average life

So, it isn’t always easy to be Mormon in the industry that I am in. People are generally very respectful to me, but it is not uncommon to have long conversations go on around me about how organized religion is the opiate of the masses, etc. This tends to happen…a lot. A common thread is that people in organized religion are there because they don’t want to think for themselves and like being told what is right and wrong. The artist mantra of “I don’t need to be told how to think” gets tossed around quite a bit. Such conversations don’t really bother me, but I decided a long time ago that participating in such discussions just paints a red bullseye on my face and doesn’t really accomplish a whole lot of good. I’ve even kind of downplayed my religion. If I am asked a question, I answer it concisely and try to steer the conversation slowly to other things. I just got tired of having conversations that seemed to accomplish nothing except serve as a venting session for someone who thinks people in religion are fundamentally mindless fools. People in the “industry” tend to be very liberal but to be honest, I find that “open minded” people can be just as close minded as admittedly close minded people. Being open minded doesn’t have anything to do with what you believe, it has to do with how you react when you are faced with something you don’t believe in.

Anyway.

I was riding in the car with two coworkers and the topic of religion came up. I stayed in the backseat. It went on for a while and I just stared out as Hollywood slid past my window (slowly because there was a Genesis concert at “The Bowl”). The idea was presented that “God” is that feeling you get that tells you what is right and wrong. I piped up from the back seat that Mormons call that the Light of Christ. It was against my “don’t initiate” policy, but I did it anyway. I stayed quiet for a bit longer, but soon questions started coming my way. What Mormons believe, why they believed that, how could we say that we were right when we had no proof?

I fielded questions for two hours. They were respectful, but honest. Sometimes questions grew a little bit more passionate as they became more honest. I finally got to the point where I could bear my testimony – sharing a personal experience I had with prayer – and finally a calm settled over the conversation.  They thanked me and we went our separate ways for the evening.  They might not have believed what I said, they may not have even agreed with what I said, but I definitely got the impression that they didn’t think I was Mormon because it was easier for me or because my family was, or even because I never thought about things for myself, they knew I was Mormon because I really and truly believed it was true.

And that was the most I could ask for.