Do Ex-LDS have issues believing the Bible?

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_The Nehor
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Post by _The Nehor »

gramps wrote:AmazingDisgrace wrote:

I lost my belief in God and in the Bible first, so the Mormonism-specific stuff was all secondary in my case.


Funny. I was speaking with a friend, a Mormon, and I told him that I felt like I lost my testimony in Christ and God long before I lost my testimony in Mormonism.

Mormonism is a powerful sucker, for sure.


Interesting, can you expand on that? That seems odd to me. If I lost my faith in Christ and God I believe I'd leave quickly. There just doesn't seem to be much left.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics
"I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
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_Some Schmo
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Post by _Some Schmo »

I can't say I ever really believed any of it in the first place (at least, past the "Santa Claus isn't real" stage of childhood development). I often wonder how anyone can. It's all such nonsense.

I think the main thing that always bothered me about it was the idea that miracles only ever happened in the past. How come no snakes have talked to me? Why do I suspect that if I were swallowed by a whale, I would be digested? No matter how much I believe, I can't seem to walk on water. Etc etc.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
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_The Nehor
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Post by _The Nehor »

Some Schmo wrote:I can't say I ever really believed any of it in the first place (at least, past the "Santa Claus isn't real" stage of childhood development). I often wonder how anyone can. It's all such nonsense.

I think the main thing that always bothered me about it was the idea that miracles only ever happened in the past. How come no snakes have talked to me? Why do I suspect that if I were swallowed by a whale, I would be digested? No matter how much I believe, I can't seem to walk on water. Etc etc.


You say you never believed in the first place yet you couldn't walk on water no matter how much you believed? Smelling a contradiction here.
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics
"I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
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_cinepro
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Post by _cinepro »

The Nehor wrote:
gramps wrote:AmazingDisgrace wrote:

Interesting, can you expand on that? That seems odd to me. If I lost my faith in Christ and God I believe I'd leave quickly. There just doesn't seem to be much left.


Oh, there's a lot left.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.
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_The Nehor
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Post by _The Nehor »

cinepro wrote:Oh, there's a lot left.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.


Yes, but is it worth anything? A great deal of the Gospel (most of it actually) is concerned with the afterlife. If there is no afterlife, why stay?
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics
"I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
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_William Schryver
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Post by _William Schryver »

Gramps,

Long time no see. How are things back in the old country? I was cleaning out my old e-mails the other day and saw the one where you threatened to come to southern Utah one day. It’s been a cool spring here; still got quite a bit of snow up on the mountains. I’ve been making numerous visits to Kolob (yes, there IS such a place!) to shoot video of the changing moods of that singular locale.

Here are some still captures from that video:

Image
Image
Image

Anyway, you wrote:

… I lost my testimony in Christ and God long before I lost my testimony in Mormonism.

I think that is the case more often than not. At least that has been my observation.

Mormonism is a powerful sucker, for sure.

And, contrary to the wishful thinking of many who believe it is on the verge of utter dissolution, it is becoming more powerful with each passing year. Of course, the most worrisome aspect of all this – at least in the minds of the exmormon extremists who congregate here – is that this powerful entity is controlled by people who think just like me.

Oh, well. Whatcha gonna do?
... every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol ...
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_The Nehor
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Post by _The Nehor »

William Schryver wrote:Oh, well. Whatcha gonna do?


I think I'm going to keep planning my afterlife surfing party. Wanna come?
"Surely he knows that DCP, The Nehor, Lamanite, and other key apologists..." -Scratch clarifying my status in apologetics
"I admit it; I'm a petty, petty man." -Some Schmo
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_Some Schmo
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Post by _Some Schmo »

The Nehor wrote:
Some Schmo wrote:I can't say I ever really believed any of it in the first place (at least, past the "Santa Claus isn't real" stage of childhood development). I often wonder how anyone can. It's all such nonsense.

I think the main thing that always bothered me about it was the idea that miracles only ever happened in the past. How come no snakes have talked to me? Why do I suspect that if I were swallowed by a whale, I would be digested? No matter how much I believe, I can't seem to walk on water. Etc etc.


You say you never believed in the first place yet you couldn't walk on water no matter how much you believed? Smelling a contradiction here.


Not really. I was testing a hypothesis. It's not like I jumped to a conclusion in an instant about the Bible one way or another. Not having really believed is not quite the same as not ever having given the stories a chance to be true. And, in fact, I recognized at the time that it was possible that I just couldn't bring myself to believe it enough to, say, walk on water. Believing what makes the most sense has always been an innate priority over believing the fantastic to suit a particular agenda.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
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_William Schryver
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Post by _William Schryver »

The Nehor wrote:
William Schryver wrote:Oh, well. Whatcha gonna do?


I think I'm going to keep planning my afterlife surfing party. Wanna come?

You betcha!

I have a great suggestion for a band: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T8__EwAT8VM
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Edit: And we could have them play this one in honor of our "fallen" ex-brethren:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=83uAqm3hAKI
Last edited by The Stig on Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
... every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol ...
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_Mudcat
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Post by _Mudcat »

The Nehor wrote:
William Schryver wrote:Oh, well. Whatcha gonna do?


I think I'm going to keep planning my afterlife surfing party. Wanna come?

Sure.
Will you surf perfectly in the afterlife? Will I?
Or will I be stuck with renting 8 ft. boards because I suck.

The Big Mud'cahuna
"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." - Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

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