Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
What cost Mormonism?
I wonder if anyone has ever figured out exactly how much money and material the Mormon church has wasted since it was founded?
I mean, people were encouraged to emigrate from Britain, fro example, and they took with them gold, silver or whatever else they had.
And what about all the chapels, stake houses, stake centres, Mormon church office buildings, temples and latterly all the McTemples of Hinckley’s crazy temple building programme?
And what of the wasted talents of all the people who became Mormons and the waste the talents of their descendents?
What amount of money has been wasted? Billions of Pounds Sterling or Dollars?
And have you ever tried to figure out exactly how or why your former Mormon friends and ex-family members are so damn scared of you? Is it because they think you have a deadly, contagious disease?
Do they think you have some sort of moral cancer that will cause them to fall away from the faith like you did?
And why do they refuse to believe the reason why you stopped being as Mormon?
I mean, after all, it is a well-known “fact” that ex-Mormons only quit being Mormons so they can: Sin or continue to sin, because someone upset them, because they were offended or they were weak or yada, yada, yada.
I think the underlying reason is this. We ex-Mormons scare them. I really do think that. We freak them out. They think if they get too close to us, we will play freaky little mind games and then we will ensnare them and we will hold their souls for ever!
Stupid cult? Oh yeah. Big time stupid cult.
I mean, people were encouraged to emigrate from Britain, fro example, and they took with them gold, silver or whatever else they had.
And what about all the chapels, stake houses, stake centres, Mormon church office buildings, temples and latterly all the McTemples of Hinckley’s crazy temple building programme?
And what of the wasted talents of all the people who became Mormons and the waste the talents of their descendents?
What amount of money has been wasted? Billions of Pounds Sterling or Dollars?
And have you ever tried to figure out exactly how or why your former Mormon friends and ex-family members are so damn scared of you? Is it because they think you have a deadly, contagious disease?
Do they think you have some sort of moral cancer that will cause them to fall away from the faith like you did?
And why do they refuse to believe the reason why you stopped being as Mormon?
I mean, after all, it is a well-known “fact” that ex-Mormons only quit being Mormons so they can: Sin or continue to sin, because someone upset them, because they were offended or they were weak or yada, yada, yada.
I think the underlying reason is this. We ex-Mormons scare them. I really do think that. We freak them out. They think if they get too close to us, we will play freaky little mind games and then we will ensnare them and we will hold their souls for ever!
Stupid cult? Oh yeah. Big time stupid cult.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Mormonism and the Stockholm Syndrome
On RFM the other day, someone posed this question: “Ok, to be fair, what's something nice that happened while TBM?”
This supposes that there is a reason why we should be “fair” to the Mormon Church. I know of no reason why anyone should want to be “fair” to the Mormon Church.
The desire to look back and try to spot some positive element of Mormonism is something that I would suppose almost every ex-Mormon is “guilty” of at one time or another. I know I was guilty of this. Until I decided to take ownership of my own life.
I believe that this desire to look for good, positive effects that Mormonism might have had on our life is like a sort of modified Stockholm Syndrome. We were, in effect, kidnapped by Mormonism and held hostage by it.
Over time, like the original Stockholm Syndrome victims, we came to rely on our kidnappers for everything, even for small acts of kindness which we came to look upon as examples of how much they loved us and how much they held us in high regard. When in truth the Mormon Church held us hostage.
This supposes that there is a reason why we should be “fair” to the Mormon Church. I know of no reason why anyone should want to be “fair” to the Mormon Church.
The desire to look back and try to spot some positive element of Mormonism is something that I would suppose almost every ex-Mormon is “guilty” of at one time or another. I know I was guilty of this. Until I decided to take ownership of my own life.
I believe that this desire to look for good, positive effects that Mormonism might have had on our life is like a sort of modified Stockholm Syndrome. We were, in effect, kidnapped by Mormonism and held hostage by it.
Over time, like the original Stockholm Syndrome victims, we came to rely on our kidnappers for everything, even for small acts of kindness which we came to look upon as examples of how much they loved us and how much they held us in high regard. When in truth the Mormon Church held us hostage.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
What has Mormonism ever done for you? Or, to put it another way, where would YOU be, without Mormonism?
What has Mormonism ever done for you? Or, to put it another way, where would YOU be, without Mormonism?
This is something I have put a great deal of thought into, in recent years. I believe that, if my parents had left Mormonism when they both (as I now realise they did) came to the knowledge that the Mormon church was untrue, we would have returned to our home city from the rural backwater we had found ourselves in. The idea of moving was scotched by the church elders/bishopric in some way I never did fully figure out, but believe was guilt, guilt and MORE guilt. So my family never moved.
Had we returned to Birmingham I would have received a first rate education, gone on to university and, as they say, the world would have been my oyster. Sadly, this did not happen and I received an education that was very much below standard. It was basically designed to fit you for work in a large local factory as a machinehand or in a local munitions depot as a storesman.
But the local Mormon elders wanted my parents (and us their kids) and they did not want us to move away to another branch or ward. Never mind that my father would have been able to have commanded a salary of FOUR times what he was earning in Shropshire! That wasn’t important! What was important was local membership figures.
Years later my mother said to my father: “I am glad we did not go back to Birmingham. I do not think we would have continued being Mormon, there.” I thought to myself: “And what would have been so bad about that?”
Where would I be, now, had my parents done the right thing and returned home? I would certainly have had a better life. A life free of the constructed stupid guilt of Mormonism. A life when a cup of tea or a mug of coffee are not terrible sins against God.
A life where our family was not impoverished by having to give 10% of our income plus all the other little collecting scams for my father’s appallingly poor wages, in a low wage area.
A life where I would have been judged by who I was, not whether or not I wore a tie to shirt to shirt, or if I drunk a cup of tea. A life free of pre-programmed Mormon guilt.
Where would YOU have been without Mormonism? What would you be doing now, without the dead hand of Joseph Smith the child molester resting on your head? Please let me know.
This is something I have put a great deal of thought into, in recent years. I believe that, if my parents had left Mormonism when they both (as I now realise they did) came to the knowledge that the Mormon church was untrue, we would have returned to our home city from the rural backwater we had found ourselves in. The idea of moving was scotched by the church elders/bishopric in some way I never did fully figure out, but believe was guilt, guilt and MORE guilt. So my family never moved.
Had we returned to Birmingham I would have received a first rate education, gone on to university and, as they say, the world would have been my oyster. Sadly, this did not happen and I received an education that was very much below standard. It was basically designed to fit you for work in a large local factory as a machinehand or in a local munitions depot as a storesman.
But the local Mormon elders wanted my parents (and us their kids) and they did not want us to move away to another branch or ward. Never mind that my father would have been able to have commanded a salary of FOUR times what he was earning in Shropshire! That wasn’t important! What was important was local membership figures.
Years later my mother said to my father: “I am glad we did not go back to Birmingham. I do not think we would have continued being Mormon, there.” I thought to myself: “And what would have been so bad about that?”
Where would I be, now, had my parents done the right thing and returned home? I would certainly have had a better life. A life free of the constructed stupid guilt of Mormonism. A life when a cup of tea or a mug of coffee are not terrible sins against God.
A life where our family was not impoverished by having to give 10% of our income plus all the other little collecting scams for my father’s appallingly poor wages, in a low wage area.
A life where I would have been judged by who I was, not whether or not I wore a tie to shirt to shirt, or if I drunk a cup of tea. A life free of pre-programmed Mormon guilt.
Where would YOU have been without Mormonism? What would you be doing now, without the dead hand of Joseph Smith the child molester resting on your head? Please let me know.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
What IS it about Mormons?
What IS it about Mormons? That make them so annoying?
They can't help themselves. I really believe that.
Once, when a Baptist told a Mormon that she had prayed about something the dense Mormon squealed and blurted out: "Oh! I did not realise Baptists prayed! I thought only Mormons prayed!"
And Mormons really do not get WHY other people think they are so irritating...
They can't help themselves. I really believe that.
Once, when a Baptist told a Mormon that she had prayed about something the dense Mormon squealed and blurted out: "Oh! I did not realise Baptists prayed! I thought only Mormons prayed!"
And Mormons really do not get WHY other people think they are so irritating...
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Ex-Mormon get-together taught me something new
We recently had an ex-Mormon meeting in Birmingham, England. It was very successful. We all had a great time.
It was not until Tuesday severla days later, when I was walking along a rural road not far from our house to release an insect in some woodland, that a thought struck me with such force that I had to stop, momentarilly, to take stock of my situation.
I had suddenly realised that the meeting with fellow ex-Mormons was the first time I had EVERY sat chatting to a group of people who didn't need the others in the group to tell them how they felt. They already knew. Because they had gone through it themselves
That was a most exilerating experience. Thank you!
It was not until Tuesday severla days later, when I was walking along a rural road not far from our house to release an insect in some woodland, that a thought struck me with such force that I had to stop, momentarilly, to take stock of my situation.
I had suddenly realised that the meeting with fellow ex-Mormons was the first time I had EVERY sat chatting to a group of people who didn't need the others in the group to tell them how they felt. They already knew. Because they had gone through it themselves
That was a most exilerating experience. Thank you!
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Exmo meeting a success
The Birmingham ex-Mormon meeting was a great success. 7 of us turned up and drunk whatever we wanted (soft or “hard”) ate some rather nice food and chatted about life both Mormon and post-Mormon.
It was like we’d know each other for years. As it happened, I had met someone at my mother’s house, as he spent part of his mission in Telford! A very small world!
Why not organise an exmo meeting where YOU live? It’ll be fun.
It was like we’d know each other for years. As it happened, I had met someone at my mother’s house, as he spent part of his mission in Telford! A very small world!
Why not organise an exmo meeting where YOU live? It’ll be fun.
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