I first saw Steve on the 60 Minutes interview. I thought, "Wow, what a fall from grace. How could he not believe? Lucifer really did a number on him."

I always thought the exmo's were the crazy ones. How could you be converted and then turn your back on the truth? I've had several friends over the years that left the church and, quickly thereafter, we weren't friends anymore because I didn't want that influence in my life. I feel terrible about this now. How many friendships and great experiences have I missed out on because I had blinders on?

I know now that TBM's are the *real* crazy ones. To have the full story and to not recognize it as a sham is beyond me.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

Your feelings are recognized here among the ex-mo's because we all lived in that crazy twisted up thinking for the years we were in the cult too.

Having the full story and not recognizing it as a sham is the thing that concerned me the most when I left TSCC 2 years ago. It made me realize that it is important to carefully evaluate what I think and why I am motivated to think that way.

I remember an older couple in my community, and there were rumors that one of their grown sons and his family got ahold of some anti literature, and left the church. I co6ldnt comprehend it. How could they turn their back on this wonderful church, and their family and ancestry! Even if they didn't believe it I couldn't understand how they would chose to leave it. Now I get it!

As an official card carying TBM with fundamentalist tendencies it is a big problem in the church when TBMs encounter anti literature which they are totally unprepared for being fed a "milk b4 meat" diet.

PHIL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As an official card carying TBM with
> fundamentalist tendencies it is a big problem in
> the church when TBMs encounter anti literature
> which they are totally unprepared for being fed a
> "milk b4 meat" diet.

Milk before meat. I find it so disingenuous that TBM's aren't supposed to dig into their history unless they're "ready" for it. What TSCC is really saying is that you aren't ready for this info because you're not indoctrinated enough.

I did everything I was supposed to do in Mormondum and I still found out the truth. I just don't buy the 'milk before meat' bit.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 12:01PM by Hold Your Tapirs.

They just like to call it anti. The truth is not anti. Frankly, im glad I had not been conditioned with this nonsense. Normalizing it doesnt make it true. The church is based on a huge load of crap......its not meat.

Haha, so called "anti literature" that compares mormons to devil worshippers isn't deconverting anyone.

But the truth does a very good job of deconversion when the mormon listener can finally realize it's not "anti lies", it's just history and doctrine verifiable from TSCC's own sources.

Stuff that TSCC has deliberately hidden from them over many years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 01:10PM by WinksWinks.

I remember being 6 years old, & hearing in SM about one of SWK's grandsons who had left the cult. He was called "anti-Mormon" & all kinds of scary things. I was absolutely horrified. People acted like he was literally in the clutches of Satan, was a Satanist, & a very evil person.

In contrast, when Steve Benson left the cult, I was in high school, & had been an unbelieving NOM for many years. I thought it was so rad that he had the guts to leave the cult & resign.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 11:32AM by Tristan.

I'm not talking about Steve in my comments here, but there is one thing that we (me included, especially me) need to be careful of. When a large media organization does a piece on someone who has left the church, usually a "famous" person, like a Steve Benson, the viewers can easily get the impression, if we are not careful, that we are "bitter" and have some axe to grind. Now it is easy and natural and explainable to feel bitterness at the situation. We were deceived and conned and we are "mad as hell". The problem is that people unconnected to Mormonism will pick up on that anger and dismiss our story and us because of it. We need to try to convey that (1) yes there is some anger/disappointment, etc. but (2) we feel we are doing the right thing and (3) we believe this will help us be happier people, etc.

Just a thought for all of us.

Fuck no, I've got an axe to grind and I'm not afraid to show it!
TSCC is killing people with their policies and doctrines of misery.
Contention being of the devil is bullshit. People need to know the hurt they cause and a very valid recognizable reaction to hurt is anger.

I don't really give a shit if people are offended by my stance, the lack of reaction(playing nice, pandering to delicate feelings) to atrocity offends me!

. . . and then being blamed (like it's somehow my fault) for daring to ask questions about the history/content of Mormon tradition, doctrine, policy and practice. Through the accident of birth, I had inside access to the top of the LDS food chain--and what I found there reminded me of the smell of a fridge full of rotting garbage.

Here's a basic operational premise to keep in mind, folks:

Beware of ANY organization (religious, business, social, sports, governmental, political, fraternal. you name it) that denies you access to information necessary for you to make informed and rational decisions for your own life.

Personally, I don't regard it as having taken "courage" for me to bolt the Cult. What it took was INFORMATION and the time to process data. Given that from my own experience I had learned not to trust the manipulative efforts of the Mormon Church's hierarchy to bring me into line; its unresponsive and deflecting reaction to my honest, direct and informed inquiries; and the robotic, guilt-tripping tactics of its local leadership in combo with their LDS-sheep supporters (including some members of my own family), I found it imperative for me to do my own research, amass my own resource library and come to my own conclusions.

In short, I learned to trust myself and not Mormonism. It all boiled down to a simple matter of me personally deciding the terms as to when and why to jump the corral fence and start living my own life.

End of story.



Edited 14 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 02:11PM by steve benson.

I remember one guy told me to read the JoD. At the time, it was only available in print, and not very easy to find. Now I am reading it online, and can finally see and understand what he meant. There is VAST amount of really weird STUFF in there!! If I had been able to read it sooner, I probably would have been out sooner.

Anyone can see TSCC for what it really is without using so called "anti" information, if they do it with an open mind. The most damaging information to TSCC is information provided by TSCC.

It is my testimonkey that as long as you study without looking for that "feeling of confirmation", and look at the information with objectivity in your heart, you can see through the whitewash, hidden history, and ommitted topics TSCC attempts to provide, and find the real truth, yea even hidden truth.

Thanks Steve and others, for trying to help others see what I tried for so long not to see.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 12:11PM by magnite.

It is so much safer to shoot the messenger than it is to read the message.

Amen.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2013 01:12PM by steve benson.