Perspective Part 2 - Shaken Faith Syndrome by Michael Ash

Shaken Faith Syndrome:
Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One's Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt by Michael Ash represents an LDS faithful perspective.

Part I of Shaken Faith Syndrome, "Misplaced Testimony and Anti-Mormon Vulnerability," is about perspective. It discusses (1) cognitive dissonance, (2) our unrealistic expectations of prophets, (3) our confusion of tradition with doctrine, (4) our imposing our assumptions on others, and (5) our unrealistic expectations of science and archeology.  You can get an overview of his book from:

2008 FAIR Presentation
2014 FAIR Podcast
2015 FAIR Presentation

Cognitive Dissonance:
For our discussion, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

When we encounter new information that is counter to our beliefs, we have mental discomfort (cognitive dissonance) and seek to relieve the discomfort. All people (LDS faithful and LDS Critics) avoid situations and information that cause mental discomfort.

Each person assigns a different level of importance to each belief. Those beliefs with which we have personal experience will have a higher level of importance.  For example, a person who received blessing after paying tithing will more likely have greater discomfort (cognitive dissonance) than someone who does not pay tithing when encountering new and opposing information about tithing.

The trustworthiness of the source of the new information and the information ratio also affects the level of discomfort. For example, if our doctor told us to do something seemingly unhealthy it would probably have little discomfort (cognitive dissonance) if our  a co-worker thought the doctor's advice is unhealthy because the doctor is a more trustworthy source for health information than a co-worker. Further, if we then firmly believe our doctor (unhealthy) advice but then read an article where many doctors said our doctor's advice is unhealthy, we would most likely have great discomfort (cognitive dissonance) sticking with the unhealthy advice due to the information ratio (many doctors vs. one doctor).

We relieve the mental discomfort (cognitive dissonance) in one of 4 ways:

1. We reject the new information as false.
2. We ignore the new information as unimportant.
3. We add more information. 
4. We accept the new information.

For example, someone says Joseph Smith is a false prophet because he had nearly 40 plural wives. (Note: the real belief in question here is the acceptable behavior of a prophet. For this example, the person knows Joseph Smith had a few plural wives and is OK with that).

• We can reject the information as false. We have a Testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet. He may of had a few plural wives but 40 wives is too high.
• We can ignore the new information as unimportant. We have a Testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet and know he had plural wives.  The number is not important.
• We add more information. We read more about Joseph Smith's plural wives.  For example, the Church states he had between 30 and 40 plural wives (see footnote 24 in "Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo"). I think Michael Ash implies we synthesize the new information. We do not change the belief (Joseph Smith is a prophet) but we do change our belief or understanding of the acceptable behavior of a prophet. We went form "Joseph Smith is a prophet and had a few plural wives" to ""Joseph Smith is a prophet and had 30 to 40 plural wives."
• We accept the new information. We accept the new information (maybe with more information) as showing Joseph Smith was not a prophet.

Nearly all people (LDS faithful and LDS Critics) operate using #1 and #2 (We reject the new information as false or We ignore the new information as unimportant). We simply don't have the time to study everything out.

Unreal Expectations of Prophets:

Michael Ash makes the following points:

• Prophets are fallible. 
• Prophets may teach incorrect teachings. 
• Prophets are not morally perfect.
• The Church is to invite all to come unto Christ (D&C 20:59).
• Gospel education for prophets (and us) is an evolutionary process. Knowledge comes a little at a time.

Confusing Tradition with Doctrine:

Michael Ash makes the following points:

• What is Doctrine? Official doctrine is announced as revelation and sustained (D&C 26:2 and D&C 107:27-31).
• Doctrine is contained in the 4 standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price), official declarations, proclamations, and Articles of Faith.
• Probably few teachings qualify as doctrine.
• Many things we believe are doctrine are actually traditions, policies, practices, and wise council. We might confuse implementation with doctrine.

Imposing Our Assumptions on Others:

Michael Ash makes the following points:

• We are all biased. We all have a perspective.
• Evidence can support one or more positions / perspectives.
• All evidence is not equal (i.e., evidence weight).
• Evidence can be direct or indirect. 
• Proof is a conclusion from strong or overwhelming evidence.
• Scripture contains poetry, hyperbole, errors, exaggerations, myths, etc.
• Bible is high context text from a different culture. Meaning the Bible does not contain much of the cultural background to understand the meaning the author intended.
• We tend to place what we read within our cultural context and/or use presentism.

Unrealistic Expectations of Science and Archeology:

Michael Ash makes the following points:

• We need to know the bias of the historian or author.
• In 1980, less than 1% of ancient sites in Mesoamerica had been excavated.
• In 2006, Dr. Clark stated "Many items in the Book of Mormon have not been and may never be verified through archeology, but many have been."

Michael Ash says most claims by Critics can be explained if we change our PERSPECTIVE on our unrealistic expectations of prophets and our confusion of tradition with doctrine.

I evaluate this is Perspective Part 4.