1. Asking if the Mormon Church is “true” is not the right question.

2. Mormons assume that belonging to the right church is the Primary Thing.

3. A church or religious group can be instrumental and helpful. It can sometimes even be necessary. But it can’t be the Primary Thing.

4. The Primary Thing is always and only about realizing a more loving, mature, inclusive relationship with God, with others, and ultimately with all things.

5. A church or religious group can be helpful to the degree it offers guidelines, rituals, doctrines, and traditions that “point” forward and beyond itself to the Primary Thing.

6. A church or religious group can become harmful if it distracts from the Primary Thing by pointing mostly to itself and its own particular guidelines, rituals, doctrines, and traditions.

7. Instead of asking if the Church is true, it might be better to be asking: Is the Mormon tradition “true enough”? Can it point forward and beyond itself to the Primary Thing? Can it provide a foundation for continued spiritual growth and development?

Jim is a sociologist by trade. He and Merrie live in colorful Salt Lake City, trying to be Green, vote Blue, and cheer Red.

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