A belief distinct to Latter-day Saints (Mormons) is eternal marriage. In Temples, Latter-day Saint couples are married not with the traditional understanding of “till death do us part”, but believing they will stay married for the rest of eternity. One might think the implications of such a marriage would have a paralyzing effect on Latter-day Saint singles worried about their ability to spend literally infinite time with their partner, but surprisingly, Latter-day Saint courtships are notoriously quick.

There is an interesting moment in the Platonic dialogue Protagoras where Socrates, the champion of seeking knowledge, also cautions us about the nature of knowledge.1 It occurs when a companion of Socrates calls on him in the early morning, eagerly entreating him to accompany him to listen to the great Sophist Protagoras. Socrates eventually agrees, but warns his over-eager companion. He reasons that Sophists are like any other merchant, but instead of physical goods, they deal in the “food of the soul.

If you belong to a church, you likely face the temptation to free ride. By free riding, I mean you want to enjoy the benefits of membership without performing the obligations with which membership may come. By way of illustration, I’ll use an example I’m very familiar with–the obligation to attend Sunday School in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is occasionally a little boring. Here are the particulars of that example:

If you haven’t heard of Desert Island Discs, it’s a long-running BBC radio program where guests are asked to imagine what eight discs they would want with them if they were marooned on a desert island.1 Typically these discs are comprised of one track, but I think it makes more sense to imagine you have eight full albums with you. Since the BBC have somehow yet to invite me, I decided to try the exercise myself with two modifications.

I have been trying to develop a model to explain how church leaders react to changing public opinion regarding some issue. I had initially developed this preliminary flowchart: But I wanted to formalize it, despite that not being in my wheelhouse at all. So I started off by making a list of every reasonably likely factor I could think of that might influence how church leaders make decisions in the face of public opinion.