Is it possible for Chapel Mormons to post on the Internet?

[_Yoda]

Inconceivable, you may have mentioned this before, but where are you now in your journey?

Are you out of the Church?

[_Inconceivable]

Inconceivable, you may have mentioned this before, but where are you now in your journey?

Are you out of the Church?

Good question.

I see myself at the edge of a high dive. I got my floaties on, and besides, I'm a great swimmer, the water is mostly clear and deep and I see few sharks. Looking at the water 30 feet below there's that last feeling of intrepidation. I just need to be balanced enough not to do a bellyflop.

Without getting too personal, my disaffection is having a destructive effect on my relationship with my wife and children so I'm attempting to make this a peaceful transition rather than nuclear. My patriarch said something very wise to me many years ago: "Don't jump off one flat spot just to end up on another or worse one". I don't ever want to come back so I'm making sure I've left nothing of value behind.

Until I have something that I can safely and fully replace the loss in mine and my familie's life, I will remain somewhat stagnant. I look forward to the day (hopefully within the next few months) to send a letter of resignation.

I would be considered fully inactive and unretrievable by those that know me best. They are just confused that my values have not changed.

[_Yoda]

Without getting too personal, my disaffection is having a destructive effect on my relationship with my wife and children so I'm attempting to make this a peaceful transition rather than nuclear.

So they're still active?

I understand exactly where you are.

;)

[_Inconceivable]

Without getting too personal, my disaffection is having a destructive effect on my relationship with my wife and children so I'm attempting to make this a peaceful transition rather than nuclear.

So they're still active?

I understand exactly where you are.

;)

It's all unravelling at the moment.

My RM son has returned inactive even though he had no clue what I was going through during his mission. I only sent him letters of encouragement to preach of Christ and to live within the missions rules. My son that could submit his papers this month has decided not to go after asking my RM son and I some questions. He is strongly considering serving in the Peace Corps. Younger two are not aware of everything that is going on, but know that is causing a great deal of distress in the family. Wife is troubled with the hole experience but struggling through the embarrasment of attending with an incomplete family.

I get the impression that I am feared by those in the stake that are aware of my disaffection. I just don't fit the M.O. and it troubles them. "There has to be something that is evil that we aren't aware of ".

There is one Mormon that owes me several thousand dollars for work I completed 6 months ago but has excused himself from paying me. He says he cannot trust my work because I have lost my testimony of Joseph Smith. In over 15 years owning my own business I have been unable to recover about $300, so this is significant. I know it's just a lying excuse for someone that can't manage his money, but I'm not rich enough to absorb this kind of abuse.

[_Blixa]

It's all unravelling at the moment.

My RM son has returned inactive even though he had no clue what I was going through during his mission. I only sent him letters of encouragement to preach of Christ and to live within the missions rules. My son that could submit his papers this month has decided not to go after asking my RM son and I some questions. He is strongly considering serving in the Peace Corps. Younger two are not aware of everything that is going on, but know that is causing a great deal of distress in the family. Wife is troubled with the hole experience but struggling through the embarrasment of attending with an incomplete family.

This must be hard for all of you.

It's interesting that your two sons are also questioning/drawing some non-faith-promoting conclusions. If you feel comfortable, I'm sure many here would like to know their stories, as well.

There is one Mormon that owes me several thousand dollars for work I completed 6 months ago but has excused himself from paying me. He says he cannot trust my work because I have lost my testimony of Joseph Smith.

That is really opportunistic, isn't it?

While I most certainly don't think all LDS would react this way, I have to say I'm familiar with those who make the us vs. them encouraged by church culture serve their own needs.

[_Yoda]

There is one Mormon that owes me several thousand dollars for work I completed 6 months ago but has excused himself from paying me. He says he cannot trust my work because I have lost my testimony of Joseph Smith. In over 15 years owning my own business I have been unable to recover about $300, so this is significant. I know it's just a lying excuse for someone that can't manage his money, but I'm not rich enough to absorb this kind of abuse.

That is so sad...and ironic.

Mormons seem to be the worst people to do business with. I run my own music studio and am just getting things off the ground.

I took one voice student who was, you guessed it, a Church member. This student is the ONLY one who skipped out on me without paying. Truly amazing.

This is the second time I have been burned by a Church member financially.

[_Bond...James Bond]

Good discussion so far peoples.....one quick point I want to address before I watch the game.

For the older generation (let's suspend reality for a second and assume liz is in her 40s, rather than 27 like we all know she is) I think they've already been told what to believe by their Bishops, and thus aren't as likely to google Joseph Smith or whatever. They've already been indoctrinated enough that they just don't worry about stuff....many will assume they've got their spiritual path charted already. The next generation (my generation) on the other hand that is still questioning stuff and have grown up on the Net may be more likely to google Joseph in their earlier years....and get the message that what they've been told isn't the whole message. I could definitely see more and more young people falling away from organized religion on the basis of all the information on the Net. Not all for sure....but the numbers will continue to grow I'd say.

Of course anyone who has the slightest doubts can go to the Net and look for information.......something you couldn't do 15 years ago.

[_silentkid]

I didn't get any of my information from the net when I first began questioning my beliefs. A science professor that I worked for at BYU helped me with a lot of my questions and pointed out some books for me to read (Palmer's book, Southerton's book, Dwayne Anderson's book, etc). He also let me photocopy lots of material that he had accumulated throughout the years. I have a binder full of Sunstone and Dialogue articles. I didn't look for information on the internet until after I had graduated and moved from Utah. My parents, brothers, and sister all use the internet regularly, but none have used it research any church issue, outside of LDS.org. If I sent them excerpts from FARMS or FAIR articles, they would probably think it was anti-mormon material.

[_Still_reeling]

I'm 45, a big internet user, and have used the internet alot regarding my questions about the church. I am (or was) a TBM, chapel Mormon, took everything literally.

I always made it a point to avoid 1)delving into church history and 2)reading "anti" literature. Then, by accident, a few years ago I mistakenly ran into Joseph Smith's polygamy and polyandry. It was very disturbing, and ruined the handcart pioneer trek I went on a few days later. But I left it alone.

That was a few years ago. Just last spring, circumstances in my life caused me to question everything I believed in. So, with a vengeance, I googled everything possible and have come to the conclusion that the church is not true. The internet led me to books, and I have read D. Michael Quinns Mormon Hierarcy - Origins of Power, Who REally Wrote the Book of Mormon, Fawn Brodie, and An Insider's View of Mormon History, literature from the Tanner's and their website.

The internet was very instrumental in my search. I am still reeling at all that I have learned.

[_mocnarf]

I didn't get any of my information from the net when I first began questioning my beliefs. A science professor that I worked for at BYU helped me with a lot of my questions and pointed out some books for me to read (Palmer's book, Southerton's book, Dwayne Anderson's book, etc). He also let me photocopy lots of material that he had accumulated throughout the years. I have a binder full of Sunstone and Dialogue articles. I didn't look for information on the internet until after I had graduated and moved from Utah. My parents, brothers, and sister all use the internet regularly, but none have used it research any church issue, outside of LDS.org. If I sent them excerpts from FARMS or FAIR articles, they would probably think it was anti-mormon material.

So typical, almost all the TM's Mormons that I know are the same way. They say... I don't care what the truth is, I just want to know things that strengthen my testimony. I think there has always and will always be a segment of the population that simply wants what they believe to be true and will not listen to any information to the contrary. This type of thought process is not just found in Mormons, but also in EV's, Catholics, Baptists, Amway distributers, .... you name it. They want so much for their beleifs to be true that they would dismiss anything negative, no matter how fundimental the information might be.