Sethbag wrote:Well that's certainly interesting DrW. I couldn't imagine that happening with my parents, but then, you couldn't imagine it either with your mother, and look what's happened. So who knows?
While I'm happy to see the Morg bleeding like this, it still saddens me in a way that people are leaving it not for the freedom from Joseph's Myth that they so richly deserve, but rather to burrow in even deeper.
I'd be far happier to see Mormons realize that Joseph Smith wasn't what they were taught to believe at all, rather than just that Thomas Monson isn't faithfully enough carrying on Smith's standard.
To me, burrowing even deeper into Josephs' myth is not of much concern on a practical level. Compared to the burden of money and time that the LDS Church requires from folks in order to be a member in good standing, meeting in a small group, taking the sacrament and praying is not of much consequence, especially if one feels uplifted by these rituals.
When one considers the cost of full participation in the LDS Church, including tithing, fast offerings, travel time, gas, time spent in Church meetings, time spent visiting teaching, time in the temple, etc., the burden on older individuals on fixed incomes, and often with limited mobility, can be substantial - even overwhelming.
Some time ago, I suggested to my mother that I would feel better if she would not pay tithing on the money she received from me each month - and left it at that. During the conversation reported in the OP, she stated that she had stopped paying tithing on this money a long time ago, and was glad to have had a reason (my request) to do so.
She said that more recently she had stopped paying tithing altogether and felt much less anxious about her finances as a result.
People don't seem to realize what full participation in the LDS Church actually costs them until they stop participating.
