DiscussMormonism.com

http://stevebloor.wordpress.com/2011/12 ... ir-bishop/

Let me reassure you I am not resigning as a result of sin, or weakness or being offended by anyone. I loved the gospel and the Church, and loved serving you as your bishop.

This guy obviously resigned because of sin, or weakness, or because he let himself get offended. So not only is he an apostate, but he's also a liar.

Don't forget that the church considers the emoyment of critical thinking a sin. http://LDS.org/ensign/1987/02/criticism ... al+thought

What I find most interesting about the whole story is that his superordinates in the Church "ordered" him not to disclose his doubts or discuss them with others.

Other folks have had similar experiences when disclosing doubts to Church leaders. A fairly typical response from a Bishop or SP, especially when the doubting member is a prominent member of the Ward, is - "Have you told any others about this (and if so, who)?"

DrW wrote:What I find most interesting about the whole story is that his superordinates in the Church "ordered" him not to disclose his doubts or discuss them with others.

Other folks have has similar experiences when disclosing doubts to Church leaders. A fairly typical response from a Bishop or SP, especially when the doubting member is a prominent member of the Ward, is - "Have you told any others about this (and if so, who)?"

That should have gone in my "creepy" list.

I really liked this quote from his letter:

the ex-Bishop wrote:My testimony of the Church has been found wanting. What hurt most was discovering that I had gained a testimony of things as they were made to appear, rather than the truth.
I was hurt by discovering that prophets in times past were “economical with the truth”, at best, in order to protect the Church and this practice continues to this day. (emphasis added by me)

Any believers who are honestly unsure of what he means by "things as they were made to appear" should listen to this Mormon Expression podcast on BKP's "The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect" speech.

In the grand scheme of things, the LDS leaders' strategy of whitewashing the truth seems successful at protecting a great many testimonies, for as long as people remain unaware that they've been, essentially, lied to. This comes at the expense of the anger, hurt, and departure of many of those who find out. I have to wonder if the Internet is changing the calculus of this decision.

Yeah it is disturbing when the leaders are more concerned with knowing who you told rather than trying to understand your issues and try to find explanations for them.

DrW wrote: A fairly typical response from a Bishop or SP, especially when the doubting member is a prominent member of the Ward, is - "Have you told any others about this (and if so, who)?"

In this case he can reply, "I only told the Internet."

He's brave.

A bishop falls to the buffetings of Satan and thanks to the internet we all know about it.

This guy resigned in January 2011. I remember that it was discussed then. Now he posted the letter again. The poor guy really wants attention. I kinda feel sorry for him. Why repost the letter? Anyway, it is still getting him attention.