Not what I expected- Diversity event

This past Wednesday I attended a lecture entitled Extra-Ordinary Experiences and the Emergence of New Visionary Movements-Mormonism and the Golden Plates by Ann Taves for a diversity event.  I thought that this would be an interesting talk for a couple different reasons.  The first was that I had a Mormon friend in high school and the second was that I like to learn about different religions. 

So, around 7:30 I headed to the MU without thinking since all the other talks I have attended have been there.  Soon I realized that this was wrong and after a few confused minutes I quickly headed to the Sceman Building.  Apparently I need to learn to read a bit better. OOPS!

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this lecture.  I guess I went into the lecture thinking that there would be some explanation of the core beliefs of Mormonism and the significance of the Golden Plates.  Instead, the main topic had more to do with whether or not the Golden Plates actually existed or if they were a delusion.  Dr. Taves went into some philosophical reasoning which I find really hard to follow.  In addition to it being hard for me to follow, it was a very dry talk in general.  It was clear that Dr. Taves knew what she was talking about, but I think she had a harder time connecting with the audience.  I found myself watching the American Sign Language interpreters most of the times while still listening to Dr. Taves speak.

 This has been the first talk that I can honestly say that I did not enjoy at all.  Yet, I still am walking away with something and that is the motivation to take some time an research Mormonism on my own to satisfy my curiosity.  I think it is important to at least be familiar with different religions and that is what I try to do.  I find that learning about other religions allows me to examine my beliefs and to decide how happy I am with them.