DiscussMormonism.com

Melchett wrote:I'd be interested in the numbers, or are there more who have had their faith strengthened by participation here?

My participation here hasn't strengthened my faith, but my calling in my local ward is a ward missionary, and it struck me some time ago that participating on this forum is a great way to talk to people about my faith.

I posted as an amateur apologist at MAD off and on for several years.

emilysmith wrote:Do you think the "deconversion" was directly the result of the information you encountered on the Internet, or were you harboring small seeds of doubt beforehand?

Would it be an intrusion to list the names of anyone else we were aware of without them responding in this thread?

Mine was from information encountered on the internet, and also from reading Joseph Campbell's Myths To Live By. I had no doubts until I started encountering different viewpoints, and taking them seriously.

KevinSim wrote:

Melchett wrote:I'd be interested in the numbers, or are there more who have had their faith strengthened by participation here?

My participation here hasn't strengthened my faith, but my calling in my local ward is a ward missionary, and it struck me some time ago that participating on this forum is a great way to talk to people about my faith.

Faith in what, exactly? The idea that Joseph Smith was a charlatan (it has also strengthened MY faith in that belief)? Your "faith" in the non-existence of elohim? Your faith in the fact that the LDS church bases its foundational beliefs on myths? You can have "faith" in anything, I was just wondering what this site has strengthened your "faith" in...

emilysmith wrote:Do you think the "deconversion" was directly the result of the information you encountered on the Internet, or were you harboring small seeds of doubt beforehand?

Would it be an intrusion to list the names of anyone else we were aware of without them responding in this thread?

No, it wasn't information from the Net that changed my opinion. I'd known about the controversial stuff before I started posting on a.r.m. It just took fifteen years or so before I finally acknowledged the implications of what I knew. That happened within a matter of minutes.

schreech wrote:Faith in what, exactly? The idea that Joseph Smith was a charlatan (it has also strengthened MY faith in that belief)? Your "faith" in the non-existence of elohim? Your faith in the fact that the LDS church bases its foundational beliefs on myths? You can have "faith" in anything, I was just wondering what this site has strengthened your "faith" in...

As I think I implied, this site hasn't strengthened my faith in anything, except perhaps in the idea that open and honest discussion can accomplish good things.

My faith is that someone knows how to eternally preserve some good things, that that someone is actively preserving some good things into the eternities, that that someone loves each one of us individually, and is able to communicate with us when we pray to her/him.

KevinSim wrote:My faith is that someone knows how to eternally preserve some good things, that that someone is actively preserving some good things into the eternities, that that someone loves each one of us individually, and is able to communicate with us when we pray to her/him.

So long as the 'someone' has the same ideas about what is good that I have, that would be something to hope for, even if there does not seem to be any obvious reason to think that it is true.

My problem is that if this 'someone' is in any effective sense in charge of the universe we perceive, he does NOT seem to have the same ideas of good that I have ... Whoops! Just heard the weeping of another kid being forced to murder his parents in the Congo before being kidnapped to become a child soldier, who in his turn ... but the guy in charge seems not to have noticed.

And if this someone is the deity of several major religions, he seems to be a megalomaniac control freak, obsessed with getting worship from people to whom he has let horrible things happen, the enforcement of bizarre rules about diet and sex, and so on.

About the only acceptable kind of 'preserver of good things' I can think of would be a 'someone' who is utterly powerless to change the world we live in, but has discovered our scary universe more or less by accident, started feeling sorry for us, and has set up some kind of cosmic rescue deal so that in some way our consciousnesses and the good things we have experienced can continue somewhere where he HAS control of the situation.

If you are that guy and you are reading this - thanks. It would be nice if you could hack into this universe somehow to show some clear sign that you are there, and that is what you are doing.

emilysmith wrote:Do you think the "deconversion" was directly the result of the information you encountered on the Internet, or were you harboring small seeds of doubt beforehand?

Would it be an intrusion to list the names of anyone else we were aware of without them responding in this thread?

I crossed over. And yes, I harboured doubt prior. Here is the breakdown, briefly:

1) In 1996 I started posting on a.r.m, debating a fellow named Red Davis. Red was vociferously anti-gay. I was pro-gay. However, I felt that people like Red just didn't understand the gospel or the Church's teachings.

2) In 2003-ish, I was on the high council when my stake president asked every member to write a letter to their Member of Parliament to oppose the passing of the same-sex marriage bill. However, members were not allowed to say they were members of the church. My stake president had been told that the church would fund a pro-family group to fight the fight here in Canada. The church did this so that it would not appear to have influenced a foreign government; this was important because the church was attempting to get into China to proselytize and the Chinese government frowned up any organization that tried to exert influence on the government. The anti-gay stance along with the lack of integrity the church displayed was the first breaks in my testimony.

3) In 2008 I joined MD&D and realized that there were far too many questions than there were plausible answers.

4) in December, 2010, I joined this board, and learned about the Book of Abraham. That was the nail in my coffin with respect to the Mormon church. It took me about 10 months to finally stop attending. My wife left 4 months before I did.

H.

LDSToronto wrote:

emilysmith wrote:Do you think the "deconversion" was directly the result of the information you encountered on the Internet, or were you harboring small seeds of doubt beforehand?

Would it be an intrusion to list the names of anyone else we were aware of without them responding in this thread?

I crossed over. And yes, I harboured doubt prior. Here is the breakdown, briefly:

1) In 1996 I started posting on a.r.m, debating a fellow named Red Davis. Red was vociferously anti-gay. I was pro-gay. However, I felt that people like Red just didn't understand the gospel or the Church's teachings.

Good heavens, I haven't thought of Red Davis in a long time. I had the same feeling about him.

2) In 2003-ish, I was on the high council when my stake president asked every member to write a letter to their Member of Parliament to oppose the passing of the same-sex marriage bill. However, members were not allowed to say they were members of the church. My stake president had been told that the church would fund a pro-family group to fight the fight here in Canada. The church did this so that it would not appear to have influenced a foreign government; this was important because the church was attempting to get into China to proselytize and the Chinese government frowned up any organization that tried to exert influence on the government. The anti-gay stance along with the lack of integrity the church displayed was the first breaks in my testimony.

3) In 2008 I joined MD&D and realized that there were far too many questions than there were plausible answers.

4) in December, 2010, I joined this board, and learned about the Book of Abraham. That was the nail in my coffin with respect to the Mormon church. It took me about 10 months to finally stop attending. My wife left 4 months before I did.

H.

It's just a big house of cards, at least it was for me. I'm glad you and your wife are on the same page. That's important.

Runtu wrote:Good heavens, I haven't thought of Red Davis in a long time. I had the same feeling about him.

Ya, he was a feisty one. Though he kinda just dropped off the face of the earth or he assumed another identity on one of the boards. If I recall correctly, he was an IT guy at a university in College Station, Texas.

Sure would like to duke it out with him again, or see if his views have changed.

H.