006: Rock Waterman - Pure Mormonism

Rock Waterman is a popular LDS blogger who owns and operates the Pure Mormonism blog. In this interview Rock shares some of his backstory, including his "Mighty Change" that shifted his perspectives on Mormonism and ultimately motivated him to start his blog and share his perspective with all of Mormondom.

Rock stands as a unique voice, warning the Saints about relying too much on the institutional church headquartered in Salt Lake City and its administrative leadership at the expense of developing our own relationship with God through scripture, revelation, and the Spirit of God. In the interview, we touch on a few topics including: the error of institutional infallibility and blind obedience, the nature of true revelation mediated through prophets, and how to maintain faith in Jesus Christ independent of religious institutions.

I think Rock's unique take is an important and desperately needed voice in Modern Mormonism. We have all been taught that the Church and the Gospel are codependent and inseparable. As such, it is common for Mormons who take issue with certain aspects of Church policy, history and perceived past crimes to allow those grievances to influence their relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rock Waterman's approach to this situation allows us as Mormons to embrace what we feel is true and right about the Gospel while setting aside aspects of our Mormon experience that are not in harmony with our values and ethics.

We would like to thank Rock again for his willingness to share his experience and perspective with our listeners.