What was it that made you realize Mormonism was a fraud?

For me, it was the Book of Abraham.

But the very last straw ABOUT the Book of Abraham was when I read John Gee's book about the Joseph Smith Papyri. I waited for that book to come out. I expected him, as an Egyptologist (He taught Hieroglyphics at BYU), to come up with something that would vindicate the B of A. Perhaps a translation? After all, HE could read egyptian. A translation of the facsimiles that showed that JS translated those characters correctly is all it would take.

But he didn't translate anything. Nope, all he did was dance around the issues of the Alphabet and Grammar, whether or not we had the right papyri, etc. It was an apologist piece through and through.

That's when I knew the B of A was indefensible. He avoided the ONE thing that could prove JS was a prophet, instead of a conman. And in my opinion, he became PART of the con. What he DIDN'T say in that book was all I needed to know. His silence spoke louder than words. If JS had translated the characters correctly, you can bet that Mormons would be shouting if from the rooftops. But instead, they grasp at straws (yeah, and a few of them landed on my camel's back).

Oh I don't remember the absolute last straw, but my gradual departure came during the course of divorce, I was convinced that our family fell apart because my husband was a pretend-mo who had no testimony, no brain, no deep thoughts or passion about anything beyond eating, sleeping, watching TV, and harrassing me for sex which I never gave him because he had no clue how to turn a woman on.

Ah, so the church helped us not at all even when my 3-year-old daughter blabbed to the sister missionaries that daddy pushed mommy down the stairs and mommy's leg was bleeding, the sisters must have told the bishop and the bishop called me in to meet with him. Long story but over time our bishopric reorganized, we finally had a divorce underway, and the new bishop counseled me that staying in the marriage would be "ideal."

Hah!!!

Over the months I got my own place, tried to take my kids to church but it involved going to the ex's house to pick them up, fights happened, kids got upset, son hated going to church, the stress wore me down, so we stopped going.

The next month I received an email from the friend who had introduced me to the church 18 years earlier. She reported to me that she, her husband (formerly a bishop), their son (a faithful RM who married virginly in the temple, extremely scholarly, studious, intelligence off-the-charts), and close fam & friends had done extensive research into the church & history, earnestly seeking to unravel curiosities & uncertainties and seek for the whole truth...they discovered how flawed and off course the church truly is. That Thomas S Monson is NOT a prophet, but a wolf in sheep's clothing, etc.

This came as an enormous eye opener for me, and honestly hearing all these things came as a huge RELIEF!!!

I felt so free I cannot begin to describe.

Freed from an abusive 10-year marriage.
Freed from the stress of the church.
Had my very own apartment.

Yeah, I was blissed-out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2013 05:13PM by Susan I/S.

For me, it was that there were even TWO different versions of JS' first vision, let alone 8 or 9.

When I discovered that, I knew that JS had made it up.

Along with realizing that, I was blessed with a MAJOR LIFTING of the mantle of GUILT that I'd been carrying around all my life until then. Guilt for not feeling good enough because I was gay & had done gay things.

What a great feeling!

And, as every good TBM knows, we should live life based on our FEELINGS, right?

I didn't realize it at the time, but that day was the beginning of my never looking back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2013 10:57AM by PapaKen.

I went frantically searching the Web for answers. I wanted someone, a GA or "scholar" or fly-by-night apologist to say it wasn't true, to tell me those other, earlier, hand-written by JS himself versions I'd read were made up by anti Mormons.

No one disputed that they were real. Instead all I could find was lengthy, twisted, circular-logical attempts to convince extremely gullible people that they all said the same thing. Just in a different way. Or that JS told the same story just modified the style depending on his audience and that they compliment each other. Ummm, no they don't. They completely contradict each other. And somehow, 17 years after the supposed incident that happened to a boy barely into puberty, he remembered the nice, clean, made-for-TV version we have today.

It hit me so hard that the whole thing was a fraud from the beginning. Then everything that never made sense all of the sudden fit into place. I knew it was wrong (in the way people claim to "know" the church is true), but I finally KNEW it for sure. It was still many months before I resigned and I taught RS for fun (because no one picked up on my making them think) right up until then. I knew I could not teach an upcoming lesson on the blessings of the temple because there was no way to twist that subject around since there aren't any. It seemed like a good time to pack it in and start living.

"Opening the Windows of Heaven". I read this book after I had learned of the many "problems" with Mormonism. It gives every known contemporary account of the first vision, every contemporary quote concerning the translation of the BoM and the restoration of the priesthood. It includes every account of the absolutely bizarre Kirtland temple experience, and every account of the BY transfiguration.

I read the book hoping that it would help resolve my concerns. It did the opposite. It proved to me that the first vision was made up many years later and that JS certainly wasn't persecuted as a youth because of it...there's no record that anyone knew about it...not even from his own family. It includes every rock-in-the-hat quote, shows that the BoM started as a money-making venture, and also shows that people recognized the BoM as a plagiarized work as soon as they heard it. It showed that the Kirtland temple experience was bizarre beyond belief...it sounded just like the bizarro churches that I laughed at on my mission. It also proved to me that the BY transfiguration story was just urban legend...many testified of the experience that weren't even there, and most of the accounts were given 30+ years after it supposedly happened. If it was such a grand experience, why was the church so divided? BY didn't even retain half of the membership that was in Nauvoo. The Utah church only thrived because BY's missionaries lied to the much larger group of members that were still in Europe to get them to move to Utah.

Hey, Chump, I'm looking for the book you described. Is it this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Heavens-Accounts-Manifestations-ebook/dp/B008X5T2EO/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379431430&sr=1-11&keywords=john+welch

Opening the Heavens, by John Welch?

That's it. A TBM might find it faith promoting, but my TBM wife refused to read it after I told her it just confirmed my doubts and created new ones.

Cool, thanks!

For me, it was the members and the church going behind my late husband and my back supposedly to rescue our teenager who was in trouble. So, with the bishop's blessing, we were not notified of the crisis and MormonInc.'s actions, all because we were inactive- temple-married-parents who in their eyes should not be allowed to exist (in my humble opinion) and certainly not be allowed to raise our OWN child that we loved and was doing our very best to raise to be a happy, healthy,and responsible adult. They. the cult, then proceeded to take our teen to a doctor as well as it's own counseling services WITHOUT either of us signing a dam thing! We did not have one tiny clue this was going on behind our backs, and it is maddening to imagine how many in that clicky ward knew, and WE DID NOT!!! ONLY when their rescue attempt failed, were we notified.

It was one of the most terrifying and hurtful times of our lives. Our teenager was in crisis and we, the parents, who they had to know from watching us, were caring and involved parents, but surely not perfect, were NOT told of the situation for months and months!!! I wish we had had the where-with-all at that time as parents to have sued the MormonInc.'s sorry a*$#*, but we were extremely overwhelmed working in high, high gear trying to come to our teen's aid (which had been made worse during the time the cult had wasted all because they had prayed and surely been told ALL the right things to do. They knew, after all, that they had this right to kidnap our teen because they were ACTIVE practicing tithe-paying and obedient members of THE only true church on this earth while we were not).

I believe we would have won a lawsuit and became rich rather than deep-in-debt parents struggling to pay for the very expensive care we, NOT THE SO-CALLED "CHURCH", then provided for our teen (which, I am happy to share, our teen with lots and lots of time and wonderful trained people and hard work on the teen and our part, did make a turn-around).

We could have taken from the cult the millions that they spend on their expensive homes, the profit's car and chauffeur, etc, and the 5 or so billion dollar mall---A MALL, FOR G#*'% SAKE. All of these toys solely for the prestige it brings to those who run the cult all while they spend pennies on really helping those who need help, like, hey, even us, deep in debt because of their negligent actions.

Do I hate MormonInc.for what they did to our teen and our family??? Am I happy that I investigated and found out what a lying, history-hiding bunch of money-grubbing people so many MORmONs are and have been??? Am I lucky I was able to discover what a conniving, cunning women chaser ole Joe was??? Am I thrilled I resigned seven years ago??? And is my life so, so, so, so, much better to be out of their clutches, restrictions and put-downs???

YES, YES, and YES again!!! I hope that they continue to loose members, and that they loose their tax exempt status and plunge off the face of the earth. The sooner, the better!

Plus, in my own way, I am attempting by speaking out to hasten the fall of this evil organization.

And this is my 2 cents worth. Amen and Amen



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2013 11:54AM by presleynfactsrock.

I feel exactly the same way, I want it exposed for what a Fraud it is

I was on a month long business trip to Costa Rica, and had just started going down the rabbit hole. It wasn't looking good for the tscc. Their case was growing very weak. I think I knew it wasn't true then, but the "My Life Will Never Be The Same." moment was one night in my hotel room. I started researching Free Masons and their symbolism and rituals. I think it was after a couple of nights doing this that I realized I would never believe again. I would never be involved again. I realized that was it. I was no longer a Mormon.

It was such a strange, difficult and yet liberating moment. I started thinking about an alternative life style, such as going to bars and meeting a more genuine people. I realized the church had really kept me from getting to know so many great things in life. The entire life context of the church crumbled and I was a part of the general human race, and that was a good thing.

I wish I had been concerned with doctrine or something intellectual. . .but in truth, the first and last straw for me was simply the overwhelming understanding that my life as a TBM would be miserable. Frankly, my brain didn't fit the culture because I was way too liberally-minded. Just thinking about being married to one of these RMs made me utterly claustrophobic. I was at BYU at the time. . .

The funny thing is on the outside - looks, mannerisms, etc. was very in-line with LDS culture and still is today.

Nothing to do with doctrine, because I quit caring about that 50+ years ago, if I ever did at all. My Dad was my best friend after my dear wife and we farmed together and talked every day on the phone, no matter where we were. He accepted my going inactive and marrying a Catholic and loved his grandchildren unconditionally even though they weren't "church raised". However, after he died in 2000, a TBM neighbor decided I needed reactivating so he would call to invite us to every fucking activity at the ward and to make sure I knew my wife was welcome too. Plus, I had helped him work his small farm over the years and he never passed up an opportunity to pass on the latest book by a GA he thought I needed to read (all went in the burning barrel), plus he would ask my advice as to how to farm the land and never acted on my advice, which I found very frustrating when I had to clean up his mess. And then the last straw was when he said my Dad would be so happy if I came back to church. WELL...this old fucker has/had no clue about the special relationship I had with my Dad and the fact he would even go there pissed me off immensely. And all this happened about the time I discovered exmormon.org and came to the realization I could actually resign from the LDS church. So I did, and asked I have no more contact from the church. I do not know if the old fucker was told to cease and desist but I haven't heard from him in months. Or maybe he got tired of me not answering his phone calls.

Ron Burr

"The mormon candidate" and everything they check on it. Plus the City Mall.

First vision. I was a history major in college before I switched to journalism. Both are majors that teach you to research, double check, the importance of original source material, triple check, how to analyze facts etc. Once I found out that the public record proved there were no revivals anywhere near Palmyra in 1820, I KNEW the church was lying to me. After that, it was just a matter of uncovering the extent of their lies. I had no idea it was like mucking out an endless outhouse - you never really get to the bottom of it all. Once you think you've heard everything, something else comes along to shock you.

Finding out the Nephites were imaginary people.

After discovering BoM was made up, I next discovered the BoA was also made up.

Two examples of clear and devastating evidence the Mormon church is a fraud.

That was 2006 for me. RfM has helped a lot in my recovery.

Polyandry. It went against everything I was ever taught. It just did not compute. Once I figured out that Joseph wasn't a good guy everything came tumbling down.

This is one of the things that actually started my search. I actually read D&C 132 and decided to dig deeper. Having learned that JS wasn't near perfect, and wasn't even decent, it was all downhill from there.

I was completely shocked when I came across a blurb about the book of Abraham. I'd read it before, but never thought to heavily about it. I had been taught, and led to believe, my whole life that we no longer had the papyrus. That they most likely had been burned up in the Chicago fire. I had actually just taught this to a class....RIGHT FROM THE MANUAL! It was clear that the church was lying, so that people would never know that the papyrus had been rediscovered. The Internet age of information ruined things for them. I had a friend suggest Rough Stone Rolling, with the comment that, the restoration of the church didn't happen in a vacuum. It wasn't long until my whole world was ripped out from under me. My eye's have been opened, and I see the church for the cult it is.

I first realized Joseph Smith was a fraud when I found out about his many secret wives, sending husbands on missions and then taking their wives, and the lies told about William Law. I was disillusioned and knew that what the church taught about Mormonism being a total fraud if Joseph Smith was a fraud was true. I could not believe in a god who used a liar and an adulterer to head his church.

The final straw, however, was hearing G.B. Hinckley lie about the teaching of God once being a man. My jaw dropped, literally. Up to that point I was satisfied with just not having anything more to do with going to church. But after that I truly wanted to resign in order to show my disgust. When I asked my visiting teacher what she thought about that comment she just blew it off and made some comment about the prophet having his reasons. That's when I knew I'd never even be able to keep my Mormon friends.

For me it started with the Flood and geology and went on to genetics Polynesians, Amerindians, and Semite haplotypes. It went on to freemason symbols and the temple then on to the BoA and ended at FAIR with their SO WHAT attitude towards the indefensible.

I did a lot of research initially on the symbols outside on the SLC temple sun, moon, inverted stars and earth stones, all seeing eye, clasped hands, 3 pillars, beehive and so forth and then dug deeper.

The last straw was the last page of Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History. I closed that book after reading it like a page-turning thriller, and consciously recognized that I was out, out, out.

The last straw for me was the multiple versions of the first visions. That took JS from fallen prophet to never had been a prophet.

I don't know exactly which was my last straw. But one moments is sticking out for me right now.

I was 18 and wanted to get my belly-button pierced. I knew what the church taught but it seemed ridiculous that it was a big deal. So I prayed about it, a lot. I felt peace, that it would be okay to do. So, I got it pierced.

My mom accidentally saw and told me that my dad would kick me out of the house if he saw so I better remove it immediately. Instead I removed myself from their house.

But that stuck out to me. One could pray to know the church is true but every other thing required somebody else telling you what to think. It did not make sense. It does not make sense. I don't understand why more people do not see through that control technique.

Realizing I was an atheist.

I was involved in an abusive marriage: ex-DH had psychiatric issues and severe sexual addictions. We had been temple-married and had several small children. His sexual problems got worse and worse, but each time I visited with bishops, stake presidents, and LDS counselors and therapists, they all told me I just needed to be a better wife and he wouldn't "have" to do those things. He would go into their offices with a tear in his eye and a trembling lip and deny everything. He would get a slap on the wrist, a wink, and a warning to not do it again. This went on for over a decade.

The last straw came during the divorce process, when our bishop leaned across his desk, glared at me, and informed me that if I went through with the divorce, I would lose my exaltation, but ex-DH would be given hundreds of wives in the CK.

Still, I tried to stick with the church so my kids would have stability and community in our Morridor town post-divorce. I was treated terribly by the ward members, but I hung in there, determined to blindly obey no matter how hard it was. I thought that's what God wanted me to do.

Finally, the light-bulb moment came. I'd gone back to school and was standing outside the building after class, enjoying a break with a couple of new ex-mo friends and talking about spirituality. One of them offered me a drink of coffee.

I realized that the deity of the entire universe did not care about my beverage choices.

From there, the door was wide open.

I can't pick out a final straw, but I remember being so angry after reading a New Era article about Joseph and Emma's fabulous marriage and how perfect their relationship was. It specifically mentioned Emma's unwavering, complete support for Joseph. NO MENTION of polygammy. Not one word. That magazine is aimed at 12 to 17 year olds. I paid for that magazine. I remember saying, "They are lying to my kids!" When my daughter, 14, said she wasn't going to church anymore, I said okay.

It was more or less the Prop. 8 debacle for me. Certainly there were other issues building. Learning about Kolob, other Earth's, becoming a God, etc. in seminary was immediately troubling for me. But the Prop. 8 thing threw me over the edge. That was when I absolutely realized that the Profit had no direct line to God like was claimed, and everything really crashed down from there.

I was getting fed up with mormon leadership. They were so incredibly obviously off base on almost every topic.

I had a stake pres. that was completely off his rocker. In my search for sanity in spite of the insane, I ran across mormonthink.com

I read about the book of Abraham. It hit me like a tidal wave. All of my life (55 years at the time) I had been lied to by the church. For over half a century! They had plenty of opportunity to come clean, and didn't. This from a church that was demanding to know every blip and detail of my life. If I didn't give them the information they wanted they were going to deny me being sealed to my husband of 20 years. The obscenity of the situation blew me back in my chair. The nerve of these assholes!

I was done. My husband was done. My adult children were done. We all resigned together.

Mad Alice