I honestly believe that the only way to stay true to the principle at the heart of Mormonism was to leave Mormonism.
For me, the most fundamental LDS principle wasn’t the Atonement, or the plan of salvation, or revelation by the Holy Ghost.
For me, the most fundamental principle was that truth is absolute.
As a Latter-day Saint, I believed all those other things were true, but they weren’t the core. The core of the LDS paradigm was the idea that existence has a certain nature.
If we trace LDS beliefs back to their root, we find that axiom.
Why is there an Atonement? Because there is a plan of salvation. Why is there a plan of salvation? Because we have a Father in Heaven who wants us to become like him. Why do we have a Father in Heaven?
That’s just the way that reality is.
You can’t get beneath that.
Coming to terms with this one simple fact—that reality has a certain nature—changed everything for me.
It means that the nature of existence is the root of natural laws, or principles. This is the path to deconstructing revelation by the Holy Ghost. Principles are objectively known, not by emotion or revelation, but through reason, through looking at reality.
The bones of truth are there in Mormonism; you just have to strip away all of the mysticism.
In my opinion, it’s worth the effort. Objectively true principles are far better than all the mystical trappings of the doctrine.
Am I wrong about this?
What do you think is the principle at the heart of Mormonism?
Yellow Wood Painting by Anita Ann Johnson
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