What would it take for you to leave Mormonism?
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:21 pm
I often reflect upon what helped me normalize my worldview and leave the incorrect worldview of Mormonism behind. I can cite books by Sagan mostly as the catalyst that led me into rational thought, but honestly the change was along time coming before that.
I'm currently 27 and the church left me when I was 25. Upon entering school the need for a rational outlook was made imperative. In particular Mike Norton and Shades were instrumental along with RFM, in regards to an outlet for the overwhelming anger I felt at the time. The anger is still there but its focused and honed.
Above all else I see my willingness to sit down and read the "other side" of the debate coming from the two year wake up call that was beaten into me during my mission. Slogging 12 hours a day knocking on doors in Minnesota just to be constantly told that I was in a cult both hinders and strengthens ones willingness to hold onto a false worldview. Pouring over FARMS documents and SHIELDS articles left me with an empty feeling inside. After reading the documents and discussing the matter with former seminary teachers of mine I knew it was all a lie. I just needed to make the leap into rational thought and act upon what I had learned.
Life it seemed changed the day I threw my garments away. Even after I made it known to my wife that I was not going back to church I kept them for some stupd reason. The day I dumped the laundry bag full of poorly made (yet expensive) white garments into the garbage was one of the happiest days of my life. It felt like I had sheared off shackles. Literally.
But hands down, the willingness to ditch the kooky worldview of Mormonism hinged on acting upon what I had learned. The more I relearned about episodes in church history the more I could get out of it. it was as if I could see the actual history of the church, not the vanilla faith-promoting ludicrous nature of the candy coated accounts. I could see the early church members as real people, not the cardboard cutouts portrayed by official church history that had been sanitized.
So to the believers I ask you what it would take for you to leave the church. What fact made evident would it take for you to ditch your faith? What fact would make your world change?
I'm currently 27 and the church left me when I was 25. Upon entering school the need for a rational outlook was made imperative. In particular Mike Norton and Shades were instrumental along with RFM, in regards to an outlet for the overwhelming anger I felt at the time. The anger is still there but its focused and honed.
Above all else I see my willingness to sit down and read the "other side" of the debate coming from the two year wake up call that was beaten into me during my mission. Slogging 12 hours a day knocking on doors in Minnesota just to be constantly told that I was in a cult both hinders and strengthens ones willingness to hold onto a false worldview. Pouring over FARMS documents and SHIELDS articles left me with an empty feeling inside. After reading the documents and discussing the matter with former seminary teachers of mine I knew it was all a lie. I just needed to make the leap into rational thought and act upon what I had learned.
Life it seemed changed the day I threw my garments away. Even after I made it known to my wife that I was not going back to church I kept them for some stupd reason. The day I dumped the laundry bag full of poorly made (yet expensive) white garments into the garbage was one of the happiest days of my life. It felt like I had sheared off shackles. Literally.
But hands down, the willingness to ditch the kooky worldview of Mormonism hinged on acting upon what I had learned. The more I relearned about episodes in church history the more I could get out of it. it was as if I could see the actual history of the church, not the vanilla faith-promoting ludicrous nature of the candy coated accounts. I could see the early church members as real people, not the cardboard cutouts portrayed by official church history that had been sanitized.
So to the believers I ask you what it would take for you to leave the church. What fact made evident would it take for you to ditch your faith? What fact would make your world change?