Truth, Beauty, Goodness

Jon Ogden’s thesis in When Mormons Doubt is that the pursuit of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness can help us create a quality life for ourselves and our families, independent of our religious beliefs. As Ogden writes,

This measure works inside or outside of any religion. It can help believers and nonbelievers look at every belief system (including Mormonism) with as much objectivity as possible, holding onto what is true, beautiful, and good — and dropping what isn’t.

In this slim 160 page volume, Ogden spends three chapters exploring each of these virtues and how they can help us see past the modern American culture of consumerism to what matters most in life.

It’s not About Who is Right

An active Mormon, Ogden is sympathetic to friends and family members who choose to leave because “after careful research they [reject the Church’s] truth claims.” But while he acknowledges that their concerns are valid, he repeatedly declines to endorse either the decision to leave or to stay as the Right Answer. “Nothing in [chapter 9] leads to the conclusion that people should leave Mormonism,” Ogden writes, a sentiment he would extend to the book as a whole. Instead, he wants to focus on how we can build common ground with each other, even if we disagree about the Church.

This will no doubt frustrate his most zealous readers on both sides of the belief spectrum. Can an orthodox member really trust an author who refuses to call unbelievers to repentance, and who concedes that many non-members and even ex-members are following their consciences as best they can? Can an ex-Mormon trust someone who has thoroughly researched the historical and epistemological questions and yet remains an active member?

Ogden does his best to defuse these biases. He draws on the writing of liberal psychology professor Jonathan Haidt and conservative economist Arnold Kling to show that those we disagree with in the political world (and by extension the religious one) are usually motivated by sincere desires to make the world a better place, just as we are.

Understanding the Unbeliever

The three chapters on Truth gradually build a compelling case for freedom of inquiry and questioning. “We must bend our opinions to fit the truth,” Ogden writes, even — perhaps especially — when that truth is more complex or more painful than we hoped at first. (I make a similar point in The choice to Believe.)

Occasionally the discussion moves to specifics (B. H. Robert’s conclusion that Joseph Smith had the ability to author the Book of Mormon, or Brigham Young’s racism), but these are used as examples of topics that might cause doubts to arise, not in-depth discussions of their respective subjects. Ogden’s goal is not to dive deep into these subjects, but to “illustrate why we should feel empathy for people on both sides of the discussion.” His treatment of unbelievers avoids caricature, and when he describes the problems with the orthodox narrative he does so without spin or sugarcoating. However, he does provide a supplementary list of eight books “for people who would like to read faith-affirming texts about hard Mormon questions.”

Ogden especially cautions all of us to not fall into the trap of perceiving spiritual experiences, or Beauty in general, of confirming what we want to believe. To help his Mormon readers understand this point, he cites a Muslim man who said, “I was making supplication: Allah help me, guide me, guide me to the truth. If you guide me to the truth, I’ll never leave it. And I knew in my heart — Allah was telling me in my heart — that Islam is true. And I knew right then that it was the correct religion.”

Ogden is right that a certain amount of humility, a reluctance to jump too quickly for the trump card of “God told me I’m right,” would improve our ability to empathize with those with whom we disagree. Ogden asks rhetorically,

“[L]et’s say your mother, daughter, father, son, or sibling no longer believes the way you do. Should you double down on your version of Pascal’s wager, holding tightly to the belief that they won’t be able to join you in heaven? Or should you double down on pure love, thereby finding commonalities and enjoying their company?”

Too Much, Too Fast

My primary criticism of When Mormons Doubt comes in the final chapter, where he abruptly expands his scope to include not only Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Mormonism, but also Biblical literalism. His discussion of the Old Testament takes a couple pages; the New Testament a dozen. While Ogden gets his facts right, as I understand them, this is simply not enough to adequately cover this material for people who have not yet been exposed to it. I would have preferred to see him refer the interested reader to the excellent Authoring the Old Testament, for instance, rather than asserting that “the text consists of a mix of bloody history and brutal folklore, a mix of truth and metaphor” with virtually no elaboration. And no discussion of Mormonism’s connection to the King James Version of the Bible is complete without mention of Philip Barlow’s and Grant Hardy’s work.

There are other places where the book’s brevity left me disappointed. For instance, chapter 4 mentions atheists who have what Mormons would call spiritual experiences — and then moves on. I wanted to know more. How, for instance, do these people reconcile such experiences with their atheism?

The last minor flaw is that the book is somewhat indifferently sourced. In some places, Ogden offers up an interesting quotation with no source, or he will give as the source an entire book with no page number. This can make it difficult for those who wish to read more of the context or content given by the referenced author.

Building a Bigger Tent

Ogden writes that “If you’ve experienced a faith crisis, this book presents a framework to help you seek a quality life. If you haven’t experienced a faith crisis, this book will help you understand those who have.” More than any similar book, Ogden succeeds on both counts.

When Mormons Doubt repeatedly urges its readers not to forget the many good aspects of Mormonism, and concludes by quoting Joseph F. Smith in a call for a bigger Mormon tent, one that could include members at various stages of belief:

So long as a man believes in God and has a little faith in the Church organization, we nurture and aid that person to continue faithfully as a member of the Church though he may not believe all that is revealed.

Despite the minor shortcomings I noted, this is my favorite book on faith and doubt in Mormonism. (See my other reviews below.) At about 160 pages and $5 on Kindle, you will get a good return on both your time and money. I recommend it for orthodox members looking to understand doubting loved ones, as well as for unbelievers looking for ways to retain the best parts of their Mormon heritage.

Further Reading