I’ve been seeing a lot of coverage in the news media lately about the Church. This generally makes me happy, not because I am hopeful at all that the Church may ever become “mainstream” within the world (I have problems with thinking that that is a good desire, but that’s another post), but because it raises the profile of the Church and may help people understand better what it is and perhaps be more open to the message that we present.
Common in many of these stories though is the comment that the atmosphere within the Mormon community (or Mormon culture) is characterized by a lack of questioning, or in the Book of Mormon musical's phrase "A Mormon just believes." Some even intimate (or even flat out declare) that it is the Church itself that is admonishing the Saints not to ask questions. Ultimately, this is directly connected to the question of Mormons as “blind followers,” a characterization that has been leveled at the Saints for their entire history, and one that continues to be a label placed upon them by Anti-Mormons, Ex-Mormons, and the anti-religious world in general. As always, there is usually someone from within the Church who will give some quote to a journalist backing up the fact that they don’t feel like they can ever question something that comes from SLC or that when they did take umbrage or question something that did come, they were promptly shut down by “authorities” or were bombarded by “regular members” deriding them for asking questions.
Now, I will not question that this does happen sometimes and somewhere. In any organization that asks for conformity to rules/laws/commandments (i.e. any religious organization, any political organization, or any hierarchical business organization) there will of necessity be some pressure to adhere to those rules, from fellows in the community as well as those in leadership positions. It is integral for the integrity of the organization. And I'm sure somewhere out there, and one time or another, there is some brother misusing his priesthood authority to shut someone up.
However, to paint it as a point of emphasis and key characterization of the entire institute may not be entirely accurate. This is especially the case in the Mormon Church- an organization that traces its history to one small boy asking a question for which nobody had an answer he found sufficient. This organization similarly sends tens of thousands of missionaries out into the world to get people to do exactly the same thing: to question their current situation in life, and more importantly to question whether or not the solution or message that the missionaries are presenting to them is correct or not. This can only be done by asking questions. Specifically, the Church and the missionaries ask that they follow the example of Joseph Smith and direct their questions to God Almighty, the source of Truth in a religious sense. This is the source of testimony in the Church, and something that is generally a very personal and sacred experience for members or those who become members.
Similarly, Church scripture and doctrine are rife with exhortations and even commandments to ask questions. “Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be given unto you.” “Seek learning by reason and also by faith.” There are multiple stories from the LDS standard works that illustrate this: Nephi asking about his father’s vision of the Tree of Life, Enos asking for forgiveness, Alma asking how to deal with unrepentant members, Nephi3 praying for answers about persecution, the Brother of Jared praying for answers to very specific temporal problems attending crossing an ocean, Mormon asking for answers about the 3 Nephites, Oliver Cowdery asking about translating, and many more. Many of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were prompted by questions put to the Prophet Joseph.
The problem is that some members may take these stories to mean that prophets can ask the Lord and be given direction for the governance of their people. And that is true- all the stories detailed above deal in some way with the leadership trying to figure out how to lead the people. However, the scriptures are meant for all of us, not just the leadership. Thus, why can’t we take that to mean that we all can ask questions? The Church is also very clear that we all can, and the answers that we receive are very real. We just can’t take them to mean that we are receiving revelation outside of our own spheres of stewardship. (This also is integral to the integrity of the organization and is important for a sense of Order within the Church).
The fact is that consistently the Church asks us to question things, or to find our own answers. The “blind faith” characterization has been rejected multiple times over the pulpit in General Conference and in Church publications. The leadership of the Church consistently and diligently asks us to study, pray, and ponder over the teachings of the Church and its leadership. How can you do this effectively if you are not asking questions? If the Church is characterized as an organization that won’t allow its members to question or whose members don’t question, then something is seriously wrong. (Note: questioning here is probably somewhat similar to doubt, meaning that it can either be a good thing or a bad thing. If your doubts prompt you to study and ponder to gain answers, then that can be considered a positive thing. On the other hand, it you come up with a question/fact that doesn't jive with a previously held view, and you answer is to throw you hands up and say "well crap, all that I've believed is wrong" despite previous assurances that you have received, either from the Holy Ghost or elsewhere, then this is of course a negative thing. Notice that the negative thing comes by not asking more questions or followup research/pondering.)
So, what is the problem? Some might say, “yes, we were encouraged to pray and ask questions while meeting with the missionaries, but as soon as we were in the Church, we were admonished to stop.” Personally, this doesn’t fly for all the reasons stated above- the Church’s doctrine and teachings are very clear: if you are not moving forward and learning more everyday, you are not making progress. So, if you aren’t asking questions the problem is with you, not the organization. Or if you are asking questions and are being shut down for doing so, the problem is probably more along the lines of how you are asking questions and what types of questions you are asking relative to your own general knowledge and/or the knowledge and doctrine of the Church. Perhaps the answer from your local leader is “I don’t know, but really, you probably aren’t ready for that answer if I did know.” If you go to your bishop, who knows that you are having problems with your testimony and aren’t reading the scriptures, and aren’t praying, is he really going to take the time to try to explain the Church’s ban on the Priesthood- an issue that is very complex, has few answers that aren’t already based upon a knowledge and trust that the Church is true and about which General Authorities have expressed not having a specific answer from the Lord? The Church is very clear and upfront, and so are the scriptures, in stating that there are things that we just don’t know because they haven’t been revealed yet- probably because we aren’t ready yet. The Lord and His Church ask us to grow step by step in our knowledge. We cannot proceed to the next level until we have mastered the one we are on. And really there is something to say for gaining a answer yourself- it cements it in your mind more than if you are just told. So, if you are doing all the things that you are admonished to do (pray, read, study, ponder, etc), can you still ask those questions? Sure. In fact, you could say that you are admonished to. The point is, though, that you are supposed to ask them of the Lord first. Go to the scripture, pray for answers, study the doctrines, the history, the revelations, ponder them deeply, go to the temple, ask the Lord for personal revelation. And keep doing it until you get an answer. And maybe you can augment this with asking leaders. But as has been pointed out, there are things that the Church has no official answer for or stance on. In that case, the Church’s stance has always been to let the members do their own study and come to their own answers based on their own reason and revelation.
The ‘how’ of asking questions is also very important. Are we belligerent in our questioning? Are we asking questions with the intent to equivocate or avoid other questions that are more pressing? (Do we ask questions about Joseph Smith’s polygamy to hide our own imperfections?) Do we ask questions, with faith and true intent that when we do get an answer we will live by it, even if it is the opposite of our personally held views based on imperfect human reasoning? Or are we asking questions to somehow justify our own imperfections and get out of having to be the best that we can be? If you are asking questions in this manner to your local leaders and the Authorities of the Church, is it any wonder that they either don’t think you are ready for the answers and that it might do more harm than good to give them to you or that possibly you might even be trying to bait them into giving answers that they can then hold against you and perhaps use to give fuel to the Church’s enemies?
In sum, to my eyes, the characterization of the Church as an area where questions are prohibited is probably largely one invented by a skeptical world which views all religion in a similar light. The Church does exactly the opposite, encouraging us to ask and receive answers to our questions. If we aren’t doing that, then the problem probably lies with us.
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