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sustain!
An Op-Ed piece about the movie "States of Grace" and its lack of official acceptance on the BYU campus. I think this article has some direct parallels to what people will and will not sustain on this sight. Some things are true and uplifting moreso when our impulse to sanitize is squelched.
comments
You are mistaken my friend. I love the Gospel and the Church. I even find much redeeming and good about BYU. However, to hold my tongue about the issue at hand would be doing no one a favor. You are right, BYU allowed Julie to post a good editorial. The point is an important one people should hear IMHO. Yet, somehow publishing it here is harmful to the Church? Help me out here. BYU nor the Church prohibits this opinion from being shared but you do? For the Chruch's sake? I don't think so.
No, it is a criticism of a BYU official decision. Questioning an official decision isn't questioning a mentality of any other group other than the one making the decision. Or maybe the "mentality" thing may be better defined as a "series of decisions".
Interestingly, the moment I read your reply, it immediately reminded me of the tone of Giddianhi's epistle to Lachoneus (3 Nephi 3).
Your comment: "You are mistaken my friend. I love the Gospel and the Church. I even find much redeeming and good about BYU. However,.... BYU nor the Church prohibits this opinion from being shared but you do?"
Giddianhi: "Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people.... and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them..."
I'm not saying you're a Gadianton robber; rather, I'm saying be careful where you're headed. Your comment had that same condescending and patronizing tone followed by a false accusation of wrongdoing.
"We should study not only good, and its effects [...] but evil, and its consequences. I intend to know the whole of it, both good and bad. Shall I practice evil? No; neither have I told you to practice it, but to learn by the light of truth every principle there is in existence in the world."
Then she asks why we (not our leaders) fear stories with characters making poor decisions, not to glorify the decisions but to highlight tragedy, and in this case, emphasize the miracle of forgiveness and the atonement.
Again, sometimes some things are true and uplifting moreso when our impulse to sanitize is squelched. This is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, this is not the Church, this is not criticism of leaders, it is quite simply fear that many in our midst hold as a group. The gospel of Jesus Christ has not given us the spirit of fear but of a sound understanding. Please realize that that sinking feeling that something is wrong when reading this post is not because it is actually evil, but because fear is rearing itself in the back of your mind.
Thanks for the discount online psychoanalysis.
I just want to make sure I understand Julie's thesis (and yours). It seems you're proposing that analyzing evil through its repercusions in others' lives is benefitial, and you criticize the idea that abstaining from such is part of a harmful attitude. Am I correct?
How better than to learn through the experience of others? We avoid the harm such decisions can inflict on us personally. Living a sheltered existence will deny us personal growth. While the miracle of forgiveness is available to all, it is those who have experienced the worst that gain the most profound appreciation of it, and by conversation, engagement, and empathy, we too can have our own appreciation profoundly deepened.