I, like many other Latter-Day Saints grew up knowing that there were certain topics that were “just not discussed” openly, or even within the privacy of our own homes.  Many (if not most) of these topics had to do with the Temple, and with the practices and ordinances performed inside. The reason I have most often been given for this discretion is that while these topics are not Secret they are Sacred, and must be treated with the appropriate respect. This was very confusing as a child, and I often had a hard time distinguishing between the two. Something was sacred but not secret, except for it was a secret because we didn’t talk about it. There were certain things that I simply was not allowed to know, and any 3rd grade girl worth her pigtails knew that what you weren’t allowed to know was the very definition of a secret.

I remember as a young child, attending my grandmothers funeral and seeing her dressed in her temple clothing.  I was perplexed.  Nobody had ever shown or explained these seemingly strange garments to me, (not to be confused with the traditional garments that I frequently saw my parents wearing around the house) and when I asked my parents about them, I was told that it was something that I would understand when I was older and when I had gone through the temple. Not being in on the secret just made me want to know it more, but fearing that I would offend God by probing into such sacred matters, I never pressed the issue.

There were other topics too of course that we didn’t talk about, or at the least least, tried very hard to avoid.  Subjects like Blacks and the priesthood, Polygamy, and Women holding the priesthood fell under the category of, “Not relevant for your salvation”, and “When you meet God, you can ask Him yourself”. This was of course all before the days of the internet and the worldwide free exchange of information, and as technology has grown, so has the worlds ability to know what was once held back from the public eye.

The question is….Is this such a bad thing?

The church is obviously making a concerted effort to become more open about not only it’s sometimes colorful history, but also it’s present day beliefs and practices. One of the more recent of these is a short video the church has released that explains the temple robes, and everyday garments worn by its members. It has also recently released articles dealing with the sensitive issue of Joseph Smiths participation in polygamy and polyandry. Many critics and supporters of the church are congratulating the church for what they are calling their efforts in being more “transparent”, but some faithful members worry if too much openness is in practice making light of what we hold to be of the utmost sacred in nature.

One way to look at it is from a purely social and human behavioral standpoint.

We as humans are nothing if not deeply symbolic.  We find ourselves surrounded by a world of objects and symbols that we either create, or no, that we must then give meaning to.  Think of something as seemingly benign as the iconic peace sign we Americans like to flash with our two fingers forming a “V”. If you were to flash that same sign in Great Britain, it would be the equivalent of flipping someone off.

So much for peace on earth.

Now take something a little more sacred to Mormons; the temple garments.  We believe that these under clothes are sacred because of the religious relevance that we place on them.  Let’s pretend that a shipment of LDS garments were to fall off the truck they were being transported in, and someone not of the faith were to find them.  What reaction do you suppose they would have? My guess is that it would be a neutral one, or they would be excited that they had found some new white generic under clothing.  There would be nothing sacred about the clothing to them because they are totally unaware of the symbolic meaning that we as members have placed on them.  I know several people might argue that the garments themselves hold an intrinsic or inherent sacredness, but I would still argue that someone without knowledge of their meaning would most likely fail to feel the sacred impact of possessing them.

Here is another view point.

Many members have no issue with the church divulging historical information, but get a bit squeamish when we begin to approach topics such as the temple and the sacred ordinances performed inside.  Some are willing to be more transparent, so long as it is done in the appropriate fashion. This leads us to a discussion that has more to do with good PR work and tact than anything else. These members aren’t saying “don’t you dare talk about it”, but rather, “Be careful about the WAY you talk about it”. Personally, when I hear statements like that I get a nervous feeling in my intestinal area, and I begin to have flash backs of my childhood when I would say something candidly (as children do) and was then immediately reprimanded by an adult for speaking in such a way. It wasn’t what I said, but rather, how I had said it.  Don’t get me wrong, my Bachelors degree is in Communication, and I fully endorse tact when dealing with sensitive topics, but that being said, I also believe that this can be taken to a point where people become afraid to discuss certain topics for fear that they will offend someone or say the “wrong” thing.

There is one last thing to consider here, and that is the simple fact that no matter what else changes in the world, people will always be curious about things that are secret.  If a person really wants to know exactly what goes on during a temple ordinance, a quick search on Google will give them all of the information they want, complete with bootleg footage, but what if that same person asks a church member about those ordinances? Should we as a church and its members be moving towards a place where such practices can be discussed as openly as a Catholic Christening or a Jewish Bar Mitzvah? By talking more candidly about these ordinances, does it somehow diminish the sacredness of them? I would say no.

Talking about something sacred does not change or lesson the weight of its sacred value. The reason it doesn’t is because the sacred value lies not within the act or ordinance itself, but rather in the heart and soul of the person performing said action. It lies in the human and not in the thing that the human is looking at. Like the old saying goes, Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, and to that I would add that sacredness is in the soul of the believer.   If something is sacred to you, then it is sacred to you, but this doesn’t automatically mean that it will be sacred to anyone else. It also doesn’t mean that by talking about it you have somehow given some of its value away. It is true that the Bible warns against casting pearls before swine, but Christ also says “Let he who has ears to hear listen”.

If you feel inclined to share something sacred with another person, be it personal revelation, or experiences, or practices, there is always the chance that the weight and value you placed on this revelation is not going to transfer to the other person, in fact, I would count on that being the case.  Some might think that we should only share sacred things with people who can and will fully share in our mutual sense of value, but I would suggest that this might be a bit too simplistic.  It must also be considered as to why we only want to share these things with people who will appreciate or agree with us.  As humans, we have a fundamental need to be heard, understood, and validated.  Part of the reason we dislike talking to people who have differing views than our own is because (1) These conversations can often be tiring and draining (2) We don’t like hearing that we are wrong (3) We hate, hate, HATE feeling misunderstood and invalidated.

If something is truly sacred to us then we will have a harder time wanting to openly discuss them, as per our human nature, but I believe that it is exactly for this reason that we should more towards a place where subjects like this can be shared and discussed openly and without anxiety.  We share this planet, we share these lives, and we ought to share ourselves. We have no control on how our message will be received or re-transmitted, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t share them when we feel the moment calls for it.  We will always have control over how we personally choose to deliver the message, and so long as we personally treat it with the respect and attitude we believe that it deserves, then there should be no fear in transparency.

It can be Sacred with no need of Secret.