DiscussMormonism.com

I joined this forum in July of last year, but stopped posting in October and haven't really been back since.

There's a lot of people here I don't know, and even the ones I do know I sometimes don't know much about. So, I would really love it if you would tell me...

Why you're interested in Mormonism
Your current religious affiliation (or lack thereof)
A little about yourself

So...

~ I've always found Mormonism fascinating since I first learned about it as a teenager. I wound up doing my undergrad at BYU and marrying an active, believing Mormon, so it's in the family now.

~ I'm an evangelical Christian with Arminian, charismatic, credobaptist and egalitarian beliefs. I've just moved to the Chicago area last month and I'm still looking for a home church, but it's either going to be a Deer Grove Covenant Church (Evangelical Covenant Church) or Church of the Redeemer (Anglican Mission in America).

~ I have a BA in classics from BYU and I'm currently working on my MA in History of Christianity in America at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I have one daughter who is three years old.

I also used to post at ZLMB as Junia or Illyria; I know we have a lot of people here who used to post there.

So, don't be shy, tell me about yourselves.

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Hi,
I'm in my thirties and I was BIC, active and faithfully served in the church (never turned down a calling), married in the temple to another BIC Mormon, faithfully paid my tithing (plus more), and tried my best to do all the things good LDS wives do.
I was your typical TR holding, stay at home Mormon Mommy with a van load of little kids.

My disaffection happened around 4 years ago after coming across some shocking polygamy information on Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger. (from a TBM no less) This would be the catalyst for me to study church history outside of safe church publications that I no longer trusted.
But there were other things that happened earlier that I had tried to bury which contributed to my “shelf” breaking. Troubling questions I had on doctrines that made no sense. (the list is very long!) After learning all the buried sermons and contradictions between Prophets, I became disillusioned with “God’s mouthpiece” and their role in revealing and defining doctrine.

I’m very drawn to egalitarian issues, like polygamy and blacks in the church. I’m also very interested in apologetics and the inoculation efforts underway.

I am currently a “New Order Mormon” with some Christian Universalist beliefs. I believe the negative aspects of Mormon culture will only change when more New Order Mormons remain active. I still believe in some Mormon doctrines and really can’t wrap my mind around how the Book of Mormon came to be, but don’t view Joseph Smith and other LDS Prophets the way our church claims them to be. I’m “active” in church and serve a calling. (even gave a talk recently) I do have a strong belief in Christ and the atonement and lean heavily to the Christian view of the Godhead. I don’t believe God intervenes or answers prayers the way most believers do.


My husband is still a TBM and has studied the controversial issues (he takes the apologist view of the Prophets and doctrine) so we are raising the kids Mormon. (but with a lot of deprogramming when they come home from church) My older children have been told that Joseph Smith had around 33 wives and we’ve briefly explained what polygamy is to them so it won’t come as a shock when they are older. We focus more on being good Christians in our home instead of being good Mormons. There is too much focus on how the “true church”= the gospel in our religion, and gaining that deep understanding of Christ’s atonement gets lost in it all.

Ezias ~ It's nice to meet you. I'm curious, if the LDS church scares you or worries you so much, why do you remain active?

Seven ~ Thanks for telling me more about yourself. I'm really drawn to egalitarian issues as well. by the way, have you commented on blogs under the handle "Seven" before? (Like here.)

We focus more on being good Christians in our home instead of being good Mormons.

A question I sometimes ask my believing LDS friends when the "Are Mormons Christians?" thing comes up is, if you were to find out that the LDS church is not true, would you still be a Christian?

If they say yes, then I think they are a Christian first, Mormon second. If they say no, well... they're probably just Mormon. It sounds like you are the former. It's nice to meet you.

Bridget Jack Meyers wrote:
... if you were to find out that the LDS church is not true, would you still be a Christian?

If they say yes, then I think they are a Christian first, Mormon second. If they say no, well... they're probably just Mormon. It sounds like you are the former. It's nice to meet you.

I have asked this question on two different websites for Mormons and both times over sixty percent opted for a nonchristian religion or no religion at all. Your observation seems correct.

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Ezias wrote:It scares me because it is hard for me to accept that 5 generations of my family on both sides were cult members. To me, that is extreme control and power. Something that has that much power scares me. It scares me that one of the powers the church has is to rip families apart, spread rumors, and basically destroy your social life if you leave. That is why I remain active, it is out of fear. That is one demon I haven't fully come to terms with I guess.

That's such a shame to hear, Ezias. I wish church members would show more love and compassion for those who disaffiliate. :(

Bridget Jack Meyers wrote:

Ezias wrote:It scares me because it is hard for me to accept that 5 generations of my family on both sides were cult members. To me, that is extreme control and power. Something that has that much power scares me. It scares me that one of the powers the church has is to rip families apart, spread rumors, and basically destroy your social life if you leave. That is why I remain active, it is out of fear. That is one demon I haven't fully come to terms with I guess.

That's such a shame to hear, Ezias. I wish church members would show more love and compassion for those who disaffiliate. :(

I know.....maybe if we tarred and feathered them on the way out they'd know we loved them.

Hi, I'm Nehor. I'm orthodox Mormon and am mostly the board goofball. According to some, I'm funny, according to others, I'm not, according to a select few, I'm a nebbish chronic masturbator who lies a lot.

Welcome to the board.

The Nehor wrote:I'm orthodox Mormon

What's an orthodox Mormon?

Nice to meet you, Nehor.

EDIT: Oh, sweet, I'm a deacon now! Let's pass some sacrament!

Bridget Jack Meyers wrote:

The Nehor wrote:I'm orthodox Mormon

What's an orthodox Mormon?

Nice to meet you, Nehor.

EDIT: Oh, sweet, I'm a deacon now! Let's pass some sacrament!

It means the same thing as TBM (True Believing Mormon or True Blue Mormon) but I dislike that term. Normally not needed but here we have a lot of members of the LDS Church that do not agree with all of it's doctrines or strive to follow all of the commands God has given through them. I used that to try to distinguish that I believe and follow. Obviously, my attempt at brevity and clarity failed.

I'll try again. I'm an active Mormon who believes.

Oh, and I like Blue Bell Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream.