There's Nothing Wrong With Questions

Hey folks, it's the ol' Chris Bringhurst here!

This blog, known as "The Why Blog," is here to answer questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Its target audience is Mormons, non-Mormons, and everybody else who's ever had a question about the LDS church and its teachings. I think that a lot of members of the church take for granted the beauty of the church's teachings, without ever stopping and wondering why we practice what it preaches. Meanwhile, there are many non-members who, though they may not necessarily want to join, are likely to have questions about our more peculiar doctrines and practices.

Before, during, and after my mission, I was asked hundreds of questions that I had never thought about before. Looking back, I wonder how, in all my years of membership in the church, I never asked them myself. I think that often we're so afraid to get an answer we don't like that we decide not to ask at all. This can give us a false sense of comfort to a certain point, but there comes a time in our lives when the things we believe in will be tried and tested, and a hollow testimony based on ignoring the hard questions won't be enough to support them.

Members of the church need to not fear questions. Imagine what would have happened if Joseph Smith was too scared to ask which church was true. A simple question, followed by a sincere search for the answer, always opens the door to greater knowledge and understanding.

I hope the questions I try to answer in this blog will also be ones that non-Mormons ask about us, so that they can find at least a slightly better understanding of our church and why it is we believe what we believe.

Why doesn't the LDS Church condone gay marriage? Why do Mormons believe that God has a body? Why did the early LDS Church practice polygamy? Why does a couple need to be married in the temple to be together forever?

Don't be afraid of these questions. Each one has an answer. It's true that some of the answers require faith to be believed, but whether you agree or not, there is a reason and an explanation for every LDS doctrine in existence.

I encourage everyone who has ever had a "why" question to e-mail me at thechrishurst@gmail.com and let me know. I have a lot of questions I plan to study and answer on this blog, but I am more than willing to answer someone else's questions first. The questions will all be anonymous unless requested otherwise.

Keep in mind, I'm not in any way trying to prove our church right. I merely want to provide some insight into the motives for doing what we do. And again, remember that even the most embarrassingly doubtful questions have answers. Like a wise man once said, "Tell me sufficiently why a thing must be done, and I will move Heaven and Earth to do it."