The Gospel of Jesus Christ is True: The LDS Church is Not

[Guest]

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is True. The LDS Church is Not."

These were the words of my lifelong TBM mother on our weekly phone conversation on Sunday.

In fact, none of the remaining members of the formerly TBM family into which I was born were willing to defend the LDS Church the last time I was able to bring up the subject with them. Not one. Even the brother who still works for the LDS Church, and has defended such decisions as the City Creek Center in the past, said he no longer wished to discuss the topic.

According to my mother (90), who still has a sharp mind and gets around well on her own, the Church in Southern Utah is losing members of her generation, as well as baby boomers, at a never before seen rate. And the children of baby boomers (those who have not already left the area), are generally far less engaged than their parents.

She confirmed again that she has friends who have been excommunicated - for no good reason in her view. She has stopped paying tithing, as have many others among the Mormons she knows. When I brought up the recently released videos of the Q15 in meetings, she said that she and many others were already aware of much of what was on the tapes.

I wrote to her some time ago that I would prefer she not pay tithing on the money I send to her, explaining that it is not intended for a corrupt real estate holding company with a religion department, but for her personal use. She confirmed that she was in full agreement.

I hung up the phone feeling as optimistic about my mother as I ever have been since my father died.

She has apparently been able to shake off the yoke of unfounded and demonstrably false belief that is LDS Church doctrine, and has found that she is perfectly capable of thinking for herself and managing her own affairs. She no longer feels obligated to automatically adopt the opinions of the fossilized, bigoted and (in many ways) incestuous cabal of out of touch white males in SLC.

And that is a good thing for her, and her children.

[_Tator]

Truly great news and I hope it is contagious.

[Guest]

Truly great news and I hope it is contagious.

Oh, I have the strong impression that it's contagious alright. More importantly, there seems to be no vaccine available. The now infamous "Essays" that were intended to immunize those prone to infection seem to have been infectious agents themselves. Sort of like a polio vaccine in which there were inadequate steps taken to kill the virus.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Yeah, for the first time since I left the cult in 2001 I actually believe these recent videos and document leaks are tipping the truth 'contagion' beyond containment. Dawkins said something to the effect that memes are like a mind virus that spreads throughout a population in a similar manner to disease.

The problem with the Mormon church is their attempts to inoculate their membership should've started in the 90's because our connectivity and thus susceptibility to truth contamination will only increase.

Their only way out of this mess is for their prophets to get busy and start pretending to receive relevant revelations. People eat that crap up. Gotta get away from their coporatocracy and move toward paranormal petersonian Mormonism.

- Doc

[_Jersey Girl]

Dr W,

I have some questions and if, in your view, these are off topic, just skip over them. I have a strong interest in people and their journeys, and this is the motivation for my questions.

If I recall correctly you are atheist and also ex-LDS. I can well understand your sense of relief (?) in your mother's perspective regarding the church.

Will you tell me how it feels on your end to know she still believes Jesus?

Is that something you'd want to discuss with her with the hope that she abandon her belief in Jesus?

Do you believe yourself that her God belief is a positive in her life and if so, how?

Anything else you'd like to share along the above lines, I'd be happy to read.

Thanks!

[_Mormonicious]

The Mormon corporation is losing adherents in all age groups, nationalities, races and economic standing.

The crap for brains leaders are just to STUPID to realize the unrecoverable point that the Mormon brand is at. The old ones are tired of being slaves, the baby boomers are disenchanted by the lies told during their youth, the gen-X and gen-Y just don't give a crap about the product.

No amount of Third World growth will replace the lost income from the United States and Europe. 100,000 Africans will never replace the tithing from one Utah Middle Income family.

STUPID damned Mormons

[Guest]

Dr W,
I have some questions and if, in your view, these are off topic, just skip over them. I have a strong interest in people and their journeys, and this is the motivation for my questions.

If I recall correctly you are atheist and also ex-LDS. I can well understand your sense of relief (?) in your mother's perspective regarding the church.

Jersey Girl,

I consider myself an extremely low probability agnostic. My view of "hard atheism" is pretty much the same as that expressed by Richard Dawkins. Technically I have remained a member of the Church (in name only) because of the wishes of my late father, my mother and of my children. That may well soon change.

As to my mother's view of the Church; the OP expresses it fairly well.

Will you tell me how it feels on your end to know she still believes Jesus?

I have no problem with her belief in Jesus. She is an honorable woman who has lived a productive life. She has always striven to help others, and is as honest as anyone I know. I have never known her to tell a lie, not even the white variety. If belief in Jesus is of comfort to her, I respect that - just as she respects my lack of such belief.

Is that something you'd want to discuss with her with the hope that she abandon her belief in Jesus?

No - not at her age and given her background.

Do you believe yourself that her God belief is a positive in her life and if so, how?

Yes. She was raised on a farm in Northern Utah, and I believe that the sense of community fostered by Mormonism during her formative years was a positive influence in her life. It is a bit late for major worldview adjustments in her life.

I was also raised on a farm and feel the same about the Mormon Church of my youth. Unfortunately that Church is long gone. And because of my background, as much as in spite of it, so am I.

Anything else you'd like to share along the above lines, I'd be happy to read.

You have been posting here for longer than I have, and I know that you have read at least some of what I have written, and believe that you probably have a pretty good sense of where I am at on the issue of Mormonism.

I believe that the Church now does more harm than good, especially in the short term, for individuals who would be categorized as low and middle income (and especially low income females), single adults (again especially female), LGBTQ, Black, Hispanic, or mixed race and finally, most females in general. (And where I live, a majority of people would fit into one or more of these categories.)

In my view, things in the Church seem to be generally better for higher income white individuals, at least in the short run. In the longer run, the cognitive dissonance that must exist, and the consequent erosion of personal integrity that accompanied continued defense of the LDS Church as its leadership continues to deceive, mislead and embarrass the members has to detract from their self respect and overall quality of life.

Finally, I have often mentioned on this board our family motto: Family First - No Matter What. I learned that from my parents. That the Church no longer seems to teach this (if it ever really did) is one strong reason for my disaffection.

[_Maksutov]

Congratulations, DrW. Both of my parents resigned a few years after I did. They had no regrets even though they had friends and family who continued to be deep in the faith.

[_candygal]

Dr W, I find it a wonderful and rare thing that someone in the generation before us can relate to us at all.

Power to her..this is great and for the respect that you have for eachother. My father, bless is heart is still a very staunch believer and if Monson said to jump into the Great Salt Lake..he would do it. Because of his age, I no longer quibble about these things. If such belief sustains any day to day reason to wake up...I am all for it.

Hugs..
Candygal.

Nice to have good news once in a while.

[_Tator]

Often when I read Dr. W's posts I get this image of him in my head.