Limits of Reframing

[Old-Timer]

I love how I see the “big picture” Mormon Gospel, but I recognize many other members don’t see it the same way.

I have reframed it, broadly, as Buddhist Christianity, and that works for me - even though my brain can’t let me say I even “know” there is an afterlife.

I frame within the Biblical definition of faith (hope in the unseen). That is enough for me.

[Roy]

Ultimately, I think the limits of reframing come from a combination of your individual personality and the situation of the local leadership. Perhaps it might be problematic that the local leadership changes about once very five years. You may have a tolerant and compassionate bishop at one point, but the next bishop is not. You may not have changed much during the window of time, but the reaction of the local leaders may.

I agree. I think leaders manage the boundary of who can be considered a member in good standing through a spectrum of TR interviews and discipline up to and including excommunication. On one end of the spectrum, holding a TR indicates that you are a certified, card-carrying, member in good standing. On the other end of the spectrum, excommunication is a pretty definitive "you are no longer a member of our club."

I feel like I manage my leader's ability to make this decision for me.

1) I don't hold a TR and don't attend TR interviews. This helps to remove a very large carrot and stick from the table. As long as we are not talking about temple attendance then lots of other things can fall into a grey area. In my personal circumstance this is mostly because I don't pay tithing. Local church leaders have tried for years for me to pay tithing and attend the temple.

2) I play my cards pretty close to the vest. I tend to be vague and non-committal but hopeful about paying tithing in the future and attending the temple. I outwardly accept the church leadership's authority to speak for God and I submit myself to that authority.

Unless, I confess to some sort of apostacy or major sin - there doesn't seem to be much that anyone can do to me. In this way, I retain the ability to define myself as LDS while managing the ability of others to make that decision for me.