"So what do you believe now?" I get that question a lot when people find out that I've left Mormonism and no longer attend any church at all.
Let's see if I can sum it up:
I believe that in the vast expanse of the Universe that there might be a force or a persona or whatever you might want to call it that created all of this. I don't see any evidence of it but I'm open to it. That would make me an agnostic.
I don't believe in any of the gods that man has created over the last thirty to fifty thousand years to explain his place in the Universe. I don't believe in _______.(insert your personal god here). That would make me an atheist.
So I guess the best answer to "what do you believe" is agnostic atheism. Beyond that I believe in:
1. Treating others as they want to be treated
2. Reason
3. Logic
4. The Scientific Method
5. That the only real sin lies in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other sins are man made nonsense.
6. Good sushi
7. Peace, love and my family and friends
I don't believe in religion and I strongly doubt if I ever will again.
As Steven Weinberg once said, "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion."
So yeah, that's what I now believe.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Let's talk about sex ("confess your crimes against the party!")
I was reading over another post that I had made and noticed that I touched on polygamy and a little on the Mormon quest for sexual purity. So let's talk a little about sex and Mormonism and how far they will go in seeking "ultra purity".
Most people have the idea that what you do sexually after age 18 is your own business and that after you get married you should stay faithful to your spouse. From what I have observed, there are different degrees of concern among the religious about pre-martial sex from thinking that it's a sin that will send you to hell to thinking that Jesus will forgive you of every broken law no matter how many times you break it.
In Mormonism, any sexual behavior outside of marriage is the equivalent of robbing a convenience store and shooting the clerk in the head on the way out. The Mormon Church and it's leaders are absolutely obsessed with sexual matters! Even more extreme, Mormonism even wants to regulate the sex lives of married persons!!! Check out a few quotes for here on how the leaders of "God's One True Church" must fight a war with the devil all the time so that married couples won't engage in oral sex.
And they wonder why people think that the Mormon Church is a cult?
Mormon leaders know that if they can use guilt to manipulate you when you are young, they can use it to keep you in line when you are older. One particularly vile old man named Spencer W. Kimball was the master of guilt about sex. He was "prophet, seer, and revelator" and President of the Mormon Church from 1973 until 1985 although he became senile much earlier than 1985. When it came to "sexual purity" Kimball was a foaming at the mouth fanatic. Here is a sample of his twisted thinking:
"Since courtship is prelude to marriage and encourages close associations, many have convinced themselves that intimacies are legitimate—a part of the courting process. Many have cast off bridle and harness and have relaxed the restraints. Instead of remaining in the field of simple expressions of affection, some have turned themselves loose to fondling, often called “necking,” with its intimate contacts and its passionate kissing. Necking is the younger member of this unholy family. Its bigger sister is called “petting.” When the intimacies have reached this stage, they are surely the sins condemned by the Savior..." [Geez! How in god's name did this man ever get an erection long enough to impregnate his wife?!?]
"Masturbation, a rather common indiscretion, is not approved of the Lord nor of his church, regardless of what may have been said by others whose “norms” are lower. Latter-day Saints are urged to avoid this practice. Anyone fettered by this weakness should abandon the habit before he goes on a mission or receives the holy priesthood or goes in the temple for his blessings.
Sometimes masturbation is the introduction to the more serious sins of exhibitionism and the gross sin of homosexuality..." (New Era, Nov 1980, 39)
So all you guys out there looking at pics of naked women on the Internet......YA GONNA ALL BECOME HOMOS!!!!
Kimball even hated it when people kissed!
"Kissing has been prostituted and has degenerated to develop and express lust instead of affection, honor, and admiration. To kiss in casual dating is asking for trouble. What do kisses mean when given out like pretzels and robbed of sacredness? What is miscalled the "soul kiss" is an abomination and stirs passions to the eventual loss of virtue. Even if timely courtship justifies the kiss it should be a clean, decent, sexless one like the kiss between mother and son, or father and daughter. "(The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.281)
It's been my experience in life that people who go on an on like this do so because they feel a need to cover-up their own private sins which turn out to be much worse than those they accuse others of. I don't know what Kimball had going on in his private life, but his teachings sure indicate something wasn't quite right. The last line of that quotation is just plain creepy!
Yet the leaders of the LDS Church are on a zealous crusade to fight passion and lust. Just as Kimball's quotes indicate, Mormon leaders are leaving no stone unturned in their witch hunt for transgressors...unless your last name is Marriott. After all, sex may be very bad and sinful, but losing tithing revenue off of 10 billion dollars is much worse!!!
If you are unlucky enough to have "sinned" sexually, then the Mormon Church has a special treat for you. You get to go an confess your sin face to face with a bishop. In the LDS Church a bishop isn't a trained clergy person. Because of their all volunteer priesthood no one (except for the leaders in Salt Lake City) gets paid so LDS bishops all work other jobs and are part-time ministers. You could be confessing to a dentist or to a bricklayer!
If your sex sin is really bad, then you must go before a group of priesthood leaders for a disciplinary council where you face a group of men and must confess your crimes..er...sins again.
Mormons like to call these "Courts of Love". Here is one example of what can go on.
The irony in all this is Joseph "horny Joe" Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church was a total sex pervert . Yet Mormons sing praises to him. Yet the average Joe has sex before marriage and gets crucified.
Just another twist in the long, strange trip through Mormonism!
Most people have the idea that what you do sexually after age 18 is your own business and that after you get married you should stay faithful to your spouse. From what I have observed, there are different degrees of concern among the religious about pre-martial sex from thinking that it's a sin that will send you to hell to thinking that Jesus will forgive you of every broken law no matter how many times you break it.
In Mormonism, any sexual behavior outside of marriage is the equivalent of robbing a convenience store and shooting the clerk in the head on the way out. The Mormon Church and it's leaders are absolutely obsessed with sexual matters! Even more extreme, Mormonism even wants to regulate the sex lives of married persons!!! Check out a few quotes for here on how the leaders of "God's One True Church" must fight a war with the devil all the time so that married couples won't engage in oral sex.
And they wonder why people think that the Mormon Church is a cult?
Mormon leaders know that if they can use guilt to manipulate you when you are young, they can use it to keep you in line when you are older. One particularly vile old man named Spencer W. Kimball was the master of guilt about sex. He was "prophet, seer, and revelator" and President of the Mormon Church from 1973 until 1985 although he became senile much earlier than 1985. When it came to "sexual purity" Kimball was a foaming at the mouth fanatic. Here is a sample of his twisted thinking:
"Since courtship is prelude to marriage and encourages close associations, many have convinced themselves that intimacies are legitimate—a part of the courting process. Many have cast off bridle and harness and have relaxed the restraints. Instead of remaining in the field of simple expressions of affection, some have turned themselves loose to fondling, often called “necking,” with its intimate contacts and its passionate kissing. Necking is the younger member of this unholy family. Its bigger sister is called “petting.” When the intimacies have reached this stage, they are surely the sins condemned by the Savior..." [Geez! How in god's name did this man ever get an erection long enough to impregnate his wife?!?]
"Masturbation, a rather common indiscretion, is not approved of the Lord nor of his church, regardless of what may have been said by others whose “norms” are lower. Latter-day Saints are urged to avoid this practice. Anyone fettered by this weakness should abandon the habit before he goes on a mission or receives the holy priesthood or goes in the temple for his blessings.
Sometimes masturbation is the introduction to the more serious sins of exhibitionism and the gross sin of homosexuality..." (New Era, Nov 1980, 39)
So all you guys out there looking at pics of naked women on the Internet......YA GONNA ALL BECOME HOMOS!!!!
Kimball even hated it when people kissed!
"Kissing has been prostituted and has degenerated to develop and express lust instead of affection, honor, and admiration. To kiss in casual dating is asking for trouble. What do kisses mean when given out like pretzels and robbed of sacredness? What is miscalled the "soul kiss" is an abomination and stirs passions to the eventual loss of virtue. Even if timely courtship justifies the kiss it should be a clean, decent, sexless one like the kiss between mother and son, or father and daughter. "(The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.281)
It's been my experience in life that people who go on an on like this do so because they feel a need to cover-up their own private sins which turn out to be much worse than those they accuse others of. I don't know what Kimball had going on in his private life, but his teachings sure indicate something wasn't quite right. The last line of that quotation is just plain creepy!
Yet the leaders of the LDS Church are on a zealous crusade to fight passion and lust. Just as Kimball's quotes indicate, Mormon leaders are leaving no stone unturned in their witch hunt for transgressors...unless your last name is Marriott. After all, sex may be very bad and sinful, but losing tithing revenue off of 10 billion dollars is much worse!!!
If you are unlucky enough to have "sinned" sexually, then the Mormon Church has a special treat for you. You get to go an confess your sin face to face with a bishop. In the LDS Church a bishop isn't a trained clergy person. Because of their all volunteer priesthood no one (except for the leaders in Salt Lake City) gets paid so LDS bishops all work other jobs and are part-time ministers. You could be confessing to a dentist or to a bricklayer!
If your sex sin is really bad, then you must go before a group of priesthood leaders for a disciplinary council where you face a group of men and must confess your crimes..er...sins again.
Mormons like to call these "Courts of Love". Here is one example of what can go on.
The irony in all this is Joseph "horny Joe" Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church was a total sex pervert . Yet Mormons sing praises to him. Yet the average Joe has sex before marriage and gets crucified.
Just another twist in the long, strange trip through Mormonism!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The war of the underwear
From here on I'm going to share the little experiences that I had while I was in the Mormon Church. It took 15 years of my life so there are a lot of funny, sad, happy and just plain weird stories.
Today's story is in the weird category. It has to do with the sacred underwear that Mormons call the garment of the Holy Priesthood or just plain garments.
The LDS Church is the only religion I know of in which the members are required to wear special underwear. Yet not just any Mormon can wear them. You have to meet some basic requirements first. You must be a temple Mormon. Young men 19 years old and going into the mission field or young women getting married qualify. Otherwise you usually have to wait until you are 25 years old or older. Most of the time it depends on your situation but persons under 18 rarely if ever wear garments. Also you must go through a special ceremony inside the temple to get them.
That secret ceremony is briefly outlined here. I've discussed most of it in an ealirer post but after the water and oil washing and annointing you move to another booth and a temple worker puts the garments on you while repeating the following to you:
"Brother Dunn, under proper authority, the Garment placed upon you is now authorized and is to be worn throughout your life. It represents the Garment given to Adam when he was found naked in the Garden of Eden, and is called the Garment of the Holy Priesthood. Inasmuch as you do not defile it, but are true and faithful to your covenants, it will be a shield and a protection to you against the power of the destroyer until you have finished your work on the earth."
You can take the Garment off for sex, bathing and to go to the beach. Otherwise, you must keep it on all the time. I can even recall a church authority fussing at members for leaving the garments off after having sex. "After you finish you must put the Garments back on" he said.
A picture of a man and woman in their garments can be found on this link.
Before I joined Mormonism I thought garments were cool. They had certain types of mesh garments that not only looked cool but were cool in southern summers. But by god did the ever stand out if they came untucked from your clothing. The result was that you always had to make sure that your cloths were tucked in, you couldn't wear shorts and you always hoped that people would not find out about your underwear and make fun of them. Also, you could never throw them on the floor. They had to be put on a towel rack while you were in the shower. They were so very sacred...and in the long run a big pain in the ass.
When I discovered that Mormonism was a hoax, the first thing I did was ditch the garments. It was like tearing down my own personal Berlin Wall! Unfortunately my wife didn't see it that way. I'll never forget the crying jag she went on when she discovered that I had bought myself some normal underwear. She told me that the garments were symbolic of our "eternal temple marriage" (something that I had never heard before).
For the next few years we engaged in the "war of the underwear". She went out of her way to make sure I knew how "ugly" normal underwear was. It got so bad at one point that I actually put the damn things back on. After a while she realized that Satan wasn't going to ride his Harley out of hell and cut my head off for not wearing the Jesus Jammies but only after I went out in public "commando" for a few times. Better some underwear than no underwear at all.
Over the years I came to see garments for what they really were: the chains that bound you to the Mormon Church. Just part of the vast system to control the average member as much as is possible. I do know one thing: I sure don't miss them. Especially when the heat index in 105!
Today's story is in the weird category. It has to do with the sacred underwear that Mormons call the garment of the Holy Priesthood or just plain garments.
The LDS Church is the only religion I know of in which the members are required to wear special underwear. Yet not just any Mormon can wear them. You have to meet some basic requirements first. You must be a temple Mormon. Young men 19 years old and going into the mission field or young women getting married qualify. Otherwise you usually have to wait until you are 25 years old or older. Most of the time it depends on your situation but persons under 18 rarely if ever wear garments. Also you must go through a special ceremony inside the temple to get them.
That secret ceremony is briefly outlined here. I've discussed most of it in an ealirer post but after the water and oil washing and annointing you move to another booth and a temple worker puts the garments on you while repeating the following to you:
"Brother Dunn, under proper authority, the Garment placed upon you is now authorized and is to be worn throughout your life. It represents the Garment given to Adam when he was found naked in the Garden of Eden, and is called the Garment of the Holy Priesthood. Inasmuch as you do not defile it, but are true and faithful to your covenants, it will be a shield and a protection to you against the power of the destroyer until you have finished your work on the earth."
You can take the Garment off for sex, bathing and to go to the beach. Otherwise, you must keep it on all the time. I can even recall a church authority fussing at members for leaving the garments off after having sex. "After you finish you must put the Garments back on" he said.
A picture of a man and woman in their garments can be found on this link.
Before I joined Mormonism I thought garments were cool. They had certain types of mesh garments that not only looked cool but were cool in southern summers. But by god did the ever stand out if they came untucked from your clothing. The result was that you always had to make sure that your cloths were tucked in, you couldn't wear shorts and you always hoped that people would not find out about your underwear and make fun of them. Also, you could never throw them on the floor. They had to be put on a towel rack while you were in the shower. They were so very sacred...and in the long run a big pain in the ass.
When I discovered that Mormonism was a hoax, the first thing I did was ditch the garments. It was like tearing down my own personal Berlin Wall! Unfortunately my wife didn't see it that way. I'll never forget the crying jag she went on when she discovered that I had bought myself some normal underwear. She told me that the garments were symbolic of our "eternal temple marriage" (something that I had never heard before).
For the next few years we engaged in the "war of the underwear". She went out of her way to make sure I knew how "ugly" normal underwear was. It got so bad at one point that I actually put the damn things back on. After a while she realized that Satan wasn't going to ride his Harley out of hell and cut my head off for not wearing the Jesus Jammies but only after I went out in public "commando" for a few times. Better some underwear than no underwear at all.
Over the years I came to see garments for what they really were: the chains that bound you to the Mormon Church. Just part of the vast system to control the average member as much as is possible. I do know one thing: I sure don't miss them. Especially when the heat index in 105!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Why I Left Part 3- "Climbing to the top of Mount Crazy"
From 1990 until 1996 I struggled to stay active in the LDS Church. Sometimes I was successful...other times I was not. During this time we moved a few times so I no longer was in the Branch Presidency. I was, however, called to be in the Elders Quorum Presidency. I must have the "look" because I was Elders Quorum President twice and a councilor at least five other times in my 15 years of activity.
It was during the summer of 1991 that I challenged my brother to read the Book of Mormon with me. I had some tapes my father-in-law had given me of to read along with. My brother had been baptized into the LDS Church in 1989 but had wisely resigned a few months later. I was trying to pull him back in.
We started in First Nephi. The damn book is excruciatingly boring so my brother dropped out of our reading program early on. I determined to plod on through to the end...the bitter end. I was no longer a starry eyed convert full of illusions about the LDS Church so I read the book with more attention to detail. It was not the spiritual experience that I thought it would be. As much as I want to renew my faith, reading the Book of Mormon again only further damaged it. I paid attention to passages like this one in the Book of Ether:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Now the daughter of Jared being exceedingly expert, and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom unto her father.
9 Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair. And it came to pass that she did talk with her father, and said unto him: Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?
10 And now, therefore, let my father send for Akish, the son of Kimnor; and behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, that he will desire me to wife; wherefore if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say: I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
11 And now Omer was a friend to Akish; wherefore, when Jared had sent for Akish, the daughter of Jared danced before him that she pleased him, insomuch that he desired her to wife. And it came to pass that he said unto Jared: Give her unto me to wife.
12 And Jared said unto him: I will give her unto you, if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
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Sound familiar? Look in the Bible at Mark, Chapter 6:
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22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps Smith kept his head in the hat too long that day!
Several years went by and in 1996 I became very active again. In the fall of 1996 I attended General Conference in Salt Lake with my wife. It was a great weekend with some very good friends and I was able to go to a bookstore and find some early LDS writing and also get the full 26 Volume Journal of Discourses. When I returned home, I began to study the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants (revelations given to Joseph Smith and used by Mormons as scripture). I had a question in January of 1997 about Abraham and polygamy as I was reading the Bible. I went to the Journal of Discourses for "further light and knowledge". What I found blew my mind.
At this same time I began an internet conversation with members of The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (TLC) in Manti, Utah. These were the people who knew what Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had really taught and were trying to live it. With their help, I began to climb to the top of Mount Crazy. You see, early Mormonism was a cult in every sense of the word. I began to find out that Joseph Smith had a thing for teenage girls and other men's wives. He was "commanded by God" to marry them. The list of what I learned about polygamy was long. You can find much of it here. One thing became very clear: the Mormons had lied their butts off about polygamy to me and to the rest of the world.
After many months of research, it became painfully clear that polygamy was the Watergate scandal of Mormonism. It was a massive historical cover-up.
So, if it was really essential to salvation, should I take another wife? Well if Brigham and Joseph and all the others did............
I almost went down that road. I woke up on top of Mount Crazy and realized that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was false and that Joseph Smith was a fraud and an imposter. Mormonism was just what I had been told it was: a deceptive trap. The final straw was Gordon Hinckley's great lie. He was asked in an interview with Time Magazine about a unique LDS doctrine...one that I had heard taught and one that I had taught myself for many years: that God was once a man and that men could become gods. It is well know in to LDS members because leaders from Joseph Smith on taught it:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us.... Here, then, is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,... the same as all Gods have done before you..." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 342-345)
"He [God] is our Father - the Father of our spirits, and was once a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted being." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:333)
"Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar that through which we are now passing. He became God - an exalted being - through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey." (Milton R. Hunter ,The Gospel Through the Ages, p 104)
So what does the Prophet Gordon Hinckley say about it? When asked by Time Magazine if God was once a man he said:
"I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."
Hinckley then had the balls to stand before the general membership at the November 1997 Conference and say the following:
"None of you need worry because you read something that was incompletely reported. You need not worry that I do not understand some matters of doctrine. I think I understand them thoroughly, and it is unfortunate that the reporting may not make this clear. I hope you will never look to the public press as the authority on the doctrines of the Church."
Unfortunately for Hinckley, Time released the transcript of the interview:
"Q: Just another related question that comes up is the statements in the King Follett discourse by the Prophet.
Hinckley: Yeah
Q: ... about that, God the Father was once a man as we were. This is something that Christian writers are always addressing. Is this the teaching of the church today, that God the Father was once a man like we are?
Hinckley: I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."
Ironically, a few talks after Hinckley spoke at that conference the topic addressed was about having a "Unfailing Moral Compass"!
Thanks Gordon! Thanks for opening the door for me to leave your one true and living lie.
Yet like all high control groups, the LDS Church wasn't about to let me go just like that. I had to struggle with a determined branch president, with my wife who still (and still does) believe and with my own sense of duty to the Church for over 5 years until I had the courage to formally "divorce" the Mormon Church by getting my name taken off the rolls in September of 2002.
It was more than worth it to get out! Yet I continue to recover from Mormonism. I hope that I may be able to address this in my blog postings in the future.
Well there you have it folks. What a long, strange trip it has been!
It was during the summer of 1991 that I challenged my brother to read the Book of Mormon with me. I had some tapes my father-in-law had given me of to read along with. My brother had been baptized into the LDS Church in 1989 but had wisely resigned a few months later. I was trying to pull him back in.
We started in First Nephi. The damn book is excruciatingly boring so my brother dropped out of our reading program early on. I determined to plod on through to the end...the bitter end. I was no longer a starry eyed convert full of illusions about the LDS Church so I read the book with more attention to detail. It was not the spiritual experience that I thought it would be. As much as I want to renew my faith, reading the Book of Mormon again only further damaged it. I paid attention to passages like this one in the Book of Ether:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Now the daughter of Jared being exceedingly expert, and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom unto her father.
9 Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair. And it came to pass that she did talk with her father, and said unto him: Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory?
10 And now, therefore, let my father send for Akish, the son of Kimnor; and behold, I am fair, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, that he will desire me to wife; wherefore if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say: I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
11 And now Omer was a friend to Akish; wherefore, when Jared had sent for Akish, the daughter of Jared danced before him that she pleased him, insomuch that he desired her to wife. And it came to pass that he said unto Jared: Give her unto me to wife.
12 And Jared said unto him: I will give her unto you, if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound familiar? Look in the Bible at Mark, Chapter 6:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps Smith kept his head in the hat too long that day!
Several years went by and in 1996 I became very active again. In the fall of 1996 I attended General Conference in Salt Lake with my wife. It was a great weekend with some very good friends and I was able to go to a bookstore and find some early LDS writing and also get the full 26 Volume Journal of Discourses. When I returned home, I began to study the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants (revelations given to Joseph Smith and used by Mormons as scripture). I had a question in January of 1997 about Abraham and polygamy as I was reading the Bible. I went to the Journal of Discourses for "further light and knowledge". What I found blew my mind.
At this same time I began an internet conversation with members of The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (TLC) in Manti, Utah. These were the people who knew what Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had really taught and were trying to live it. With their help, I began to climb to the top of Mount Crazy. You see, early Mormonism was a cult in every sense of the word. I began to find out that Joseph Smith had a thing for teenage girls and other men's wives. He was "commanded by God" to marry them. The list of what I learned about polygamy was long. You can find much of it here. One thing became very clear: the Mormons had lied their butts off about polygamy to me and to the rest of the world.
After many months of research, it became painfully clear that polygamy was the Watergate scandal of Mormonism. It was a massive historical cover-up.
So, if it was really essential to salvation, should I take another wife? Well if Brigham and Joseph and all the others did............
I almost went down that road. I woke up on top of Mount Crazy and realized that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was false and that Joseph Smith was a fraud and an imposter. Mormonism was just what I had been told it was: a deceptive trap. The final straw was Gordon Hinckley's great lie. He was asked in an interview with Time Magazine about a unique LDS doctrine...one that I had heard taught and one that I had taught myself for many years: that God was once a man and that men could become gods. It is well know in to LDS members because leaders from Joseph Smith on taught it:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us.... Here, then, is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,... the same as all Gods have done before you..." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 342-345)
"He [God] is our Father - the Father of our spirits, and was once a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted being." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:333)
"Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar that through which we are now passing. He became God - an exalted being - through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey." (Milton R. Hunter ,The Gospel Through the Ages, p 104)
So what does the Prophet Gordon Hinckley say about it? When asked by Time Magazine if God was once a man he said:
"I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."
Hinckley then had the balls to stand before the general membership at the November 1997 Conference and say the following:
"None of you need worry because you read something that was incompletely reported. You need not worry that I do not understand some matters of doctrine. I think I understand them thoroughly, and it is unfortunate that the reporting may not make this clear. I hope you will never look to the public press as the authority on the doctrines of the Church."
Unfortunately for Hinckley, Time released the transcript of the interview:
"Q: Just another related question that comes up is the statements in the King Follett discourse by the Prophet.
Hinckley: Yeah
Q: ... about that, God the Father was once a man as we were. This is something that Christian writers are always addressing. Is this the teaching of the church today, that God the Father was once a man like we are?
Hinckley: I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."
Ironically, a few talks after Hinckley spoke at that conference the topic addressed was about having a "Unfailing Moral Compass"!
Thanks Gordon! Thanks for opening the door for me to leave your one true and living lie.
Yet like all high control groups, the LDS Church wasn't about to let me go just like that. I had to struggle with a determined branch president, with my wife who still (and still does) believe and with my own sense of duty to the Church for over 5 years until I had the courage to formally "divorce" the Mormon Church by getting my name taken off the rolls in September of 2002.
It was more than worth it to get out! Yet I continue to recover from Mormonism. I hope that I may be able to address this in my blog postings in the future.
Well there you have it folks. What a long, strange trip it has been!
Why I Left Part 2- "You can check out anytime you like...but you can never leave"
In early 1990, two critical things happened to me:
1. I came to the conclusion that the branch presidency that I was in was highly ineffective in doing anything.
2. Gordon Hinckley and his fellows in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles decided to change the endowment ceremony through "inspiration" (i.e., a survey sent out to members asking what they liked and didn't like about this temple ceremony).
For those who don't understand the inner workings of Mormonism, the church is divided into wards and branches. A branch is slightly smaller than ward. The Branch President (head minister) has two councilors (associate pastors). I was First Councilor in the Branch Presidency at the time.
The three of us met every Sunday morning at 6:30am to discuss business and the problems of individual members. After that we met with other branch leaders in Priesthood Executive Committee (P.E.C.) from 7:00am till 8:30am. The main block of three hour meetings involving the general branch membership started at 9:00am. After that we stayed over to do interviews with members for callings and other matters and count tithing. That could last till 2:00pm.
A Sunday could easily last 8 hours for people in leadership positions. This is on top of working a 40 plus hour a week job for most of the people involved (I was in college at the time and only worked part-time).
With seven kids, a full time job that went over 50 hours a week, our branch president was literally stretched to the limits of human endurance. I tried to help out as much as I could, but I began to notice that all of our efforts really did very little good. After 2 years the same people had the same problems and we tried the same worn out solutions to help them. It was a recipe for total burn-out.
One Sunday morning, I had an epiphany. Nothing we did made any difference at all! We had meetings on top of meetings and meetings to plan what we were going to do in other meetings to make the main meetings go smoother. It was not as much about people as much as it was about meetings! We were not as much ministers as we were administrators in a big bureaucracy.
I got up and walked out of P.E.C. meeting. I wish I could say that I never went back again...but Mormonism is a lot like the Hotel California. Once you get to a certain level you ain't leaving and going anywhere! Just ask elders who have tried to leave their missions in the middle.
The next thing was an event that really shook me and I mark it as the beginning of the end of my journey through Mormonism. In April of 1990, Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas Monson were virtually running the Mormon Church because the current prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, was mentally incapacitated. His grandson, Steve Benson, later confirmed that Ezra was being propped up "like a dime store mannequin" so that members would still have faith in their "living prophet". At this time, unknown to the general membership, Hinckley and Monson along with their fellows in the Twelve decided, for reason that still are not clear, to change the Temple Endowment Ceremony.
In General Conference, about a week before the changes, Hinckley gave a talk to all the male members of the priesthood. The talk was called "Keeping the Temple Holy". Hinckley goes through the talk and discusses many aspects of being worthy to enter the temple. Then he makes the cryptic remark, "May I speak also of a matter pertinent to temples? I remind you of the absolute obligation to not discuss outside the temple that which occurs within the temple....Please, brethren, do not discuss outside of the temple that which occurs in the temple."
No mention of any change coming. Nothing at all! Perhaps they didn't want to deal with the backlash because, as I was to find out, Mormonism had once again contradicted itself. Prior to April of 1990 it was taught that,
"No jot, iota, or tittle of the temple rites is otherwise than uplifting and sanctifying. In every detail the endowment ceremony contributes to covenants of morality of life, consecration of person to high ideals, devotion to truth, patriotism to nation, and allegiance to God." (Apostle James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, 1968, p. 84)
"He [God] set the temple ordinances to be the same forever and ever and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them." ( Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol.4, p. 208)
But in the blink of an eye, so much was gone. The Protestant minister who was hired by Satan to deceive people...gone.
The death penalties for revealing the signs and tokens....gone.
The proper way to perform the sign of the First Token of the Melchizedek Priesthood...gone.
One member that I went with to the temple after the changes count 17 major differences.
It was time to ask myself what I really believed. As it turned out I believed that I needed to question less and have more faith. So I stuck my head back in the sand....but only for a few more years.
1. I came to the conclusion that the branch presidency that I was in was highly ineffective in doing anything.
2. Gordon Hinckley and his fellows in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles decided to change the endowment ceremony through "inspiration" (i.e., a survey sent out to members asking what they liked and didn't like about this temple ceremony).
For those who don't understand the inner workings of Mormonism, the church is divided into wards and branches. A branch is slightly smaller than ward. The Branch President (head minister) has two councilors (associate pastors). I was First Councilor in the Branch Presidency at the time.
The three of us met every Sunday morning at 6:30am to discuss business and the problems of individual members. After that we met with other branch leaders in Priesthood Executive Committee (P.E.C.) from 7:00am till 8:30am. The main block of three hour meetings involving the general branch membership started at 9:00am. After that we stayed over to do interviews with members for callings and other matters and count tithing. That could last till 2:00pm.
A Sunday could easily last 8 hours for people in leadership positions. This is on top of working a 40 plus hour a week job for most of the people involved (I was in college at the time and only worked part-time).
With seven kids, a full time job that went over 50 hours a week, our branch president was literally stretched to the limits of human endurance. I tried to help out as much as I could, but I began to notice that all of our efforts really did very little good. After 2 years the same people had the same problems and we tried the same worn out solutions to help them. It was a recipe for total burn-out.
One Sunday morning, I had an epiphany. Nothing we did made any difference at all! We had meetings on top of meetings and meetings to plan what we were going to do in other meetings to make the main meetings go smoother. It was not as much about people as much as it was about meetings! We were not as much ministers as we were administrators in a big bureaucracy.
I got up and walked out of P.E.C. meeting. I wish I could say that I never went back again...but Mormonism is a lot like the Hotel California. Once you get to a certain level you ain't leaving and going anywhere! Just ask elders who have tried to leave their missions in the middle.
The next thing was an event that really shook me and I mark it as the beginning of the end of my journey through Mormonism. In April of 1990, Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas Monson were virtually running the Mormon Church because the current prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, was mentally incapacitated. His grandson, Steve Benson, later confirmed that Ezra was being propped up "like a dime store mannequin" so that members would still have faith in their "living prophet". At this time, unknown to the general membership, Hinckley and Monson along with their fellows in the Twelve decided, for reason that still are not clear, to change the Temple Endowment Ceremony.
In General Conference, about a week before the changes, Hinckley gave a talk to all the male members of the priesthood. The talk was called "Keeping the Temple Holy". Hinckley goes through the talk and discusses many aspects of being worthy to enter the temple. Then he makes the cryptic remark, "May I speak also of a matter pertinent to temples? I remind you of the absolute obligation to not discuss outside the temple that which occurs within the temple....Please, brethren, do not discuss outside of the temple that which occurs in the temple."
No mention of any change coming. Nothing at all! Perhaps they didn't want to deal with the backlash because, as I was to find out, Mormonism had once again contradicted itself. Prior to April of 1990 it was taught that,
"No jot, iota, or tittle of the temple rites is otherwise than uplifting and sanctifying. In every detail the endowment ceremony contributes to covenants of morality of life, consecration of person to high ideals, devotion to truth, patriotism to nation, and allegiance to God." (Apostle James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord, 1968, p. 84)
"He [God] set the temple ordinances to be the same forever and ever and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them." ( Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol.4, p. 208)
But in the blink of an eye, so much was gone. The Protestant minister who was hired by Satan to deceive people...gone.
The death penalties for revealing the signs and tokens....gone.
The proper way to perform the sign of the First Token of the Melchizedek Priesthood...gone.
One member that I went with to the temple after the changes count 17 major differences.
It was time to ask myself what I really believed. As it turned out I believed that I needed to question less and have more faith. So I stuck my head back in the sand....but only for a few more years.
Why I Left Part 1- "Finding out the truth about The Truth™ "
When I was an active member of the LDS Church I often heard the phrase "a testimony is found in the bearing thereof" and "to get a testimony you have to bear a testimony". It wasn't until I began to think critically about Mormonism that I was able to properly translate those sayings:
"If you repeat something often enough, you will soon come to believe it".
When dealing with LDS history, I had my own way of thinking: "If I ignore these problems, one day I'll understand them".
I first encountered serious doubts about the LDS Church six months after I had joined. The girl that I used to date (see above post) brought an evangelist by to see me and the two of them spent an hour trying to talk me out of my LDS beliefs. I stood firm, but was shaken when the minister informed me that Mormons believed that "Adam had sex with Mary and that's how they believe Jesus was conceived". I protested that it was not true! Not true at all!!!
Years later, I was to stumble across the Adam-God Doctrine:
Brigham Young: "Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken—He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do......Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp.50-51).
Of course I was not told any of this before I joined the LDS Church. Neither was I told that most Mormons had rejected Brigham Young's teaching on Adam and that the entire thing had been hushed up by future LDS leaders. I sure could have used the internet back then!
In all this I found something very interesting about Mormon thinking. They invite people to question their own religious beliefs and ask God if they should join "his one true church". As a missionary I taught that there had been a Great Apostasy from original Christianity and that Christianity today acted without God's true priesthood. I taught them that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was wrong....that salvation by faith alone was wrong. I pointed out that there were so many things wrong with their religion...so many things missing.
How did I and other Mormons respond when the tables were turned? This is from a recent question in the Church publication New Era about reading "anti-Mormon" literature:
"First, it would be a waste to spend a lot of time and energy reading it. For one thing, it’s incredibly repetitive. Most of its questions and claims have been brought up—and answered—time and time again for over 100 years. But because anti-Mormon authors want to discredit the Church, they keep writing the same stuff over and over in the hope that they can reach a new audience. For another thing, you may not have the knowledge and experience to successfully investigate and counter all of the arguments they make. If you do end up reading something that criticizes the Church, discuss it with someone you trust who is knowledgeable in the gospel, like your parents, bishop, or seminary teacher. They can help you find answers and, more importantly, put things in proper perspective.
Second, you should never take the claims of anti-Mormon literature at face value. Although some critics of the Church may be doing what they sincerely believe to be right, too many of them are either misinformed about the Church or downright antagonistic toward it. This latter group is often all too willing to rely on deception and dishonesty to achieve their goals. The literature they produce often uses lies or half-truths; it distorts, sensationalizes, or misinterprets Church teachings and history; its intent is to tear down the Church and scare people away from it.
Think of how you feel when you read the Book of Mormon, pray, or bear your testimony. How do those feelings compare with the feelings that come from reading anti-Mormon literature? Which is guiding you to the truth?
Anti-Mormon literature is a tool of the devil. It isn’t printed to strengthen one’s testimony of the truth but for the opposite reason. Leave it alone. Read and study the scriptures and other authorized Church publications, and pray about them. This is the real testimony builder." (New Era July 2007)
So anything that contradicts Mormon claims is "a waste", "misinformed", downright antagonistic" a "tool of the devil" and is written to "scare people away" from Mormonism while Mormon claims about Christianity being an apostate religion are true beyond questioning.
This is one of the main reasons I stayed in the LDS Church for so long. Like Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, The Unification Church and other high control groups, information control is essential to the groups survival. Members must be scared away from opposite points of view. As Mormon Apostle Boyd K. Packer once said "Some things that are true are not very useful".
Still, I was bothered by the bits and pieces of stuff that I read over the years that made me doubt Mormonism. How did I handle it? What could be considered the "official" response from the LDS leadership in Salt Lake City?
First of all, I discount all LDS apologetic organizations like FAIR and FARMS because they always use the disclaimer that their writings are not "the official church position". Saying that just informs the reader that they have nothing more than personal opinions to offer.
Let's take up a bit and go right to God's mouthpiece himself, Prophet, Seer and Revelator Thomas S. Monson. Mormons say he speaks for God. So what is his council?
Listen to a prophet's voice: "Should doubt knock at your doorway, just say to those skeptical, disturbing, rebellious thoughts: “I propose to stay with my faith, with the faith of my people. I know that happiness and contentment are there, and I forbid you agnostic, doubting thoughts to destroy the house of my faith. I acknowledge that I do not understand the processes of creation, but I accept the fact of it. I grant that I cannot explain the miracles of the Bible, and I do not attempt to do so, but I accept God’s word. I wasn’t with Joseph, but I believe him. My faith did not come to me through science, and I will not permit so-called science to destroy it.”
I picture an ostrich with it's head in the sand. Like the ostrich, I was happy to ignore doubt and turn away from reason in order to keep my house of cards(faith?) intact for many years....until 1990.
"If you repeat something often enough, you will soon come to believe it".
When dealing with LDS history, I had my own way of thinking: "If I ignore these problems, one day I'll understand them".
I first encountered serious doubts about the LDS Church six months after I had joined. The girl that I used to date (see above post) brought an evangelist by to see me and the two of them spent an hour trying to talk me out of my LDS beliefs. I stood firm, but was shaken when the minister informed me that Mormons believed that "Adam had sex with Mary and that's how they believe Jesus was conceived". I protested that it was not true! Not true at all!!!
Years later, I was to stumble across the Adam-God Doctrine:
Brigham Young: "Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken—He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do......Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp.50-51).
Of course I was not told any of this before I joined the LDS Church. Neither was I told that most Mormons had rejected Brigham Young's teaching on Adam and that the entire thing had been hushed up by future LDS leaders. I sure could have used the internet back then!
In all this I found something very interesting about Mormon thinking. They invite people to question their own religious beliefs and ask God if they should join "his one true church". As a missionary I taught that there had been a Great Apostasy from original Christianity and that Christianity today acted without God's true priesthood. I taught them that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was wrong....that salvation by faith alone was wrong. I pointed out that there were so many things wrong with their religion...so many things missing.
How did I and other Mormons respond when the tables were turned? This is from a recent question in the Church publication New Era about reading "anti-Mormon" literature:
"First, it would be a waste to spend a lot of time and energy reading it. For one thing, it’s incredibly repetitive. Most of its questions and claims have been brought up—and answered—time and time again for over 100 years. But because anti-Mormon authors want to discredit the Church, they keep writing the same stuff over and over in the hope that they can reach a new audience. For another thing, you may not have the knowledge and experience to successfully investigate and counter all of the arguments they make. If you do end up reading something that criticizes the Church, discuss it with someone you trust who is knowledgeable in the gospel, like your parents, bishop, or seminary teacher. They can help you find answers and, more importantly, put things in proper perspective.
Second, you should never take the claims of anti-Mormon literature at face value. Although some critics of the Church may be doing what they sincerely believe to be right, too many of them are either misinformed about the Church or downright antagonistic toward it. This latter group is often all too willing to rely on deception and dishonesty to achieve their goals. The literature they produce often uses lies or half-truths; it distorts, sensationalizes, or misinterprets Church teachings and history; its intent is to tear down the Church and scare people away from it.
Think of how you feel when you read the Book of Mormon, pray, or bear your testimony. How do those feelings compare with the feelings that come from reading anti-Mormon literature? Which is guiding you to the truth?
Anti-Mormon literature is a tool of the devil. It isn’t printed to strengthen one’s testimony of the truth but for the opposite reason. Leave it alone. Read and study the scriptures and other authorized Church publications, and pray about them. This is the real testimony builder." (New Era July 2007)
So anything that contradicts Mormon claims is "a waste", "misinformed", downright antagonistic" a "tool of the devil" and is written to "scare people away" from Mormonism while Mormon claims about Christianity being an apostate religion are true beyond questioning.
This is one of the main reasons I stayed in the LDS Church for so long. Like Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, The Unification Church and other high control groups, information control is essential to the groups survival. Members must be scared away from opposite points of view. As Mormon Apostle Boyd K. Packer once said "Some things that are true are not very useful".
Still, I was bothered by the bits and pieces of stuff that I read over the years that made me doubt Mormonism. How did I handle it? What could be considered the "official" response from the LDS leadership in Salt Lake City?
First of all, I discount all LDS apologetic organizations like FAIR and FARMS because they always use the disclaimer that their writings are not "the official church position". Saying that just informs the reader that they have nothing more than personal opinions to offer.
Let's take up a bit and go right to God's mouthpiece himself, Prophet, Seer and Revelator Thomas S. Monson. Mormons say he speaks for God. So what is his council?
Listen to a prophet's voice: "Should doubt knock at your doorway, just say to those skeptical, disturbing, rebellious thoughts: “I propose to stay with my faith, with the faith of my people. I know that happiness and contentment are there, and I forbid you agnostic, doubting thoughts to destroy the house of my faith. I acknowledge that I do not understand the processes of creation, but I accept the fact of it. I grant that I cannot explain the miracles of the Bible, and I do not attempt to do so, but I accept God’s word. I wasn’t with Joseph, but I believe him. My faith did not come to me through science, and I will not permit so-called science to destroy it.”
I picture an ostrich with it's head in the sand. Like the ostrich, I was happy to ignore doubt and turn away from reason in order to keep my house of cards(faith?) intact for many years....until 1990.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Why I Joined Part 4- "Welcome to Orwell's 1984"
We all want to be happy. It's nice to be around happy people who have a positive outlook on life. The world is such a negative place with wars, famines and Sandra Bullock movies that we all want a shelter from it all.
I don't know if those reading this have ever seen LDS promotional literature but it always has a group of happy, clean cut (and until recently) white people. It almost jumps out at you and says "hey...you want this don't you?". Well, I wanted it. But there was a catch. To get it you have to start believing some really weird stuff like:
*Jesus came to America after his resurrection and taught the Indians.
*There is an elderly man in Salt Lake City that very few people know about but this man is God's mouthpiece to the entire world.
*You must wear special underwear with markings over the left and right breast and over the navel and the right knee.
*You must accept as a fact that a young farmer from New York was lead by an angel to a set of golden plates buried in a hill near his home. The plates are engraved with the history of the former inhabitants of the Americans called Nephites and Lamanites.
*Lots of other strange stuff that I'll go into later.
To make things worse, I started dating a Methodist girl at this time who, along with her pastor, was dead set against Mormonism. Talk about confusion. At least I would finally get the other side of the story...or so I thought.
The problem with "anti-Mormon" literature as put out by fundamentalist Christians is that it can be easily answered by most Mormons. So I bought the answers the elders gave me. It was not until years later after coming across scholarly sources from historians such as D. Micheal Quinn that I discovered that the LDS Church had been less than truthful with me about such things as Joseph Smith's money digging activities, his grand banking scam in Kirtland Ohio and his polygamy among other things.
Yet, the elders were my friends, my buddies, my pals. Nice guys rather than the stuck-up church kids and the drunk rednecks I had to choose from in South Georgia. Little did I know that that being my friend was just a way of closing the deal and getting me baptized. On my own mission I would learn about the pressure to bapize at all costs. One day Elder Benham showed me just what a true friend he was when he threatened to "drop me as an investigator" if I didn't make progress towards baptism. What can I say...I was just a kid and wanted to be accepted by a good group.
In order to get me into the church, I had to get a "witness from the Holy Ghost", a testimony. Mormonism, as I was to find out, relies more on feelings than on facts. So I tried and I prayed...and the feelings came! So Mormonism must be true! Yet how was this different from a member of faith healer Benny Hinn's audience who is sure that he/she has been healed? How is it different from those Catholics who go to Lourdes to take the "healing" water from the spring and have great spiritual experiences? How is it different from those who claim to die and come back changed forever (yet don't immediately join the LDS Church)?
How is it different? Mormon feelings are true...all other feelings are false! Believe it or not, that's their answer.
So I took my new but weak faith in Mormonism and was baptized on a cold day in December 1981. For the next several years I got deeper and deeper into Mormonism, embracing not only their religious faith, but their conservative political faith as well.
There were things that still bothered me. Having to lie to people for example. We were always instructed to tell people that the temple was sacred, not secret. Yet when I went through the temple I was told the following word for word:
"....we desire to impress upon your minds the sacred character of the first token of the Aaronic priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty, as well as that of all the other tokens of the holy priesthood, with their names, signs, and penalties, which you will receive in the temple this day. They are most sacred and are guarded by solemn covenants and obligations of secrecy to the effect that under no condition, even at the peril of your life, will you ever divulge them, except at a certain place that will be shown you hereafter........I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, sign, and penalty, which you will be required to take upon yourselves" (bold added)
We told people that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus after a great revival in 1820. The fact is, there was not great revival in 1820. Mormons leaders knew this, they just kept letting us repeat the lie.
We told people that polygamy was instituted because there were more women than me. That was a lie! Polygamy was brought about because the early leaders thought it was essential to salvation.
Why was I supposed to tell people that the temple was not secret when the ceremony itself clearly stated that it was? Why was I made to lie about all that other history? I began to learn that in Mormonism it's important to overlook certain things in order to further the work of God. It's called "lying for the Lord". It was like Orwell and 1984!
I don't know if those reading this have ever seen LDS promotional literature but it always has a group of happy, clean cut (and until recently) white people. It almost jumps out at you and says "hey...you want this don't you?". Well, I wanted it. But there was a catch. To get it you have to start believing some really weird stuff like:
*Jesus came to America after his resurrection and taught the Indians.
*There is an elderly man in Salt Lake City that very few people know about but this man is God's mouthpiece to the entire world.
*You must wear special underwear with markings over the left and right breast and over the navel and the right knee.
*You must accept as a fact that a young farmer from New York was lead by an angel to a set of golden plates buried in a hill near his home. The plates are engraved with the history of the former inhabitants of the Americans called Nephites and Lamanites.
*Lots of other strange stuff that I'll go into later.
To make things worse, I started dating a Methodist girl at this time who, along with her pastor, was dead set against Mormonism. Talk about confusion. At least I would finally get the other side of the story...or so I thought.
The problem with "anti-Mormon" literature as put out by fundamentalist Christians is that it can be easily answered by most Mormons. So I bought the answers the elders gave me. It was not until years later after coming across scholarly sources from historians such as D. Micheal Quinn that I discovered that the LDS Church had been less than truthful with me about such things as Joseph Smith's money digging activities, his grand banking scam in Kirtland Ohio and his polygamy among other things.
Yet, the elders were my friends, my buddies, my pals. Nice guys rather than the stuck-up church kids and the drunk rednecks I had to choose from in South Georgia. Little did I know that that being my friend was just a way of closing the deal and getting me baptized. On my own mission I would learn about the pressure to bapize at all costs. One day Elder Benham showed me just what a true friend he was when he threatened to "drop me as an investigator" if I didn't make progress towards baptism. What can I say...I was just a kid and wanted to be accepted by a good group.
In order to get me into the church, I had to get a "witness from the Holy Ghost", a testimony. Mormonism, as I was to find out, relies more on feelings than on facts. So I tried and I prayed...and the feelings came! So Mormonism must be true! Yet how was this different from a member of faith healer Benny Hinn's audience who is sure that he/she has been healed? How is it different from those Catholics who go to Lourdes to take the "healing" water from the spring and have great spiritual experiences? How is it different from those who claim to die and come back changed forever (yet don't immediately join the LDS Church)?
How is it different? Mormon feelings are true...all other feelings are false! Believe it or not, that's their answer.
So I took my new but weak faith in Mormonism and was baptized on a cold day in December 1981. For the next several years I got deeper and deeper into Mormonism, embracing not only their religious faith, but their conservative political faith as well.
There were things that still bothered me. Having to lie to people for example. We were always instructed to tell people that the temple was sacred, not secret. Yet when I went through the temple I was told the following word for word:
"....we desire to impress upon your minds the sacred character of the first token of the Aaronic priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty, as well as that of all the other tokens of the holy priesthood, with their names, signs, and penalties, which you will receive in the temple this day. They are most sacred and are guarded by solemn covenants and obligations of secrecy to the effect that under no condition, even at the peril of your life, will you ever divulge them, except at a certain place that will be shown you hereafter........I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, sign, and penalty, which you will be required to take upon yourselves" (bold added)
We told people that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus after a great revival in 1820. The fact is, there was not great revival in 1820. Mormons leaders knew this, they just kept letting us repeat the lie.
We told people that polygamy was instituted because there were more women than me. That was a lie! Polygamy was brought about because the early leaders thought it was essential to salvation.
Why was I supposed to tell people that the temple was not secret when the ceremony itself clearly stated that it was? Why was I made to lie about all that other history? I began to learn that in Mormonism it's important to overlook certain things in order to further the work of God. It's called "lying for the Lord". It was like Orwell and 1984!
Why I joined-Part 3 "Meet the Mormons"
The time between ages 18 and 25 is a time of transition for all of us. We are leaving mom and dad, finding out who we are, exploring new ways of thinking and being.
It should be a time when we are offered choices and encouraged to think about new ideas that we encounter. In college we are, or should be, exposed to the ideas of Evolution, Existentialism and other philosophical concepts that cause us to question the beliefs that we hold and test and try our mental bounderies.
Unfortunately I was raised in an atmosphere steeped in religion. While the Methodist religion is mild and mainstream, I was surrounded by Southern Baptists who, as I remember, were of the “fundamentalist” brand. Evolution was “Evilution” and any philosophy that slightly questioned the existence of God was “communist” or of the Devil. The mindset was not to question, but to “trust and obey” Jesus and the Bible.
Perhaps it’s my personality, but the fundamentalist mindset stuck with me more than the even tempered teachings of my father’s United Methodism. While my father preached in mild friendly tones, the fundamentalist ministers shouted and exhorted like speakers at some desperate political rally. There screeds would often electrify the crowds and convict people of “sin”. So when it came to religion that was absolute, I had a fatal attraction.
I first met Elder Rapheal one afternoon in September along with Bud Baxter. The LDS Church in that southern town of Bainbridge was located in an old, two story southern home that had seen better days. The two young missionaries lived upstairs and church services were conducted downstairs. We sat downstairs and chatted for a bit. Elder Rapheal, an easy going nice guy from California, began teaching me about Joseph Smith right away. Then Elder Benham showed up. Right away I noticed there was tension between the two of them and, as I was later to find out, Elder Curtis Benham was a missionary that other elders had a tough time getting along with. He was a very smart guy and a dedicated missionary. He was just…..different.
As I said, I was taught first about Joseph Smith and his “First Vision” of God and Jesus in which they informed him that all other churches were wrong and that he would be the person to restore lost truths to the earth. Then I was shown a film called “Man’s Search for Happiness” that basically said, in a round about way, that if anyone really wants to be happy, they need to join the Mormon Church. I was also given a Book of Mormon.
After I got home I thought to myself that here was something different and new. But it really didn’t make that big of an impression on me. That’s how Mormonism is….it’s no big deal once you hear about it. In fact it’s really sort of dull to most outsiders. Weird and strange…but dull.
That’s where “fellowshipping” comes in. In some religions it’s called “love bombing” but in Mormonism there is a special effort to be very friendly to people “investigating” Mormonism called fellowshipping that helps get them into the religion. Mormon Doctrine alone would never convert the vast majority of people who join the LDS Church but being a person’s friend helps the medicine go down.
Moving around so much I never really had very many friends and in Bainbridge I had almost none. Suddenly I had two new best friends! All I had to do was listen to their sales pitch on Joseph Smith and Mormonism. Little did I know that behind the smiles and clean living I was about to get involved in one of the most absolutist religions in America. One that believed and followed strictly the following statements:
"When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan--it is God's Plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give directions, it should mark the end of controversy, God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God."
"When the Prophet speaks the debate is over".
"Always keep your eye on the President of the church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, even if it is wrong, and you do it, the lord will bless you for it but you don't need to worry. The lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray."
P.T. Barnum supposedly said that there was a sucker born every minute. Over the next four months I was to become a sucker for Mormonism...minute by minute.
It should be a time when we are offered choices and encouraged to think about new ideas that we encounter. In college we are, or should be, exposed to the ideas of Evolution, Existentialism and other philosophical concepts that cause us to question the beliefs that we hold and test and try our mental bounderies.
Unfortunately I was raised in an atmosphere steeped in religion. While the Methodist religion is mild and mainstream, I was surrounded by Southern Baptists who, as I remember, were of the “fundamentalist” brand. Evolution was “Evilution” and any philosophy that slightly questioned the existence of God was “communist” or of the Devil. The mindset was not to question, but to “trust and obey” Jesus and the Bible.
Perhaps it’s my personality, but the fundamentalist mindset stuck with me more than the even tempered teachings of my father’s United Methodism. While my father preached in mild friendly tones, the fundamentalist ministers shouted and exhorted like speakers at some desperate political rally. There screeds would often electrify the crowds and convict people of “sin”. So when it came to religion that was absolute, I had a fatal attraction.
I first met Elder Rapheal one afternoon in September along with Bud Baxter. The LDS Church in that southern town of Bainbridge was located in an old, two story southern home that had seen better days. The two young missionaries lived upstairs and church services were conducted downstairs. We sat downstairs and chatted for a bit. Elder Rapheal, an easy going nice guy from California, began teaching me about Joseph Smith right away. Then Elder Benham showed up. Right away I noticed there was tension between the two of them and, as I was later to find out, Elder Curtis Benham was a missionary that other elders had a tough time getting along with. He was a very smart guy and a dedicated missionary. He was just…..different.
As I said, I was taught first about Joseph Smith and his “First Vision” of God and Jesus in which they informed him that all other churches were wrong and that he would be the person to restore lost truths to the earth. Then I was shown a film called “Man’s Search for Happiness” that basically said, in a round about way, that if anyone really wants to be happy, they need to join the Mormon Church. I was also given a Book of Mormon.
After I got home I thought to myself that here was something different and new. But it really didn’t make that big of an impression on me. That’s how Mormonism is….it’s no big deal once you hear about it. In fact it’s really sort of dull to most outsiders. Weird and strange…but dull.
That’s where “fellowshipping” comes in. In some religions it’s called “love bombing” but in Mormonism there is a special effort to be very friendly to people “investigating” Mormonism called fellowshipping that helps get them into the religion. Mormon Doctrine alone would never convert the vast majority of people who join the LDS Church but being a person’s friend helps the medicine go down.
Moving around so much I never really had very many friends and in Bainbridge I had almost none. Suddenly I had two new best friends! All I had to do was listen to their sales pitch on Joseph Smith and Mormonism. Little did I know that behind the smiles and clean living I was about to get involved in one of the most absolutist religions in America. One that believed and followed strictly the following statements:
"When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan--it is God's Plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give directions, it should mark the end of controversy, God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God."
"When the Prophet speaks the debate is over".
"Always keep your eye on the President of the church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, even if it is wrong, and you do it, the lord will bless you for it but you don't need to worry. The lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray."
P.T. Barnum supposedly said that there was a sucker born every minute. Over the next four months I was to become a sucker for Mormonism...minute by minute.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Why I Joined-Part 2 This Bud's for you
I don’t think anyone starts out with the idea that “hey, I think I’ll join a cult and get brainwashed” anymore than one starts out with the goal of being an alcoholic or a drug addict. It happens “line up line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” until you become chained down to an ideology that you would have never accepted had the entire package been honestly presented to you as a whole. So it was with me.
I grew up as the oldest son of a United Methodist minister. I was born in Mississippi but we moved to Georgia when I was 10 so my dad could attend the theological school at Emery University.
As a P.K. (Preacher’s Kid) we moved around a lot. Every four years in fact. In 1981 we moved to South Georgia so that my dad could become pastor over a Charge of four churches. I went through some tough times and left high school. I never really seemed to be able to adjust to this new place.
I went ahead and got my G.E.D. and started going to the local community college. It was there that a guy named Bud Baxter would have a profound impact on my life. It was a September day in 1981 and Bud, a guy I knew from class, came into the McDonald’s where I was having lunch. He came over and sat down and we began to talk. The subject of religion came up and he told me he had recently been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was to discover that all Mormons are given the charge of being missionaries for their religion and Bud was no exception. He went on and on!
He kept telling me that I should come with him to see the “elders”. I thought that “elders” were older men who taught in the church. I later learned that “elders” were simply teenage boys. After a small harangue I agreed to meet with them and learn about Mormonism. Dumb kid that I was, I had no idea what I was getting myself into!
I grew up as the oldest son of a United Methodist minister. I was born in Mississippi but we moved to Georgia when I was 10 so my dad could attend the theological school at Emery University.
As a P.K. (Preacher’s Kid) we moved around a lot. Every four years in fact. In 1981 we moved to South Georgia so that my dad could become pastor over a Charge of four churches. I went through some tough times and left high school. I never really seemed to be able to adjust to this new place.
I went ahead and got my G.E.D. and started going to the local community college. It was there that a guy named Bud Baxter would have a profound impact on my life. It was a September day in 1981 and Bud, a guy I knew from class, came into the McDonald’s where I was having lunch. He came over and sat down and we began to talk. The subject of religion came up and he told me he had recently been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was to discover that all Mormons are given the charge of being missionaries for their religion and Bud was no exception. He went on and on!
He kept telling me that I should come with him to see the “elders”. I thought that “elders” were older men who taught in the church. I later learned that “elders” were simply teenage boys. After a small harangue I agreed to meet with them and learn about Mormonism. Dumb kid that I was, I had no idea what I was getting myself into!
Why I Joined-Part 1 "I'm caught in a trap...I can't walk out"
It was a cold day, January 11, 1983. My friend Dana and I drove up to the LDS (Latter-Day Saint) Temple in Provo, Utah. As a missionary in South Georgia, Dana had baptized me into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) December 13, 1981. Now, I was scheduled to report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo Utah on January 13...exactly one year and one month after converting to Mormonism. At age 19 I was going to be a missionary in the Nevada Las Vegas mission.
Before going on a mission, young Mormon men must attend the temple for the first time. The temple is different from the regular Mormon church building that average members attend every Sunday. The temple is only for members of the LDS Church who meet the highest standards of the faith. It is seen as so sacred to Mormons that they never discuss what goes on inside. In fact, as I was to find out, they make special agreements ("covenants") to that effect.
So I walk in the temple, both Dana and I dress in our Sunday suits even though it was a Tuesday afternoon. We show the man sitting at the desk who is dressed in a white suit our "temple recommends". It is a small card issued to Mormons by their leaders that confirms that they are living the commandments of Mormonism. The questions I was asked at two different interviews are:
1. Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost; and do you have a firm testimony of the restored gospel?
2. Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?
3. Do you sustain the other General Authorities and the local authorities of the Church?
4. Do you live the law of chastity?
5. Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?
6. Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?
7. Do you earnestly strive to do your duty in the Church; to attend your sacrament, priesthood, and other meetings; and to obey the rules, laws, and commandments of the gospel?
8. Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?
9. Are you a full-tithe payer?
10. Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?
11. Have you ever been divorced or are you now separated from your spouse under order of a civil court? If yes, (a) - Are you current in your support payments and other financial obligations for family members, as specified by court order or in other written, binding commitments? (b) Were there any circumstances of transgression in connectionwith your divorce or separation that have not been previously resolved with your bishop?
12. If you have received your temple endowment -- (a) Do you keep all the covenants that you made in the temple? (b) Do you wear the authorized garments both day and night?
13. Has there been any sin or misdeed in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but has not?
14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?
They once asked married couples if if they were "guilty" of having oral sex, but they dropped that one. I guess it was too weird even for them.
I went in and paid to rent special white cloths. I went to a locker room and stripped down...totally nude. I was given a "shield" to put on that looked like a bed sheet with a hole in the top for me to put my head through. I then went through the "washing and anointing" ceremony where an elderly temple worker took water and repeated the following:
"Brother Dunn, having authority, I wash you preparatory to your receiving your anointings, that you may become clean from the blood and sins of this generation.
I wash your head, that your brain and your intellect may be clear and active; your ears, that you may hear the word of the Lord; your eyes, that you may see clearly and discern between truth and error; your nose, that you may smell; your lips, that you may never speak guile; your neck, that it may bear up your head properly; your shoulders, that they may bear the burdens that shall be placed thereon; your back, that there may be marrow in the bones and in the spine; your breast, that it may be the receptacle of pure and virtuous principles; your vitals and bowels, that they may be healthy and strong and perform their proper functions; your arms and hands, that they may be strong and wield the sword of justice in defense of truth and virtue; your loins, that you may be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, that you might have joy in your posterity; your legs and feet, that you might run and not be weary, and walk and not faint."
All the time, the worker would lightly touch the named parts of my body with water. After he finished, the process was repeated with olive oil.
Suddenly I was in a very strange and foreign world. I was also given a secret "new name" (mine was Manassah) after going through the washing ritual. Fifteen minutes later I was standing in a theater style room with other people, dressed in white pants and a white shirt, clothed in the "garments of the Holy Priesthood" and being asked to go through the symbolic motions of slitting my throat. In my mind, I was asked to repeat the following words while at the same time drawing my thumb quickly across my throat:
"I ________, think of the new name, covenant that I will never reveal the First Token of the Aaronic Priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty. Rather than do so, I would suffer my life to be taken."
Suddenly, as a Mormon I was "made". I was down the rabbit hole into a brave, new world.
Before going on a mission, young Mormon men must attend the temple for the first time. The temple is different from the regular Mormon church building that average members attend every Sunday. The temple is only for members of the LDS Church who meet the highest standards of the faith. It is seen as so sacred to Mormons that they never discuss what goes on inside. In fact, as I was to find out, they make special agreements ("covenants") to that effect.
So I walk in the temple, both Dana and I dress in our Sunday suits even though it was a Tuesday afternoon. We show the man sitting at the desk who is dressed in a white suit our "temple recommends". It is a small card issued to Mormons by their leaders that confirms that they are living the commandments of Mormonism. The questions I was asked at two different interviews are:
1. Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost; and do you have a firm testimony of the restored gospel?
2. Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?
3. Do you sustain the other General Authorities and the local authorities of the Church?
4. Do you live the law of chastity?
5. Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?
6. Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?
7. Do you earnestly strive to do your duty in the Church; to attend your sacrament, priesthood, and other meetings; and to obey the rules, laws, and commandments of the gospel?
8. Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?
9. Are you a full-tithe payer?
10. Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?
11. Have you ever been divorced or are you now separated from your spouse under order of a civil court? If yes, (a) - Are you current in your support payments and other financial obligations for family members, as specified by court order or in other written, binding commitments? (b) Were there any circumstances of transgression in connectionwith your divorce or separation that have not been previously resolved with your bishop?
12. If you have received your temple endowment -- (a) Do you keep all the covenants that you made in the temple? (b) Do you wear the authorized garments both day and night?
13. Has there been any sin or misdeed in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but has not?
14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?
They once asked married couples if if they were "guilty" of having oral sex, but they dropped that one. I guess it was too weird even for them.
I went in and paid to rent special white cloths. I went to a locker room and stripped down...totally nude. I was given a "shield" to put on that looked like a bed sheet with a hole in the top for me to put my head through. I then went through the "washing and anointing" ceremony where an elderly temple worker took water and repeated the following:
"Brother Dunn, having authority, I wash you preparatory to your receiving your anointings, that you may become clean from the blood and sins of this generation.
I wash your head, that your brain and your intellect may be clear and active; your ears, that you may hear the word of the Lord; your eyes, that you may see clearly and discern between truth and error; your nose, that you may smell; your lips, that you may never speak guile; your neck, that it may bear up your head properly; your shoulders, that they may bear the burdens that shall be placed thereon; your back, that there may be marrow in the bones and in the spine; your breast, that it may be the receptacle of pure and virtuous principles; your vitals and bowels, that they may be healthy and strong and perform their proper functions; your arms and hands, that they may be strong and wield the sword of justice in defense of truth and virtue; your loins, that you may be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, that you might have joy in your posterity; your legs and feet, that you might run and not be weary, and walk and not faint."
All the time, the worker would lightly touch the named parts of my body with water. After he finished, the process was repeated with olive oil.
Suddenly I was in a very strange and foreign world. I was also given a secret "new name" (mine was Manassah) after going through the washing ritual. Fifteen minutes later I was standing in a theater style room with other people, dressed in white pants and a white shirt, clothed in the "garments of the Holy Priesthood" and being asked to go through the symbolic motions of slitting my throat. In my mind, I was asked to repeat the following words while at the same time drawing my thumb quickly across my throat:
"I ________, think of the new name, covenant that I will never reveal the First Token of the Aaronic Priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign, and penalty. Rather than do so, I would suffer my life to be taken."
Suddenly, as a Mormon I was "made". I was down the rabbit hole into a brave, new world.
Greetings and Salutations!
Welcome to the blog of a semi-normal 45 year old man who fell down the rabbit hole of Mormonism at age 18 and is still trying to recover from the experience. To quote the Grateful Dead, “what a long, strange trip it’s been”! My purpose in blogging is not to “expose” the Mormon Church for I feel that others have done a much better and thorough job of that than I could or care to do. My purpose is to comment on the long, strange trip through that religion and answer the question that people often ask me: how did a Methodist minister’s son and seemingly intelligent person get involved with Mormonism?
I’ve been out of Mormonism for almost six years now but the effects of what I went through still lingers in my life. Maybe this blog will provide therapy and give others an idea of what happened to me over a period of twenty years.
I’ll start by giving readers a four part introduction called Why I Joined and will follow that by some posts entitled Why I Left. I mean not great disrespect to any LDS (Mormon) readers who may come across this. It’s just the story of what happened to a typical convert.
I hope to start my posting soon. I hope you will enjoy it.
I’ve been out of Mormonism for almost six years now but the effects of what I went through still lingers in my life. Maybe this blog will provide therapy and give others an idea of what happened to me over a period of twenty years.
I’ll start by giving readers a four part introduction called Why I Joined and will follow that by some posts entitled Why I Left. I mean not great disrespect to any LDS (Mormon) readers who may come across this. It’s just the story of what happened to a typical convert.
I hope to start my posting soon. I hope you will enjoy it.
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