Zadok wrote:I believe... ...the more stories like this are posted in various forums and places on the Internet, the greater the chance that regular every-day chapel members will see and read them.
...as more members read these stories and understand that there are parts of the vineyard where the fruit is rotten, they themselves will be embolden to challenge the Church when it abuses them.
...when regular believing members start to push back, in large numbers, there is a chance that the Church will begin to change. Hardliners will be softened, and ministering to the members will increase.
These are all good things in my opinion.
are you an active member?
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
Not any more. I had a several year sabbatical after my mission. Returned to full faith with my wife until about 3 years ago. I have not yet resigned, but I don't attend, and find myself a little hostile towards the church. "Bitter Apostate" seems to best describe me now.
A friendship that requires agreement in all things, is not worthy of the term friendship.
Not any more. I had a several year sabbatical after my mission. Returned to full faith with my wife until about 3 years ago. I have not yet resigned, but I don't attend, and find myself a little hostile towards the church. "Bitter Apostate" seems to best describe me now.
Thanks for the reply. But....it makes your post Here rather confusing...like you may still have some skin in the game (as it were).
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
subgenius wrote:Thanks for the reply. But....it makes your post Here rather confusing...like you may still have some skin in the game (as it were).
I do have 'skin-in-the-game' as it were. From two different angles. First, I come from a long line of celebrated Mormon stars. Were they alive today, I am sure I would be under the most intense pressure to 'come back'. Just knowing this tends to keep me mentally connected. Secondly, my wife still wants to believe. I wouldn't say she is TBM, but she isn't ready to separate herself from the Church either. Right now she is in a nether land of not confronting the issues that I have raised to her. As long as she is of this mind-set, I don't see myself being able to leave Mormonism totally behind.
I would still like to see the Church change, even though I don't believe there is a single scintilla of evidence supporting their claims. But a change in the church might save someone else some of the anguish and heartache that I have experienced in my transition from believer to apostate.
A friendship that requires agreement in all things, is not worthy of the term friendship.
subgenius wrote:Thanks for the reply. But....it makes your post Here rather confusing...like you may still have some skin in the game (as it were).
I do have 'skin-in-the-game' as it were. From two different angles. First, I come from a long line of celebrated Mormon stars. Were they alive today, I am sure I would be under the most intense pressure to 'come back'. Just knowing this tends to keep me mentally connected. Secondly, my wife still wants to believe. I wouldn't say she is TBM, but she isn't ready to separate herself from the Church either. Right now she is in a nether land of not confronting the issues that I have raised to her. As long as she is of this mind-set, I don't see myself being able to leave Mormonism totally behind.
I would still like to see the Church change, even though I don't believe there is a single scintilla of evidence supporting their claims. But a change in the church might save someone else some of the anguish and heartache that I have experienced in my transition from believer to apostate.
There are Christian churches you could seek out. Believe in Jesus. Start with the basics as found in the New Testament. Seek after God's wisdom and not the teachings of men. Find a New Testament Church and you will find a new beginning. As a former Mormon, God may use you to bring others from the shadows into the light. Everything is not a lie --- seek the truth and the TRUTH shall set you free.
LittleNipper wrote:There are Christian churches you could seek out. Believe in Jesus. Start with the basics as found in the New Testament. Seek after God's wisdom and not the teachings of men. Find a New Testament Church and you will find a new beginning. As a former Mormon, God may use you to bring others from the shadows into the light. Everything is not a lie --- seek the truth and the TRUTH shall set you free.
Thank you LittleNipper. For right now, I am slowly exploring a Deist mentality that allows me to have a belief in a 'causer of the big bang', but not have to worry about Mormon-God helping me find my keys.
The idea of Jesus is a comforting idea, but after the deception of Mormonism, I'm going to need some better evidence than what is currently available.
A friendship that requires agreement in all things, is not worthy of the term friendship.
subgenius wrote:Thanks for the reply. But....it makes your post Here rather confusing...like you may still have some skin in the game (as it were).
I do have 'skin-in-the-game' as it were. From two different angles. First, I come from a long line of celebrated Mormon stars. Were they alive today, I am sure I would be under the most intense pressure to 'come back'. Just knowing this tends to keep me mentally connected. Secondly, my wife still wants to believe. I wouldn't say she is TBM, but she isn't ready to separate herself from the Church either. Right now she is in a nether land of not confronting the issues that I have raised to her. As long as she is of this mind-set, I don't see myself being able to leave Mormonism totally behind.
I would still like to see the Church change, even though I don't believe there is a single scintilla of evidence supporting their claims. But a change in the church might save someone else some of the anguish and heartache that I have experienced in my transition from believer to apostate.
hmmm...interesting notion, this "painful journey"....a bit of a masochist is he who that endures pain for some reward.
Was your journey into the church equally as painful?
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
subgenius wrote:Was your journey into the church equally as painful?
I never had a journey into the Church as I recall. It was what I was from birth. Does the man born blind, recognize that he has no sight? Take the 'blind' analogy further, I just thought that everyone was blind like me. Only as I grew much older were my eyes opened and I could see the world as it is with colors and depth. You might say that this shouldn't have been painful, but now that I can see, I see both beauty and misery. So it is not all 'wonderful' to me.
There are days when I wonder if I would be better blind?
A friendship that requires agreement in all things, is not worthy of the term friendship.
subgenius wrote:Was your journey into the church equally as painful?
I never had a journey into the Church as I recall. It was what I was from birth. Does the man born blind, recognize that he has no sight? Take the 'blind' analogy further, I just thought that everyone was blind like me. Only as I grew much older were my eyes opened and I could see the world as it is with colors and depth. You might say that this shouldn't have been painful, but now that I can see, I see both beauty and misery. So it is not all 'wonderful' to me.
There are days when I wonder if I would be better blind?
it is as if you have taken a bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge?....and at times you wish to return to the garden?
poetic it is
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
subgenius wrote:it is as if you have taken a bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge?....and at times you wish to return to the garden? poetic it is
Yes. There are days when I can hear in my mind the lyrics of Bob Seger's 1980 hit "Against The Wind" "I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then." But alas, once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it is very difficult to put it back in. And so I sit here on the floor in my tears covered in toothpaste and the shards of my broken shelf, wondering if anything is true, or is my whole damn life a fraud?
A friendship that requires agreement in all things, is not worthy of the term friendship.