One More Dimension

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As I search for things to write here I always hope to convey a perspective that is broad enough to invite discussion. One of my major goals in writing is to receive feedback on my positions and ideas that will help me to refine my positions and my thinking process. Of course I strive to create a profile of myself here that is consistent with my own values. Part of that has been that I try to put away most thoughts that are primarily political in nature on Sundays so that I may focus y attentions on more spiritual/religious/family oriented topics. This has often put me in a bind because I don’t want to dilute the focus of my writings. That is why the day of the week most likely to not have anything written is Sunday.

When I do write on Sundays it has generally been generic in nature and not specific to my own Latter-day Saint background. Today I read the commencement address given by Elder M. Russell Ballard at Brigham Young University – Hawaii. He invites the graduates, and all church members, to make their voices heard in the many discussions about the church that are taking place online.

There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller.  But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.

As I read that I realized that my efforts to keep my writing more broadly appealing had resulted in me stunting my voice online by whitewashing a key component of my perspective from the voice I have projected. Many (possibly all) of my readers are aware of my firm convictions of the Book of Mormon and the LDS church but I have decided that leaving that part of my character and life in the background projects an incomplete perspective on what I am thinking which denies people the opportunity to comment on whatever part of my thinking is based on my theological perspective.

I have no intention of turning this into a Mormon blog about politics but I expect that my LDS perspective will be more transparent and might be altogether naked in Sunday posts that are non-political in nature. It also means that I will be more likely to comment on religiously themed posts that I read elsewhere which I have sometimes avoided rather than “dilute my focus” online.