On feeling stupid.

[_Inconceivable]

If your faith is in Jesus Christ, you end up like me... and we all how that's viewed by the faithful here or on MAD.

And what exactly is it you believe about Jesus Christ?

Joseph Smith provides a clear window to view Christ through. Without the revelations he received, Christ is obscured through false traditions and distortions.

Gaz,

It's like Jesus mixed his spit with some dirt and rubbed the mud in your eyes.

The next step is to go rinse.

[_Imwashingmypirate]

In some cases concrete.

[_Yoda]

I was talking to my wife last night about the uncomfortable conversation I had with a friend regarding my doubts.

What did your wife say?

I'm curious about this as well. When you spoke to your wife about your feelings, what did she have to say?

[_Mercury]

I had the same reaction. I thought, if I missed this WHAT ELSE am i missing?

Its rather humbling but in the end I came out ahead, as you will when you drop Mormonism.

[_Scottie]

I had a similar experience.

My initial foray into the "anti" material was when one of my friends at work spoke of the death oaths in the pre-1990 temple ceremony. I had never heard anything about these, so I looked them up.

Well, the web site I went to had something else in there about "Joseph Smith and his 32 wives!" I said to my friend as I was reading this, "Oh, yep, typical anti-Mormon site with all their lies. They are trying to say that Joseph Smith had 32 wives..." My friend responded that he DID have 32 wives. I was absolutely floored!! I had no idea. If I had never learned this incredibly significant fact about Joseph Smith, what else hadn't I learned.

Boy is that list LONG.

And, yes, the apologists love to blame the members that we aren't all LDS scholars, and that most of us could barely stomach reading the Book of Mormon on a daily basis, let alone church history or the JoD or the 100 other books that would have shed some light. Perhaps we would rather read Harry Potter or Tom Clancy.

For a church that is supposedly centered around the family, it amazes me how many families it destroys. Both by members joining and falling away.

[_charity]

Jesus Christ is our foundation. It really makes me sad to see people either so uneducated about the Church that they don't realize that, or else are deliberatley deceiving others.

Listen to General Conference, read the Ensign, then come back and tell us that we don't worship Jesus Christ.

[_mms]

I was talking to my wife last night about the uncomfortable conversation I had with a friend regarding my doubts.

What did your wife say?

I'm curious about this as well. When you spoke to your wife about your feelings, what did she have to say?

My wife is amazing. She has been very understanding. Our relationship, thankfully, is not dependent on both of us having the same beliefs or the same degree of faith at the same time. She will not leave me if I don't believe--she loves me too much. She wants to know what I have learned and wants to talk about it and think about it and try to determine what it means or should mean to our faith, our beliefs. She has no patience for those who would view me differently as a result of my doubts--indeed, if I let her, she would make her feelings known loudly and clearly. She loved me as a leader in the ward and in the stake and I know she loves me just as much if not more as a man struggling to retain my faith. She simply believes that I am "good" and that this goodness does not depend on what I believe, but is inherent in who I am. So, although the outcome is unclear, she sleeps peacefully. I don't.

[_Scottie]

I was talking to my wife last night about the uncomfortable conversation I had with a friend regarding my doubts.

What did your wife say?

I'm curious about this as well. When you spoke to your wife about your feelings, what did she have to say?

My wife is amazing. She has been very understanding. Our relationship, thankfully, is not dependent on both of us having the same beliefs or the same degree of faith at the same time. She will not leave me if I don't believe--she loves me too much. She wants to know what I have learned and wants to talk about it and think about it and try to determine what it means or should mean to our faith, our beliefs. She has no patience for those who would view me differently as a result of my doubts--indeed, if I let her, she would make her feelings known loudly and clearly. She loved me as a leader in the ward and in the stake and I know she loves me just as much if not more as a man struggling to retain my faith. She simply believes that I am "good" and that this goodness does not depend on what I believe, but is inherent in who I am. So, although the outcome is unclear, she sleeps peacefully. I don't.

She is one in a million. That is so great to hear amidst all the tales of spouses divorcing over this. She has my deepest respect.

[_BishopRic]

My wife is amazing. She has been very understanding. Our relationship, thankfully, is not dependent on both of us having the same beliefs or the same degree of faith at the same time. She will not leave me if I don't believe--she loves me too much. She wants to know what I have learned and wants to talk about it and think about it and try to determine what it means or should mean to our faith, our beliefs. She has no patience for those who would view me differently as a result of my doubts--indeed, if I let her, she would make her feelings known loudly and clearly. She loved me as a leader in the ward and in the stake and I know she loves me just as much if not more as a man struggling to retain my faith. She simply believes that I am "good" and that this goodness does not depend on what I believe, but is inherent in who I am. So, although the outcome is unclear, she sleeps peacefully. I don't.

You are one lucky man!

Let me suggest a weird (unsolicited) twist of attitude in your struggles. As you study, pray, meditate, etc., consider the possibility that your results will lead you out of the church. Many consider this a "loss of faith." I do not. Whatever you transition to in your new belief system, consider it a strengthening of faith...you will probably be much more comfortable in your spirituality as you will find consistency in your answers and a certain peace in possibilities that make sense with reality.

I consider that becoming more faithful to truth, rather than less. And with a partner that exhibits true unconditional love, you are indeed blessed!

[_Mercury]

Jesus Christ is our foundation. It really makes me sad to see people either so uneducated about the Church that they don't realize that, or else are deliberatley deceiving others.

Listen to General Conference, read the Ensign, then come back and tell us that we don't worship Jesus Christ.

Look at the cover of last Decembers Ensign.

Merry Smithmas, retard.