Cognitive Dissonance -- It Sucks

[_Moniker]

If anyone cares (Not) what appeared apparent, and obvious earlier, has flopped back to other side... with wee wiggle room. Keeping it simple (stupid) and sticking to the point....

I am the poster child for why you should be LDS instead of gobbling massive quantities of psychedelics in your young adulthood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FxaJKm9sdI

~carry on~

[_charity]

Charity, sometimes I wonder if you post these bizarre statements to convince yourself of them, because you certainly won't be winning the debate by any logical means!

Most of your posts can logically be turned around at you, and I think most would see them as more accurate. Let's try:

"And those of you who have decided to relieve your stress by joining the Church have still not overcome the cogn dis problem. Many, many of you (maybe not all) still have a kernel of truth hiding in your souls, and you still know deep down that the Church is not true. Which is why Elder Maxwell pointed out the problem you have. "You can join the Church, but you can't leave your doubts alone."

I actually agree with what you say about maintaining doubts. Not that the Church is false. I think this is what happens. People know by a witness of the Spirit that the Church is true. But they still have their backlog of old information. A recent Ensign article talked about staying with what you know, and not worrying about what you don't.

[Guest]

If anyone cares (Not) what appeared apparent, and obvious earlier, has flopped back to other side... with wee wiggle room. Keeping it simple (stupid) and sticking to the point....

I am the poster child for why you should be LDS instead of gobbling massive quantities of psychedelics in your young adulthood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FxaJKm9sdI

~carry on~

Well, if you're wrong, then I don't wanna be right.
*...gets in line for sedation and / or psychedelics...*

[_charity]

I cannot defend my actions which are intolerant. I am sorry for any of you who have had experiences of my judgment. And I will certainly have to answer for any unChrist-like behaviors.

Hmmmm...so much easier to point fingers than to look in the mirror, huh?

Ric, I have never behaved rudely or in an uncaring way towards people who have left the Church. I have two sons, one of which is completely inactive, and one of which who is just coming back to Church after a long period out of the Church. I currently have a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law who are no longer active members of the Church and one of my grandsons has decided he is an atheist. We all get along fine. I have never called them evil or wicked, or that a cloud of evil hung over their heads. I haven't shunned them, said or thought that they left the Church because of sin, or any of those things that ex-Mormons often complain about.

And yes, we will ALL have to answer any unChrist-like behaviors.

So please back off with unwarranted assumptions and claims about me.

[_why me]

And those of you who have decided to relieve your stress by leaving the Church have still not overcome the cogn dis problem. Many, many of you (maybe not all) still have a kernel of truth hiding in your souls, and you still know deep down that the Church is true. Which is why Elder Maxwell pointed out the problem you have. "You can leave the Church, but you can't leave it alone."

I would also have to write that the words miscog dis is a postmodern concept acquistioned by post and exmormons to make them feel better about leaving the church. It gives some sort of explanation about why they feel the way they do. It gives them a sort of validation and explanation about why members also stay in the church.

The word has been abused by exmos.

[_why me]

I think that you will become evil to the more 'crazed' Mormons but not to most. People come and go all the time. Usually, no one is that concerned. It happens. There are exceptions of course, and these exception usually get the most play on the internet. But really, most Mormon out of the corridor have no time to give a person who has left the LDS church much thought unless of course, it is a friend or relative. That is not to say that they don't care. Just occupied mentally by every day life.

[_Runtu]

And those of you who have decided to relieve your stress by leaving the Church have still not overcome the cogn dis problem. Many, many of you (maybe not all) still have a kernel of truth hiding in your souls, and you still know deep down that the Church is true. Which is why Elder Maxwell pointed out the problem you have. "You can leave the Church, but you can't leave it alone."

I would also have to write that the words miscog dis is a postmodern concept acquistioned by post and exmormons to make them feel better about leaving the church. It gives some sort of explanation about why they feel the way they do. It gives them a sort of validation and explanation about why members also stay in the church.

The word has been abused by exmos.

Cognitive dissonance is what happens when two versions of reality collide. In other words, your beliefs about one thing conflict with your beliefs about another thing. Despite your apparent disdain for us exmormons, that is exactly what we ran up against. Two conflicting things cannot be true, so we must decide which one is right, or we experience a great deal of psychic pain.

I find your attitude rather disheartening. Rather than attempting to understand what we think and why we feel the way we do, you see us as disingenuous and nonspecifically "bad" people who have to justify the beliefs we don't really believe way down deep.

In what way does dismissing the experiences and feelings of other people validate your faith in the church?

[_BishopRic]

The word has been abused by exmos.

If that's what you need to believe...go for it!

[_beastie]

Charity,

I'm sure you're not rude to exmormons in real life. Very few Mormons would be openly rude to exmormons in real life. Likewise, very few exmormons would be rude to Mormons in real life.

You are rude to exmormons on internet boards, however. Perhaps that aspect of your own behavior - which I hope you won't just deny because it's hard to deny that calling people "satan's minions" is fairly rude - can help you understand how exmormons may engage in similar behavior.

Back to the topic - cog dis truly does suck. Struggling to reconcile the collision of my two realities - my fervent belief that the church was true and the growing body of evidence contradicting that belief - was one of the most painful periods of my life. It take a great deal of energy to keep all the balls in the air. The moment of break-through - albeit still painful - was also incredibly freeing and a huge relief. I still remember the exhilarating feeling of knowing I could read and learn ANY new thing without fearing that it would rock my belief-boat.

[_Runtu]

And those of you who have decided to relieve your stress by leaving the Church have still not overcome the cogn dis problem. Many, many of you (maybe not all) still have a kernel of truth hiding in your souls, and you still know deep down that the Church is true. Which is why Elder Maxwell pointed out the problem you have. "You can leave the Church, but you can't leave it alone."

Yes, leaving the church has been such a stress reducer. LOL

I have a big kernel of truth in my soul, and that truth is that Mormonism is not what it claims to be. Deep down I do not believe for an instant that the church is true. Furthermore, none of the people I know personally who have left the church believe deep down that it's true.

And I'd leave the church alone if it would leave me alone. ;)