Leaving the church helps a person become diplomatic

[_zeezrom]

Blixa,

You are kind and generous in your analysis of me. Thank you for your support. To be fair to my dad, I will say that he has allowed the church to become the energy in his life, where it wasn't before. He is reacting in a way that is not his true self but rather a superficial one created by the machine in downtown SLC. My memories of my parents are beautiful. Church to them was a little thing. Life to them was everything. Having two children walk away from the church has caused my parents to make a call to arms.

Interestingly, the things I now love to learn about might cause further embarrassment: fashion, art, historic movie actors, and my religious experimentation with Greek myth. Likely, I would confirm the suspicion that I've lost the spirit.

I used to visit family and pretend to enjoy the same things as my BILs: golf and football.

[_Yoda]

Blixa,

You are kind and generous in your analysis of me. Thank you for your support. To be fair to my dad, I will say that he has allowed the church to become the energy in his life, where it wasn't before. He is reacting in a way that is not his true self but rather a superficial one created by the machine in downtown Salt Lake City. My memories of my parents are beautiful. Church to them was a little thing. Life to them was everything. Having two children walk away from the church has caused my parents to make a call to arms.

Interestingly, the things I now love to learn about might cause further embarrassment: fashion, art, historic movie actors, and my religious experimentation with Greek myth. Likely, I would confirm the suspicion that I've lost the spirit.

I used to visit family and pretend to enjoy the same things as my BILs: golf and football.

I know what you mean. I never really fit in with conversations with my SILs, either. They talk about babies, Twilight, cooking, and crafts. I end up with my BILs talking about computers, the economy, and politics.

[_ldsfaqs]

I don't agree that leaving the Church helps you be "more diplomatic"..... It does the opposite.

The constant OBSESSION with you all to belittle and destroy something and people you no longer believe in is anything BUT "diplomatic". I was born and baptized Catholic, but I don't spend part of my life belittling it.

It is Mormons who are actually diplomatic. It's part of our theology.

Further, as to the OP, you can't compare the disappointment of a Father with a child, as somehow meaning he's not "diplomatic". You can't compare the disappointment of friends and family, as them somehow not being "diplomatic". Most importantly, you can't compare their lack of tolerance for your HATE of Mormonism and Mormons.

Who wants to associate with a bigot???

[_zeezrom]

The constant OBSESSION with you all to belittle and destroy something...

I'm a man on a mission to make the temple garment better. Isn't that the opposite of belittling? I'm trying to make it better and therefore a more important part of everyone's life. I would call this bebigging and building something people believe in, wouldn't you?

I have also been trying to help people understand how great it is that LDS has a pantheon of gods to dream about. How exciting is that? We no longer need to rely on the crusty old writings of the Greeks but can have our own amazing stories. The best part is, our stories are happening in real time! As we speak, Heavenly Father is assembling a massive army in a last stand against another God that appears to have out-smarted Him one too many times. He hasn't given up hope yet! He still has some tricks up his sleeve. It is kind of a sad story too. The love of His life has left him.