Don’t Call Dr. Laura If You’re Doubting Truth Claims of Your Religious Organization

I don’t think Dr. Laura has explicitly stated what her current theological beliefs are other than a few limited statements. She has every right to keep her theology private. Although she'll sometimes work with a caller's tradition, the program isn’t a religious one. But because it isn’t a religious program, she should probably defer some calls. [Bumping this up because it is still relevant.]

From what she has said, she’s either a Deist, Agnostic, or Atheist. It matters, and we can discern this to be so, because she doesn’t believe in miracles and will get snippy with a caller who mentions or implies being saved from a terrible or worse fate by supernatural intervention. Also, because she encourages people to stay with their current religious organization, as if it really doesn’t matter which one they are with. 

I originally felt compelled to write this entry because of a call she took on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, 27 minutes into first podcast hour. But she has subsequently taken other calls reinforcing my point.

“Sarah” or “Sara” was the caller. The caller said hello and started to get emotional, saying she didn't want to get emotional. She was crying.

"I was raised in a very orthodox religion..."

Dr. Laura asked which one. "You were raised in what church?"

"The Mormon church."

Sarah went on to say "Recently, within the last couple of years, I found out a lot of inconsistencies about the church, a lot of things that I was taught that aren't true about the church…”

She started getting emotional again.

Dr. Laura told her she needed to stop crying. "This is not life and death."

Well, actually, for believers, it is. It certainly was for the martyrs.

Dr. Laura said, “Before you go on, let me just say, if you think I really buy the burning bush that was not consumed, then you're smoking some funny dope. But I take these all as stories leading to a point of what kind of person we are supposed to be and how we're supposed to lead our lives. Ultimately, that's what religions are supposed to be about, even if they have internal inconsistences and stupid stuff going on.”

But why should we listen to those stories? I see people saying those stories are from Bronze Age goat herders who had little understanding of reality. So why should be listen to those stories?

“So I don’t worry about the inconsistencies, because these are issues of faith, they aren't issues of fact. I keep waiting for the burning bush. Soon as I see one, trust me, instantly, I'm going to join up. What I'm trying to tell you, is, there is a difference between faith and fact. And I think faith is very important- it's very hard to have facts about faith. Especially when nobody was there videoing.”

Would Dr. Laura say this about George Washington? None of us have actually seen George Washington. We have faith that certain things, such as documents, related to him are authentic.

But we don’t have video of him. For more about faith and fact, see this and this.

Then she likened it to telephone. “All the written stuff in every religion happened like that.” She reiterates it. “So I'm not arguing with you if you should believe in Mormonism or not. I personally don't care. That's a personal choice. But I'm just saying that I hear a lot of people getting squeeky in their situation because they're misthinking about religion. They're thinking about it as...concrete fact.”

The problem is, at least when it comes to the Bible, it wasn't like telephone.

The caller said for her it is more about community and trying to be better, and having that common good. "People will start talking about, 'Well this is the only true church...'"

Dr. Laura jumped in. “That's somebody's opinion and I hear that stupid stuff, too, from people.... You go through the histories of these faiths and they all took stories from each other. The burning bush showed up eons before in some other religion. I'm just telling you that it's a game of telephone. But the only thing I would like you to focus in on are the teachings in terms of family and behavior and honest and integrity and charity and empathy. Are these things something you embrace? Because they're things your church embraces. Mormons are bigger into charity than just about anyone else. I have been to Utah, I have seen the big buildings where they don't just give out stuff, they tell people 'you spend time working here. You make bread, you clean the clothes. You do this and that.’ And so people's dignity is maintained. They're not just being handed something. They feel respected because they are earning something and it keeps their feelings about themselves positive. I was very impressed with that when I saw that.”

Regular listeners know Dr. Laura is big on charity and people earning things.

“Dignity is maintained. That’s unusual in religions. Most of them just hand stuff out and don't worry about the dignity. To me, dignity is more important.”

To me. To me. To me.

So what? Am I the measure of what is true and good? Is Dr. Laura?

The caller says they do so many things right.

“Right, why don’t you focus in on that?” Dr. Laura points out Roman Catholicism and problems that church has had. “That there are bad people and weird interpretations? I no longer care about that.”

The caller was relieved, at least for now. “This makes me feel better because I have all of this guilt with my kids because they're teaching them all of these facts that aren't necessarily true.”

Dr. Laura: “Well you explain to them, ‘Some people believe these are facts, your mom is not one of them, but the basic teachings are superior.’” She then went on to say she isn’t just defending Mormonism; she’d handle calls about any religion this way.

“So just tell your kids the truth. ‘This is what I believe, this is the goodness that I embrace. Some of this stuff, I roll my eyeballs, but this is the goodness that teaches us how to be decent people. That's  what's most important about any religion. Teaching to be decent people and put other people's  welfare in front of you instead of behind you.’ That, to me, is how you teach your kid about religion.”

To me. To me. To me.

“All religions have these parts that make no sense - some people get a little too absorbed in the doesn't-make-sense-part…”

Really. What doesn’t make sense about Judaism? Supernatural isn’t senseless. If there is a Supreme Being, why couldn’t He intervene in the world? The burning bush probably wasn't literally on fire; it's a description of the glory of Him shining a bit into the world. That's brighter than fire. What doesn't make sense about Christianity? Sure, some people explain the teachings and theology poorly, but there are some great teachers.

She took a break after the call, but she came back and addressed the issue again, declaring what the important part of religion is. She reiterated that the only religion that would totally please you is the one you made up yourself.

But what if it's not just a matter of not liking something, but being seriously troubled by something, or going against your conscience? Who is Dr. Laura to determine what is important about religion, especially for anyone else? The LDS church claims that the Book of Mormon is more authoritative than the Bible, or at least that they best interpret the Bible, and they also claim ongoing revelation. Why is Dr. Laura to be believed over the supposed current prophets of that church? Over the writings in the Bible?

In Christianity, the most important thing is knowing and following Jesus. Yes, Jesus wants us to care for others, but why should we listen to Him? Especially if we don’t know what He really said, which is the implication she makes? Christianity is based on things that were done and said in public. If those things really didn’t happen, then the religion commits suicide. The Apostle Paul even says so. Of course, one could dismiss his writings or the entirely Bible, but that gets us back to the question of who do we listen to, and why?

Jesus is either who He said He was and is, or He isn't. Dr. Laura alludes to this when someone who is a non-Messianic Jew and someone who is a Christian want to marry and have children. But it's not merely a tenet of Christianity. It's the very point of Christianity. A central tenet of Mormonism, some would argue it is THE foundation, is that it is a "restoration" of the true church. It is THE one true church; it's not enough to believe some or all of the central tenets other than that one. One must be a dutiful member of that specific organization. That's not just "someone's opinion", it's foundational to the church.

One could say that the caller called Dr. Laura for advice, and so clearly the caller values Dr. Laura's opinions. True, but why? I trust Dr. Laura's opinions on therapy and family dynamics, for the most part, because of her experience. She isn't nearly as experienced when it comes to religious organizations.

The caller could talk to ex-Mormons, Mormons in good standing, and Christians who've never been Mormons, all of whom would tell her that she can't "go through the motions" of Mormonism if she doesn't believe it. Sincerity is essential, especially since she's expected to give her "testimony" and actively seek to bring people into the church, including people who are in other churches, and teach her children to do the same. If she thinks the organization is dishonest and problematic, how can she do that in good conscience?

I know Dr. Laura has spoken out against terrorism by people claiming to be Muslims. They've all engaged in charity. On what basis does she say their cause is wrong? Because it's terrorism? What makes terrorism wrong?

Many people saw Jim Jones as helping the poor and giving people a sense of community. But that didn't turn out so well, did it?

I know Dr. Laura has had friends who are Mormon and has been impressed by some people who are Mormon. But does she know anyone who has left the church and what they experienced in doing so? It would be interesting to see her compare and contrast that to what she experienced when she stopped practicing Orthodox Judaism. Of course some people who leave an organization are going to have gripes, but many people who've left the Mormon church have experienced similar treatment to each other that can be very troubling. Most organizations you leave might continue to send you messages in an effort to get you to come back, but things tend to go way beyond that with this organization.

Dr. Laura seems to take a practical approach to things like this. She sees Mormonism doing great things through dignified charity, through promoting personal virtues. She recommends twelve step programs, which encourage people to operate under the belief in a high power. However, because she doesn't see religious truth claims or theology as important, it would probably be best if she deferred calls like the one that prompted this entry. There is going to be friction between the caller (and perhaps her children) and the organization. The caller will likely still be troubled, as relieved as she sounded during the call. The kids are going to either experience cognitive dissonance, or will think their mother is apostate or a heretic, or will get the idea that it is good to stick with organizations that do things on an ongoing basis with which they seriously disagree. There are many, many other charitable organizations they could be involved with. There are other churches that will instill virtue in them without making a problematic claim to exclusive authority.

Mormonism, orthodox Christianity, and Atheistic or Deistic outlooks on life are all in contradiction. They could all be wrong, but no more than one of those three can be right, and the differences do have an impact on how we live.

I love Dr. Laura and her show, but I was cringing during this call and subsequent calls like it.