Mormonism
Like any other faith or religion - it's based on what we now know as mystical precept. Everything that it builds upon, isn't yet proven out by science. That shouldn't disqualify it for either people of science or people who thump their bibles and pray for better parking spots on a daily basis.
After all, we might just want to realize our own limitations as a species. We're probably not exactly on top of the galactic food chain.
The best way to think of religion, in general, is with an open mind. We as a species have an extremely limited range of sensitivity to our environment. Perhaps some of the things we're not able to track are bothering us as spirits. Sure, most preachers are talking heads. They're interchangeable, like batteries.
But religion itself has little to do with preachers. They are, if you will - teachers working with very old textbooks. Faith and worship and your experience with God generally finds a deeply personal element within you. Without you. Your journey is your own. As our head librarian is fond of saying "We're all in this together, but we all die alone".
So, in context, Mormonism is a form of Christianity and organized religion. But it's also a calling. Mormonism generally starts simple.
Have you ever felt that God, or something like God - is actively revealing truths to real people? - Probably not.
But this is actually a first step in exploring the Mormon faith, in my view. Why? Well, the first thing you hear about is this encounter that a person named Joseph Smith had with this higher being, somewhere in the woods of New England. In order to really play around with that idea, you first need to decide whether or not anything like that can actually happen.
Let's say you're working in a biology lab. You pipette a microbe off a petri dish and shine a light on it through a microscope slide. Will the little bacteria sense that anything happened? How does it know that it's happened? And more importantly - since we now know that even bacteria have simple forms of communication with each other ... what possible terms and concepts could that little bacteria use, to describe what happened to him?
Whatever it is, you can bet his friends are going to kid him and ask him if, after he's seen the light - whether or not there were ... probes. After all, in this universe, fun things you can do with your friends are cross species universal. And almost always involve some form of mischief.
You can decide for yourself if there are higher beings in this universe. The Mormon's won't hit you over the head with anything. They're good about it. Either way.
Another thing: Mormons push it. As christians, they're more than willing to go the extra distance. They are slightly nuts. How else do you explain the story of one LDS guy who, when he was moving into a new home that had been bought out of the estate of a man who had recently passed .... and cleaning out the attic? Found 50,000.00 in crispy green bills, in a big bag ... and then gave it to the family of the man who had passed away?
Think about this: the guy had his family load the back of his car up with bag, after bag of nothing but cold hard cash... then drove it across town to the son of the man who had died? Can you picture yourself driving across town like that? No? Yes?
But you'll be a very good person. And that's a good thing.
Look. Out here in the real world, there are atheists. Catholics. Protestants. Muslims. They've all got their strong points, and their weak points. They all believe they're right.
Christianity in particular appeals to the love lost. A benevolent figure that offers free love to all, hands extended.
You can get that, to an extent, from partying - from your wife or husband - or from other sources without invoking mysticism. But Faith spans a spectrum of behaviour and belief and it holds within itself a unique idea of self actualization. One that might actually be a part of understanding more about the world around you.
There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.
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