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Subject:	LDS Church leaders call for cult-like "unquestioned obedience"
Date:	Jun 25, 2005 10:18
Author:	Deconstructor

Is the church getting more cultish or mainstream?

As someone already mentioned here, the new Ensign Magazine has this latest example of Mormon cultspeak.

Excerpts from "Believe All Things" by Elder Robert Oaks:

"For us, to 'believe all things' means to believe the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as well as the words of the Latter-day prophets. It means to successfully erase our doubts and reservations. It means that in making spiritual commitments, we are prepared to hold nothing back. It means we are ready to consecrate our lives to the work of the kingdom."

"The more we believe, the easier faith-based obedience becomes. Hence the value of 'believing all things.'"

"We are instructed to be like children, who are willing to be taught and then to act without first demanding full knowledge."

"Some members are constantly evaluating the gospel by the standards of the world. They may think, 'That is not how I think the Lord would want it done,' or, 'Based on my understanding of the scriptures, the Church position should have been . . .'”

"Some Church members may have reservations because of a physical appetite they are not quite willing to surrender."

"Other common reservations are flagged by words such as 'yes, but . . .' when scriptures or prophets are quoted. Or we may hear, 'I am not going to let the Church make my decisions for me...'”

"Obedience is a fundamental law of the gospel. It is not only the demonstration of our faith but also the foundation of our faith. But the philosophical standard of the world holds that unquestioning obedience equals blind obedience, and blind obedience is mindless obedience. This is simply not true. Unquestioning obedience to the Lord indicates that a person has developed faith and trust in Him to the point where he or she considers all inspired instruction — whether it be recorded scripture or the words of modern prophets — to be worthy of obedience."

"One day there will be answers to all our questions, and they will be based on divine fairness and love. The Lord will not hold people accountable for factors over which they have no control."

"Let us believe all things. Let us have unquestioning faith in all of the doctrines and truths of the restored gospel."

"Helps for Family Home Evening: 1. Blindfold one family member. Have a parent guide him or her through a set of obstacles. Compare this activity to the doctrines presented in this article."
- Elder Robert Oaks, Believe All Things," July 05 Ensign, page 30, http://lds.org/churchmagazines/7-2005-Ensign/Jul2005Ensign.pdf

Those words echo the recent teachings of other Mormon Church leaders:

"I know a 17-year-old who, just prior to the prophet’s talk, had pierced her ears a second time. She came home from the fireside, took off the second set of earrings, and simply said to her parents, 'If President Hinckley says we should only wear one set of earrings, that’s good enough for me.'"

"Wearing two pair of earrings may or may not have eternal consequences for this young woman, but her willingness to obey the prophet will. And if she will obey him now, on something relatively simple, how much easier it will be to follow him when greater issues are at stake."
- Apostle M. Russell Ballard, “His Word Ye Shall Receive,” Ensign, May 2001, 65

"But no child in this Church should be left with uncertainty about his or her parents' devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Restoration of His Church, and the reality of living prophets and apostles who, now as in earlier days, lead that Church according to 'the will of the Lord, . . . the mind of the Lord, . . . the word of the Lord, . . . and the power of God unto salvation.' In such basic matters of faith, prophets do not apologize for requesting unity, indeed conformity, in the eloquent sense that the Prophet Joseph Smith used that latter word. In any case, as Elder Neal Maxwell once said to me in a hallway conversation, 'There didn't seem to be any problem with conformity the day the Red Sea opened.'"
- Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference, Sunday April 6th 2003

"The book of Revelation declares: 'I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth' (Revelation 3:15-16)."

"I make you a promise, my dear brethren, that while I am serving in my present responsibility I will never consent to nor advocate any policy, any program, any doctrine which will be otherwise than beneficial to the membership of this, the Lord's Church."

"This is His work. He established it. He has revealed its doctrine. He has outlined its practices. He created its government. It is His work and His kingdom, and He has said, 'They who are not for me are against me' (2 Nephi 10:16)."

"Each of us has to face the matter-either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing."
- President Gordon B. Hinckley. "Loyalty," April Conference, 2003.

See even more cult-like quotes on obedience here:
http://www.i4m.com/think/leaders/mormon_loyalty.htm

So is the church getting more cultish or more mainstream?

Subject:	What do the leaders REALLY want? (link inside)
Date:	Jun 25 10:33
Author:	Shiner Bock

I think the answer is sad and funny at the same time:

http://www.absoluteobedience.com/

12 million trained dogs with 15 masters.

Subject:	*haha! and* "runs screaming for the hills" ... but wait ... dang!...**
Date:	Jun 25 10:59
Author:	lost girl

Seriously, this is frightening stuff! ... Hitler only came to power because he was "different", even "peculiar" enough to voice ideas that were nationalistic to the point of being irrational. but he was listened to because 1) his country had just suffered a devastating blow due to the Versailles treaty of 1919 & no Germans wanted to admit even a bit of responsibility for their country's losses. 2) he was extremely hostile to left-wing ideas and the Germans couldn't hear enough of him blaming the Jews for all of Germany’s problems. 3) he demanded blind obedience from all who chose to follow him and his ways.

as we all know here, I cannot speak further about the deeply disturbing parallels between Hitler’s rise to power and where our country is right now, but I can say that certain events of this country are undoubtedly being fully USED by the Morg to tighten it's choke-hold upon it's members ... scariest of all is that so many of them are going right along with it all and refuse to even see how their own doctrines are now at odds with each other. ... blind obedience is for me, at least, the complete opposite of "study it out in your heart and pray to know if it's true OR NOT." and last I heard, the Morg was built upon the premise of "informed obedience", not this insanity that is gripping the church now.

Sighs deeply and walks slowing away...

Subject:	Just finished Steven Hassan's Combating Cult Mind Control.
Date:	Jun 25 10:45
Author:	mystery guest

I don't think the church can get more cult like then it already is. I think they are pounding the obedience doctrine in preparation for something bigger coming up.

Start simply, then when they are hooked, switch to the real purpose of the obedience doctrine. There is something else coming...perhaps even politically that will require complete obedience. Wish I had a clue.

Mainstream is a ploy. Most people I know have swallowed the entire bait, hook, line, sinker, and pole. They would obey whatever is asked. This scares me more than anything. To give over your own agency to a corporation spells out CULT. It has to be more than just the money...

They have even changed some things (blacks, temple rituals, history...) to gauge the reaction of the 'faithful'. It must be satisfying to sit back and watch the changes being accepted without even a murmur. I just wonder why the stage is really being set.

Subject:	are they setting the stage for ...
Date:	Jun 25 11:42
Author:	lost girl

Something like I posted about above? cuz we already know that personal responsibility no longer exists in the us, it's just "who can I blame for___?" plus so many necessities are priced out of the "regular Joes" reach. and, as long as you say "family values" or say the words "love begins at home" then all is well in Zion so eat drink and be merry ... and watch as we are lulled into giving up our democracy (because the Morg already is requiring people to give up their agency now) and the church of the devil (not the Morg of course ... cough-cough) joins with it's sister branches throughout the world to usher in a brave new millennium that has someone who *says* he's the messiah at the head and well, if he *says* that it must be so.

Silly me! here I’d always thought the Morg would be at the forefront of fighting for our hard-won, god-given freedoms, not conspiring with the enemy and working to enslave us ... with the worst part of all being that we are going to be suckered into giving up our own freedoms and enslaving ourselves.

It is SO hard to fight such a cleverly hidden enemy! :p

Subject:	Re: I agree lost girl;...
Date:	Jun 25 13:02
Author:	tacochip

To me the most obvious thing in the world is Hinckley's support for NWO. Exactly the position the scriptures warn us AGAINST in the latter days. What a glaring and obvious inconsistency, and yet the sheep think all is well, and the Savior is leading the church and the US gov't.

Reality disconnect--taco chip runs screaming from the building...

Subject:	I want to be SO wrong,... but history is the best teacher! ... and even worse...
Date:	Jun 25 14:42
Author:	lost girl

... is that as the Morg becomes increasingly disconnected from reality and GOD, the morgbots will have a increasingly HARDER "re-entering" reality should they "see the light" and try to leave.

sooooo where are all us sane people going to have to move to so we can be safe? The swamps? :p

Subject:

cult! cult, cult!

Subject:

You gotta admit the dog looks happy!

Subject:	"We are instructed to be like children, who are willing to be taught and then to act without first demanding full knowledge."
Date:	Jun 25 11:27
Author:	Deenie, the dreaded single adult

Well, now, isn't that the truth!

I've said many times that LDS church activities are planned to keep members in the position of children.
Movie night? Disney flick.
Party? There have to be organized games--no 'adult' conversation or interaction allowed.
Singles' activity? Chaperones required, right on up to age 90+...
...and we all know about the motel rooms...

Aside from these obvious, overt demands of childishness, there is still a vague, un-name-able quality of "not quite being a grown-up" that hovers over church members. Some of us have discussed it on this board in the past; it's something I noticed IMMEDIATELY when I decided to separate myself from the church.

There was a shift, of sorts, in my position with my never-mo friends. It didn't have to do with drinking alcohol, or swearing, or going to see "dirty" movies. Somehow, there was a change that resulted in my being accepted as more of an equal, as being TRULY "one of the crowd," as being more comfortable and more like the other adults in my group.

None of us has ever come up with anything specifically identifiable to explain this change, yet several of us have made a note of it.

Not only did I notice a big change in my relationship with my never-mo friends, there was a big change in my relationship with church members. It's almost as if they began to amuse, rather than intimidate, me. Their threats of dire consequences for "breaking covenants;" their stern warnings about remaining single, while there were men who could breathe (but little else!) available in our stake; their reminders of my "responsibilities" like callings, tithing, etc., no longer worried me at all. I just smiled and went about my business...I knew it was all a bunch of baloney!

So, what makes this change? Is it just that we DO begin to question, to think for ourselves? It's not like I discussed my church's behavior-control techniques with my never-mo friends [so that they would have expected a change in me]. It's not like I ever said, out loud, to church members, "You don't scare me anymore; I don't believe the lies you peddle!"

Somehow, leaving the church made me (and others who have discussed this) a more "adult" person.

I can't ever imagine going back!

:^)

Subject:

for me, leaving was like finally waking up! and really living and breathing ... and being

Subject:	Well, this is the way they did it in Germany...
Date:	Jun 25 12:19
Author:	Uncle

"The oath of loyalty of the soldiers of the armed forces:
'I swear by God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolph Hitler, the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath.' "

And in Utah it might go like this with a new temple oath:

"Unquestioning obedience to the Lord indicates that a person has developed faith and trust in Him to the point where he or she considers all inspired instruction — whether it be recorded scripture or the words of modern prophets — to be worthy of obedience. Therefore, I swear before God, angels and these witnesses at the alter this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Gordon B. Hinckley, the Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the LDS Church and people, and will be ready as a brave member to risk my life at any time for this oath."

Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuhrer!

Subject:	How could anyone argue, after reading this article....
Date:	Jun 25 12:57
Author:	Lara C

...that the LDS church does not present its leaders as infallible?

Oh, yeah, there's that old quote: "The Prophet will never lead the church astray?" I don't know who said that, though.

Anyway, sounds like GBH is just like the Pope.

Subject:

good question! ... but i guess the betrayal of trust has been incremental enough that most morgbots haven't caught on to it yet...

Subject:	Re: "Obedience is a fundamental law of the gospel."
Date:	Jun 25 14:58
Author:	Questing Beast

Yes, but....

I always figured that "obedience" was meant to refer to the commandments as given in scripture: that a living man's *wisdom* for me was really his opinion. I believe that if you are living the commandments, i.e. trying your level best to be better by the end of the day than you were at the beginning of it by being true to your inner light, that is good enough. You don't have to follow some religious leader's *commands* to keep from being a wicked person.

Of course, for years I tried to accept the notion that a priesthood leader would get *revelation* for my course as per my church callings. And if I wanted extra advice from God, I ought to go talk to my bishop. But this notion never quite flew with me: I have always felt strongly that if God is here, then my prayers to know should be directly answered and not come through some oracular experience of another in my behalf. I still believe this, and now more strongly than ever: while, ironically, no longer really expecting any manifestation from God to me personally. But if God really is here, then (as I have said before) I have "visiting rights" just like anybody else, and I expect God to talk to me, not just give me warm fuzzies. If I never talk with God, then I guess God isn't a personal being after all, and I will just have to accept that.

Subject:	So we know what God isn't...
Date:	Jun 25 20:54
Author:	ausgaz

I often think the way you have expressed here. Thanks for doing that QB.

We now KNOW what God isn't. The difficult questions now are, "Is there God and what form does God take"? One of the things that led me out of the church was that I knew how "God" dealt with me and it wasn't consistent with what I learned at church. The easy bit is knowing "what" we see and experience. The trick is understanding the "why" and "how".

I don't know what God is however I am enjoying the journey now in trying to discover and work it out. I could talk about this for hours so I won't bore you here.

Cheers,
Garry.

Subject:	My poetic response to this post...
Date:	Jun 25 16:32
Author:	Bill Dobbs

After reading this post, I wrote this poem:

To The Polygamous God of Obedience and Hater of Wanton Appetite
by Bill Dobbs

God of obedience,
He who knows appetites are only excuses for apostates
Do you desire?
You who collect goddesses and sow your seed so profligately,
Do you care about she upon whom you sow?
Do you look upon her heart?
Your bible says you look upon the inward parts, forget the outer form
I suspect that like your servants
You look upon her breasts
But forget the heart that weeps and nurtures.
Do you remember how you once were suckled,
And desire received its all?

Don Juan of the sky
Master of obedience
Hater of apostate passion
What is it that you really love?
There you go again with Mrs. God, and Mrs. God,
and Mrs. God and Mrs. God and Mrs. God--
Do you remember their names,
Do you ever cry out to Jezebel
When you are with Miriam?
God of Joseph Smith,
God of the swollen pants and secret handshakes,
The bloody God
Disemboweler of wanton appetites
God of the angel with the flaming sword
Who nearly cut Joseph
What would you have removed?
What member matters most?

You gave him Zina, whom you cut off
From Henry, a man in love both day and night.
Did you look on Henry that day and night?
You who have so many goddesses
Did you ever love like him?
God of the 14 year old bride who thought Joseph
Would love as pure and chaste as spirit
Do you know spirit?
God of the sister children you helped him bed under Emma’s roof
Those who were in his care and keeping
Are we in your care and keeping?

God of severed heads
Whose bloody servant slew Goliath
Who inspired Joseph’s giant appetites
Is there anything giant about you?
God of Samuel who thundered
“Obedience is better than sacrifice!”
Eternally there you are
Always in some goddess bed
A huge task, peopling worlds--
But what are they peopled for?
Are you really fulfilling your desire in your eternal embraces
Does a doubt as revelation sometimes slip through?

Do you remember King Agag
Who came before Samuel and mad King Saul
King Saul mad with disobedience,
A spirit that you sent
King Agag who pleaded for us all
Who cast his seed on rocky ground
And wept silently while he wondered
“Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
Did he think of you when Samuel
Hewed him to pieces in Gilgal
The sacrifice of a man
Whose words will pierce
Through all of us with broken hearts
Hewn to pieces before you in Gilgal
Surely the kindness of disobedience
Fills all our human hearts
With the sap of life that always flows
Have you forgotten it?

Is it you of whom we speak
When our hearts proclaim
“God is Love?”
God forbid
Bringer of true madness
Bring us a deeper divinity
Goddess come nurture us. Create new worlds
Where truly you will turn
Our tears to laughter
Our song of sorrow into gladness
Our mourning into joy
Of love in the night watch
When morning comes
And we understand
What we have made a god
What we have made the world
We will build altars to the rebel
The one who fights for all humanity
Inscribe it
“In memory of King Agag
And the God and Goddess
In true embrace within”
Our love and passion for each other
Our willingness to question everything
That respects neither heart nor mind
Will be our true obedience

Subject:

Sounds like they are becoming more Fundamentalist Christian in these pronouncements.

Subject:	The usual unaccountability loophole is built in for the leaders.
Date:	Jun 25 20:33
Author:	Timmy Teaboy

Oaks says:

"Obedience is a fundamental law of the gospel. It is not only the demonstration of our faith but also the foundation of our faith. But the philosophical standard of the world holds that unquestioning obedience equals blind obedience, and blind obedience is mindless obedience. This is simply not true. Unquestioning obedience to the Lord indicates that a person has developed faith and trust in Him to the point where he or she considers all inspired instruction — whether it be recorded scripture or the words of modern prophets — to be worthy of obedience."

Notice, how he implies the definition of "inspired instruction" is limited to "recorded scripture" and the words of modern prophets. (Is this his back-door confession that past prophets (e.g., Brigham Young) were full of donkey doo doo?) The logic of his statement that we trust in "Him" (which presumably means God, rather than Hinckley), leaves open the possibility that we can get inspiration directly from "Him", without the intercession and interference of the bumbling, uninspired, Hoffman-deceived, real-estate developing old corporate farts in Salt Lake City, who pretentiously call themselves "General Authorities". Additionally, how do you "develop faith and trust" in the recorded scripture of Mormonism and the words of its modern prophets, if they don't first have a track record of reliability that merits such trust?

Oaks--the chain-of-command-worshipping soldier--is so busy kissing the posteriors of his superiors, and hoping to have his own posterior kissed by his inferiors, that he doesn't realize how full of holes his intended message is or that he is stupidly advocating the same kind of "I vas chust followink orders" position advocated by Nazis seeking to escape accountability for crimes against humanity.

Subject:	What Oaks indicates is against fundamental principles of psychological health and maturity.
Date:	Jun 25 21:25
Author:	FreeAtLast

Millennia of human experience have proven that unquestioning obedience opens the door for all kinds of abuses. The establishment of totalitarian regimes, slavery, racism, genocides, widespread torture, abuses of women and children, corporate crimes, environmental destruction, government manipulation of the masses, wars based on lies, etc. are some of the many examples of the horrors and misery that human beings have experienced because not enough people questioned authority and thought critically and rationally. Every progression in human affairs has come about as a result of questioning religious beliefs, authority figures and structures, natural phenomena, etc., and taking action to bring about change.

Questioning what one believes to be "true" and thinking critically and rationally about our beliefs are key to maturing psychologically. As children, many of us believed in Santa Claus, but we eventually became aware of facts that lead us to the correct conclusion that Santa was not real (e.g., too many homes in the world for one man to deliver presents to on one night, the lack of chimneys on apartment buildings and other places for Santa to slide down, peaked rooftops where Santa's sleigh couldn't land, etc.). This process of becoming aware of facts, thinking critically and rationally, and overhauling one's belief system is crucial to healing psychologically from the damaging effects of Mormonism. By so doing, we replace irrational beliefs with rational thoughts, fear and guilt with courage and self-acceptance, and mindless obedience with thoughtful, measured compliance.

Oaks writes in the July 2005 Ensign article that faithful Latter-Day Saints "successfully erase [their] doubts and reservations". For Mormons who feel the push to mature psychologically, it's impossible to delete their doubts about the church and its leadership because there are so many facts that prove that the church and much of what it teaches is not true. As much as Oaks and his associates in church headquarters may wish, those facts will not disappear. Human beings are "wired" to observe and make note of incongruencies, inconsistencies, and error. To shut off this innate ability is to betray one's mind, which has disastrous results psychologically. The person who diminishes the light of their awareness/consciousness because facts do not agree with their beliefs not only encourages psychological dysfunction, they develop a reputation over time that they cannot fully trust their mind.

Sadly, this is the case for many Mormons. They have been indoctrinated, often from early childhood, to mentally flee from, ignore, trivialize, or condemn facts that do not support church teachings and Mormon beliefs. The only way for Mormons to be approved of by LDS family members, church leaders, and the Mormon community, and to avoid punishments from God and other negative, "spiritual" consequences, is to betray their minds. But the pile of facts under the rug of their "faith" which prove that many of the church's teachings are in error, and various doctrines (past and present) are (were) unenlightened is too large to be ignored. Hence, the cognitive dissonance in Mormons' minds and their psychological dysfunction.

Oaks indicates that Mormons are "to believe the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as well as the words of the Latter-day prophets". To which doctrine is he referring? Polygamy? The church has never rescinded its doctrine concerning plural marriage (but it did issue the manifesto in 1890 that the practice should be stopped). Polygamy remains a written "revelation" in the canon of LDS scripture (ref. D&C 132). Perhaps Oaks was referring to the doctrine of Adam-was-God, Blood Atonement, the spiritual inferiority of the "cursed seed of Cain" (people of African ancestry), or God the Father having sex with Mary, mother of Jesus.

Bear in mind that past Mormon "prophets and apostles" declared that these doctrines were "eternal". However, church materials and documents show that "everlasting" aspects of LDS theology have been, in fact, temporary. What was taught as the truth and will of God in one generation is not even mentioned today in church books and magazines, or talks by church leaders. Oaks shouldn't criticize Mormons today for choosing which doctrines to believe and follow, and which to discard. Mormonism's senior patriarchal leadership doesn't even know what the church teaches, as indicated by Gordon Hinckley, the current president. On a number of occasions during the past 10 years, Hinckley has publicly stated that he doesn't know that the church teaches in relation to doctrines that his predecessors were clear about (e.g., God once being a mortal man, and men being able to become Gods).

"The more we believe, the easier faith-based obedience becomes", writes Oaks. "Faith-based obedience" is another way of saying compliance based on a lack of critical and rational thinking. Nazism, communism, and imperialism each required "faith-based obedience" from the masses to gain hold and expand. History has clearly shown that unhappiness, misery, and even violent death are the ultimate fruits of "faith-based obedience" to patriarchal authority.

The July/05 article by Oaks states, "We are instructed to be like children, who are willing to be taught and then to act without first demanding full knowledge." Adults and adolescents should never be instructed like children. As well, they have the right to demand all the facts before committing themselves to a certain course of action. Each person is responsible for the quality of their life, and without as much information as possible, people cannot make a choice based on an objective analysis of the facts. Authority figures, like senior LDS leaders, want nothing more than to control the type of information that Mormons receive because it is through the control of information that people can be manipulated. Even children need to be provided with as much information as is age-appropriate, and encouraged to question what they are taught. The quality of their lives as teenagers and adults will depend on their capacity to think and act independently. Based on what Oaks wrote, it's clear that Mormonism's senior patriarchy wants members to remain psychologically dependent, with the father figures in Salt Lake City continuing to tell the LDS masses what God wants them to do, what is "right" and "wrong", etc. No competent mental health professional would advocate such dependence.

Oaks demonstrates his ignorance of the principles of psychological health in his statement, "the world holds that unquestioning obedience equals blind obedience, and blind obedience is mindless obedience. This is simply not true." People should never obey without question. Every command, rule, policy, edict, law, etc. should be questioned, and in some cases, disobeyed. The "divine" right of monarchies to rule, slavery, polygamy, wife- and child-beating, taxation without representation, segregation, denying women the right to vote, illegal or immoral military orders, corruption in government and corporate affairs, and many other ills that have plagued humanity have been thrown on the trash heap of history because people questioned authority, and in many cases, refused to obey or participate. It is through questioning, and at times, non-compliance, that we progress individually and collectively.

Oaks also wrote about "Unquestioning obedience to the Lord" and to "the words of modern prophets". First, "the Lord" is a psychological construct, the product of people's minds. What Mormons believe about "the Lord" is not what Catholics or Jews believe. Each version of God is the product of the religious ideas of a particular religious culture. The God of Mormonism is no different. Because "the Lord" does not exist in reality, but only in people's minds, obedience to "Him" is as irrelevant as obedience to Santa Claus or some New Age archangel. Religious leaders use the concept of "the Lord" to make church members believe that they are complying with the edicts of the ultimate authority figure in the universe, but in reality, they are only following the spiritualistic ideas of men.

"The Lord will not hold people accountable for factors over which they have no control." People are not accountable to "the Lord" because, as indicated, "the Lord" does not exist (except in people's minds). Individuals are responsible for their decisions and actions, and the quality of their lives. For example, if a Mormon hears some disturbing facts about Joseph Smith and polygamy, but refuses to ask questions and investigate it further, he/she will remain in ignorance about this aspect of Mormonism, and may never realize that Mormonism has been built on a foundation of systematic deception/fraud.

By taking responsibility for our lives through questioning, investigating, thinking critically and rationally, and mindful, measured compliance, we increase our psychological independence and personal liberty. We also diminish the ability of perceived authority figures and organizations, like Mormon patriarchy and the LDS church, to deceive and manipulate us. The path to wholeness comes through questioning everything.

Subject:	Re: LDS Church leaders call for cult-like "unquestioned obedience"
Date:	Jun 26 02:49
Author:	ricky

I wonder if the calls for obedience are proportional to the amount of information available to the masses (e.g., the internet, etc.) that contradict the 'official' story.

"Ignore the man behind the curtain" becomes louder and louder.

Recovery from Mormonism - The Mormon Church www.exmormon.org

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