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Before I destroyed the shackles keeping me fuzed to the LDS infrastructure I had this fear in the back of my mind. What was I going to use to determine what is right? How will I be able to lead my family? Will I just become a person devoid of meaning and vice?

The short answer is that none of my fears were founded in reality. I became more happy, more involved with the world around me and Ethics replaced morals. My life, once ruled by silly rules and pretentious beliefs was replaced by a calm. My family is fine, even better now that their father does not hold them to silly and useless standards. My love for my wife is not predicated upon stupid formalities. I love my wife and children for who they are and not what a corporation masquerading as a religion dictates to me.

I found true peace instead of emptyness. I found happiness instead of sadness. I found myself buried under years of repression and second guessing.

Once you take the leap and latch onto reason there is nothing that can convince me I made the wrong decision. Learning to recognize the techniques of scam artists, debunking myth and analyzing the cost benefit of silly preoccupations led me out. Oh yah, u too shades. Thanks!

I invite the believers on this board to examine what life would be like outside of Mormonism. I can tell you from experience that life is better, more fulfilling and free of the gymnastics neccesary to choke down the whoppers Nibley and his d-list flunkies currently towing the line for MormonCorp.

Mercury wrote:Before I destroyed the shackles keeping me fuzed to the LDS infrastructure I had this fear in the back of my mind. What was I going to use to determine what is right? How will I be able to lead my family? Will I just become a person devoid of meaning and vice?

Yes, and this is good

The short answer is that none of my fears were founded in reality. I became more happy, more involved with the world around me and Ethics replaced morals. My life, once ruled by silly rules and pretentious beliefs was replaced by a calm. My family is fine, even better now that their father does not hold them to silly and useless standards. My love for my wife is not predicated upon stupid formalities. I love my wife and children for who they are and not what a corporation masquerading as a religion dictates to me.

We are masters of deception. One of the angriest people here believes he is calm.

I found true peace instead of emptyness. I found happiness instead of sadness. I found myself buried under years of repression and second guessing.

Don't dig yourself out of that repression, wallow in it my friend.

Once you take the leap and latch onto reason there is nothing that can convince me I made the wrong decision. Learning to recognize the techniques of scam artists, debunking myth and analyzing the cost benefit of silly preoccupations led me out. Oh yah, u too shades. Thanks!

I invite the believers on this board to examine what life would be like outside of Mormonism. I can tell you from experience that life is better, more fulfilling and free of the gymnastics neccesary to choke down the whoppers Nibley and his d-list flunkies currently towing the line for MormonCorp.

Isn't that disturbingly sweet? Now go back to ranting before you believe any of this.

Other than depression and a stint in the psychiatric hospital, life's been grand since I left.

Mercury wrote:I invite the believers on this board to examine what life would be like outside of Mormonism.

My guess is that I would receive lots of communication from family expressing their sorrow over my choice. I'd probably suffer a loss of credibility. I'd probably experience love-bombing. I'd probably experience loss of happiness at family activities as I would no longer have the confidence of my family.

But most of all, I would lose the blessings of God--not the blessing in this life of wealth, or even of family and love. I'd lose the blessings of eternity. Since some of you don't believe they exist, then I suppose such people feel they really don't have anything to lose.

Leave the church? Why? It's true for one thing, and secondly, I'd be giving up happiness with my family (in this life and the next) in return for . . . nothing. Sorry, but the church is true, there is no incentive to leave it, and plenty for staying.

asbestosman wrote:

Mercury wrote:I invite the believers on this board to examine what life would be like outside of Mormonism.

My guess is that I would receive lots of communication from family expressing their sorrow over my choice. I'd probably suffer a loss of credibility. I'd probably experience love-bombing. I'd probably experience loss of happiness at family activities as I would no longer have the confidence of my family.

But most of all, I would lose the blessings of God--not the blessing in this life of wealth, or even of family and love. I'd lose the blessings of eternity. Since some of you don't believe they exist, then I suppose such people feel they really don't have anything to lose.

Leave the church? Why? It's true for one thing, and secondly, I'd be giving up happiness with my family (in this life and the next) in return for . . . nothing. Sorry, but the church is true, there is no incentive to leave it, and plenty for staying.

We'll get you yet.......

I had lunch with my old mission companion with whom I roomed at BYU. He said he was glad he figured out the truth behind the church, but he said that sometimes he just felt incredibly alone. And the loss of certainty was for him devastating.

abman: I wish it were that simple. If it were true, he and I would be back in a heartbeat.

Runtu wrote:Other than depression and a stint in the psychiatric hospital, life's been grand since I left.

Ah-oh. I don't like the sound of that. Are you OK?

[quote="Mercury"']
I invite the believers on this board to examine what life would be like outside of Mormonism. I can tell you from experience that life is better, more fulfilling and free of the gymnastics neccesary to choke down the whoppers Nibley and his d-list flunkies currently towing the line for MormonCorp.[/quote]

What makes you think we don't know? Not all of us were BIC, Merc. I can tell you exactly what life is like outside of Mormonism. The same as it is IN Mormonism. The sun shines, the rain falls, children are born and grow up, people are kind, people are mean, people go to church, people go shopping, people laugh, people fall down and then they get back up and start all over again. Life is exactly the same. The promises are just as enticing, the punishments are just as harsh. No more, no less.

I've made much better life decisions since leaving the church. The church is too cookie-cutter in terms of life events. Trying to mold my life to fit that cookie cutter led to some disastrous decisions.

I went through a normal grieving phase after losing faith, but once that was over, have been a much happier, and, in my opinion, psychologically healthier individual.

My story is a little different: as a lot you know, I was excommunicated at nineteen. For over two decades I felt like I was not good. I am an addict too. I have read some thoughts that say the core power of addiction comes from isolation and shame. I had a very bad april of 93 where I too needed to go into a hospital. One doctor at the hospital who listened to me said that the church "shamed me" when they excommunicated me. I was looking up excommunication and came upon MAD. I started posting and people were okay to me. Then I saw LDS posters ganging up on people and that was different than the church I "grew up" in (if that is possible). Then it go real bad at MAD and I knew something was up. The Thomas Ferguson issue was a real hit to me. I do believe in some type of force for long term goodness but I'm starting to see the passive-aggressiveness of the LDS church. I guess my response is that as I have started to uncover all of this that I was a little distraught because my dream was to be a "good" person and go back to the church, but now I see that I shouldn't use the church standard for what is good.I also am starting to see an organization with no religious ethics. I understand that there is just so much that can be taught in sunday school and the need to teach the basics just like there is a lot of history of America that you need to read separately. But America doesn't claim to see God and America will say these things that we did were wrong and America has a check on it's systems of power so in a way they are not the same. The church could learn a lot from looking at America. I always thought that young men should be able to choose a mission or not just like someone makes a choice in a voting booth. People don't ask you when you are going to vote for so and so. The church has changed and did a whopping change between 1880 and 1910. Things happened that would be a major scandel today. Apostles were arrested, resigned etc. The Church needs to look at itself and not others when it finds fault.