognized Secular Humanism as a religion.  I don’t know if Material Humanism or Post-Modernism, or Cosmic Humanism, or the millions of other worldviews are officially considered a religion yet, but it made me think.  Aside from the humorous aspect that all these Atheists, Individualists, and Polytheists who hold religion in such contempt are now considered “religious” – it also makes my melting pot of mixed up beliefs guilty of bigamy, of treason, of unfaithfulness.  That’s just not gonna work for me.

I know the Lord teaches us line upon line, here a little and there a little and over time, we can attain all that he has to offer.  But obviously I forgot that the adversary works in the same manner.  Although I have been consistent at attending my church meetings and living the Sunday School answers, I still had not only been exposed to but bought into some contrary doctrine and philosophies.  

I have to admit, while I've been weighing each idea and learning about this spectrum of beliefs that others may hold, I couldn't help but conclude that "People believe the stupidest things".  Everyones life experiences, training and education, temperment and personalities vary and so conclusions vary, even with the same external variables.  It does provide for a great variety of ideas (which I love), but makes it challenging to identify the real TRUTH.

I've heard it said, that "truth needs no defense".  That is a beautiful sentiment, but obviously by all these differing worldviews, truth is the most bitterly and subtly attacked.  I do believe it will ultimately win out in the end - but with all these multiple choice options, the casualties are many.

Intrigued, I began clarifying my own beliefs - outlining specifically my own philosophy, theology, pschology, socialogy, politics, law, ethics, etc.  - and the same thing stands true . . . People believe the stupidest things!  Myself included.  At least that's probably what it appears to an outsider looking in.  Fortunately, my belief has received the second witness - the assurer and testifier of truth.  I just KNOW. 

One advantage to this little exercise, I've not only broadened my understanding of other worldviews and perspectives (and it still continues because I cannot even come close to saying I understand it all), but I've clarified and fortified my own beliefs.  Now that I can more clearly see where I'm being inconsistent, I can step back, modify my approach, and be the person of integrity I wish to be -  the monogomist, the patriot, the Faithful.