Not really—that’s an interesting perspective on my essay though. I’m not sure your reading is accurate. A couple of counterexamples are below.
See my addition to my post above—the “effective community aspect” was first, followed by the “spiritual experiences” aspect and initial thought about the doctrine, then followed by pretty deep digging into the doctrine.
I wrote the essay you read after the first and second but before the third, which is probably why you didn’t see too much emphasis on doctrine.
I find Less Wrongians similarly devoted to living the good life and joining with others in doing so, which is why I like being around here.
Through ordinances performed for the dead, I learned, everyone will get their chance to be taught the Gospel and accept it, or not. The missionaries taught me other Church doctrines and practices: no infant baptism, a lay ministry staffed by volunteers, a prophet and apostles in modern times as in old. And the teachings started to make sense, in that they were internally coherent. If I were a Christian, I thought, I’d be a Mormon.
Resolving such intellectual doubts went hand-in-hand with more scripture study, and some prayer. I began to read the rest of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament and I devoured CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. Somewhere, things started to go beyond just making sense; they became real to me. As my knowledge expanded, the doctrinal paradigm fit the facts better. A seed grew in my heart.
Not really—that’s an interesting perspective on my essay though. I’m not sure your reading is accurate. A couple of counterexamples are below.
See my addition to my post above—the “effective community aspect” was first, followed by the “spiritual experiences” aspect and initial thought about the doctrine, then followed by pretty deep digging into the doctrine.
I wrote the essay you read after the first and second but before the third, which is probably why you didn’t see too much emphasis on doctrine.
I find Less Wrongians similarly devoted to living the good life and joining with others in doing so, which is why I like being around here.
I went through a time like yours in college, but i found LW about the time you met Joesph and my roommate was much more cynical ;)