Reply to a disaffected Mormon

If I’m going to take the amount of time I do to respond to certain critics of my faith, I thought I would at least share the exchange with my readers as well. You’re all welcome to read the original post entitled The Flashlight in which the author shares a parable about his “seeing the light” by putting down his previous association with the Mormon church. My response had nothing to do with trying to woo him back, he is perfectly entitled to his beliefs and decisions. However, when he publically attempts to smear the beliefs of others, in this case Mormons but it would go for any other faith, I believe I have a moral right and responsibility to point out to the public that such opinions are indeed that, opinions, and that those who maintain their beliefs might see things a bit differently even having all the same information before them.

(If you do not wish to read the original post, his analogy centered around using a flashlight in the dark to find his way but how it created tunnel vision and blinded him to things around him. He turned off the flashlight and after time his eyes adjusted and he could see more clearly. Then he rejoiced in his emancipation from the crutch of a flashlight) I took the liberty of adding to the parable:

“As I sat there proud of my discovery, happy and free from my artificial light, being able to see more wonders and beauties in the night, I continued on my way and it dawned on me that the reason I could see in the dark was because of the light reflecting off the moon originally sourced from the sun. It sunk deep into my soul and I felt a sense of humility. I did not have any choice that my body amazingly adjusted to the lower levels of light by small muscles changing the diameter of my iris, it was a gift. My little flashlight, the greatest achievement in human innovation was comparatively pathetic to this currently unseen light source. it was a gift. I finally recognized that I originally misunderstood the entire methodologies and meanings relating to maneuvering through the dark. I had supposed that I had the power to choose a brand of flashlight, I had the power to turn it on and off, and decide where I go, it was all about me.

I continued on my journey pondering, with gratitude, still enjoying my walks lit by the reflection of light sourced from the sun, I noticed the small bits of light that dotted the sky started to disappear. I looked to the east and saw mesmerizing beautiful colors in the sky, the darkness around me started to fade, I heard the forest around around me coming alive, then there was a moment that caused me to squint as this brilliant ball of light broke out from beneath the horizon. I could feel its warmth, my eyes adjusted again, I no longer had to squint and I could see all around me: color, hues, fine details; it was more beautiful and wondrous than I could ever have imagined. I looked at my measly little flashlight and thought how foolish I had been, I had completely misunderstood the way to harness light to light my way. With the added light I saw other people in the distance, they enjoyed being outside in the light as well, I went to them and we enjoyed our time together exploring the beautiful world around us- all grateful that we had been given such a wonderful gift, all realizing that the true light came from the sun. Now I could understand everything in its proper context, sure the world is a large place and it will take me a lifetime to go around and explore, but now I had faith that I could find answers and that my current lack of knowledge could all be illuminated in due time if I continued to rely on the sun.”