99: Does Fear & Shame Motivate Belief & Practice?

Series Title: Psychological Health Check on LDS Theology of Marriage & Family [Part IV of XII]

In this fourth part of their ongoing series on the complexities of the LDS doctrine of eternal marriage, Val and Brannon tackle yet another tough but important facet of this subject: the possible engines that drive us all too often…Here are just a few of the many examples they explore in this episode: 

1] FEAR:

• The fear of the eternal consequences of not marrying.
• The fear of divorce and it’s stigma in this life and implications in the next life.
• The fear of sharing faith expansion with a frightened partner. 
• The fear of ruining one’s eternal family by one’s spiritual expansion experiences.

2] SHAME:

• The shame coming with the silence when we feel compelled to not doubt.
• The shame of destroying our marriages as we evolve and grow and internalize that we are “betraying” our partners, parents, children, posterity.

Val and Brannon’s deepest desire is to expose the IMPACT of our current theology and its massive implications on individuals striving to be in healthy connection with the LDS church.

Their believe is that as the church has shaped us, it is our divine business to help reshape the church when there is evidence that one of its foundational theological concepts inadvertently wounds and estranges us from our divine identities.