Your online Mormonism experience

[_ludwigm]

No its not horrible! You picked a good guy: Ervin Szabó. I didn't recognize him at first, so I did a Google image search. From there it was clear your screen name was Hungarian and Google helped me translate it.
I can't claim a great knowledge about Ervin Szabó. I'm familiar with him as a Marxist (If I recall correctly he published some of the first Hungarian translations of Marx and Engels) and as a librarian. I run with a pack of library workers with whom I trade "library porn," and images of the Ervin Szabó Library in Budapest are considered quite luscious.

He really did picked a good guy.

You know, I am a readaholic. Librarians are spreading culture, and knowledge of the humanity.

Book burners are worse than serial killers. (Fahrenheit 451)

Szabó Ervin was an assimilant jew, (his original name was Schlesinger Samuel Armin, a typical jew one), politically anarcho-syndicalist (far left to marxism). Today he should be at a double disadvantage, as a jew and ultra leftist. Fortunately, his merits are exceeding the negatives, so our fascist/ultraright/despotic government doesn't dare change the name of the library network.

by the way I set a high value on a returned missionary who choose Hungarian nickname...

[_Yoda]

My online experience has been a good one, overall. And, I think it has helped me develop a sense of peace when it comes to things that have troubled me about the Church.

I started posting actively on FAIR/MAD, Shades' site, and RfM in 2006. I can't believe I have been involved in Mormon Internet posting for five years!

Over the course of those years, I have developed some very special friendships, particularly with those who belong to the MDB community.

I was very surprised and disappointed at how many of my fellow brothers and sisters who associate themselves as members of the LDS Church acted toward those who simply disagreed with them. It was also disheartening to note that people like myself, who were sincerely seeking answers, were either belittled for not knowing the information we were asking about, or unfairly labeled as an apostate for simply asking questions.

In spite these setbacks, however, I would not trade the friendships I have made for anything in the world.

I also discovered the term, NOM, or New Order Mormon. The most common definition is taken from the NOM website:

New Order Mormons are those who no longer believe some (or much) of the dogma or doctrines of the LDS Church, but who want to maintain membership for cultural, social, or even spiritual reasons. New Order Mormons recognize both good and bad in the Church, and have determined that the Church does not have to be perfect in order to remain useful. New Order Mormons seek the middle way to be Mormon.

The bold emphasis is mine. I do have spiritual reasons for remaining a part of the Church, even if some of my beliefs differ from the typical member.

I have been able to find peace in knowing that I am not alone, that it is OK to say "No" to some of the Church's more dogged demands, and that there is still a place for me to comfortably worship within the LDS Church's walls.

I have to get back to finishing a report for work, but I may add more later.

Great topic, Sock Puppet! :-)

[_sock puppet]

My online experience has been a good one, overall. And, I think it has helped me develop a sense of peace when it comes to things that have troubled me about the Church.

I started posting actively on FAIR/MAD, Shades' site, and RfM in 2006. I can't believe I have been involved in Mormon Internet posting for five years!

Over the course of those years, I have developed some very special friendships, particularly with those who belong to the MDB community.

I was very surprised and disappointed at how many of my fellow brothers and sisters who associate themselves as members of the LDS Church acted toward those who simply disagreed with them. It was also disheartening to note that people like myself, who were sincerely seeking answers, were either belittled for not knowing the information we were asking about, or unfairly labeled as an apostate for simply asking questions.

In spite these setbacks, however, I would not trade the friendships I have made for anything in the world.

I also discovered the term, NOM, or New Order Mormon. The most common definition is taken from the NOM website:

New Order Mormons are those who no longer believe some (or much) of the dogma or doctrines of the LDS Church, but who want to maintain membership for cultural, social, or even spiritual reasons. New Order Mormons recognize both good and bad in the Church, and have determined that the Church does not have to be perfect in order to remain useful. New Order Mormons seek the middle way to be Mormon.

The bold emphasis is mine. I do have spiritual reasons for remaining a part of the Church, even if some of my beliefs differ from the typical member.

I have been able to find peace in knowing that I am not alone, that it is OK to say "No" to some of the Church's more dogged demands, and that there is still a place for me to comfortably worship within the LDS Church's walls.

I have to get back to finishing a report for work, but I may add more later.

Great topic, Sock Puppet! :-)

Liz, might I ask what about your spiritual experiences, if anything, ties them to Mormonism rather than general spirituality or Christianity generally?

[_Ten Bear]

Night and day for me. I would probably still be carrying out whatever callings, struggling to get HT done, finding time for the temple, and struggling with why I'm broken because I don't "feel" the spirit like everyone claims too, if it were not for the online communities. I simply had no idea. Some may argue that I need to give the LDS community a fair shake, but my reasoning is, I've heard what they have to say for 45 years. It's time a got a different perspective and I'm so glad I did.

[_Yoda]

Liz, might I ask what about your spiritual experiences, if anything, ties them to Mormonism rather than general spirituality or Christianity generally?

I think I would have to create a separate thread if I was going to expound on "the gospel according to Liz". LOL!

I don't really have time to answer your question in full right now. However, I will say that there are beliefs which are "uniquely Mormon" that I still hold onto. The main one involves being able to be together for eternity as a family unit.

I will also say that my general spirituality and faith in Christ has grown as well. My personal view is that since I believe in Christ, I can worship Him anywhere, so why not worship Him within the walls of the Church I have grown up in?

[_honorentheos]

My experience on the boards has led me to a simple conclusion - people who post on message boards tend to be poor examples of the best of their kind.

In a way, it seems to shed a modern light on the old adage about why Jesus/Socrates/Buddha/etc. never wrote books themselves.

Of course, I post on message boards so I acknowledge myself as exhibit 'A'. I am a poor example of the best of my kind, whatever that may be.

I have found most extended online interactions with people self-identifying with a particular group on a message board (from Mormons to Christians to Buddhists to atheists to political conservatives to liberals etc., etc.,) leave me to consider that the media must hold some power over people to bring out our worst. I even liked philosophy majors at one time. Now? hmmm. ;)

[_Zelder]

I have changed that is for sure. I'm more liberal. I see the humanity in the church. I see imperfections in the church that I didn't see before. The church is not perfect but I'm still a believer. I don't have nearly the same faith in prophets that I had before. I do believe in God and revelation but I also see that we are all just human and imperfect. Life is a little bit more mysterious to me now.

[_Jason Bourne]

I am wondering if engaging in discussion of Mormon topics online with those of differing, even opposing views from your own, has made you more favorably disposed you may be towards Mormonism or less so, or had no effect on the level you had coming into the fray.

Long term, less favorable.

[_Blixa]

I've described my online experiences at length in other threads and I don't want to repeat myself, so I'll try to keep my remarks as focused as possible.

On the whole I've learned a great deal about contemporary Mormonism and its difference from the church that I attended as a child and young person. The three hour block still stuns me.

I've come to have much more respect for returned missionaries. I stopped attending when I was around 16; by the time I was in college I had no friends who were believing Mormons and very little contact with any Mormons. So I never had a close friend who went on a mission. Although I had some idea of the social pressure put on young men to fulfill a mission, I had no real understanding of how inexorable that could be. I also had no clue about what missionary training consisted of. Thus, I had a very one-dimensional image of those who served missions which I've since learned was vastly inaccurate.

I've also come to appreciate the position of those who may have questions and doubts but either choose to remain members or are unsure how their participation may eventually play out. My own experience with both religious belief and membership in the church was a much more clear cut proposition than I think it is for many. Since I didn't have to deal with family or social pressure, I had a vastly easier time of it. (I know the OP is asking about our understanding of Mormonism in particular, but I feel I should also say that my online experience has given me a greater appreciation for the nuances of religious belief itself, as well.)

On the other hand, it has sharpened my criticism of the things I've always been critical about in Mormon belief and culture: the patriarchal and authoritarian structure of the institution, the institutional obfuscation of its history, political meddling, encouragement of reactionary politics and smug judgmentalism. In terms of the latter, I've seen examples that go beyond anything I could have imagined: indecent, cruel and inhumane pronouncements on "apostates" and "antis," inexplicably nasty rejections of sincerely troubled members, and the reduction of intellect and belief to a petty game of scoring points off the "opposition."

Yet at the very same time, I've learned that these attitudes are not monolithic among the membership and in fact there is much in the church's own history that runs counter to this, and perhaps even contains the potential for something much, much better.

[_moksha]

I've had distasteful on-line exchanges with a LDS members. It was limited to situations where those members has taken it upon themselves to be e-bullies and smite all those who disagreed with them. However, you can run into such disagreeable people all over the internet and Mormons most assuredly do not have a monopoly on this behavior. For the most part Mormons are polite and tolerant of varying opinions. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for those placed in charge of running solely LDS sites to be heavy handed in their moderating. Perhaps some moderators are living examples of the concept of unrighteous dominion. They need friends to help mellow them out.

Can't blame the Church for their behavior.