Mormonisms social caste system - My Personal Experience

[_Mercury]

So I was looking back on the past two years. I left the cult "in mind" around 2.5 years ago and left it "in body" around 2 years ago.

It has been the BEST thing I have ever done for myself, aside from getting married. The perspective and personal boost to my success has been a direct result of escaping the confines of mormonisms mental prison.

I used to think that if I prayed payed and obeyed I would find success. In reality this is a sick way of looking at success and should be avoiuded at all costs. This philosophy of always chasing the carrot on the stick can create a social caste system, as has certainly been done in Mormonisms social structure.

The Mormon Caste system was something my family tried to pass onto me, making sure i never stepped out of "my place" in its rigid socioeconomical constraints. As a teenager it was a point of contention that I aspired higher, associating myself with individuals with better economic standings than my small minded family. I was labeled a stupid little kid who was wishing for something he could never obtain. Fortunately for me i proved them VERY wrong and am doing better than they ever had, all because I stopped trying to be in the Mormon caste system where only the "elect" got good business relationships while the common folk of Mormonism could only serve the "elect".

Towards the end when I was mentally out of Mormonism I decided to perform a test. I established business relationships with several individuals in my ward based on their percieved images they had of my upbringing and family relations in regards to their leadership roles. The only relationships that stood the test of time were the ones in which I was not too accurate in describing leadership offices my family members held, preference given to me where it was percieved the benefit of my relations would benefit the proprietors I was working with. Those individuals in which I did not allude a pumped up reference to my uncle being an area authority "back east" were never followed up on. I had hacked the Mormon social code, thanking Kevin Mitnick for all the social engineering techniques I had gleaned from him and others.

Access was given to me to the world of Mormon business both in my community and others. I discovered a world where membership, levelof leadership and class was used to judge others. These men were arrogant pricks interested in talking about the economic levels of certain wards or stakes to decide the future borders of these wards and stakes. many times desparaging comments during business lunches were made, a daughter dating someone from a middle class family, issues with the underpaid hispanic maids hired from the ward to "help them" with their tithing", etc. Law firms, distributors, Accountants, architects, etc would eat with me and without fail the bishops would start bitching about the plainness of the new members coming from the "damn apartment buildings" they had just put up. These businesses were giving me their business under the idea that my family was ingrained in the hierarchy of the church. It proved to be the final nail in the Mormon coffin.

This year and a half expierement taught me that the Mormon culture is a caste system in which a pool of willing serfs are shepherded by the Mormon elite. They are seen as cattle that can be used, given little to no benefits nor chances to move up in the company. Preference was given to family or members of the same elite caste they came from. Pure contempt for hispanics was common, along with the "salt of the earth" Mormons who were expected to give service to Mormons in position of authority, like peasantry groomed for subservience.

Mormonisms social structure is not separate from Mormonisms religious structure. This is the way it is because of the almost Feudal structure present in Utah. Often we would do business with firms run by GA's and their family members, huge margins in hte GA's favor given as pittance to the salt lake elite.

Mormonism is a cult masquerading as a business that is in turn masquerading as a religion. I will never forget that because I have lived it first hand. At its core it is a networking club used to create a stable of willing servants.

I hacked the system. It was the easiest thing to root I had ever hacked. All I had to do was move confidently into their midst and act like a smug, well to do ass.

[_Jason Bourne]

So I was looking back on the past two years. I left the cult "in mind" around 2.5 years ago and left it "in body" around 2 years ago.

It has been the BEST thing I have ever done for myself, aside from getting married. The perspective and personal boost to my success has been a direct result of escaping the confines of mormonisms mental prison.

I used to think that if I prayed payed and obeyed I would find success. In reality this is a sick way of looking at success and should be avoiuded at all costs. This philosophy of always chasing the carrot on the stick can create a social caste system, as has certainly been done in Mormonisms social structure.

The Mormon Caste system was something my family tried to pass onto me, making sure i never stepped out of "my place" in its rigid socioeconomical constraints. As a teenager it was a point of contention that I aspired higher, associating myself with individuals with better economic standings than my small minded family. I was labeled a stupid little kid who was wishing for something he could never obtain. Fortunately for me i proved them VERY wrong and am doing better than they ever had, all because I stopped trying to be in the Mormon caste system where only the "elect" got good business relationships while the common folk of Mormonism could only serve the "elect".

Towards the end when I was mentally out of Mormonism I decided to perform a test. I established business relationships with several individuals in my ward based on their percieved images they had of my upbringing and family relations in regards to their leadership roles. The only relationships that stood the test of time were the ones in which I was not too accurate in describing leadership offices my family members held, preference given to me where it was percieved the benefit of my relations would benefit the proprietors I was working with. Those individuals in which I did not allude a pumped up reference to my uncle being an area authority "back east" were never followed up on. I had hacked the Mormon social code, thanking Kevin Mitnick for all the social engineering techniques I had gleaned from him and others.

Access was given to me to the world of Mormon business both in my community and others. I discovered a world where membership, levelof leadership and class was used to judge others. These men were arrogant pricks interested in talking about the economic levels of certain wards or stakes to decide the future borders of these wards and stakes. many times desparaging comments during business lunches were made, a daughter dating someone from a middle class family, issues with the underpaid hispanic maids hired from the ward to "help them" with their tithing", etc. Law firms, distributors, Accountants, architects, etc would eat with me and without fail the bishops would start bitching about the plainness of the new members coming from the "damn apartment buildings" they had just put up. These businesses were giving me their business under the idea that my family was ingrained in the hierarchy of the church. It proved to be the final nail in the Mormon coffin.

This year and a half expierement taught me that the Mormon culture is a caste system in which a pool of willing serfs are shepherded by the Mormon elite. They are seen as cattle that can be used, given little to no benefits nor chances to move up in the company. Preference was given to family or members of the same elite caste they came from. Pure contempt for hispanics was common, along with the "salt of the earth" Mormons who were expected to give service to Mormons in position of authority, like peasantry groomed for subservience.

Mormonisms social structure is not separate from Mormonisms religious structure. This is the way it is because of the almost Feudal structure present in Utah. Often we would do business with firms run by GA's and their family members, huge margins in hte GA's favor given as pittance to the salt lake elite.

Mormonism is a cult masquerading as a business that is in turn masquerading as a religion. I will never forget that because I have lived it first hand. At its core it is a networking club used to create a stable of willing servants.

I hacked the system. It was the easiest thing to root I had ever hacked. All I had to do was move confidently into their midst and act like a smug, well to do ass.

What a bunch of horse crap. Poor poor pitiful you. My experience is exactly the oppisite of your. I have never seem such a thing. I think you have a martyr complex.

Jason

[_Runtu]

I don't think it's horsecrap at all. Mormonism at core is an old-boys' network, and it helps to have the right connections. There was a reason we played "musical chairs" in ward council, and there's a reason that so many of the church leadership is related to each other. I'm no martyr, as I was part of that privileged caste. But it's silly to deny that it exists.

[_rcrocket]

Vegas:

Your post is a good example of inverse arrogance. Arrogance that you are better than weak men who value success. Your arrogance is no better than theirs. The fact that you can barely write the King's English makes it all the worse.

Carry on.

[_Jason Bourne]

I don't think it's horsecrap at all. Mormonism at core is an old-boys' network, and it helps to have the right connections.

All social structure have an element such as this. But it is not excesive in the LDS Church. I do not know where you live but I have not seen it extensively at all. And I am well connected in that I am involved and know many of the saints where I live. I have had buisiness dealings with some. I just do not see any special effort to include or exclude anyone nor do I see social strata dynamics like Vega described to any excessive level.

There was a reason we played "musical chairs" in ward council,

I know this happens but I think it is more becasue there are limited willing to take on responsibility, at least that has been my experience.

and there's a reason that so many of the church leadership is related to each other. I'm no martyr, as I was part of that privileged caste. But it's silly to deny that it exists.

It is sillier to argue that it is intent and design that creates this.

Jason

[_moksha]

Here is something I always wondered about. Twice when I was growing up our ward built two new Churches within its boundaries. Twice after these buildings were completed and after only a years use, our ward was shunted away to a much older Church, one of them was five miles away and each time the building was given to members from a higher economic area. Obviously, economic circumstance does enter the picture as to who gets what in the Church. This is not an item I blame on the Church however. I think it falls within Joseph Smith's admonition that unrighteous dominion can be rampant with its leaders. It is probably a combination of leaders untrained in equity and fueled by a conservative belief in the rightness of upper classes.

...

[_Southern Redneck]

On my blog I did a post that involved a social class issue.

QUOTE:Southern Redneck blog post

I go to several religious based blogs a day. If not for spiritual uplifting at least I get to think.

By Common Consent is a Mormon blog that is not afraid to ask some rather blunt questions. In the post "What do Church Members Really Think?" this was asked

These conversations and many other experiences have led me to wonder, what do Church members really think? When I sit in Sacrament and gaze around at me fellow members, sometimes there's nothing I'd like more than to be a mind reader. It's been said that we all have three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life. The public life is pretty self-explanatory - it's what people see of us at Church, work, social settings, etc. The private life we reserve for our families or close friends only. They might know more about us than we'd ever share in public. The secret life, however, is just for us. No one, not even our spouse, knows this life. (Let me interject, I don't want to imply that everyone is off having an affair or is secretly a drug dealer; while this is undoubtedly the case for a small minority, most people's secret life consists of thoughts, emotions, or desires they are too embarrassed, ashamed or unwilling to share with others.

If we could open up the minds and examine the secret life of those Mormons around us, what would we find?

There was some rather open answers. Here are a few.

The discrepancy between people's public life and their private beliefs and behaviors is a predictable result of the incentive to appear virtuous. Any social system provides some incentive of this kind (there's supposedly even honor among thieves, after all). A system that adds worthiness interviews and ties important social criteria like attendance at weddings to maintaining specific public images can only serve to increase this discrepancy. Roasted Tomatoe

Thanks for the great post. I join with you in thinking we would be an improved church if we would more freely share our thoughts - doubts, criticisms, joys - with each other. It seems to me that the reason we worship together every Sunday rather than alone on a mountaintop is so that we can support and strengthen ourselves as a body. It is hard to do that when we repeat trite, practiced phrases rather than discuss the concerns of our heart. What a loss that is. Christina

Attending church is utterly boring. I go to take the sacrament and because it's my duty to attend my meetings. It's boring because there is a veneer of fakeness on top of everything. I think most people sense it, but nobody does anything about it.

Nobody wants to admit in church that their life, testimony, attitude, etc., isn't totally peachy-keen, because if we admit our weaknesses publicly, if we show our vulnerabilities, if we express our doubts, we will be forever labeled as unworthy. I think that this fear, whether justified or not, whether true or not, is a big reason that church has become a public performance of pretend piety, instead of a hospital for sinners. JB

His post and many of the answers brought to mind something that happened to me in a Kansas ward. This ward was so dysfunctional

(((How dysfunctional was it?)))

It was so dysfunctional that my wife did not go for four or five months. We might have gone to a social or something but that was it. This ward was full of yuppie scum, tight cliches, and was about as friendly as a dentist office.

I received a strange call from the stake(6 wards to the stake normally) and they asked for an appointment. "What the hell" I figured so I went.

We meet in the ward building and he said they were interviewing people in the ward. He asked what I thought of the ward. From the way he asked the question I could tell that they were trying to figure how much people hated the ward and why. I did not hate it, I just did not like it.

So I asked him if I could tell him a small story.(A story in a story).

"Ever read Blondie? The daily cartoon?" He answered yes and seemed puzzled.

"There is one strip that was rather deep for me. Dagwood was sitting there in his chair and Blondie walked in with two dresses. A Solid stripped dress and a spotted dress. She asked Dagwood which one should she wear. He looked and said "The stripped one". She then said "I'll wear the spotted one" and walked out.

You see she was not asking him for his opinion. She was asking him for support of her beliefs. So I asked the stake guy. "Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear, or do you want me to tell you what I really think?". He of course said that he wanted to hear my opinion.

Well I told him and he seemed bothered by them. I told him how unfriendly the ward is. I told him how us blue coller workers were treated like custodians by the white coller workers. I told him how RM's had all the calling and us non-returned missionaries got second class treatment. He piped in and said the Bishops first counselor was not RM. I replied that you told me the exception to the rule. I told him that this ward had driven my active wife far far away. I went into details on many subjects.

Over all I think when I was done he would have preferred me to not have told him the truth. That's the problem. The truth is bothersome for some. It is easy to think everyone that is smiling in church is happy, it is hard to know how many are screaming inside.

I have only had two opportunities to ask people if they really want the truth with that story. Most people do not want the truth. Most are happy with what they perceive as the truth. I get a viceral pleasure in getting people to tell me they want the whole truth, and then watching them cringe when I tell them.

That ward was the last ward I was even a little involved in. Before that call I had attended about 6 times in the last 4-5 months. They must have pulled my name from the ward directory. A mistake that one brethren regretted.

To say there is no social class issues in the church, no matter how 'white bread' the ward is. Is an attempt to lie to yourself.

[_Southern Redneck]

Vegas:

Your post is a good example of inverse arrogance. Arrogance that you are better than weak men who value success. Your arrogance is no better than theirs. The fact that you can barely write the King's English makes it all the worse.

Carry on.

Oops!

The notion of the "Queen’s" English or "King’s" English, depending on who is the ruler of the time, can be traced back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where the idea that the monarch’s usage of the language should be a model in speech and writing (Wales, 1994). During these times there was a development of a prestigious speech associated with the court and aristocracy. Wales, (1994) also points out that the phrase "The King’s English" was first used during the reign of James I.

Seems that Queen Elizabeth would make it the Queen's English.

Makes your comment all the more humorous.

[_Jason Bourne]

To say there is no social class issues in the church, no matter how 'white bread' the ward is. Is an attempt to lie to yourself

I did not say that. Or if I did I will back down. I just do not think there is some radical caste system like the OP claims. I guess I just live is a pretty friendly ward. Nobody is very rich but a few are upper middle class. It ranges from a few professionals, to business owners, to blue collar to very poor members and it seem we all get along pretty well. Our last bishop was a blue coller type guy and did not earn much. He was a great bishop. We really run the spectrum.

Jason

[_rcrocket]

Oops!

The notion of the "Queen’s" English or "King’s" English, depending on who is the ruler of the time, can be traced back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where the idea that the monarch’s usage of the language should be a model in speech and writing (Wales, 1994). During these times there was a development of a prestigious speech associated with the court and aristocracy. Wales, (1994) also points out that the phrase "The King’s English" was first used during the reign of James I.

Seems that Queen Elizabeth would make it the Queen's English.

Makes your comment all the more humorous.

We say the "King's English" in America because King George was the King when America made its break. The "Queen's English" if that is indeed an expression is used in Britain.

You criticizing my literacy? Carry on! I'll watch with pleasure!

Plutarch