Conference Notes - Saturday

Here are my obligatory-for-a-Mormon-weblog comments on Conference. To avoid getting carried away (I don't want to end up sounding like a whining liberal Mormon) I'll keep my comments brief and give everyone something they can be happy with by using a "best of" and "worst of" format.

Best Moment. I liked Elder Holland's remarks about missionaries and about his experiences in Chile. It was nice he gave a nod of thanks to past missionaries young and old, and the tales he related of those serving in Chile were quite sincere and touching. I suspect that for the average South American Mormon to serve a mission requires a good bit more sacrifice, even a leap of faith, compared to the average suburban North American kid, whose biggest concern is arranging a two-year deferment from their university ("You're going where to do what for how long?"). He only played the guilt card once toward the end as he related how some Chileans fork out big bucks (pesos?) to take a very, very long bus ride to the Santiago temple. We'll be hearing about that 110-hour bus ride in every "get off your lazy behind and go to the temple this month" talk for the next five years.

Worst Moment. I'm sorry, I do not worship the God of Earthquakes. That kind of stuff played well for illiterate peasants of the ancient world, but not for modern Christians. I think Elijah kind of made that point 2500 years ago: God is not in the storm but in the still small voice. I suppose there are a few zealots out there who will think my preference for naturalistic explanations of earthquakes is a sign of apostasy. Yes, I have apostatized from faith in the thunderbolts of Zeus and Thor. Sure, I believe in earthquakes and thunderbolts, I just don't see God as the explanation. Perhaps this talk should be entitled "Why We Need Scientists in Higher Councils." It certainly drove that point home to me.

Comments

[Kim Siever]

Sort of reminds me of people who feel that phenomenon that God uses as signs (like fire and brimstone, earthquakes, floods, etc) is a result of God always throwing down miracles. However, they forget God's ability to see into the future and know when these events will take place.

In other words, we tend to focus so much on His omnipotence that we forget His omniscience.

Sure God is all-powerful, but why go out of His way to create natural catastrophes when they're going to happen on their own anyhow?

[Joseph]

God will use whatever he can besides force to influence us for good, including earthquakes. The idea that you are a qualified judge of the "worst" of conference is laughable. Are you looking for slaps on the back from like-thinkers?
Heaven knows.

[Dave]

Thanks for stopping by, Joseph. You're free to grant my opinions whatever weight you think they deserve. Of course, you might consider stating your own views on the issue.

If God really works directly through earth and sky, you should probably comment on that tornado that struck the Conference Center building a few years ago too. I just dismissed it as an improbable but meaningless natural storm. What do you make of it?

[Kim Siever]

I'm not sure if we are like thinker, Dave, since we disagree on some issues. Nevertheless, here's your first pat on the back. ;-)

[Grasshopper]

Dave,

The idea that God sometimes works through earthquakes doesn't entail that earthquakes are always worked by God. I think the danger of dismissing God as a God of Earthquakes is that pretty quickly God becomes the God of Nothing. No God of Healing, no God of Revelation. Where do we draw the line as to what influence God can have on the physical world? And if our emotions and psychology have physical components, is God likewise limited in influencing our emotions and our thoughts?

Does this not reduce God to nothing more than a Nice Idea?

None of this should be taken to imply that I think we must take literally any particular scriptural claim of God's intervention by earthquake or other physical means. I'm not sure how (other than by revelation) we could determine whether any particular event was influenced by God.